Grapevine Gazette Vol. 1, No. 3
Colleyville Calls $20M Bond Election • School Days Extended by 10 Minutes • Grapevine to Sell Surplus Cabins • Vote Delayed on Luxury Garages Proposal
This edition is being published more than 24 hours after I intended. But when you’re a one-man operation, and that one man gets pulled in a few different directions, the operation tends to get off track. Please accept my apologies for the tardiness, and look for me in your inbox again on Feb. 23.
Colleyville Calls $20M Bond Election
Colleyville voters will decide whether the city should borrow $20 million to fund an expansion of the recreation center.
On Feb. 4, the City Council unanimously approved placing this proposition on the May 3 ballot: “The issuance of $20,000,000 in general obligation bonds for parks and recreational facilities and related improvements including expansion of the Colleyville Recreation Center and the imposition of a tax sufficient to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds.”
If a majority of voters say they are “For” that proposition, then the Colleyville Recreation Center would be expanded by about 31,000 square feet. The new components would include a two-level fitness center, a third gym, and an elevated walking track.
The average taxable value of a Colleyville home is $731,417. If the bond proposition passes, the average Colleyville homeowner would pay an additional $226.74 worth of property taxes each, which equates to $18.89 per month.
The only person who signed up to speak during the Feb. 4 public hearing was Kathy Hadley. Although she has plenty of experience speaking at public meetings, Hadley said uttering the phrase “20 million dollars” made her nervous.
“You’re screwing the businesses in Colleyville that have the ability to do the walking-rec center stuff,” Hadley said. “Y’all are now going to build one at the taxpayers’ expense and hurt other businesses in Colleyville. You’re just kind of like stabbing yourself in both feet.”
Hadley referenced only Life Time by name, but Colleyville features other fitness-related businesses such as D1 Training and Orangetheory, and another one — Crunch Fitness — is coming to town soon.
Hadley also questioned why the city had to borrow funds. She quoted Mayor Bobby Lindamood and his predecessor, Richard Newton, as saying, “Colleyville has plenty of money.” Lindamood took exception to that.
“I don’t know that I used the words ‘plenty of money.’ I said that we are financially stable,” Lindamood said. “We have our rainy day fund full. We are very strategic in how we use our money here in Colleyville.”
Lindamood also framed the bond proposition as something residents requested. Last May, this question was on the ballot: “Should the City of Colleyville place a proposition on a future election ballot asking the City’s voters to authorize the issuance of ad valorem tax bonds for expansion of the Colleyville Recreation Center, which may include a fitness center, locker room, indoor track, and multi-use field?” The answer was “Yes” from 74 percent of voters.
“We did exactly what the people asked us to do, and now we’re doing exactly what’s right with democracy: The citizens will vote on it,” Lindamood said. “They’re telling us what to do. They are the bosses, and we are to sit up here and listen. If we go against what the citizens want, then you might as well throw us out. That means we are running like a dictatorship.
“But really and truly, we are the most open, most transparent council that I think — along with Richard Newton and all the other groups we’ve had the last couple of years, this council is very open. And that’s why we said, ‘Hey, look, we’re gonna put it out there for a vote.’”
The voter registration deadline for the May 3 election is April 3. Early voting will begin April 22.
Speaking of Money …
This is the first edition of the Grapevine Gazette that has most of the content behind a paywall. That content includes these quotations:
“I will tell you I was the last one to be on board with this, but I do think it’s a better option than what we have right now.”
“I come from a longstanding family of motorheads.”
“Maybe a wife will curse her husband out, and he’ll have to go settle somewhere one night, but we hope that doesn’t happen here.”
To see who said those things, you need to be a paid subscriber. That costs $50 per year, which is the minimum fee my partners at Substack will allow. If you signed up as a free subscriber, I hope you’ll consider an upgrade.
School Days Extended by 10 Minutes
Students in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD will show up five minutes earlier and be dismissed five minutes later next school year.
Approved by the Board of Trustees on Jan. 13, this schedule change will allow the district to meet the minimum number of instructional minutes (75,600) while providing teachers with two more student-free days for instructional planning.