Hendrickson High School presents “Hairspray” Feb. 2-5 at the Hendrickson Performing Arts Center. More than 80 performers and dozens more behind the scenes will take part in this theater production. Shows begin at 7 p.m. Feb. 2-4 and at 2 p.m. Feb. 5.

Deutschen Pfest T-shirt art contest

In association with the 37th annual Deutschen Pfest, the Deutschen Pfest Committee is seeking entries for its festival T-shirt artwork contest. The committee seeks two designs: an adult Pfest shirt and a children’s shirt. The children’s design will be used for the Deutschen Pfest coloring contest in the spring.

Committee members will vote on designs and winning artists will receive $200 and a complimentary T-shirt (free admission to Deutschen Pfest).

Art themes could include German history, landmarks or carnival/festival ideas. Participants may submit as many entries as they wish. Each entry should include a black and white copy, plus a full-color copy. No more than six colors, including black, should be included per entry.

All artwork must be received no later than Feb. 10 and may be sent to Deutschen Pfest Committee c/o Pflugerville Parks and Recreation Department, P.O. Box 589, Pflugerville, or delivered to the Pflugerville Recreation Center, 400 Immanuel Road.

Deutschen Pfest, Pflugerville’s annual celebration of German heritage, takes place May 18-20.

AARP offers free tax help

The AARP will offer free tax consultations every Friday at the Pflugerville Community Library from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Feb. 3 through April 13. Registration required.

For more information, call 251-9185.

Pfree Pfebruary Pfridays

The Pflugerville Recreation Center hosts Pfree Pfebruary Pfridays this month. On Feb. 3, enjoy free admission from 5-9 p.m. The Recreation Center is located at 400 Immanuel Road.

Senior benefit at Provident Crossing

Families of wartime veterans and surviving spouses are invited to a free seminar on the benefits available through the Veterans Administration beginning at 3 p.m. Feb. 4 at Provident Crossing Independent Living and Retirement Community, located at 1950 S. A.W. Grimes Blvd. in Round Rock. Learn about the VA’s Aid and Attendance Benefit and how you can become eligible. Wartime veterans may qualify for up to $1,644 monthly and surviving spouses may receive up to $1,056. This session is aimed at assisting participants understand the VA benefits available and the benefit application process. Seating is limited and RSVPs are required.

Attendees may RSVP plus one. To RSVP, call 671-7771.

CSH Jr. Stars Dance Clinic

The Connally High School Stars Dance Team will host a Jr. Stars Dance Clinic for ages 4-14 in the CHS small gym from 9 a.m. to noon Feb. 4. Skills will be taught and snacks will provided. Participants will receive a T-shirt and the chance to perform their routine at the CHS varsity boys basketball game on Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. The $25 participation fee will go toward supporting the Stars on their quest for a national title in March.

For more information, contact Sarah Sanders at sarah.sanders@pflugervilleisd.net or 594-0800.

‘Wizard of Oz’ event at Heritage House

The Heritage House Museum, 901 Old Austin Hutto Road, will host a “Wizard of Oz” event Feb. 5 featuring themed games, puzzles and stories. Story time will take place from 1-2 p.m.; other events will be from 1-4 p.m.

District Academic Advisory Council meeting

Pflugerville ISD will conduct a District Academic Advisory Council meeting on Feb. 7 at 4:30 p.m. in the board room of the district administration building, 1401 W. Pecan.

‘Bed Time Story Time, Pets!’

The Pflugerville Community Library hosts “Bed Time Story Time, Pets!” on Feb. 7, from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. All ages are invited to learn about pets and animals.

Lions Annual Chili Supper

The Pflugerville Lions Annual Chili Supper takes place Feb. 10 at the Pflugerville Lions Hall, 500 N. Railroad. Plates will be served from 5-8 p.m. for $8 a person. Proceeds will benefit local charity projects.

Call 251-3682 for more information.

City Council work session and regular meeting

The Pflugerville City Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. The council’s next regular meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 14. A public work session may be scheduled for 6 p.m. directly before the regular meeting. Watch the regular meetings live via streaming video by following the Agendas/Minutes/Videos link on cityofpflugerville.com.

