The Board of Commissioners of the City of Pharr met for a regular meeting on Monday, March 2, 2020, and considered an agenda that included the following highlights:City Engineer’s Report: Update on Drainage Projects
Pharr City Engineer and Director Omar Anzaldua Jr. informed the City Commission that his department is coordinating with Public Works to begin drainage improvements throughout the city. The drainage system projects will consist of upgrades, widening, and making existing drainage deeper. “We are working on a plan of action and a timeline of when we can begin these projects. As soon as the timeline is confirmed and approved, the details will be made available to the public and posted on the city’s website,” said Anzaldua. Pharr Municipal Court Recognized
The Pharr Municipal Court was recently notified by the Texas Municipal Court Education Center and TxDOT that they have been selected for an award. This award recognizes the court’s hazards and risk model which promotes the city’s public safety, traffic education, and best practices. “Mayor and Commissioners, we are thrilled to be here with you today to tell you that the Pharr Municipal Court was selected as 1 of 22 recipients of a traffic safety initiative award out of 933 municipal courts in the State of Texas,” said Judge Marissa Carranza Hernandez. “We were also the only ones in the County of Hidalgo to be selected for this award, this is also the first time the City of Pharr Municipal Court is selected for this award,” she continued. Judge Carranza Hernandez and the Court Coordinator will be attending a conference in Austin on April 6, 2020, to present on what they are doing in Pharr as an example to other Municipal Courts throughout the state and will also be receiving their award at a banquet that evening.
City Hall Renovations: Payment Stations Now Available at the Pharr Development and Research Center in South Pharr
Interim City Manager Ed Wylie announced that with the renovations at Pharr City Hall underway, citizens are urged to make payments at stations set up throughout the city. A new payment station is now conveniently available at the Pharr Development and Research Center (850 W Dicker Rd, Pharr, TX 78577).
Featured Event: 14th Annual St. Patrick’s Day 5K Run/Walk – Saturday, March 14, 2020, at 8 am
The City of Pharr presents another family-friendly event for you, the St. Patrick’s Day 5K Run/Walk
Join us Saturday, March 14th, beginning at 8:00 AM at the PSJA Stadium (703 E. Sam Houston St. Pharr, Texas).
Pharr, Texas – City of Pharr leaders and the Greater Pharr Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the Pharr Bridge Business Park’s latest distribution center, PBBP2. At the same time, city leaders hosted a groundbreaking for PBBP3 at the adjacent site.
The Pharr Bridge Business Park (PBBP) is a 30-acre, master-planned industrial park with two existing 100,000 square foot class A facilities, and over 100,000 square feet of additional planned facilities. This premier development is located along the overweight corridor and less than 1.5 miles from the Pharr International Trade Bridge; the only international bridge with commercial traffic in the area. Southbound, PBBP offers direct access to Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, home to over four hundred manufacturing operations occupying over thirty million square feet of industrial real estate. Northbound, PBBP feeds into Highway 281/Cage Boulevard, transitioning into Interstate 69, one of the most efficient distribution corridors in the U.S.
This development offers flexible multi-tenant and build-to-suit layouts for distribution, warehousing, and light assembly users. With an emphasis on inefficient inventory management, PBBP delivers ease of C-TPAT compliance through fenced and secured truck courts for its clients.
Pharr business leaders celebrate the groundbreaking of Pharr Bridge Business Park 3.
GOVERNOR APPOINTS ANALI ALANIS TO THE TEXAS MUNICIPAL RETIREMENT SYSTEM BOARD OF TRUSTEES
PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: February 14, 2020
Contact: Bill Wallace Director of Communications 512-225-3722
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has appointed Anali Alanis of Pharr, Texas, to the Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) Board of Trustees for a term ending February 1, 2021. She will replace Jim Jeffers, who retired in January. The six-member Board of Trustees oversee TMRS, the agency that provides retirement benefit plans for the employees of 889 Texas cities. Mrs. Alanis is an Assistant City Manager for the City of Pharr. She has over a decade of successful municipal experience. As an Assistant City Manager, she coordinates the policies and programs of a number of city departments, including Police, Fire, Innovation & Technology, Human Resources, and others. Mrs. Alanis is the President of the Rio Grande Valley Human Resources Consortium and a member of the International City/County Management Association. She received an Associate of Arts in Business Administration, a Bachelor of Applied Technology Management from South Texas College in McAllen, and a Master of Public Affairs from The University of Texas ─ Rio Grande Valley. She is a member of the Texas Municipal Human Resources Association, the International Public Management Association for Human Resources, the Society of Human Resources Management, the Texas Chapter of the Public Risk Management Association, and the National Society of Leadership and Success. TMRS is a statewide multi-employer retirement plan which invests a $31 billion trust fund and manages retirement benefits for more than 175,300 current and former municipal employees.
