HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-09 Euless ArticlesHurst council rejects
developer’s bid for
apartments that included low-
income housing
An artist rendering of the design for the proposed development at 263 Bedford Euless Road in Hurst. the
development was voted down by the City Council on Tuesday. Gardner Capital Courtesy
By Elizabeth Campbell
liz@star-telegram.com
HURST
A developer‘s request to build a new 120-unit apartment complex in southeast Hurst that would have included
affordable housing options for people with limited incomes was voted down on Tuesday.
The proposal drew a standing-room-only crowd to City Council chambers. After listening for more than two
hours to residents in opposition to the plan, the council unanimously voted to deny the request from Gardner
Capital.
Council members said the wrong location was chosen for the complex, which would have been built at
Bedford-Euless Road and Valentine Street. The proposed site is near a neighborhood that already has
apartment complexes nearby. Residents described problems related to those complexes, including loud noises
and trash strewn in their yards.
Residents also raised concerns about dilapidated complexes in Hurst and said that building more apartments
would bring an increase in crime.
“What [Gardner Capital is] proposing is so much better than what we have, but we have to deal with reality, as
I think this is the right program but in the wrong place,” said Councilwoman Trasa Cobern before the vote.
Councilman Henry Wilson expressed similar views.
“Putting apartments in a single-family area is the wrong thing to do. I’ve seen the run-down shopping center.
Something needs to be done in that area,” Wilson said.
John Palmer, senior vice president of business development for Gardner Capital said his company would like
to continue to work with Hurst to identify new opportunies.
“Progress with positive change is needed and inevitable to create true community revitalization, and residents
always need a voice in that conversation,” Palmer said in an email to the Star-Telegram. “I’m encouraged by
the number of residents who participated and turned out to express their concerns about who and what is being
placed in their backyards. The Council shared many of those concerns and voted accordingly.”
The plans for the proposed complex called for a gated community with one- and two-bedroom apartments in
one-, two- and three-story buildings. Gardner Capital also wanted to leave the mature trees in place, and put
the three-story buildings close to Bedford-Euless Road so that tenants would not overlook the backyards of
nearby homes.
The plans also called for 20 percent of the units to rent at market value, while the remaining 80 percent would
be leased to people with limited incomes.
David Derr said he spent time on the streets before getting an apartment and eventually buying a home in
southeast Hurst.
“I don’t care about low-income. What matters to me is that my kids are in the H-E-B ISD,” he said.
Derr said he is worried about overcrowding at nearby Harrison Lane Elementary, and that more apartments
would further burden the school district.
But Paula Jernigan, executive director of Mission Central, a social service agency serving the H-E-B area, said
having more affordable housing choices would help people who currently pay more than $1,000 a month in
rent and live in “substandard” conditions in complexes between Pipeline Road and Texas 10.
“I believe this complex would allow some options for families who for lack of a better term are the working
poor people who pay $1,200 a month living in substandard housing. I understand concerns of neighbors, but
we have to start somewhere to create competition for apartments costing $1,200.”
Night of Hope delivers just that
and more to needy H-E-B
students’ families
DECEMBER 14, 2017 01:00 PM
UPDATED DECEMBER 14, 2017 01:02 PM
Children and parents gathered Monday for a special Christmas party called Night of Hope. Children made
crafts to give to their parents and parents were given gifts and holiday meal fixings. The nonprofit 6 Stones
sponsored the event. 6 Stones
BEDFORD
When Dewanda Grandberry-Ibrhim received a large, black trash bag stuffed with
gifts and food to help her prepare a Christmas celebration for her family, she
could breathe a little easier.
Granberry-Ibrhim, a single mother whose 9-year-old daughter attends Spring
Garden Elementary School, works part time as a dental assistant and worried
that she would have a hard time putting gifts under the tree.
“This helps me out a lot. It is a struggle, and work is slowing down,” she said.
Lots of laughter and singing rang out at the school Monday night as 150 children
and their parents gathered in the cafeteria for a special Christmas party called
Night of Hope. The children made crafts to give to their parents, and parents
were given bags filled with gifts for their children, along with a frozen turkey and
all of the trimmings to prepare their holiday meal.
Thanks to the generosity of businesses, churches and individuals, 6 Stones, a
nonprofit providing assistance with food, clothing, home repairs and other needs,
is providing Christmas gifts and meals to over 3,000 children in the Hurst-
Euless-Bedford school district.
Churches that work with 6 Stones are hosting parties at various schools this week
where the families will receive their gifts.
Woodland Heights Baptist Church hosted the event at Spring Garden.
Ciara Bertolino, development manager for 6 Stones, said that so far, just more
than $214,000 has been raised to purchase gifts for 3,341 children. But the
nonprofit needs about $45,000 more to help buy gifts for 514 children. It costs
$64 to sponsor a child, she said.
