In a packed Weatherford city hall, support for local business owner Randy Plyler led to a revised city plan preserving his operations at Weatherford Lake Marina.
WEATHERFORD, Texas — “I’ve never seen it this packed before” was the consensus from dozens of residents who filled Weatherford City Hall for the Municipal Utility Board meeting Thursday for a vote that would determine the fate of a local business owner’s livelihood.
Randy Plyler has owned Tavern on the Lake, situated on the Weatherford Lake Marina, for six years. He also operates the facilities, including the beach, boat slips and Crappie House. The marina is owned by the city and the two have a long-standing lease agreement.
With a goal of improving the facilities around the marina, the Municipal Utility Board is investing $1.8 million in improvement projects for public access. But the original proposal paired with the city’s investment would have removed Plyler from his bread and butter.
The $1.8 million improvement project is expected to restore beach sand, build a trail connection, volleyball courts, a parking lot and more. But this investment and proposal by the city would mean Plyler would no longer have access to the facilities that keep his business afloat.
“They had my dad come in and without warning, presented the plans of what they were going to do,” Amberly Plyler told WFAA. “They were going to take everything except the restaurant but because it’s a business, there’s no way he can pay on the loan with just the revenue from the tavern alone, so he would have to close his restaurant.”
Amberly said the family felt blindsided by the city’s proposal and learned about the utility board’s meeting to vote on the proposal about three weeks before it. She said the family felt like they were hitting a wall in trying to get answers from city leaders and to negotiate parts of the proposal.
That’s what sparked her to start an online petition.
“We’ve had so many people commenting that this isn’t right and it’s been so great to have that support. My dad is the humblest man I know. He didn’t want to go public with this, so I did it. [I felt] if nothing else, then at least he would know people cared about our small community.”
In less than five days, Amberly’s Change.org petition garnered over 3,500 signatures in the town of approximately 40,000 people. There wasn’t enough space for everyone who signed the petition in the hearing on Thursday. Every seat was filled and there were people who stood in the back of the room to support Plyler on the day of the Municipal Utility Board’s vote.
“We are not opposed to working with the city. We are simply asking for transparency, fairness, and genuine good faith negotiations before decisions are made that could severely affect our livelihoods,” Mr. Plyler said first during the public comments portion.
Members of the Utility Board heard residents one by one speak out against Plyler losing a big portion of his revenue.
“No one partners with community better than Randy and Sheila Plyler,” local musician Darryl Ross said. “We ask you to weigh carefully what is at stake. Reconfiguring Mr. Plyler’s lease in any way that stops him from operating the Tavern on the Lake and his businesses do not affect [just] one family alone… but the music community of Weatherford.”
Following public comments, the board held an executive session for nearly 2.5 hours with new proposed changes with Mr. Plyler’s input.
According to Plyler, who met with the board during the executive session, the new agreement allows him to continue to earn revenue from all the facilities on the marina except for the beach. As stated by the city in a statement afterward, the marina-related facilities and services, including the restaurant, crappie house, boat ramp, boat slips, and repair shop, remain under the current lessee and are unchanged.
The board approved the change.
“Thank you very much for signing the petition,” Plyler said to those who supported him. “Thank you very much to everyone who came and spoke to represent here. It’s because of you guys that this happened this way.”
After WFAA caught up with Plyler, residents who waited for the decision cheered him on.
He said the agreement isn’t perfect, but it will keep the business that he grew up near, and invested his life savings in, from going under.
“Lake Weatherford has always been one of Weatherford’s standout spots, and we’re making new investments to help more people enjoy it,” the city said in its released statement.
“It’s all part of making Lake Weatherford an even better community gem for residents and visitors.”