Council honors Arthur Bea, hears from hotel developer

Wichita Falls City Councilors honored former acting mayor and justice of the peace Arthur Bea Williams at Tuesday’s meeting.

Mayor Stephen Santellana proclaimed August Judge Arthur Bea Williams Month on the occasion of her 88th birthday for her “determination, hard work, straightforward personality and for being a role model in the community.”

“As my mother’s daughter, of course I have a speech, but unlike my mother it’s probably pretty brief,” Williams’ daughter, Andrea said, referring to her mother’s reputation for being outspoken. “Because she enjoys public speaking, trust me – she would want to be here herself. She has always wanted to be a helper, not a hindrance,” Andrea Williams said.

Williams was the first African American to serve as justice of the peace and be appointed acting mayor. She has been active in many civic roles and was chosen as a Legend of North Texas by the Museum of North Texas History. She is presently under hospice care.

Santellana also recognized former council member Ray Gonzalez, who died recently.

“He was part of our community for a lot of years. He was a great mentor to a lot of people, especially a lot of Hispanics. He will be dearly, dearly missed,” Santellana said.

Councilors had a personal visit from Tim O’Reilly, the developer who will build the full-service hotel and conference center on the site of the MPEC complex. The hotel is a $48 million private project with the city financing and owning the adjoining conference center.

“We’re very excited still for this project. I think the rebound in the hotel industry has been dramatic in the last six months. I think we’re coming into this project and it’s going to open at a time of great resurgence in our industry,” O’Reilly said. “We think this project still has the capacity to bring enormous economic impact to the city. We remain completely 100 percent bullish on the project.”

O’Reilly spoke as councilors considered a $2 million forgivable loan and sales tax rebates for the hotel project. The resolution passed with only Councilor Steve Jackson voting no.

In other action, councilors:

• Received a Certificate of Recognition to the Wichita Falls Police Department from the Texas Police Chiefs Association Foundation.
• Approved extension of the juvenile curfew ordinance
• Approved an ordinance calling an election on Nov. 2 of Councilor At-Large, Councilor District 1 and Councilor District 2.
• Authorized acceptance of $1,100,000 in grants from the federal government and state for projects at Wichita Falls Regional and Kickapoo airports.
• Approved receipt of $594,749 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
• Approved allocation of  $1,244,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds.
• Approved funding up to $100,000 to The Wichita County Heritage Society to assist in the renovations of the Kell House Museum.
• Grant Panda Biotech an extension on repayment of a $1 million dollar loan toward the company’s building a hemp gin in the former Delphi Plant on I-44.