Celebration of black history

Dancin Jazzi Dance Studio and Flava Dance Company present a celebration of black history on Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. at the Manor High School Performing Arts Center, 12700 Gregg Manor Road. The public is invited to witness presentations of gospel, blues, R&B and hip hop. Tickets range from $10-$15 in advance; all tickets will be $15 at the door. For tickets, visit dancinjazzi.com.

Travis County Sheriff’s offer citizen’s academy class

Travis County Sheriff’s office invites residents to a citizens’ academy class where they can meet Sheriff’s office employees and find out what it takes to be a deputy or a corrections officer – from the selection process through training and working on a shift. The free 13-week course meets on Tuesday nights from 6:45-10 p.m. and begins Feb. 21. The class is open to ages 21 and up who and lives or works in Travis County. The Sheriff’s Citizens’ Academy doesn’t certify participants as deputies.

For additional qualifiers, questions or to get an application, contact Senior Deputy Vincente Galloway at vincente.galloway@co.travis.tx.us or call 854-4989.

Bilingual Story Time

The Pflugerville Community Library hosts Bilingual Story Time on Feb. 13, from 11:30 a.m. to noon. “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” will be presented in English and Spanish.

‘Rose Care and Pruning’

The Travis County Master Gardeners present “Rose Care and Pruning,” a free seminar Feb. 16 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Travis County AgriLife Extension Office, 1600 B Smith Road, Austin.

Participants will be taught how to plant a rose, fertilizer requirements, disease identification, general care and pruning. Participants are asked to bring pruning shears.

For more information, call 854-9600.

‘Raising Backyard Chickens’ free seminar

The Travis County Master Gardeners will host “Raising Backyard Chickens,” a free seminar led by Master Gardener Joy Williamson, Feb. 18 from 10 a.m. to noon at Zilker Botanical Garden, 2220 Barton Springs Road, Austin.

Williamson will share tips on the benefits of this garden activity, how to get started, FAQ on coop construction and how to protect feathered friends. Reservations are required; sign-up online at travis-tx.tamu.edu/horticulture. Note, the Zilker Park entrance fee is $2 per adult and $1 per child or senior.

Sheriff’s Office hosts free car seat inspections

Travis County Sheriff’s Office with Austin-Travis County EMS and Texans in Motion at Scott & White, will conduct free child passenger safety seat inspections at 3 p.m. Feb. 21 at the Manor Fire Station (405 W. Parsons, Manor). This event is scheduled from 3–6 p.m. Inspections will be conducted by appointment only.

Call 854-3248 or email kimberly.orts@co.travis.tx.us to schedule an appointment.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports child restraint systems are the most effective way to protect young children involved in motor vehicle crashes, the leading cause of death among children ages 3 to 14.

It is the goal of the Sheriff’s Office and its community partners to educate as many families as possible to ensure each child is properly restrained every time.

For more information on these events or on child passenger safety, contact Deputy Kimberly Orts at 854-3248.

Pflugerville Chamber’s annual awards banquet

The Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual awards banquet from 6-10 p.m. on Feb. 23 in the United Heritage Center at the Dell Diamond. The chamber is currently accepting donations for the night’s silent auction, as well as currently looking for volunteers to help with the event’s set up.

For more information, contact Melissa at pcc5@att.net or call 251-7799.

HTE dance competition

The Pflugerville High School Lady Panther dance team will host the HTE Spring Dance competition from 7-10 p.m. on Feb. 25. Twenty-five schools from throughout Central Texas will compete for solo and team awards. Admission ranges from free (children ages 6 and under) to $10 (general admission) at the door.

Our Savior daddy/daughter dance

Our Savior Lutheran School, 1513 E. Yager Lane, will host a daddy/daughter dance from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25. The event will include music, games, carriage rides, a tea party and more. Cost is $5 a person.

Call 825-9686 or email mcparker@austin.rr.com for more information.

Second annual Tiara 5k run and carnival

Grab your running and walking shoes, water bottle, your boa and your tiara for the second annual Tiara 5k Run (formerly known as the Diva 5k). Registration is open now for the run/walk race event that will be held Saturday, March 3, at Hendrickson High School in Pflugerville.

