Wylie Today

On Monday night, May 19th, 2008, the Wylie ISD Board of Trustees elected officers for the next year, voting unanimously to keep Susan Shuler as President and Ralph E. James as Vice-President. Sam Satterwhite was elected Secretary. The evening began with newly elected Trustee Lance Goff taking his oath of office along with Ronni Fetzer and Ralph E. James.

I’m still amazed at the results of the Fetzer/Goss race. Five votes. Wow. The people still have faith in Ronni Fetzer. And the people believe that Barbara Goss is the right type of person needed on the School Board. Maybe the time will come where everyone can be happy and support both Ronni Fetzer and Barbara Goss. Personally, I have no doubt that they will both put our children’s education as the top priority in each decision they make.

After the election, Ronni Fetzer said, “My sincere thanks to all the voters who made an effort to have their voice heard on the Wylie ISD elections, and to those who supported me during the campaign. Thanks also to Barbara Goss and all the candidates who put their hats into the ring to serve the students and families of Wylie ISD. We are in an important time for our district, and the dedication and commitment of many people is vital to our success. Please stay involved with your local schools.”

I also think it’s real funny (sorry, Sam) that they elected Sam Satterwhite as Secretary, even after Ronni Fetzer told everyone he said he didn’t want to be. It’s too bad Mr. Satterwhite was doing his job as WEDC Executive Director in Las Vegas today and wasn’t there to nominate someone else as Secretary. You know, Stacie Gooch, or someone like that.

Well, City Councilman David Goss called it as the above picture was being taken by Anne Hiney of Troy Aikman and I on Wednesday evening. “There’s the lead-in picture for the Wylie Today story!”

Turns out he was right. I’m sure you will see plenty of pictures of this event in the next week or so as I couldn’t count the amount of cameras on-hand. I have a few from the event that I will post below, and I might just add a gallery here in the near future.  But to lead-in, yeah, that’s me and Hall of Fame quarterback, 3 time Super Bowl Champion, the greatest Fox Sports NFL analyst and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman. I like to mix it up.

City of Wylie Mayor John Mondy was completely jubilant this evening and with good reason. The people involved have been working on this deal for over a year and tonight was another step towards $600,000 in additional sales tax revenue for the city. It was another step towards a thousand newly created jobs in the city. It was another step towards keeping the citizens of Wylie shopping in Wylie. I’m really surprised we didn’t see Mayor Mondy break out some Riverdance moves.

Major kudos go out to Wylie’s Public Information Officer, Craig Kelly. Aside from seeing him run around picking up yoga flyers someone had left on the tables, the event went on without a hitch. Hundreds of people were in attendance for the groundbreaking ceremony and Dickey’s BBQ.

On hand to speak at the event was Wylie Economic Development Corporation’s Sam Satterwhite, Texas State Representative Jodie Laubenberg, Direct Development Sr. VP Don Bouvier, City of Wylie Mayor John Mondy and Troy Aikman.

Mr. Bouvier related the event to an Oscar speech as he mentioned so many people involved from the beginning that required accolades. He spoke further about four legs of a table and if one breaks or can’t support the weight, the table fails. He spoke very highly of the City of Wylie staff and administration and said they delivered on everything they said they would do. Now it was Direct Development’s turn to deliver on their promises.

Super Target Summer of 2009!

Some other players that need mentioning are the City of Murphy and the City of Sachse. Murphy made a small plot of land available to Wylie that was required for the development at the corner of 544 and McCreary. Sachse agreed to build a road to connect the back end of the development to Hwy 78. As Mayor Mondy said, “This has truly been a community effort”.

Troy Aikman talked about the special place in his heart for Wylie. You see, his wife was born in Wylie, though she didn’t stay very long. “I’m pretty sure if there had been a Super Target here, she would have stayed a bit longer.” he mused continuing on to talk about credit card statements and things I am so completely familiar with. He went on to talk about how great Direct Development is and how proud he is to be a part of such a great team. He knows that Direct Development isn’t a build and run type of company. They plan, build and maintain. Their developments are works to be proud of and that is why he chose them.

Overall, the event was a huge success and we can expect to see bulldozers out in the fields within a few weeks as road construction begins. This thing is moving forward quickly, people. And a ton of people were involved to make it happen. This is a fantastic day for the Great City of Wylie.

Look for more images soon and the small images above are clickable, leading to a larger image.

Photos © 2008 wylietoday.com (except for the lead-in photo of the 2 awesome dudes. Thanks, Anne!)

PRESS RELEASE - DIRECT DEVELOPMENT TO DEVELOP 64.5 ACRE RETAIL DEVELOPMENT IN WYLIE

DALLAS, Texas (February 25, 2008) Direct Development, a private commercial retail real estate development and investment company, today announced that it has purchased 64.5 acres located at the southeast corner of FM 544 and McCreary Road in Wylie, Texas. Direct Development intends to develop a 575,000 square foot retail shopping center, Woodbridge Crossing Shopping Center, which will be the largest retail center located in Wylie when it is completed in the summer of 2009.

“Woodbridge Crossing would not have come to fruition without the collaboration of several key groups,” remarked Don Bouvier, Senior Vice President with Direct Development. “The City of Wylie, the Wylie EDC, Target Corporation, the previous owner—Don Herzog, and countless others worked together to bring this needed amenity to Wylie residents.”

This transaction involves a $12 million public-private partnership between the City of Wylie, the Wylie Economic Development Corporation and Direct Development. Direct Development will immediately develop more than 1.5 miles of adjacent roads, public utilities, traffic signals along FM 544, and a bridge over Maxwell Creek and receive reimbursement over a 12 year period. John Mondy, Mayor of Wylie, Mindy Manson, Wylie City Manager, and Sam Satterwhite, Wylie Economic Development Corporation, were very instrumental in the development, which is expected to kick-off with an April 2008 ground-breaking ceremony.

