1

2018 State of the City February 27, 2018

Welcome to the annual State of the City Address. I want to start by offering a special thank you to the Wylie Chamber of Commerce for once again hosting this event, and to Bloomfield Homes for sponsoring today’s luncheon. Thank you to the Wylie East Jr. ROTC Saber Team, to Wylie Fire Rescue Honor Guard for the presentation of the colors and to Police Chaplin Dan Rainey for leading us in the invocation. A special thanks to Donovan Satchell, a senior at Wylie High School, for singing the National Anthem and to Garrison Miller, a junior at Wylie East High School for leading us in the pledge of allegiance. A Wylie welcome our Special Guests … ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________

2

I want to welcome my special guests … my father-in-law and mother-in-law, Mac and Geraldine Mathis, the first lady of Wylie and my absolute better half, Tammie and our youngest son, Mason. Today, it is my honor, my pleasure, and my duty to deliver the 2018 State of the City Address. I’m especially proud this year because today we note two milestones: November 8, 2017 was WYLIE’S 130th BIRTHDAY… And today marks the 10th time I’ve had the honor of presenting the State of the City Address, a snapshot of our great town. WIDE AWAKE WYLIE In the video we just saw, people shared their ideas about what the phrase “Wide Awake Wylie” means to them. It’s a nickname that has stuck since the 1940’s, and one that has resonated through the years. If you’ve lived here for any length of time, chances are good that someone has asked you, “So … how are things in Wide Awake Wylie?” Maybe some of you remember a billboard that welcomed folks to town, inviting them to “Live the Life of Riley … in Wide Awake Wylie.”

3

In 2016, President George W. Bush came to town to attend the dedication of the elementary school named in his honor. Even the former president said…

(STOP FOR CLIP) “Today is the ‘Life of Riley’ in Wide

Awake Wylie.” I don’t know about you … but I kinda like it. And so does the rest of our City Council, which recently voted to adopt a new brand and logo … which will look something like this. (BIG REVEAL OF NEW LOGO) But “Wide Awake Wylie” is more than just a logo or a slogan. Our city’s mission statement is “Honoring our Past, Embracing our Present, and Planning our Future.” Each time we say we’re “wide awake,” we are honoring our past, tipping our hat to Wylie’s earliest days. In fact, maybe we’re tipping a train conductor’s cap; Wylie flourished because the railroad steamed through this part of Collin County beginning in 1886. The nickname was inspired by the stores and night spots that stayed open to accommodate late-night socializing and shopping.

4

Wylie has never been caught napping: Our history has shown that we have always been wide awake:

In 1890, Wylie had a population of 400 and the first one-room school house was built.

By 1900 it had grown to 773 citizens.

By the next decade, the population had tripled.

Before 1920 the community had over thirty-five businesses, including two banks, a school, and a weekly newspaper.

Unlike many towns across the nation, Wylie grew during the Great Depression, reaching 914 residents by 1940.

Onions became the town's cash crop in the 1930s and '40s.

1960 saw the completion of Lake Lavon and the North Texas Municipal Water District, and that pushed the population to 1804 (One Thousand- Eight-Hundred and Four).

In the ’90s, Wylie saw two disasters. On May 9, 1993 (Mother's Day), a tornado ravaged the town.

5

In December 1998, two fires destroyed much of our downtown…but the buildings were renovated, and we were able to preserve our history in the century-old buildings that remained standing.

Just 25 years ago, we had McDonald’s, KFC, Dairy Queen, Chapman’s Restaurant and Steak Kountry as our choices for eating out. Highway 78, FM 544, FM 1378 and Brown Street were all two-lane roads.

Since the year 2000, we have seen the city grow by nearly 250% and today we boast a population of nearly 50,000 citizens and we are still growing!

RAYMOND COOPER Many individuals and organizations have contributed to our success, but there is one who has continued to impact Wylie in various ways for decades. He came into the area in a horse-drawn wagon and grew up on a little farm just outside of Wylie in the mid-’30s. As a young man, in 1957, he founded the Universal Transformer Company, a business that was located on Oak Street in downtown Wylie for 45 years. He built Wylie’s first office building, developed the city’s first industrial park, and helped organize the Chamber of

6

Commerce and the Wylie Economic Development Corporation. He is perhaps most famous for his leadership of the Wylie Christian Care Center, but he also donated a baseball field and concession stand – and paid for the very sidewalks we walk on when we visit historic downtown Wylie. In 2006, he was named a Collin College Living Legend, and we certainly agree. These are just a few of the many contributions he has made to our city. Beginning today, we will be giving Wide Awake Wylie awards to people who embody the three elements of the city’s mission statement. Honoring our Past is the first award, and it goes to Mr. Raymond Cooper. Raymond, please stand and be recognized, and we’ll bring the award to you. The second part of our mission statement says we Embrace our Present. And boy howdy, as my granny used to say, there’s a lot to embrace.

Let’s start with Money Magazine, which again honored Wylie! This time it named Wylie the 20th Best Place to Live in the entire country.

7

And if that wasn’t enough … the magazine took its ranking one step further, focusing on the Best Place to Raise a Family.

Based on factors like quality public education, low crime, kid-friendly activities, and affordability, Wylie placed NUMBER FOUR out of 2,400 other cities, and the only one in Texas.

Money Magazine may be the most famous of Wylie’s fans, but there were many others:

The National Association of Realtors named us the Second Best Suburb in the U.S.

NerdWallet named us the Fifth Best Place for Young Families.

and we were named the Ninth Safest City in Texas by Safewise. Pretty cool!

Many of Wylie’s accolades mention what a safe place it is to live, to raise a family, to retire. Thanks to the leadership of Police Chief Anthony Henderson and his department’s emphasis on community partnership, our crime rate dropped by 4 percent in 2017! We are very grateful to these men and women for the security they provide.

8

Wylie Fire Rescue contributes to the safety of our citizens as well. The department has come a long way since its beginnings in 1909 when the council approved the purchase of two buckets and an axe for the fire machine. Wylie Fire recently received the coveted ranking of Best Practices Fire Department from the Texas Fire Chiefs Association. The department maintains its Insurance Service Office rating of ISO-1, the highest possible ranking, and I am very proud to say that Fire Chief Brent Parker was recently named president of the Texas Fire Chiefs Association. Our Public Safety Departments also answered the call for help last fall when Hurricane Harvey battered our neighbors in south Texas. Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, a Quint fire truck, an ambulance, the boat and Hovercraft were all deployed. The Swift Water Rescue Team, led by Battalion Chief Brian Ritter, included 20 boats and personnel from Carrollton, Paris, Denison, Greenville, Plano, Euless and Bedford, totaling 43 first responders, led by a member of our own fire department. I could not be more proud of our first responders who never hesitate to rush in when they are needed.

9

WYLIE ECONOMIC DEVELOMENT CORPORATION Wylie continues to welcome new businesses to town: IHOP, Angel's Ice Cream & Deli, Orthopedic Specialists of Dallas, Freddy's, Bush's Chicken, LaQuinta Inn and Suites, NTB, Landon’s, The Cheesesteak House, Loco Gringo Taco Shack, Discount Tire, Comer (CO mare) Mexican Restaurant, Soulman’s Barbecue, and Sands Pharmacy. Coming soon are Chick-fil-A, McAllister’s Deli, Schlotzsky’s Austin Eatery, Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Pet Supplies Plus, and the Credit Union of Texas. And in early 2019, we will see Ulta move in next door to Kohl’s … at 10,000 square feet, that’s a lot of makeup. Thanks to the work of the Wylie Economic Development Corporation, we’re more than just the sum of our chicken parts! WYLIE ART We’ve added two pieces of public art along the two-mile hike and bike trail on the municipal complex campus.

“Entwine,” which represents prairie grasses dancing in the wind….a tribute to the deep roots and tenacious spirit of the Wylie Community as well as the hardy grasses of the prairie.

10

Its companion piece, “Prairie Crossing,” a 50-foot archway under construction at Brown Street, and will give visitors a feeling of being in the prairie.

The newest sculpture, “Lift Off,” is a light-hearted collection of color and forms located on Brown Street at our disc golf course.

All public art is funded by 1 percent of capital improvement project fees, a commitment the council made in 2006. QUALITY OF LIFE We continue to look for ways to improve the quality of life for our citizens, and this year brought some positive changes. In January 2017, we launched a new online payment system, enabling customers to pay water bills and tickets online with no credit card convenience fees. Also, we teamed up with the North Texas Tollway Authority and began selling toll tags at City Hall. The senior center reopened in June after being closed since the hailstorm in 2016.