Women of all ages, fitness levels and running experience will benefit from a day of recognition for being a woman.

Partial proceeds will be donated to the Pflugerville Storehouse Food Ministry. To donate, visit the food ministry’s website at thestorehousenetwork.com/donations.

The event kicks off at 2:30 p.m. with a carnival filled with family fun activities including a human gyroscope, GAGA ball, and a mobile gaming theater, as well as other kids’ games, a cake walk, a bouncy house, and food and drink vendors. All proceeds from the carnival go to the Hendrickson High 2012 Senior Celebration (hhsseniorcelebration.org).

Runner packet pick up will be held 7-9 p.m. March 1-2 at the Hendrickson High cafeteria and gym, located at 2905 FM 685 in Pflugerville. The race begins at 4 p.m. March 3. To register, visit tiara5k.com.

Tickets available for Reckless Kelly Softball Jam

Half-price tickets are on sale for the fourth annual Reckless Kelly Softball Jam. The event is scheduled for April 22 at Dell Diamond (3400 E. Palm Valley Road, Round Rock). Order by phone by calling 255-BALL, get tickets at the Dell Diamond box office or purchase them online at roundrockexpress.com or rkcsj.org.

Award-winning roots-rock band Reckless Kelly with Ryan Sanders Entertainment will again produce the family-oriented event that combines a nine-inning softball game with a centerfield concert. Proceeds from the event benefit area youth sports groups.

Musicians, athletes and media personalities who will join Reckless Kelly in the celebrity softball game and/or the six-hour, two-stage centerfield concert include Randy Rogers Band, Wade Bowen, Cody Canada & the Departed, Micky & the Motorcars, Bo Bice, Pauline Reese, Mary Cutrufello, Midnight River Choir, Cat Osterman, Brooks Kieschnick, Kirk Dressendorfer, Richie Sexson, Chris Mosser, Andy Langer, Travis Lofland, Mark Murray, and radio personalities Dudley and Bob.

For more information on the event, see rkcsj.org.

Meet the Constable

McMurtrie Farms Event Venue will host the Meet the Constable event on Tuesday, Feb. 21 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in The Pecan Pavilion. Adan Ballasteros, Constable, Precinct 2, will be present in an informal setting to speak with attendees about any questions or concerns they may have concerning the constable’s office and the upcoming election. Appetizers and beverages will be served at this free event.

Email chelsea@mcmurtriefarms.com for more details.

Community Casino Night Party

“Ship 711, Sea Scouts of Pflugerville,” in partnership with the Rotary Club of Pflugerville, present the 5th Annual Community Casino Party, “At the Movies,” from 6-10 p.m. on March 3 at St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church, 1520 N. Railroad Ave. The public is invited to celebrate movies made in or near Pflugerville and Las Vegas, including “Second Hand Lions,” “Office Space,” and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.”

Proceeds benefit the Pflugerville Sea Scouts and Rotary scholarships, charities and activities. Tickets range from $50 (one ticket) to $90 (two tickets) and include a barbecue dinner, drinks, a raffle ticket and $5,000 in casino chips.

Dress is casual but prizes will be awarded for the best movie-inspired costumes.

For ticket information, contact Jim Wilkinson at 585-5442 or by email at jim@wilkinson.us.com. For more information, visit pfcasinoparty.com.

Travis County officials on Tuesday noted the amount of rainfall that fell recently contributed to the decision.

County residents are urged to notify their local fire department before conducting any outdoor burning activity.

Satterwhite one of composers on ‘Man on a Mission

By Marcial Guajardo

Managing Editor

Austinite Richard Garriott’s documentary about his 2008 flight into space has made its theatrical debut, with Pflugerville resident Brian Satterwhite along for the ride.

Satterwhite, a film composer, wrote the score for Garriott’s movie, “Man on a Mission,” which opened nationwide in limited release on Jan. 13. After screenings in Chicago, Detroit, New York City and Toronto, Satterwhite caught an Alamo Drafthouse screening of the film in Austin on Jan. 20.

A film composer for nearly 15 years, Satterwhite said his experience with “Man on a Mission” will be one he won’t soon forget.

