As we have made our way through the COVID-19 pandemic, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. I know everyone is tired of being cooped up at home and not able to go do some of the favorite activities such as shopping, entertainment, dining-out and so on.
I know the pandemic has had an enormous effect on our high school seniors, due to the fact that senior proms and other events have been postponed or canceled. I want to thank the Texas Motor Speedway for their efforts to try to provide the experience of graduation to our local seniors. While it may not be what they expected, I truly hope they will be able to take this experience and move forward with their life and continue on with the plans they have made for their futures.
As the quarantine requirements are loosened, we are planning to open Town Hall very soon. This will be done in a several step process to ensure the safety of the employees and public. The initial opening will allow for town hall business to the public but will not allow for meetings and gatherings in the Community Center until a later date. Please watch our website for information on these opening dates.
The town council continues to move through the process of hiring the new town administrator. As this process continues, other changes have come forward and need to be made. Our current contracted interim town administrator has decided to take a step back to work on the town’s upcoming budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. So, instead of contracting for another interim town administrator, we have moved Erica McComis, Assistant Town Administrator into the interim position until the new town administrator is hired. This will provide continuity in the staff until the new administrator is on board.
At our April 20th council meeting the council approved to allow the subdivision of The Oaks to install a limited access gate on Cook Street. This was done to reduce not only the amount of traffic into that subdivision, but also the amount of unsafe speeding traffic that has been a problem for many years. This decision was not taken lightly and has been discussed for several months. The police and fire departments will have access through the gate when needed as not to reduce response times to the community. The Oaks HOA is fully funding the cost and maintenance of the gate and will continue to do so. This does not make The Oaks an exclusive gated community, there is still access off FM 407 and the streets in The Oaks are still public and will be maintained by the town as such. We have several subdivisions that are set up with a single access point and this has not been an issue in the past. This decision was solely based on public safety and not for any other commented reasons that had been put out there.
I know the past few months have not been pleasant. We are following the Governor’s guidelines and hope that all businesses in the Town of Argyle will be back to normal very soon. I thank you for the numerous emails, phone calls and letters supporting the members of the council.