The Irving Hospital District Neighborhood Association Welcomes You

Block Party! Come On Out This Saturday for Some Good `Ol Fun!

Join us on Saturday, May 19th at 3:00 p.m - 5:00 p.m! Location: South end of Post Oak Drive between Lane St. & Cypress Dr.
Block Party Logo Plenty of fun for the whole family! Come out, meet your neighbors, bring the kids, lawn chairs & a side dish or dessert!

Jerry Bate's FAMOUS barbeque & we'll supply bottled water
Live music by The Big Head Band of Strokers Fame!
YMCA will provide games for the kids!
A BOUNCE HOUSE for the kids
A real FIRE ENGINE and a POLICE CRUISER!

Prize Drawings, organized games and MOST of all a fantastic venue to get to know and visit with your neighbors!

We will have a silent auction and a raffle. The raffle item is pending but guarantees to be terrific! Bring your checkbook or cash. (Sorry no credit cards)

Dragon Boat, Kite and Lantern Festival

Irving residents can enjoy a free opportunity to celebrate Asian culture during the annual Dragon Boat, Kite and Lantern Festival from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 20 along the shores of Lake Carolyn. The skies will be filled with colorful kites, while exciting dragon boat races, cultural performances, a lantern festival, traditional Asian cuisine, arts and crafts, and educational activities will be made available for attendees to enjoy. The annual DFW Dragon Boat, Kite and Lantern Festival—a premier sporting, cultural and educational event—is hosted by the Marco Polo World Foundation. For more information, visit www.dfwdragonboatfestival.com.

O’Connor Road Reconstruction Phase II Project

Construction has begun on the O’Connor Road Reconstruction Phase II Project. This $4.3 million project constructed by Tiseo Paving Company will improve traffic flow by widening and adding a continuous left turn lane to O’Connor Road from State Highway 183 to Metker Street. A dedicated right turn lane also is being added at the Rochelle Road intersection. In addition, water delivery, and wastewater and storm water collection for O’Connor Road and the adjacent side streets will be improved. In preparation for construction, utility poles were relocated to the west side of O’Connor Road and overhead utility crossings were moved underground. During construction, single-lane two-way traffic will be maintained at all times. The project is scheduled for completion by March 2013.

Irving Eases Water Restrictions

The City of Irving is authorizing the transition from Stage 3 to Stage 2 water restrictions. With Irving’s return to Stage 2 guidelines, residents and businesses may water a maximum of two times per week on designated days. Stage 2 irrigation guidelines for the City of Irving are as follows:

Even-numbered addresses (those ending in 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8) may water on Tuesday and Saturday
Odd-numbered addresses (those ending in 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9) may water on Wednesday and Sunday
No irrigation may occur on Monday, Thursday or Friday
No irrigation may occur between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on any day

During Stage 2 restrictions, building foundations and landscaping may be watered by hand-held hose, soaker hose, bucket or drip irrigation only on the designated watering days before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m. Upon implementation, residents and businesses should adhere to Stage 2 guidelines until further notice. Violators of the Stage 2 restrictions are subject to fines of up to $2,000 per violation.

If normal precipitation patterns continue, Irving will consider a move from the mandatory Stage 2 restrictions to the city’s voluntary Stage 1 water conservation guidelines.

City Offers Free Emergency Training to the Public

Irving residents are encouraged to receive emergency training by becoming a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member. The two-day class is being offered from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 12 and 19. The training will equip participants with knowledge and life-sustaining skills. Topics included in this hands-on training range from disaster preparedness to fire safety and terrorism response.
“In a city like Irving with more than 200,000 residents, catastrophic events of a large scale have the potential to overwhelm the limited number of first responders,” said Emergency Management Planner Nick Robison. “Following a major disaster, community members may have to rely on one another to meet their immediate life-saving and life-sustaining needs.”
CERT members are trained to be self-sufficient for up to 72 hours following a major incident. Team members also will learn how to provide critical support to professional first responders, assistance to disaster victims, and how to spontaneously organize volunteers at disaster sites.
Irving residents interested in participating in this program must be able to perform physical activities, possess a valid driver’s license and pass a background check. Because spacing is limited, residents are encouraged to register by May 1. For more information, contact Robison at (972) 721-2184 or cert@cityofirving.org. Register Online Now

