HomeMy WebLinkAboutMayor's Newsletter 10/92 ews etter
CIN OF EULESS October 1992
Letter from Mayor Samuels to Residents
s
As the summer comes to a I look forward to a season
close, we are all getting back of change and improvement , ,
in the routine of school or this fall, and I hope you will
work, and the City Council join me in making our city a
is no exception. great place to live.
As you know, the City Sincerely,
Council has worked for sev- m..
Harold D. Samuels z.
eral months to come up with Mayor
a budget for next year which
will give residents the most
Notice
service of the best quality
while keeping costs low. I The City Council is consid-
am happy to report that the ering holding a bond elec-
budget just approved does tion next year for capital
not cut any services you've improvement street projects.
come to expect, and no city
employees will be lost in E U L ESS RESIDENTS TO
budget cuts. However, be-
cause of spiraling costs and RECYCLE EARTH
several federal mandates
which require us to perform Recycling isn't just a fad; glass, assorted metals and six
special tasks without addi- it's here to stay. A new pro- types of plastics.
tional federal funding, we gram adopted by the City The contract will put Euless
have not been able to add Council last month proves re- on the cutting edge of the re-
many new programs or ser- cycling will be the wave of
vices. An article on page 5 cycling movement in this
P g the future in the continuing area and across the state, said
breaks down the costs and efforts to keep Euless beauti-
revenues the city faces for ful. Mayor Samuels.
1993. While many other cities in
Beginning in early 1993, the the area have been offerin
On another note, the City City of Euless will offer resi- g
curbside recycling for some
Council would like to en-
dents a chance to participate time, the City of Euless has
courage any interested citi- in an innovative recycling
taken a more careful ap-
zens to become active in the
program unlike that of any proach to come up with a
workings of government by other city in the state. Com- complete program for resi-
applying for a volunteer posi- munity Waste Disposal of dents.
tion on a board or commis- Dallas will collect and recy-
sion. See page 2 for more cle newsprint, three kinds of See Page 2
details.
"We weren't necessarily in- residents will also have the schools, and children will be
terested in being the first to advantage of co-mingling encouraged to "wash it and
recycle, we just wanted to their recyclables. Plastics, toss it" at school.
have the best program to glass and aluminum do not "We are honestly going to
offer our citizens," Samuels have to separated after rins- try and reduce our waste
said. ing; sorting is done at the re- stream," said City Manager
The program adopted by the cycling center. Tom Hart. "That's where our
City Council will allow Newspaper is the only mate- education program is going
curbside recycling for resi- rial that cannot be mixed to become crucial."
dential areas as well as re- with the other recyclables While participation is volun-
cycling collection points in and must be placed in a sepa- tary, all residents will see a
apartment complexes. rate container. fee of$1.80 per household at-
"We are excited to be a Educating the public to the tached to their water bill
leader and an innovator in re- proper methods of recycling every month to cover the
cycling," Samuels said. "Our will be a part of the intense costs of the program. Apart-
rates are some of the best in public awareness campaign ment owners will be charged
the area, and our program that will begin soon $.90 per unit. Senior citizens
will give residents the oppor- Children will be a big part who have claimed a senior
tunity to recycle more waste of the education focus when citizen exemption will be
than they ever thought was all seven elementary schools charged a discounted rate of
possible." in Euless join in the recycl- $.90. Charges will first ap-
The list of recyclables is ing program. Bins will be pear on the January 1993
long, but it includes news- placed free of charge at the water bills. ■
print and all color and slick
inserts that normally accom-
pany newspapers; brown, CITIZEN APPOINTEES NEEDED
green and clear glass contain-
ers; and plastics numbered 1, Each year the Euless City and Leisure Services Board,
2, 3, 4, 5 and 7, which in- Council depends on approxi- Planning and Zoning Com-
clude everything from sham- mately 60 of our citizens for mission and Zoning Board
poo bottles to household counsel in day-to-day inat- of Adjustment.
cleaner containers. Plastic ters. Terms for one-half of While persons who have
containers for antifreeze and the membership for the fol- served faithfully in the past
auto oil are also included. lowing boards and commis- are given first consideration
Most of the surrounding cit- sions will expire soon, and for reappointment,there are
ies recycle newsprint, glass the City Council would like usually several openings for
and aluminum, but the Eu- to encourage interested citi- which we encourage new
less program will allow resi- zens to serve in these volun- volunteers to make applica-
dents to include many items teer positions. tion.
rejected in other cities,in- Openings may be available For additional information
cluding the advertising in- for the Advisory Board for or an application form,
serts from newspaper and an Social Concerns, Civil Ser- please call Susan Crim, City
additional four types of plas- vice Commission,Economic Secretary, at 685-1419. ■
tics not recycled in other Development Advisory
cities'programs. Board,Library Board,Parks
In addition to the long list,
J
PROJECTS IMPROVE CITY AREAS, SERVICES
In its continuing efforts to
serve citizens better and im-
prove the city's physical fea-
tures,Euless has taken on a _ ' - .
several major capital im—
provement projects. One of
the largest includes work tou:
combat flooding in the ,
,
Morrisdale Estates area along
the Sulphur Branch Channel.
