Grapevine Gazette Vol. 1, No. 1
Prayer Site Concerns Some Neighbors • Anonymous Donor Clears Cafeteria Debt • Preservation Presentation Confuses Council • Who’s Ready for Another Election Season?
Welcome to the first edition of the Grapevine Gazette, a newsletter that aims to be a resource for residents of the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District. I will watch every meeting of the Grapevine City Council, the Colleyville City Council, and the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Board of Trustees, because you don’t have time for all that. I’ll tell you about the most interesting parts and leave out the boring stuff.
For nearly four years, I’ve been writing a similar newsletter called the Coppell Chronicle that’s enjoyed by hundreds of people in the city that’s been my family’s home since 2012. I consistently hear two things from Chronicle subscribers that make me swell with pride:
They say my reporting is thorough and unbiased.
Every edition makes them laugh at least once.
Although I publish the Chronicle on a weekly basis, the Gazette will come out on the second and fourth Sundays of each month — for the time being. It may eventually ramp up to a weekly schedule, if the demand is there, but we have to walk before we can run.
I have a day job that has nothing to do with either newsletter, but I was a full-time journalist for nearly 20 years. The last of those gigs was as the managing editor of Park Cities People, where I would tell new reporters that our ideal stories were ones that were really important to residents of the Park Cities but utterly meaningless to people who lived elsewhere. We wanted to provide news that our readers wouldn’t find anywhere else.
That’s what I aim to do here. Let’s get to it.
Prayer Site Concerns Some Neighbors
The Colleyville Prayer Room has designs on a new home in a largely residential facility, and some neighbors aren’t comfortable with that.
Debbie Pilgrim owns a condo in The Village at Colleyville, which she said has other spaces that might be better options than the one offered to the Prayer Room. That ground-floor suite is between 55 Main Street and 33 Main Street, but it doesn’t face Main like those buildings’ businesses.
“I’ve lived there for years, and when this came out, I could not find where this was, because it’s so well-hidden,” Pilgrim told the Colleyville City Council on Tuesday.
This matter was on the council’s agenda because religious uses are not permitted within The Village at Colleyville. By a vote of 4-2, the Colleyville Planning and Zoning Commission recommended adding a “Religious” category to the planned development’s zoning ordinance. It would be defined as “Religious institution use including, but not limited to, prayer, ministry, religious studies, and pastoral counseling.”
Avaro Matehuala is the Colleyville Prayer Room’s president. For nearly 15 years, he and his colleagues have provided prayers and Biblical counseling in a storefront on Thompson Terrace, just across State Highway 26 from The Village. But their landlord wants to raise their rent to an amount that Matehuala said they can’t afford.
The Prayer Room does not charge any of its patrons, which Matehuala said include doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs. “In different moments of their life, they need some counseling,” he said. “And through the years, we see transformation.” Without naming names, he said these people in crisis have included a former Dallas Cowboy and a former Texas Ranger.
Matehuala said the Prayer Room was offered two years rent-free in Suite 100 at 55 Main on two conditions: add a restroom to the space and replace its floors. “For us, it’s an answer from the Lord,” he said. But that answer requires action by the council.
Pilgrim told the council she’s not eager to see more vehicular and foot traffic around her building. She’s also concerned about the Prayer Room’s emphasis on people in crisis.
“What is the training and experience of this prayer room to handle people in crisis?” she asked. “It only takes one incident, and we’re done.”
Douglas Gilliland, who also owns a Village condo, shared those concerns.
“The type of folks that are going there are certainly in need,” Gilliland said, “but we read too many newspaper headlines about people who are in need, and places of worship are attacked, or things happen.”
Matehuala assured the council that if he and his team think someone needs to see a mental health professional, then they refer that person to a counselor or doctor.
“When we describe ‘crisis,’ I’m not talking about crazy people,” he said. “I’m talking about normal people that’s facing situations that they cannot handle.”
Gilliland said Matehuala had not reached out to any of his potential new neighbors. He asked the council to table the matter until residents can get more details.
“It could be that we’re all going to get along fine, but I think we’re pushing this at a pace that doesn’t allow us to have good input,” Gilliland said. “I want to be supportive, but I don’t want to put people at risk, and I think the people that live there feel that way.”