Irving Citizen Police Academy

Those who live or work in Irving and want to learn about what police officers do are invited to apply for the Irving Citizen Police Academy. The free series of 14 classes offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a day in the life of a police officer. The lecture style classes provide information on the crime scene division, criminal investigations, SWAT, K-9 and bomb unit. English sessions begin March 6 and Sept. 11; Spanish sessions begin March 5 and Sept. 10. Classes will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays, and two classes will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Space is limited. Contact Officer Lance Peikert at lpeikert@cityofirving.org or (972) 721-3557 to receive an application. The form also may be downloaded at www.irvingpd.com.

Online Crime Reports

The Irving Police Department is partnering with www.crimereports.com to allow residents to view crime data online. The crime-mapping website compiles information on crimes that have occurred in Irving by incident type, time and location, and marks them on a map of the city. To access the map, visit www.cityofirving.org/police and select “CrimeReports” at the bottom of the page. For more information, call (972) 721-3515.

Mosquito Preparedness

Residents are reminded to prepare for mosquito season this summer. To defend against the West Nile virus, remember to follow the “Four Ds.” They are:

Dusk/Dawn – the times of day to stay indoors.
Dress – wear long sleeves and long pants when outdoors during these times.
DEET – an ingredient to look for when purchasing and using insect repellent.
Drain – minimize outside standing water so it does not become a mosquito breeding site.

To report vector control issues, call (972) 721-3755.

Report Streetlight Outages Directly to Oncor Online

Customers can report a streetlight outage by going to the Oncor web-site at www.oncor.com and clicking on Report Streetlight Outages. They can also view the new Power Restoration Outage Map.

Latest Neighborhood Newsletter

The Fall 2011 issue of the IHDNA Neighborhood Newsletter is now available for download. Our most fantastic issue to date. Read all that's new and be sure to check out our excellent sponsors!

Latest Glen's List Additions

If you need to get some things done or fixed around the house, be sure to check Glen's List for tradesmen that your own neighbors have used and recommend. A real time saver simplifier!

Vial of L.I.F.E. Kits

The Irving Fire Department is offering free Vial of L.I.F.E. kits to residents age 60 and older. Kits are a place for residents to store important medical information and are available at Irving fire stations. Call (972) 721-2651 for details or www.cityofirving.org.

Irving Public Library E-book Expansion

Irving Public Library’s Overdrive e-book collection is now compatible with the Amazon Kindle. Patrons with a valid Irving library card can now download popular and classic e-books to a Kindle device or any mobile device running the free Kindle application, such as iPhone, iPad and Android. Users who enjoy e-books on Kindle will benefit from Amazon’s Whispersync technology that synchronizes notes, highlights, and last page read between their Kindle and free Kindle apps. To get started, visit http://irvinglibrary.lib.overdrive.com..

Volunteer for the Library

The Irving Public Library is looking for a few good volunteers. If you have a bit of free time, even just an hour a week, we could use your help. Join a friendly group of dedicated city employees in a stimulating environment. Work with the public, assist with programs or support our technical services staff. We have a wide variety of volunteer positions available in all our branches. If you have the time, we can put your skills to good use. Contact Volunteer Coordinator Carla Morgan at 972-721-2530 or cmorgan@cityofirving.org.

Online City-wide Calendar

A new calendar application on the city website allows users to easily locate citywide classes and events. The user-friendly interface features various filters and searches to find items by audience, location or type of event. Users also can subscribe to events, forward events to friends and schedule event reminders via email or text messaging. The calendar, which was purchased using grant funds, is supported by staff from Corporate Communications, Library, and Parks and Recreation. Visit www.cityofirving.org to view the calendar.

Pothole Hot Line

A new hot line has been implemented to help reduce potholes throughout the city. The Pothole Hot Line allows residents to communicate the location of potholes in the city so that staff can address them within 24 business hours. The pothole reporting number—(972) 721-7303—is displayed on city asphalt patch trucks. Callers will hear a recording requesting the pothole location, date and time of call. The voice mail will be checked throughout the day and communicated to repair crews.