“To have been given the opportunity to compose music for it will forever be a hallmark of my career,” he said in a Facebook message to the Pflag. “How many people can say they’ve scored astronauts walking up to their Soyuz rocket as it awaits them on the launch pad? Or composed music for footage taken from the inside of the Soyuz capsule as its re-entering earth’s atmosphere? I can score films for another fifty years and I don’t know if I’ll have an experience that eclipses ‘Man on a Mission.’”

In March 2010, Satterwhite took in the premiere of the film during the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, along with others involved with the making of the movie. It captured the SXSW Audience Award.

The film tracks Garriott’s real-life adventure, which involved him paying $30 million for the opportunity to fly aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Center. The son of a former NASA astronaut who flew into space in the ‘70s, Garriott had made millions as one of the early creators of massive online role-playing games.

Diagnosed as near-sighted at age 8, any hopes he may have had to follow his father’s footsteps in the NASA astronaut program were dashed. But instead Garriott took the private route, training in Russia before launching in Kazakhstan.

Satterwhite wrote 52 minutes of the film’s score in two months, which director Mike Woolf and executive producer Brady Dial added in with the music of composer John Constant.

Woolf and Satterwhite, in a March 2010 Pflag article, noted they agreed the film’s score is most brilliant at the moment just before the Soyuz rocket blasts off on a cloudless day from the steppes of Kazakhstan.

“It’s kind of interesting because I scored everything up to the launch, but when the rocket ignites the engine, the music comes out and the whole time that it actually lifts up into the sky there’s actually no music,” Satterwhite said. “We did that to allow a very realistic kind of feel. We didn’t want music to over-color that experience.”

“Man on a Mission” is the first film Satterwhite has scored that has earned theatrical distribution. Sitting in during its Alamo Drafthouse debut last month was a different experience for him, he said.

“When I sat in the theater [Jan. 20] for the opening at the Alamo Drafthouse, I was sitting in the best theater in the world with an audience who paid to get in to see the movie,” he said. “Not only that, but the film was concurrently playing in other cities around the country at the exact same time. That’s a new feeling for me.

“‘Man on a Mission’ was a dream project for me. I’m a huge space buff so every time I see the film I have to pinch myself to make sure that working on it wasn’t just a dream. I fell in the love with the movie six months before I was hired to score it so I’ve been a huge fan of the film from the very beginning.”

“Man on a Mission” plays the Alamo Lake Creek, 13729 Research Blvd, Austin, at 7 p.m. Feb. 9.

Garriott and Satterwhite still have a few more screenings scheduled. It plays the Spokane (Wash.) Film Festival through Feb. 4, the Providence (R.I.) Children’s Film Festival Feb. 16-22 and in Seattle Feb. 17-23.

It’s also available on iTunes, at: itunes.apple.com/us/movie/man-on-mission-richard-garriotts/id494543709

The owner of two downtown Austin restaurants, Shawn Cirkiel was recently featured in the Connally High School Guest Chef Dinner Series. (courtesy photo)

Owner of downtown Austin eateries visits CHS as part of Guest Chef Series

By Rebekah Skelton

Special to the Pflag

Austin-based chef Shawn Cirkiel is no newcomer to the food world. Since he broke into the business over two decades ago, he’s won numerous awards and been given high praise in an industry that’s hard to crack.

But when he began cooking all those years ago, he wasn’t that different than some of the students he worked alongside Jan. 16, during Connally High School’s Guest Chef Dinner Series.

“I just always cooked from the time I was 14 on,” Cirkiel said. “Kind of similar to some of these kids.”

When Cirkiel, 36, started working in restaurants, he was washing dishes for the Mexican restaurant La Margarita in Round Rock, he said. Now, he is the owner and chef of two downtown-Austin restaurants, Parkside, an ingredient-driven American restaurant, and the Backspace, a Neapolitan pizzeria. He is also working to open a third restaurant, Olive & June, this month.

“I consider myself really lucky with all the restaurants and the people I have working with me and for me,” Cirkiel said. “It’s just an incredible team effort at the restaurants and the same with these kids doing the dinner.”

