Action Arlington News

Action North Arlington
Meeting Notes � January 29, 2009

1. The meeting opened with a short presentation by Vince Pellman, the golf pro at Rolling Hills CC. He outlined a special membership offer that essentially reduces monthly dues for the first year by 50% to $75/month. For more information, contact Rolling Hills at 817-274-1072.

2. Jeff Williams of Graham Engineering gave a presentation entitled �What�s Up with Arlington.�
a. Arlington is on the move � location is perfect, in the middle of the metroplex and with excellent access to DFW Airport. Arlington�s airport is the 3rd busiest in the metroplex behind only DFW and Love Field. The Arlington airport will prove to be even more of an asset with the growth of the activity at the Cowboys Stadium.
b. Trinity Railway Express� nearest boarding point is at Metroport, just off Trinity, east of SH 360. There is talk of providing a bus link from a new station in Euless down Collins to the entertainment district. There is also a study underway to determine the feasibility of a rail connector coming to the Union Pacific railway south of I-30.
c. Cowboys Stadium is 2 � times the size of Texas Stadium. The Cowboys Stadium footprint is 30 acres compared to Ranger Stadium�s 9 acres. Routine seating of 80,000 with special events (Super Bowl) seating of 100,000. Roof is retractable in ~12 minutes. Entire interior can be cooled or heated when the roof is closed in 4 hours. The roof of the stadium is ~280� above ground level, and is visible from afar if the viewer is at any reasonable elevation.
i. The �Window Wall� at the west end is 180� x 120�.
ii. 20 Million pounds of stress at each corner on the curved supporting trusses.
iii. The video board inside the stadium is 60 yards long and 70� tall.
d. Johnson Creek Restoration Project �
i. Ranger lakes dredged and clean
ii. Work being done to the creek bed and edges � will be a nice asset as well as helping with flood control.
e. Glory Park � the development of mixed use, restaurants, parking garages, hotels is no longer planned due to the current lack of availability of funding. The Steiner Company is no longer involved with this project. It is anticipated that new plans will develop as the economy improves.
f. Unique venue in all the world with first class baseball stadium, football (multi-use) stadium, Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor in the middle of the DFW area!

g. Transportation � Federal and state funds being used on roads in our city. $750 million on highways, interchanges, and bridges. $60 million on Arlington�s city streets.
i. Three bridges � Center Street, Baird�s Farm Road, and Collins Street.
ii. Center Street bridge will be open in just a couple of weeks. It is a Federal test case for covered pedestrian walkways.
iii. 5 color paint schemes on the Arlington History murals, which are also imprinted into the cement retaining walls.
iv. Intelligent transportation systems � there is now a very sophisticated traffic mgmt control center set up � active highway signs will be installed pointing out traffic problems along the freeways/major highways.
v. 14 highway interchanges for Arlington when all completed.
h. University of Texas at Arlington � UTA plans to grow from its current 25,000 students to ~40,000 students and is becoming a Tier 1 Research University. UTA is a great asset to Arlington and can bring recognition to our city.
i. Streetscapes being added in central Arlington to dress up downtown and make it look more welcoming.
j. Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts/Founders Plaza opened last September. The facility was funded in a private/public partnership and will host 50 free concerts annually. An interesting requirement is that all performers must be �professional� as opposed to amateurs. Arlington is one of only six cities that have the pavilions � Pasadena, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Westport, CT; Memphis, TN; Harrisburg, PA and ARLINGTON!
k. Babe�s Fried Chicken Restaurant is coming to Arlington next to Johnny High�s Theatre at Division and Center Streets.
l. River Legacy Park � a new canoe launch site on the Trinity River has been built. The easiest way to get to it is to enter River Legacy from Collins, just north of the river.
m. Viridian Project � North of the Trinity River, between Collins and SH 360. The dirt is flying! Phase 1 will be the mixed use retail/apartments along Collins. Eventually, single family homes with price points of $1 million and up will be built. (A future Action North Arlington meeting will feature The Viridian Project as presented by Huffines Communities).
n. A series of questions followed:
i. 360/I-30 interchange � Design has been done; City is asking TXDOT to keep in forefront of mix. When? No answer to that as yet.
ii. Cooper Street Bridge & I-30 � There are no current plans for this interchange or bridge.
iii. Above ground utility lines along Collins � burying utility lines is a problem in virtually every city. Burying them is a very expensive proposition � no current plans.
iv. Center Street Bridge on North Side � there is a road on the north side that will connect to Collins. At Lamar, traffic will have to turn either right or left. Hence, southbound traffic will also have to maneuver to go south on Center across the bridge (will have to enter from Lamar, Lincoln will not connect directly to the bridge). Residents of the neighborhoods north of Lamar strongly pressed for this limitation a few years ago in an effort to keep Lincoln from becoming a major artery between the Center Street Bridge and NE GreenOaks Blvd.
v. Will TRE build rail line to the Cowboy Stadium � very important, there may be a TRE station on Collins, but only bus shuttle for the foreseeable future to the stadiums.

3. Barry Hines, Deputy Police Chief for North Arlington Sector was the next speaker.
a. History � 24 years with Arlington Police Department. Arlington native.
b. Lt Randy Reed is the north area (Sector K) evening commander.
c. Crime is on decrease � down 9% since same time last year. 700 fewer people/businesses victimized. Last three years are all showing overall decreases.
d. Cowboys � working on APD issues for past 3 years beginning with the acquisition of the property, demolition, construction and pretty soon, operation of the stadium. The APD is training for large events; have been working Rangers Games for many years and have trained with Irving PD during Cowboy games as well as having attended several past Super Bowls, political conventions, etc. in an effort to be ready.

4. Marc Marchand, Arlington Library East Area Branch Manager was the next speaker.
a. Reported on the series on Home Security and Personal Safety that the library is sponsoring.
b. NE Branch Library continuing youth initiatives after school, adapting to the needs of the children while maintaining the proper atmosphere of the library for adult patrons.
c. Teen zone has been set up in the training room for Nichols Jr High students who are required to be off the school campus by 4:15 pm. The success of this program has been evident. The students are spending time in the library and are off the streets.

5. Jim Bass reported on his meeting with Jeanine Johnson, the principal of Sherrod Elementary. Although the school is a Title I school, the dedication of the teachers, and the facilities available, provide a quality neighborhood elementary school.
a. A bullying incident after school in November has led to staggered release of the students and teachers often accompany the students for part of their walk home. No further incidents have been reported.
b. You owe it to yourself to visit the school and observe the decorum of the students.

6. Mel LeBlanc, District 1 Councilman was asked to address the group.
a. With the cooperation of the APD, the game rooms that had plagued our area are gone!
b. The razing site of the old Madison Creek apartments has become a dumping ground for trash. Councilman LeBlanc is taking action to get this corrected.
c. Huffines Communities has purchased the Riverside Golf Course as part of the Viridian Development. That property will provide access from Viridian to SH 360.
d. The extension of Ballpark Way from NE GreenOaks into Euless has been removed from the Master Thoroughfare Plan.
e. In response to a question regarding the excavation on the west side of Collins north of the Trinity River, Jeff Williams stated that it was part of the flood control plan for the area.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:30 pm. Another meeting will be held in the next 90 days or so, depending on the emergence of any important issues.

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