Glen Forest

Glen Forest

Mayor Quarterly Roundtable Meeting

Mayor’s Quarterly Neighborhood Roundtable Meeting
Thursday, July 18,2002

City of Keller Representatives:
Dave Phillips - Mayor
Lyle Dresher – City Manager
Ed Ilschner – Director Public Works
Mark Hafner – Chief of Police
Phyllis Lee – Assistant to City Manager

Meeting was held at the new Keller Town Hall (very lovely I might add)!

Mayor Dave Phillips began the meeting by giving out his email, DCPhillips@mindspring.com

Review of the Municipal Service Center – Lyle Dresher, City Manager
Facility will be located near Chism Trail and Bear Creek Parkway, on approximately 9.2 acres. The facility will begin construction this fall, and should be complete in summer 2003. It will house all maintenance staff and vehicles for streets, water, utilities and parks and recreation. Police and fire vehicles will also be using it for fueling. There are homes located within close proximity to the new service center location, so the new facility will maintain a very residential look, as well as lots of landscaping…for an additional $400,000. Total project $5 million.

Review of the Recreation/Aquatic Center – Lyle Dresher, City Manager
This facility will be located directly across the street from the current Keller Police Department (on Rufe Snow). It will be for leisure activities and is planned to be very similar to the rec center in Cappel. The indoor area will be approximately 55,000 sq. ft. It will have a fitness center, 2 basketball courts, elevated walking path around basketball courts, offices, aerobic room, childcare, community meeting rooms, indoor zero entry pool, as well as a lap pool. Outside there will be a 24,000 sq. ft. outdoor water park, equipped with BBQ area and pavilion, available to reserve for special events, etc. Lyle stated that the facility would be open May 2004, so as to take advantage of the entire summer usage season. The membership fees to use the facility will be similar to health clubs. Keller residents will pay a reduced price. Non-residents will be able to use the facilities, but at a higher expense.

There are also plans for a Skate Park, directly next door to the Recreation Center. It will be a below ground concrete skate park, approximately 20,000 sq. ft. Will have rails, bowls, etc.

Both of these projects total $13.5 million. The ½ cent sales tax is funding the project, and the memberships are said to pay for the annual running of the facilities on a daily basis.


Updates on Keller Smithfield Road – Ed Ilschner
This is a two phase project. First phase construction begins May/June 2003 and will be 12-15 month duration. First phase improvements start at old Winn Dixie shopping center and extend to Bear Creek Parkway. It will be a four lane divided road with raised median. Phase Two goes beyond Bear Creek. Phase Two construction will begin May/June 2004 and will be a 4 lane divided road with a raised median, although only 2 lanes will be used for traffic. The additional lanes will be used for future expansion, when population demands increase. This phase continues until Village Trail (will have a similar look like the road by the new Cherry Grove homes). All improvements will include turning lanes, sidewalks and room for bikers. Total project $8.4 million. There are additional plans to extend Keller Smithfield to North Tarrant County Blvd., although nothing is in the planning stages yet.

Updates on Rapp Road – Ed Ilschner
Also a two phase project. First phase construction to begin May/June 2003, 12-15 month duration. First phase improvements will start from 377 (just south of United Rental) to the Willis and Shady Lane intersection, which will be improved to make it safer. Rapp Road will be a four lane road, with sidewalks and a 10 foot wide trail. Stop lights will be placed on 377 for the new Rapp Road addition. Phase Two construction begins May/June 2004 from Willis to Rufe Snow. From Willis, Rapp Road will continue on its current path to Mockingbird, then will curve into a now undeveloped area, and parallel the electrical towers until it connects with Shady Grove at Rufe Snow. The current portion of Rapp Road from Mockingbird to Rufe Snow will be eliminated. Total project $6.7 million. Residents in the area are very concerned with the high number of old, very established trees that will have to be cut down to accommodate this road expansion.

Avenue of Flags – Lyle Dresher
The Keller Rotary Club has put together a project promoting patriotism in our community. It is a flag project where as a subscriber, you would pay $30 per year to have a 3X5 foot flag posted in front of your home on six major holidays. Members of the rotary club will put up and take down the flags, as well as store them. You can purchase four flags for $100 or $150 for six flags. The holidays are: Veterans Day (Nov. 11), Presidents’ Day (Feb. 17), Memorial Day (May 26), Flag Day (June 14), Independence Day (July 4), Sept. 11. The money will be used for college scholarship programs, high school exchange students, speech contest for high school seniors, a community service organization for high school students, and a house painting project in Keller. For more information, call Jan Smith at 817-514-7555.

Miscellaneous Information – Ed Ilschner in response to questions by various homeowners:

The medians on Rufe Snow near Lowes look terrible and are full of weeds. The contractor that sprayed the grass didn’t know it was full of weed seeds. The contractor is planning on spraying weed killer, and then will respray bermuda grass. When the project is completed correctly, the Keller Parks Department will take over maintenance of the medians. Completion is estimated end of August.

Both the Keller Smithfield and Rapp Road projects do not have provisions for landscaping, sprinklers and/or lighting. Will have to address that issue before (most likely after) going to construction.

Several grocers are looking at Winn Dixie location. Nothing specific yet.

You will be seeing construction begin near El Paseo very soon! Dave and Busters Restaurant is coming to Keller. Also plans are in the works for a steakhouse type of restaurant next to the Dave and Busters. Also a medical facility will be opening across the street from the apartments to accommodate doctors in the area that are expanding their practice.

The apartments located off of 1709 are planning on opening all 260 units for lease at one time. Originally plans called for the opening of only half. This means that the City of Keller will have more tax revenue than originally expected. Also the new day and night traffic will help support the various businesses and restaurants in the area.

The Villas (just South of 1709 on Keller Smithfield Road) actual property value for 2002 was assessed at twice the amount of their original estimated tax value.

August 3rd, 7:00pm Bear Creek Park Keller Block Party. Lots of food and fun. Also the Keller PD will be demonstrating a bus assault.

Keller Kountry Bike Rally starts at 7:30am on the 3rd as well! Need volunteers to help. First 900 riders will receive a t-shirt and a goody bag. Go to www.cityofkeller.com for more information. All funds raised will benefit the Keller Public Library and the Keller Chamber of Commerce.

Want to know more about your property taxes and others in your neighborhood? Go to www.tad.org Tarrant Appraisal District, to get more information.

For additional questions please contact Rita Meyers or go to www.cityofkeller.com.