Frisco | March 2022

CITY&SCHOOLS

News from Frisco & Frisco ISD

Vehicle crashes in Frisco last year up 26%over 2019, police report

BY MATT PAYNE

Two additional officers are expected to be added to the police traffic unit by May, with another officer joining the force by November. The police department will also heighten enforcement to discourage driving while intox- icated, Shilson said. That, paired with more driving education initiatives and community engagement, Shilson said, will hopefully make drivers in Frisco more cautious. “We want to be very public about where we’re going to be focusing our enforcement efforts,” he said. “We don’t want it to be a secret. We want the public to know we’re going to be out there looking for violations on certain roadways.”

Among the crashes, 1,324 of them involved an injury in 2021, according to Shilson’s presenta- tion. A total of 11 deadly crashes—the highest in 15 years—were reported, resulting in 12 deaths. The remaining crashes did not involve injuries. Shilson said that although recent crash num- bers are high for Frisco, crashes are up across the country. In addition, the police chief said a major- ity of the crashes involved additional criminal charges, such as driving while intoxicated. “This is consistent with a nationwide trend,” Shilson said. “We’re not unique to this.” Moving ahead, Shilson said an extra focus will be placed on traffic enforcement in Frisco.

FRISCO What Frisco Police Department Chief David Shilson called a “nationwide trend” of increased driving accidents and fatalities is being reflected on local roads. Shilson presented 2021 traffic enforcement sta- tistics on Feb. 15 in a City Council workshop. In total, 2,000 crashes were reported by the police department, which is a 26% jump from 2019. Shilson said comparing 2021 numbers to 2019 offered a better comparison since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to fewer drivers. “2021 was not the year that any of us had hoped for,” Shilson said.

FATALITY ACCIDENTS OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS In 2021, the total number of accidents involving death in Frisco exceeded totals recorded over the past 15 years. The tally more than doubled compared to 2020. 12

The Frisco Police Department is aiming to boost traffic enforcement on city roadways that saw the highest total crashes in 2021. ROADSWITHHIGHEST CRASH TOTALS

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SOURCE: FRISCO POLICE DEPARTMENT/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

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Frisco City Council Member Shona Huffman to step down March 15

DNT TOLL

BY MATT PAYNE

for the Place 2 seat by the filing deadline Feb. 18. Meinershagen will fill the seat, said Mayor Jeff Cheney. Cheney said the city is canceling the May 7 general election for Place

FRISCO City Council Member Shona Huffman announced that she will resign March 15 and is withdrawing from her campaign for re-election due to a breast cancer diagnosis. Huffman shared the announce- ment Feb. 24 via Facebook. She first announced her diagnosis Feb. 13. “It is said that a cancer diagnosis forces you to prioritize what is important in life,” Huffman said in the post. Huffman was first elected to City Council in June 2016 and is the director of community relations at Texas Health Hospital Frisco, according to the city website. She has been a Frisco resident since 2004. Frisco Arts Foundation Chair Tammy Meinershagen was the only other person to file to run

Frisco Brewing Company will open in 2023 with a restaurant, bakery and butcher shop. (Rendering courtesy Nack Development) Frisco City Council approves city's first brewery FRISCO Plans for the first brewery

Shona Human

Services Director John Lettelleir and city documents. Lettelleir said some property owners around the site for Frisco Brewing Company expressed con- cerns over brewery waste. However, he added that the city confirmed with the Texas Commission on Envi- ronmental Quality that no adverse effects are expected. “This is no different than living next door to a barbecue,” Lettelleir said. “There’s no health impact.” Frisco Brewing Company is expected to open in 2023.

in Frisco can officially proceed. Frisco City Council onMarch 1 approved zoning changes for the Ritchey Gin project by Nack Development, which will host Frisco Brewing Company. The upcoming 12,000-square-foot brewery at 6601 Frisco Square Blvd. will open along- side a restaurant, bakery, butcher shop and large patio space. A parking garage with over 200 parking spaces and a three-story office building are also planned on the site, according to Development

2 and Place 4 on City Council seats because both races are uncontested. Meinershagen said she was excited to serve as the first Kore- an-American woman on Frisco City Council. As the chair of the Frisco Arts Foundation, Meinershagen said she looks forward to representing arts, culture and diversity for the city. “I do have a lot of ideas about the council priorities,” she said. “I believe I’m coming in at a perfect time for Frisco’s future.”

COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM