Things are looking better for those of us who hope to see White Rock Lake improved. Thanks to overwhelming community support, evidenced by thousands of letters and phone calls that were too numerous to count, Council appears to be unanimous in its desire to save White Rock Lake. We have not wavered in its commitment to place $9 million on the upcoming 1995 bond election scheduled for May 6. We will formally set the ballot at our March 1 meeting.
More good news is that the City staff is recommending that the $9 million in general obligation bonds, to be issued for White Rock Lake, be matched with an additional $9 million from the water department. This will give us a total of $18 million to effectively commence and complete this dredging project.
The fifty-fifty split between the general obligation bonds and the water department is something I have been advocating. The majority of the silt in the lake has been deposited as a result of storm water runoff.
However, the most important hurdle still remains. You, the voters, must approve this item when you go to the polls on May 6. Without voter approval, all of the work up until now will be for naught, and White Rock Lake will remain in its current deteriorating condition. I urge all of you who care about this asset to not only vote, but also encourage your neighbors to go to the polls and vote for this important bond program item.
Dr Pepper Update
I am cautiously optimistic about our chances of saving the Dr Pepper building. Dal-Mac has engaged in serious negotiations with several prospective tenants who want to use the existing Dr Pepper building and expects to have leases signed by early March.
Additionally, Dal-Mac has been working with neighborhood leaders and the City’s landmark commission to develop acceptable preservation criteria for the building. It is my hope that this preservation criteria can be approved, and the removal of the current moratorium on any building activity at the site can be simultaneously adopted, so Dal-Mac can commence with renovations for the new tenants in the late spring or early summer.
Arena Negotiations
Intense negotiations continue between the City and Mavericks owners Don Carter in an attempt to keep both the basketball team and the Dallas Stars. Despite strong efforts by Lewisville, Irving and Arlington to lure these sports teams away, I still believe that we are the front runner when it comes to keeping the teams.
Carter and the City agree on the most important fundamental principle of these negotiations – that no taxpayer money will be used to build the arena. At least half, if not possibly all, of the arena construction money will come from Carter.
When City involvement takes place, it will be in the form of revenue bonds which are not guaranteed by any City tax revenues. Revenue bonds will be sold through brokerage houses throughout the nation in the free market, thus no one in the City is even obliged to purchase them. However, they will be safe investments, because the first revenues from the arena will be guaranteed to go for the repayment of those revenue bonds.
Although we are getting close to finalizing a deal, complex issues related to parking and acquiring needed land to build the new arena, make this a touch-and-go, day-to-day negotiating process. It is the goal of both the City and the Mavericks to have this wrapped up soon.
