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WEIMAR CITY COUNCIL
Weimar City Council approved the application for a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department grant to partially fund the development of a sports complex and discussed the hiring process for a new police chief during its meeting, Wednesday, July 30.
Police chief
The city council did not take any action on the hiring of a new police chief, which has been vacant since Mark Jameson resigned in March. City Manager Donald Dixson said that he intends to make a change to the hiring committee.
“I’m going to go bring in some local people as well…We need Weimar citizens’ representation,” Dixson said.
Ayriel Duffy, a Weimar resident and founder of Lone Star Luxe Real Estate, spoke in support of Dixson’s change. Duffy also suggested other changes for the hiring process including removing applicants’ identities to “level the playing field.”
“We don’t have enough people that are fitting all the criteria, but we need to find the people here that we can move up…and see if their criteria can fit the bill,” Duffy said. “Maybe they can’t check off all the boxes, but hopefully we can find someone to do the job that’s already here.”
The council will discuss amending the ordinance detailing the chief of police requirements during its next meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 6, at 5:30 p.m.
Sports complex
The city council approved the application for a $1.5 million grant from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to partially fund the development of around 20 acres into a robust sports complex. Economic Development Committee (EDC) President Amy Brandt presented the council with a history of the project, which originally started in February 2020. An April 2022 update estimated the project to cost around $3.8 million and divided the development into two phases.
“It was apparent that the project would probably need to be broken down into two phases,” Brandt said. “… [The sports complex committee] went back to the drawing board to decide what was most important to have in phase one and what was more important to have in phase 2 and then if we needed a phase three.”
The conceptual plan for the complex included three soccer fields, three softball fields that could also be used for little league, a pavilion with concessions and restrooms, a playground, green spaces, walking trails and adequate parking. However, she said city changes in September of that year put the project on the backburner.
“Between then and now, we’ve had a few changes in city leadership. We’ve had some more pressing needs come up in the community, priorities for the city, so it kind of got pushed,” Brandt said.
Brandt said the EDC fully supports the pursuit of the grant. Dr. Jorge Duchicela about his involvement in donating the land for the sports complex almost a decade ago. Duchicela created the Weimar Soccer League in the early 1990s with the support of Dr. Ken Yoder who originally purchased the land for the league.
“He and I decided that he would give that [land] to the city with the understanding that the city would help in making it into a soccer complex,” Duchicela said.
Duchicela said that the soccer leagues have flourished over the past 35 years. He also said he loves soccer because of the opportunity it provided him.
“Because of soccer, I was able to make it. I got a soccer scholarship Division I for Wisconsin University back in the 1970s, and through that scholarship, I was able to go to college,” Duchicela said.
Duchicela said that he hopes that the complex will provide opportunities for children to play in multiple sports and lift soccer to a higher level for the area.
In addition to approving the grant’s application, the council approved appointing Dixson as representative to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
