It was Christmas in June at Grapevine's City Council meeting June 3 as members discussed action to purchase custom Christmas decorations for the city's Christmas Capital of Texas display from the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center.

Kevin Mitchell, director of the city's Parks and Recreation Department, presented an array of decorations, courtesy of the resort, that would be displayed throughout the city during the holiday season. Mitchell said the Gaylord has designed and will fabricate a custom, 3D entry sign for the downtown Grapevine decorations, will refurbish items once used at the resort and will add custom paint and finishes to other decoration items at a fraction of the normal cost.

"We have a lot of needs, and I think we're fortunate that we have a corporate citizen that's willing to make this kind of a deal for us because it is quite inexpensive for what we're getting," said Councilwoman Sharron Spencer.

The total cost if decorations are purchased from the Gaylord Texan is $31,349. Mitchell said the cost of decorations used last year ranged between $100,000-$150,000.

While Councilman C. Shane Wilbanks said he was on board with the decorations to be purchased from the Gaylord Texan, he expressed concerns over where to put them so as to not appear to have too many or too little in any one area.

Williams said many of the ornament balls will be along Northwest Highway and at all the gateway entrances of Grapevine Mills, the Gaylord Texan and Bass Pro Shops. Other decorations will be placed in downtown Grapevine along South Main Street.

"We've had a goal for several years to improve and really expand the Christmas appearance of downtown into other areas," Councilwoman Darlene Freed said. "It seems to me that being able to get really nice decorations for almost 10 cents on the dollar is pretty great."

Mayor William D. Tate supported the plan but voiced his concerns for future years.

"I don't want to get into a situation where we're just taking [the Gaylord Texan's] hand-me-downs every year," he said. "I think we need to buy things that fit in Grapevine and work for us."

The City Council unanimously approved to authorize the sole source purchase of decorations from the resort and convention center, with the stipulation that the Parks and Recreation Department would come back with a presentation of the layout for the decorations.