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Welcome to the free City of Burleson weekly E-Newsletter! There are more than 1,670 subscribers!  Click here for archived issues.  If you have questions or suggestions about City programs, services and events, call the public information office at 817-426-9622. 

March 18, 2016
Dive in for Easter eggs at Saturday's Aqua Egg Hunt
Pre-registration is $2 per child

Are you ready to dive in for Easter eggs at the Aqua Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 19? The hunt begins at 10 a.m. at the BRiCk's indoor pool.
 
Children up to age 11 will be divided into four age groups for hunts in the play structure area and the lap pool. First up are those two years old or younger (must have a parent/guardian) at 10 a.m., followed by children three to five years old at 10:30 a.m. The hunt moves to the lap pool at 11 a.m. with children six to eight years old. The finale features those between nine and 11 years old, at 11:30 a.m. The fee is $2 for each child.
 
Participation in Aqua Egg Hunt is limited, so preregistration is recommended. Sign up now at the BRiCk, 550 N.W. Summercrest Blvd. For more information, call the BRiCk at 817-426-9104.
Paw Pals has been revamped to include the zoo & farm animals!
This is for students who will be in the sixth grade in the 2016/2017 school year

Are your pre-teens considering a career involving animals or are they just crazy about dogs, cats, farm animals, and zoo animals? Then sign them up for the Burleson Animal Services' Paw Pals Animal Care Academy.
 
Paw Pals Animal Care Academy is a free educational program for area youth interested in animal welfare. This academy is noon-1:30 p.m. on four consecutive Saturdays - June 4, 11, 18, and 25. Classes include bite prevention/responsible pet ownership/veterinary care; what it takes to run the Fort Worth Zoo; how to care for farm animals; and graduation!
 
Paw Pals is for students who are entering the 6th grade in the 2016/2017 school year. The class is limited to 15 students who must either live in Burleson or attend school in Burleson. You must fill out an application. Read more about Paw Pals Animal Care Academy
Race for prize eggs at the March 19 Bunny Daze
Children, race against your peers for prize eggs at Hidden Creek Sports Complex on Saturday, March 19. The free Bunny Daze festivities are 12 p.m.-2 p.m. There will be onstage performances, carnival games, and face painting. The Easter Bunny will be at Bunny Daze to meet and greet and pose for pictures.
 
The Bunny Daze Easter egg hunt starts at 1:30 p.m. and lasts for about 30 seconds (OK, tops 5 minutes). We have more than tripled the eggs for this year's Bunny Daze. There will also be a wide variety of candy in each section to hunt for as well.

Children, up to age 12, will be divided into age groups to hunt for eggs, including prize eggs. This year we have added a section for children with special needs and disabilities to hunt for those prize eggs. The age groups are 0-2: Parents will be allowed to assist; 3-4: No parents allowed to assist; 5-6: No parents allowed to assist; 7-8: No parents allowed to assist; 9 and up: No parents allowed to assist; Special Needs: Parents will be allowed to assist.
 
Hidden Creek Sports Complex is located at 295 E. Hidden Creek Pkwy., next to Hidden Creek Golf Course.
TxDOT wants your input on project to widen FM 3391
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) wants your input on proposed changes to East Renfro Street/FM 3391.
 
TxDOT proposes to widen the existing three-lane undivided East Renfro Street (FM 3391) to six lanes of divided highway between the intersection of I-35W and Hurst Road in Burleson, and widen to four lanes of divided highway between Hurst Road and the intersection with CR 602 in Johnson County. The state agency is hosting an open house/public meeting on Thursday, April 7, 6 p.m. - 8 p.m., in the cafeteria of Stribling Elementary School, 1881 E. Renfro St.
 
Dedicated right-turn and left-turn lanes would be added to the project, as needed. The proposed project includes widening the existing right-of-way section that varies from 120 feet - 140 feet to a proposed 120 feet - 220 feet.  The project is in the design phase.  No schedule for construction of the project has been established. 
 
The April 7 meeting is designed to provide a forum for the exchange of information to help create a balanced design. Maps, drawings, and other information will be on display. Members of the project team will be available to answer questions. No formal presentation will be provided.
 
All interested citizens are invited to attend to view the displays and provide the project team with comments. Written comments may be presented either at the meeting or may be mailed to TxDOT (Randy Bowers, P.E., area engineer, Texas Department of Transportation/Johnson County Area Office, 2200 FM 2280, Keene, TX 76031).
If disaster strikes, CERT team is trained to jump in and help
Who is training so that they can help you if disaster strikes? More than two dozen folks committed to five days of 15-plus hours of training for the Burleson Fire Marshal's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). They learned disaster preparedness and fire safety, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, and disaster psychology and terrorism. On March 12, they worked together on a mock scenario. CERT members are critical in giving support to family, friends, and neighbors in their immediate area until first responders arrive.
 
