Gladewater Water Plant Manager Wendy Emmel outlines the city’s water infrastructure. The City of Gladewater’s various department heads and personnel prepared presentations and welcomed questions from the residents in attendance at the summer ‘Town Hall’ Thursday on Hendricks Street.
“If we all work together as a team, there’s absolutely nothing that Gladewater cannot do and accomplish. I can promise you that.”
Gladewater’s Brandy Flanagan was keen to welcome the 60 citizens and 30 city officials and staffers in attendance for her first ‘Mayor’s Town Hall’ July 25, and the evening boasted a fairly affable atmosphere throughout.
All are part of ‘Team Gladewater,’ she said, with citizens at the top of the list as well as city council members and staffers, Gladewater Economic Development Corporation, Gladewater Chamber of Commerce, Gladewater ISD, the members of the community’s various advisory boards, churches, locals business, nonprofits and regional partners.
The night’s first topic was implementation of a Comprehensive Plan for the community and, once again, infrastructure tops priorities.
“It will continue to be the number one concern long after our time,” Flanagan said.
Key street projects on the city’s radar include ongoing work on Hendricks Street, where weather delays in particular have pushed back completion of the work, as well as the upcoming Hwy. 271 expansion, set for Spring 2025 before enhancement of Loop 485 in 2026.
Notably, neither are directly tied in to the Toll 49 extension, but both local roads will be impacted by that development.
The city has a goal to tackle at least one infrastructure reconstruction project every year – work on Roden/Anderson Lane is anticipated in 2025.
Part of the challenge of annual projects is regular funding, Flanagan noted, and city personnel are working to cover costs from other sources than tax dollars.
Gladewater Public Works Director Brian Smith (left) and other crew members welcome residents to the July 25 ‘Mayor’s Town Hall’ Thursday in the Gladewater Former Students Association Building, outline processes and fielding questions from about 60 community members in attendance.
“We’re going to continue to push grants,” she said, alongside facilitating commercial and residential developments that will contribute to sales tax growth and a broader property tax base.
Yes, council members and city personnel insisted, potholes and road repairs are a top priority, too.
“This is a nationwide problem, not just a Gladewater problem,” said council member Teddy Sorrells. “A good portion of America’s roads need resurfacing but transportation departments just don’t have the dollars to do that. Most cities don’t have the money to fix them.
“It’s a big deal to us and we understand it’s a big deal to you.”
New leadership in Public Works and enhanced training for personnel has already seen more projects completed and at a higher quality, Flanagan added.
“One thing we have stress is if we’re going to do something, we’re going to do it right and do it with excellence,” she added. Meanwhile, “We’re going to continue to increase the budget. That is a very strategic process.
“We’re going to have to start putting more pressure on our state and our federal government to push funds back down to our local areas. If our state and federal level can give money to special interests they can stop doing that and give it to us. Team Gladewater citizens, that’s an area we can really use your help in.”
The city will also continue working with regional partners at the county level to share some of the burden.
Likewise for improvements to water quality and wastewater enhancements.
Gladewater resident Frankie Alexander congratulates city council members on their efforts at transparency and asks for help from city hall to mitigate a defunct church’s overgrown, abandoned property near her home.
“We’ve been tackling this for years,” Flanagan said. “We have a rockstar staff now,” and they’re targeting the roots of problems instead of treating symptoms and paying the fines that accompany them.
“We have really made a big dent in that, and we are going to continue to move forward.”
Resident Bart Walker suggested Gladewater reach out to the City of Roanoke and take notes on the revitalization there.
“They have a grant plan team that has already gone through all of this, and it might be something where we could establish some relationship.”
Frankie Alexander applauded the city for their transparency in hosting the town hall and asked the team to find a solution to an overground church lot near her home.
With property issues in the mix, it’s complicated, according to the city’s Al Harrison, but he’ll work on a solution for maintaining that property.
“In Texas, we don’t like people going and messing with our stuff. Unfortunately because of the laws that surround it, it takes a while to get done,” Flanagan echoed.
Cindy Clark applauded Public Works for tackling a major pothole on Gay Avenue and recommended investing in more outreach – “I think that a city marketing director would be a really great thing for our beautiful little town.” – while Elaine Roddy lamented the state of the downtown public restrooms.
“Our bathrooms need to be condemned,” she said. “I’m pleading. I’m begging. We need help.”
Hearing the concern for the first time, Flanagan said the city will definitely look into the problem.
Downtown is one of many key assets the city is committed to revitalizing.
“We have wonderful assets in Gladewater that are not being maximized right now,” Flanagan said, such as its parks, Lake Gladewater, Gladewater Airport and the rodeo arena. There are opportunities and challenges in each area, she added, and all of them need to be maintained properly. “If we maximize our current assets, our town will grow from that point.”
Council member Kevin Clark highlighted the development of a local Parks & Recreation Board to help defray some of the necessary costs through ‘astronomical funding’ that’s available, but not to Gladewater without the requisite governance.
“We can’t touch it right now as a city. By creating the parks and recreation board we open up a huge amount of money to fundamentally change the way our parks look and are maintained.”
With more town halls already in the works, the night’s last official topic focused on helping fuel the local business community.
“We want our current businesses to thrive. We want our current businesses to grow,” Flanagan said, and some key tasks include updating zoning to prioritze growth opportunities and updating ordinances to attract healthy development.
“If y’all haven’t shopped Gladewater lately, you really need to go to some of these shops,” resident Rita Osha told the room during her time at the microphone. “The ones I’ve been to are so top-notch. You want to spend your tax dollars right here.”
The town’s commercial diversity is in a good place, Flanagan said.
“With this expansion that’s happening, that’s really going to increase business here,” she added. “We need small businesses, and we need some chain stores. We need small manufacturing.
“What we want to do is make Gladewater the very best Gladewater can be. I don’t want you to fear progress and expansion. What it’s going to do is give us the funds to do the things we want to do for our town.”
Encourage friends and neighbors to come to the next town hall meeting, Clark said.
“This how we stop the divisive stuff. Communicate directly.”
Everybody’s on the same team, Flanagan repeated, and it’ll get things done.
“We can do it. It’s going to take a lot of strategy. It’s going to take a little bit of growing pains. These are all very doable things,” she said. “If we work together and we keep moving forward and we stay together as a team.”
Reach out, Gladewater City Manager Charlie Smith said, closing the meeting by inviting the audience to save his cell phone number and encouraging the attendees to take advantage of facetime with the city employees who had prepared presentations on their departments.
“The first of many Town Hall meetings was just amazing,” according to Marty McLeod. “Our little village has a forward moving city council and a mayor that is all in for Gladewater.”