Tuesday’s public hearing was the first of two before the council on this item. The second hearing was scheduled for Jan. 22, but Mayor Bobby Lindamood proposed that it be delayed until Feb. 4 so Matehuala and the residents would have more time to talk. The rest of the council agreed.
“That’s the cool thing about Colleyville,” Lindamood said. “Neighbors sit down with each other, and we figure it out, and then we can move forward.”
Anonymous Donor Clears Cafeteria Debt
In what’s becoming a habit, Grapevine-Colleyville ISD trustees recently approved an anonymous donation of $10,000 to cover students’ unpaid meal balances.
The unanimous vote for approval happened during the school board’s Dec. 16 meeting, which featured an amusing exchange between Trustee Tammy Nakamura and Superintendent Brad Schnautz.
Nakamura: “Is this the same person who did it last year? Do we know?”
Schnautz: “It’s anonymous.”
Nakamura: “Well, I know it’s anonymous. But is it the same anonymous person?”
Schnautz: “It’s the same anonymous person. It’s anonymous.”
Nakamura: “Yeah. I can read. It says that right there.”
Schnautz: “It’s synonymous with anonymous.”
Trustee A.J. Pontillo thanked the mysterious benefactor, whom he said has made multiple donations since Pontillo joined the board.
“It means a lot to the district and to the students and to the families that really need it,” Pontillo said, “so we appreciate you.”
Pontillo’s comments prompted me to review the minutes of the board’s meetings since he was elected in May of 2023. The $10,000 donation they approved in December was the third such gift of 2024. They also accepted anonymous $10,000 donations in February and April.
None of those $10,000 donations were assigned to specific schools. But in August of 2023, the trustees accepted $5,400 from an anonymous donor to cover negative balances at Timberline Elementary and Bear Creek Elementary; that donation was supplemented by $1,000 divided among 10 Timberline students’ accounts.
Some donations to cover negative cafeteria balances are not anonymous. For example, Jan Lasater gave $5,000 in September of 2023, and First United Methodist Church of Colleyville donated $5,000 last May.
What’s amazing about the repeat anonymous donor, Board President Shannon Braun said, is that she or he initiates each of these donations — as opposed to responding to requests for funds.
“They’re not asking for credit or a pat on the back,” Braun said. “And you’ve always got to love that active generosity and kindness, because their heart is truly in the right place.”
A Brief Promotional Interruption
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OK, that’s enough sales pitching. Let’s get back to the news.
Preservation Presentation Confuses Council
At some point, the Grapevine City Council will vote on amended architectural standards in the Historic Grapevine Township District. But before they can vote on these amendments, the council must understand the amendments. And they’re not quite there yet.
P.W. McCallum, the executive director of the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau, discussed the proposed amendments at length during Tuesday’s council meeting. He said time is of the essence because developers are planning to add six homes to the township district.
“There is some urgency to establish standards that will protect the visual appearance and architectural style, and give future homeowners a chance to potentially realize more living space in an architecturally appropriate home,” McCallum said.
McCallum took the council through the proposed amendments page by page, and he spoke for more than 25 minutes before Mayor Pro Tem Darlene Freed posed the first question. She interrupted him to ask whether he was talking about building more livable space outside of required setbacks. “No,” McCallum said, but then he mentioned verandas and wrap-around porches that could be added without moving the main house. Freed summarized that as encroaching into the setbacks, and McCallum said, “Yes.” As McCallum continued his explanation, Freed said, “I don’t understand that.”
The ensuing 15 minutes of discussion did little to clarify things for Freed, who — like the rest of the council — received her copy of the proposed amendments the night before Tuesday’s meeting.
“It needs to be spelled out where we can understand it, though,” Freed said. “If we’re having a hard time understanding it, is a citizen going to understand it? I agree with what you’re trying to accomplish. It’s just hard to understand with the way it’s written.”
I can’t tell you how it was written, because a copy of the proposed amendments was not included in the public version of the council’s packet. Council Member Duff O’Dell described what they were discussing on Tuesday as the “Cliff Notes version” of a document they received in August of 2023. O’Dell said that first draft was like “War and Peace written in Greek.”
Council Member Chris Coy suggested that the amendments should be broken down in a workshop, rather than during a formal council meeting. “This is important stuff, and I don’t want to just gloss over it,” Coy said.