Your new CERT members include Garrett Bryl, Colton Carnes, Denise Daniel, Karen Dawkins, Edward Fields, Josh Frost, Chris Gallop, Carrie Jensen, Dee Kerr, Tawny Larsen, Terry Lowe, Bob Mason, Troy Meyers, Robert Norris, Lynda O'Rourke, Sabrina Rivera, Lloyd Roberts, Cynthia Ross, Mark Ross, Janeth Savage, Jennifer Sellers, Pete Underwood, Ann Walker, Steven Walker, Craig Wheeler, Alicia Whitley, Paige Witherspoon and Steven Witherspoon.
 
And big shout out to the drama students who played their "victim" roles well in this scenario. To see the rest of the pictures go to the Community Emergency Response Team Training album on the City of Burleson Texas Facebook page.
Saturday's garage sale benefits police officers
Are you checking out the garage sales on Saturday? Be sure to stop by the former Wells Fargo Bank site, 1131 S.W. Wilshire Blvd., next to the Burleson Police Department, for the Burleson Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association garage sale.

The sale is March 19, 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. They have a little bit of everything - all sizes of clothes, children's toys, home goods, and books. There are no set prices on the items. You pay whatever you want to donate to the 501�3 non-profit organization. At 2 p.m., the BCPAAA members will accept bids to buy everything that is left. If you are interested in donating items to the garage sale, please email the BCPAAA.

Remember the Tip A Cop fundraiser at Grump's Burgers in September 2015? The BCPAAA spearheaded that effort. Thanks to the hard work of the Grump's employees, Burleson police officers and BCPAAA, $4,600 was raised. Those BCPAAA funds are being used not only to maintain the police department's bicycle unit and honor guard, but also to kick start a new program, Operation Helping Hands. That program supplies officers with gift cards to hand out, at their discretion, when they come upon someone who the officer believes is truly in need. The Operation Helping Hands gift cards can be used for gas or food or finding a place for someone to stay.

Members of the BCPAAA are graduates of the department's Citizens Police Academy.
Joey the donkey hosts Easter egg hunt at the farm March 26!
We are spreading the Easter fun out over two weekends! Don't forget to bring your wee ones to Russell Farm. The big Easter finale features Joey the Donkey.
 
Joey is graciously putting on his rabbit ears just for you on Saturday, March 26. He is hosting the Easter egg hunt for toddlers at his home, Russell Farm, at 11 a.m. Children up to 4 years old can join him at the farm at 405 W. County Road 714. Joey will pose for pictures, so bring your own camera and Easter baskets.
 
The 30-acre Russell Farm was donated to the City in 2011. The grounds have several galleries containing wood sculptures by Charlie Boren and local artists, along with historical artifacts. For more information about the Easter egg hunt at Russell Farm, call 817-447-3316.
Pick up your military veteran bricks at the library
The military veteran bricks that were removed from Veterans Park, and replaced with new bricks when it was revamped into Veteran's Memorial Plaza, are available for those veterans and/or their families to pick up.
 
The bricks are located at the Burleson Public Library, 248 S.W. Johnson Ave. They are outside, on the northeast side of the library (post office side), where the concrete tables are located. The library does not have to be open for you to retrieve your brick.
 
The old bricks have been available to families since the November 2014 Military Veteran Tribute. Nearly 1,000 bricks still remain.
 
To see if your brick is still available, go to the Old Veteran Bricks list on the City website. If you see your brick or a brick engraved for someone you know, you may pick it/them up. They will be at the library until July 8, 2016. After July 8, the bricks will be donated to a local Boy Scout troop for a memorial project. Read more about the list of bricks.
Beatles Tribute band rocked the BRiCk March 12
If your friends are humming Beatles tunes, or singing them out loud, you know they didn't miss the Me & My Monkey Beatles Tribute band at the BRiCk on March 12! And if those same friends can fill you full of fun facts about the Beatles, then you know they soaked up the presentation by Beatles scholar Aaron Krerowicz.
 
The stars of Me & My Monkey are Rod Bollinger as John Lennon, Peter Paul Sacco as Paul McCartney, George Jara as George Harrison, and Michael Daniel as Ringo Starr. Me & My Monkey had the BRiCk rocking as they sang all of the Beatles favorites. We even had a tyke dressed as a Baby Beatle! Thank you for being part of this fun free afternoon!
 
Learn how to save water during 'Fix a Leak Week' workshops
You can put a stop to the more than 1 trillion gallons of water that are wasted each year as a result of household leaks. And, Home Depot can help.
 
The Tarrant Regional Water District, of which Burleson is a member, and Home Depot have partnered to promote "Fix a Leak Week" with free workshops tomorrow, March 19. All North Texas Home Depot stores, including those in Johnson and Tarrant counties, are participating.
 
