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Joya to receive upgrades; Justice Center remodel moves forward

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Wrought iron fencing and security cameras for Joya Park and a remodel of the Justice Center are on the way.

The Farmers Branch City Council approved reallocating funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant during the May 7 study session and city council meeting after receiving city staff’s updates and suggestions for improvements for Joya Park.

Director of Parks and Recreation Robert Diaz said Joya receives up to 1,000 visitors on Fridays and Sundays and 1,500 visitors on Saturdays. The park is currently open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and staffed by part-time staff from the recreation center, aquatics center and historical park during peak times of 5-10 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

“It’s a moving target,” Diaz said. “We’re making adjustments on what staffing we need based on what numbers we’ve gotten. This is not how this is always going to be. Hopefully the newness wears off.”

Joya’s remaining ARPA budget was $745,000 as of March 31. ARPA funds need to be allocated and have contracts committed by the end of 2024, or the city risks losing those grants.

Proposed improvements to Joya include $100,000 for a permanent wrought iron fence to encircle the playground, $50,000 for 12 additional security cameras, $50,000 for connection to the city’s network, $10,000 for additional security lighting and $10,000 for shade cover at the entry for staff for a total of $220,000.

Council’s agreement for city staff to move forward to seek bids for Joya is not final approval on the improvements.

“We’ll have to bring it back to council after we receive bids,” Diaz said.

In addition, Diaz asked the council to consider Ordinance No. 82-95 to reflect no parking on either side of Tom Field Road between Valley View Lanes and Rawhide Parkway, which will be on the council’s agenda for the May 21 meeting.

Benjamin (11), Serenity (10) and Caysin (3) Aguilar chose a quiet night to visit Joya Park with their parents on Wednesday, May 8. The family lives in Lewisville and decided to visit Joya after seeing a family member’s Instagram posts about the park.

(Photo by Kate Bergeron)

Perla Tavera, deputy director of finance, fleet and facilities said her department recommended transferring the remaining Joya ARPA budget $525,000 to improvements at the jail in coordination with an already discussed and planned swap of the proposed Mercer Park’s $1 million ARPA budget, which council had discussed in previous study sessions.

Because of development delays at Mercer Crossing, city staff does not think Mercer Park construction will meet the December 2024 and December 2026 grant deadlines.

“They need to be under contract by the end of this year. We still have more design to do with Mercer Park, let alone construction,” said Tammy Zimmerman, director of finance, fleet and facilities. “We had already identified that the justice center, which is funded with $1.3 million of general fund money to complete and ARPA money, we could just do a swap out.”

The city received nearly $12 millions of ARPA funds, which were allocated in September 2021 to eight projects, four of which are not yet completed: the $2.5 million Justice Center renovation, Phase 1 of Joya Park for $4 million, the Branch Connection Renovation for $2.5 million and $1 million for the city portion of the proposed Mercer Park.

The city council unanimously passed Resolution No. 2024-071 authorizing the ARPA funds to be reallocated as recommended.

Immediately following that resolution, the council heard a presentation by Tavera discussing the history of the Justice Center remodel and the bidding process that led to city staff’s recommendation for the council to consider Resolution No. 2024-054 authorizing a contract with Falkenberg Construction Co. for the Justice Center remodel for $1,731,921.

The Justice Center houses the Farmers Branch Police Department, the Farmers Branch Detention Center and the Farmers Branch Municipal Court. 

The proposed remodel includes the break room, the criminal investigative division area, the patrol area, locker room and restrooms, the evidence room, the briefing and training area, records and storage, the volunteer area and the administration area. 

The remodel is estimated to take just less than a year to complete once work starts in five phases. 

Of the four companies that submitted bids for the project, Tavera said Falkenberg Construction was chosen because of its project budget, realistic schedule, favorable reviews and the company’s experience and team.

With no discussion, the council unanimously passed the resolution.