Rowlett Public Library Recognized for Excellence for the 17^th Consecutive Year

At this week’s City Council Meeting, the City of Rowlett Public Library was presented the Texas Municipal Library Directors Association 2021 Achievement of Excellence in Libraries Award. 565 public libraries exist in Texas - of those libraries, only 59 received this award in 2021!  This is the 17th consecutive year the Rowlett Public Library has received this award in recognition of the quality programs and services offered to educate, entertain, and enrich the lives of community residents.

Receiving this distinction is an honor.  The award speaks to the valuable contributions made daily by the staff and volunteers of the Rowlett Public Library.  Their dedication, enthusiasm and effort bring levels of customer service excellence that could not otherwise be reached. Congratulations!

Thank You, Rowlett High School Students!

A community is created by its PEOPLE, and one of the greatest assets Rowlett has is the sheer volume of citizens who volunteer to help their City. Rowlett has over 600 acres of park land. Some with playgrounds, some with ballfields, some with ponds, some with walking trails, and some are just open greenspace. Oh, and throw in a waterpark! As you can imagine, the maintenance and upkeep of these areas of beauty and recreation throughout our town is a daily task and a great source of personal pride for our fabulous Parks and Recreation Maintenance crews. Sometimes they no more than drive off after having spent hours cleaning a park, than park visitors come in right behind them and perhaps are a little lax in their own anti-littering efforts. We are always so appreciative of citizens who bring these issues to our attention so that we can give those areas a little extra love. Additionally, we are SUPER appreciative when residents team up with us to help SOLVE what may be an ongoing issue!
 
For example, recently a citizen expressed concern over the litter they observed in the Kids Kingdom/Wet Zone area of Pecan Grove Park. Turns out, this has become an area of concern as students from Rowlett High School have been using it as a “hang out” when they perhaps should be in class. When Rowlett resident Myranda Congi and Parks and Recreation staff brought this to the attention of RHS Principal Carmen Blakey, she immediately responded by developing and implementing an action plan for students to become involved!  Read on… 

Dalrock Road Curves Update and FAQ 

There are two curves on Dalrock Road between Princeton and Liberty Grove that have become a focus for the City due to the number of crashes which have occurred. On the Dalrock south curve alone, sixteen crashes happened between 2016-2020, the cause of which is mainly due to driver inattentiveness and speeding. To build upon the improvements which have already been installed at the south curve, at this week’s City Council Meeting Garver Engineering provided an update for further improvements based on their recent study. This study was commissioned in late fall of 2021 to identify solutions to improve roadway conditions and reduce crashes in the area. 
 
As a result, the Rowlett City Council has approved moving forward with:

• the design and construction of a drainage pipe along the existing ditch;
• installing a 6’ wide shoulder; and
• installing a metal beam guard fence along the south Dalrock curve. 

 Once these improvements have been completed, a high friction coating will be installed on the roadway to increase the surface friction. Work on these solutions will begin immediately. More info and a detailed FAQ…

Neighborhood Planning Resource Map 

The Neighborhood Planning Department is committed to working with all of our neighborhoods to provide quality customer-service and programs that meet the needs of our small communities through effective 360-degree communication, promote community involvement, and strengthen the relationships between neighborhoods and City staff.
 
Here’s where YOU come in – the Department is updating neighborhood contact information, which will then be placed on a Neighborhood Resource Map showing residents where neighborhood groups exist and how to reach them.

Take a second to fill out THIS FORM  and tell us about YOUR neighborhood…thank you for your help! More info...

Arts and Humanities Commission Contests

Young Artist Exhibit
Young artists, Kindergarten through 12th grade (public, private and home-schooled students) are invited to show off their creative talents in this annual art exhibit. The Young Artists Exhibit gives our community’s young people the positive reinforcement and encouragement they need. For many kids, this kind of event is an important opportunity to display their art work. It helps to validate them as developing artists, and helps parents and community members to be more aware of visual arts programs in our schools. The Commission's goal is to encourage area students to become more active in their communities through the visual arts! More info…

Lunch on the Lawn

Mondays, March 21 through April 25
11am-2pm
Village of Rowlett Downtown
Enjoy a variety of food trucks, live music and games - take your lunch break outside and soak in the beautiful beginning of spring! More info…

Family Campout 

Join us for a family outdoor campout at Pecan Grove Park on Saturday, March 26. Enjoy fishing, kayaking and other camping activities during the day – then relax while staff grills up hamburgers, hotdogs and s’mores for dessert! Come enjoy a night under the stars with your friends, neighbors and loved ones.
More info…

Parks & Recreation is going live on their Instagram page on March 20 at 1:30p! They will go over FAQ, and cover any questions that might come up during the live video for the Family Campout. Follow them on Instagram!