Frisco General Manager DEL HARRIS Accepts Position With New Jersey Nets

NBA D-League Frisco’s First “Call-Up”

FRISCO, December 1, 2009 –

NBA D-League Frisco is proud to announce that General Manager Del Harris has accepted a position with the New Jersey Nets as an assistant coach. Harris represents D-League Frisco’s first NBA “call-up” as he returns to the NBA ranks. Harris was announced as Frisco’s General Manager at a press conference on November 5th, and while his time with the Frisco franchise was relatively brief, his impact will continue to be felt. “I am very excited for Del and the opportunity he has before him,” Head Coach Nancy Lieberman commented. “He’s been such an asset for so many people for so long, and he is deserving of this position to share his wisdom with the players in New Jersey. If I have any questions, he’s only a phone call away – and I will be calling. I wish him the best of luck.”

Owner Donnie Nelson put together a star-studded cast in Frisco as Lieberman was named head coach, Spud Webb the President of Basketball Operations, and Harris the General Manager at the November 5th press conference. “Wow, our first NBA call-up and we don’t even have a name yet.” Nelson said. “It’s only fitting that it’s Del Harris. He’s been a trailblazer and innovator throughout his decorated career. When you have someone as talented as Del on your staff, with more than 50 years of basketball experience and countless awards and honors, you know losing him is always a possibility. But this is what the D-League is all about, making dreams coming true. Kiki has chosen one of the wisest coaches I’ve ever served with and a man of impeccable integrity. We wish the ‘Silver Fox’ nothing but success… starting Friday night of course.” The Dallas Mavericks take on the New Jersey Nets Wednesday night at 6:30 pm in New Jersey. “Del has seen it all, and will be a tremendous resource for the New Jersey Nets,” President of Basketball Operations Spud Webb said. “There’s no question that he’ll do a great job. Our Frisco franchise is growing by leaps and bounds, and Del is a big part of that.”

For more information concerning NBA D-League Frisco visit www.nbadleaguefrisco.com. Any media requests can be directed to Malcolm Farmer at mfarmer@nbadleaguefrisco.com.

City of Frisco Receives Notice Exide Agrees to Withdraw Application To Expand Plant Production

The City of Frisco received notice today Exide Technologies will voluntarily withdraw its application for a permit amendment with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to increase production limits. In a letter dated October 23, Exide Technologies stated it will work with TCEQ to locate monitors as recommended by TCEQ.

Frisco sent a letter to the TCEQ dated November 24,2008, protesting the permit application and requesting a contested hearing.

City Manager George Purefoy stated, “The history of the Exide plant in Frisco has been one in which the various owners of the facility, through the years, have been steadfast in their commitment to solve problems created by the plant and to be a very responsive corporate citizen.  I believe the letter delivered to the city today reestablishes that commitment to the city of Frisco and its citizens.  Not only has the company withdrawn its application to increase production, but it has also committed to support health studies and to install additional controls so that the plant may come into full compliance with the new regulatory standards.  Exide heard the concerns of the Frisco city council and the Frisco citizens and has responded in an attitude of wanting to be a good corporate citizen.”

Purefoy further stated, “After studying correspondence sent by Melissa Andersen Kuskie, SIP Project Manager for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which included reported emissions since 2000, it appears that the plant’s emissions have been close to meeting the new standards since that time.  While the nonattainment area proposed by the TCEQ is based upon current permitted limits, the city will request that a similar map be produced which shows the nonattainment area based on actual emission data.”

Ms. Kuskie states in the correspondence, “the predicted maximum concentrations in ambient air appear to be roughly two to three times higher than actual monitored values.”

“It’s an important first step to give our citizens assurances their public health is a top priority,” said Mayor Maher Maso.  “We’re pleased Exide listened to the concerns of our citizens.  Transparency in government is something we strive for daily and we’re encouraged by Exide’s written commitment to maintain a positive relationship with our city.”

FRISCO, TEXAS SUBMITS BID TO HOST NCAA DIVISION I FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

FRISCO, TEXAS SUBMITS BID TO HOST NCAA DIVISION I FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

City, Hunt Sports Group, and Southland Conference combine on effort to attract contest

FRISCO, Texas – The City of Frisco, in partnership with Hunt Sports Group, LLC and the Southland Conference, submitted a bid this week to serve as the host of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Games following the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons.  Should the city be successful in its bid effort, the contest, formerly known as the NCAA Division I-AA Championship game, will be played at Frisco’s 23,500-seat Pizza Hut Park.  The Southland will serve as the host conference.

