City of Rolla Weekly Updates (July 11-18, 2011)

                                                                         

Rolla Town Band

to host free concert

July 12

   The Rolla Town Band will host a free concert on Tuesday, July 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the north parking lot of The Centre, located at 1200 N. Holloway Street in Rolla.

   The public will need to provide their own seating (lawn chairs, blankets, picnic supplies, etc.) in the shade of the Oak grove in front of The Center. The South Central Regional Veterans Group will be on hand for the posting of the colors and for a free-will offering for those wishing to make a donation to the Veterans Memorial Park Fund.

   For more information, please contact Dr. Robert Cesario, Missouri S&T Bands, at 341-4185 or at cesario@mst.edu.

Rolla’s Public Works Dept.

begins micro surfacing

City streets

   The City of Rolla Public Works Department will begin asphalt micro-surfacing on several City streets beginning Monday, July 18. The area will include all streets in Rolla south of 10^th Street to Missouri Highway 72, and east of Forum Drive and Pinetree Road. It will also include the Johnson/Laird sub division.

   The micro surfacing project is being completed by Donelson Construction Company. It is a quick set surfacing system that will provide an approximate one-quarter-inch-thick pavement resurfacing. Micro surfacing is an economical alternative to hot asphalt mix overlays, which typically applies a minimum of two inches of pavement resurfacing.

   A complete list of streets that are scheduled for micro-surfacing in Rolla is posted on the City of Rolla’s Website at www.rollacity.org.

   While this work may take several days to complete, streets that are being sealed will remain open with temporary one-lane traffic established. Flagmen will be present to direct traffic, and motorists and pedestrians are urged to remain cautious when traveling through the areas of work. Delays up to 20 minutes should be expected.

   For more information, please call the Public Works Department at (573) 364-8659 or visit www.rollacity.org.

Rolla City Council

Mtg. set for July 18

   The next Rolla City Council meeting will be held on Monday, July 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Rolla City Hall, 901 N. Elm Street. 

   Rolla City Council meetings are ordinarily held the first and third Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. except when there is a conflict with an observed holiday.  To review a copy of the City Council agendas or the full agenda packet, please visit http://www.rollacity.org/admin/agenda.shtm. For more information, please contact Rolla City Administration at 426-6948.

   City Council meetings are also broadcast live on Rolla Channel 16 (RC16). To check to see when the City Council meetings are rebroadcast, please check the RC16 Program Guide online at http://rollachannel16.pegcentral.com.

Grandparent’s Day

Special at SplashZone

July 17

   The hot weather we experience in July and August remind us that we live in Missouri, but fortunately there’s plenty of opportunity to cool off at SplashZone – Rolla’s refreshing outdoor water park.

   Located in beautiful Ber Juan Park at 14^th and Holloway Streets, this fun-filled water park remains open throughout the summer months Monday through Friday (noon-7 p.m.) and Saturday and Sunday (noon-6 p.m.). Please also mark your calendars for Sunday, July 17, which is “Grandparent’s Day Special” at SplashZone – grandparent is free with child’s admission.

   Be sure to bring lots of sunscreen whenever you’re spending time outdoors. For more information, please call 364-8222 or 341-2FUN.

  

Summer Reading Program

continues at

Rolla Public Library

   The Rolla Public Library Summer Reading Program continues as children up to age 12 will travel around the world, learning about different people, places and cultures through stories, activities and crafts.

   The Summer Reading Program, which is held in the Leola Millar Children's Addition on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. through July 28, is free of charge.

   For more information, please call 573-364-2604 or stop by the Rolla Public Library at 900 North Pine Street.

Rolla Sesquicentennial T-shirts

and posters available

at City Hall

   Rolla Sesquicentennial commemorative T-shirts and posters are still available to the public for purchase at Rolla City Hall, (901 N. Elm Street).

   The vintage Heather grey T-shirts that showcase the Sesquicentennial logo designed by Angi Yowell, Graphic Design Instructor at Rolla Technical Institute, are selling for $10 a piece in the following sizes: small, medium, large, and X-large.

   The 4-color, 11x17 glossy Sesquicentennial commemorative posters that also showcase the attractive and award-winning Sesquicentennial logo, are selling for $2 each.  In addition to the T-shirts and posters, a limited number of newly designed and printed Rolla City flags are available for purchase as well. City flags may be purchased in the Community Development Department (2^nd Floor) at Rolla City Hall for $40 each.

   Proceeds from the sales of Sesquicentennial T-shirts and posters will be used to offset costs and expenses incurred for Rolla’s Sesquicentennial Celebration held on Saturday, June 4, 2011.

   The City of Rolla, which was incorporated 150 years ago on Jan. 25, 1861, continues to celebrate its Sesquicentennial Anniversary, which began on Jan. 25, 2011. For more information, please call Scott Grahl, Communications Officer, at 426-6943 or visit the City’s Website at www.rollacity.org and click on the Rolla’s 150^th tab.

  

2011 Environmental Services Dept.

List of Important Dates:

(Clip & save for easy reference!)

