Posted 10:06 pm Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Send to Kindle
Hiking trail, crime system on council's agenda today
If the Tyler City Council gives its approval today, city residents may report low-priority criminal incidents online with the aid of a system called Coplogic.
In addition, the council will review a grant from Texas Parks and Wildlife to extend a hiking trail in a city park.
Both items are on the agenda for today's city council meeting at 9 a.m. at the Liberty Theater, 103 E. Erwin St.
A police officer created the DeskOfficer Online Reporting System with the help of a software architect, according to the company's website.
That system "revolutionized how agencies would handle low priority incidents," and allows citizens to report such incidents online so police resources can be better reallocated to meet the needs of the community, the website stated.
A copy of a proposed contract between the city and the California-based company states that the city will be charged a base fee of $10,000 per year. For a period of three years, the annual fee will not increase by more than 5 percent of the previous year's annual fee, the proposed contract stated. A new project could be in the works for Woldert Park if the council approves a 3.75-mile granite extension of a trail there, as well as a bridge crossing over Black Fork Creek, according to information received from the city. The trail will continue from the original back bone around the lake area and will be 5 feet wide and constructed of crushed granite, according to the city. The trail will be similar to the trail currently at Faulkner Park.
The work will be financed in part from a Texas Parks and Wildlife grant totaling $236,500.
The state will fund $186,200 of the work, and the city portion for the project will be $47,300, according to information from the city.
The council also will recommend the reappointment of board members to the city's Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones 2 and 3, according to the agenda.
"This is very routine, and it is something we do every year," Susan Guthrie, city spokeswoman said Tuesday.
A reinvestment zone is designed to capture tax funding from new growth in an area and apply it infrastructure, city officials have said.
Property values increase because of the reinvestment, officials said.
For example, the initial study for the downtown parking garage, to be located at Broadway Avenue and Elm Street, was partially funded with money from Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, No. 2, Ms. Guthrie said.
The reinvestment zones, which were created in 2009, have not seen a great deal of capture because of the economic recession in the past few years, Ms. Guthrie said. The Tax Increment Reinvestment No. 2 includes downtown Tyler, she said.