In early August, the NCAA notified prospective cities of the opportunity to submit bid packages.  A partnership between Hunt Sports Group, the Southland, Frisco and its affiliated entities – the Frisco Economic Development Corporation, the Frisco Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Frisco Chamber of Commerce – was formed, and a bid committee consisting of individuals from these groups formulated a citywide plan to bring the NCAA’s highest-profile football championship to the city.  Further, a number of Dallas-Fort Worth area sports and business entities offered their endorsement and support of the Frisco bid effort. 

“When the City of Frisco partnered with Hunt Sports Group on an earlier project, a world-class stadium called Pizza Hut Park was the end result,” Frisco Mayor Maher Maso said.  “We’re honored to partner with Hunt Sports once again, along with Southland Conference, with hopes of bringing championship football to Frisco.  Not only does our community enjoy sports, but we support athletics on all levels.  We’re hopeful our teamwork translates into an NCAA touchdown in Frisco.”   

Following this week’s submission deadline, the NCAA is beginning a month-long comment period to communicate with bidding cities before determining a group of finalists.  Once the finalist cities are determined, it is anticipated that the NCAA staff and football committee will plan site visits.  Finalists will also attend the 2009 championship game in Chattanooga, Tenn., before making in-person presentations before NCAA officials in February.

Pizza Hut Park, built in 2005, serves as home to Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas as well as numerous high school football games, concerts and other special events.  Part of a 17-acre project, the Park also includes 17 adjacent fields for soccer, football, corporate functions, and FC Dallas training and youth camps. Major League Soccer held its championship games, the MLS Cup, at Pizza Hut Park in 2005 and 2006, and the venue has hosted numerous nationally-televised games since it opened.

“Every year Pizza Hut Park plays host to world-class events from Major League Soccer to concerts to youth soccer and corporate functions,” Pizza Hut Park Executive Vice President Damon Boettcher said.  “We are excited about joining with the Southland Conference and City of Frisco in making this bid and continuing to showcase this spectacular facility and our city.”

The state-of-the-art facility features 18 luxury suites, a 6,000-square foot stadium club, two suite decks and four covered pavilions for larger groups, two video display boards for spectators, and an open concourse allowing full viewing of game action.  Baylor Health Care System also has a 6,500-square foot sports medicine and rehabilitation center at the stadium, the national headquarters of U.S. Youth Soccer are located at Pizza Hut Park, and numerous restaurants and retail developments have also been built in and around the complex.

“The Southland Conference is honored to be involved with the City of Frisco, its affiliated groups, and Hunt Sports Group and Pizza Hut Park for what we believe is an attractive and compelling bid package for the NCAA Football Championship,” league commissioner Tom Burnett said. “Pizza Hut Park serves as a first-class, fan-friendly and neutral venue for the championship, and with all the other attractive lodging, shopping, restaurants and entertainment options in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, we are very confident that Frisco can provide a remarkable experience and lasting impression with the competing teams and all visitors to the area.”

Frisco, located just 25 miles north of downtown Dallas, has developed a reputation as a burgeoning sports center in recent years.  In addition to FC Dallas and Pizza Hut Park, the city is also home to the NHL’s Dallas Stars executive headquarters and training facility, the 8,800-seat Dr Pepper Ballpark, home to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League, and the 6,100-seat Dr Pepper Arena, home to the Texas Tornado of the North American Hockey League, and a new NBA Development League team.

Additionally, the Frisco’s retail, residential and commercial development has made it one of the nation’s fastest-growing and highly-awarded communities.  The city’s centralized geographic location, its immediacy to a metropolitan area of 6.5 million people, and its unmatched national air service into nearby DFW International Airport and Dallas Love Field were all major factors in the city’s bid effort.

The 2010 championship game will be the culmination of a 20-team national playoff in the NCAA’s Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA).  The first four weekends of the playoffs will occur between Nov. 27-Dec. 18, 2010, and it is expected that the championship game will fall somewhere between Dec. 29, 2010-Jan. 7, 2011.