Sept. 5, 2011 - Labor Day:  Monday’s trash will be picked up Tuesday; Tuesday’s trash will be picked up Wednesday.

Oct. 1, 2011 - City-wide Fall Clean-Up: Saturday (residential only)

Nov. 24, 2011 – Thanksgiving Day:  Thursday’s trash will be picked up Wednesday.

Dec. 25, 2011 – Christmas Day (Observed Dec. 26):  Monday’s trash will be picked up Tuesday; Tuesday’s trash will be picked up Wednesday.

Holidays NOT affecting trash

or recycling collection:

Oct. 10, 2011 – Columbus Day

Nov. 11, 2011 – Veterans Day

Nov. 25, 2011 – Day after Thanksgiving

Hotline number: 341-1168

 Upcoming Events

JULY 2011

July 12 – Rolla Town Band FREE Concert (7:30 p.m.); The Centre, north parking lot

July 18 – Rolla City Council Mtg. (6:30 p.m.)

AUGUST 2011

1 - City Council Mtg. (6:30 p.m.)

7 - Mother’s Day Special at SplashZone (364-8222)

15 - City Council Mtg.

17 – Grandparent’s Day Special at SplashZone (364-8222)

SEPTEMBER 2011

5 - City Hall closed for Labor Day Holiday

5 - Environmental Service closed for Labor Day; Monday’s trash picked up Tues.; Tuesday’s trash picked up Wed.

6 - City Council Mtg. (6:30 p.m.)

10 - Canine Plunge at SplashZone (noon-3 p.m.); early registration required

(364-8222)

19 - City Council Mtg. (6:30 p.m.)

24 - Celebration of Nations (11 a.m.-5 p.m.)

OCTOBER 2011

1 - City-wide Fall Clean Up (items to curb by 6 a.m.); residential only

3 - City Council Mtg. (6:30 p.m.)

8 - Downtown Autumn Arts Festival (9 a.m.-4 p.m.)

17 - City Council Mtg. (6:30 p.m.)

Scott A. Grahl

Communications Officer

City of Rolla, Missouri

(573) 426-6943

Follow us on Facebook

& Twitter at www.rollacity.org

Rolla's Public Works Dept. begins micro surfacing City Streets

   The City of Rolla Public Works Department will begin asphalt micro-surfacing on several City streets beginning Monday, July 18. The area will include all streets in Rolla south of 10th Street to Missouri Highway 72, and east of Forum Drive and Pinetree Road. It will also include the Johnson/Laird sub division. 

  This micro surfacing project is being completed by Donelson Construction Company. It is a quick set surfacing system that will provide an approximate one-quarter-inch-thick pavement resurfacing. Micro surfacing is an economical alternative to hot asphalt mix overlays, which typically applies a minimum of two inches of pavement resurfacing.

    A complete list of streets that are scheduled for micro-surfacing in Rolla will be listed on the City of Rolla’s Website at www.rollacity.org.

   While this work may take several days to complete, streets that are being sealed will remain open with temporary one-lane traffic established. Flagmen will be present to direct traffic, and motorists and pedestrians are urged to remain cautious when traveling through the areas of work. Delays up to 20 minutes should be expected.

   For more information, please call the Public Works Department at (573) 364-8659.

Rolla Town Band to host free concert July 12

   The Rolla Town Band will host a free concert on Tuesday, July 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the north parking lot of The Centre, located at 1200 N. Holloway Street in Rolla.

   The public will need to provide their own seating (lawn chairs, blankets, picnic supplies, etc.) in the shade of the Oak grove in front of The Center. The South Central Regional Veterans Group will be on hand for the posting of the colors and for a free-will offering for those wishing to make a donation to the Veterans Memorial Park Fund.

   For more information, please contact Dr. Robert Cesario, Missouri S&T Bands, at 341-4185 or at cesarior@mst.edu.

Police Chief Chat

            This past week, the Rolla Police Department handled 849 calls for service. Of these calls there were: 32 arrests, 12 alarm calls, 26  traffic accidents, 43 traffic complaints, 19 check the well being requests, 107 traffic stops, 31 disturbance calls (including domestics – 13 of those are fireworks complaints), 11 suspicious nature calls, 23 assists of other agencies, 9 narcotics violations, 50 security checks, 36 stealing reports and 4 abandoned vehicles. This call total is up 82 calls from last week and yes, another busy week!

            Reports from the Patrol Division indicate a somewhat safe and relatively incident free 4^th of July holiday weekend. If you checked our stats in the previous paragraph, we only responded to 13 firework related complaints in which none of the calls resulted in injury. This is quite impressive considering the popularity of backyard firework displays. As usual the Rolla Lion’s Club offered an amazing fireworks display on Saturday night and then again on Monday, July 4^th. Patrons of the fireworks display and the Lion’s Club Carnival were very patient each evening during the brief traffic congestion as spectators left the park area. We owe the safe weekend to the community who used caution and common sense and provided supervision to those discharging fireworks. We hope you had a safe and fun filled weekend.