Our library added new hours this year; it’s open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

11

Almost without exception, awards bestowed on Wylie mention our great events. Even Money magazine noted our community spirit, saying that we are still “Wide Awake,” with our liveliness and energy. EVENTS We cherish the nostalgic, hometown feel of our historic downtown area, where we meet for Bluegrass on Ballard, Boo on Ballard, and the Wylie Arts Festival, Christmas parade, and tree lighting ceremony. 2017 was no exception; thousands gathered downtown to celebrate these events and enjoy fellowship with family, friends and visitors. Our Wylie Downtown Merchants Association works hand-in-hand with the City of Wylie to host and promote these events and make the downtown district an even more pleasing place to visit, shop and dine. MEDIA We welcomed several members of the media to town this year.

In July, Fox 4 broadcast live from the Ballard Street Café during Bluegrass on Ballard,

12

and radio personality Jody Dean came to town in September and broadcast his KLUV radio show from there as well.

In November, Channel 8’s “Good Morning Texas” did a seven-minute segment on Wylie, helping us celebrate our 130th BIRTHDAY.

If we had just been able to convince that reporter that we’re known as “Wide Awake Wylie” NOT “Wake Up Wylie,” we would all have been on the same page;

however, we do appreciate the positive exposure that included several of our student groups and local businesses.

MINDY MANSON We do “embrace our present,” and that involves being ever mindful of the cost of living for our citizens. The City Council and I are committed to lowering the tax rate as much as possible, while maintaining the level of service to which we’ve all become accustomed…we’re not going to throw the baby out with the bath water! This year, we dropped property taxes by nearly 7 cents, bringing the total reduction to 11.79 cents over the last five years.

13

Your city officials and city staff are committed to being good stewards of our tax dollars, and that attitude begins at the top. Leaders realize that a forward-moving city like Wylie – though it may have been home to only 35,000 citizens just 10 years ago – will not always be a small town where everybody knows your name, like the theme song of “Cheers.” Focused leadership realizes that steps need to be taken in the present to meet the needs of a growing community, steps such as developing relationships with surrounding cities, with county officials, with state officials, with federal officials. Time and again, when I am visiting with my counterparts in other cities – not just locally, but around the state of Texas I hear compliments about this person and how professional, how thoughtful, how willing to help, she is. She represents us on the advisory board of the Methodist Hospital in Richardson and on the Board of Directors for the North Texas Commission. When the economy tanked in 2008 and other cities were going in the red, Wylie did not…BECAUSE OF HER LEADERSHIP

14

Our city manager and her staff tightened their belts and stayed focused…even though we had planned to raise taxes based on the voter approved 2005 bond, we didn’t. She continually led our city staff and delivered on their commitments to the council, and to the citizens. Even though they went years without a pay increase. She is the longest-serving city manager in Wylie’s history. FOLKS That is not a good city manager; that is a great city manager. At this time, it gives me such pleasure to present the Wide Awake Wylie Embracing our Present award to City Manager Mindy Manson. THE FUTURE Wylie has eyes wide open as we Plan for our Future. The hailstorm of 2016 virtually destroyed the Public Safety Building on Hwy. 78, a facility that had been home to fire and police administration, the police department, our 911 dispatch operators, and the jail. In the days since, our police department and 911 dispatchers have been housed in trailers …

since we have no jail currently, we have to devote officers to drive prisoners an hour each way to the

15

county jail in McKinney … which means they can’t patrol our city.

After looking at many options regarding the facility, council recently voted that the fiscally (FIS cully) responsible decision is to rebuild and expand the existing building, maximizing the portions that can still be used. Plans include:

expanding the jail portion to include more accommodations for male and female prisoners

a sally port for securely transporting detainees while keeping them apart from personnel with a separate entry

adding booking areas and additional public parking.

A “hardened” area will be created, which would include the 911 Dispatch, and the Emergency Operations Center, and will be secure against any future severe weather …

and areas will be created to house the court, police headquarters and records.

Due to the great relationship between our fire and police departments, it’s also a priority to get fire administration back into the Public Safety Building as

16

soon as possible, rather than having Fire Admin continue to office at city hall, where they have been since the hailstorm.