There are three different workshops, 10 a.m.-noon. At 10 a.m. it's Repair/Replace leaking faucets. That's followed at 10:40 a.m. with Repair/Replace problem toilets. And the finale is at 11:20 a.m. with Repair/replace faulty sprinkler heads. For more information about the workshops go to the Save Tarrant Water website.
If you can't volunteer with CERT, please volunteer with Red Cross
Did you see the pictures from Saturday's Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training hosted by the Burleson Fire Marshal's office? To participate in the CERT training you have to live inside the city limits of Burleson (pay City taxes, water/trash bill) or work in Burleson. If you don't fit that bill, you can still volunteer your skills and your time.
 
Please contact the American Red Cross. The American Red Cross DFW chapter includes Dallas, Tarrant, Rockwall, Kaufman, Ellis, Navarro, Johnson, Hood, Somerville, Erath, Palo Pinto, and Parker counties. Burleson is in both Tarrant and Johnson counties. There are a number of ways - including disaster services - that you can volunteer your time to help your neighbors. Please check out the opportunities, and how to get started on the American Red Cross' Become a Volunteer page.  
Have you signed up for the City's weather alerts?
How will you know if a tornado warning or severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for Burleson? The City of Burleson, in partnership with Everbridge, will contact you if you reside inside our city limits (pay a City water/trash bill and/or City taxes). Our alert calls only cover those who reside inside our city limits. If you live outside the Burleson city limits, please contact the city or county in which you reside to see what alert system they have in place.
 
To sign up for Burleson's alert system, go to the City of Burleson Alert System page on the City website. Choose how you want to be contacted, the number of phones and email addresses you want included, and the order in which you want to be contacted. You can include your home and work address, your child's school and/or daycare, or your parents/grandparents' home. You can set a "quiet time" for messages (tornado messages will be sent regardless of quiet times) and choose which weather warnings you want to receive.
 
Check the Notifications on your cell phone and make sure that Emergency Alerts under Government Alerts (bottom of the list) are turned on. The National Weather Service will send weather alerts to you based on your location. If you are out of town or driving and don't have TV/Radio/social media readily accessible, you will still be warned, via the Government Alerts on your cell phone, about a tornado or severe weather so that you have time to seek shelter. And please, if you have older relatives, neighbors, co-workers or friends who are not plugged in to social media or weather alerts, please reach out to them when you are notified of the potential for severe weather.
Keep up with all the 2016 City events via City Facebook
Are you a fan of the City of Burleson Texas Government Facebook page? If you're not, you should be. All of the City of Burleson events for 2016 are posted under the Events tab. Even if you are not a fan, you can see the Events tab, but we want you to be a fan! We are working hard to get all of our City-coordinated event dates set so you can mark your calendars now. You don't want to miss a thing! Just click on the Facebook EVENTS tab.
How do you stay in the loop on City news and events?
Do you know how to stay in the loop on City events and programs? This weekly E-Newsletter is one of your options. Sign up for it online.
 
The central hub of all City information is the City of Burleson website. Do you need to call staff? Click on the orange telephone at the top of the website. Do you want to be notified when we post public notices, Pet of the Week, City holiday or weather closures, job openings, the latest news releases, and calendar events? Click on the red Stay Notified icon in the middle of the homepage.
 
Is social media more your style? Check out the City's seven Facebook pages, two Twitter pages, YouTube channel, Google+, and Instagram on the Engage With Burleson link  at the bottom of the homepage. That link also includes a link to the City Focus newsletter that is sent to all City utility customers monthly, except for February and July.
 
The City observes seven holidays in 2016. You can find that list on the City Holidays page. If City facilities are closed, we post an alert at the top of every City website page at least one day in advance of the closure and for the duration of the closure. You can also find the holiday closures under the Recent News tab on the homepage.

Have questions? Call the Public Information Office at 817-426-9622.  
Want to know what's being discussed and how the vote goes?
Are you looking for agendas for City meetings? You can still access them through the Public Notices page on the City of Burleson website, but now you can go straight to the agenda by using the Agendas & Minutes page.

You can see current meeting agendas as well as past meeting agendas, minutes, and video (Burleson City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission meetings are live streamed and archived). Minutes reflecting the outcome of agenda items are approved at the next regular meeting of the council, commission, boards and committees.

If you don't want to wait until the next meeting to read the minutes, you can view the video of the meeting by going to the Streaming Video page on the City website.


Do you know what's going on in your City? Choose the form of communication that best suits your style by going to the Engage with Burleson page on the City's new website. We have Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, the City Focus monthly newsletter, this weekly E-Newsletter, streaming video of our public meetings, and a link to our City staff directory. If you want to keep up with the latest happenings, go to News Releases on the City website and, check out the Events calendar on the City Facebook. If you aren't signed up to receive the City's Everbridge emergency notifications (severe thunderstorm warning, tornado warning, mosquito spraying alert, etc.), you can do that now by going to the City of Burleson Alert System signup page. Thank you for being engaged with your City!

Sincerely,

Sally Ellertson
City of Burleson

City of Burleson
817-426-9622 | [email protected] | http://www.burlesontx.com
 
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