Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LEWISVILLE — For once, Mayor Mike Horn was literally speechless.

Lewisville’s longtime leader had just been made aware of a resolution for a new business item being added to last Thursday night’s council agenda, but he didn’t know it included the new amphitheater in Jack Warren Park being named in his honor in an emotional announcement.

“This really has caught me off guard a little bit,” said the affable mayor, who paused to gather his thoughts on the surprise announcement after Town Manager Stacy Tolbert read the resolution. “And my wife knew about it. She never comes to council meetings, but I noticed her coming in.”

Tolbert admitted first asking forgiveness for the last-minute addition before saying, “This is something that’s been happening a little bit behind the scenes between our council members, myself and Mary Alice Warren.”

She had a difficult time maintaining her composure in reading the resolution before the council was to name the Jack Warren Park Amphitheater for Michael L. Horn.

Included in a long string of whereases read by Tolbert was that Horn has lived a life of public service by serving the town of Lewisville since 1993, and over the course of that time has been mayor for a total of 11 years, mayor pro tem for 10 years total and council member for six years total.

Tolbert added more comments on Horn’s service on a number of local and state boards, taking pride “in finding opportunities for Lewisville to shine as a leader among N.C. municipalities” and promoting community involvement in many different ways.

Horn reflected on his time working with longtime council members Ken Sadler and Jane Welch while looking back on always working hard and being involved.

“You’ve known all the things that we work toward, and we always try to work for the public’s best interests, set politics aside and work collaboratively, knowing none of us accomplish anything by ourselves,” Horn said. “We share a vision, we share a goal, and we share the spirit of cooperation, so I am honored and proud and certainly surprised by this presentation tonight. I am humbled, truly, by this. I want to be careful so that when you start scheduling events there that you don’t call it the Horn Pavilion. I don’t want anybody to think it’s a brass band ensemble or something down there.”

Horn also paid tribute to Mary Alice Warren, who donated the 30 acres to the town that became Jack Warren Park and the Mary Alice Warren Community Center.

“Mary Alice, I hope you’re watching tonight because she does watch our meetings.” Horn said. “So if you’re watching, just know that so much of this would not have been possible without you and your generous wonderful gift of land to the town of Lewisville and its citizens.”

Also in new business in last Thursday night’s meeting, the council approved several items for upcoming public hearings involving the proposed golf driving range on Shallowford Road, which  has been on multiple agendas this year as the project applicants have continued to seek a workable solution. 

The Lewisville Planning Board held a public hearing last Wednesday night on the draft to amend the UDO regarding golf driving ranges and recommending approval to the Lewisville Town Council, which requires notice of a public hearing, which was set for Thursday, Oct. 10, at 6 p.m. at town hall, during the next meeting.

The UDO text amendment, Docket #UDO 168, was drafted by staff at the request of council to modify the uses for golf driving ranges, bringing them more in line with the regulations concerning golf courses, which are already permitted, as the character of these uses are aligned.

In addition, public hearings for rezoning and annexation requests have been set for the Oct. 10 council meeting.

In other highlights from last Thursday night’s meeting, the council:

• Heard that Lynn Cochran, who was recently announced as the town’s new planning director and was expected to be officially introduced, wasn’t available last Thursday night and will be present for the Oct. 10 meeting. Cochran, who studied at the University of North Carolina and UNC-Greensboro at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, previously worked in his first job in 2017 where he was a planner with Rockingham County before joining the Piedmont Triad Regional Council in Kernersville as regional planner. He then returned to Rockingham County to work as a senior planner. His first day on the job in Lewisville was Aug. 12.
• Heard from Lisa Glunt of 310 Fox Ridge Circle during the public forum for a second straight meeting to express her opposition to additional homes being built in neighboring Shady Brook and her frustration in dealing with the United Development Ordinance, Comprehensive Plan and any other avenues to have a voice in a project that she didn’t think aligned with Lewisville’s stance on constant claims of maintaining small-town character and charm.
• Heard from Tolbert on remaining concerts at Shallowford Square, starting on Saturday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. with the Coconut Groove Band, a classic rock group from Charlotte that will also include a tribute to Jimmy Buffet’s music; followed on Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. with The Wildflowers, a Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers tribute band; and then concluding the season on Oct. 5 at 4:30 p.m. with a late afternoon appearance with the Kruger Brothers, an American bluegrass group that infuses classical music into folk for a new mix.