L'autreanseo, oochio, and Good evening, everybody, welcome to the Arlington City Council session.

We're gonna go ahead and call the council meeting to order.

We got a whole lot of stuff on the agenda tonight, so I don't want to waste any time.

I'm gonna invite Reverend Laurie Key from the Renewed Life Church to please come forward and assist us with an invocation.

Please rise if you can.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Let's pray.

Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus, and we ask you for your covering tonight, Lord Jesus.

Just like the mayor had um shared, there's a lot to cover tonight.

We just need your wisdom and your guidance and your leading tonight over every agenda item.

And may we prosper, Father God, in your land.

And it's in the name that we pray, Jesus.

Amen.

Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Justice for all.

Honor the Texas flag.

I pledge allegiance to the Texas one state under God.

One individual.

Thank you.

You may be seated.

Which one of y'all got in the credit?

So good evening.

I am Chuck Allen.

I'm the assistant state fire marshal.

And uh want to say thank you to the mayor, city council, fire chief, water department, nine one one communication staff, and all the staff that took part in your recent ISO PPC survey.

It takes many people to ensure these surveys are successful, and the team that the city compiled did a phenomenal job of providing all the information, documents, and other information to see the city maintain its class one ratings.

One of just over 100 departments nationwide that have a class one rating.

Some fun facts about your ISO survey.

Your last survey was in 2018.

Chief Don Carlson was your fire chief.

You had ninety point two three on-duty personnel, 17 engines, five ladder companies.

Giving you a total of 95.67 in your most recent survey in 2026, you had Chief Stedham that was your fire chief.

You had 97 on-duty personnel, remaining 17 engines and five ladders, nine point eight five points out of ten for your nine one-one dispatch, and forty out of forty on your water supply.

The improvement on the water supply is due to your robust inspection flow testing program.

You receive full credit for that line item during your survey.

Mr.

Mayor, Chief, on behalf of Commissioner Amanda Crawford with the Department of Insurance, Chief Deborah Knight and myself, we want to recognize the hard work and dedication of your city maintaining your class one ISO rating.

The support the city provides, the fire department, water, and 911 communications can be seen in this score.

Better yet, the citizens of Arlington should be excited to know the city provides the support to these departments to help them be successful.

On behalf of Chief Knight and myself, we're excited to present the city of Arlington with this award of achievement for maintaining your class one press uh rating.

All right, let's move this so we can take a picture.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This Northeast organization will bring in, be bringing firefighters from all over North America here to Arlington.

I believe it's August, September, August.

Uh, and we're very excited about having all the firefighters coming in here and showcasing our city.

So thanks, guys, for what y'all do.

So, okay.

Miss Elverroy, where are you?

There you are.

Who you are you gonna bring anybody with you?

I did.

You're on tour.

Ms.

Elveroy needs an entrepreneur.

Y'all know that, right?

I love you.

I love you more.

Proclamation, whereas World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is dedicated to raising awareness for elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation, and promoting the protection and dignity of older adults.

And whereas our elders are the foundation of our community, the parents, grandparents, neighbors, and friends who have built our schools, neighborhoods, businesses, and places of worship, and whose wisdom, guidance, and love continue to shape Arlington.

And whereas every older adult deserves to live with dignity, safety, and peace, free from physical, emotional, mental, and financial abuse.

And whereas elder abuse is a hidden crisis that affects individuals across neighborhoods, backgrounds, and income levels, with many cases going unreported due to fear, shame, or isolation.

And whereas Arlington remains committed to protecting and supporting its seniors, as demonstrated by the creation of the mayor's advisory council for older adults, which elevates the voices of seniors and works to ensure they can age safely with dignity.

And whereas World Elder Abuse Awareness Days serves as an opportunity to encourage Arlington residents to be observant, supportive, and proactive in reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation, and connecting older adults with vital community resources.

And whereas the City of Arlington is dedicated to fostering a community where no elder lives in fear, no one suffers in silence, and every older adult is valued for their lifetime of contributions.

Now, therefore, I, Jim Ross, Mayor of the City of Arlington, Texas, do hereby proclaim June 15th of 2026 as World Elder Abuse Day.

Thank y'all.

And then we'll take a picture.

Just a quick uh note from Lynn Scott, who is the executive director of the Texas Elder Justice Coalition and also executive director of guardianship services for Terrent County.