            As I have mentioned in previous Chief Chat columns and on our Facebook site, we are looking into joining the CodeRed Emergency Warning System. This system is an internet based high-speed notification system that will provide alerts to subscribers on severe weather, street and school closings, emergency crime information and hundreds of other services through land line phones, cell phones and even computers. One key feature of the CodeRed System is the automated weather alert feature that will provide severe weather “watches” and “warnings” as soon as they are released through the National Weather Service without any operator input. In other words, you receive the information from the NWS directly as soon as it is released.

            We looked into this system as an added early warning system to our citizens. Although expensive, the system can be purchased as a group option with several entities entering into the agreement and thus sharing the costs. Each entity will have total control of the use of the system independent of each other. For example the school system could enter into the agreement and use the system for early school cancellation, changes in bus routes or school closings. Public works could utilize the system for street closings, damaged water mains or whatever needs may arise. We as law enforcement would be able to provide information on dangerous criminals at large, hostage situations, dangerous roads and many other warnings. I feel that we are in need of this type of system and will be visiting with other agency heads in the next couple weeks to gather support. This is just one more step in keeping our citizens safe and what price do you put on saving a life?

            In our search for the best system we researched other similar type products but found CodeRed to be the best product available. The cost for this system with the weather alert feature and unlimited texting to the CodeRed Warning system, is nearly $40,000.00 per year. We hoped to include several other agencies within the county in the plan to reduce costs to each but still be able to utilize the product as the agencies needs arise. We also contacted several other agencies within the State of Missouri currently using the CodeRed system and received nothing but high marks on the abilities and time saving measures in place. Most agencies reported that they do not know how they got along without CodeRed in the past. We will keep you posted on the progress of instituting this product here in Phelps County.

Have a great week!

Staff Sergeant Rick Williams

Coventry Trail next phase of pedestrian bikepath network

   The popularity of the City’s 12-mile-long pedestrian bikepath network is clearly evident by the number of people walking, biking and strolling on the trails throughout the day and early evenings. And both frequent and infrequent users of the trail will be pleased to know that the network will soon expand with the addition of the new Coventry Trail Pedestrian Bike Path to be built on the east-central side of Rolla in and around the 14-acre Coventry Park.  

   The trail, which will be eight feet wide and approximately 1,265 feet long, will begin near Pinetree Road, run east along Richard Drive to Coventry Park, and end at Coventry Lane. The trail will pass through a scenic and natural area that will include a walk bridge (similar to the bridge on the ACORN Trail) that will span Burgher Creek and connect to the edge of Coventry Park. In addition to connecting the ACORN Trail, Rolla’s 9-mile long pedestrian/bike pathway, to Coventry Park, Phase 1 of the Coventry Trail will also make Coventry Park much more accessible and visible to residents in surrounding neighborhoods, and the entire community. Funding for Phase I of the Coventry Trail will be made available through the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission Transportation Enhancement Funds Program Agreement administered by MoDOT.

  The City Council at the June 6 Council meeting unanimously approved the bid for the Coventry Trail Pedestrian Bike Path to be awarded to Donald Maggi, Inc. The Missouri Department of Transportation, which will oversee and provide the necessary funding for the project ($131,938), has concurred with the award to Donald Maggi, Inc. as well. The City’s Public Works Department will be providing engineering, design work, construction oversight, and a portion of the construction.

   Construction of Phase 1 of Coventry Trail is scheduled to begin this summer (2011). Phase II of Coventry Trail, which is not yet funded, would parallel Burgher Creek along the entire length of Coventry Park and provide more fitness, walking and biking opportunities in that area of the park.    

   In other transportation and road construction related news, we appreciate your continued patience and that of motorists traveling on Forum Drive between 18th and 10th Streets as major infrastructure upgrades are completed. The water main installations by RMU are nearly completed, and the trenches are being patched by the City’s contractor, Rolla Asphalt. Work in this area along Forum Drive will continue, however, for the next several weeks. Once all of the additional repairs and improvements are completed, Forum Drive will receive a new overlay. This project should greatly enhance the infrastructure of this area as well as improve the driving surface and safety of Forum Drive.

   In closing, I’d like to remind everyone that the 76th annual Rolla Lions Club Carnival is in full swing this weekend at Rolla Lions Club Park (State Route 63 South) through Monday, July 4 with carnival rides, game booths, great-tasting carnival food and free fireworks tonight, Saturday, July 2 and Monday, July 4. Please also note that SplashZone will celebrate the 4th with Independence Dollar Day where everyone gets in for $1. Rolla City Hall and the Environmental Services Department will also be closed on Monday, July 4 in observance of the Independence Day Holiday. Monday’s trash will be picked up on Tuesday and Tuesday’s trash will be picked up on Wednesday. In addition, the Rolla City Council meeting, normally held on the first Monday of the month, will be held on Tuesday, July 5 at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall (901 N. Elm Street).

   I hope you have a safe and memorable July 4th weekend. And, let’s not forget the sacrifices that have been made and continue to be made by thousands of members of the U.S. Armed Services who allow us all to enjoy the freedoms and festivities over the Fourth of July and throughout the year.