Council Requests Briefing from Oncor on Power Outage Response

Last Wednesday, I, along with six of my colleagues, requested that Oncor brief the Dallas City Council on the utility company’s response to power outages during the recent snow storm.

I have heard from many residents who went without power for days and who were frustrated by Oncor’s failure to communicate with them.  I also heard from residents who told me they often experience power outages and they would like an explanation was wel as a remediation plan from Oncor.  I look forward to talking with Oncor about these issues.

Here is the memo (click for a pdf version):

“This Old House” Magazine Selects Junius Heights “Best Neighborhood for Families”

As reported on Unfair Park, District 14’s very own Junius Heights Historic District was selected by This Old House Magazine as the nation’s “Best Neighborhood For Families” in their annual “Best Old House Neighborhoods” contest:

Like most of Texas, the city of Dallas is obsessed with all things big. But the people of the Junius Heights neighborhood beg to differ. “This is a small-town, front-porch community,” says Bill Williams, who purchased a Craftsman here in 2003. Junius Heights is home to some of the city’s most interesting residents, including artists, reporters for The Dallas Morning News, and about half the lawyers in town. And it’s turning into a haven for families looking to eschew traditional suburban living. That’s thanks in part to Woodrow Wilson High School, “one of the best examples of an inner-city high school in the country,” according to one resident (and Newsweek magazine). The school provides a top-notch education, as well as entertainment for Junius Heights residents through its excellent theater and athletic programs.  More….

Junius Heights is a great example of how historic district designation can help stabilize a neighborhood.  Since becoming an historic district in 2006, the neighborhood has enjoyed improved property values and has become even more attractive to families.  Most importantly, Junius Heights is full of active, involved neighbors who look out for each other and take pride in their lovely corner of East Dallas.

Congrats to the residents of Junius Heights for this well-deserved national recognition!

Update on Tree Limb and Brush Pick-Up

This announcement was just made from Dallas’ Sanitation Department regarding storm debris pick up:

The City of Dallas will provide free storm debris collection for Dallas’ Sanitation customers affected by the record snowfall that hit North Texas on February 11 and 12.  Customers who need to clear their property must place cut and stacked tree limbs at the curb.  Customers do not need to call 311 to request collection.  Citations for “out of cycle” brush waste will not be issued until after March 15.

Sanitation brush collection crews will work overtime and Saturdays to pick up all storm debris on customer’s property.  The debris will be picked up on customers’ normal brush/bulk schedule and will likely require 4-5 weeks to complete pick-up.  Customers can look up their brush collection week here:  “Bulk Collection Map” and “2010 Bulk Collection Calendar.”

Dallas Sanitation customers may also take storm debris to the following two locations from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and must show proof of residency with a driver’s license or current water bill. 

Bachman Transfer Station
9500 Harry Hines Blvd.
214-670-6150

McCommas Bluff Landill
5100 Youngblood Rd.
214-670-0977

Storm debris will be chipped into mulch and will be available at no charge to customers for home use.  Customers can pick up mulch at either location—just in time for spring gardening.

Dallas Awarded $23M in Federal Grant for Streetcars

Great news!  Thanks to the hard work of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, Dallas has been awarded a grant from the federal government to develop its Downtown and Oak Cliff streetcar system.  From the Dallas Morning News Transportation Blog:

Dallas scored big this morning as Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the city will receive $43 million in grants that will build a starter downtown streetcar loop that will cross into Oak Cliff [$23M], and will greatly reduce NTTA’s cost to build the State Highway 161 toll road [$20M].

Its two projects were among 51 — and the only ones in Texas — to win out in the competition TIGER grant competition announced this morning. The federal government had reserved some $1.5 billion in stimulus funds for a grant competition aimed at providing funds for creative projects, especially those that achieve the Administration’s sustainability goals.

Although the $23 million won’t cover the build out of the complete Downtown and Oak Cliff lines, it is a terrific start to our modern streetcar plans.  We’ll be working over the coming weeks to prioritize and plan for the use of these funds.

Many thanks to Congresswoman Johnson, her staff, City of Dallas staff, the Oak Cliff Transit Authority, and the North Central Texas Council of Governments!  Great work!

No Need to Call 311 Before Putting Tree Limbs on Curb for Pick-Up

Great update from Jeff Siegel over on the Advocate’s Lakewood/East Dallas Blog:

Just got off the phone with Mary Nix, who oversees Dallas’ sanitation efforts, and she says the city is rescinding its call first policy about downed tree limbs from last week’s storm. Just put them on the curb, she said, and they’ll eventually be picked up. It may take a couple of weeks, but the trucks will get to them.

Nix said officials realized that there were so many downed limbs that it wasn’t practical to ask residents to call 311 first. I told her that was a fine decison, and that people around here would be glad to hear it. Expect the official announcement to be made on Wednesday.

Oncor: Working on Downed Transformers

I am continuing to pass along to Oncor all power outages that are reported to me.  I got another update from Oncor:

Councilwoman Hunt,

I understand why your constituents are frustrated, being with out power for days is rough.