Lynn.

Thank you, Elva.

Oh, I'm the shorty.

It's okay.

We'll just do it like this.

So, on behalf of the Texas Elder Justice Coalition, thank you for this proclamation and for recognizing the importance of protecting older and vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

Creating safer communities requires all of us, families, professionals, organizations, and our wonderful public leaders working together.

We are grateful for the city of Arlington's leadership and partnership in this important effort.

Thank you all.

I do.

Thank you.

By the way, I love you.

Elva, I love you.

I love you.

There you go.

We don't say it enough.

That's exactly right.

Elva came up with an idea with our advisory council about creating friendship tables throughout the city.

And UTA is working with us.

And these are decorative tables that allows opportunities, and we partnered up with uh Gary Pack and with Parks and Rec, and we'll be creating friendship tables throughout the city where you could just sit down and have a comfort zone where you can just meet people.

And I think it was so cool that you can come up with something, whether you're elderly, whether you're young, whether you're a UTA student or whoever it is, just to create an atmosphere where you can have a friendship table and know that that table is meant for interacting with people who you may have never met before.

So thank you, Elva, for everything you do.

I really do love you.

Miss Melissa Walker, will you come on up here, please?

You know, we know you love seeing me over here, right?

We have a proclamation here, whereas pollinator species such as bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, and other insects are essential, but I don't always like them flying on me, okay, are essential to maintaining healthy ecosystems and supporting the trees, flowers, gardens, and green spaces that enhance the quality of life in Arlington, Texas.

And whereas the City of Arlington recognizes the important role pollinators play in supporting biodiversity, strengthening urban habitats, and contributing to environmental sustainability through our parks, and we encourage residents to protect them.

And whereas Arlington's public works stormwater education specialist and the Arlington B City USA Committee, did y'all even know we had one of those?

We have a B City USA Committee created the pollinators of Arlington identification program to document and better understand the pollinator species living within our community, and whereas the program identified as an additional 181 pollinator species within Arlington during the past year, using the iNaturalist app, including 95 species of moths, six species of butterflies, 19 native bee species, 61 species of pollinating beetles, flies, and wasps, bringing the total number of documented pollinator species to 1,182.

Whereas since October of 2021, nearly 1,000 Arlington area volunteers recorded more than 23,000 pollinator observations throughout the city.

And whereas the Arlington B City USA Committee and the stormwater education specialist have continued promoting conservation awareness and community engagement by presenting three native bee and pollinator educational programs supporting two community pollinator bio surveys and hosting Arlington's fourth annual Moth Night at Webb Community Park.

Now, therefore, I, Jim Ross, mayor of the city of Arlington, do hereby proclaim June 22nd through 28th, 2026 as National Pollinator Week.

Congratulations.

I want to thank the council and the mayor, and the mayor's put up with my B stories and stuff, and he just kind of rolls his eyes at me.

Um this program really is about our citizen scientists helping us get educational material out about pollinator species in Arlington, helping create and preserve habitat, reducing our stormwater pollution, which better helps our environment.

I do want to announce that our fifth annual moth night will be at Molly Holler Wildscape on July 22nd.

So I really would encourage the mayor to come out and say hi.

As long as I don't get stung by something.

No, no, no, this is moth.

The bees will be sleeping.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Let's take a picture.

Rojo, who you bring in with you tonight.

Come on up.

I'm gonna do a uh Pride months proclamation.

I've done that every year that I've been mayor, and uh this year it seems more important to me in light of our adjustments that we've done with our anti-discrimination ordinance because it's important to me and council that everybody in this community know that they're love and respected and welcomed here.

So, with that, whereas the city of Arlington recognizes the rich diversity of its residents and values the many ways LBGTQ plus individuals contribute to the culture, social, and economic vitality of our community.

And whereas Arlington is committed to fostering a welcoming environment where all people can live authentically, participate fully, and feel safe, respected, and supported, and whereas Arlington Pride 2025 presented by the Help Center for LBGTQ plus health and wellness drew nearly 10,000 attendees to the Levitt Pavilion and united statewide and national participation in education, celebration, and community building.

And whereas Pride Month provides an important opportunity for Arlington to highlight ongoing efforts that strengthen unity, encourage dialogue, and celebrate the contributions of LBGTQ plus community members.