Besides purchasing gifts for the children whose parents applied, 6Stones also
provides gifts for their school-age brothers and sisters.
A severely injured homeowner doesn't have to worry about
home repairs, thanks to 6 Stones
The nonprofit 6 Stones renovates homes in Northeast Tarrant and Cleburne for
those who can't. After a motorcycle wreck left this homeowner bedridden, 6
Stones chose his house as its 200th renovation in Euless.
The children who receive gifts are in the free and reduced lunch program, and
their school counselors encourage their parents to apply.
Parents can provide information such as their child’s clothing size, and toys they
want for Christmas. Toys on the wish list this year included a bicycle and dolls.
In the H-E-B schools, 54 percent of students are in the free and reduced lunch
program.
“No matter what else may be going on in their lives, Night of Hope gives students
the opportunity to have a celebration with their family. The program plants a
seed of hope and joy and lets our kids see that the Hurst-Euless-Bedford
community believes in their worth,” said Carla Docken, coordinator of
counseling, guidance, and student services for the school district.
“There is a quick decision these families have to make at Christmas. Do we pay
the light bill or have Christmas?” Bertolino told leaders from area cities who
came to learn about the Night of Hope celebrations.
Grandberry-Ibrhim said this was her first time to take part in the Night of Hope,
and that it was a happy time for her daughter, who enjoyed listening to the story
of Christmas.
“The story will help her understand why we celebrate Christmas. It is also good to
be around people singing and smiling,” she said.
Euless Fire Department Debuts
Another Viral Christmas Video
Last year, the Euless Fire Department created a Christmas themed video that
had over 2.5 million views. Looking to beat the previous record, they have done it
again!
“We wanted to come up with something creative that we thought our citizens
would enjoy and would help get everyone in a festive mood” they wrote on a
Facebook post.
The new video has already been viewed over 20,000 times as of Friday morning.
Texas fire department puts on
festive light show
EULESS, Texas. (WHDH) – A fire department in Texas got into the holiday spirit with a
festive light show.
The Euless Fire Department from Euless, Texas uploaded a video light show Friday. The
video shows four emergency vehicles lighting up in time to holiday songs by Tran-Siberian
Orchestra and Boyce Hawkins.
The department said in the Facebook post that they are “not very skilled at singing, or
dancing,” so they decided to put on the epic light show.
Euless Fire Department also shared a similar video last year to the song, “Carol of the Bells”
by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which received over 45,000 views as of Friday night.
H-E-B inches closer to Fort
Worth with plans to open
nearby store in 2019
A new grocery store will be coming to Hudson Oaks in 2019. H-E-B Courtesy
BY SANDRA BAKER
sabaker@star-telegram.com
HUDSON OAKS
San Antonio-based H-E-B is following through on plans for a grocery store in
Hudson Oaks, first announced nearly four years ago. The store will open in 2019.
The company said Monday it will build a supermarket at U.S. 180 and Lakeshore
Drive. Hudson Oaks, just north of Interstate 20 between Weatherford and Fort
Worth. It will be the supermarket’s eighth location in North Texas.
“The Hudson Oaks community has approached H-E-B about building a store for
a number of years,” Jeff Thomas, senior vice president and general manager of
H-E-B’s central region, said in a statement. “We are excited to fulfill that request
for residents and look forward to adding an additional store to our network
across North Texas.”
“This location will not only provide the community with fantastic offerings but
will also bring continued growth opportunities for our H-E-B employees and add
operational efficiencies to our North Texas network of stores,” Thomas said.
The grocery store will be near the Walsh residential development in west Fort
Worth.
The Hudson Oaks store is being designed, and specifics about the store are not
available, said Mabrie Jackson, an H-E-B spokeswoman.
“We will share that with the community of Hudson Oaks as it becomes available,”
Jackson said.
H-E-B has stores in Burleson, Granbury, Cleburne, Ennis, Waxahachie,
Stephenville and Corsicana. H-E-B also operates its Central Market chain of
stores in Fort Worth and Southlake.
In 2016, the Mansfield City Council approved a zoning change at the southeast
corner of East Broad Street and U.S. 287 that will allow H-E-B to build a
supermarket there. The store will be 80,000 to 106,000 square feet, according to
plans filed with Mansfield. No additional details have been released on the
location.
The grocer has been buying parcels of land in Tarrant County in recent years.
Among the latest is a 17.8-acre track at the northeast corner of Cheek-Sparger
Road and Heritage Avenue in the Glade Parks development in Euless. H-E-B also
has 18.2 acres at the southeast corner of U.S. 287 and Bond Ranch Road in north
Fort Worth.
