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A word about awards
Most of the time, I don't put a lot of stock in awards given by various professional associations. It's not why we do our work and it's not what we're after. That said, when weighed in their proper context, as a gauge of work product against similar work done by peers, there can be value to be gleaned from the awards process.  Such was the case recently when the City of Farmers Branch was recognized four times by the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers. As Communications Director Tom Bryson will tell you, there's a story and a team effort behind each one of them - especially in the case of the two first place TAMI awards for Liberty Fest 2012. One TAMI was for Best Recurring Special Event while the other was for Marketing Plan. These really represent a group effort on the part of many that made last year's Liberty Fest such a great event, led by Meredith Dowdy at the helm and Rachael Johnson behind much of the marketing materials design.  | |
Farmers Branch was recognized with two awards for Liberty Fest, one for graphic design for Bloomin' Bluegrass festival and one for publication of the City's strategic plan booklet.
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However, the real value here is noted in the friendly competition between cities. The other cities in these categories included DFW neighbors like Garland and the large Austin suburb of Pflugerville along with the south Houston area community of League City. Two years ago, when Liberty Fest was also recognized by TAMIO, one of the other cities in the category was the City of Houston, itself. What that can tell us is that our efforts stand up well against like-sized communities as well as against huge cities. What that can tell you is your City staff reaches for new heights every day to go above and beyond what is expected. There is real value in that. And, the trophies are pretty shiny.
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City Council changes meeting time
FARMERS BRANCH ~ Responding to citizen requests for a slight adjustment in the start time, the Farmers Branch City Council has voted to reset regular Council meetings to a start time of 6:30 p.m., beginning in July. 
Officials said there had been some requests for the change so that more citizens would be able to return from work and attend the meetings if desired.
There is only one regular City Council meeting scheduled in July, on Tuesday, July 16. The new start time will take effect as of that meeting.
Regular meetings of the Farmers Branch City Council are held at Farmers Branch City Hall, 13000 William Dodson Parkway. Live coverage on meeting nights begins at 6:30 p.m. on FBTV, with replays of the most recent meeting at 7 p.m., seven days a week. FBTV can be found on cable channel 16 in Farmers Branch (15.1 digital), on AT&T Uverse channel 99 throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and online at www.farmersbranchtx.gov with video on demand available, beginning with meetings in June.
For more information, call 972.247.3131.
  
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New City website launches
FARMERS BRANCH ~ The Farmers Branch website just got an extreme makeover.
The online presence for the City organization has a new look, a new feel and a new address, at www.farmersbranchtx.gov. Launched earlier this week, the new site is organized by function with "mega menus" offering a capsulized site map under each major heading on top of the home page, "Departments," "Government," "Community," "Business" and "Visitors."
Directly below that, six graphic buttons offer users the opportunity to report a concern, make an online payment of a utility bill or court citation, check out the latest City news, browse a gallery of City photos or send feedback to City Hall.
City-related news stories will always occupy a spot on the home page, as will links to specific functions on the left side of the page. Find out more at www.farmersbranchtx.gov.
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Farmers Branch police officer leads academy class
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Officer Robert Young
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FORT WORTH ~Through the 19 weeks of coursework and training at the Tarrant County College Law Enforcement Academy, recruits are appraised on their performance and leadership by instructors as well as other recruits.
In the academy session just concluded, Farmers Branch Police Officer Robert Young stood out from the rest.
A combat veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, with a Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Meritorious Service Medal to his credit, Officer Young completed academy training as Class Leader and Distinguished Recruit. Both awards voted on by peers, Class Leader is awarded to the recruit that exhibited the highest leadership qualities while Distinguished Recruit is awarded for combining the the best qualities of mental, physical and academic performance.
In addition, Officer Young was the top marksman in the class.
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Public input sought on hazard mitigation plan
FARMERS BRANCH ~ The City of Farmers Branch, in partnership with the Dallas County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, is requesting public input on the 2013 Dallas County/Farmers Branch Hazard Mitigation Action Plan, according to Farmers Branch Fire Chief Steve Parker. 
An online survey is available for residents to provide input on how to reduce future impacts of hazards affecting our community.
Mitigation plans are required to be updated every five years to help reduce the vulnerability of people and property in our city. The City's current plan was adopted in 2008.
For more information on the update, visit the Dallas County Homeland Security & Emergency Management Hazard Mitigation Action Plan website or call the Farmers Branch Fire Department at 972.919.2640.