Nearly an hour after McCallum began talking, City Manager Bruno Rumbelow promised that a workshop would be scheduled and a simplified presentation would be prepared. Like other council members, Mayor William D. Tate said the presentation should include an executive summary.
“You know, what you can do and what you can’t do — that’ll tell a lot of people whether they like it or not,” Tate said.
Who’s Ready for Another Election Season?
If you want to run for public office in the May 3 election, then get your paperwork together. The filing period opens on Wednesday and runs through Feb. 14.
Here’s a look at which seats will be up for grabs in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD and its namesake cities.
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Board of Trustees
Two of the seven at-large seats will be on the ballot:
Tammy Nakamura was elected to the Place 3 seat in 2022.
Kathy Florence Spradley was elected to the Place 4 seat in 2022.
Grapevine City Council
Two of the seven at-large seats will be on the ballot:
Leon Leal was elected to the Place 3 seat in 2019 and was reelected in 2022.
Darlene Freed was elected to the Place 4 seat in 1998 and was reelected in … [deep breath] … 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2022.
Colleyville City Council
Three of the seven at-large seats, including the mayor’s, will be on the ballot:
Bobby Lindamood was elected mayor in 2022 after two terms in the Place 2 seat.
Brandi Elder was elected to the Place 1 seat in 2022.
Mark Alphonso was appointed to the Place 2 seat in 2024, after George Bond — who won the seat in 2022 — resigned in the wake of his second DUI arrest in a three-month span.
Gazette Vignettes
• Grapevine High School’s new head football coach should be introduced during Monday’s meeting of the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD Board of Trustees. A memo attached to the agenda says a finalist has been identified, and Superintendent Brad Schnautz is prepared to make a recommendation. The new coach will replace Bob DeBesse, who retired after an 0-10 season.
• If you’ve ever lamented Grapevine’s lack of a Burger King, here’s some good news. According to a form filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the chain aims to sell flame-broiled Whoppers at 834 E. Northwest Highway, which is a vacant lot between Chicken Express and German Car Care. That form says construction is supposed to begin March 1.
• On Tuesday, the Colleyville City Council held the first of two public hearings regarding a 2.8-acre lot on the north corner of State Highway 26 and Tinker Road. The land is zoned agricultural, but a developer wants to construct two retail buildings there. One would be 9,268 square feet, and the other would be 15,118 square feet. The second public hearing is scheduled for Jan. 22.
• Also during Tuesday’s council meeting, Mayor Bobby Lindamood announced that Diamond Rio will perform at the Stars & Guitars concert on June 20. Because the new Heroes Park is under construction, the show will happen on the baseball field behind City Hall.
• During the pre-meeting work session, the City Council gave the go-ahead to spend $38,500 on the installation of new street signs bearing the CV monogram at Colleyville’s 12 signalized intersections. The council members agreed that the design with the white square was their preference.
Community Calendar
The Magic of Found Family: In Conversation with Author TJ Klune: The Grapevine Public Library will virtually host New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, when he will discuss his Cerulean Chronicles, with special emphasis on the newest book in the series, Somewhere Beyond the Sea.
Daddy Daughter Dance: Under the Sea: Foundations Church will host Grapevine’s dance for girls ages 2 to 18 and their dads on Saturday, when there will be three sessions — 1 to 3 p.m., 4 to 6 p.m., and 7 to 9 p.m.
Winter Ball: The Colleyville Center will host a tropical-themed dance for children ages 4 to 12 (and their parents) from 7 to 9 p.m. on Jan. 24.
Raptors of North Texas: Experts from the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center will bring live birds to the Grapevine Public Library between 2 and 3 p.m. on Jan. 25.
State of the City: Mayor Bobby Lindamood will discuss a variety of topics — including economic development, infrastructure, and public safety — at 7 p.m. on Feb. 6 at the Colleyville Center.
Champagne Yacht Club: The band that bills themselves as Texas’ premier yacht rockers will perform at Grapevine’s Palace Theatre twice on Feb. 8, at 3 and 7:30 p.m.
Want to send me some private feedback? You can reach me at bydankoller@gmail.com.
If you’re a City of Coppell employee who resides in Grapevine or Colleyville, and you already subscribe to the Chronicle, reach out to me before buying a subscription to the Gazette.
CORRECTION: As originally published, the article about the Grapevine City Council misidentified Darlene Freed as Sharron Rogers. I regret the error.