Whereas recognizing pride reflects Arlington's dedication to fairness, dignity, and the continuing work of cultivating an inclusive city for everyone.

Now, therefore, I, Jim Ross, mayor of the city of Arlington, Texas, encourage all residents to join in celebrating diversity and in promoting inclusion throughout our community and do hereby proclaim June of 2026 as pride month.

Thank you.

Rojo.

It takes a great lot of courage to uh stand with a community, even in the face of adversity sometimes and criticism.

It takes even more courage to be seen for who we authentically are.

I'm very thankful to live in the city.

Uh, very thankful to be have been part of the process of bringing pride to our city and continue that legacy now.

Uh hearing it specifically from our young residents, the students, uh, reaching out to us, telling us that they feel seen simply because we are unapologetically ourselves.

Uh, it's truly a sense of pride, not just for me as a resident, but really for our city.

So thank you so much for this opportunity.

Ms.

Garcia, speaker guidelines in general decorum, please.

Thank you, Mayor.

We ask that the citizens and other visitors in attendance, 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 upstate language will engage in any other actions that disturb or are calculated to disturb the meeting, or who becomes disruptive while addressing the mayor in 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 the 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 opposition or opposite speakers and supporter 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 city council.

Thank you, Miss Garcia.

Do we have any appointments to boards or commissions?

We do, Mayor.

We have four appointments to boards and commissions.

To the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau, Mark Caffey, place three.

Jaime Patel, place seven, Mauricio Galante, place nine, to the tax increment reinvestment zone, number one, Brittany Garcia Dumont, place six.

Thank you, Miss Garcia.

Do we have any speakers on any of these items?

We do not, Mayor.

Thank you.

We have a motion from Councilmember Phan and a second from Council Member Gonzalez.

Please cast your vote.

And the motion passes consideration of minutes, please.

We have the minutes for the May 12th, 2026 evening meeting, and the minutes for the May 19th, 2026 afternoon and evening meetings for your consideration.

Thank you, ma'am.

Council, do y'all have any additions or corrections?

Seeing none, Miss Garcia.

Do we have any speakers on this item?

We do not.

Thank you.

I have a motion from Councilmember Odom Wesley.

A second from Council Member Ware, please cast your vote.

The motion passes consideration of consent agenda, please.

The consent agenda this evening contains 15-minute orders, one ordinance and 23 resolutions.

The minute orders seek to authorize one renewal of annual requirements contract for sweeping services, two, renewal of two-year requirements contract for temporary personnel services.

Three to five, construction contracts for John F.

Kubala water treatment plant, recycle pump electrical improvements for the ditch improvements, Dan Gould Drive, Wood Lane, Bell Street, Waterview Drive, Chaparrito Trail, Jewel Drive, and for the 2022 Highway Safety Improvement Program Projects.

Six and seven engineering services contracts for planning and development services drainage, technical review and assistance, and for the water treatment plan, many lab improvements.

Eight, contract modification number two to the construction contract of the Collins 2.5 million gallon elevated storage tank rehabilitation.

Nine contract modification number one to the engineering services contract for Matlock Road, Green Oaks Boulevard to Sublet Road.

10 contract for installation of traffic control barricades for the World Cup.

Eleven through 13, purchase of one replacement vehicle for the Parks and Recreation and Culture Department of One Replacement Vehicle for the Arlington Water Utilities Department, and of four replacement vehicles for various city departments.

14, reject all bids for the purchase of two large scale autonomous electric mowers.

15 interior design services contract for Arlington Air Center fixed base operator at Arlington Municipal Airport.

The ordinance seeks to authorize 16 zoning case PD 25-22, 1120 Debbie Lane and 8380 Glen Day Drive.

The resolution seek to authorize.

17, designating Arlington Entertainment District as a cultural district.

18, designation of a records management officer for the city of Arlington.

19 authorize the request for proposal procurement method for collection of delinquent property taxes and municipal court debts.

20 and 21, interlocal agreement with the North Texas Central Council of Governments for 2026 FIFA World Cup, and between the City of Arlington and the City of Mansfield for water and wastewater services.

22, Department of State Health Services, Interlocal Agreement for Inspection of Mobile Food Vendors.

