Monday, December 9, 2024
AZLE — After being codified by city ordinance in March, Azle’s beautification board met for the first time last Thursday, Nov. 7, with a goal of making the “dark spaces lighter and the drab things prettier.”
Five of the board’s seven members were able to meet in order to lay the groundwork for the legal body’s direction going forward, establish the beautification board's vision and workshop initial projects. Key points included the importance of native plants, volunteer engagement and maintaining city property. Specific projects discussed were creating flower beds, painting murals and improving natural landscaping. The board emphasized prioritizing tasks and starting with small, impactful projects. They also discussed the prospect of applying for potential future grants.
The board elected Azle Mayor Alan Brundrett as chair and member Shadi Sutton as vice chair. Meetings will be held at City Hall the second Thursday of each month with the next starting Jan. 9, 2025, at 6 p.m. The board members agreed to focus on practical, visible improvements to enhance the city's aesthetic appeal.
“I envision creating volunteer groups to do cleanups or projects,” Brundrett said.
The mayor proposed that one of the group’s first projects could focus on creating naturescape-inspired flowerbeds at the intersection of Boyd and Northwest Parkway.
Mayor Pro Tem Randa Goode suggested fixing the uneven bricks on the “pork chop island” just past the bridge on Stewart Street.
“It’s just these little things that drive me nuts every single day,” Goode said. “They look out of place and they look messy, but then when you fix it, people aren't really going to focus on it. They're just going to see the other things the city has to offer.”
Members also suggested the board facilitate and motivate local businesses to improve and clean up storefronts and their parking lots with help from volunteers. The board’s liaison, Tom Muir, will advise members on a case-by-case basis. One of biggest obstacles members may face is the issue of doing work on TxDOT-owned roads, rights-of-way and medians.
The board’s youngest member, Azle High School senior Aspen Castaneda, suggested using volunteers from the school’s art and career and technical education departments, like welding, in order to complete future projects. Castaneda is the board’s one required AHS member. Castaneda plays a role in environmental groups at the school and is responsible for the school’s nature trail where she has made advocating for native plants a priority.
“I was a little nervous, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun, and I think I can do a lot of good work,” Castaneda. “I think having a younger perspective will definitely help the board cater to everybody in the community, not necessarily just an older age group, but maybe even the younger age group will be impacted in a positive way by this board. We want to get more people in the community involved and I think having younger people involved will be really nice, and I'm a good way to outreach to them.”
Board members decided to skip a December meeting due to the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season and will return to discuss the implementation of their first projects in January.
Beautification board members include:
