After a series of long and controversy-filled meetings, the Flower Mound Town Council enjoyed a respite Monday in a meeting that featured only one speaker from the audience.  Roadway improvements were among the items on which the council acted, accepting a presentation on the Gerault/Morris Road project at the 60 percent completion mark of construction planning and accepting staff recommendations on two road contracts. The council approved a professional services agreement with Teague, Nall and Perkins to provide professional engineering design services for the Hamlett Lane paving reconstruction project.  The agreement calls for expenditure of $51,800.  The town will reconstruct Hamlett Lane from Churchill Drive east to the end of the cul-de-sac. The overall project is budgeted for $350,000 in the Town's Capital Improvements Program Budget. The council also approved a change order for the Spinks Road Phase IV project, to increase expenditures by $17,492 on the approximately $4.9 million project.  The change order funds installation of steel casing beneath the roadway to allow future extension of a 12-inch water line from Garden Ridge to Duncan Lane without requiring expensive boring.
    

     During a briefing session, the council was presented with information on the Gerault/Morriss construction project planning.  With lots of community input, the town plans include significant beautification and median upgrades as it widens the thoroughfare.  Plans call for groundcover on narrow areas of the median, ornamental trees, mixed with groundcover in the wider areas and a combination of shaded trees accented with ornamental trees, where there is enough room. The town's emphasis on live screening will also include replanting and infilling in areas where there have been losses from previous plantings. The landscaping will be enhanced by automatic irrigation systems. As a safety measure, the town plans decorative iron fencing along the roadway in the area of Flower Mound Marcus High School that will tend to direct pedestrian traffic to Morriss Road crossings, protected by either a signal light or crossing guards. The council accepted without discussion the purchase of an ambulance for $172,737.50 and an agreement with DataProse, a CSG Company, for utility bill printing and mailing services expected to cost approximately $130,000 per year. In other action, the Town Council voted to have only one meeting in January, set for Thursday Jan. 21.  The Council voted to cancel the regular meetings set for Jan. 4 and Jan. 18, 2010.