Winners circle

By Michelle Tyer

Special to Weatherford Telegram

Town hall meetings and other efforts that began in August of 2011 paid off for Hudson Oaks when the city received an award January 11.

The award from the Midwest Section of the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association recognized Hudson Oaks' Comprehensive Plan they submitted last year.

Mayor Pat Deen accepted the award at the banquet and said the APA gave the award based on the clarity, depth and specifics of the city's Comprehensive Plan.

"It was an effort that really started with the residents of the city," Deen said.

When the city decided to form their Comprehensive Plan and contracted Freese-Nichols, Inc. planners to assist them, Hudson Oaks held town hall meetings for residents and businesses to voice their opinion on what they wanted to see happen in their community.

"For me, personally, that was the key," Deen said. "To get that voice in the document."

Deen said he had confidence in their plan because of the help from the community, but it did not strike him until he accepted the award how meaningful the recognition was.

City Administrator Sheri Campbell-Husband said she has attended the APA awards banquet since 1991as her husband is a member of the association. Being on the receiving end this time made the banquet much more meaningful, Campbell-Husband said.

"I know just from experience the caliber of those projects," Campbell-Husband said of the plans submitted. "It meant a lot to me."

Deen emphasized that without the help of businesses and others, winning this award would not have been possible.

But Hudson Oaks did not just create this plan. They have already begun to put it to use.

"I think this document could be a beacon for us for the next 10 to 15 years," Deen said. "We immediately began implementing these things. It's not just something to just put on a shelf."

In the past few months the city began work on the Fort Worth Highway to improve the median. Construction also is underway for the water park to be completed in May.

"It's what the residents want this community to look like," Campbell-Husband said of the plan. "What they want it to become and what they don't want it to be, which can be just as important."

Campbell-Husband said after completing the Comprehensive Plan, they wanted to get started right away with not just the construction but other things residents and businesses desired.

One of those requests was having more events in the city.

"They wanted to see more community events that would bring people together and draw some attention," Campbell-Husband said.

That led to the Boomin' 4th event for Independence Day in 2012, just months after the completion of the document.

Another strong request from businesses was the continued absence of ad valorem tax, a policy which Deen said will continue.

Deen said that despite negative effects from the state of the economy, they plan to continue to complete projects listed in the Comprehensive Plan with the goal of improving the city.

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