Rockwall narrowly votes to accept original SH‑66 boat‑ramp grant after divided debate

Rockwall — The Rockwall City Council voted 4–3 on June 1 to proceed with the original Texas Parks & Wildlife (TPW) boat‑ramp grant submittal for the State Highway 66 lakeshore project after a contentious discussion over trees, parking and grant viability.

Travis, parks staff, told the council TPW rescored the city’s previously approved “Option 3” and indicated it would not fund a design that removed roughly two acres of trees to create parking. That left two choices, staff said: accept the original grant application (which includes the parking and trail elements) or cancel the grant and reapply at a later date.

“Option 3 was denied by Texas Parks and Wildlife,” Travis said. “They sent it back to the committee that awarded us the original grant in 2023 and had them rescore it just as if it was up for competition, and it failed.”

Supporters of accepting the original offer argued the city should not walk away from roughly $1 million in state grant funding and the improvements it would deliver for lakeshore access. Mayor Tim McCall said the grants and previous work merited moving forward. “We have a bird in hand,” the mayor said, urging the council to keep the funding and proceed with the approved plan.

Opponents said the original option would sacrifice trees and neighborhood character for parking and risk continued denial in the future. Mayor Pro Tem Moller said the city would be “shooting ourselves in the foot” if it pursued a plan that removed significant canopy and suggested cancelling and exploring other grant paths.

After debate, the council approved the original TPW submittal by a 4–3 vote. Council members who voted against raising the issue cited neighborhood preservation and questioned whether the city should accept a plan TPW had effectively rejected by rescoring.

Staff told the council the TPW process will not reimburse design money already spent and that the city may reapply for other grants later; they also noted the grant’s completion timeline would require construction and closeout activity roughly by mid‑2027. Council members said staff should continue to pursue options and report back with implementation details.

What’s next: Staff will follow TPW instructions for project completion and provide updated cost and schedule information to the council. The council asked staff to continue communications with TPW and explore alternative grant programs that would preserve more trees if feasible.