| The Forney City Council meeting held on February 21, 2012, brought news that will make some local residents and businesses very unhappy. A major intersection will be completely closed down over the FISD Spring Break.
Beginning on the evening of March 9 and reopening by March 19, the entire FM 741 and FM 548 intersection will be closed to all traffic.
The reason for the massive closure is more road construction and the city is hoping that by getting the work done while the schools are closed, it will cause less problems for residents. Council members recognized that this will make commuting difficult for many residents who live south of Highway 80. An even greater hardship will be felt by those brand new businesses at the Kickapoo Trace Center.
Lazy J Coffee owner Donna Smith-Grice is worried that customers wonât come if they donât have the easy access to the business. âThat could be devastating to our business. Iâm not sure why they canât just close part of the intersection?â For the coffee shop as well as The Hole Thing Donuts, Quattro Tasti Deli and Dippinâ Daveâs Ice Cream Shoppe, all located at the shopping center on 741/548, the timing couldnât be worse. These establishments were counting on the extra business that spring break traffic was expected to bring.
City Council members and Mayor Darren Rozell encouraged each other and local residents to show support to the businesses at Kickapoo Trace. City Manager Brian Brooks hopes that good weather occurs during the spring break period so that the project is completed on time. Councilwoman Mary Penn also expressed concern that the project be completed in a timely manner so as not to extend the hardship to residents. She voiced her concern that Forney High School would be a traffic nightmare if the intersection was not reopened by the time school restarts on March 19th.
In other City Council news, the general fund revenues are on target for the 1st quarter earnings. The council discussed a new animal shelter that is being planned. The location is likely to be at Reeder Road and Reeder Lane off of Hwy. 80. They accepted the bid of Garland area Ron Hobbs Architects to design the building and landscape for the new shelter. His bid came in under budget.
The council also approved the hiring of BRW Architects from Dallas to design a new fire station for the city of Forney. Forney Fire Chief James Townsend said that the bid came in under budget and the BRW is âone of the premier fire station architects in the country.â
Mayor Rozell issued a proclamation to recognize âFix a Leak Weekâ which is sponsored by the EPA from March 12-18, 2012. Mayor Rozell told the audience, âWater is going to be an issue for many years to come.â He pointed out that the average home wastes 10,000 gallons of water each year due to easily fixable faucet and toilet leaks.
Council members voted to approve their $2,000 annual contribution to the Kaufman County Environmental Co-op. The Co-op did a volunteer cleanup in Forney that resulted in over 500 pounds of trash being collected. They are planning a March 31 event to honor âGlobal Earth Hourâ by doing another Forney area cleanup, followed by a cookout.
City manager Brian Brooks briefly discussed the Forney re-branding initiative that has had over 800 surveys completed so far. The survey is available online at rebrandforney.com until February 26. They will discuss the results of the survey at the March 6 City Council meeting. He encourages any resident living in the 75126 zip code to complete the 5 minute survey about the direction they would like to see Forney take in the future.