23 and 24, Arlington Independent School District Interlocal Agreements for School Resource and Home Hometown Recruiting Officers.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Local Parks, Non-Urban, Indoor, and Outdoor Recreation Grants.

27, drinking water, state revolving fund, led service line replacement program, volume of application and designation of authorized representative.

28, water supply and infrastructure grants, following of application and designation of authorized representative.

29, 2026, U.S.

Department of Homeland Security Grants.

30 and 31, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Fiscal Year 2025 Assistance and Firefighters Grant Program, and Fire Prevention and Safety Grant Programs.

32 Federal Railroad Administration, Fiscal Year 25 and 26, Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program Grant.

33, U.S.

Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Fiscal Year 2026 High Priority Program, Commercial Motor Vehicle.

34, contract for demolition, abatement and site preparation services of nine residential properties located at 1310 and 1402 North Center Street, 1211, 1213, 1219, 1403, 1409, 1421 and 1505 Altman Drive.

35, Arlington Economic Development Corporation, all cash contractors sell Mary A.

Stewart, 1215 Altman Drive.

36, East Space Property Use and Early Access Agreement.

37, pre-development and interim maintenance and use agreement.

LSTD MKLLC 1400 North Collins Street.

38 First Amendment to Anthem Development Agreement.

39, consent to assignment of the Lincoln Square Master Development Agreement.

This concludes the consent agenda for this evening, Mayor.

Thank you, Miss Garcia.

I'll recognize Councilmember Gonzalez.

Yes, Mayor, thank you.

I'd like to pull 7-17.16 for separate consideration.

Thank you, sir.

We'll pull 7.16 for separate consideration.

Miss Garcia, do we have any speakers on the remaining items?

We do not, Mayor.

Only on 7.16.

Thank you, ma'am.

I have a motion from Councilmember Gonzalez.

Can I get a second, please?

A second from Council Member Hunter, please cast your vote.

Mayor, excuse me, we do have an additional card that was just given to us.

7.29.

7.29.

You go ahead and call that speaker up and we'll hold off on finalizing the vote.

Yes.

Dan Sullivan.

Yes, sir.

Come on up here to the podium, please.

Thank you.

I'll try to keep this brief.

I oppose uh issue 7.29, and I'm gonna tell you why.

I understand why it's on the consent agenda.

For the council, this is a this is a matter of ordinary operation of government, accepting a federal grant.

Could hardly be controversial, but I'll tell you this.

I've heard people talk tonight about diversity and about the way that the city of Arlington values its diverse population, and I believe that to be true of this council.

And I we haven't talked about immigrants, but I believe that if immigrants were brought up, the council's view would also be that it values the immigrants of Arlington too.

And I bet that the council also values the American Constitution.

The problem is the Department of Homeland Security does not.

All right, and these programs which connect local police to the Department of Homeland Security are a way in which the Department of Homeland Security increases its influence in local police departments.

And it's not something the council wants to talk about or think about, I'm sure, because it's a matter of national politics, right?

The way that our democracy is being undercut precisely by the Department of Homeland Security, and there's a there's a local case that here is that illustrates that very well.

The case of Yakub era.

Yakobira is a young man, an immigrant, a DACA recipient.

We all know the kind of wimbo that these people are in.

And he has been in ICE detention for eight months.

Now for for what, right?

For expressing his views on Palestine.

Now, whether his view is in support of Palestine or against Palestine, you can guess from the fact that he's in ice detention, right?

If he was against Palestine, that he wouldn't be in ice detention for it.

But should it matter, right?

Can a person express a view without the law following falling down on his head?

And increasingly in America, there are cases where he cannot, or she cannot, right?

And where the application of the law depends on what your political views are.

This is a very, very important constitutional question, and one which is undermining our democracy.

Yacobira's case is a local illustration of what we all know to be a national problem.

So I would urge the city not to increase its relationship with the Department of Homeland Security not to increase the relationship of local law enforcement with Homeland Security and to reject item 7.29.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Any other speakers on this?

Any of these items, Miss Garcia.

Thank you.

I have a motion from Councilmember Gonzalez and a second from Council Member Hunter.

Please cast your votes.

And the motion passes.

We'll go on back to 7.16.

Mr.

Gonzalez, I'm gonna have you address your your issues with this here.

