The City of Burleson and the Burleson Heritage Foundation marked the end of the City's Centennial year by burying a time capsule at Centennial Park on Dec. 21. The park is located at 1100 Scarlet Sage Pkwy. The capsule is buried at the center of the Military Veteran Grove, which was dedicated Nov. 3. Contained in the time capsule are historical calendars and books; local newspapers and magazines; restaurant menus; pictures, and a little military history. A granite monument engraved with the City's Centennial logo marks the spot of the time capsule. To see the rest of the pictures, go to the Burial of the Centennial Time Capsule album on the City of Burleson Facebook page.

Burleson firefighters are offering a free basic CPR class to the public on Saturday, Jan. 26, 9 a.m.-noon, at Fire Station #1, 828 S.W. Alsbury Blvd. You must be at least 15 years old to participate. This class will not certify participants in CPR. The course walks an attendee through very basic and easy hands on CPR, basic first aid, and instruction on an AED (Automated External Defibrillator). The Jan. 26 class is open to the first 30 people who sign up. Call Fire Station #1 at 817-426-9176, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday.

Water supplies are dropping about 1 percent every two weeks in the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD), which supplies water to an 11-county area, including Tarrant  County. Burleson buys its water from the City of Fort Worth. Fort Worth is supplied by the TRWD. At the current rate, the TRWD will reach the Stage 1 trigger of the water district's drought plan by mid-January. The city of Burleson was under Stage 1 restrictions Aug. 29, 2011-May 4, 2012. The plan is designed to slow the drop in lake levels - and does so primarily by limiting outdoor watering with sprinklers and automatic irrigation systems to no more than two days per week. The best way to save water in the winter is to turn your irrigation system off and limit watering to once every other week - if it hasn't rained. The TRWD has posted a video on YouTube. You can also learn more by going to the Save Tarrant Water website.

Have you set starting a business as one of your goals for 2013? Look to the City's Economic Development Department to help you achieve that dream. Start on the Locating in Burleson page for available land and buildings, demographics and maps, and more. Then go to the Starting a Business page and click on the Small Business Planner link. Get tips on how to create your business plan, choose your business structure, choose and register your business, obtain business licenses and permits, learn about business law and regulation, how to finance your business, explore loans, grants and funding, choose your location and equipment, and hire and retain employees. For local assistance, contact the City's Economic Development office at 817-426-9623 or 817-426-9684 or email the staff.

What does the City do for you? The City is tooting its own horn, starting this month! The public works department is kicking off a year-long education program in the display case in the front foyer of the Burleson Public Library. The display will change each month. The educational presentations will move to Burleson City Hall the following month. Other participating departments include engineering, golf, library, police, parks and recreation, neighborhood services, community development, municipal court, fire department/fire marshal, city manager and city secretary, finance/human resources/information technology, and economic development. Be sure to stop by the library, 248 S.W. Johnson Ave., at least once a month in 2013.

Trash and curbside recycling will be collected on Monday, Jan. 21, but City facilities will be closed in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. Hidden Creek Golf Course will be open, 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m., but the Burleson Recreation Center (the BRiCk), library, animal shelter, and Senior Activity Center will be closed. The Burleson City Council meeting scheduled for Jan. 21 has been moved to Tuesday, Jan. 22. The work session is at 6 p.m. and the general meeting is at 7 p.m. at city hall. Read More

If you live inside the city limits of Burleson, it's easy to recycle your Christmas tree when it begins dropping needles. The City's compost/mulch/recycling center is open 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. The center is located at 620 Memorial Plaza, behind Fire Station #2. You have to be a resident of the city to use the center. If you don't want to recycle your holiday tree, set it at the curb along with your regular trash.  Dried-out trees should not be left in the home or garage, or placed outside against the home.