Work has already begun on
the first of four phases of the -
drainage improvements to the flood plain, said City Engi- The installation of outside
f Morrisdale subdivision. neer Paul Kruckemeyer. Prop-
water sampling stations at 50
Phase one, which includes erty values should go up as a sites in the city has been an-
the installation of storm drain- result, and the project will other project keeping public
age pipes in Pebble Creek beautify the landscaping of works employees busy. The
Drive and Shady Creek the area as well, he said. Texas Water Commission re-
Drive, should be completed Another major task the city quires the city to sample
before spring 1993. Phase has taken on is the installa- water from throughout the
{ two, a branchi e line across
p p tion of sidewalks near several city once a month. With the
Driftwood Drive, should elementary schools in the new outdoor stations, sam-
begin before Christmas and city. The city has already laid ples may be taken without
will be completed in late 1,000 feet of sidewalks and going into the homes of resi-
spring of 1993. anticipates the construction dents, and the chance for con-
Construction of a new of much more in the next tamination of a sample is
bridge on Woodvine Drive year. The sidewalks will greatly reduced.
will make up phase three and allow children access to Equipment purchases will
should begin near the first of schoolyards without walking also enable city employees to
' the year with a completion in the street. All new side- provide better services to citi-
date of late spring 1993. walks will also comply with zens. The fire department has
Phase four is the concrete lin- the Americans with Disabili- acquired a new full-sized fire
ing of Sulphur Branch. This ties Act, a federal law requir- truck which will be housed at
half-mile drainage project ing cities to provide access to Station 3. A new ambulance
should begin in spring 1993 public facilities for the dis- should also be delivered to
and take about two years to abled. The new sidewalks the fire department this fall
complete. Although the re- will have curb cuts, or which will put less wear and r
construction of the Sulphur ramps allowing wheelchair tear on the two already in use.
Branch Channel will be access.
Street overlays on Midway
costly, federal money will An ongoing public works Drive near the Midway Rec-
ease the burden on city funds. project has been the replace- reation Center and other
The completion of all phases ment of old water lines. Di-
areas of the city have begun
of the project should relieve rector Randy Byers said the and more street repairs and
residents in the area from the replacements will most likely overlays of new pavement
danger of flooding by taking be a continuing project as old are planned as ongoing capi-
them out of the 100-year lines break down. tal projects. ■
s
1992- 1993 BUDGET TIGHT BUT BALANCED
While the national economy
continues to stagnate,the
City Tax Rate E o ' T T `s`
local economies of many cit- VS.
ies in North Texas are on a Cost of Cable TV
downhill slide. The eco-
nomic picture in Euless is
not ideal, but our city has not For that rate citizens pet the tolloft
been hit as hard as many of
71,093 Euless Homes a Police *ANrtai Cord
our neighbors. x .5985 Tax Rate . Ftre . Heam
The City Council approvedng
$340 per year 0 Ambulance �SUM tn�'isp dons
a balanced budget which or MWnW=co . Code Enbcemern
does not cut services nor em- $28 per month . Lbray .TrafAc dpi
paftployees. Costs have contin- a Facreatim 9 Culturaono
ued to rise, including new
federal mandates which put The cost of cable TV with Basic and HBO = $31.09
added pressure on the city to per month.
conform to federal law with- Ted
•Qelrn,Yb,,ripHal .xonpE„a.
out providing federal funds
to make the changes re- to go up for the city. Just as tough to do today with costs
quired. Increases in insur- many families have been rising so rapidly."
ance costs and equipment forced to do,the city is tight- No new programs were
repair are also rising. ening its belt. funded for the budget year
Decreases in areas such as "We are working to provide 1992-93 out of the general
water consumption,property citizens with the best possi- fund. No new positions were
values and interest rates the ble service while keeping created either,except where
city accrues have also caused costs down," said City Man- frozen positions could be re-
income to go down and costs ager Tom Hart. "That's organized and filled.