I would caution council that we do not have a public hearing tonight, that we cannot be uh calling witnesses to come and talk on any of this, but you're welcome to ask Mr.

Bloom for any clarification on anything on the pending agenda item.

Yes, uh thank you, Mayor.

Uh Mr.

Bloomer when we voted on this uh item last time there was some loose ends that we were hoping would get done.

So I just want an update and see if if those loose ends were taken care of.

Sure.

Thank you, Councilman.

The uh applicant uh since the May 5th meeting has added perimeter fencing uh along the uh Debbie Glane, Glorettay Drive and Ragland Road.

Uh they've had sidewalks around the perimeter of the site.

Uh they eliminated the detention pond that was previously there.

Uh they have other solutions that they'll probably be able to use uh in not in lieu of the detention pond.

Uh the public street access from Ragland Road has been modified slightly, and they have um made a variety of um uh changes with the uh color and design of the buildings and roof lines and stove so forth.

So uh the um staff no longer has uh any issue with the um anti-monotony regulations.

So those are those are the our items that have been addressed since the May 5th meeting.

Thank you, Mr.

Bloomer.

I want to thank the applicant for coming back as promised.

Thank you.

Do you have a speaker on this item?

We do, Mayor.

We have uh one speaker in support and five in opposition.

Okay, first speaker in support is Dixon Holman, Dixon.

You want to know next speaker, Ms.

Garcia?

Runjona Bandarin.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Um when you all were permitting the gas wells at the day site a few weeks ago.

I sent you five OGI videos of pollution from these existing day wells.

Um, so I would just want to remind you all that there is pollution that occurs uh when you're living right next to oil and gas development, including at the day site.

And I looked at these plans carefully, and I noticed that townhomes 1 to 20, 42 to 104, 129 to 167, 168, 169, 170 are less than 600 feet from the day gas wells.

So that's about 120 of these 170 townhomes.

That is very, very close.

That is not safe.

Typically, when renters rent a home, they typically don't know what's behind them.

So most often they discover that something's going on when the drilling rig shows up, or there's some other work going on on site.

And that's a dangerous distance.

So I wanted to mention that.

Arlington has a reverse setback of 300 feet when this proposal first came out.

There were a few townhomes within 300 feet.

As far as I can tell, those townhomes haven't moved, and of course the gas wells never move, they're there, they're already there.

So it is possible that some of these uh homes are inside 300 feet of the existing well.

And that is not that is a no-no under our reverse setbacks.

So I hope you'll consider all of that as you make this decision because that's a lot of homes very close to polluting gas wells, and there are other drill sites in the area as well.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Next speaker, Ms.

Garcia.

Jonathan Princess, and next would be Rita Beving.

Hey, good evening, Mr.

Mayor and Council.

My name is Jonathan Prince and I'm a resident of Arlington.

Um, what I want to talk about tonight, since the way things are going, what scares me the most about this new place is just the proximity of the pool to the gas site.

I I saw in the plans that it got moved a little bit, which is good, but what I would make me feel more comfortable is if there's any way where that could be covered in like an enclosed indoor pool versus just open air right there next to all the gas wells and stuff.

Um just my recommendation, but um thank you for your time.

Thank you, sir.

Rita Beving.

And next will be Laura Caput.

Good evening.

My name's Rita Beving.

And I'm the North Texas representative for public citizen.

And we just want to express the fact that we concur with what Ms.

Bandari said about this site.

It's disappointing that these wells were conveniently approved a few weeks ago, and now we're looking at town homes.

That clearly will put residents in harm's way.

I urge you not to support these town homes because you're putting people in harm's way.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Laura Caput.

And next will be Jamie.

My name is Laura Capek, and I'm in Arlington.

Excuse me from reading this tonight, but I wanted to make sure I got the three minutes.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the council, even our new ones.

Our tree ordinance is not working.

Cases like tonight highlight its failure.

Even though developers and their partners who were stockholders when the ordinance was written, have not become educating and participating partners to help conserve our trees.

The tree preservation replacement standards in section 523 of our unified development code technically mandate a 35% tree preservation target for residential developments.

However, a major loophole remains.

If a developer claims they cannot hit the 35 threshold, our ordinance allows them to bypass it entirely by paying a tree replacement fee per diameter inch.

Developers treat this low fee as a predictable cost of doing business.