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The 12 teens that made up the 2013 Teen Fire & Rescue Academy received hands-on experience in the various facets of contemporary fire and rescue operations. In addition to valuable life safety training and lessons in teamwork, they experienced rappelling from the DFW Fire Research training tower, search and rescue activities, hose operations, working with Care Flite, vehicle extrication where they tore the roof off of a wrecked car and much more.
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Volume 3 | Edition 25 | Number 121 
is published weekly by the Communications Office
of the City of Farmers Branch, TX.
Two-time TAMI Award Winner for Best eNewsletter in Texas
Given by the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers
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Texas Industries to move HQ to LBJ frontage in Farmers Branch
FARMERS BRANCH ~ Cement, building material and energy services company, Texas Industries has announced the move of their headquarters from the Stemmons Freeway area of Dallas to the LBJ corridor on the west side of Farmers Branch.  | |
Park West
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The company has rented 44,000 square feet of space in the Park West complex at Interstate 635 and Luna Road, joining CCS Medical, another recent headquarters relocation to Farmers Branch frontage on LBJ. "You can't have enough companies like TXI," said Farmers Branch Economic Development Director John Land. "Twenty-eight lanes of freeway frontage tends to draw the attention of companies looking to benefit from a projected 450,000 cars per day." In business for more than 60 years, Texas Industries has been one of the largest office tenants in the Stemmons corridor, on West Mockingbird Lane, near I-35E. They have signed a 13-year lease at Park West.
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EcoDevo retains top 10 DBJ ranking
DALLAS ~ On the strength of deals like the Mustang Station transit-oriented development project, the Farmers Branch Economic  Development Department retained its Top 10 ranking on the Dallas Business Journal's list of largest north Texas Economic Development agencies. The DBJ released their annual list last week, which shows the Farmers Branch agency as number six for the $198.5 million value for deals done in 2012. Farmers Branch was rated number five on the 2011 list. More>>
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VIDEO EXTRA
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Animal Services Manager helping out in Moore aftermath
MOORE, OK ~ Continuing the trend of offering assistance to other communities in crisis, Farmers Branch Animal Service Manager Ethel Strother is en route to Moore, Oklahoma to assist local authorities in finding homes for pets displaced by the tornado disaster.
She will be working with local officials and with the Humane Society to hold a large scale adoption event Saturday at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds.
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Independence Day festivities set July 3
FARMERS BRANCH ~ Celebrating the red, white and blue, the City of Farmers Branch will host the annual Independence Day festivities on Wednesday, July 3 at the Farmers Branch Historical Park. 
Gates open at 6:30 p.m. and admission is free. Families are encouraged to bring blankets and lawn chairs for the concert by 'Groove Knight' at 8 p.m. The traditional Fourth of July fireworks finale will conclude the evening, after dark.
The Farmers Branch Historical Park is located at 2540 Farmers Branch Lane, between Denton Drive and Ford Road, and a short walk south from the DART Green Line station in Farmers Branch.
Free parking will be available at the Metrosquare Business Park, two blocks south of the Historical Park on Ford Road, with a free shuttle to the gate. Call 972.919.2620 for more information.
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Animal Adoption Center finds homes for 26 during last week's sale
FARMERS BRANCH ~ A deeply discounted adoption fee of $15 brought Farmers Branch residents to the Animal Adoption Center in large numbers last week. 
The Center was at capacity and in need of adopting pets in order to make room. Center manager Ethel Strother reported the discount apparently did the trick with 26 pets finding new homes during the promotion. She added the average number of adoptions in a week's time is five to seven.
However, the Animal Adoption Center is still running at high occupancy and adoptive homes are needed for wayward pets. Those interested are encouraged to call or come by at 3727 Valley View Lane, just east of the Farmers Branch Justice Center, under the Farmers Branch water tower. Regular hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, call 972.919.8770.
  
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Manske Library to offer web design class for kids
FARMERS BRANCH ~ Designed for kids 8 years old and up, "Little Bytes" is a workshop dedicated to teaching youngsters the basics of creating a website. Participants will learn about design, file organization, links and how to add video and images to their site. By the end of this workshop, kids will have a live website that is their creation. MANSKE LIBRARY ~ Meeting the call for 21st century skills, a web design workshop for kids will be offered at the Farmers Branch Manske Library every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from June 24 to July 10 at 5 p.m.
Sign up is required before June 23, and space is limited. For more information call the Library at 972.247.2511.
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Seven boys and five girls, ages 13 to 18, made up the 2013 Teen Fire & Rescue Academy, held last week.
