The Arlington City Council met on October 14, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chamber. The meeting included special presentations, approval of a drainage necessity resolution, consent agenda approval, first readings of several ordinances, public hearings on zoning cases, and citizen participation. Notable items included a continuance of the Anti-Discrimination Chapter amendment following extensive public comment, and approval of the Balfour Lofts multifamily project.
There we go. No, you can have some guys calling matter up to make this one. Oh, yeah. That's fine. Oh, no. Yeah. Yeah. Everybody, welcome to the Arlington City Council session. It looks like we have a full house tonight. I hope all of y'all don't plan on talking tonight, we'll be here forever. Um, I'm gonna invite Reverend Brandy Splitzer from the Epworth United Methodist Church to please come forward for an invocation. Please stand if you can. Thank you for the invitation. Let's pray. Holy and gracious God, we give thanks tonight for these city counselors and the many city staff for the work they do on behalf of us all. Long hours spent discerning, studying, talking with constituents, so that they can make important decisions that impact many. We pray for them, for the process, and for the people who are affected by work done here. We are thankful too for the example you gave us in your son Jesus. He taught us that we are all beloved, made in your image. He not only told us how to love our neighbor as ourselves, but showed us by loving those who did not look like him, those who did not worship or live or love as he did. We know that he knew what we are all still trying to figure out, that we are all precious and worthy and important in your eyes, O God, and deserve to be seen as such from our fellow humans. Ultimately, we give thanks for your abiding presence that goes before us, follows behind us, and walks alongside us as we travel through this earthly life. In your loving name we pray. Amen. Amen. Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Thank you. Honor the Texas flag. One state, under God, one and indivisible. Thank y'all. You may be seated. And the good stuff involves a couple of proclamations tonight. Right here. There you are, darling. Can you come on up here with me? I got a special proclamation for this young lady here tonight. This is Miss Sandy Mulcha Molche. No, Mulcahi. Mulcahi, thank you. And this proclamation is going to read as such. Sandy Mulkey, a sixth generation Texan and a resident of Arlington, Texas, for sixty-one years, has dedicated her life to service, leadership, and community betterment. And whereas Sandy has served as the president of the Chi Omega Almany Chapter as a member of the Arlington Women's Club, as a Sunday school teacher at Grace Covenant, and as co-founder of Interlochen Chapel. In addition to her community and faith leadership, Sandy successfully ran Lee Engineering Company, restored a historic hundred-year-old farmhouse west of Fort Worth in Peluxy, and has always embraced challenges with vision and determination. Whereas Sandy and her late husband Bud, both graduates of the University of Texas at Austin, were moved during a safari in Africa to address the dire need for clean water in rural villages. And whereas this inspiration led to the founding of Africa water wells, an initiative supported by churches in Aspen and Texas that has over for over a decade provided clean water access, rain catch and purification systems, job skills training, mobile health care, addition, addiction recovery, and Christian pastoral training across Kenyan communities. And whereas through Sandy's tireless work, 17 pure water wells have been built in Kenya, bringing life-changing resources to villages and schools where children and families no longer suffer from waterborne illness, and whereas one principal joyful stated, no more typhoid, no more stomach aches, and less visits to the dispensary. Clean water has changed our school. And whereas Sandy, who recently celebrated her 90th birthday, continues to embody the values of compassion, leadership, and service that inspire all who know her in Arlington and beyond. Now, therefore, I, Jim Ross, Mayor of the City of Arlington, Texas, do hereby recognize and honor Sandy Mulcahy for her lifetime of service, leadership, and humanitarian impact, and encourage all citizens to join me in celebrating her extraordinary achievements and lasting legacy.