April 29, 2024 • 18 mins
Mayor Don Warren walks through the dynamic changes shaping the City of Tyler, from Eclipse Mania, to the nostalgic reopening of the Mayfair building, and the serendipitous story of a namesake Canadian visitor, capturing the essence of Tyler's hometown spirit. Get the latest information about the new Blackstone Hotel and share a laugh over an amusing oversight during a public announcement—all underlining Mayor Warren's unwavering optimism for what lies ahead.
Our city's heart is set on a downtown transformation, taking cues from Chattanooga's own renaissance, but with a Tyler twist. We're not just constructing buildings; we're crafting experiences for our energetic younger residents. Picture the seamless blend of our cherished brick streets with the efficiency of modern traffic design, including roundabouts for safety. Discover the concerted efforts of city and county officials, backed by federal grants, as we unveil plans for a downtown that's as walkable as it is welcoming, with the groundbreaking slated for January 2025.
Venture with us into the critical undercurrents of development, where the evolution of downtown housing meets essential infrastructure improvements. The Carlton’s past grandeur hints at its future potential as we explore the allure of lofts and apartments reshaping the downtown skyline. Furthermore, we're tackling the practicalities head-on with Tyler Water Utilities' commitment to tastier, odorless water and advanced metering technology. And for the road warriors tired of the red light grind, we share the city's initiatives to smooth out your commute with a significant cut in wait times.
(Show notes are automatically generated and may contain phonetic spellings and other spelling and punctuation errors. Grammar errors contained in the original recording are not typically corrected.)
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
LANDESS (00:04):
Tyler's mayor gave a glowing state of the city report
in January, and that was beforeEclipse Mania and the reopening
of the historic Mayfairbuilding.
Sadly, no Dolly Partonappearance.
I'm Mike Landis.
Ut Tyler Radio connects withMayor Don Warren to find out
what else is in store for thecity this spring and summer.
What's the next big thing, mrMayor?
WARREN (00:25):
Well, where should I start, Mike?
From the beginning.
LANDESS (00:29):
From the beginning, not in the beginning.
WARREN (00:33):
From the beginning but I got to back up to your eclipse.
Yes, yes, yes, that wasphenomenal, wasn't that fun?
It was a fun time, and weactually had a guy here from
Canada and his name was Tyler.
Oh, I saw that and.
Tyler.
His main thing was he wanted totravel all over the city and
have his picture taken in frontof anything and everything that
(00:54):
had the word Tyler in it.
Nice and I had the opportunityto meet with Tyler and we
exchanged some gifts.
We gave him the game ofTyleropoly, oh yes.
And the guy was just so excitedto be here in Tyler and I asked
him I said Tyler, what is yourfavorite thing about our
community?
And he goes the people here areso kind and I received a list
(01:18):
recently from Diane with VisitTyler, and she gave us a list of
where all these people werefrom.
They were not only from allover the country, but all over
the world that came here towatch the eclipse.
So it was quite a fascinatingday.
LANDESS (01:31):
It really was terrific.
Did we have the huge numbers wethought we would get, or was it
just the wide variety and a lotof fun?
WARREN (01:38):
Well, I think the wide variety and a lot of fun.
You know, nobody knew what thenumbers were going to be, and it
didn of fun.
You know, nobody knew what thenumbers were going to be and it
it didn't matter.
I was down on the squaredowntown and it was packed and
the thing that was so neat itwas the clouds had the eclipse
covered and we were in thatsmall window of when the eclipse
actually occurred and all of asudden the clouds just kind of
(02:01):
parted and all of a sudden youcould see the total eclipse and
the entire crowd just gaspedwith excitement.
And it clouds just kind ofparted and all of a sudden you
could see the total eclipse andthe entire crowd just gasped
with excitement and it was justa phenomenal day.
LANDESS (02:10):
Yeah, yeah, really a beautiful and wonderful moment.
I have a minor bone to pickwith you, sure, when last we
spoke, we talked about all kindsof things Tyler-centric, and
some weeks later I watched mybuddy, blake Holland, over at
Channel 7, reveal that there wasgoing to be a new Blackstone
Hotel on the horizon, and I'mgiving you the benefit of the
doubt here Was that somethingthat was just under wraps when
(02:31):
we talked?
WARREN (02:33):
Well, we have been in discussions with the group.
As a matter of fact, we coldcalled them about a year and a
half ago just to say we want youto come to Tyler and consider
us as a possible place for ahotel and we've had a number of
conversations and they've comeand we've had some fascinating
visits.
Whether or not the funding willall fall into place and all
(02:57):
that, I don't know the answer,but they love the city and they
actually were here the night ofthe Christmas tree lighting and
the little boy flipped the lighton the switch and the lights
came on.
And here's this group of hotelguys from out of town and after
we got through they said thatwas Americana and they said we
(03:21):
have hotels in Bryan, collegeStation and Lubbock and Irving
and all these different cities,but I've never been in a place
where we watch the Christmastree lighting right next to
where we hope one day our hotelwill be.
So you know, whether it happensor not, I'm pretty optimistic,
but I'm optimistic anyway.
So we're doing our best to makethis happen.
LANDESS (03:43):
Making this generational.
That was a Life magazine moment, wasn't it?
A little capture of Americana.
WARREN (03:48):
Well, it was, and we had dinner one night in a downtown
restaurant and the backdrop wasthe marquee that says Tyler and
the marquee that says Libertyand the marquee that says Ricks,
and it's all bright.
And these folks just looked outand said, said, this is where
we want to be, so we'll staytuned, stay tuned.
LANDESS (04:10):
Steve Fitzpatrick of Fitzpatrick Architects has done
a great job of creating animatedvideos of what the new and
improved downtown Tyler willlook like after the new
courthouse is completed.
After the courthouse iscompleted and the downtown
square is finished, it all looksamazing, but is it on schedule
and within budget, or do youhave a handle on that at this
moment?
WARREN (04:29):
Well, we meet frequently and discuss the plans, and
we've been working on this forseveral years as well, and
there's a lot of input, and I'vehad a lot of input, and I have
things that I'm very passionateabout, and one of the things are
the bricks simply on thedowntown brick streets, and the
(04:50):
idea had come up about usingpavers or using a more modern
brick or something of thatnature, and I go no way.
I mean, these bricks that areon these streets have been here
100 years and when we put thesestreets back, I want the exact
same bricks that were here 100years ago.
I mean, they represent ourheritage, our culture, our
(05:11):
history, and that's what it'sgot to be.
So we are talking aboutnarrowing down the streets and
there'll be two-way and wideningthe sidewalks and have a couple
of roundabouts which havepeople just totally freaked out,
and I've heard people say thatthey're going to open up a body
shop and be able to handle allthe wrecks that are going to
occur, but you laugh that offand keep moving.
(05:33):
We keep moving and as you travel, or I travel around the country
, there's roundabouts everywhere, yes, and people are going to
have to learn to drive them, andchange is tough.
But the whole idea for downtownis is to make it more walkable
and and to make it safer andjust slow down the pace.
And once the courthouse isbuilt, we want people to be able
(05:55):
to walk from andy's custardacross the new square, across
broadway, to the new square toto the courthouse and so and so
it's going to be a beautifulenvironment.
We're in the process of workingwith the architects, the
engineers and the land plannersand we're developing the design
(06:17):
plans, construction drawings.
Yes, we will take those and bidout what we want to have happen
, and once we bid them out,we'll have an idea of are we in
budget or are we not?
And you really don't know if youare until somebody says what
it's going to cost to build it.
So we may have two phases, wemay just have one phase.
(06:38):
We've applied for a federalgrant for about $24 million,
which I hope we'll get.
If we don't, we'll start offwith phase one.
If we get the grant, we'll dophase one and phase two.
LANDESS (06:49):
Congressman Moran, are you listening?
He has.
He's involved in the process.
WARREN (06:54):
Good and we're very thankful for that.
But in either case, we do planon breaking ground in January of
25.
LANDESS (07:02):
Nice, nice, nice.
And you said if you have thefirst phase, what's a time frame
for it?
Break ground at 25, and thenwhat happens?
WARREN (07:12):
It'll take a couple of years to do the first phase, and
the first phase would beBroadway into the west Okay, and
the second phase, of course,would be the county's part,
which will be Broadway to theeast, which will be the plaza in
front of the courthouse, whichthey'll be doing on their dime.
So we'll be taking Broadway tothe west, the new square and, of
(07:37):
course, the streets.
LANDESS (07:38):
Neil Franklin has been our guest and he's talked about
the fact that he has embracedthis fully, and so the
commissioners have embraced itas well.
That's a good thing to havethat kind of partnership going
that way rather than there beingany kind of discord.
WARREN (07:51):
Well, I'm very thankful for that.
It's not always been this way,and it's very important for the
county and the city to worktogether closely, and we just
took a trip 40 of us toChattanooga with the Economic
Development Council just to seewhat happens in Chattanooga.
They have a river and they haveall these positive things going
on.
(08:11):
Thirty years ago, it was just apolluted city, and so we went
up there and visited with theirleadership, and what we brought
away from it was therelationship between the county
and the city and how they get somany things done up there, and
that's what we have here.
Can it be better?
Sure, it can always be better,but that's something that Judge
(08:33):
Franklin and I work very closelyto make sure that we keep
things moving in the positivedirection.
LANDESS (08:39):
Now those are cities of similar size Tyler and
Chattanooga.
What other key things did youbring back home from that trip?
WARREN (08:47):
Well, actually there were three things.
Okay, collaboration, and I'mnot talking about just between
the county and the city, butcollaboration with all their
businesses.
And it wasn't about just UTTyler or just TJC or just about
train or John Souls food.
It was about what can we all dotogether to make our community
(09:10):
a better city.
And so you had collaboration.
And then one of the things theytalked about was lean into your
strengths.
And they have a river and wedon't have a river.
What are our strengths?
And the third thing was whatmakes up your secret sauce?
Oh, nice, and so what does makeup Tyler's secret sauce?
(09:32):
And another way to put it wouldbe what makes Tyler unique?
And one of the things that Icame back with was our
population keeps getting younger, and right now it's 33.7 years
and at one point it was older,and we're getting younger and
younger.
And I see so many cities wheretheir population is getting
(09:55):
older and we're getting youngerand people are starting to just
stay here, and I think these aregoing to be our future leaders
and these are going to be thepeople that run for council and
run for commissioner or whatever.
But I think our youth is partof our secret sauce.
LANDESS (10:10):
You took a lot of those folks with you.
How many people did you take?
WARREN (10:13):
to Shepard Forty.
We had 40 people up there and alot of them were young people,
and so they're bringing thoseideas back to Tyler to Shepard.
Do something with them.
But when we talk about secretsauce, I think it's almost a
good question for anybody thatlives here, because the secret
sauce to you may be differentthan it is to me.
You know, to me a lot of it isattitude, and you know the
(10:38):
attitude that we have here inTyler.
Just like Tyler from Canadasaid, the people here are so
kind.
That's your secret sauce.
That is a secret sauce becausenot every community is this way.
And so when I talk about secretsauce, I'm not talking about
brick and mortar and buildingsand whether or not you have a
(10:59):
Costco.
I'm talking about the thingsthat make you unique.
It just makes it just a goodflavor in your mouth.
LANDESS (11:07):
Yeah, a good flavor in your mouth, yep, yep.
A good flavor in your life.
As a child of the 60s, growingup in Tyler, the Carlton has a
special place in my heart.
I stayed there when I first gothere and I know there have been
financing issues in the past,but Fitzpatrick indicated they
might be on the way to beingresolved.
Is that wishful thinking, orare they really making some
progress?
WARREN (11:24):
Well, I think there's some progress.
And I'm just like you.
I grew up here and my dad wasin politics, and so he would
throw these political parties uparound the pool and I remember
as a child, just sitting therewatching everyone all dressed up
you know, watching people swimand that was the place to go,
and so there is a lot of historythere.
(11:44):
And North, which is the companythat's doing that renovation
they've applied for some othermoneycox, which is also a North
(12:06):
property, that they possiblycould be going over to the
Lindsay, to the fair and thenmaybe to the Carlton after that.
So I haven't talked to themrecently, but I think it's still
on their radar.
And one thing I've asked forrecently from staff is what's
the number of lofts andapartments that we had in Tyler
in 2021?
(12:26):
And what's the number ofapartments and lofts that we're
going to have in Tyler at theend of 2024?
I don't have the number, but Ithink it's going to be amazing
to see how many people have beenmoving to downtown Tyler.
LANDESS (12:45):
I think a lot of folks that I know, even my age, who
are 70 plus, we're baby boomerson the and and we're not crazy
about taking care of a you know,18 to 3000 or plus square foot
house anymore.
We just as soon have a, have areally nice place to live, very
enjoyable, and travel and dowhatever, and I have to worry
about all that stuff.
I personally will be interestedto see what we end up
developing, even more than thatwhat we've had so far.
WARREN (13:07):
Well, when I talk to friends of mine they talk about
saturation in the marketplaceand they go so at what point,
when you have all this buildinggoing on downtown for loss and
apartments, are you going toreach that saturation point?
And it's going to be a goodtest, because right now they
keep building them and they'restill full.
LANDESS (13:26):
That is amazing to me.
It's almost as soon as they getthem them and they're still
full.
That is amazing to me.
It's almost as soon as they getthem built, they start filling
up.
Sure, yeah, quite remarkable.
So the opening of the Mayfairwent well.
Totality Tyler went very, verywell, but perhaps one of the
less, for lack of a better term.
Not a very sexy topic, but itis something that's absolutely
needed and we rely on it everyday of our lives.
(13:48):
Water and Tyler Water Utilitieshas been busy.
They've had a lot of neededimprovements, right.
WARREN (13:54):
Right, right, and we continue to improve things.
And this year and next yearwe're making a bigger impact or
a bigger—we've got to do morewith our water and our
replacement of water lines.
And this next year we'll bespending actually, we'll be
spending four and a half milliondollars each year for the next
(14:16):
five years and then for the nexttwo years we'll spend three and
a half million dollars and stepdown a little bit each year.
But it's time to replace morewater lines a little bit each
year.
But it's time to replace morewater lines and people pay their
water bills and their waterbills are not getting cheaper
and people have expectations andwe're listening to what the
(14:37):
people are saying and so we needto replace the water lines,
which we're doing.
We're also going to be goinginto a pilot program.
It's an odor, taste and odorprogram, because when you have
the water that comes from LakePalestine, you have this I can't
remember the term for it forthe geosmin, because what you
(15:00):
had happened?
You got Lake Tyler.
You have Lake Palestine andLake Tyler.
When they built that, they gotrid of all the trees and so when
it filled up with water, it wasjust nice water Lake Palestine
when they filled it up, theydidn't knock down all the trees.
So, lake Palestine, you havethis algae, and when it gets
warm, the geosmin grows, and sothat's what you get in the water
(15:22):
.
So this pilot program will helpus figure out it'll be a study,
and then the pilot program ofwhat can we do to make the water
.
So this pilot program will helpus figure out it'll be a study
and then the pilot program ofwhat can we do to make the water
taste better and smell better.
And this has been a bigcomplaint that it's time to
address.
LANDESS (15:36):
Right, and this is something I mean you've gone
through all the water testingand you send a little notice out
saying, hey, it's safe to drink.
The federal government says wehad all the standards.
It may taste a little funky,but that's okay, we do.
WARREN (15:49):
We get all the reports from the TCEQ and our water is
very good.
We get extremely high ratingson our water, but you still have
the taste and the odorsometimes that are not great,
even from my perspective, right,right, and so we're going to
try to do something about it tomake it even better.
LANDESS (16:11):
What about the water meters Now?
In my neighborhood inparticular, which is right near
here, it doesn't really work.
So they guesstimate what it wasfrom the year before and, as I
understand it, they're in theprocess of trying to get new
items that will be able to be Iguess they're readable by remote
control or whatever.
What was in there didn't workanymore.
(16:33):
How's that going?
WARREN (16:34):
Well, it's going to be a long process.
When we first talked aboutdoing this, we thought it would
be a 15-year process andrecently, when I was talking to
Tyler Water Utilities, they saidthat to replace the water
meters, instead of being a15-year program, will probably
be a 20-year program.
Wow, because there's just somany.
Yeah, and they're expensive.
Yeah, and we want to get awayfrom manual reading, right, and
(17:02):
we want everything to beaccurate, and it's been accurate
, but we want to ensure andusher citizens that their meters
are being read correctly.
It's just going to be a longprocess.
LANDESS (17:15):
Yeah, get that going.
Any final thoughts you'd liketo share before you head out
today?
WARREN (17:20):
Well, I want everybody to know that the traffic's
getting better, that's right.
We usually talk a little bitabout traffic.
LANDESS (17:25):
Yeah, you've retimed a lot of those, yeah we've done.
WARREN (17:28):
We have 150 lights here in the city and we've retimed
about half of them.
That's pretty good and we have anew light at the corner of
Noonday and Grande, which iseverybody's just ecstatic about.
But we've also done a onBeckham in front and now we're
hitting Gentry Parkway andPalace that area, because if you
come to Tyler from Dallas andyou hit Gentry Parkway, I can
(17:51):
guarantee you you're going tohit just about every red light.
And when you're ready to gethome, you're ready to get home
and you hit every red light andyou think, golly, when's the
city going to do something aboutthat?
So that's on the horizon to bedone very soon, and so we're
making a lot of progress.
And still there's a 32%reduction in wait time on
Broadway.
So don't be checking your textsand emails that are like,
(18:13):
because they'll be turning green.
LANDESS (18:15):
Thanks for listening as UT Tyler Radio connects with
Tyler Mayor Don Warren.
For UT Tyler Radio News.
I'm Mike Landis.
Tyler's mayor gave a glowing state of the city report
in January, and that was beforeEclipse Mania and the reopening
of the historic Mayfairbuilding.
Sadly, no Dolly Partonappearance.
I'm Mike Landis.
Ut Tyler Radio connects withMayor Don Warren to find out
what else is in store for thecity this spring and summer.
What's the next big thing, mrMayor?
WARREN (00:25):
Well, where should I start, Mike?
From the beginning.
LANDESS (00:29):
From the beginning, not in the beginning.
WARREN (00:33):
From the beginning but I got to back up to your eclipse.
Yes, yes, yes, that wasphenomenal, wasn't that fun?
It was a fun time, and weactually had a guy here from
Canada and his name was Tyler.
Oh, I saw that and.
Tyler.
His main thing was he wanted totravel all over the city and
have his picture taken in frontof anything and everything that
(00:54):
had the word Tyler in it.
Nice and I had the opportunityto meet with Tyler and we
exchanged some gifts.
We gave him the game ofTyleropoly, oh yes.
And the guy was just so excitedto be here in Tyler and I asked
him I said Tyler, what is yourfavorite thing about our
community?
And he goes the people here areso kind and I received a list
(01:18):
recently from Diane with VisitTyler, and she gave us a list of
where all these people werefrom.
They were not only from allover the country, but all over
the world that came here towatch the eclipse.
So it was quite a fascinatingday.
LANDESS (01:31):
It really was terrific.
Did we have the huge numbers wethought we would get, or was it
just the wide variety and a lotof fun?
WARREN (01:38):
Well, I think the wide variety and a lot of fun.
You know, nobody knew what thenumbers were going to be, and it
didn of fun.
You know, nobody knew what thenumbers were going to be and it
it didn't matter.
I was down on the squaredowntown and it was packed and
the thing that was so neat itwas the clouds had the eclipse
covered and we were in thatsmall window of when the eclipse
actually occurred and all of asudden the clouds just kind of
(02:01):
parted and all of a sudden youcould see the total eclipse and
the entire crowd just gaspedwith excitement.
And it clouds just kind ofparted and all of a sudden you
could see the total eclipse andthe entire crowd just gasped
with excitement and it was justa phenomenal day.
LANDESS (02:10):
Yeah, yeah, really a beautiful and wonderful moment.
I have a minor bone to pickwith you, sure, when last we
spoke, we talked about all kindsof things Tyler-centric, and
some weeks later I watched mybuddy, blake Holland, over at
Channel 7, reveal that there wasgoing to be a new Blackstone
Hotel on the horizon, and I'mgiving you the benefit of the
doubt here Was that somethingthat was just under wraps when
(02:31):
we talked?
WARREN (02:33):
Well, we have been in discussions with the group.
As a matter of fact, we coldcalled them about a year and a
half ago just to say we want youto come to Tyler and consider
us as a possible place for ahotel and we've had a number of
conversations and they've comeand we've had some fascinating
visits.
Whether or not the funding willall fall into place and all
(02:57):
that, I don't know the answer,but they love the city and they
actually were here the night ofthe Christmas tree lighting and
the little boy flipped the lighton the switch and the lights
came on.
And here's this group of hotelguys from out of town and after
we got through they said thatwas Americana and they said we
(03:21):
have hotels in Bryan, collegeStation and Lubbock and Irving
and all these different cities,but I've never been in a place
where we watch the Christmastree lighting right next to
where we hope one day our hotelwill be.
So you know, whether it happensor not, I'm pretty optimistic,
but I'm optimistic anyway.
So we're doing our best to makethis happen.
LANDESS (03:43):
Making this generational.
That was a Life magazine moment, wasn't it?
A little capture of Americana.
WARREN (03:48):
Well, it was, and we had dinner one night in a downtown
restaurant and the backdrop wasthe marquee that says Tyler and
the marquee that says Libertyand the marquee that says Ricks,
and it's all bright.
And these folks just looked outand said, said, this is where
we want to be, so we'll staytuned, stay tuned.
LANDESS (04:10):
Steve Fitzpatrick of Fitzpatrick Architects has done
a great job of creating animatedvideos of what the new and
improved downtown Tyler willlook like after the new
courthouse is completed.
After the courthouse iscompleted and the downtown
square is finished, it all looksamazing, but is it on schedule
and within budget, or do youhave a handle on that at this
moment?
WARREN (04:29):
Well, we meet frequently and discuss the plans, and
we've been working on this forseveral years as well, and
there's a lot of input, and I'vehad a lot of input, and I have
things that I'm very passionateabout, and one of the things are
the bricks simply on thedowntown brick streets, and the
(04:50):
idea had come up about usingpavers or using a more modern
brick or something of thatnature, and I go no way.
I mean, these bricks that areon these streets have been here
100 years and when we put thesestreets back, I want the exact
same bricks that were here 100years ago.
I mean, they represent ourheritage, our culture, our
(05:11):
history, and that's what it'sgot to be.
So we are talking aboutnarrowing down the streets and
there'll be two-way and wideningthe sidewalks and have a couple
of roundabouts which havepeople just totally freaked out,
and I've heard people say thatthey're going to open up a body
shop and be able to handle allthe wrecks that are going to
occur, but you laugh that offand keep moving.
(05:33):
We keep moving and as you travel, or I travel around the country
, there's roundabouts everywhere, yes, and people are going to
have to learn to drive them, andchange is tough.
But the whole idea for downtownis is to make it more walkable
and and to make it safer andjust slow down the pace.
And once the courthouse isbuilt, we want people to be able
(05:55):
to walk from andy's custardacross the new square, across
broadway, to the new square toto the courthouse and so and so
it's going to be a beautifulenvironment.
We're in the process of workingwith the architects, the
engineers and the land plannersand we're developing the design
(06:17):
plans, construction drawings.
Yes, we will take those and bidout what we want to have happen
, and once we bid them out,we'll have an idea of are we in
budget or are we not?
And you really don't know if youare until somebody says what
it's going to cost to build it.
So we may have two phases, wemay just have one phase.
(06:38):
We've applied for a federalgrant for about $24 million,
which I hope we'll get.
If we don't, we'll start offwith phase one.
If we get the grant, we'll dophase one and phase two.
LANDESS (06:49):
Congressman Moran, are you listening?
He has.
He's involved in the process.
WARREN (06:54):
Good and we're very thankful for that.
But in either case, we do planon breaking ground in January of
25.
LANDESS (07:02):
Nice, nice, nice.
And you said if you have thefirst phase, what's a time frame
for it?
Break ground at 25, and thenwhat happens?
WARREN (07:12):
It'll take a couple of years to do the first phase, and
the first phase would beBroadway into the west Okay, and
the second phase, of course,would be the county's part,
which will be Broadway to theeast, which will be the plaza in
front of the courthouse, whichthey'll be doing on their dime.
So we'll be taking Broadway tothe west, the new square and, of
(07:37):
course, the streets.
LANDESS (07:38):
Neil Franklin has been our guest and he's talked about
the fact that he has embracedthis fully, and so the
commissioners have embraced itas well.
That's a good thing to havethat kind of partnership going
that way rather than there beingany kind of discord.
WARREN (07:51):
Well, I'm very thankful for that.
It's not always been this way,and it's very important for the
county and the city to worktogether closely, and we just
took a trip 40 of us toChattanooga with the Economic
Development Council just to seewhat happens in Chattanooga.
They have a river and they haveall these positive things going
on.
(08:11):
Thirty years ago, it was just apolluted city, and so we went
up there and visited with theirleadership, and what we brought
away from it was therelationship between the county
and the city and how they get somany things done up there, and
that's what we have here.
Can it be better?
Sure, it can always be better,but that's something that Judge
(08:33):
Franklin and I work very closelyto make sure that we keep
things moving in the positivedirection.
LANDESS (08:39):
Now those are cities of similar size Tyler and
Chattanooga.
What other key things did youbring back home from that trip?
WARREN (08:47):
Well, actually there were three things.
Okay, collaboration, and I'mnot talking about just between
the county and the city, butcollaboration with all their
businesses.
And it wasn't about just UTTyler or just TJC or just about
train or John Souls food.
It was about what can we all dotogether to make our community
(09:10):
a better city.
And so you had collaboration.
And then one of the things theytalked about was lean into your
strengths.
And they have a river and wedon't have a river.
What are our strengths?
And the third thing was whatmakes up your secret sauce?
Oh, nice, and so what does makeup Tyler's secret sauce?
(09:32):
And another way to put it wouldbe what makes Tyler unique?
And one of the things that Icame back with was our
population keeps getting younger, and right now it's 33.7 years
and at one point it was older,and we're getting younger and
younger.
And I see so many cities wheretheir population is getting
(09:55):
older and we're getting youngerand people are starting to just
stay here, and I think these aregoing to be our future leaders
and these are going to be thepeople that run for council and
run for commissioner or whatever.
But I think our youth is partof our secret sauce.
LANDESS (10:10):
You took a lot of those folks with you.
How many people did you take?
WARREN (10:13):
to Shepard Forty.
We had 40 people up there and alot of them were young people,
and so they're bringing thoseideas back to Tyler to Shepard.
Do something with them.
But when we talk about secretsauce, I think it's almost a
good question for anybody thatlives here, because the secret
sauce to you may be differentthan it is to me.
You know, to me a lot of it isattitude, and you know the
(10:38):
attitude that we have here inTyler.
Just like Tyler from Canadasaid, the people here are so
kind.
That's your secret sauce.
That is a secret sauce becausenot every community is this way.
And so when I talk about secretsauce, I'm not talking about
brick and mortar and buildingsand whether or not you have a
(10:59):
Costco.
I'm talking about the thingsthat make you unique.
It just makes it just a goodflavor in your mouth.
LANDESS (11:07):
Yeah, a good flavor in your mouth, yep, yep.
A good flavor in your life.
As a child of the 60s, growingup in Tyler, the Carlton has a
special place in my heart.
I stayed there when I first gothere and I know there have been
financing issues in the past,but Fitzpatrick indicated they
might be on the way to beingresolved.
Is that wishful thinking, orare they really making some
progress?
WARREN (11:24):
Well, I think there's some progress.
And I'm just like you.
I grew up here and my dad wasin politics, and so he would
throw these political parties uparound the pool and I remember
as a child, just sitting therewatching everyone all dressed up
you know, watching people swimand that was the place to go,
and so there is a lot of historythere.
(11:44):
And North, which is the companythat's doing that renovation
they've applied for some othermoneycox, which is also a North
(12:06):
property, that they possiblycould be going over to the
Lindsay, to the fair and thenmaybe to the Carlton after that.
So I haven't talked to themrecently, but I think it's still
on their radar.
And one thing I've asked forrecently from staff is what's
the number of lofts andapartments that we had in Tyler
in 2021?
(12:26):
And what's the number ofapartments and lofts that we're
going to have in Tyler at theend of 2024?
I don't have the number, but Ithink it's going to be amazing
to see how many people have beenmoving to downtown Tyler.
LANDESS (12:45):
I think a lot of folks that I know, even my age, who
are 70 plus, we're baby boomerson the and and we're not crazy
about taking care of a you know,18 to 3000 or plus square foot
house anymore.
We just as soon have a, have areally nice place to live, very
enjoyable, and travel and dowhatever, and I have to worry
about all that stuff.
I personally will be interestedto see what we end up
developing, even more than thatwhat we've had so far.
WARREN (13:07):
Well, when I talk to friends of mine they talk about
saturation in the marketplaceand they go so at what point,
when you have all this buildinggoing on downtown for loss and
apartments, are you going toreach that saturation point?
And it's going to be a goodtest, because right now they
keep building them and they'restill full.
LANDESS (13:26):
That is amazing to me.
It's almost as soon as they getthem them and they're still
full.
That is amazing to me.
It's almost as soon as they getthem built, they start filling
up.
Sure, yeah, quite remarkable.
So the opening of the Mayfairwent well.
Totality Tyler went very, verywell, but perhaps one of the
less, for lack of a better term.
Not a very sexy topic, but itis something that's absolutely
needed and we rely on it everyday of our lives.
(13:48):
Water and Tyler Water Utilitieshas been busy.
They've had a lot of neededimprovements, right.
WARREN (13:54):
Right, right, and we continue to improve things.
And this year and next yearwe're making a bigger impact or
a bigger—we've got to do morewith our water and our
replacement of water lines.
And this next year we'll bespending actually, we'll be
spending four and a half milliondollars each year for the next
(14:16):
five years and then for the nexttwo years we'll spend three and
a half million dollars and stepdown a little bit each year.
But it's time to replace morewater lines a little bit each
year.
But it's time to replace morewater lines and people pay their
water bills and their waterbills are not getting cheaper
and people have expectations andwe're listening to what the
(14:37):
people are saying and so we needto replace the water lines,
which we're doing.
We're also going to be goinginto a pilot program.
It's an odor, taste and odorprogram, because when you have
the water that comes from LakePalestine, you have this I can't
remember the term for it forthe geosmin, because what you
(15:00):
had happened?
You got Lake Tyler.
You have Lake Palestine andLake Tyler.
When they built that, they gotrid of all the trees and so when
it filled up with water, it wasjust nice water Lake Palestine
when they filled it up, theydidn't knock down all the trees.
So, lake Palestine, you havethis algae, and when it gets
warm, the geosmin grows, and sothat's what you get in the water
(15:22):
.
So this pilot program will helpus figure out it'll be a study,
and then the pilot program ofwhat can we do to make the water
.
So this pilot program will helpus figure out it'll be a study
and then the pilot program ofwhat can we do to make the water
taste better and smell better.
And this has been a bigcomplaint that it's time to
address.
LANDESS (15:36):
Right, and this is something I mean you've gone
through all the water testingand you send a little notice out
saying, hey, it's safe to drink.
The federal government says wehad all the standards.
It may taste a little funky,but that's okay, we do.
WARREN (15:49):
We get all the reports from the TCEQ and our water is
very good.
We get extremely high ratingson our water, but you still have
the taste and the odorsometimes that are not great,
even from my perspective, right,right, and so we're going to
try to do something about it tomake it even better.
LANDESS (16:11):
What about the water meters Now?
In my neighborhood inparticular, which is right near
here, it doesn't really work.
So they guesstimate what it wasfrom the year before and, as I
understand it, they're in theprocess of trying to get new
items that will be able to be Iguess they're readable by remote
control or whatever.
What was in there didn't workanymore.
(16:33):
How's that going?
WARREN (16:34):
Well, it's going to be a long process.
When we first talked aboutdoing this, we thought it would
be a 15-year process andrecently, when I was talking to
Tyler Water Utilities, they saidthat to replace the water
meters, instead of being a15-year program, will probably
be a 20-year program.
Wow, because there's just somany.
Yeah, and they're expensive.
Yeah, and we want to get awayfrom manual reading, right, and
(17:02):
we want everything to beaccurate, and it's been accurate
, but we want to ensure andusher citizens that their meters
are being read correctly.
It's just going to be a longprocess.
LANDESS (17:15):
Yeah, get that going.
Any final thoughts you'd liketo share before you head out
today?
WARREN (17:20):
Well, I want everybody to know that the traffic's
getting better, that's right.
We usually talk a little bitabout traffic.
LANDESS (17:25):
Yeah, you've retimed a lot of those, yeah we've done.
WARREN (17:28):
We have 150 lights here in the city and we've retimed
about half of them.
That's pretty good and we have anew light at the corner of
Noonday and Grande, which iseverybody's just ecstatic about.
But we've also done a onBeckham in front and now we're
hitting Gentry Parkway andPalace that area, because if you
come to Tyler from Dallas andyou hit Gentry Parkway, I can
(17:51):
guarantee you you're going tohit just about every red light.
And when you're ready to gethome, you're ready to get home
and you hit every red light andyou think, golly, when's the
city going to do something aboutthat?
So that's on the horizon to bedone very soon, and so we're
making a lot of progress.
And still there's a 32%reduction in wait time on
Broadway.
So don't be checking your textsand emails that are like,
(18:13):
because they'll be turning green.
LANDESS (18:15):
Thanks for listening as UT Tyler Radio connects with
Tyler Mayor Don Warren.
For UT Tyler Radio News.
I'm Mike Landis.
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