Oncor has all available resources working to restore power.  The remaining outages are device level outages (transformers and fuses). That’s why there are just numerous small pockets of outages spread across the city.  Device level outages are the most time and labor consuming. Oncor crews are having to clear away trees and limbs, and pickup and re-hang wire and replace equipment. The process is slowing going, but we are making process. We are hopeful to have a large majority of the remaining customers back on today.

Oncor has setup restoration districts across the city to focus on neighborhoods.  Relief should be coming soon.

Also, based on the emails I’ve received, it sounds like many residents experience regular outages that Oncor needs to fix.  Next week, I will be talking with Oncor to let them know about these problems and see what they will do to get them resolved.

Oncor: No Specifics on Restoring Power

I just got a response from Oncor to my request for more specific info on when power will return to certain areas:

Due to the scope of work required to get lights back on and the way the outages are spread out across the city, I am unable to give you any specific information.

Oncor has restoration districts setup across the city.

We are working to get remaining customers back on today. The time frame depends on the required work to get the lights back up.

I’ll post again if/when I learn more.

Oncor Power Outages

Over the last couple of days, Oncor has been working to restore power to about 200,000 DFW homes that lost electricity due to the snow storm.  They are using about 5000 crew members, some of whom are pulled from Oklahoma and other Texas cities.  I know many District 14 constituents are still without power and I have asked Oncor to please advise me when power will be restored to these homes.  I will post again if and when I get additional info.

I received the following update from Oncor this morning:

As of 6 am this morning, power outages have dropped to approximately 25,000 in the City of Dallas.

Oncor is completing repairs with the help of mutual assistance crews from Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E), AEP Texas and CenterPoint, as well as contract construction/repair and vegetation management workers from South Texas, Austin, Houston, Beaumont, Jasper and Midland, as well as Oklahoma, Tennessee, Missouri and Louisiana. Thousands of workers have been working around the clock since beginning to arrive on Friday, Feb. 12.

Restoration crews continue to encounter streets littered with broken trees and limbs, preventing access until tree pruning crews arrive.  Some homeowners experiencing individual power outages may continue to be without power through Sunday evening and are encouraged to make alternative arrangements until power is restored. Oncor will continue to work around the clock to restore power to all customers that are able to receive power.

Apply for Bicycle Advisory Committee and Help Update City Bike Plan

The City of Dallas is seeking residents to serve on the Bicycle Advisory Committee. The committee, which will help update and replace the 1985 Dallas Bike Plan, will consist of members of the community with a strong interest in improving and expanding the City’s bicycling culture and bicycle-related infrastructure.

“This is an opportunity to serve our community in a very meaningful and tangible way. The 15 committee members will inform the planning process from the community stakeholder and bicycle user perspectives,” said Theresa O’Donnell, Director of the Sustainable Development and Construction Department.

City Council: Booting Ordinance in Effect Citywide Immediately

Today, the City Council approved an amendment to the city’s booting ordinance to make it effective across the city immediately instead of July 1. 

The booting ordinance we passed last fall requires parking lots that choose to boot to provide a written receipt to parking customers when they pay their parking fee (whether by an attendant or parking machine).  The ordinance had gone into effect in Deep Ellum on January 1 of this year and that resolved their booting problems.  Unfortunately, the problem then migrated to Downtown Dallas.  After receiving numerous complaints from Downtown business owners and visitors, Councilmember Medrano and I proposed to move up the effective date of the ordinance so Downtown visitors and businesses didn’t have to spend another five months unprotected from unscrupulous booting.

Councilmember Medrano and I called the parking lot owners in Downtown last week and told them what we planned to bring to the council this week.  Nearly all of the parking lot owners were supportive, explaining that they had abandoned booting as a means of enforcement once it became clear that booting threatened Downtown’s long-term health by driving off visitors.

One councilmember suggested that if booting were less convenient to parking lot owners as a means of enforcement, they would start towing cars.  While that’s possible, that hasn’t been the experience in Deep Ellum.  Barry Annino, president of the Deep Ellum Foundation, explained to the council today that towing hasn’t increased in Deep Ellum since the booting ordinance took effect there at the beginning of the year.  Instead, the parking lots are doing what they did before they began booting — ticketing cars that didn’t pay the proper fee.  So there hasn’t been an uptick in towing.

Some councilmembers opposed the change because they believe parking lot owners need another five months to implement an electronic payment system on their lots.  But I question whether that’s a genuine concern or just a stalling tactic because (1) parking lots have the option not to boot or to use an attendant rather than a machine and (2) no one has implemented these machines in Deep Ellum, despite having had five months (August – December 31) to do so.

After about an hour of debate, the council overwhelmingly approved the ordinance, which will go into effect tomorrow:

FOR:  Hunt, Medrano, Jasso, Davis, Hill, Atkins, Salazar, Leppert, Caraway, Koop, Margolin

AGAINST:  Natinsky, Neumann, Kadane, Allen