Other land holdings are off Quail Valley Drive and North Tarrant Parkway; at
Boat Club and Bailey-Boswell roads near Eagle Mountain Lake; and off Lake
Ridge Parkway in Grand Prairie.
At one time, H-E-B considered a store on Rosedale Street in Fort Worth and
attempted to rezone property for it. Those plans were dropped in 2013.
“H-E-B is also aware and thankful for the H-E-B fans in the Dallas-Fort Worth
Metroplex that are anxiously awaiting our entry into that market,” Jackson said.
“Our interest remains in evaluating the DFW market for the H-E-B format of
stores, but there are no current plans to enter at this time. Central Market
continues to be our primary format and growth vehicle of DFW.”
H-E-B, with sales of more than $24.6 billion, operates more than 390 stores in
Texas and Mexico. The grocer employs more than 106,000 people.
Really, figure skaters in Euless?
Olympic hopefuls are making
themselves at home there
Figure skater Tim Dolensky moved from his home in Atlanta to train with coaches in Euless, on Wednesday,
Dec. 20 at the Dr Pepper StarCenter in Euless. He is training for a spot on the US Olympic Figure Skating
team, and will compete in the upcoming 2018 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Joyce
Marshalljlmarshall@star-telegram
BY ELIZABETH CAMPBELL
liz@star-telegram.com
EULESS
When figure skater Tim Dolensky looked at places where he could ratchet up his
training for the upcoming Winter Olympics tryouts, he settled on Euless.
Euless likely doesn’t come to mind as a destination for elite figure skating and
training, but the Dr Pepper StarCenter is home to Dolensky, his coaches and
other figure skaters who are leaving New Year’s Day for San Jose, Calif., where
they hope to qualify for the Olympics by doing well in the U.S. Figure Skating
Championships.
The 2018 Winter Olympics will take place Feb. 9-25 in PyeongChang, South
Korea, about 80 miles east of Seoul.
Dolensky, 25, left his home in Atlanta and came to North Texas in March.
“I love my coaches in Atlanta, but it’s not a big skating place, and there aren’t a
lot of skaters on my level,” he said. “I was 24 and stil living at home. I was tired of
the same old places, the same old roads. I was ready for change.”
He was also looking to work with coaches Darlene and Peter Cain, who are based
at the Dr. Pepper Star Center.
Dolensky lives with the Cains, whose home is in Coppell.
Peter Cain, who coaches Dolensky and other Olypic hopefuls, including the
couple’s daughter Ashley, said Dolensky went as far as he could with skating in
Atlanta.
“We’ve known him for a long time, and he has traveled with us to competitions,”
Cain said. “Tim is a very talented skater.”
Cain said he and his wife came to North Texas in 1990 after skating with Disney
on Ice. When the Dr Pepper Star Center opened in Euless in 2000, the Cains
began building their program for “elite skaters” from the United States and other
countries.
“Euless is a hidden little secret, and it’s off the beaten path here,” Cain said.
Dolensky knew that he wanted to be a figure skater after a school field trip to an
ice rink when he was in the first grade, and immediately began a rigorous
competition schedule that has garnered him honors including the 2012 U.S.
Junior silver medalist, two-time Eastern Sectional champion and two-time Grand
Prix competitor.
When asked if he is concerned about tension between the United States and
North Korea, Dolensky said he hasn’t had time to worry about it, because he is
always practicing for the upcoming competition.
Besides figure skating, Dolensky is passionate about music. He composed several
pieces he has used for his skating routines, but for the upcoming trials, he will
skate to “Awake My Soul” by Mumford & Sons and, for his longer program,
“Faux” by Novo Amor.
There were times when Dolensky wanted to quit, he said, but his love of skating
kept him going.
“A lot of people don’t find their passion until later in life,” Dolensky said. “I’ve
been bless to figure out early where I can work my hardest.”
3 local police departments selected
for funding to hire more officers
Three North Texas police departments have been picked to get federal funds
as part of a national program to put more community policing officers on the
street.
The Arlington, Irving and Euless police departments were selected by the
Department of Justice for funding to hire additional officers. Arlington was
granted $1.8 million to be used to hire 15 officers, Irving $375,000 to hire
three officers, and Euless $500,000 to hire four officers.
The Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented
Policing Services gave a total of $98 million to 179 police departments
around the country, which will allow 802 full-time law enforcement officers
to be hired.
The Houston Police Department and San Antonio Police Department were
awarded the largest grants out of the nine Texas departments that were
selected. Each was granted more than $3 million to hire 25 officers into their
force.
The Arlington Police Department plans to use the funding to place an
additional 15 additional officers in units that focus on community
engagement and target violent crime, said Lt. Christopher Cook, a spokesman
for the department.