These are hard decisions – renovation to this extent will require the city to issue debt; however, we are committed to seeking out the most fiscally (FISS cully) responsible way to achieve it, a plan that will include a combination of insurance funds, savings from our rainy day fund, funding remaining from the municipal complex construction, and other resources. AND NOT RAISE TAXES. GROWING FORWARD As the needs and wants of our community change, Wylie is committed to keeping up with the times. The council recently approved new zoning on a 16-acre tract of land near the intersection of Hwy. 78 and Westgate. The zoning will allow for a mixed-use development – an urban-style property and commercial area that will include two restaurant sites, retail, office space and apartment buildings. NEW LADDER TRUCK We’ve been waiting, but now it’s time to meet current and future needs by providing Wylie Fire Rescue with a 109-foot ladder truck, originally planned as part of the fourth fire station to be built on the west side of town.

17

That station is a little further down the road … BUT the ladder truck, on the other hand, is needed now. The safety and well-being of our citizens continues to be at the forefront as we look ahead. WATER Many of you know the name Truett Smith who, along with his wife Rita, founded the Smith Public Library. Truett was also one of the first to serve on the board of the North Texas Municipal Water District. At one time, he predicted that water would one day become our most precious commodity … and friends … that day is here. As the north Texas region continues to grow, we are committed to working with the other 12 member cities that share joint ownership of the water district, to ensure that we meet the growing water needs of the region. Currently we have 1.7 million customers; that number is only going to grow. We continue to support the water district as it takes the necessary steps to provide water for generations to come, and we value the 60-year history of the water district in our community. ROADS This year, it was no surprise that the North Central Texas Council of Governments and Collin County looked at what

18

road improvements need to be done to accommodate the 20-year predicted growth. While we as a council don’t support having a freeway cut through the middle of our town, we do support improvements to existing roadways. It is of course crucial to ensure we can move people in and around this community, and we encourage the county, the region and the state to continue to look at ALL available options as we literally see hundreds of thousands of people move to this area. COLLIN COLLEGE Nothing is more important than providing pathways to prosperity and happiness for our children, and one such goal will come in 2020 when Collin College opens its newest campus right here in Wylie. The new 415,000-square-foot campus, which will be across from the municipal complex, will start out by accommodating over 7,500 students and will offer excellent and affordable educational opportunities for Wylie’s young people – meaning they never have to leave town. This didn’t happen by accident; when Dr. Neil Matkin, president of Collin College, took over the reins of the school, he saw the need to expand current facilities and

19

find locations for new campuses throughout the county to meet the needs of the ever-growing population. Neil began to work with his college board and he started to meet mayors and superintendents … and he just happened to stop by Wylie, Texas. When he realized what we already knew, that Wylie would be the perfect location for the next campus, our City Council worked with Neil and his board to secure the location. The City donated nearly 50 acres, Collin College purchased three additional parcels, and the deal was sealed. The college currently serves 53,000 students each year, and with Neil’s guidance and support, the college is also a partner to those in the business, government and industry fields, providing customized training and work force development to meet the needs of these partners and provide a solid career opportunity for students. Leaders like Neil Matkin ensure institutions like Collin College will meet the demands of a growing county. His efforts are also aiding our city’s goal to ensure Wylie continues to be a growing vibrant community. In honor of these efforts and his leadership, the Wide Awake Wylie Planning Our Future award goes to Dr. Neil Matkin.

20

BUILDING ON OUR STRENGTHS

LAST MONTH MLK Breakfast at Collin College…

February is Black History Month…

Martin Luther King is remembered as a civil rights leader…and rightfully so…but BAPTIST Preacher

He Built on his strengths And that is what WYLIE does We don’t want to be anyone else…WE ARE WYLIE WE ARE WIDE AWAKE WYLIE… It’s who we are From Wylie’s earliest days … through the growth … through changes of leadership … through tough times and prosperous times … Wylie’s collective heart has continued to beat with love and with strength. As we move forward, we will not forget those who came before us, creating a town where there was none, improving it with each passing year, and laying the foundation for those of us who enjoy living and working here today.

21

We revel in our present-day successes without taking them for granted, and we exercise mindful planning to move forward without sacrificing the heart and soul of this community that we all treasure. And as the future becomes the present, we will be ready, in part because of the decisions our leaders make today, AND also because of all the individuals who live here and love this community and want it not only to endure, but to succeed, to excel, to blaze the trail for others to follow. Thank you to each and every one of you for your contributions to Wylie’s success in 2017… May God bless you, May God bless the United States of America, May God bless the State of Texas … And, as always, may God continue to bless THE GREAT CITY OF WYLIE, TEXAS!