East Tawakoni Citizens Want Parks Maintenance Addressed

Staff Writer

A group of concerned citizens want to see East Tawakoni’s public parks make a comeback.

The parks, which have been operated by the city since the dissolution of the old parks board, have fallen into bad shape through lack of upkeep, Walt Pollard told the East Tawakoni City Council on Tuesday.

"We (former park board) asked the city to maintain the parks, but due to a lot of different circumstances, that hasn’t been done," he said.

Now Pollard, Linda Shanks and others say they want to reform a parks committee that would ensure the maintenance work is done, and they want the city to provide some financial support.

"At least part of the expense has to come from the city, because people are not going to use their own equipment and pay for fuel and other things out of their own pockets for long," Pollard noted.

Council member Pam Whitfield said she thought money for parks maintenance was in the current budget, to which Mayor Mark Himelright replied there was $250.

"I think there is a way to work this out, and in the next budget I think we can find a way to make this work," Himelright said.

Whitfield later made a motion to appoint Pollard and Shanks to explore the formation of a new city parks board, which passed unanimously.

Pollard said rehabilitating the parks, docks and boat ramps would help make East Tawakoni more attractive to potential homebuyers.

"Our citizens deserve to be able to walk through the parks without the grass coming up to here," he said, motioning to below his knees. "They also ought to be able to use the boat docks and ramps."

During his opening words, Pollard said he would purchase a mower for keeping the grass cut in the parks. "They were well maintained for years," he said, "and I hate to see them go by the wayside now. Everybody wants to try to make East Tawakoni an attractive place for people who might want to move here."

In another matter Tuesday, the council unanimously approved canceling the scheduled May 10 election due to a lack of challengers for the council seats to be filled. At the next regular meeting on May 20, Himelright will step down as mayor to finish a one-year term in Place 2, James "Buster" Thomas will begin a two-year term as mayor, Lynn Wallace will begin another two-year term in Place 5 and Tamera McLaughlin will be welcomed to the council in Place 3, replacing Dwight Crater.

In other matters, the council took the following action:

— Tabled the selection of a council member as Mayor Pro Tem due to requirements for the new Small Town Environmental Program (STEP) Grant.

— Approved a wavier of liability and granted a variance to James and Gail Sutton on lot 80 in the Sandy Shores development, with the Suttons required to pay the $36 filing fee to have the documents recorded with the permanent deed on the property.

— Approved a resolution to not tax aircraft, recreational vehicles and personal vehicles.

— Adopted the National Incident Management System (NIMS) to ensure the city remains eligible for federal grants. City secretary Patsy Marshall told the council that training for the NIMS is available online.

A water and sewer department report and building inspector’s report for March were presented. The police department report included 47 calls, six arrests, 18 warrants disposed and two residence checks in March. Police chief Rick South also noted that Tammy Dowdy has been appointed as the city’s new animal control officer.

The fire department report for March showed 18 calls, including two structure fires and four grass fires.

Near the end of the meeting, Johnnie LaPrade read aloud a letter from the Spirit of East Tawakoni thanking various citizens and officials for their help with the Kelly Miller Circus, which performed in East Tawakoni on March 30. She also read a thank-you letter from the circus company.