While other cities are cut-
ting salaries and jobs,Euless
General Fund = T N . T T G F has managed to keep person-
nel costs in line. City ser-
Revenue Sources vices and facilities will not
suffer because of cutbacks.
All of these factors have a
SAs
& Property Taxes $4,506,631 cost,however, and in order
M� 2% Sales&Use Tax 2,456,025
( arse ler Bathos 0% Fires&Fees 9% to keep services up to the
Franchises 1,872,510 :;:
level expected by citizens, a
,<> ` Fines&Fees 1,021,500
Frar>duses 17% Tiar>s<ers h ' small tax increase and water
�.: .. ;�w:: Miscellaneous 248,600
' Transfers 521,684 &sewer rate increases were
License/Permits 374,620 unavoidable. The effective
Charges for Service
9 18,000 tax rate increase is less than
PropertyTaoes 41% one percent, but many home
-
Total
611,019,570 owners will not see a differ-
r«r HE ence in the amount they pay
because property values
>< >>
have been decreasing. The T . ° 1 T T °
average homeowner will pay General Fund
$0.97 more per month than
last year. The increase in Expenditures by Function
the tax rate was primarily
implemented so that the Finance $606,535
city would not lose money NAVWAW5% Fre nx Police 3,700,954
because of the devaluation L.ElimSWk% 13% Fire 2,408,836
of many homes. ............. Administrative Services 524,879
Increases in the water and ktr„CnSer : ' Administration 346,755
sewer rates come as a re-
...... Planning &Development 539,543
suit of lower consum tion. oar 8%
Leisure Services 1399 937
p
C' Engineer 46,151
�Y 9
Because of unusually heavy Street Maintenance 535,415
rainfall in the last few Ad*erdbon 3%
years,water and sewer Frar>ce �'� 34% Other 907,142
rev-
enues have fallen. In order TOTAL ;11,016,147
to regain the losses the city Ted Hp,
was not able to control, a
rate increase was im-
plemented.
The new base water rate CITY BUDGET
will be$7.00 with a charge
of$2.25 per thousand gal- EULESS N.R.H. GRAPEVINE HURST BEDFORD
lons consumed. The base TAX RATE 0.5986 0.5235 0.4250 0.605 0.4225
sewer rate will be $5.50 with HOMESTEA 20% 15% 20% 20% 0%
a charge of$1.40 per thou-
sand gallons. AVG.HOME $71,093 $71,960 $100,645 $73,725 $92,677
The new water and sewer VALUE
rates will go into effect Octo- TAXES ON $340 $320 $342 $357 $392
ber 1. ■ AVG.HOME
VALUE
Average Homeowner T ; ° • • °
Property Tax Liability
Ci of Eui ss This Information Is utilized to determine
$05985 23% the total tax liability of the average The graphs and charts
homeowner in the City of Euless. found on these two pages
$0.2771 10%
The total overlapping debt for our break down costs and reve-
dtlzens is :2.8538 for the 1993 tax year, nues for the next fiscal
Hospital .,.:..' `: ':. with the We share at one frith of the
$02291 9% » combined total. year. Citizens may view a
more detailed budget docu-
The amount of the average residents]al tax$0,0439 2% n m
e t at theEuless u ess Public
assessed valuation Is estimated at
;71,099. Library, 201 N. Ector
HEg W : Drive.
$1.5050 57% The amount due for the city in this year,
w/ homestead exemptions would be
5940.45 and $1,707.15 for all entities.
Teel HN
NEW COUNCIL MEMBER STAYS BUSY
Retirement for some people means moving to
Florida, watching grandchildren grow up or v
trekking across America in a recreational vehi-
cle. But for Henry Boatright,retirement has
meant a chance to get more involved in a com-
munity he has called home for 20 years. 3`x
Boatright is the newest Euless City Council
member elected May 1992 to the newly created � � ..
Place 6. Although Boatright was a political new-
comer at the time of the race, he defeated three
other candidates without a runoff to take 54 per-
cent of the vote. ;°
"My motivation for running for city council is
that Euless is a mighty fine city and a good ;'
place to raise a family," Boatright said. "And
I'd like to keep it that way."
The retired army warrant officer and financial
services professional said he was looking for- weren't always easy,especially the financial de-
ward to serving the city, and looking for ways cisions. The city budget was a case in point.
to bring economic development to Euless was "I think the mayor summed it up best when he
his top priority. said a budget is like raising a family: you love
"I've worked in the financial services industry everybody the same, and all of their needs and
for over 20 years," Boatright said. "And wants are important, but you have to get your
through that time I've dealt with a lot of small priorities straight," he said "You just can't af-
businesses. They are the key to economic devel- ford to give everybody everything, even though
opment. you love them all the same amount."
