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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-06-21 Euless Articles DISTRIBUTED TO: P.4 AA- k. _ YOR CITYC.VCL CITYATTVY CRLYI .NCK4.IIIE BROWN YOUNG AA/;VAL CA'TR COPY .V1cDO:NALD COLL!\�S C. BARKER GETCHELL LIBRARYAD:III.V LIBRARY REF H.4RTSELL DATE DISTRIBUTED C[ I°) DATE OF ARTICLE ) 72 aA D .XEW'SP4PER � From The Local Leadership_ re you looking for art, summer dance, for ways to music, outdoor adven- entertain your tures as well as sports kiddos this summer? camps for volleyball, Euless has the answer! soccer, tennis, basket- ' Catch the Summer ball and ice skating Reading Express at the just to name a few. Euless Public Library. For more information, There are a number please call the Rec et1 of free events at the Sal Center at 817-685- _ aypY S Euless Library during 1666. Eul6s June and July. In addi- Don't forget the SS tion to weekly pro- best freebie of all! grams, the Library will There will be free wa- �. have prizes for corn- termelon at the Euless pleting and turning Pools on Independence in your reading log. Day. Special events include Together we are all a Carnival,The Little working to make our Engine that Could, city the FABEULESS Wildlife on the Move community we live and lots, lots more and work in. Have a exciting programs and great summer! activities. Call the Li- brary for more details at(817) 685-1480. There are many great Camps & Clinics through the Parks De- partment throughout the summer. Children ages 3 through 12 can find something to suit them. There are camps f X DISTRIBUTED TO: PAGE OF� y' l: fr MA CITYC.VCL CITYATTVY CRLV MCKAiVIE BROWN YOUNG ANIMAL CVT MCDOX4LD COLLLVS C BARKER GETCHELL LIBRARYADMIN LIBRARY REF HARTSELL s DATE DISTRIBUTED �e DATE OFARTICLE�i C VERSPAPER FUST The concept of Northeast'farrant cities working to- r 4 NORTHEAST TARRANT COUNTY gether isn't new.Local cities have other cooperative ar- rangements in place. The Northeast Fire Department With tax revenue Association,a cooperative training and emergency re ' s sponse effort among more than a dozen local commu- lower cities study commu- nities,has existed since 1967. But thep ace of new partnerships may be ready to pooli• pick up.Several cities are in early talks about sharing affi ' ng resources wide range of services,according to city officials. Keller Police Chief Mark Hafner said he has heard Items on the table include emergency from local police chiefs who are discussing merging services,local courts and animal control. certain law enforcement services with neighboring cit- ies."You're going to see a lot of these popping up in the #` Metroplex because it makes so much sense,"he said. By AMAN BATHEJA # abatheja@star-telegram.com The merging of Southlake's and Keller's dispatch Keller and Southlake merged their police dis- and jail operations has been a huge success,according ' k patch centers three years ago and began us to both cities. ing the same jail. Next month, Colleyville's "It's been one of the high points of my career here in f making this work,"Hafner said. City Council will decide whether to join in on g Along with reducing costs,the partnership has also the agreement. reduced turnover and improved service,according to j For the cities, three's company, nota € crowd. The move is expected to save each city officials. Southlake law enforcement officers now municipality at least$100,000 a year,accord- spend far less time booking a person who has been ar- ing to local officials. rested under the merged system, city spokeswoman Around the country, shrinking tax reve dar Schank said. nue because of the economic ffia c downturn has "It has allowed our ocers.to get back on the street l l that much sooner, Schank said. served as a catalyst for local governments to Several Colleyville officials expressed support for start talking about pooling resources with joining the partnership at a meeting this month. neighbors. Police and fire services are often "The people on the street are not going to see a dif- at the top of the list. ference,"Councilman Mike Taylor said."This is a com- mon-sense ' '' "Certainly we're seeing more cooperation mon-sense issue for cost efficiency It makes sense ` and more thought being put into what cities at every angle." a and counties can work on together, and I Colleyville Police Chief Steve Dye told the council would guess the economy has something to do with that some residents remain wary of such arrange- it,"said Elna Christopher with the Texas Association of menu. Counties. "I've had several community members come up to The North Central Texas Council of Governments is me with concern,"Dye said,adding that he assuaged also seeing a greater willingness among local cities to their worries by explaining the program's benefits. pursue partnerships, said Executive Director Mike Eastland. Lots on the table . "I'm expecting we're going to see even more as bud- Keller City Manager Dan O'Leary said regionalizing gets get tighter,"he said. other aspects of city services is being discussed with ' Across Northeast Tarrant County,with about a doz renewed interest. en cities,everything from emergency services and lo- "The resistance we usually find when we start talk- cal courts to animal control is on the table,according ing about these things is people think their city is los- to city officials. ing a measure of identity,"O'Leary said. Last month, police departments in Keller, Colley- That appears to be less of a concern in a tough ville, Roanoke, Southlake and Watauga launched the economy. North Tarrant Regional Special Weapons and Tactics "What draws a lot of cooperation is to see if there are team to respond to high-risk incidents and develop the economies of scale that can be achieved and cost-ef- skills of officers in all of the cities.Only Keller already fectiveness,"Westlake Town>Manager