Courtesy Photo
Architect’s rendering of the Pier 334 Tapestry Hotel and Marina.

GUN BARREL CITY–This story is written as a two- part series. What follows is Part 1. The Gun Barrel City (GBC) Economic Development Corporation (EDC) held a public town hall meeting to discuss the Pier 334 Project, clarify facts and dispel rumors and misinformation that have permeated social media. Citizens poured into the city hall space until it was at capacity and the overflow was asked to remain in the lobby. 
Moderators for the event were Harbor Point POA President Bob Durrant and his wife Cheri who signed people up to ask questions. The panel began with questions that were submitted to them prior to the event. The panel included EDC Executive Director Robin Sykora, EDC Vice President Brian Crull, EDC Attorney Jeff Moore, Developer and Manager of YNS Services Steven Haynes and YNS Services owner and Architect Yve Hopen and City Engineer Joseph Mundo. 
Handouts were available including an overview of the project with a rendering of what the facility may look like. The document states “Pier 334 is located in Gunbarrel City Texas. Gun Barrel City is located at the center of Cedar Creek Lake. The project is a Public Private Partnership to build a 59,000 square foot 62 room high end, full service Hilton Tapestry boutique hotel complete with event facilities, a public park with splash pads, a 20,000 square foot Entertainment and Restaurant Pavilion on the waterfront, with a 40 boat marina, ampitheatre and public parking.”
The handout further described the hotel as follows:
 The Pier 334 Tapestry by Hilton hotel will be a 59,000 square foot, four story, waterfront, 62 room full service hotel with:
• 56 King/Queen guest rooms and 6 suites
• 2,800 sq ft of banquet and meeting room space
• 2,700 sq ft of flexible pre-function space with covered patio with lake views
• Full fitness facility with outdoor space
• 2,000 sq ft lobby with lounge and coffee bar and covered patio with lake views
• 2,200 sq ft fine dining restaurant with covered patio with lake views
• Room service
• Business Center
• Outdoor swimming pool, with large deck and terraced landscaping and lake access
Crull began the meeting by asking everyone to keep the meeting about the project and refrain from personal attacks and then explained the need for a project like Pier 334 since 45% of the sales tax revenue the city runs on comes from Lowe’s and Walmart. Crull painted a picture of what would happen if a neighboring city opened a competitor to one of them and sales dropped considerably, “We run on a very tight budget.” Crull also set the tone for a positive meeting, mentioning that the developer was using local vendors and contractors as well as making Cedar Creek Lake more of a tourist destination than it already is, adding that the revenue from the Pier 334 project may exceed the current revenue the city receives from the current sales tax generators.
The panel answered pre-submitted questions before moving on to the audience. Sykora clarified that the EDC can spend money on new business, business retention, new jobs and community betterment. She also told the group that the two loans on the properties involved in Pier 334 cost the EDC approximately $18,000 per month and added that the EDC’s bank accounts and last three years of expenditures are available for the public to view. “The sales tax revenue covers by far the expenditures we have and that’s why we give out grants and loans,” Sykora said. She also said there is “a good amount of backup.” The EDC receives one-quarter of one percent of sales tax to operate.
Moore spoke next telling the gathering that he has been the EDC’s attorney since 2004. He helped develop sales tax training seminars as part of the Attorney General’s Office in 2001. He currently represents over 40 EDCs. “I have done a number of hotel projects and with COVID, there have been a lot of delays and a lot of funding issues, financing issues…I give that as a backdrop to say hotel projects take time.”
Moore further explained how EDCs operate under local government code with regard to site improvements and what is allowed. Turning to his submitted questions, Moore answered one that read “If the loan agreement is cancelled will that cancel the whole project?” Moore said there are existing agreements in place so the cancellation of the loan would not cancel those agreements. Moore also clarified that Pier 334 is making the payments on land that has been conveyed, that the city no longer holds.
GBC’s Civil Engineer Joseph Mundo answered what steps would have to happen before groundbreaking could occur. He made sure to point out that all the required information for compliance regarding development and the development reviews the engineering firm is completing is found on the city’s website under city ordinances Title XV -land usage, in section 155 and 156. Mundo said his firm is reviewing Pier 334 against these ordinances.  It involves platting, site plan review, pedestrian and traffic flow etc. He said they have been exchanging site plans for several months and are working through the reviews.
Mundo expounded on the need to relocate the intersection of Big Chief Drive and State Highway 334 to allow for a deceleration lane and how setbacks would also need to be adjusted and all approved with TxDOT. Mundo estimates they have two more iterations of plans so they may be ready by the end of July to recommend a plat and site plan to Planning and Zoning (P&Z) and recommended zoning changes. From there P&Z goes to city council, each of these being approximately a thirty-day process. So pending approvals, a Fall groundbreaking is possible, Mundo told the gathering.
Developer Steven Haynes spoke next answering the first question as to what would be done first. Haynes explained that his residence is in Trinidad and he has been at the lake since 2002, full time for two years. He said he is the CEO of Haynes Investments and his role in YNS Services is in facilitating the financing. He said they will take care of the waterfront first, dredging and recurving the waterfront for the marina, building the wall and boat ramp area. The second thing is to build the hotel, minimizing the impact to the residents of Jeffrey Circle.
We will continue this story with Haynes discussion of the project and audience questions. See the next installment in the Thursday issue of The Monitor next week, June 15.