Decorated fire engines will roll through Denton neighborhoods again this holiday season, and this time the routes will be posted ahead of time, according to the city's Oct. 16 Friday Staff Report to the City Council.
The update was one of several answers staff gave to questions from council members in the report, which Interim City Manager Cassey Ogden sends to the mayor and council each week.
Holiday engines return
Mayor Pro Tem Stevens asked on Oct. 14 about bringing back the Santa on a Fire Engine program. The Fire Department will revive its holiday fire engine parade for 2026, the report says, with engines decorated for Christmas playing holiday music as they drive through the city. Fire employees and their families staff the program as volunteers.
New this year, the department plans routes that will be shared with the public well in advance, and it may add stops at parks for photos. Fire staff will give the council more details in late November.
Road and park projects
- US 380 lighting: Work started under a notice to proceed issued June 15, and the project is ahead of schedule, with most of the conduit in place and the contractor working on pole foundations. The contract runs 360 days, with completion set for June 10, 2027.
- Bowling Green Park: The improvement project should be done around the end of the first quarter of 2027. Current work includes a trail from the new pedestrian bridge toward the Fireside sidewalk, preparation for a new pavilion, a water tap and meter, irrigation and sod.
- Sundown Boulevard: After the mayor raised traffic hazards caused by a construction crew, city inspectors had the contractor move its trucks and post flaggers on Oct. 9. Staff are scheduling a meeting with the developer and visiting the site daily.
- Green Ribbon landscaping: Asked whether a stretch of University Drive could get wildflowers through TxDOT's Green Ribbon program, staff said wildflowers can be part of such projects, but TxDOT would have to confirm a wildflower-only plan qualifies. TxDOT is evaluating the program, and applications may not open until December 2027.