Cirkiel, who graduated from Round Rock High School, said he thinks Connally’s culinary arts program is a good opportunity for the students because it allows them to start learning a life skill.

“Life just kind of takes off,” Cirkiel said. “But the program does what so many people don’t do anymore, which is have the opportunity to start a trait. So it’s pretty awesome.”

Although one of Cirkiel’s days is busier than some people’s entire week – he usually starts his day at 6:30 a.m. and goes until about 1 a.m. – he said he makes it a point to be involved in the community. He serves on the nutrition board for Austin ISD’s Highland Park Elementary, works with the Sustainable Food Center and the Austin Farmers Market and is a board member of the Sixth Street Austin Association.

Cirkiel said he got involved in the Guest Chef Dinner Series, a fundraising event for Connally’s culinary program, after the culinary arts instructor for Pflugerville ISD, Mike Erickson, reached out to him.

“I think that this is an opportunity for me and my staff to be a part of something, and to give something, which is our time,” Cirkiel said. “It’s important, as much as to show these kids what they can do, as well as realize maybe they don’t want to do it.”

The students cooked with Cirkiel and two of his chefs, Michael Dei Maggi and Steven Cak, and made a four-course meal, with each of the dishes being a variation of items on Parkside’s menu. The meal consisted of fritters, roasted beet salad, butter roasted farm chicken and chocolate doughnuts.

“They’re essentially doing everything,” Cirkiel said. “It’s really exciting. We [chefs] joked about how [the students] are doing as good or better than a lot of kids that we hire.”

Mike Erickson, who taught at Austin Community College and Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts for seven years before working at Connally, said allowing the kids to work with the chefs turns classroom exercises into a real-world experience.

“The students get the opportunity to interact not only with the industry, but also their parents and community members,” Erickson said. “And that’s the best type of learning, when you can make it realistic.”

Erickson said he got the idea for the Guest Chef Series from a similar class he taught at ACC.

“I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to bring some of the chefs I know in Austin to my school and be able to expose my students to [them],” Erickson said.

Ryan Johnson, a junior at Connally, said he’s wanted to become a chef since he was a kid, and working with Erickson and the various guest chefs has shown him how “cool” cooking can be.

“It’s kind of like the real world,” Johnson, the president of the culinary arts club, said. “It’s hard work, but it’s fun, and you get to see the things that you create.”

The culinary arts program has held several fundraising events this school year, raising about $3,500, with over $700 coming from the dinner series, Erickson said.

The next Guest Chef dinner will be on Feb. 6 with chefs Christina Lee and Louis Ortiz from Central Market Cooking School. Tickets can be purchased at the Cooking with Connally website, cookingwithconnally.org.

Site selector tells officials talks are underway with company ‘very interested’ in Pflugerville

By James Rincon

Pflag Reporter

An Austin site selector said he is deep in talks with a data storage company that is “very interested” in bringing a multimillion dollar center to Pflugerville.

“I usually don’t say these things lightly and publically with the media here, but I am currently talking with a client that is interested in exploring a data center in your community because of the first one that was announced,” Angelou Economics CEO Angelos Angelou said at a Jan. 18 joint work session of City Council and Pflugerville Community Development Corporation.

In November, Angelou’s company helped bring Pflugerville its first data storage center, when WindData signed contracts with PCDC to build a $210 million center in the city’s northeast quadrant.

Angelou presented a comprehensive economic study and action plan to city staff and PCDC that concluded Pflugerville has the land, workforce and administration in place to aggressively attract employers in the high-tech and renewable energy sectors.

Angelou said Pflugerville is already making a name for itself as a haven for the green-tech industry, with the 60-megawatt solar farm being built in its eastern land rights and its incentivized Renewable Energy Business Park.

The study suggests the city’s pursuit of renewable energy business starts with the solar farm and could expand to wind turbine manufacturing and companies that provide software that monitors and analyzes energy use.

The study shows the high-tech industry could become the city’s bread and butter if it focuses on courting more data storage centers, high-tech component manufacturers, tech support companies and research and development labs.

“I think Pflugerville can do $1 billion on data center contracts probably in the next two years or less,” PCDC Director Floyd Akers said. “That’s a billion dollars in contracts, not what’s actually being put on the ground. I think there could be much more put on the ground.”

