"As soon as [Gov. Greg Abbott] lets us know what the plan is to start opening businesses back up safely, I think our feeling in Southlake is that we are ready to do that responsibly," Hill said at an April 15 video conference, adding that she expects to see the partial lifting of restrictions on businesses in early May.
When asked about what sort of stimulus might be available from the city, Deputy Director of Economic Development Daniel Cortez said the primary goal is to keep as many businesses open as possible.
"We have over 2,000 businesses in Southlake," he said. "We want to make sure that whatever strategic direction that we move in—that we cast the widest net to be able to capture all of our businesses."
Cortez said the city is feeling the economic toll of the shelter-in-place restrictions in tandem with local businesses.
"If there is no revenue coming in from from any business, there's really no taxes being collected by the city," Cortez said. "The city is one of those entities that relies on the support of the business community. ... If people aren't going around their day-to-day [activities], the city struggles along as well."
Additionally, Mayor Pro Tem Shawn McCaskill said in an April 14 news release that the city may not move forward with its planned open space bond program. The bond would ask voters to commit to setting aside an amount of money for the city to use to purchase land for passive parks space.
Hill reaffirmed the likely cancellation of that election.
"That was a nice thing to have when times were good, but times are [not as] good anymore, so we won't be having that [election]," she said.
Hill's ultimate message to Southlake businesses, she said, is to ease patrons' concerns over COVID-19 by broadcasting their sanitation practices and telling their stories.
"Every one of us is going to tell our story of how we are doing business and how we're doing it safely so that people do feel confident and people come out," she said. "That's when they'll start to gain their confidence."
