GLENN HEIGHTS — Speculation runs high as to who might take the role of interim City Manager in Glenn Heights in a few weeks. The current City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides is saying her goodbyes July 7.

While it’s not the outgoing City Manager’s decision as to who might fit in her shoes she said “They are looking at making my Deputy David Hall the Interim. He previously worked for Lancaster and Fort Worth. He’s smart and has been with the City for two years.” In her opinion, either Hall or Fire Chief Eddie Burns would be likely candidates for the interim position.

“Everyone likes and respects Hall,” she said. “He has the most government experience next to Mr. [Charles] Brewer, [Director Public Works and Infrastructure] who should also be in line.”

The Glenn Heights City Council will decide this week regarding the interim seat.

Moving Forward

“Over the past few years we have worked to establish a very capable staff, all of whom are well prepared and qualified to keep the City moving forward,” Ferrell-Benavides said. “The Mayor and Council made a commitment prior to my arrival to create a level of succession planning and my Deputy City Manager David hall is poised keep the City moving forward.”

Hall is more than prepared to step into the role since he has a law degree and years of City Government experience.

She also added, “David has been by my side for the past two years. He is versed on every aspect of city business.”

As for the transition, the outgoing City Manager expects the change will go smoothly.

“I will work on a transition plan however. We perform as a team, so I am not at all concerned about the team’s ability to move forward in my absence,” she said.

Ferrell–Benavides added she believes the city of Glenn Heights is moving forward in many ways.

“We have attracted the right people to the team and we have a Council that is supportive and committed to moving the City forward,” she concluded. “I have been a lifelong public servant. My mother retired from the City Manager’s Office with the City of Fort Worth and my husband retired from being City Manager of Dallas, Texas. I owe so much to the City of Glenn Heights for giving me this opportunity and I will forever be grateful.”

The city of Glenn Heights agreed this month to reimburse its mayor for a cruise he missed while responding to last year's deadly tornado, an unusual step that one council member deemed improper, WFAA-TV (Channel 8) reports.

But Glenn Heights Mayor Leon Tate told the station that he had no intention of cashing the check for about $880 — and in fact, ripped it up.

Tate, who does not get paid for his duties as mayor, said he asked for a reimbursement at the Dec. 13 meeting as a matter of principle.

"I should not have to lose money to serve in my position as mayor," he told WFAA.

The request raised concerns for City Council member Ron Adams, who the station reports was the lone opposition in a 5-1 vote. Though council members are also unpaid, he said he would not have asked for reimbursement.

"It just didn't seem right to me," Adams told WFAA. "So many people were out of so much that it didn't make sense."

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Tate and his daughter were scheduled to go on a cruise to Mexico last year but had to cancel after deadly tornadoes ravaged the North Texas area the day after Christmas, thrusting him into the emergency in his role as mayor. The no-show, according to WFAA, cost Tate $882.24.

Mayor Pro Tem Tony Bradley supported Tate, who he said "sacrificed a lot to make sure the city kept moving" after the tornado. "I don't think you should have to suffer a loss like that," he told WFAA.

Glenn Heights is a city of about 12,000 people just south of DeSoto. Other larger cities offer paid positions for City Council; in 2014, Dallas approved a pay raise for its mayor and council members.

Adams, who voted no to Tate's request, said he's looking into whether the reimbursement was legal and may ask the city attorney to take action.

GLENN HEIGHTS — Anybody that knows Texas weather knows that it won’t stay the same for long. So despite the blistering cold, green thumbs in Glenn Heights are already thinking about a spring garden.

“The Glenn Heights Community Garden started this past April. Both the community and city council members expressed the desire to have an engagement tool that sparked camaraderie and instilled a sense of pride and community ownership like this. Incidentally, it has worked well to build involvement in other areas as well,” said Glenn Heights Community Engagement Liaison Lauren Gray.

The garden is located on Hampton Road directly across the street from City Hall. Measuring about 1/3 of an acre, the garden grows an array of flowers and seasonal food Gray said, “The harvest varies and will change by season according to what the participants want to plant.”

Late last year the garden was yielding a mixture of flowers, fruits and vegetables which were being grown in the individual plots.

The garden is a joint effort, but is fully led by Glenn Heights residents.

“The individual plots are citizen grown and maintained,” Gray confirms.

Gray said staff and council decided on a garden because “Glenn Heights is a growing community. We have several seasoned residents and many newcomers that share the common interest of loving their quiet and quaint community. This garden provides a way for our residents to take ownership and pride in the community, utilize one of our natural resources, the beautiful landscape, and organically meet neighbors.”

Encouraging A Healthy Lifestyle

It is also believed that the garden has the potential to provide area residents access to healthier food options. Foods like fresh fruits and vegetables are planted because some residents might not have easy access to them otherwise. Currently, there are no grocery stores within the city limits.

“In the future, we would like to see the garden become another avenue for residents in our community to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables,” Gray said. “One way of moving toward this goal is to look at developing a Community Co-op. The program will provide goods and services in a way that keeps community resources within the community. Depending on the number of participating residents, and contingent on their buy-in, there may be a way to distribute surplus for free in the future.”

For now, the items grown in the garden will remain with the resident that owns and maintains that particular plot. Officials say there will always be a chance to expand.

In recent years, other cities and entities that have started community gardens that have flourished. Some have even expanded into distribution of their home grown products.