“Woodbridge Crossing will serve as a new gateway to our thriving, growing, City and have a positive impact on the quality of life and ongoing economic development efforts in Wylie,” said City of Wylie Mayor, John Mondy. “Partnerships with our neighboring cities, Murphy and Sachse, along with the hard work by city staff, City Council and Direct Development, were key to the success of this project.”

Super Target will be the anchor tenant of Woodbridge Crossing, with the Target Corporation simultaneously closing on 13.6 acres within the 64.5 acre development. A “to-be-named” department store, numerous “junior-anchor” retailers and several well-known restaurants have also expressed an interest in the project. More than 150,000 people within Wylie, Sachse, Murphy and East Richardson are within the development’s primary trade area.

The site is part of a 186 commercial planned development, owned by Herzog Development Corporation, which includes zoning for an adjacent 100 acre sports facility complex and a 20 acre senior housing project.

David Watson formed direct Development in November of 1997, and the company was recently ranked 22nd among the Dallas 100 fastest growing private companies. In May of 2006, Troy Aikman joined the firm as principal due to the firm’s integrity and quality of development projects. Over the last 10 years, Direct Development has developed or acquired 33 shopping centers comprising over 3 million square feet of commercial retail properties, and has offices in both Dallas and Austin. Additional information on Direct Development is available at www.ddevelopment.com or call (214) 891-3222.

The WISD Board of Trustees met for a special session on Monday night, February 11th to discuss the transition to a multiple high school system. The primary focus at the session was to determine what year the first graduating class of Wylie East High School would enroll as freshman. Dr. Fuller presented a worksheet to the board members with scenarios for graduating classes of 2012, 2013 and 2014. Several board members thought it would be best to start the transition as soon as possible, though Trustee Ralph James, not necessarily opposed to a quick transition, questioned if the district would be prepared for the financial impact of a transition beginning with the 2008/2009 school year. Dr. Fuller informed the board that a Bond would need to be issued unless the need involved expansion of just a few classes at Wylie East, in which case the district could draw from the existing fund balance.

Trustee Baron Cook questioned the cost impact of expanding Wylie East to accommodate 2000 students. Dr. Fuller replied that the cost is uncertain at this time due to questions surrounding specific classroom types needed based on the specialty and career programs offered, but to finish out the shell of Wylie East to hold 2000 students a bond would certainly need to be issued. Trustee Sam Satterwhite and Board President Susan Shuler both mentioned the need to reach equitable levels in terms of specialty and career programs offered at both campuses. However, Mr. Satterwhite was eager to start the transition as soon as possible while Mrs. Shuler was more reserved, citing the need to ensure the people, programs and teachers could be put in place in time. She stated, “I want to have the programs in place. I don’t want to half-way do this. We need to already have in mind what we are doing. That is my reservation with starting with the current 8th grade class.”

They recapped their visit with Frisco ISD administration to remind themselves that they should aim for equity not equality. Meaning that the specialized and career programs at each school should not be duplicates, but should be of equal value.

Trustee Ronni Fetzer mentioned her surprise at the amount of freshman students and parents that wanted to stay at Wylie East next year. She felt this was a sign that the community is ready and anxious to know the plan and execute the change. Trustee Stacie Gooch felt that some parents and students of current freshman were in a state of confusion, wondering what school they would attend in the 2008/2009 school year. While they acknowledged the confusion, the board mentioned that they always stated this year’s freshman would all attend Wylie High School next school year. There is no option for current freshman to graduate as Raiders.

In a brief moment of comedy during this discussion, Trustee Sue Nicklas reminded everyone, “Freshman are nothing. You all remember what it was like to be a Freshman.” Stacie Gooch quickly replied, “I was a Pirate!”

The Trustees also briefly discussed the boundary lines for each school. While nothing has been decided, they did essentially rule out 78 as the dividing line for the schools. An option that was discussed was using Westgate as the dividing line for schools, but there was also concern that students would be going to a school that was further away from their home than the other. Athletic Director Mark Ball was on hand and stated his belief that parents would try to position themselves to attend one school over the other with a longer delay. Citing athletic reasons, he also stated it would be better to begin the transition with the current 8th grade class or the current 6th grade class. Dr. Fuller mentioned that all varsity athletic students would be allowed to transfer to Wylie High School in Wylie East’s inaugural year. He said, “They are all still representing Wylie High School as it pertains to sports.”

At the end of the lively discussion, it was clear that the Trustees still had a lot of decisions and information to uncover as they proceed with the plan for transition. It was also clear that the citizens of Wylie can expect a WISD bond election in November 2008 or May 2009 to make the transition a reality.

After at least a year of discussion, special meetings and public forums, the Wylie ISD Board of Trustees on Monday voted 5-2 in favor of a multiple 9th-12th grade high school configuration. 91% of the public that contributed input during the public forums desired this configuration.

Stacie Gooch, Susan Shuler, Ronni Fetzer, Baron Cook and Ralph James voted for the multiple 9-12 high school configuration while Sam Satterwhite and Sue Nicklas dissented.

Now that the decision has been made in regards to the configuration, Trustees must quickly decide the best way to implement the transition. WISD Superintendent Dr. John Fuller stated that he will provide suggestions and more information regarding boundary lines and transition times once he has had time to discuss these issues with key personnel.

The next scheduled WISD Board Meeting is January 21, 2008.