“What others are saying about the Frisco LOC bid effort:

 

Jim Gandy, President of the Frisco Economic Development Corporation:

“The Frisco Economic Development Corporation is pleased to be part of this process. The opportunity to work with the Southland Conference on such a perfect opportunity for the City of Frisco is indicative of our continued commitment in the area of youth and sports.”

 

Marla Roe, Executive Director of the Frisco Convention and Visitors Bureau:

“We are excited to partner with some incredible organizations and look forward to showing the NCAA that Frisco can host another successful event!”

 

Tony Felker, President/CEO. Frisco Chamber of Commerce:

”The 1,200-plus members of the Frisco Chamber of Commerce, together with the entire business community in and around Frisco, are excited to be bidding on bringing this championship game to Frisco.  Our entire team knows we have a winning business atmosphere and great venues here in the area and we look forward to welcoming the rest of the country to Frisco.”

 

More On the Web:

City of Frisco: www.friscotexas.gov

Pizza Hut Park: www.pizzahutpark.com

Southland Conference: www.southland.org

Frisco Economic Development Corporation: www.friscoedc.com

Frisco Chamber of Commerce: www.friscochamber.com

Frisco Convention and Visitors Bureau: www.visitfrisco.com

Remember to Shop Frisco when you can

October sales tax figures for Frisco were down over 12% from October last year.  Year to date we are down nearly 6% in our sales tax revenues.  Please remember to Shop Frisco First!

http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/allocsum/citycnty.html

City Council Meeting – 3/3/2009

I want to first say that I have officially joined the Facebook phenomenon.  Many in Frisco are now using it as a great networking tool and I am working with communications to setup a City of Frisco page as another way to reach out to our residents.  My fellow tech geek Mayor Maso is also an active user and it has been helpful for me to watch his status updates to see which meetings he is attending.  Click here if you want to be my friend!

Tonight’s meeting was one of our longest in awhile, lasting until after 10:30.  However, there were many topics to discuss.  It was nice to find out many citizens were watching the live streaming. When I checked my email after the meeting several citizens had been watching online and emailing us questions.  We were also able to send out the discussions to interested parties.  As more people become familiar with this technology, it will really help bring Frisco government closer to the citizens.

Here is the link to our meeting

The following received proclamations:

• Russell “Steven” Hankins, John Robert Polarinakis, and Garrett Samuel Williams were recognized for achieving Eagle Scout.  The line of the night came from Garret when he said if he would have known it was Garrett Williams Day in Frisco he would have made buttons.  Garrett certainly deserves the merit badge for thinking on his feet.  Congratulations to all of the boys as only 4% of all scouts reach the rank of eagle scout.
• The Centennial High School Varsity Football team was honored for their first winning season and playoff birth.  Their first year of play was in 2004.  In addition, they defeated their rival Frisco High this year for the first time.  I look forward to watching these rivalry grudge matches for years to come.

I want to congratulate Chief Renshaw and the Frisco Police Department for being awarded the accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA).  This is an accreditation that only 2% of Police Departments in the country have received.  Congratulations to Chief Renshaw and the entire Police Department for this well earned recognition.  We all knew we had the finest department in all of North Texas so it was nice to see them be recognized.

The certificate reads:

‘Be it hereby known that the Frisco (Texas) Police Department having fully demonstrated its voluntary commitment to law enforcement excellence by living up to a body of standards deemed essential to the protection of the life, health, safety and rights of the citizens it serves and having exemplified the best professional practices in the conduct of its responsibilities is hereby, upon the recommendation of the members of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc awarded this Certificate of Accreditation effective the sixth day of December 2008 and is recognized as an accredited law enforcement agency for a period of three year.’

 

 

Community Waste Disposal visited the meeting to give their annual report.  A few of the highlights of the report include:

• The industry average for complaints is 1 complaint per thousand homes.  CWD averaged .56 complaints/1000 homes which is well below the industry averages. This is a steady decrease from each of the last 5 years. This is especially impressive due to the growth Frisco has experienced over the last 5 years.
• Frisco recycled 14,000 tons in 2008, which represented 71 lbs per home per month.  This saves $1.40 per home per month in landfill expense.
• Frisco ISD was voted as the best school recycling program in Texas.  Thanks Pippa!