Akers said $1 billion in contracts could generate up to $5 billion when all projects are completely built out. He said the plan to incentivize expensive capital projects like the data centers looks at the long term.

“About the time that many of us are wanting to retire, all of those economic development agreements will be expiring and all that property will hit the tax base,” Akers said. “In 15 years or 10 years, whatever the agreements happen to be, you’re going to see significant revenue coming into the city to fund services.”

Angelou said municipalities can get hung up on their quest for local job creation, when it is often not the beset development strategy.

“Any kind of job is not necessarily a good job for the future of your city,” Angelou said. “What you want to focus on is the highest capital investment per job.”

Pflag Reporter

The 2012 fiscal year marks the city’s inaugural use of its new slush fund for capital improvements, and Tuesday City Council members approved a list of projects developed by staff in city’s various departments that carry a price tag of $1.68 million.

“The intent would be to get these projects in and done within this calendar year,” City Manager Brandon Wade said.

Last year, Wade restructured the city’s budget and created the General Capital Reserve Fund, a fund that pools any revenue the city collects in excess of its yearly budget.

The money is dedicated to capital improvement projects. This year, the fund totals more than $2.7 million, and the city’s departments submitted its laundry list of wants and needs to Council Tuesday with hopes of receiving the funds for some long-awaited projects.

“That’s a lot of money for us to spend, and so I want to make sure we have vetted this as much as possible,” Mayor Jeff Coleman said of the reserve fund’s balance.

Although Council members approved funding for projects ranging from street repairs and park improvements to a new $95,000 phone system for the Pflugerville Police, they pulled two projects from the list that totaled an additional $263,000.

The most expensive item tabled by Council for further examination was a $216,000 parks project to construct a 60-car parking lot for the soccer fields at the southeast corner of Pfenning Lane.

“I have some a real issues with spending almost a quarter-million dollars for those 60 spots, and the reason being is that of that entire street, this location is the least used of any of the parks on that road,” Coleman said.

Wayne Cooper agreed with Coleman’s assessment.

“These soccer fields are just sort of a stopgap for the soccer association, and I think we had some pretty lengthy discussions about how there was plenty of on-street parking there the park can utilize,” Cooper said. “There’s a comment in here about it being dangerous, but when you go up to where Little League football is playing and baseball and that other stuff, it’s a lot more dense and it seems like that’s a lot more dangerous than this area would be.”

The other project Council put the brakes on was the use of $48,000 from the capital reserve fund to install the 10 remaining electric vehicle charging stations the city purchased with a grant in 2011.

“I didn’t think putting these stations up was going to cost us any money,” Coleman said.

Wade clarified that the grant funds paid only for the purchase of the charging stations, not their installation. Wade also recommended changing the locations slated to receive the charging stations because he thought several of them would be underused.

Assistant City Manager Trey Fletcher added that changing the installation locations would also decrease the cost of each installation – a savings that was already reflected in the $48,000 price tag listed on the capital improvements proposal.

Instead of installing two of the stations at City Hall, Wade’s recommendation was to install up to six stations at Stone Hill Town Center, or to install four stations at Stone Hill and the remaining six stations at Lake Pflugerville.

Wade said the cost of the installations was being presented to the Council as a capital improvement because it had originally been included in a far-reaching energy-savings contract that was written in 2007 before Wade’s arrival, and extracting the installation cost from that contract would be a more transparent use of tax dollars.

“We scaled that project back substantially because, quite frankly, I didn’t like the way this was built into the overall contract,” Wade said. “So while you’re seeing explicitly the $48,000 here, you would have never seen it in the other contract… so this is a great deal more transparent.”

“Is there enough of a demand yet to put in that many, or do we just need two? And save the extra 20,000 if they’re $5,000 a piece,” Coleman said. “I fear that the lake is a long way out there and if there’s six of them out there, four of them will never be touched.”

Wade said the city can return any of the chargers that it ultimately decides not to use – an option that remains on the table as the city takes another look at where and how they plan to install the charging stations.

