City of Rockwall

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	Rockwall Live Music 2010 Public Notice The City Council of the City of Rockwall will hold a public hearing to hear comments regarding the proposed 2010-2011 budget. The hearing will be held on Tuesday September 7, 2010 at 6:00p.m. in the Council Chambers, City Hall, 385 South Goliad Street. All interested parties are encouraged to attend. The City Council is not considering a tax rate increase for fiscal year 2011. A Safe Return of Old Drugs Rockwall police, on September 25, are partnering with the Drug Enforcement Agency for the National Take Back Initiative. Residents will have the opportunity to surrender their potentially dangerous pharmaceutical controlled substances for proper destruction at a safe collection site. From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. bring expired, unwanted or unused over the counter or prescribed pharmaceutical medications to the Rockwall Police Department John Fitzwater Sr. Community Services Office at 1113 Ridge Road for safe destruction. This program not only brings focus to the issue of pharmaceutical substance abuse, but it also helps provide a safer community by taking these medications out of the hands of children, as well as protecting the water supply where most of these medications are disposed of by flushing them away, said Rockwall Chief Mark Moeller. Low Cost Animal Shot and Microchip Clinic September 11, 2010 Rockwall Animal Services is hosting a low cost shot and microchip clinic on September 11th from 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. at the Rockwall Animal Adoption Center, 1825 Airport Rd. more... The Shores The Rockwall City Council has authorized city staff to work with Landscapes Golf Group on a new lease agreement for the portion of The Shores Golf Course located on land controlled by the City. The council authorized the action based on an agreement between Landscapes Unlimited Golf Group, Hillcrest Bank and IRI Golf Group (current owner of The Shores) to transfer ownership of the property from IRI to Landscapes Golf Group. The property includes the golf course, a clubhouse, swimming pool and tennis courts. more... Emergency Management Notification Rockwall County Emergency Management is now using text messages and e-mails to provide our community with urgent information as quickly as possible. Nixle, which is free to residents, can be used to alert residents of urgent emergency information such as; tornado warnings, large chemical spills or large scale power outages. more... FM 552 @ John King Blvd In order to improve visibility at the FM 552 and John King intersection, the City of Rockwall and TxDOT have partnered in lowering a portion of the hill, east of the intersection. Construction will begin the week of July 19th and is scheduled to be complete prior to the start of school. Cable Channels Charter Cable completed a realignment of its cable channels this week. The Parks and Recreation channel, previously Ch. 125, is now Channel 24. The regular City channel, previously Ch. 47, is now Channel 16 Toyota Cup Triathalon The 2010 Life Time Fitness Triathlon Series Race to the Toyota Cup will be held in Dallas on October 10. This year, the Toyota U.S. Open Triathlon features a new course at The Harbor in Rockwall. more... News Briefs New businesses coming Candles by Carol and The Consignment Shop are making plans to open in Downtown Rockwall soon. Lipsett honored by city Taylor Lipsett was recently honored by the Rockwall City Council for the impact he makes in the lives of those he inspires and in the sport of sled hockey. more News Briefs... Get the latest Zoning Case Information Check out our Current Zoning Cases page for the latest information Current Zoning Cases Page...		Find-a-Friend Fridays Meet your perfect match at the Rockwall Petco every Friday from 1-5pm during Find-a-Friend Fridays! Fall in love and adopt your own Rockwall shelter pet! Look for the Rockwall Animal Services feather flag outside. That means we're inside with your perfect match. more... Texas Night Out Tues, Oct 5, 2010 7pm-9pm Texas Night Out is in conjuction with National Night Out. Residents throughout the City of Rockwall are asked to lock their doors, turn out the outside light and spend an evening outside with their neighbors and police. Many neighborhoods throughout the City of Rockwall will be hosting a variety of special events such as block parties, cookouts, flashlight walsk and various youth activities. This year's theme is a canned food drive for Rockwall County Helping Hands. We would like to encourage each household to bring one canned food item to their event and a Rockwall police officer will collect the canned goods that evening. For information on any of these events, please contact officer Jay Shippy or Sgt Jeff Welch at (972) 771-7765 More places to eat, shop Mi Cocina Mexican restaurant, Jo-Ann’s Fabrics and Crafts, HomeGoods and Maurice’s are coming to Rockwall. Mi Cocina is scheduled to open December 1 at the current site of TGI Fridays on the Interstate 30 south service road. It is part of the MCrowd restaurant group that includes Taco Diner and The Mercury. more... Fun Family Fridays Movies in the Park has transformed into *Fun Family Fridays, a City of Rockwall Parks and Recreation old-time family event at area neighborhood parks in September. more... City Audit Report* The City of Rockwall is in a strong financial position, according to findings in a recent audit. Maintaining a 40 percent reserve fund puts the City in a good position to face whatever may happen in the next year, said Lewis Crain with the firm of Rutledge Crain & Company, PC. “We recommend a minimum of 25 percent of a city’s current expenditures, which is only 90 days,” said Mr. Crain, who conducted the audit. “Rockwall is in pretty good shape.” He added that he was pleased the way the city’s financial program turned out, noting that “it’s good being more conservative.” He also stated that if he were going to “weather a storm,” Rockwall was the city he would want “to weather it in.” City Finance Director Mary Smith said she was pleased Mr. Crain issued a clean opinion and didn’t find any material weaknesses in internal controls to bring to city council’s attention. Water Quality Don’t blame your dishwasher for the white, cloudy residue on glassware and dishes – it could be the result of hard water. The City of Rockwall’s water supplier is North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD). NTMWD officials say the treated water they supply is considered moderately hard due to the raw water source - Lavon Lake. Hard water can cause scaling, which is the left-over mineral deposits formed after the hard water has evaporated. It is also referred to as “lime scale”. Hard water buildup comes from the natural minerals that are in the water supply: calcium bicarbonate, magnesium carbonate, iron, lime and other minerals. Customers are noticing the spots because the minerals dissolved in water may leave deposits behind after water is heated and evaporated. It can also make bath/shower tiles and glass appear cloudy and spotty or leave a cloudy residue on glassware. There may also be a white, cloudy film on the inside of the dishwasher. The “hardness” of water doesn’t alter the quality of the drinking water. The treated water supplied to Rockwall meets and/or exceeds state and federal Safe Drinking Water Standards. Visit www.ntmwd.com/water_quality.html to learn how hard your drinking water is. To aid in the removal of the scaling in your dishwasher, first try adjusting the amount of detergent by using only what is recommended by the manufacturer. Also, try using commercial rinse aid products or use white vinegar as a rinse aid. Due to the variability of hardness, NTMWD continually tests the quality of raw water entering its plant to obtain data to determine adjustments to the treatment process, which might reduce scaling. Please go to www.ntmwd.com/index.html for more information.