"All of [our new officers] will support partnership building, community
policing efforts that we already have ongoing, and detective ranks that will
address some of the emerging issues that we've seen over the past couple of
years," he said.
Those issues include violent crime, known offenders and prolific drug
offenders, Cook said.
"Some categories of violent crime have been trending up even though overall
violent crime for this year is slightly down," he said.
"We are keeping a watchful eye on aggravated assaults and robberies,
especially in incidents that involve the use of a firearm. Information sharing
and intelligence is key for commanders on where and how to deploy
resources and officers to reverse these trends."
Cook added that the department is accepting applications for upcoming
police academies in February and July.
The Irving Police Department will be using its grant to hire three officers that
will be specially trained to respond to mental health complaints, said Irving
police spokesman James McLellan.
"We will have these three officers trained to help people in mental health
distress," he said. "Our calls for service involving folks with mental health
issues, they just continue to rise, and we're dealing with some of the same
people repeatedly."
With a dedicated effort on mental health, the department will be able to better
help those in distress and also take preventative measures by following up
with people involved in frequent cases to make sure they are OK, McLellan
said.
"We'll be making these hires as soon as we can," he said. "It seems like the
best fit for these grant-funded positions."
Christmas Day closings, things
to do and trash service schedule
Panther Island Ice will be open Christmas Day, and the weather should be perfect. Star-Telegram archives
What’s closed
All school districts and nonessential city, federal and state offices; banks; the
stock market; and the U.S. Postal Service will be closed Monday in observance of
Christmas.
Things to do
Most movie theaters will be open. The Fort Worth Zoo is open from noon to 4
p.m.. Panther Island Ice, 223 N.E. 4th Street in Fort Worth, is open from noon to
11 p.m.
Transportation
Buses and Mobility Impaired Transportation Service (MITS) will operate on a
regular Sunday schedule on Christmas Day. The TRE will not operate on
Christmas Day. Regular service will resume Tuesday.
Municial closings, trash service
Tarrant County: All nonessential offices, including courts, are closed Monday
and Tuesday.
Arlington: City offices closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. On both holidays, no trash
service on Monday; service resumes on next regularly scheduled day. arlington-
tx.gov
Bedford: City offices closed Dec. 22-26 and Jan. 1. On both holidays, Monday
trash service shifts Monday to Tuesday, Tuesday to Wednesday. bedfordtx.gov
Colleyville: City offices closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. On both holidays, Monday
trash service shifts to Tuesday, Tuesday to Wednesday. Thursday and Friday will
follow normal routes. colleyville.com
Euless: City offices closed Monday Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. On both holidays,
Monday trash service shifts to Tuesday. eulesstx.gov
Fort Worth: City offices closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. City council meetings over
the holidays have been canceled, with the next meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan.
9. On both holidays, Monday trash service shifts to Tuesday, Tuesday to
Wednesday, etc. Residents are allowed two extra bags of trash on their first
pickup day following Christmas. Details: fortworthgov.org
Grapevine: City offices closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. On both holidays, Monday
trash service shifts to Tuesday, Tuesday to Wednesday, etc. grapevinetexas.gov
Haltom City: City offices closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. On both holidays, trash
service not affected. haltomcitytx.com
Haslet: City offices and library closed Dec. 23-26 and Jan. 1. On both holidays,
trash service not affected. haslet.org
Hurst: City offices closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. On both holidays, Monday trash
collection shifts to Tuesday and Thursday will shift to Friday. Details: hursttx.gov
Keller: City offices closed Dec. 24-26 and Jan. 1. No trash service on Monday,
with regular service resuming Thursday. Regular service on Dec. 31.
Details: cityofkeller.com
Mansfield: City offices closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. On both holidays, no trash
service on Monday; service resumes on next regularly scheduledy day.
Details: mansfieldtexas.gov
North Richland Hills: City offices closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. On both
holidays, Monday trash collection shifts to Tuesday, Tuesday to Wednesday.
Details: nrthtx.com
Richland Hills: City offices and library closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. On both
holiday weeks, trash service will shift one day, Tuesday to Wednesday and Friday
to Saturday. Details: richlandhills.com
Roanoke: City offices closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. Trash service will not be
affected. Details: roanoketexas.com
Saginaw: City offices closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. On both holidays, trash
service resumes on Tuesday. Details: saginaw.tx.us
Southlake: City offices and library closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. On both
holidays, Monday trash service shifts to Monday, Tuesday to Wednesday.
Details: cityofsouthlake.com
Trophy Club: Town offices closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1. On both holidays,
Tuesday trash service shifts to Wednesday. Details: trophyclub.org
Watauga: City offices closed Dec. 22- 25, Dec. 29-Jan. 1. On both holidays,
Monday trash service shifts to Tuesday. watauga.tx.us