They have a very interested slide show on how they recycle goods on their website.  We are thankful to have a great community parter in CWD.  Not only do they provide a quality service, but they go above and beyond by supporting many of our local charities and organizations. 

I want to thank our Parks and Rec staff for their prompt responses to some citizen concerns.  We received some emails regarding the lack of signage directing traffic to the Senior Center.  Within days, staff had erected signage on Main Street and John Elliott as well as began discussions with the Senior Center regarding funding for a monument sign.  In addition, there were some posts on Frisco-Online.com regarding a few issues with the Frisco Athletic Club which were all immediately addressed.  Staff solicits input from a variety of sources and is constantly looking for ways to provide excellent service to the residents of Frisco.

What’s in a name?  In this case, there is quite a lot.  We officially approved the name change of US380 to University Drive to maintain consistency with this section of roadway in Denton and McKinney. The US380 will remain on the sign but the official name will be referred to as University Dr.

A few of you may have seen the channel 8 storyregarding our water management plan. This item was tabled to allow more time for citizen feedback.  Gary Hartwell, Director of Public Works, developed a water management plan to make efficient water use for our residents easier to understand.  Many homeowners do not understand how much water their lawn actually requires and very often uses more water than necessary.  In addition, our experience from our last drought taught us that changing the stages and water restrictions often confuses our residents.  The proposed plan would call for a year round water efficiency program.  it would be based upon day light savings time allowing for 2 day a week watering during the summer and 1 day during the winter.  Watering days would be based upon trash day with an alternate day added during the summer.  The goal is to allow our residents to utilize all of the water then need during non drought conditions and eliminate the wasteful usage.  This program will help train our residents to water properly and efficiently.  The drought conditions would be slight modifications of the existing plan which would reduce confusion when these stages are required.  If our citizens are able to practice more efficient water usage, we may be able to delay or avoid completely the construction of one of our planned water towers.  If we avoid that expense, it would save the City roughly $15 million, not including the annual electrical usage.  Long term water planning will continue to be an issue for decades to come.  All that we are able to do now will only help future generations guarantee an ample water supply.  It is worth noting that a few Council members requested a study on how a price based model could result in conservation.  We currently have a tiered pricing structure in place.  However, there is a theory that if the tiers becoming increasingly more expensive, the prices will force people to use less water.  You will hear more discussion on this idea at the next meeting.

It was clear we had hit the wall when we started our discussion on the Grand Park Advisory Committee.  Staff was looking for direction for who to select for a small advisory group to assist in the design of the first elements in the park.  I think we gave them every direction but up.  Some wanted different board and commissions, regional partners, stakeholders, citizen groups, etc.  Staff is going to come up with the functions of the groups and a few options for us to look at.  I am certain they will have this item on the agenda earlier in the evening next time.

A few other items of note:

• the discussion on rail was tabled until after our work session scheduled on March 24
• we renewed our contract with out Delinquent Tax attorneys.  They have been serving Frisco for over 20 years
• we approved the final contract for our new Police radio system that was approved by the voters a few years ago.  We have been sharing a system with Plano and both cities are upgrading their system.  Our new system will continue the level of excellence provided by our police and fire departments

As always, thanks for reading!

Shelley Holley named Frisco’s new Library Director

I am proud to announce that Shelley Holley has been selected to lead the Frisco Public Library.  

 

Shelley is presently is Frisco’s Assistant Library Director and Head of Public Services.  In that role, she provides supervision of the major direct service divisions of the Library including Adult Services, Youth Services, Circulation, and the Museum.  Shelley has been with the City of Frisco since 2001.   Previously, she was Head of Youth Services for the Lufkin, Texas Public Library.  She also had worked as a business and legal researcher.

 

Shelley brings a unique blend of library experience, knowledge, creativity, and enthusiasm.  Shelley is devoted to the strong customer service principles, which have allowed the Frisco Public Library to be so successful.  Being a part of the Library’s management team since 2001, Shelley has been instrumental in helping guide and direct the growth of the Library to its present operations.  She possesses the vision and management capability to see to the future of our Library.

Underground Utility Lines

 

There has been a great deal of discussion the last few weeks about theabove ground utility lines along Eldorado.  Shelly Slater, Channel 8 News, even covered the issue in her news report.  See the story HERE  

This item will be discussed this Tuesdy, August 5th, at our City Council meeting.  The staff report we were provided is attached below: