Let me first say how proud I am of Garland, and its response, in the wake of the tornadoes that hit October 20. That night, my wife was out of town on business, and I had just put my two daughters down for bed and was ready to watch the end of the Cowboy’s game, when the warning sirens went off. I grabbed them out of bed and hid out in the bathroom for an hour comforting them as the storms passed.

Thankfully my neighborhood was spared except for a few broken tree limbs. Others in south Garland and areas around downtown weren’t so fortunate.

Over the past week, I have seen neighbors helping neighbors cut trees, rake debris and clean up the mess left behind. City staff has been working overtime to respond to those in need by getting power restored, cleaning the streets, patrolling affected areas, and communicating relief efforts. This outpouring of generosity and help truly is the spirit that makes Garland one of the best places to live in the country.

If you need state, federal or local recovery resources, please visit the city’s website at garlandtx.gov/RecoveryResources for a compiled list of aid organizations. If you are able, please consider donating to these great organizations which directly help those in need.

As for city business, we previewed the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Strategic Master Plan at our last Work Session. The over 500-page document covers the state of Garland’s current parks and programs and makes recommendations on how to improve the Parks Department’s facilities and programming to better serve Garland’s residents. This is a great tool we will use as we implement the projects from the Bond Program and any capital improvements in the future. Although the final report has not yet been released, it will be available soon. Please check the City’s website or follow me on Facebook or Twitter (@dylanhedrick). I will provide an update when it is made public.

We also had an update in our Work Session on a proposed parking enforcement program through the City Marshals office. This issue is consistently one of the biggest complaints I hear from constituents, and I was surprised to hear that parking violations have never really been enforced in the city. The new program, though not yet finalized, will make parking infractions a civil issue, rather than a criminal issue, thus making it easier to enforce.

The goal of the new program is to increase compliance with the City’s parking ordinances and reduce illegally parked vehicles throughout the city. Marshals will enforce parking ordinances seven days a week using an electronic device which takes a picture of the license plate and violation, notes the infraction and prints a citation. The car owner can either pay the violation in person will have a chance to dispute the citation through a Municipal Court hearing.

Fines will be graduated from $25 to $75 for the first, second and third infractions to encourage compliance. After a third unpaid violation, a new type of car boot called “the barnacle” will be placed on the vehicle until the fine is paid. 

The current plan is to implement a six-month awareness campaign before any fines are handed out, and a public hearing will be held to gather public input before the program is finalized and implemented. Keep watch of future council agendas (garlandtx.gov/801/Meeting-Agendas-and-Minutes) for the time and date.

Finally, if you are interested in serving Garland on a Tax Increment FInancing (TIF) Board, or the Unified Building Standards Board, please contact me as I have several openings.

As always, I welcome your comments, concerns and compliments. Keep watch on the social media sites for when I will hold my next Hedrick Hears listening event. In the meantime, please feel free to reach me at 469.560.6099 or council7@garlandtx.gov. I look forward to hearing from you.