Photo provided by Farmers Branch
Fire Department
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FARMERS BRANCH ~ The weekly update on the Interstate 635 expansion project has been made available by LBJ Express, the construction team responsible for the five-year project that will completely renovate the freeway from the Dallas North Tollway to Interstate 35E. This update is for
Wednesday, June 19, 2013.
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LBJ Express Finished Project Animatio
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As of today, the LBJ Express project is more than 50 percent complete, en route to its December of 2015 finish date.
Westbound LBJ, Midway Road, and Marsh Lane will be closed for major bridge construction work during night-time hours of June 27. Closure hours may vary due to the pace of work but will be confined to 8pm and 6am. Southbound Midway and Marsh will be detoured on Valley View to Webb Chapel. All westbound LBJ traffic will be detoured along the westbound frontage road from the Midway exit to the Marsh entrance ramp. After the closure, scheduled for June 27, there should be no more similar closures involving both Marsh and Midway.
Valley View (at IH35E): The IH35E northbound frontage road left lane will remain closed at Valley View through June. In addition, there will be various lane closures along Valley View between the IH35E frontage roads for several weeks to facilitate construction of a new IH35E northbound entrance ramp over Valley View.
IH 635/IH35E Interchange: Several major closures are planned for June. The ramp connecting northbound IH35E and westbound LBJ will be closed on the nights of June 19 and June 21-30. Eastbound LBJ will be closed on the nights of June 22 and 23. The ramp connecting westbound LBJ to northbound IH35E and the westbound Josey entrance ramp will be closed on the nights of June 24-26. IH35E southbound, the ramp connecting northbound IH35E to westbound LBJ and the ramp connecting southbound IH35E to eastbound LBJ will be closed on the nights of June 29 and 30.
Denton Drive: The westbound LBJ frontage road between Josey and Denton will be closed on the night of June 21 for bridge construction. Denton will be closed for bridge work from June28 at 8 pm through June 30 at noon and on the nights of July 12-14.
Josey Lane: Construction of the permanent paving and drainage on Josey will require various lanes closed through June. The eastbound frontage road will be closed between Josey and Bankway from June 19 until mid-September. Frontage road traffic will be detoured via Forest Lane to Webb Chapel. Josey will be closed at LBJ on the night of July 8.
Webb Chapel: Webb Chapel will be closed on the nights of June 28 and July 8. Various lanes of Webb Chapel will be closed in early July. The westbound LBJ frontage road from Marsh to Webb Chapel will be closed on the nights of June 24 and 25.
Marsh Lane: The pavement and bridge work on Marsh south of Ridgeoak will continue through June 30 when all through lanes should be reopened. All through lanes on Marsh are now open during peak periods. The westbound frontage road between Valley View and Marsh will be closed on the night of June 20. The westbound Marsh exit is expected to be restored by Sept 1.
Valley View at LBJ: Valley View will be closed on the night of July 11.
Midway Road: The southbound left turn lane on Midway Road at LBJ and both U-turn lanes are closed indefinitely. Expect various additional lanes to be closed on Midway at LBJ during off-peak hours. The right two lanes of northbound Midway will be closed for drainage work through July 10. The eastbound Midway exit is scheduled to be closed on the nights of June 25-27 and July 8-10. Midway will be closed for bridge construction on the nights of June 27 and 28. The eastbound frontage road east of Midway will be closed during off-peak hours daily through June.
Welch Road: Welch is narrowed to one lane in each direction south of LBJ through June 28 for drainage work.
Other Locations: Various main lanes of LBJ will be closed frequently during night-time hours. There will also be intermittent night-time closures of various LBJ entrance and exit ramps. All scheduled work is tentative as permitted by weather conditions and other factors.
For more information, visit www.lbjexpress.com.
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About the City of Farmers Branch
 An historic community in the geographic center of the DFW Metroplex, Farmers Branch boasts a residential population of 28,800 and a daytime employment population of 66,000. Located on the northwest border of the City of Dallas, the City's 27 parks and lush greenbelts feature nationally-acclaimed, award-winning soccer fields, football facilities as well as baseball and softball complexes. The city's location in the center of the Metroplex and only 15 minutes away from both DFW Airport and Love Field, along with the 2,200 hotel rooms within the city, make Farmers Branch an ideal location for residents and for business. For more information on the City of Farmers Branch, visit farmersbranch.info, visitfarmersbranch.com, lovethebranch.com
or call 972.247.3131. |
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