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Meeting allows city, MISD to maintain good relationship

By Kenny Green, kgreen@acnpapers.com

Published: Thursday, February 25, 2010 1:14 PM CST

City Staff paints picture of what is going on around Mesquite

The Mesquite City Council and Mesquite ISD held a joint meeting on Tuesday night in the MISD board�s meeting room. The council and school board were joined by several members of the city staff and MISD administration.

�This relationship is the best in the state, (we can) never take it for granted,� said school board president Dr. Cary Tanamachi.

Tom Palmer, manager of economic development, began the meeting by discussing some of the recent successes that the city has had recently. Palmer discussed the SuperTarget construction and Market East shopping center revitalization projects. He said that the project has been nominated for awards in two categories, most creative business deal and best community impact, by the Dallas Business Journal. Palmer stated that the project was unique because it involved a private-private-public partnership to complete and that it has had a tremendous impact on the community since completion.

�The whole area looks new, fresh,� Palmer said.

The city received a 14-acre tract of land as a result of the deal and plans to entertain offers to develop it into a City Centre-type project. Palmer said the city already had a demand analysis performed as well as conceptual drawings. He said the city hopes to have construction begin on the project in 2011.

Palmer also discussed the Peachtree Town Center project. He said that due to the economic situation there have been a few changes made to the conceptual model. He said that restaurant pad locations have been moved to where the hotel and conference center was originally planned, and the hotel and conference center was moved closer to Peachtree Road to serve as an anchor for the project.

Jerry Dittman, developer ombudsperson for the city of Mesquite, gave an update on the traffic signal synchronization project that partially involved MISD. Dittman said that the project began in 2002 when the city council decided they wanted all the traffic signals in the city synchronized to better improve the flow of traffic.

Dittman said that the design for the project was originally created in 2005 for 22 traffic signals to be synched. He said that around the same time MISD was looking to expand its fiber optic network so they agreed to partner with the city to conserve costs for both parties.

�The city saved $1.6 million by partnering with the school district,� Dittman said.

Dittman indicated that the project is still ongoing and that recently the city was able to aid MISD by running fiber to its new warehouse since they had already begun a project that passed by the facility.

Parks and Recreation Director Cliff Keheley gave a progress update on the master plan for the city�s hike and bike trail. The plan was originally developed in 2008 so that the city could have an outline of what it would take to connect the entire city to an alternate means of transportation.

Keheley said the plan consists of a spine that is intended to eventually connect the city to a regional trail system. He said most of the approximately 7.5 miles of trails currently in the city are in the parks.

�The goal (of the plan) is to provide access to the facilities for (people) to be able to walk there,� Keheley said.

He said that the city currently has plans in place to begin building the first section of the trail system which will extend from LBJ and Town Centre to Northwest Drive. Keheley stated that the trail will include illumination and that the design elements from the first section will be utilized throughout the master plan. He said the cost for the first section will be $3.8 million with the Regional Transportation Council paying for 80 percent of the project. The city will pay for the majority of the remaining 20 percent through Mesquite Quality of Life Corporation 4B funds.

Deputy City Manager Carol Zolnerowich presented the council and board with information about the ongoing construction on the new city hall building. Zolnerowich said that inclement weather has already thrown the project behind schedule.

�It seems like it has been nothing but rain and snow. We are already a month behind,� Zolnerowich said.

She said that the building was designed to achieve LEED silver certification. According to the U.S. Green Council Web site, LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system providing third-party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. By obtaining silver status it would mean that the building�s construction went beyond being LEED certified to the next tier of the LEED ranking system. LEED rates projects as Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum. She said that the city council recently decided that all future municipal buildings will be at least certified to silver by LEED.

Zolnerowich said the building will include two commissioned art pieces, one on the exterior and one on the interior. The exterior art will be two 25-foot columns that will be illuminated by light at night to serve as a beacon to the new municipal complex. The interior art piece consists of three pieces of metal that form ribbons that will appear to be moving with the slightest gust of air.

According to Zolnerowich, the building will include state-of-the-art city council chambers, two municipal court rooms and a production studio for the city.

�We are really excited about this project. We think it is going to go a long way to improving the image of the city,� Zolnerowich said.

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