City Hall: No, This Is Not Project Wall-E, Where the "E" Does Stand for "Environment"

By Robert Wilonsky Mon., Dec. 19 2011 at 3:43 PM

Categories: City Hall, Development

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Gary Liss

This morning, a Friend of Unfair Park sent me this press release, which, on the surface at least, appears to reveal the mystery behind that real estate deal known only as "Project Wall-E" the council chatted about behind closed doors two months ago. The release is a bit inscrutable but has something to do with an event -- a "Clean Economy Boot Camp," tickets to which cost $75 to $95, and talk about your equity -- planned for January 20 at Faith Memorial Church on South Ewing: "This exciting show will be an introduction to Zero Waste, Project Wall E, and the Clean Economy Emerging in all Industries of practice. It will include the best practices to create thousand of jobs, and generate tax based revenue for the community of South Dallas specifically ..."

Says the release, credited to one Gary Liss of Loomis, California, the event is tied to something that appears to be related to the now-tied-up-in-litigation flow control ordinance:

"We are in the final stages of developing our EDEN resource recovery park plan, a large-scale project which will transform the city's trash into economics. The City of Dallas Office of Economic Development is sponsoring our plan."

So, naturally, I called Karl Zavitkovsky, head of the Office of Economic Development, for further information. At which point he said he's never heard of Gary Liss, for whom messages have been left. And: "This is not Wall-E."

But does Wall-E have anything to do with the trucking of solid waste to the McCommas Bluff Landfill? "Project Wall-E is not part of flow control issues and dynamics," he said. "I don't know what EDEN is."

He's still not saying what Project Wall-E is, only that we'll know what is it "as soon as the deal gets cut" that that it will be a big deal, as in: "It's outstanding." I did get this much out of him, though: The "E" has to do with "environment." Said Zavitkovsky, "That wasn't too much of a stretch. But flow control really isn't part of that dialogue."

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