Despite their rejection of two proposed projects, Council members approved the following funds for the following projects, all to be completed within the calendar year:

• $15,000 for additional handicapped parking spaces at City Hall;

• $170,000 for a high-speed internet connection from City Hall to the Department of Parks and Public Works;

• $107,000 to remodel City Hall suites 100, 200 and 300;

• $50,000 for a study of the city’s regulatory codes to overhaul of the city’s zoning and land-use framework;

• $247,000 to construct a new, concrete deck for Gilleland Pool;

• $260,639 for numerous park amenity improvements including new park benches, shade structures, trash cans, water fountains and other similar items;

• $25,000 for a study that identify gaps in Pflugerville’s trail system and prioritizes and price sthe sections to be constructed;

• $50,000 for a study evaluating undeveloped and underdeveloped park sites, with recommendations with cost estimates for improvements that should be made at these undeveloped parks in the future;

• $55,500 to finish construction of Mountain Creek Trail before grant funding from Texas Parks and Wildlife expires July 15; and

• $75,000 for a study evaluating the city’s need for an athletic complex, identifying feasible locations and developing a cost estimates for construction.

For the full list of capitol improvement projects, view the “Attachment” links here.

Managing Editor

Memories of last year’s Labor Day weekend wildfires in Pflugerville, which often had firefighters rushing off to a scene on little or no rest, came back to firefighter Tim Wallace last week, during annual live fire training.

Wallace, a Pflugerville Fire Department lieutenant among those who responded to the wildfires last year, was among those taking part in a multi-agency training exercise at the department’s Cameron Road training facility. Firefighters from Austin, Hutto, Pflugerville and Round Rock joined together to review operational tactics and communications involved in a coordinated response.

And though the flames are real and the situation just as dangerous as last year’s fires, taking part in such training is very much welcomed, Wallace said.

“I think that big day will never leave our minds,” he said about the wildfires. “We were all tired and drained. When we train over these last three days last week, it makes us appreciate what we do and why we are doing it. Do we ever want to see that again? No.”

Each of Pflugerville Fire’s three shifts took part in the training, which reviewed firefighting strategy and tactics, resource deployment, communications, teamwork, fireline safety and operations at structure fires. Wallace noted training such as this allows neighboring fire departments, which often respond to the same calls, to become better acquainted with their respective techniques and operations.

“We all do the same job but a little differently,” Wallace said. “We want to train on this stuff so it’s second nature. It needs to happen really quickly, really automatically.”

Wildfire training, specifically, did not take place but firefighters reviewed some of the tactics involved, such as fireline construction and backburns. During the Hodde Lane wildfire last year, a backburn – which involves igniting vegetation in an area to stop a wildfire’s movement in that direction – was set, preventing dozens of homes in the Reserve at Westcreek neighborhood from catching fire.

Firefighter response was credited with saving each of the homes in the neighborhood and an adjacent farm, despite reported wind gusts of up to 40 miles an hour. An estimated 200 acres in the area were destroyed, but no injuries were reported.

The Cameron Road training facility includes a building created to withstand the high temperatures of structure fires, and rooms within it are often set ablaze during training.

Last week, those rooms were again set on fire, as crews practiced a “firefighter mayday” situation inside the “burn building,” Wallace said. A mannequin was placed within the building, in a scenario meant to mimic the circumstances of a firefight turned firefighter rescue.

“Right in the middle of this we’re trying to fight a fire, rescue people, get the smoke out,” said Wallace, “and we hear ‘Mayday, mayday!’”

With as many as 80 firefighters in training at the same time, training scenarios can get rather “treacherous,” Wallace added.

“We want to resemble the conditions we see on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “You’re seeing heat, experiencing live flame.”

Also, firefighters noted they continue to urge residents and business owners in the local area to prepare their landscaping, homes, structures and themselves using the Texas Forest Service’s “Ready! Set! Go” Wildfire Action Plan at texasforestservice.tamu.edu/main/article.aspx?id=12298.

Pflag Reporter

The 36th Infantry Division of the Texas Army National Guard on Saturday celebrated the successful completion of an operation that stationed 700 Central Texas soldiers, many from Pflugerville, in southern Iraq for a year.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson was among the dignitaries present at Austin’s Camp Mabry for the ceremonial transfer of the division’s command after successful completion of Operation New Dawn in Basra, Iraq.

