Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 12, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 14, 2013 Page: 1 of 48
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Denton Record-Chronicle
Vol. 110, No. 12 / 48 pages, 4 sections
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Denton, Texas
50 cents
Commissioners mull standards for vehicles
By Bj Lewis
Staff Writer
blewis @ dentonrc.com
Denton County commissioners are
looking at ways to standardize the way
county law enforcement vehicles are
outfitted.
Looking at cutting costs, County
Judge Mary Horn suggested a commit-
tee be formed to put together the stan-
dards. Commissioners later agreed to
allow the existing vehicle assessment
committee to form the standards.
Horn said standardizing the choices
of light bars or gun boxes for certain ve-
hicles will help save the county money.
“So maybe a vehicle gets into an acci-
dent, but everything attached to it can
be used again and removed and put on
the next vehicle,” she said.
The discussion was spurred by a re-
quest from Precinct 4 Constable Tim
Burch. Commissioners had approved his
request for a vehicle to replace one that
was deemed a total loss after it was struck
by a drunken driver several months ago.
On Tuesday, Burch was seeking
about $9,000 in equipment to outfit
the vehicle.
“While you want people to be able to
have the equipment they need to do
their job, there is a big discrepancy be-
tween necessary and personal prefer-
ence,” Horn said. “Things get out of
hand if you don’t have standardization.”
Burch said he needed the equip-
ment for his deputies’ safety as they
conduct their duties in the rural pre-
cinct, which includes Roanoke, Justin,
much of Flower Mound and other parts
of southwest Denton County.
“There is a difference in what some
request,” Burch said. “[For example,]
you can save some money if you don’t
use a light bar. It depends on what con-
stables think is best for their deputies.
“They want to standardize the emer-
gency equipment, I have no problem
with that. I just want my guys to be rec-
ognized, and that’s why I outfit my vehi-
cles the way I do.”
Horn named some people who
could serve on a standardization com-
mittee before learning that most every-
one she mentioned was already on the
vehicle assessment committee. It need-
ed only the addition of someone from
emergency management.
“You want these various depart-
ments to be able to do their job, and we
have an obligation to make sure they
can do their job,” Horn said. ‘We as a
court [also] have an obligation to be
frugal, and it’s our job to watch dollars
and cents.”
She said she recognized that consta-
bles have different needs because of the
areas they patrol and how densely pop-
ulated the areas are.
“But we can still have some stan-
dardization; that helps us contain ex-
penses,” she said.
BJ LEWIS can be reached at 940-
566-6875 and via Twitter at @Bjlewis
DRC.
TODAY
IN DENTON
Mostly cloudy with
scattered showers and
thunderstorms
High: 88
Low: 76
Weather report, 2A
INSIDE TODAY
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STATE
The Army psychiatrist
on trial for the 2009
shooting rampage at
Fort Hood told mental
health experts shortly
after the attack that he
“would still be a martyr”
if convicted and execut-
ed by the government,
according to newly re-
leased documents.
Page 3A
Mini marsupial
Al Key/DRC
A baby possum, barely 6 inches long, is shown recently near a trail at the Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center
in northeast Denton.
Pilot Point building list of goals
By John D. Harden
Staff Writer
jharden @ dentonrc.com
PILOT POINT - Nearly all of the pri-
orities set by City Council members last
fiscal year have been completed or are un-
der construction.
This creates room for officials to add
new goals for 2014.
On Monday night during a City Coun-
cil meeting, Pilot Point officials discussed
moving forward with uncompleted goals,
adding items and prioritizing the goals on
their list.
Some items on the council’s list weren’t
as easy to initiate and they stalled. Officials
attempted to weed through those stalled
items to determine which ones would be
included on the 2014 priority list.
“The question we’re asking is if we
want to proceed with these projects and if
we think it’s worth it,” City Manager Tom
Adams said.
Some of the possibilities the council
discussed included widening streets or
adding sidewalks near schools, repairing
the roof on a fire station and conducting
traffic studies, but the ideas are prelimi-
nary.
Creating a safe environment for resi-
dents seemed to be a top priority for coun-
cil members, based on their suggestions.
Setting goals gives council members an
opportunity to outline goals and priorities
for city staff members and allows staff to
focus on those items as the year progress-
es.
See PILOT POINT on 13A
DME
sends
out
letters
City utility seeks input
from residents on plans
to create substations
By Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe
Staff Writer
pheinkel-wolfe @ dentonrc.com
Many residents will be receiving notic-
es from Denton Municipal Electric in the
coming weeks, inviting them to one of sev-
eral open houses planned to get their feed-
back over new substations planned near
some neighborhoods.
The meetings are part of a new proce-
dure the city-owned utility is using to work
with residents who will be directly affected
by a five-year, $308 million expansion and
upgrade of the local electrical grid. The
move was welcomed by City Council
members, who were briefed on the sched-
ule during a workshop session this week.
Phil Williams, general manager of
DME, said more than 100 residents in
Southridge attended a meeting this week
about work planned for their neighbor-
hood, which will require excavation to re-
place the buried power lines.
Three more meetings are planned in
September to get feedback from resi-
dents in northwestern, northern and
See DME on 13A
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Lake Dallas Band Boosters plan fundraising event
By Britney Tabor
Staff Writer
btabor@ dentonrc.com
Lake Dallas Band Boosters will present
a 5K march-a-thon event on Aug. 24.
Lake Dallas High School Band mem-
bers, who will march through and per-
form in portions of the Lake Cities, are
asking family and friends to sponsor them
in the effort. According to event organiz-
ers, band members are being asked to col-
lect pledges totaling $100 each.
The event proceeds will help fund the
band’s equipment repairs, props, private
lessons, training, color guard instruction,
scholarships and other program necessi-
ties, according to event organizers.
“Our goal is just the $100 pledge per
student, and anything above that just
benefits the program even more,” said
Ginger Collier, band booster vice presi-
dent and march-a-thon coordinator.
“We’re just really excited about it and ex-
cited to show the community our hard-
working kids.”
The march-a-thon begins at 8:30 a.m.
The band will begin marching from Lake
Dallas High on Parkridge Drive in Cor-
inth. Along the route the band will stop at
the Albertsons store on FM2181 in Cor-
inth, where it will march through the store
and stop to perform in the parking lot.
The route will continue along the
North Denton Drive bridge in Hickory
Creek and conclude at Lake Dallas Middle
School on Hundley Drive in Lake Dallas.
Donation buckets will be available to col-
lect contributions along the route.
“It’s really kind of fun to be able to ma-
neuver through those three cities,” Collier
said.
Officials with the Corinth, Lake Dallas
and Hickory Creek police departments
and Lake Cities Fire Department will be
present to assist the band and ensure safe
crossings on roadways along the route,
said Corinth police Capt. Greg Wilkerson.
Residents wanting to view the march-a-
thon, he said, may stand along the side-
walks and cheer the band on.
No roads will be closed during the
event, Wilkerson said.
“There might be some slight delays due
to the fact that it’s a parade, but we’re not
See LAKE DALLAS on 13A
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FEATURING EVENTS IN YOUR COMMUNITY ONLINE & ON YOUR MOBILE
To view or add upcoming events,visit DenfonRC.com/ca/enofar f jj£
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Cobb, Dawn. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 12, Ed. 1 Wednesday, August 14, 2013, newspaper, August 14, 2013; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1102308/m1/1/: accessed July 9, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .