Well, good evening, everybody, and happy new year.

Um I would hope in a brand new twenty twenty-six that y'all could find more fun and exciting things to do than to come to a city council meeting.

What could be more fun, Miss Boxel was saying?

Um that doesn't speak well for us because we're at all the city council meetings.

Um listen, welcome to the Arlington City Council meeting.

I hope everybody's had wonderful holidays on here.

I'm gonna invite uh Reverend uh Matt Hart from Mission Arlington to come forward and lead us in an invocation.

Please please stand if you're able to pray.

Father, thank you for this evening, thank you for this new year.

I thank you for the people in this room, Lord, for the love they have for this city and their desire to see its its peace and its prosperity.

And so we pray for this city.

In gratitude for the ways that you have blessed us.

We pray and ask for protection.

We pray and ask for provision.

And we pray that this would be a place where you were honored and you are pleased with the way that people love their neighbors, care for each other, serve each other.

So you have been very, very good to us.

And we want to say thank you.

Lord, we ask for your guidance during this meeting that every decision would please you, honor you, and would value what you value.

We pray and ask all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic, we're wishing.

One nation under God in individual.

Honor the Texas flag.

I pledge allegiance to the Texas.

One state under God, one and individual.

Thank you all.

You may be seated.

I'd like to invite Brian Acosta and Kay Brown Patrick to come forward and bring all your cohorts that you want to bring.

We're gonna do a couple of quick proclamations here to start the evening off.

We're gonna start with our first one, whereas the city of Arlington is committed to fostering economic growth, entrepreneurship, and resilient local industries.

And whereas the Arlington Economic Development Corporation has launched industry specific cohorts and sectors, professional services, construction and trades, and food and beverage, providing small businesses with training, mentorship, and market access tailored to their industries.

And whereas these cohorts deepen partnerships with regional allies, including universities, workforce boards, lenders, and prime contractors, aligning talent, certifications, and opportunities that strengthen Arlington's economy.

Whereas the cohorts deliver measurable outcomes such as new jobs, revenue growth, capital access, and successful contract awards, demonstrating a clear return on public investment.

And whereas the cohorts provide hands-on technical assistance and finance operations, marketing, and legal guidance, equipping businesses with actionable plans, vetted tools, and a clear path to scale.

And whereas alumni of these cohorts form a growing peer network that amplifies mentorship, referrals, and partnerships, creating a sustainable pipeline of Arlington-based suppliers.

Now, therefore, I, Jim Ross, mayor of the city of Arlington, do hereby recognize and commend the participants of the cohort for their dedication and contributions to the prosperity of our city, their commitment to excellence, strengthens the local economy, and sets an example for the business community.

I'll give it up for these cohorts here.

As a small business owner, the relationships that we develop with one another is tremendous value to everybody, and I am so appreciative for what our economic development corporation is doing with these cohorts.

Say a few words after that.

I wrote a few words actually, so thank you.

Um I want to begin for um thanking our city manager, um, our mayor, Ross, City Council, and our EDC board for their support for our small businesses.

Um, their leadership makes it possible for the economic development corporation to change um to bring our ideals to realization and for measurable outcomes.

Um tonight we are proud to celebrate our community partners and our participating businesses.

So I want to call out a couple of our community partners.

We have Brian Acosta here with um from Advent Trinity Marketing Agency and Nouveau Desk Co-Working.

They provide us the space to host our cohorts.

Um by the way, thank you for that, Brian.

Um, Hush Blackwell legal firm provided pro bono services to small businesses.

So if you're a small business owner, they provide pro bono services.

If you're a small business owner here through their communities for change program, and then also foundation's entrepreneurial development company, Darlisa Diltz, and then the UTA OSHA department.

Um, we have um is he here?

Yeah, our UTA partnership here is uh also as well.

Um, our business owners, I also want to take the time, not too much time, but they took the time to invest in themselves, and they also took time to come here.

So I want to recognize them as well.

Dr.

Christy Monk Andrews, um Jameer Beatty with just doing business LLC, Bonna Thurman with Blueprint Worldwide, um Robert Campos with uh private charter group transportation with Delion Designs, um Tiana Etworth with Blessed 3G Janitorial Services, and then we have Eureka Pinky with Sweet uh Suite Mate and Care Mates Wellness, and then um Shamika Augustine with on the go mobile phlebotomy.

So thank you all so much.

Oh, and oh yeah, so I had to practice his name, so hold on a second.

Ola Wampimi.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

Um, thank you guys so much for investing in yourself and allowing us to support you and your attorney.

So mayor who want to take a photo.

We're gonna take a photo together.

Who's gonna come on here?

Hold on, wait, can we get everybody?

Oh there.

Thank you.

Josh Skinner, where are you?

Where'd you hide?

There you are, Josh.

Whereas in October of 2025, IMLA recognized assistant city attorney, Joshua Skinner, for earning the local government fellows designation after satisfying certain established requirements, completing a two-part written exam, and being recognized by peers in the field of local government law.

And whereas these Arlington City Attorney's office currently has nine IMLA local government fellows, and since 2000, has had 26 attorneys become IMLA local government fellows.

Whereas the City of Arlington is proud to have such skilled and recognized attorneys working in the city attorney's office, and thanks them for their dedication to the city and its citizens.

Now, therefore, I Jim Ross, mayor of the City of Arlington, Texas, do hereby proclaim January 6th of 2026 as IMLA Local Government Fellows Day.

Y'all give it up for Joshua, please.

There's nothing worse than attorneys who have to represent an attorney and an elected official.

These folks have a huge task ahead of them.

So thanks, Joshua, for everything you do.

You want to say a word or two.

Thank you, Mayor Ross, and thank you, City Council.

I appreciate the honor and thank you for all the support uh in being able to apply for and be part of this this fellowship program.

Thank you.

Let's take a picture real fast.

Mr.

Buskin, speaker guidelines and general decorum, please.

Thank you, Mayor.

We ask that the citizens and other visitors in attendance to assist in preserving the order and decorum of this meeting and to provide for attendance at and participation in the meeting without fear of intimidation, threats, or hostility.

Any person making personal profane, hostile, slanderous or threatening remarks, who uses vulgar or obscene language, who engages in any other actions that diserb or are calculated to disturb the meeting, or who becomes disruptive while addressing the mayor and the city council or while attending the city council meeting may be removed from the council chambers.

All speakers shall address the city council and not the audience or city staff and shall not call out individually named members of city staff or the public.

For speakers tonight, when your name is called, please come to the microphone at the podium and state your name and city of residence for the record.

Speakers may not use music, videos, other forms of media, signs or props.

During public hearings for zoning cases, the applicant will be asked to speak first and will be given five minutes to make a presentation.

Speakers in support or opposition of the item will be given three minutes each to make their statements.

The applicant will then be given three minutes for any rebuttal.

For all other items on the agenda, speakers will be given three minutes to speak.

If multiple speakers plan to provide the same or similar comments, those speakers may, if they so desire, designate one or more individuals to provide public comment on behalf of the group.

A bell will signal the end of each speaker's time.

In consideration of other speakers, please conclude your comments promptly when you hear the bell.

We ask that you address your comments to the mayor and council.

Thank you, Mr.

Buskin.

Do we have any appointments to boards or commissions this evening?

No, sir, we do not.

Thank you, sir.

Consideration of items from the executive session, please.

Thank you, Mayor.

We have one item for consideration from executive session 6.1, a resolution determining the necessity of acquiring a street right-of-way easement, otherwise known as 2201 East Division Street, Arlington, Texas, for the public use of right-of-way improvements for the entertainment district sidewalk phase three project.

Thank you, sir.

Do we have any speakers in support or opposition of this item?

No, sir, we do not.

Thank you.

I have a motion from Councilmember Gonzalez, a second from Councilmember Boxell, please cast your vote.

And the motion passes.

Consideration of minutes, Mr.

Buskin.

Thank you, Mayor.

Minutes for consideration this evening or the afternoon and evening meetings from December 9th, 2025 and December 16th, 2025.

Thank you, sir.

Do council do y'all have any additions or corrections for any of these minutes?

Seeing none, Mr.

Buskin, do we have any speakers on these items?

No, sir, we do not.

Thank you, sir.

I have a motion from Councilmember Odom Wesley, a second from Council Member Pham.

Please cast your vote.

The motion passes.

Consideration of consent agenda, Mr.

Buskin.

Thank you, Mayor.

The consent agenda this evening contains four minute orders, one ordinance, and nine resolutions.

The minute orders seek to authorize one sole source contract for software maintenance for the public safety computer aided dispatch system.

Two, renewal of two-year requirements contract for grounds maintenance of downtown and municipal facilities.

Three, engineering services contract for the study and preliminary design of PER and polyfluoroal alkyl substances mitigation at Pierce Birch Water Treatment Plant.

Four construction contract for the 2026 miscellaneous stormwater construction.

The ordinance seeks to authorize five zoning case PD 25-10, 7819, and 7827 South Cooper Street.

The resolutions seek to authorize six settlement of Leonore Ortega v.

City of Arlington lawsuit.

Seven fee adjustment authorization for planning and development services departments fee schedule.

Eight A through C amendments to the Library Service Policy, Meeting and Study Room Usage Policy and Associated Library Fees Schedule.

Nine Fifth Amendment to the Lincoln Square Master Development Agreement.

10 and 11, Texas Department of Transportation, Fiscal Year 2027, Selective Traffic Enforcement Program, Comprehensive and Commercial Vehicle Grants, 12 Contract for Services, Sister Cities Arlington.

Thank you, Mayor.

This concludes the consent agenda for this evening.

Thank you, sir.

Do we have anybody in support or opposition of these items, Mr.

Buskin?

No, sir, we do not.

Thank you.

I have a motion from Councilmember Odom Wesley, a second from Councilmember Galante.

Please cast your vote.

And the motion passes.

We're going to move on down to our public hearings 11.1.

Ms.

Winklebleck.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council, Alicia Winklebleck, Director of Transportation.

I'm here to present to you tonight on item 11.1 a fair restructuring proposal for handy TRAN and on-demand transportation services.

I've got just a short uh slide deck here for the council and the general public's information.

The proposed fair restructuring that the public hearing is centered around tonight is for both the handy trans service and the on-demand service.

The proposal for the handy tran fares is to go from the current fare structure of $2 per person per ride to $3 per person per ride.

Um personal care attendant or PCA would still be available to ride for free with each rider.

The last time we changed handy tram fares was in 2008.

This change would get us a little bit more in alignment with other paratransit services around the region.

Um at $3 per person per ride, we would be equal to or less than most paratransit services in the Metroplex.

The proposal for the on-demand fares is to go from the current fare structure of $3 to $5 per person per ride, three to three dollars to $8 per person per ride.

Um this structure is based on distance.

Shorter trips would cost less, longer trips would cost more.

Um trips to and from the Centerport TRE station would remain at $3.

The last time we changed on-demand fares was in 2021.

You can see to the right side of the slide there the proposed on-demand fare structure, again, ranging from three to eight dollars based on distance.

Um 52% of our trips fall in the zero to four and a half mile range, or this or they go to and from center port.

Those trips would be paying the same price or even less than they do today with the proposed fare structure.

Umly about 20% of our on-demand trips fall into that eight plus mile range where you would be jumping from five dollars to eight dollars.

The other piece of this proposal tonight is to replace the handy tran monthly pass and the on-demand weekly and monthly passes with ride credit bundles.

Those ride credit bundles um can be seen there in the blue box.

They would be purchased for a discount.

Uh we would be we propose offering a $30 ride credit for $25, a $60 ride credit for $45, or a $90 ride credit for $65.

The effective discount for the $90 credit is about 28%.

That is extremely similar to the discounts that our average past users see today on the on-demand service and the handy trans services.

The right credits would be available for use on both services.

We do have some riders that use both handy trans and the on-demand system.

They could use the credits on both.

They would not expire once they were purchased.

They would be there for use whenever the rider needed them, and they could be put into an automatic renewal status, which is something a lot of our riders really um enjoy, so they don't have to worry about when to renew those those passes.

We have gone through an extensive public outreach process in accordance with the federal transit administration's requirements.

They do require a public process and a public hearing.

Um so you can see here the public notification that we've gone through.

We posted the proposed changes in the Star Telegram on November 5th and November 12th.

We have had information on the city website website.

We have put flyers in all of our vehicles.

We've had information in the transportation applications that pop up for riders, and we've sent a series of postcards to our handy tran clients specifically.

We also opened a public comment period for uh 30 days and received comments through online forms, email, phone, mail, and in person.

And then, of course, we're here tonight for the required public hearing.

For our public comments, we received 102 comments.

You can see the breakdown here of the comments related to handy tran and on-demand.

12 comments for both services, 29 for handy tran only, 58 for on-demand only, and then three comments that did not specify a service.

Some of the key themes we saw in the comments were service quality, driver behavior, and safety.

We've already begun reaching out to riders both on the on-demand side and the handy tran side for concerns or issues we read in those comments that may or may not be related to the fare proposal.

So we're working through those actively.

We will also, after the public hearing tonight, for the audience's benefit, have both handy tran and on-demand staff in the lobby happy to have specific discussions about specific um situations, questions, or concerns at the conclusion of the public hearing.

You can also see here the age distribution of the comments.

Um, 77% of commenters were 18 to 64 years, 9% were 65 and older, and 14% didn't respond.

And then we had a pretty wide distribution of um zip codes represented.

Uh after the public hearing tonight, any changes that city council approves would be implemented on March 2nd, 2026, and we would get again go through a thorough notification process to make sure all of our riders on both services are aware of the changes.

And with that, uh, we are happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, ma'am.

Mr.

Buskin, any speakers on this item.

Yes, sir.

We have one speaker in support and nine speakers in opposition.

Our first speaker in support is Peter Otz.

Mr.

Otz.

After Mr.

Otts is Steve Brooks.

Good evening, Councilman.

Mayor.

I am absolutely in favor of what I see.

I think this is appropriate to have, especially for a person who wants to have access to this at any time the same way we do for our toll tags.

I don't have to do anything, I just simply ride.

And if I need to, I get renewed.

I think this is absolutely wonderful.

As far as keeping up with costs, everything has risen.

I don't see these as being unreasonable.

That's all I have to say.

Thank you, sir.

I love short speakers like that.

Not that kind of short.

You heard my joke.

Okay, Mr.

Brooks, I think was the next speaker.

And our next speaker after Mr.

Brooks is Donald Bibb.

Mayor and Council.

Like the last man said, you know, I understand you know, prices are up on everything.

And it just makes sense that the rates go up on Handy Tran.

I I get that.

But for those, and and in the previous meeting, the only discussion I really heard was the difference in bundling and the passes.

And I understand the difference in that as well.

Even with the bundle, for someone that uses HandyTran every day, the rate's gonna go up.

For those that are buying individual rides, the rate's going up 50%.

And considering that this is a service for the most vulnerable in our community.

Um I think it's got to be considered that you know the effect on them that you know we're paying $2 now, paying $3, you know, when they got you know, maybe two or three percent uh increase in in their social security, um the cost of getting around Arlington then increases that much.

But one of the the problems I you know that I want you know to acknowledge, um I I know that um there was a proposal to eliminate the circumference of Arlington from Handy Tran.

And I think that to consider an increase in the rate, you also have to consider that we're also looking at a potential in the future of decreasing the ridership from those, and you know, most people don't understand there's there's as many miles in that mile and a half circumference as there is in all of Arlington, and I get that.

But with advocates for special people, we've got many clients that are in that circumference.

There are now, you know, if that happens, we're gonna be stranded.

They would probably be you know willing to pay an extra amount to you know, so I think there's there's more discussion possibly that needs to be considered than you know, does this rate increase you know have any effect on what happens with you know that circumference elimination and um with that as well then you know are are we just gonna strand those individuals?

And you know, I'd like for there to be consideration of how that affects their lives.

So um, and I know the the proposal on the board is just you know about the bundling and the rate increase.

And I I know it's necessary, but anyway, thank you very much.

Next speaker, Mr.

Buskin.

Our next speaker is Donald Bibb.

After Mr.

Bibb is Jane Collins, hello.

My name is Donald Bibb.

I'm uh new to City of Arlington.

I moved here back in September 2024.

Uh I live with what I call a group home because my doctors kept telling me I could not live by myself anymore, and I almost died twice in December 2024.

I almost died twice in the summer 2024.

Anyway, um I stopped driving back in September 2023.

And uh Arlington Handy Trans become my only source of transportation for the most part.

I like Arlington Transport.

I like Arlington Handy Tran.

It's a good service.

Uh I earlier today I did the math on the how much on my source crew rate is gonna be.

I'm gonna go from 18,000 something to 21,139 and something per year.

What I would like to see Arlington do is uh come up with some kind of a plan for people who are on a fixed income who can get Orange and Handy Trans service at the same price we're paying now, and then the people who make more money, they pay three dollars for the service, and uh also I've had doctors' appointments outside or technically outside of Arlington, and they are very critical for me.

Um I've had I used to go to a doctor on Lake Ridge Boulevard in Grand Prairie.

I no longer go there, I go to a j doctor in North Richard Hills now, and that is very inconvenient for me.

There's uh it has to do with payments.

I can't get payments in Arlington anymore.

Anyway, I would that's what I had to say.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir.

Our next speaker is Jane Collins.

After Ms.

Collins is Dennis James.

Hi, I'm Jane Collins.

I live in Arlington.

I'm one of the lucky senior citizens.

I'm still able to drive, but I've been talking to people that aren't as you know, and I think we have to consider all getting it to that point where we're not going to be able to drive, and we will need handy tram.

And I know myself I make what $2,100 a month.

And if you are paying, you know, housing and uh, you know, just food and some medical stuff, that's not even enough.

So I I really think handy tram should I think the people in fixed income shouldn't really have to pay anything.

I don't know if there's another way to come up with the money to pay, but I I think our senior citizens really aren't in a position to you know see that price raised.

So I would ask the city council to please consider some things that can be done so that the people on the fixed income could still get around.

I think that the fact that there's not that many people here tonight to speak is because when they are ready to go home, handy tram doesn't run past eight, and so a lot of people wouldn't be able to come because they couldn't get back home again.

So please consider those things when you make your decision.

Thank you, ma'am.

Our next speaker is Dennis James.

After Mr.

James is Gabriel Wynn.

Yes, my name is Dennis James.

I live at 6101 Big Springs Drive here in Arlington.

Uh I've own my home there since tw uh 2003.

I came to Arlington in uh 1969, so that's my home.

Uh I recently needed handy tram.

My uh after my wife passed, my income was cut in half.

I I can't afford you know car insurance, car maintenance and everything else.

And I found the people at Handy Tram to be just exceptional from the drivers to everything about it.

For me, it's been a lifesaver.

But uh I'm also on a fixed income.

So even if say I'm I was going to work, even one 50% increase, which could mean you know, sixty dollars plus a month, you know.

So I I I think the city of Arlington can afford this service without increasing the fares.

Uh and I I understand for distance, you know.

I understand maybe going, you know, out of but but the two dollar fare is is affordable.

If you're going to the grocery store, that's four dollars to get the grocery store.

You know, that's that's really it it's an exceptional, it's really exceptional plan that we have here, and it is cheaper than most other cities, and I'll agree, but it should be because we need that system here.

And like I said, for me it's a lifesaver.

I I I can't afford to drive anymore.

If if I'm if I want to go back to work, I would really need that assistance.

So I really hope you consider uh you know, keeping the fares the same and uh and and supporting handy tram in every way you can because they're really supporting me and and other seniors like myself.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Our next speaker is Gabriel Wynne after Gabriel Wynne is Crystal Joy Turner.

Hello, uh Councilman and Mayo.

My name is Gabriel Wynne.

Um while I fully support the decision to change student ride prices depending on the distance traveled.

I personally believe the fee increases are not in the best interest of the residents of Arlington.

A better course of action would be to keep the weekly and monthly subscription options for via transportation, and to also offer the rideshire bundle its alternative.

This is not inherently a restructuring of the fees, but is instead an effective increase with too many of the riders.

I believe both options should be available for each individual individual rider to choose the best course of personal action with how they are spending the money.

And to speak on how the prices compare to other areas.

While I'm not that familiar, I do know in Cincinnati, Ohio, the bus fares, you can get a 24-hour pass for a little bit over three dollars.

In no way, shape or form do they ride price changes match up with what I personally know for other city's actual bus systems, and this is the best bus system Arlington's going to get within the next decade, I believe.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Crystal Joy Turner.

After Miss Turner is Justin McMahon, good evening, Mayor and uh City Council members.

Uh, my name is Dr.

Crystal Joy Turner.

Um, I'm a precinct chair, I'm an Arlington native.

Uh but tonight I'm standing here as a daughter speaking for my disabled senior citizen mother, um, and those who just cannot um stand at the podium themselves.

So again, my mother's a senior citizen, she lives on a fixed income.

Um, she relies on Arlington Handy Tran um service to get to doctor's appointments, physical therapy, just any errands that she needs to run, um, going to the pharmacy, and especially if I can't uh be there to physically assist.

Um, none of the trips I named are optional.

Um there are moments where she has to go to a doctor and then she has another appointment immediately after that.

Um, so it's not just a one, two to come back, it usually will involve multiple trips and in one sitting.

Um they are essentially what allow her to stay alive, independent and just connected to the world.

When we talk about increasing the handy trans fare from um the two dollars to three dollars, that sounds small in the budget, but for someone who's living um with afford social security who might need to make multiple trips, as I mentioned, that extra dollar is heavy.

Um it adds up over time and it quietly forces painful decisions.

Um choices between a ride to the doctor's office and a prescription refill, a choice between buying um groceries and paying a utility bill.

These are choices that no senior or anybody that's disabled or on a fixed income needs to make.

Um I want to be very clear.

I know that transportation for seniors um with disabilities is not a convenience, it's a lifeline.

So when transportation becomes too expensive, seniors will stop going out, they'll miss appointments, their health declines, their rules become smaller and lonelier, and eventually families in the city will have to pay for a much higher price for that type of isolation.

So while the fares have not changed since 2008, senior incomes have not meaningfully improved either.

My mother likes to make less than a thousand dollars a month.

Um, so the cost of housing, health care, food, electricity has gone up substantially um faster than any cost of of living adjustment.

So asking seniors or someone that's disabled to absorb yet another increase places the burden on the people least able to carry it.

Um as a precinct chair and just someone that speaks uh to seniors, my mom is around.

I hear these stories consistently, not just from her.

People who have worked their entire lives, pay taxes, raise families, and now feel like they're being priced out of basic dignity.

I'm asking y'all tonight to pause and truly consider who this change impacts the most.

I urge you to protect elderly and disabled handy trans riders by maintaining the current fare, creating a reduced fare, a hardship option, or phasing in any increase gradually.

I also asked that additional revenue clearly and directly benefit the riders.

Arlington prides itself on being a livable city.

A city is only livable if the seniors and those who are may on um beyond reduced income can afford to move through it.

My call to action is simple.

Please choose compassion.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Our next speaker is Justin McMahon.

After Mr.

McMahon is Rohelio Mayuero.

Hello, everybody.

Well, I'm pretty worried about the price increase.

My name is Jess McMahon.

I'm worried about but what would happen to people if the ride passes get decreased.

I mean incre I mean removed.

I'm worried about what would happen if they I'm worried if they get I'm not really into this change, okay.

I'm worried that people might spend I'm worried that this is gonna this is gonna do so well for the city.

I'm worried that people out there are not gonna be able to go out and enjoy life so much.

I'm worried that people are not gonna do so well outside in the real world.

I just wish people would have better time to process what's happening.

I'm worried about what would happen if the price increases more.

I mean, changing from two to three dollars for handy tran big deal.

But I'm fine with the changing from three to eight, but not fine with moving the ride passes.

I thought you were better than this, guys.

I thought you'd be better than this.

I thought these would be better than better than all of you people combined.

I just thought people would be better than this.

I just wish you'd be better than all of combined.

Well, I want people to be like to enjoy life the fullest.

I just wish that they would decrease the prices of the ride passes.

That's all I have to say, I guess.

Thanks.

Thank you, sir.

Councilmember Hunter.

I said a question for uh Alicia.

Um I wanted to see if we have we looked at a at a hard ship option.

Has that been looked at, explored?

It's for the director of transportation, sir.

You can go ahead and have a seat.

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh yes, ma'am.

We do have our um nonprofit program, which is essentially a free ride program.

We um take both on the handy tran and the on-demand side.

If we have individuals who are unable to um get the services, afford the services they need.

We've got a series of not or a group of nonprofits throughout the city that we work with, um, so we can send them to those nonprofits and they can work with them and provide them with some uh kind of limited time resources and rides if needed.

Let me ask you this.

So for our senior citizens or anyone that that's on a fixed income, um, how would that work?

Would they just get that information, call that number and get the rods from those places, or how would that sure?

We do run the program through the nonprofits.

So um, you know, for example, Mission Arlington, um, Salvation Army, we've got a group of those um that they have they have codes and they need to um meet with the individual, and typically they would like to get them on some sort of assistance plan.

Um, so they're meeting with them and helping them with all of their needs.

And then if it was something where they needed um help to get to medical appointments, work, job training, school, that kind of thing, they can typically provide um some temporary resources.

Okay, thank you.

Next speaker, Mr.

Buskin.

Our next speaker is Rohelio Mehuero.

After Mr.

May Weijuero is Yassine Taznip.

All right.

Uh good evening, council.

Uh, thank you so much for having me.

Uh long day, attending after noon and then coming here.

Um, but I did get a chance to go home and rest, so I hope this influencable.

What I'll say now, my comment is actually in uh in a position of this after having some consideration and some talks to specifically folks that use this service a lot more than myself.

I'm very uh grateful to be able to now have a truck.

And I'm proud because he was uh a couple years uh for me without having a car, so I rely heavily on via.

Uh I think the comment that I am really trying to make here is uh when I consider this boat, I think that this mobility is really about affordability.

What I'm considering here is the uh the bottom line is we're raising the price to move around the city.

Uh it's not like we're bringing doctors closer to the patients.

It's not like we're bringing our school closer to the place where we live.

Uh we're simply increasing this, and then I believe that the biggest change that I noticed from uh from staff was the distance.

And and I'll tell you the truth that uh it was often the fact that we have to wait over 30 minutes for my ride.

Once the ride would get there, uh it would then be around 45 minutes to get to my location, the farthest it was, because uh understandably there was a lot of stops along the way.

Uh and then I was wondering uh if we are increasing the fare, uh we hoping to in the future pay our workers a bit more.

Are we hoping to then try to find a discount uh for our residents uh in any other way?

Uh I think for me, if I had to look at this from far and really kind of consider it, I would almost consider this as a tax, as a tax on working people in the city.

And I agree with certain folks over here.

Uh this is not, you know, uh it's different in Arlington because I think in Arlington we should be exceptional.

We should be providing the best class, uh the best mobility option for our residents.

Excellence is something that I take a lot of pride in, and I believe that we should we all should.

Uh so I say this to say that uh I simply disagree with the change because uh at the end of the day, we are raising the price on how to move.

I want a city where we have places to go to, not just highways and places to go through.

I want a city that truly values working people and the hard-earned money that they make.

Like I mentioned before, uh, you know, our rent goes up.

When I grow the groceries, I can always afford less and less and less.

Uh and it is truly a shame that now we are raising uh the price of moving around the city.

I would love for us to embrace the residents.

I would love for us to embrace and protect the pockets of this residents and the hard-earned money that they all work so hard to earn and for their kids and for their families.

And ultimately, what I'll say is I understand that making this decision is not easy, especially for our staff that has to really consider everything.

Uh but at the same time, I really wish that we could find other ways to instead of voting today on increasing the fare for these rights, we should be considering things like how can we use the data that we have from so many years on handy train and and on demand to provide maybe a service that is publicly owned, that is reliable, that is efficient, and that is affordable.

So when I think of Arlington, I want to think of different words, not just the word, you know, American Drake City.

I want to think of affordability and I want to think about accountability.

So thank you all so much.

Have a good thing.

Thank you, sir.

Our next speaker is Yassine Tasnip.

Good evening, y'all, and happy new year to all of you.

Um, I actually was not supposed to speak, but uh my name was called, so here I am.

Um you don't have to if you want to.

You know, I think it was a sign from God himself.

So here I here I am, right?

Um yeah, so I've been here in Arlington since 2022, August, um, as a proud UTA student.

Every time I come up here, y'all are gonna hear me talk about how much I love UTA, and I bet many people in this room can agree with me.

Um yeah, so that's about how long I've been here.

I don't have a car.

Um, you know, I am not you know entirely low income or anything, but I don't have a car, and so that has significantly affected my experience in this city so far.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Arlington.

It is beautiful, it's so cute, it's really diverse, it has you know everything that um I would want except you know transportation.

I'm sure you all have heard that one a lot.

Um it is not lost on me that we're increasing the price of the only excuse for transportation that we have um in the biggest city in the US without public transportation.

You know, I just I think it's important to bring up, right?

I again I'm sure everyone has heard this a million times, but maybe the million and first time we'll finally get some change in.

I don't know.

Um but that being said, you know, I really hope that you all choose to vote against this resolution.

I do not believe that it would be the best for the residents of Arlington as a resident of Arlington.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, ma'am.

Mayor, that concludes our speakers on this item.

We did also have one non-speaker in opposition.

Thank you, sure, sir.

All right, uh Councilmember Gonzalez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Ums Winkelbach, when they were talking about uh the nonprofits, do we have that information?

I know we send out information on the fare and everything else.

Is that somewhere easily, you know, when they ride one of those up, the handy trans, is that available for them so they know where they can get free or discounted.

Sure.

We typically do that just by um working individually with riders.

So if anybody has an interest or a need for that, if they just contact any of our staff members, um, or if you're a handy tran writer, you know, when you call to schedule a ride, we can get them connected.

But if people don't know about it, they don't know to ask that, so that's why I was just trying to.

Yes, sir.

It's it is not something that we are advertising as it's a costly program to run, um, and not everyone is eligible, so we really kind of typically deal with it on an individual basis, but we're happy to share that information with anyone who needs it.

Thank you.

Councilmember Galante.

Well, um, I'm glad to hear uh for some of you saying that uh handy tram uh uh service is uh amazing service, is a great service to help so many of you.

I also hear uh the concerns of um uh raising the prices.

What I want everybody to understand is that everything's costly and to keep uh uh an outstanding service like a hard cost money and uh rest assured that the decisions made by the staff that that I see they're based on data, they're based on data, meticulous data analysis and discussions, internal discussions, and uh trying to be fair, uh uh to charge the amount that allows us to keep the the program running.

And um, I'm gonna make a motion to approve, but I'll ask the staff uh to help out to reach out to those that cannot afford the fixed income, and they rely on the transportation for their personal needs.

Uh but I'll I'll ask everybody to uh understand that everything, every service that the city provides have a cost.

And uh, but I'll make a motion to approve.

Thank you.

Councilmember Hogg.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor.

Um Alicia, let me ask a question.

We uh the and it maybe it's Ann, the total operational fare is around $15, correct?

Of what it cost us to operate on average per ride, correct?

It's the dynamic duo that knows everything about everything.

So they had to tolerate me early this morning in a long meeting.

So Anne Foss planning and programming manager for the transportation department.

Uh for the on-demand service, the average cost to provide each ride is around $17 right now.

Oh, it's even a little low on what I remembered.

So about $17, and our fare box is four dollars, so we're supplementing um on each one through the federal government and through the city of Arlington, correct?

That's correct.

And I have asked multiple times, and early on, you guys helped um because my belief is those that can pay the fare rate, pay the fair rate, those that can't, we should supplement more.

We are not by federal law allowed to do a variable rate based on income.

Is that correct?

That is correct.

I know one of the speakers brought that up earlier, and we have asked that.

I have asked that question multiple times because the biggest issue I have is supplementing folks that maybe don't need to be supplemented.

I hear my colleagues, we we all those that need it, we really want to, but we can't do a variable based.

Um the nonprofit that used to be provided through CDBG, now it's just funded out of our general fund to provide free rides.

Right.

We did um previously receive external funding through the community development block grant program to pay for those free rides for the low income um program, but that funding has ended, and so we are just subsidizing that from the city budget.

And and I know we talked a lot about the monthly passes and in this, and I think I was having a hard time with getting it rid of the monthly passes because I do think for those that use it, but I do think as y'all explained it, of you know, if people aren't using them, the renewals you were having trouble with sometimes renewals, people would get in and ride it, and so I do believe, while it's a change and change is never easy.

I do believe the operational change to go to bundled uh packages is probably the better option.

And we know fair increases are never easy, um, but I do think it's the right option.

So thank you guys for all the work I'll put on this.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Hog.

Okay.

Um I'm gonna go ahead and close the public hearing.

I have a motion from Councilmember Galante.

I have a second from Councilmember Hogg.

Please cast your vote.

And the motion passes.

We're gonna move on down to 11.2, Ms.

Thoppel.

Thank you, Mayor.

Item 11.2 zoning case PD 24-27 is a request to change the zoning from entertainment district overlay residential single family 7.2, that's EDORS 7.2, to entertainment district over a planned development residential medium density 12 with a development plan for townhomes on approximately 0.233 acres of land addressed as 301 East Randall Mill Road, generally located north of East Randall Mill Road and east of North Misquite Street.

The applicant is requesting a PD for three town home units on individually platted lots that would range from 2,320 square feet to 2,920 square feet each in lot sizes.

The UDC sets a minimum lot size for townhomes as 2,900 square feet.

However, in this case, it is also important to note that 30 feet of right-of-way dedication is being required for the Randall Mill expansion project, which takes out 2,276 square feet from the site.

Construction of that project is anticipated to begin in winter of 2029.

The three townhomes will have two-car garages fronting private drive on the east side of the site.

The townhome unit that's fronting uh Raynold Mill Road will have brick facade with a front porch complying with the desired character of single family housing for the unified development code.

The site is in the short-term rental zone and will retain this option for this use.

This evening we have the applicant Nabeen Khamampadi who will be presenting their case for us.

The answer is no.

It's a running joke about Frisco.

We don't allow that word to be said in Arlington, okay.

Oh, okay, okay.

It's a F word.

All right.

Uh so we have a uh about uh quarter of an acre site at uh 301 Random Mill Road, and we're proposing a RM12 uh medium density three lot townhome uh subdivision.

Uh this uh subdivision, we've been working with the staff uh for a long time, and each of uh the lot is uh a little bit shorter, uh not all of them, but one of them is shorter than uh the required minimum.

But the minimum uh the floor plans and the minimum building sizes are uh more than what the RM12 requires.

So we are proposing uh three uh uh two-story town homes each with three bedroom, two and a half bathroom, and a two-car garage.

Um, you know, as I said, we we've been working with the staff for a long time, and we have done uh the drainage analysis and also you know, like we did uh some I mean uh the traffic and uh the drainage impacts, we don't have any uh significant impacts.

And uh the site is within a regional activity center with a comprehensive plan where a variety of residential and mixed use developments uh are encouraged, and this particular uh development that we are proposing fits well within what's the comprehensive plan calls for and it's uh uh you know note uh it's it's noteworthy to um you know indicate that uh at the PNZ uh the all the commissioners were really uh pleased with what we have proposed.

They indicated that this is the best use for this project at that location uh on Random Mill, and they have voted in unanimously with uh slight modifications asking us to provide a little bit of buffer for the guest parking uh from this site to the adjacent, and which we have complied and we have provided the uh updated plan.

Um so we we we will be providing a small buffer between these projects, uh guest parking spaces and uh adjacent lot.

So um again, all of the uh commissioners voted unanimously, and the staff is in approval of what we are proposing.

So we respectfully request approval of the PD 24-27.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir.

Mr.

Buskin, are there any other speakers on this item?

I had one additional speaker in support, Andy Wynne.

Mr.

Wynn, do you have anything that you're not gonna say that F word, are you?

No, sir.

Okay.

Maybe spelled differently.

All right.

Mr.

Mayor, Council members, it's great to see you this evening.

I just want to thank take a quick moment to thank your staff for educating us, uh, being very patient with us and working with us in the past three years so that we can identify design and construct a project that is suitable to the long-term planning for the city, but also fitting the characteristics of that area.

And I just want to take uh this moment to thank your leadership and also the service uh of your staff.

So thank you very much for your consideration.

Thank you, sir.

Councilmember Gonzalez.

Yes, uh thank you, Mr.

Wynn.

Appreciate those nice comments and thank you to our staff for working so well and also to the the developer for being patient.

The only question I had, and and and it's probably been addressed is the recycle and the trash bins.

Um where will they be kept?

Are we sure that they're gonna fit in the garage?

Uh uh yes, uh Congressmember.

Our plan is to uh you know put the uh recycle bin in the trash bins in the garage.

And so let me ask you, I know what's gonna happen.

Those people move in and all of a sudden they fill up the garage with anything but the trash ban in the car.

So what at that point when it's sitting outside, what can what will you be able to do?

Because I've I've seen some I'm not picking on you, but I just saw some townhomes the other day where everybody's trash was outside.

And so that's my concern of seeing that now.

Right.

I mean, I I I lived in in a town home where you know I had my trash, put it in the uh garage because right here, because of this small site, that's where we think you know is it's the best place uh for everybody to put their trash cans in there.

Well, if you can help on that, uh I'm thankful.

Thank you for bringing such a great product for working with our staff.

I'm excited about this project.

Um, like I said, if you can help with you know with the the people that live there that to make sure that they're put away, that uh would greatly appreciate it.

We all would.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Sir, thank you for indulging my really weird sense of humor on Frisco.

But also thanks.

Thanks for bringing this project.

I I really like what you all have done and your patience and willingness to work with the staff has been wonderful.

So thank you for that.

I'm gonna go ahead and close the public hearing.

Uh I have a motion from Councilmember Boxell, a second from Councilmember Galante.

Please cast your vote.

The motion passes.

Congratulations to y'all.

Thank you, sir.

We're gonna move on down to 12.1.

Keith Brooks, Mr.

Brooks.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Keith Brooks, Director of Public Works.

I'm here to present item 12.1, which is the first reading of an ordinance amendment to revise school zones, effective times, and one-way street directions to provide better traffic flow and accommodate the new traffic management plan at the new uh Joey Rodriguez Junior High School over on uh Stone Great Gate Street, uh which is adjacent to the school, uh, will be a one-way eastbound street from Carter Street to Sherry Street from 7.30 a.m.

to 9 a.m.

and then also from 3.15 p.m.

to 5 p.m.

The ordinance amendment amendment with all will also include new pedestrian crossings, the new Joey Rodriguez Junior High School campus, and to accommodate new bill schedules for Kookan elementary, uh Kookan Educational Center, Joey Rodriguez Junior High School, and Kinderdale High School.

At this time, I'll answer any questions you might have.

Councilmember Boxell.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Brooks.

Um, I have a question about um the now closed Carter Junior High.

They had um a partial one-way street at certain times on Thorpe Street.

Will that be changed now back to two-way since the school has been closed down?

Um I hadn't heard if they're doing anything different with that.

Uh I know they closed it down, but we were just waiting to see if there was anything else gonna happen with that school.

But uh, if that needs to be adjusted, we will we will make that adjustment.

We normally make these uh school adjustments during the summertime before school starts back up.

Okay.

Um, but we do a lot of coordination with the ISD.

So if it's if that's something that needs to be changed.

Well, that one in particular is um is problematic because a lot of people turn in off of center and they don't realize that they shouldn't have.

Right.

Uh and then it's too late.

There's no way to really turn around in that.

So it might help out the traffic overall if we change it back to two-way.

Okay, most definitely.

Mr.

Buskin, any other speakers on this item?

No, sir.

No additional speakers on this item.

Thanks, sir.

I have a motion from Councilmember Gonzalez, a second from Councilmember Galante, please cast your vote.

The motion passes.

Thank you, Mr.

Brooks.

We're gonna move on down to 12.2.

I didn't see Chief Stedham come in, so I guess you're just filling in for them, aren't you?

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Um, I'm here to discuss the amendment um agenda item 12.2, uh the amendment of the fire code for the city of Arlington for addition of third party compliance reporting and fee requirement at the first reading.

This is the first reading of an ordinance omitting the fire prevention chapter of the code of the city of Arlington, Texas 1987 through the amendment of Article 1 General Provisions, Section 1.03, amendments, additions, and deletions by the addition of the subsection 19A to require third party inspectors to submit certain inspection reports annually to establish a fee for the collection of a third party inspection reports, and to allow the city through a contract to designate a vendor for the collection of the third party inspection reports and fee.

Any questions seeing none?

I have a motion from Council or I'm sorry, Mr.

Buskin.

Anybody signed up to speak on this?

Yes, sir.

I have a motion from Councilmember Hunter, a second from Council Member Hogg.

Please cast your vote.

The motion passes.

13.1, Ms.

Thoppel.

Thank you, Mayor.

Item 13.1 zoning case PD 25-16 is a request from the applicant to call for a public hearing since that case was recommended denial by the planning and zoning commission on December 3rd, 2025.

The request was to rezone a 10-acre site from mostly commercial zoning districts C C and NC and a small portion of RMF 22 to a planned development for RMF 22 uses with a development plan for 252 multifamily unit development at 6,001 and 6,041 US 287 highway and 6,016 Myers Road.

This evening we have the applicant Nikki Moore from MMA presenting their case to call for a public hearing.

Ms.

Moore good evening, Mayor and Council.

On behalf of MMA's client, Novu Residential, we are humbly requesting the City Council to hear an appeal to the Planning and Zoning Commission's 341 decision on PD 2516.

Since the PNZ meeting on December 3rd, we have gathered additional information that could impact decision making over the project.

First, after sitting down with the adjacent neighborhood representatives, the most overwhelming concern appears to be the development's impact to traffic on the local roadways.

So to that, we have compiled additional traffic data and analysis related to the multifamily use and how much traffic will impact the local roadway system.

I have too spoken today with the city's assistant director of engineering to better understand how the traffic light at highway 287 and sublit functions and the direction and what tools that could be put into place to help mitigate drivers' ability to block the intersection at Myers and Supplett.

It also appears after further discussion with the landbroker, the potential commercial traffic data that we originally presented was far too conservative.

Secondly, City Council has a much broader scope for decision making when it comes to land use.

While not final yet, they are a litmus test as to where the comprehensive plan is going, and the final scenario will be derived from that citizen feedback.

So I kindly ask you to allow NMA to present the project and the community merits on a future agenda, and we in order to make the final decision.

Thank you, ma'am.

Mr.

Buskin, do we have any speakers on this item?

Yes, sir.

We have two speakers in opposition.

Our first speaker in opposition is Tanner Smith.

After Mr.

Smith is Timothy Hardman.

Mr.

Smith.

So I wrote down a couple things here.

I look at the proposal on the uh agenda for tonight.

And in the proposal, there is no updates for the Myers Street.

It has the what is existing and what is proposed, and none of that has changed.

So traffic flow will be impeded because we're not talking about widening the Myers Street.

And even if we were, there's nowhere that we can widen it.

So that is gonna increase that stoppage at Myers and Sublit.

So that was the one thing.

There was also nothing in the proposal that talks about updating to the drainage, uh, the infrastructure or anything like that.

And so with 252 apartments, I feel like there has to be something uh to be added there because we live over there and we notice that it's not sufficient for what we have now.

Um traffic at Sublit and 287 is pretty bad as as she had mentioned, and so looking at how to fix that would be one thing.

Uh the other thing is I'm a public school teacher here in Arlington, and I noticed that um the school district that we it would fall into would be Kennedale.

So, therefore, any residents that live in Arlington already seeking to move to that area.

If their students go to school in Arlington, we would lose that enrollment, although they would still be in the city of Arlington that takes away enrollment from our public schools here, and so all of their tax bases is gonna go to Kinnadale, even though they are still uh considered to be Arlington.

Uh, there's also already a bunch of new builds right there just on the other side of Pressbows.

There's new, I think they're townhomes.

Um there's directly behind Pressbus, there's new builds, directly behind those, there are new builds.

If you go down Sublit behind the uh Take Five Oil Change, there's a brand new apartment complex, and then on the other side of that Kroger that's brand new right there at Sublit and 287.

There's also new build townhomes there.

So I do agree people are trying to come here, but we have already had the increase in uh housing for them.

There's there's three or four new built neighborhoods right there.

I think adding this one is just gonna add the congestion and also not adding to the infrastructure.

Um also those people that are gonna move in there are gonna weave through our neighborhood to get back to Green Oaks because there's no thoroughfare that is accessible there, and 287, you can't even get on to it from that neighborhood as it is.

You would have to go back out to Sublit to the light, sit and wait to either go north or south, and then if you're trying to get on to 20, they're gonna find that they can weave through our neighborhood, increasing traffic where my children play and other children play, and they're gonna weave their way back to Green Oaks to try to get back up to 20.

So, unless we can have answers for all of that, and I don't think that's gonna happen tonight.

I I really think we need to consider uh a different use for this space because it's going to c uh add congestion to those that already live there.

Our next speaker is Timothy Harderman.

Good evening, Mayor, Council.

Thank you for your time tonight.

My name is Timothy Hardeman.

I live at 5714 Myers Road.

I'm within half a mile of the subject property that is under consideration for public hearing.

Uh I just want to iterate that the public uh the planning and zone commission has already denied this request for a change in zoning.

And I'm glad that they did because I've moved to the location where I live now 25 years ago.

Um Myers Road from Sublit, there used to be uh uh vacant land with cows and ponds and uh there were the blot that I bought had open land on two sides of it.

That's all changed before I could get my house built and to and move in in 2001, development had occurred and hundreds of houses were built in the community around me.

No problem.

I'm not against development in the city of Arlington.

Uh I voted for every uh tax uh for the taxes to build the stadiums.

I voted for those because that spread the burden around.

But for this uh particular use, I'm I'm not against development where this subject property is.

It's good that they can come in and abide by the current uh zoning for that property, but to change it and add 252 houses is to me is is just totally unacceptable because of the problems that we have.

Uh that area of roadway on Sublet was identified by the Arlington Police Department as one of the deadliest hot spots in Arlington in 2024.

You can look that up.

All this information is available to you.

Um the information I have as far as the uh number of apartment units that are already available in that area.

Um as of 2017, there were like 888 apartment units available in that area.

Since 2023, 440 units have been added already to that area.

All of that leads to uh speeding on our street on Myers Road.

The section of Myers Road from uh Garden Corner to Sublett Road when I moved over there was supposed to be a temporary road section that was going to be shut down when sub the uh widening of sublet road uh occurred.

That didn't happen.

Somebody decided to leave that section open, which leads to a lot of traffic coming through our neighborhood.

There's uh there's speeding, there's uh that we've had crime increases, all the things that goes with increased population.

We're not against development.

Uh I'm not against it personally.

Uh I know that there's a uh community petition going around that has almost 400 signatures on it already.

Excuse me, including mine.

So the need for a public hearing at this point, I think is a mute point.

I just asked that you would uh abide by the planning zone commission's uh decision.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Mr.

Buskin or Mr.

Buskin, any other speakers?

No, sir, no additional speakers.

We had one uh non-speaker in support and six non-speakers in opposition.

Thank you, sir.

Uh Ms.

Boxel, before I get to you, Miss Moore, I'm gonna give you an opportunity as uh the applicant to address some of the oppositions if you'd like.

I think I think it's just important to understand that this area of town, um, I can there's empathy there.

They have been living with uh in a construction zone that is associated with a tax dot project in that kind of southeast corridor.

Um and I think there is tangible frustration about how those roadway functions.

Um I do think that there is additional information about where those text dot entrance ramps are approaching um onto that's going to alleviate some of the backtracking through the neighborhoods in order to get onto 287 to travel north.

And so that is a partly of some of the additional information that I'd like the opportunity to have a public hearing and discuss with you, as well as you know, just the fact that during that construction, the vehicular sensors on that particular light were removed, um, but they are in the process of coming back online.

And so right now, while that intersection at Subliton 287 is monitored on you know on a daily basis, it's only adjusted the timing on a weekly basis, and those sensors, those vehicular sensors will allow that light to be able to be adjusted in real time as it relates to the traffic flow.

So those are just some of the things that I think um merit a warrant uh a public hearing so that we can kind of address all of those out in the open.

We do have a plan to address some of the drainage um and whatnot.

So I think um what does these residents are feeling is real, but I also you know truly believe that this project ultimately helps um not alleviate but creates a tangible of what how much traffic we're going to put on the adjustment raid adjacent roadway system compared to what would be allowed by right currently as a community commercial would include lots more cross access to Myers from 287.

Thank you, ma'am.

Councilmember Boxell.

Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Moore.

Um, as we I previously discussed with you, I am not really I have a lot of concerns about this project, and so even if you were to bring it, I would you know be inclined against it.

Um and I we've talked about those things, but my question is do you and you've you've touched on it here, you have more information that you either didn't present to PNZ or is not within the purview of PNZ that you wish to present.

Yes, ma'am.

That correct.

Okay.

Um so and I'm inclined to vote to allow you the hearing because of that, even with my other concerns.

Um the other thing I wanted to ask you is are you considering complying with any of the staff recommendations?

Or is that just completely off the table?

No.

So I believe staff made four different recommendations.

We were agreeable to three of them.

The only one we were unable to um adjust to was the request to leave a certain amount of frontage for a commercial use.

Um that was the only one that we were not able to.

So all the rest of the ones, and I let me see, I can pull them up here.

I don't want to get too far in the case.

Yeah, I don't want to get too far into that.

But I I wanted to that sort of gets to my point because I'm inclined to want to discuss those things because I think they're important issues that need to be aired publicly, which we can't do now because we're not considering those items.

So I'm inclined to do that.

But I'm I want you and your client to understand that you might be you know spinning your wheels and wasting a lot of time with us for no for no reason um other than to just get your your another opportunity, which might be worth it to you.

Um but uh I just wanted to bring that up that you know if you're willing to make some compromises on that based on our previous conversation, it might be worth our time, our time and your time to review this case again.

Yes, ma'am, understandable.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Boxel.

Councilmember Gonzalez.

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

Um I see lots of that that's my district, and I see lots of heads just going like this as anybody speaks.

And I think it's important that they know I I don't know who's gonna be able to do it, Gin C or whoever, what the options are, what can happen uh with the state with SB 840, which is important to talk about, I think.

So Mayor, do you mind if she goes over what can possibly happen?

When what has changed, or is that something that we just wait till after the public hearing?

Yeah, I I think r right now she's addressed the issues without getting too far into the weeds.

I I um uh and if I I'll just say it out there, there are certain restrictions on counsel regarding some of the legislative processes.

And that's what Mr.

Gonzalez is referring to.

Uh I'm certainly believing that it's something that could be get in we could get into if and if this council agrees to allow the appeal to come through and for the case to be heard on the merits.

But I think that goes more to the merits than the appeal itself.

And uh um I would ask that we just hold off on that and and see what happens on the appeal.

I just want people to know if even if it's later down the road, they there is a right now where they can build a multifamily there without coming back to council, and that's something that's different, but I'm just letting you know just because whatever happens this time and next time, and it you think it's done, it might not be done.

So that makes any sense.

So thank you.

Thank you.

I don't confused everybody else, but um Ms.

Councilmember Guellante.

Well, thank you, Nikki, for presenting this project.

And um thank you for all uh neighbors neighbors to show up and voice your concerns.

Um I hear both sides, I hear the concerns uh very well uh explained by the residents and also uh the project I take a good look and uh it was very productive meeting that we had.

I said I'm really inclined uh to give everybody the opportunity uh to present their case and all the uh the facets of uh the issues, and I will be inclined, like I said, uh to give you guys opportunity to go back to P and Z, and then you have an opportunity to show all the data, compare all the data with all the the master plans, and and and we rest assured if the PZ agrees with that, uh working together with the neighborhood and all the neighbors and the residents, and it comes up to us, so have the first and second reading.

So I'll be I'll entertain um moving back to PNZ for a hearing there and then come back to us.

Mr.

Galante, I'm gonna uh interject one thing here and a little bit before you get further into that and ask our assistant at city attorney to address the complexities of sending a case back to PNZ as opposed to voting on whether or not appeals should be heard and what PNZ is capable of or not capable of, so we can have a better understanding of whether or not that's realistic.

I'm very aware of uh of the timeline that will take to go.

It's not the timeline, and I'll let the city attorney address that.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Uh uh Galen Gatt and your assistant city attorney.

Uh there's two issues at play here.

One, uh, it's important to recognize, and I think the uh applicant did refer to it.

There are uh different uh things that can be considered uh when deciding whether or not to approve a zoning case.

Uh the uh planning and zoning commission is tasked with only making a decision based on what's the uh best use for the property, and they consider all of the uh the the criteria in the unified development code to make that decision.

However, the city council, as the policymaker and as quite frankly, the uh the group that uh approves what's in that unified development code also has other considerations that they can uh consider whether or not to approve a case.

Uh so it's certainly within the uh council's prerogative to make a decision based in state law on that recommendation, but they're not bound by their recommendation, it's just that it's it's just a recommendation.

So in the city of Arlington, there's a two-step process, like in many cities in the state of Texas.

You go to this the P and Z and then you go to the City Council, and the City Council can make that decision.

There's no requirement that if a case is dis is not recommended at PNZ that a supermajority or anything is required in the City of Arlington.

Uh there's it's also important to note, unfortunately, although the UDC does allow a remand, and it is certainly a legal option, uh, it's usually only uh advisable if the applicant is making a suggestion that the plan is going to be changed or that there's some other uh other things with the application that will be considered.

So, for instance, if if some of the uses were going to be uh changed, if this development were going to become uh mixed use or something like that.

Uh but there's nothing on the record that indicates that that's the case.

I believe the applicant uh said on the record that uh she believes she has new information that some of it is outside the purview of P and Z.

So uh if you send a case to be remanded to P and Z, uh we would always recommend that you give PNZ some guidance as to what they should consider.

And at this time it doesn't sound like they would make any different decision on it.

So just want to give you that piece of information.

I think we might be at the same exact place in two months' time.

Councilmember Hogg.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor.

Nikki, thank you for presenting.

You always do a good job, and you know how I don't really love this project.

And you know I'm I voted with you the last time and I agree that.

Um, but I also am a believer in looking at the appeal, it came with P and Z.

And I would probably agree with PZ.

Um you talked about tax improvement as a new change.

We've seen TAD recently on the amount of lawsuits that apartments have had, and all of a sudden TAD just settles, and that's what's caused some of our budget.

So I'm not really sold on TAD on increase in tax increase from where that comes through.

So that piece is where you came through.

Um, I don't really buy it.

Um, and I know it's there, but I I think there's other ways to create that revenue.

I also look and you know, I keep this document in my paper, and it's all of our uh multifamily that have come in since 2021, and it's like about 36 different places.

And you know, I kind of get the label of not approving these things, and I'm okay with that label on from those because I do believe multifamily can have a place where density is already there and where density is already in its spot, and I don't this place does not have density, and this is a single family neighborhood, and I still consider it a single family neighborhood.

So while I always are on the side of wanting to give you another shot, I'm not gonna waste your time because I'm probably gonna be in no vote the next time anyways, so I'm gonna be a no-vote tonight.

With that, Mr.

Buskin, any other speakers?

No, sir, no additional speakers.

Thank you.

Uh can I get a motion and a second, please.

I have a motion from Councilmember Galante.

A second from Councilmember Hogg, please cast your vote.

The motion is to either grant or deny the appeal just like on the agenda.

Please cast your vote.

It's a tie.

The motion fails.

Mr.

Buskin city citizen participation, please.

Thank you, Mayor.

Citizen participation gives the public an opportunity to make comments or address concerns regarding matters related to city business or affairs that are in the scope of the authority of the city council and which are not posted on the evening agenda.

However, please understand that the mayor and council are not permitted by law to respond to, discuss, or address the comment at this time.

The mayor and council may only ask clarifying questions and or direct staff to take appropriate action.

Speakers who have pre-registered will be given two minutes each to make their state their comments, except that if 26 or more speakers have pre-registered, each speaker will be given one minute to make their comments.

Mayor, we had nine individuals registered for citizen participation this evening.

Our first speaker is Tara Jacobs.

Ms.

Jacobs.

Next speaker, Mr.

Buskin.

Brian Burkhalter.

Mr.

Burkholter.

After Brian Burkhalter is Vanessa Strength.

Good evening, everybody.

My name is Brian Burkhalter.

I am homeless and I'm homeless because of an Arlington police officer.

About six months ago, I was pulled over.

He said it was because my registration was out, which it wasn't.

He then said he smelled marijuana, which he didn't because I don't smoke.

He then said I didn't have insurance.

I showed him I had insurance, but I had to show him because it was on my phone because I had just moved out here to help my mom battle an addiction problem.

He then asked me for the insurance phone number because he said that it was fake, and I gave him the number.

Mind you, this is about three to five o'clock somewhere in there.

And after that, two other officers pulled up.

One was behind me, the other one was on the side.

Both of them had their hands on their weapons, made me nervous, so I got out of the vehicle.

Once I got out of the vehicle, they legally searched my vehicle.

Um my family was going through some probate cases on both sides.

My c my uncle, I'm sorry, my grandfather's Captain Louis White, the first black um captain of Austin's police department.

A lot of people in Austin know me.

Uh he then found his ID and my mom's ID.

He charged me with a felony.

My mom told him she didn't want to press charges.

They told my car I wasn't able to get it out, and I've been on the street ever since.

I'm asking that you guys please stop profiling and how you profile.

Um is definitely in a certain way because Delta 8 is sold in smoke shops out here, but we don't go after the people that sell Delta 8, we go after the people that smoke it.

And I'm not suggesting we go after anybody that sells Delta 8.

I'm at I am asking that if someone smoking marijuana it's legal or illegal, then everyone needs to be charged the same.

Thank you, sir.

Next speaker, Mr.

Buskin.

Our next speaker is Vanessa Strength.

Miss Strengths.

Miss Strengths.

Next speaker, Mr.

Buskin.

Our next speaker is Lauren Wu.

Miss Wu.

Miss Wu.

Next speaker, Mr.

Buskin.

Our next speaker is Rojo Mepuero.

Hello, and thank you, Council.

Uh I'll be brief.

I actually wrote down my notes.

It is from the afternoon meeting.

Uh, also wearing yellow because it's supported by my friend Gilberto.

Come on, he made it on 40 under 40.

We gotta, you know, bring these local businesses.

But I'll say that because the comment around the color wasn't so much about color for me, it was about material.

And that's my first comment.

I believe it is uh necessary for us to be considering materials that we're asking developers to have in the city to be sustainable.

I am a big fan of uh my first trip I ever had outside of the states was to Singapore.

And I had the opportunity to see the beauty of the plants and all these beautiful gardens.

And I was thinking we deserve to have this in the American Dream City.

So I would love to see more sustainable buildings and even to go farther than that.

Let's show uh you know the two cities next door who we shall not mention because they're not Arlington.

Now we can have a city with sustainable buildings, and we can have investment here that is sustainable.

Then that moves to my second comment, which is native plants.

I've shared this with you all.

My passion for native plants and native people and recognizing the beauty of this district uh of the city.

Um I have the great privilege of living in Westside uh by the Village Creek nature nature area.

My favorite place to go to.

I every time I need peace and comfort, I go there.

And you know, I'm doing my best to try to keep those creeks clean.

But I've been thinking about this, and it is very important that we start considering having more native plans in the development that we do.

It is a simple move that we can simply ask developers.

We do want to see some greenery in your development, but we want to make sure that it's native so that it creates some recharge areas for the water.

That way we don't have just all these parking lots all around the city.

And most importantly, it brings pollinators back to our city.

It brings the animals that continue to help us keep those beautiful flowers shining and bright.

And then my last comment it is transportation.

Come on, it's uh not surprise, and I'll be quick.

It is really considering maybe having and asking developers to have pickup and drop up zones.

Uh I went to the airports and I've seen the massive change of efficiency in having areas where everybody goes to get their Uber and Lifts, or in this case, VI.

So hopefully we can include those comments.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, sir.

Miss Boxell, do you have something?

Uh yeah, I would like to address the comments.

Okay, we we can't.

We can't engage on addressing the comments on that.

All we can do is ask for clarification or provide.

All right.

I just would like uh I'd like to know if Mr.

Regio, is that how you pronounce it, Rojio?

Um has read any of our recommendations any of our uh design criteria manual and all of our recommendations and our landscape regulations because all of those have those items that he's talking about.

Okay, next speak.

No, go go sit down.

Our next speaker.

You've done this enough, you know all the rules.

Come on now.

All right, next speaker.

Our next speaker is Jeff Morris.

Mr.

Morris.

After Mr.

Morris is Pat Kelly.

Mr.

Kelly.

Come on, Mr.

Kelly.

Speaking of doing this enough, Mayor, I think Mr.

Morris is coming up.

I was just reading the next speaker.

Mr.

Morris, I'm gonna have you hold off one second since Mr.

Kelly beats you to the podium here.

Good evening, everyone.

My name is Patrick Kelly, and I live backed up next to the Random Hill Park Nature Preserve.

That's been downgraded to a natural area.

But for all practical purposes nowadays, it's just a thicket.

That's all it is.

And when Pete Jamison and I started the project to clean it up back in the early 2000s, we thought it was going to take about 18 to 36 months to clean up.

Now it's been over 20 years.

And it's worse now than it's ever been.

And the uh method by which we do things is doing nothing but kill more post oak trees.

And I've explained to everybody that I know how to everybody that I know to explain it to many times.

You know, when you go out there to take to take privet out, etc.

etc.

And in the times of years that you don't the time of year that you don't.

And uh I don't know.

I I guess we're still in this planning stage.

Anyway, at this pace, um, you know, you and I met when you were deputy city manager, and it may be that I'm talking about the same subject during your retirement party.

So anyway, you know what I want done.

We we need to clean it up.

But I got two more things I want to go over real quick.

The other one is the water, you know.

Somebody told us we were using too much water when we weren't.

Your guys came out and their contractors came out and said, hey, you don't have a water problem, you don't have a leak.

The other thing is these guys next door to me.

They both work uh the father and the son are both uh in civil engineers, one's Dallas, one's Fort Worth, and they only want to do around there what they want to do.

I don't want to move a whole yard, but I mean they got cars out there without mufflers and the alarm goes off, and something needs to be done about that all.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Kelly.

Mr.

Morris, thank you for your patience.

Come on up.

Thank you.

Uh Mayor, council.

Thank you for allowing me to speak.

My name is Jeff Morris.

Um I live in Preston Wood West.

I've been a uh 28-year resident of Arlington.

This is home to me now.

I've raised my kids here.

I'm a coach and teacher at Lamar High School.

I love Arlington.

I know you guys get all you guys deal with those problems probably most of the time, but I just wanted to say that I love our and I'm bringing you a problem today, but I wanted to tell you that I love Arlington and I understand the difficulty of your jobs.

Uh several of our neighbors addressed this council before Christmas, uh, and we're here again because the damage is uh not stopped.

With every major rain event, our neighborhood loses more ground uh literally.

Soil washes away, retaining walls uh weaken, and the stability of our homes is uh put at risk.

This is not a past issue, it's happening now.

Families are watching their uh backyards erode uh month by month, wondering what the next storm will bring and how much more damage they will have to absorb on their own.

We want to be very clear.

This is not a floodgate or damn precedent issue.

We are asking the city of Arlington uh take on, we're not asking the city of Arlington to take on private lakes across Arlington.

This is stormwater that begins at Sanford Street between Davis and Fielder, travels through the city streets and drainage systems and reaches our homes with destructive force.

Uh as a residents and taxpayers, we're asking for help, not to litigate, but to protect our homes in our neighborhood before the damage becomes irreversible.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Next speaker, Mr.

Buskin.

Our next speaker is Stephen Daniels.

I'm Colin.

Hey, I just want to acknowledge what a beautiful presentation this lady did.

That was incredible.

It was beautiful.

So I just wanted to acknowledge that.

You know she doesn't get a vote on anything.

Well, I'll tell you, I wish she did.

Run it on.

We ready?

Go ahead.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Ross.

Uh good evening, uh, Mayor, uh distinguished council members.

Uh, my name is Steve Daniels, and I also live in Preston Wood West.

Um, I've been here since 1924.

I'm sorry, 2024, so I'm a newer member to the community, but I do volunteer coach at the YMCA, little kids of my I'm an empty nester now.

My so going and coaching the little five, six-year-olds is really a lot of fun, and there's beautiful and wonderful people in this city.

So I'm really glad and proud to be here.

Um to the um my talk here.

Um again, I'm with the uh Preston Wood uh West group.

What we are dealing with is not something a private HOA can manage.

Uh, no matter how responsible or well intentioned.

The stormwater causing damage in our neighborhood does not start on HOA property.

As has been said, it starts at Stanford uh between Davis and Fielder, then moves through our city streets, culverts drainage infrastructure before reaching our homes.

By the time it arrives, it's already concentrated, it's extremely fast moving and destructive.

Our HOA alone by ourselves cannot control upstream flow.

We cannot modify city infrastructure, we cannot slow water that is released in our neighborhood from outsider boundaries.

Yet we are the ones living with the consequences.

This is why we are asking the city council, with your leadership, mayor, to step in, not to assign blame to anyone, but to provide engineering direction and leadership.

Without City Council involvement, homeowners are left with no realistic path forward.

We are here as uh your constituents asking for help with a problem that clearly exceeds private control.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, sir.

And I just say also that the grace you showed other speakers should be given to you because that was a class act.

Thank you for that.

Next speaker, Mr.

Buskin.

Our next speaker is James Brace.

Good evening, Mayor.

Council, thank you very much.

I am Jim Brace, and I live in Prestonwood West.

I've been there for six years.

We know there is concern about setting precedents, so we want to address that directly.

This is not a floodgate issue.

We are not asking the city to assume responsibility for every private dam or lake in Arlington.

We are asking the city council to recognize a specific stormwater failure, one created by how water is conveyed through city infrastructure upstream and released downstream into our neighborhood.

Right now, homeowners are being left to absorb the risk, the cost, and the uncertainty without authority, guidance, or tools to fix the problem.

As residents and taxpayers, we're asking the city council to engage at the staff and engineering level, help define viable stormwater solutions, and provide direction before conditions continue to worsen.

We are not here to escalate.

We're here to ask for leadership and assistance.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir.

Mr.

Buskin, any other speakers tonight.

No, sir, no additional speakers this evening.

Thank you, sir.

Council, do y'all have any announcements for this evening?

Yes, Dr.

Odom Wesley.

Thank you, Mayor.

I wanted to make sure all of our residents are aware of a big celebration coming to Arlington next week, January 16th through 19th.

It's the Advancing the Dream celebration in honor of Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

It's a four-day event, one of the largest in the country.

And our theme this year is Advancing the Dream, a Journey Toward Unity.

It kicks off Friday night, January 16th with uh Advancing the Dream Gala.

And then on Saturday, there's a step show showcase at Bowie High School.

Also on Saturday, Poetry Meets Jazz.

On Sunday, there's a citywide ecumenical service.

And then on Monday evening, there's the youth extravaganza at um Fielder, Fielder Church Metro Center.

So you see, there's something for everybody in this four-day celebration.

We've been doing this now for 37 years.

So we invite all of our residents, visitors to the city to come out and uh enjoy.

I'm looking for the website where y'all can get all the details.

I forgot it.

Oh, Arlington MLK.com.

Arlington MLK.com.

January 16th through 19th.

Thank you.

I have an announcement.

There's some of y'all that may not like me at all, think I'm mean and horrific and ugly and everything else.

It ain't my fault.

It's those two people's fault sitting right over there.

My parents who are here for the holidays.

And uh they came on down from Michigan to say hello and uh to hang out for a few weeks.

So just wanted uh to make an announcement that I do still at my ripe old age have parents that are still kicking it, and I do love them.

So thank you for being here tonight.

Uh with that, Mr.

Buskin.

Any other announcements?

Thank you, Mayor.

I'd like to remind our residents.

Arlington City Council evening meetings are rebroadcast on Sundays at 6 p.m.

and on Wednesday and Saturday mornings at 6.30 a.m.

The council's afternoon work sessions are rebroadcast on Sundays at 1 p.m., Wednesdays at 1 30 p.m.

and on Saturdays at 6 p.m.

You can also watch the meetings online anytime at www.arlington tx.gov.

Thank you, Mr.

Buskin.

Thank you all for being out here tonight.

Happy New Year again.

And with that, City Council's adjourned.

Arlington was a pretty small city.

And so there's a lot of people there.

Speaker Wright was there, and Arlington High School band was there.

But it was exciting.

It just like you send a kid off to the university or somewhere.

Everybody was waving.

Oh, you're going to trade.

And just waving.

Everybody was so proud of what they'd done.

There it goes, you know.

It was it was just a great send-off.

Arkanston was still a country town.

People don't know we had two cotton dents right downtown.

And uh coach or all over the prairie.

And so basically they were good people.

And uh they would help anybody.

If they needed it, they helped.

Hi, I'm Cynthia Lemos with my Arlington TV, and in this episode of Arlington Eats, we're gonna take you to Taquería Salvillo where you can enjoy the Mexican food, but also you can learn from the Mexican traditions.