Thomas Brymer had a SWAT team.The new team will cover 71 square said. "These get heightened during an economic miles and serve 121,000 people,according to Keller po- downturn. Cities can't do everything they want to on fl lice officials.The joint operation is expected to save the their own." F cities money for training and equipment as well as Brymer said he sees the most potential in cities E make them eligible for more grants. agreeing to cover fire and EMS calls based on which i emergency workers are the closest rather than which city the emergency is taking place in.In many cases,a neighboring city can respond faster where time is crit- ical,he said. , E s j 1 DISTRIBUTED TO: PAGE � OF ' AL4YOR CITYCVCL CITY ATT.VY CRIAI AICK4:111E BROW'V YOUNG A,VLVAL CVT .WDOr�ALD COLLLVS/ C BARKER GETCHELL LIBR.4RYAD,VIIV LIBRARYREF HARTSELL DATE DISTRIBUTED �' / 110 DATE OFARTICLE /-� f ���' -NEWSPAPER— FUST ' Brymer sent a draft memorandum of understand- ing to city managers of neighboring cities last year fo- cusing on creating a way to make it easier for cities to pool some resources. "There's much more discussion we would have to have on it," Brymer said, "But approaching some ser- vices from a regional perspective makes sense." Hurst recently joined a revitalization program oper- ated by Euless and a local nonprofit ministry,6 Stones ' Mission Network,said Michelle Lazo,Hurst's assistant planning director. The partnership will allow Hurst and Euless to expand the scale of their efforts to revive aging neighborhoods. ' "We all have the same aging housing stock. We all kind of run together,"Lazo said."We're hoping Bedford gets on board so it's a true H-E-B thing." In recent discussions regarding the construction of ' a new animal shelter, Keller officials have debated whether to partner with North Richland Hills or South- lake or go it alone. Keller has also talked with Southlake about some- day consolidating their municipal courts, O'Leary said. "I think because of the economy, it certainly makes it a lot easier to sell these ideas to everybody,"he ' said. -- ---- AMAN BATHEJA,817-390-7695 t l r DISTRIBUTED TO: PAGE 1 OF 11.4YOR CITYC,N"CL CITY.4TT'VY CRL11 :NCKA.IIIE BROWN YOUNG ,4.VLTIAL CV'T F .11cDONALD COLLLNS C BARKER GETCHELL LIBR,4RYAD-VLV LIBRARYREF HARTSELL DATE DISTRIBUTED C I ���' D.4 TEOFARTICLE_C' /:� J /� 1V'E1i'SP.4PER FWST Copper theft leaves Euless church sweating Monday, Jun. 28, 2010 I mitchmitchell@star-telegram.com i EULESS -- It was not a fire-and-brimstone sermon that had congregants at Sheppard Drive Baptist Church all hot and bothered. 5 It was the heat -- and the bother. Thieves scaled locked gates and fencing Friday night and gutted five air conditioning t units and disabled a sixth for the copper parts. "The cut the lines and of spooked and left the sixth n y g p one," Pastor James Schoenrock � said. "They probably did $50,000 in damage to get $50." The church's insurance carrier, Guidance One, is working to lower the temperature at this church and some others, a spokeswoman said. r "We are starting to see this a lot more," said Carol Curtis, a claims adjuster for 3 Guidance One. "Being a church has not protected these institutions. I've not seen any measures that have deterred these thieves. Some churches put cages around their units, and the thieves have cut through those, too." Copper prices peaked at about $9,000 per metric ton between April and June 2008, according to a report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau. During that period, insurance claims for metal thefts were most numerous, totaling 2,052, the report said. By comparison, claims totaled only 483 for the same three months in 2006, when the price of copper was just starting to rise from about $5,000 per metric ton, the report said. ' f Police officers in Euless also say they have seen an increase in copper thefts from churches, but neither police nor insurance companies could provide statistics on the number of church copper thefts. F Typically, copper thieves hit strip shopping centers and new housing developments, ments, J said Senior Cpl. Brenda Buske, Euless police spokeswoman. t "Copper is real difficult to track," Buske said. "It does not have a serial number. You h, cannot take what someone sold and compare it with what has been stolen. Some companies are trying to mark their copper so it can be tracked." No arrests have been made in this case, Buske said. DIS'TRlBL TED TO: PAGE S OF lLA}'OR CIT} C_VCL CITY CRlai 'LICILA:�IIE BROWN 11°1' NG A:VI:YIAL CAT L 11cD0.�:9LD COLLGVS C. BARKER GETCHELL LIBRARYAD:}1LV LIBRAR}'REF H.ARTSEL DATE DISTRIBUTED ( /' /� C DATE OF ARTICLE /a //0 NEWSPAPER FWST Schoenrock hopes to open the sanctuaryfor regular services Sunday, but with air conditioner companies going into their busy season, he said that seems like a tall order. "We did Sunday's service in the heat," Schoenrock said. "It was an abbreviated service. We held Sunday school and a 35-minute worship service. Our worship services usually last an hour." His office and the day-care center are the only air-conditioned parts of the building now. — Schoenrock had a special message for those who ruined his congregation's cool: "I would like to say that you stole from God, and there is a price to be paid." Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Euless Police Department investigative unit at 817-685-1531. 11 k ; a �-t d x x �£ 9 '',44:., , of,/ ,-,,,tat -,,,,, -tf,,,,t4f4; , * ,,,,,, , „ 4 � f . - ,. 4,..,,,,, :-.:,.4,,.;, ,i,,,,.,,,,,,,„ ,,,,,4:;,, - - ,-;, ..„,4„,,,,,,T.,,,,;:„,,,,,a,,-7...-:,., ,,,..„, _°* * — t A" He ! .,-, «may' ,-#4;„4# - 'R' 71, STAR-TELEGRANI/,r,-,,,,g,'4,-,Ns E Pastor James Schoenrock with one of six destroyed air conditioning units at Sheppard Drive Baptist Church in Euless.Thieves stripped cop- per from five of the 5-ton units and disabled the sixth.