Pflugerville resident Lt. Col. Marvin Harris was among the local soldiers deployed to Basra in January 2011, where the Texas National Guard commanded more than 7,000 active troops as they worked to transfer control of the country’s southern region to the Iraqi Army.

“It was a historic event for the Texas Army National Guard because I believe we were [only the third] National Guard unit in Iraq to command active-duty units,” Harris said. “It made all of us proud to be able to go there and help Iraq. That was one of our main missions, to help them protect their population and then also help their security force with capabilities so that they could protect themselves.”

Harris is an active Guard reserve soldier, meaning he works for the National Guard every day as opposed to the traditional one weekend a month and two weeks a year. In Basra, he worked as a fire support coordinator, assisting troops who ventured outside of the base with radar and munitions support.

Operation New Dawn was a the command and control operation that followed Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The operation was completed without casualties, but Harris said the experience overseas varied greatly for each soldier depending on location and political climates, adding that U.S. soldiers received a mixed reception from the local population.

“Sometimes you wonder why some of the insurgents over there would still try to harm you, when you’re there to help them,” Harris said. “We were no longer doing full-spectrum operations. We were there pretty much to do stability operations. So it wasn’t like when the Iraqi War first started. So that was probably the most disappointing thing, when you’re trying to help somebody and they’re still trying to harm you.”

Harris said the most significant achievement of the 36th Division was turning control of Iraq’s nine southernmost provinces over to the U.S. Department of State.

“We were the last division to command southern Iraq,” Harris said. “Mostly what they did was train the Iraqi army how to fight. We helped the Iraqis to protect themselves and protect their populations, and we had U.S. soldiers actually train the Iraqi army.”

One of the most difficult parts of Harris’ year overseas, he said, was being away from his family in Pflugerville. He communicated with home often via email and Skype, but Harris said he missed out completely on his son Jalen’s final year of high school at Hendrickson High. As a senior at Hendrickson, Jalen excelled in the classroom and on the court, distinguishing himself as one of the city’s best basketball players. By graduation, Jalen had accepted an offer to play basketball at The U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.

“When you have kids something’s always going to happen. When you have a house something’s always going to break. So it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary that we couldn’t handle.” Harris said. “I definitely missed my son’s last year of high school and West Point recruiting him and him going on visits, and then in the summer when he reported.”

Within weeks of his return from Basra, Harris visited West Point where his son is already seeing playing time as a freshman.

Harris said his experience overseas solidified his appreciation for the U.S. in a way he said can only be achieved by visiting a country that does not allow its citizens the same freedoms.

“Be proud that you’re an American. Be proud that you live in the United States, because being over there shows you why the United States is the best country in the world,” Harris said. “People who never have an opportunity to travel to a country like that, I don’t think they understand what our freedoms really mean. They can’t do the things that we get to do over here. I think some people may take it for granted, only because they haven’t had the opportunity to go see another county where they don’t have the freedoms that we do.”

The district around 7 a.m. Wednesday reported the damage to the bus barn made it impossible for buses to safely leave the area. Officials encouraged parents to drop students off at school if possible, and noted middle school and high school buses would not run that morning.

Shortly before 8 a.m., the district reported elementary school buses would run on a two-hour delay. All PISD schools were reported to have power and operating on normal schedules.

– Marcial Guajardo

Pflugerville Fire Department spokesman Lt. Tim Wallace said firefighters responded to a residence at 13811 Delahunty Lane – just north of the Wells Branch Parkway/South Heatherwilde Boulevard intersection, around 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Wallace said a vehicle under repair in a garage caught fire, igniting the garage and the home. Pflugerville Fire responded with a ladder truck, four fire engines and several command vehicles, and an Austin Fire Department engine also responded.

The fire was under control within 30 minutes of arrival and extinguished within two hours, Wallace said. Firefighters were on the scene for several more hours to ensure the fire was completely extinguished.

An investigation concluded the fire was accidential, Wallace noted.

– Marcial Guajardo