Stage 2 water restrictions are now in place. Chris Metz of the Public Works Department relayed that the North Texas Municipal Water District voted to transition from Stage 3 water restrictions to Stage 2 as of June 1, 2012. Forney falls under the NTMWD guidelines and Metz explained that Stage 2 means that City of Forney residents will now be allowed to water twice a week on their scheduled days, with no watering allowed between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
The council voted to temporarily suspend Forney Community Park user fees, which is normally a $10 fee for sports organizations using the park. They will be changing their computer software that does the billing and will not start charging fees again until next Spring.
Asst. City Manager Nash gave an update on road construction work happening in Forney. Nash told the council that the FM 548/Hwy. 80 work is eighty percent complete and will be finished in the next week or two. She noted that the Gateway Bridge project on Highway 80 is moving quickly as pillars are being set in place. She said that we can expect a lot of construction activity on FM 741 in the next several weeks as crews lay asphalt and concrete down. The target completion date for FM 741 is before FISD students head back to school on August 27, 2012. Nash also warned that the south entrance to Chestnut Meadows, which is Chestnut Street, will be closed for six weeks. It is unknown exactly when the closure will take place, but inForney.com will post the information as soon as it is released.
At the conclusion of the meeting, a few Forney City Council members conveyed their sadness at the passing of 15-year-old Forney High School student Matthew DeFilippo of Forney. The young man was killed in a tragic car accident at the Winners Circle neighborhood when the truck he was riding in flipped over on Friday, June 1, 2012. The truck was being driven by a teenage friend of Matthew. Robbie Powers and Brian Haughey expressed their concern at the recent tragedy and other loss of life for young people in Forney in the recent months. Haughey urged parents to make sure their kids are responsible enough to drive and to talk to them about that responsibility. Councilman James Hatley said, “We gotta remind our kids and hold our kids responsible, make sure we hold them responsible.” He also warned parents to remind their kids to pay attention behind the wheel and “just be aware of their actions behind the vehicle.” He called it a terrible situation and hopes that we as a community can come together to make people aware so that we can prevent more of these tragedies from occurring.
The DeFillipo family asks that you consider donations to a scholarship fund set up in memory of Matthew. Memorials may be made payable to the Matthew DeFilippo account set up at Chase Bank, 401 FM 548, Forney, TX 75126.