Project: 2018 Bond Referendum Project #31 – Pharr-McAllen Drain
Owner: Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1
Contractor: Mor-Wil, LLC
Project Start Date: February 17, 2020
Project End Date: March 6, 2020
Project Scope: Pharr – Mcallen Drain consists of an installation of an additional storm structure at the Ridge Road crossing. The proposed structure consists of 10’ x 9’ reinforced concrete box along with ditch concrete rip-raps at both ends of the crossing and improvements to the existing roadway storm system.
All Pharr Department Directors Trained and Certified in Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt; Pharr is the First Government Entity Trained through this Program
Pharr, Texas – As part of its efforts to maximize productivity and to reduce inefficiencies in government operations, Pharr city leaders have made it a priority to ensure all employees are functioning at their highest level of effectiveness. Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez, M.D., has implemented a business-oriented mentality in the workplace, streamlining government services to better serve Pharr constituents. As such, city officials partnered with the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley’s Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC) to have all department heads go through a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt training and certification program. The training was held over two days last week and was provided by TMAC. According to TMAC, Pharr is the first government entity that it has trained through this program, which is typically utilized by companies in the manufacturing industry.
The Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt training and certification program provides participants a two-day, in-depth overview on the concepts and methodologies of Lean Six Sigma (known as LSS) and the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control) process. According to TMAC, this program is beneficial for those who would like to become familiarized with Lean Six Sigma and how it can impact an organization by effectively supporting improvement efforts in their organization. Key points covered in this training include determining customer value, defining and identifying waste, understanding standard deviation and sigma levels, roles and levels of LSS Belts, defining variance, repeatability and accuracy.
“Pharr is leading the way to better serve our community, and we are always searching for ways to improve our delivery of government services,” said Pharr Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez, M.D. “By thinking outside of the box and looking toward proven methods that have worked in other industries, we can implement these operational procedures and make them work for us in government, ultimately benefiting our community and the citizens we serve,” Hernandez continued. “I am proud of our staff’s commitment to continue striving toward excellence and for adopting our administration’s focus on ensuring we are providing the best service to our community,” he added.
TMAC Business Development and Continuous Improvement Specialist Jesus Cano agreed. “There has always been the common misconception that Lean and Six Sigma only apply to manufacturing settings, but many other industries and governmental entities have reaped the benefits from utilizing these tools and concepts,” said Cano. “We’re excited and commend the City of Pharr for taking this initiative to learn these powerful tools, this clearly shows the commitment they have to the people and city of Pharr!” Cano added.
About TMAC
TMAC is an affiliate of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) of The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) which falls under the U.S. Department of Commerce. TMAC is hosted at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (previously UTPA) under the College of Engineering and Computer Science and has been in service for over 20 years. Our main goal is to assist small to medium-sized U.S manufacturing companies to help them create and retain jobs, increase profits, become more efficient and ultimately save time and money. TMAC does this by providing open enrollment trainings and certifications in the areas of Lean, Quality, Six Sigma, Safety, Strategic Planning, Smart Manufacturing, Cybersecurity and many more. It also develops customized trainings depending on the customer’s needs and provides consulting and/or coaching services.
Pharr, Texas – The Pharr International Bridge will host a special celebration to kick-off the start of the 2019-2020 Produce Season and will celebrate the occasion alongside produce growers, importers, distributors, and consumers from the United States and Mexico.
The annual “Start of the Produce Season” event will take place at 10 am, Thursday, October 10th, 2019, at the Pharr International Bridge (9900 S. Cage, Blvd., Pharr, TX 78577).
“Pharr continues to remain the leader as the port with the largest amount of produce entering the United States,” said Mayor Ambrosio Hernandez, M.D. “Our Pharr International Bridge director, board, and staff have done a wonderful job working with all our partners to continue to expand growth and access through our bridge and we look forward to another record-setting season,” he added.
Pharr city officials, as well as special guest State Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, among other notable representatives from the produce industry on both sides of the border, are scheduled to attend the event.
The U.S. has consistently remained Mexico’s No. 1 trading partner for produce and goods and Pharr’s ideal geographical location has resulted in not only a great partnership between the two countries, but also in the growth of their produce trading capacity. The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge has evolved into the largest land port for fruits and vegetables in the nation, surpassing Nogales, Arizona as the leading port of entry for Mexican produce and goods. Currently, the Pharr International Bridge crosses more than 60% of all the fresh produce coming from Mexico through Texas land ports of entry.
All media and the public are invited to attend.
DETAILS
WHAT: Pharr to Host Celebration to Kick-Off the Start of the 2019-2020 Produce Season
WHEN: TOMORROW, Thursday, October 10, 2019, at 10 am
WHERE: The Pharr International Bridge (9900 S. Cage, Blvd., Pharr, TX 78577)
