Willow Park: Fireworks at city hall

It’s been a few weeks since the Fourth of July, but that didn’t stop the Willow Park City Hall from having fireworks at a special meeting of the city council on Monday, July 28.

Before the council — minus one due to the resignation of Place 4 Member and Mayor Pro Tem Lea Young — got to the first item on the regular agenda, a host of citizens voiced their thoughts in the public comments section. Differences of opinions on how the city should be run got heated to the point that newly elected Mayor Teresa Palmer called police officers on hand to intercede — but they stopped short of removing some people from the meeting.

“Why don’t you all hush?” someone shouted from the crowd to another member of the audience. This drew the response of, “Y’all aren’t hushing!”

At which point Palmer interjected “Everybody stop now! We’re not ridiculing each other.”

That didn’t prevent other comments from flying back and forth throughout the council chambers. Former council member and  former Mike Olcott Legislative Director Marcy Galle told the council “I hope you fill Place 4 tonight!” It drew a response of “Angry much?” from fellow resident Catherine Davis.

Galle also shouted out “I did not!” when City Manager Bryan Grimes — whose immediate firing she called for a few minutes earlier — recalled a council decision from 2017 proposed by her when she was a member. He replied, “I’m looking at the minutes Marcy.”

Galle then argued that those minutes were incorrect.

One of the evening’s more notable speakers was Mary Robb, wife of Place 3 Councilman Greg Runnebaum, who had announced his resignation from the council at the start of last week only to rescind it before the weekend.

“You people have no idea what it’s like to volunteer on a city council,” Robb said to the crowd, then looking at Palmer and saying, “What’s changed in the last three months is the mayor and your supporters.”

Runnebaum and Palmer had tense exchanges a couple of times. Once, she said he first got on the council by appointment before being elected and he corrected her.

“Did you say I was appointed? I won 65-70% and no one’s run against me since,” he said. 

Then, when discussing the hiring of a new city attorney, Palmer had some paperwork that apparently contained some mistakes.

“Who put it together?” Runnebaum asked. When Palmer replied that a citizen gave it to her, he followed with “What citizen?”

This drew a sort of scolding response from Palmer of “Greg, stop that!”

Runnebaum later told the audience that he created a packet of information concerning some meetings he’s missed of late because he considered them to be illegal. He noted anyone can request to see them by contacting city staff.

Runnebaum’s decision to stay on the council prevents the council from being in a precarious position. They need four members, also known as a super majority, to pass some items, such as the upcoming budget and tax rate for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

In a plea for peace following executive session, Place 5 Council Member Nathan Crummel said, “I’m seeing Team This Person, Team That Person. I’m not seeing a lot of Team Willow Park.”

Replacing Young and Chesser

After officially approving the resignation of Young, council proceeded to discuss replacing her. Palmer moved for an immediate replacement that evening, noting that eight citizens had already submitted applications.

Council, however, voted to continue to accept applications through Friday, Aug. 1. They set a special meeting for Tuesday, Aug. 5, to further discuss Young’s replacement and the hiring of a new city attorney.

“Any decision made tonight is gonna be based on how well you give a speech,” Crummel said, noting the 1960 debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

On TV, Nixon was sweating and seemed uncomfortable compared to the calm and collected Kennedy. Most folks watching said Kennedy won the debate, whereas most of those who listened on radio thought Nixon won. 

Crummel added that he couldn’t make a decision from a resume' he received an hour earlier.

Among those who had already filed before Monday’s special meeting are former state representative Jonathan Stickland (2013-2021), retired Tarrant County Judge Roy Kurban, and Doyle Moss, who served as Willow Park mayor for eight years before being upset by Palmer in May.

Young served on the council for seven years. 

Place 1 Council Member Eric Contreras, who is the interim Mayor Pro Tem, said of Young, “I want to thank Mayor Pro Tem Young for her years of service.”

Runnebaum called her resignation “A great loss.”

Crummell said Young was “a true servant citizens could go to.”

To which Place 2 Member Chawn Gilliland added, “Thank you Lea for all the time you’ve been with the city.”

Concerning the replacement of Chesser, Grimes stressed to Palmer, “We’re not a home rule municipality yet. We are a type A general law.”

A document distributed to members of the council regarding advertising for a replacement referred to Willow Park as a home rule city.

Council then agreed to look for a new attorney who is proficient in general law and home rule as Palmer has made it a mission to transform Willow Park into a home rule city.

Applicants are currently being accepted for a home rule committee for further study. Palmer is pushing to place home rule on the ballot for a vote by the citizens in May of 2026.

Grimes’ future

It’s become well known the friction between Grimes and Palmer. In fact, each has retained attorneys with potential lawsuits pending by both parties.

On Monday’s agenda, created by Palmer, was a special session to discuss Grimes’ future – which council went into after the regular meeting. However, without a city attorney, no action could be taken, so the subsequent agenda item about a possible severance package for him also never came to fruition. 

When asked about holding the special session without an attorney present, Palmer said, “We don’t need for what we’re going to be talking about.”

Oncor rates

The council voted to deny a July 31 rate increase from Oncor Electric Delivery, a decision that was requested by the company itself to allow more time for a smooth adjustment within all of the cities it serves.

Oncor had filed an application in late June originally asking Willow Park to approve a 12.3% increase in residential rates and a 51% increase in street lighting rates. Were that approved, city officials said an average residential customer would see a bill increase of about $7.90 per month.

The law permits the city to suspend a rate change for 90 days after the date the rate change would otherwise be effective.

Water agreement with Hudson Oaks

The council also agreed to revise its shared water agreement with Hudson Oaks.

A year ago, the council approved an interlocal agreement in which Willow Park agreed to treat wastewater from Hudson Oaks upon completion and activation of the new wastewater treatment plant.

At the time of the original agreement, the plant was designed with a treatment capacity of up to 750,000 gallons per day, with up to 125,000 gallons per day allocated to Hudson Oaks. However, due to continued growth in both communities, Hudson Oaks approached Willow Park with a request to increase the total plant capacity to a million gallons per day and double the reserve for Hudson Oaks’ use to up to 250,000 gallons per day.

Hudson Oaks has agreed to fund 100% of the associated change order costs. As a result, Willow Park will not need to secure additional funding for the expansion.