Boatright said Euless should see a boom in de- Boatright said he could relate personally to the
velopment in the future,especially with the tough choices facing the council concerning the
opening of the Highway 360 extension. budget--raising a family of five children wasn't
Since he began his stint on the council, Boat- exactly easy.
right said he had come to realize what a tough The two sons and three daughters, age 26 to
job it could be trying to do what is right for the 40, are spread out across the country, from New
city. Boatright said as a citizen he only saw the York to Florida and California. Boatright said
things that were wrong in the city and not those he and his wife Elsie still see the family but stay
that were being corrected or the positive aspects busy with their life of retirement.
of city personnel's work. "Even though I'm retired,I'm not retired," he
"I'm very happy with the direction we're going said. "Between the church, working part-time
in," he said. "It is refreshing to me to see things with financial services and my work with the
that were in the back of my mind being ac- council, I stay busy."
cepted and worked on by the council and city
staff." Boatright said he hoped all citizens would stay
' as active as he has been in the city.
Boatright said the decisions facing the council "Get involved," he said. "Serve on committees
and come to council meetings periodically." ■
NEW PARK OPENS WITH CELEBRATION
Good food, good music and good fun filled the
lush green hills west of the 360 extension last
month as city officials and residents celebrated
the opening of the Villages of Bear Creek,
Euless' newest park and amphitheater.
The development includes 41 acres of woods,
soccer and softball fields,picnic areas and a
1,000-seat amphitheater.Paths run through the
park with markers to identify plants and trees '
along the way.
While the park and amphitheater cost a little
over$1 million, taxpayers got it for much less
with the help of a grant from the Texas Parks "
and Wildlife Department. Cost to the environ-
ment in the area was also low--only 17 trees : F
were were removed to make way for the facili-
ties, and 197 trees were planted to take their "
places.
Mayor Samuels was joined by State Represen- Park hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. The next
tative Carolyn Park,Parks Director Rick Herold major event planned for the amphitheater is
and Parks and Leisure Services Board Chairman the Fall Festival,a weekend of music Oct. 22-
Leon Hogg in the ribbon-cutting ceremony. 25 featuring the Dixie Chicks, Vince Vance
I Dave Alexander and the Legends of Western and the Valients,Johnnie High's Country
Swing entertained the crowd and provided the Music Revue and Trout Fishing in America.
first taste of music in the park, which Herold Tickets may be purchased through Rainbow
said would become a regular attraction in the Ticketmasters by calling metro (214) 373-
amphitheater. 8000.
,
The
Christmas
Tree Lighting
will be held on
i Tuesday, Decem-
The Midway Recreation Center will be the ber 8, at 6:30 p.m.
t site of Ghosts and Ghouls Friday,October at the Municipal
30th. Kids can come by for treats without Complex
tricks from the Parks &Leisure Services
staff. For details call 685-1660.
Calendar of Events The Mayor's Newsletter is a publication of the City
October of Euless, printed in the January, May and August is-
sues of Leisure Times magazine, the April Election
22-25 Fall Festival at the Villages of Bear Creek Bulletin and other times as needed..
Park and Amphitheater. Call 685-1649 for ticket Mayor
information. Harold Samuels
November City Council
19 Senior Citizens luncheon. Call 685-1660 for Mary Lib Saleh,Mayor Pro Tem
information. Bobby Baker
26-27 Thanksgiving Holiday. City offices closed. Frank Douglass
December Todd Smith
Peter Staks
08 Christmas Tree Lighting at the City Hall Com- Henry Boatright
plex, 6:30 p.m.
City Manager
21-31 Holiday Madness at the Midway Rec. Cen- Tom Hart
ter, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Assistant City Manager
25 Christmas Holiday. City offices closed. H. Kay Godbey
--The City Council meets at 7 p.m.on the second and fourth City Secretary
Tuesday of every month in the Council Chambers.- Susan Crim, CMC
-The Planning&Zoning Commission meets at 7:30 p.m.on Editor/Photographer
the first and third Tuesday of every month in the Council Katherine Thompson, Public Information Officer
Chambers.
Desktop/Layout/Graphics
--Contact the City Secretary's Office at 685-1420 for the meet- Becky Null,Administrative Secretary
ing times of other boards and commissions. Teri Hill,Executive Secretary
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