Building Community Spirit

Still in its infancy, the Glenn Heights’ garden will depend on the citizen participation, Gray says.

Glenn Heights City Manager David Hall adds, “I have been an employee for the City of Glenn Heights for nearly four years and this was in high demand from our community members. I’ve seen gardens bring the community together in other cities. This opportunity has proven to do that here. It has started to bring residents from both counties together.”

Hall said he believes the garden is an excellent method for the city to partner with residents and engage citizens to show that the city is available.

“More than that, it is a great activity that allows neighbors to engage with each other,” he added.

Residents can get involved several ways. Citizens can either check out the City website at www.glennheightstx.gov or follow the city’s Facebook page, CityofGlennHeights, for the latest updates.

Bloomfield Homes has acquired 88 acres of what is now mostly farmland on South Hampton Road in Glenn Heights to develop and build a single-family home community with 286 houses.

The development, called Hampton Park, will have homes priced from the high $200s to the low $400s, said Don Dykstra, chairman of Southlake-based Bloomfield Homes and president of Bloomfield Properties Inc.

“It’s a beautiful piece of property adjacent to a creek in a quiet, rural setting,” Dykstra said in an interview with the Dallas Business Journal.

The land assemblage from three private owners is south of Ovilla Road.

David Hinson of Dallas-based Younger Partners, who brokered the transaction, called Glenn Heights “a unique up-and-coming market.”

He said the Texas Department of Transportation is widening Ovilla Road, which will open up the area to retail as Bloomfield and other builders add rooftops.

The area is poised to grow because of the existing highway network and the affordability of homes there, he said.

“Everybody looks north — the Friscos, McKinneys and Dentons — but there is a lot of opportunity there for folks to find nice new homes in the southern part of North Texas, if you will,” Hinson said in an interview with the Business Journal. “They will compete with any other home out there. It’s just not as congested. And with the (layout) of the highways, the mobility aspect of living and working down there is arguably better than living in the northern areas.”

Hinson said overall the land sales market has slowed down in North Texas.

“There are buyers and sellers looking at deals, but they’’re a little reluctant to sign on the bottom line,” he said. “It seems to me that they’re setting themselves up to take advantage of whatever else is coming next. Whether that is waiting for a price reduction or for things to come back online, they’re doing some sort of due diligence and have a direction that they want to proceed.”

Hampton Park will include more than 10 acres of green space with hike and bike trails, a play area and exercise stations.

The development is Bloomfield’s third community in Glenn Heights, where the builder is currently selling homes in Maplewood I and starting development of Maplewood II. The Maplewood homes are priced similarly to what those in Hampton Park will cost, Dykstra said.

“We’re basically offering buyers a choice of school district,” he said. "Maplewood will be in Desoto ISD and Hampton Park will be in Red Oak ISD.”

Engineering work and zoning for Hampton Park are underway. Development will take a year, then the project will be built out in phases over about five years, Dykstra said.

Bloomfield Homes has been in operation since 2004 and currently operates in about 45 communities across DFW. The company closed 1,457 homes last year across DFW and has closed almost 9,000 homes since starting.

2022 City-Wide Cleanup Event April 9, 2022

April 1, 2022 Glenn Heights, TX – The City of Glenn Heights will host its annual City-Wide Clean-Up Event on Saturday, April 9, 2022. The event will take place from 8 a.m. to Noon at Heritage Community Park located at 400 E Bear Creek Rd, Glenn Heights TX.

“The City of Glenn Heights staff looks forward to providing this service to our residents because we know they take pride in keeping their properties and this community clean and safe”, said Glenn Heights City Manager, David Hall.

This free event is open to all Glenn Heights residents who present a valid photo ID and utility bill. Services provided to residents as part of the city-wide cleanup and beautification include:

The City invites neighborhood associations and residents to take part in the city-wide beautification effort by planning neighborhood cleanup & volunteer activities to assist fellow neighbors who might be disabled, widowed or without tools & equipment for property cleanup.

To view the list of Frequently Asked Questions and find out more about the 2022 City-Wide Cleanup Event, visit: https://glennheightstx.gov/303/Citywide-Clean-Up-Community-Beautification

The City Council of the City of Hutchins will hold a public hearing on Monday, April 18, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. in the Hutchins Community Center located in 500 W. Hickman Street, Hutchins, Texas. All interested citizens of the city and interested parties are invited to either submit their comments by email to the City Secretary at colguin@cityofhutchins.org by 4:00 p.m. on Monday April 18, 2022 or attend this public hearing in person and participate in same. The public hearing will be for consideration of the following:

Consider a request by applicant Bill Sanchez (representing property owner Cindy D. Lugo) for a zoning change from Single Family Residential 10 (SF-10) to Light Industrial (LI) on an 35.894 Acre tract of land in the city of Hutchins, Texas. Property is legally described as being Lot 1, Block 1, Richard Adams Addition and a portion of that certain tract of land conveyed to KLMN Ranch, LLC, in a special warranty deed recorded in Instrument No. 2021200241999 of the Official Public Records of Dallas County, Texas, and a 1.477 acre tract of land in the George Marshall Survey No. 5, Abstract No. 984, Dallas County, Texas. Property further known as 1349 E. Cleveland Road. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Tim Rawlings, Building Official at 972-225-6121, Ext. 111.

Tim Rawlings City of Hutchins