To lose a unit to a valued tree is not within their profit margin.

When a developer pays the cheap fee to clear cut below the 35% goal, the ecological and financial burden does not disappear.

It is shifted directly to the Arlington taxpayers.

According to the urban forest data, mature North Texas trees intercept thousands of gallons of stormwater annually.

Clearing them forces the city to build, expand, and maintain larger expensive concrete stormwater networks to handle the increased runoff.

Stripping this canopy also accelerates the de aggregation of the asphalt roads due to the heat island effect, shortening our municipal repaving cycles.

If we want to achieve our city priority to grow the economy, we must stop letting developers buy out the city's 35% conservation target with public tax dollars.

We do not need to halt development to fix this.

We need to enforce the spirit of existing 35 rule by fixing the regulatory math.

I asked the council to ask city staff to investigate the policies that could change under the UDC Section 523.

Make the 35 preservation a hard cap.

Preservation target must be physically met on site, forcing developers to design the layouts around the existing canopies.

Protect the cross timber species.

Ban developers from using tree replacement fees, declared native post oaks and black jack oats.

These slow-going trees are irreplaceable and require a mandatory engineering workaround.

Escalate the fees dynamically.

For an approved exception below 35, raise the tree replacement fee from its current rate to a progressive structure that reflects the true multi-year cost of planning and establishing the Arlington.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Jaime.

I live here in Arlington.

I'm opposing the zoning case, PD 25-22.

This case is being presented as a housing development proposal, but it cannot be separated from what is happening right next door.

The city is being asked to approve 170 new townhomes near Total Energy State Drill site while that same drilling operation is being expanded.

I want council to think carefully about the message this sends.

If gas drilling is safe enough to place hundreds of residents next to it, why do setback rules exist at all?

And if setback rules exist because drilling carries risks, why are we actually encouraging more families to move closer to those risks?

Many of these future homes would be located within a short distance of active gas wells.

Residents would be expected to live, raise children, spend their daily lives near industrial operations that generate noise, truck traffic, air pollution, and emissions.

Communities throughout the Barnett Show have reported living with these impacts for years, and Arlington should not be expanding the number of families exposed to them.

This issue extends beyond these future homeowners, nearby schools, including Williams Elementary and Workman Junior Highs are located in an area where gas drilling is proposed is proposed to be expanded.

Expanding development around these sites means more people exposed to community impacts of industrial operations in our neighborhoods.

I'm also concerned by reports that modifications to site maps and well classifications may have allowed this project to move forward despite questions about reverse setback requirements, whether or not those actions were technically permissible.

They raise an important question.

Are we following the spirit of these protections or merely looking for ways around them?

Council has a responsibility not just to approve development, but to ensure development is compatible with health, safety, and quality of life for Arlington residents.

Housing is important, but placing hundreds of people next to expanding gas infrastructure is not smart planning.

Future residents deserve better than being placed in the middle of industrial drilling operations.

Council, you have the power to stop this tonight.

The only thing in question is if you have the backbone to do so to not approve this development that will put people's health at risk.

Vote no on PD 25-22.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Any other speakers?

Ms.

Garcia.

Mayor that concludes all speakers for this item.

We do also have three non-speakers in support and one non-speaker in opposition.

Thank you, ma'am.

Can I get a motion and a second, please?

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

Please cast your vote.

The motion passes.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Tax increment in reinvestment zone number one is currently scheduled to terminate on December 31st, 2038.

The proposed ordinance will extend the term of TERS 1 for a period of 20 years to December 31st of 2058.

The purpose of the term extension is to provide additional public improvements needed for the city to realize its vision for downtown Arlington.

I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you, ma'am.

Miss Garcia, do we have any speakers on this item?

We do not, Mayor.

Thank you.

I'm going to close the public hearing.

I have a motion from Councilmember Odom Wesley and a second from Councilmember Garcia Duma.

Please cast your vote.

And the motion passes 10.2.

Mr.

Bloom.

Thank you, Mayor.

Item number 10.2 zoning case PD 23-06R1 for Autumn Park is a request to revise an approved development plan on property zone plan development for residential multifamily 22 uses with a new development plan on approximately 2.57 acres of land addressed at 1915 and 1921 West Arkansas Lane, generally located north of West Arkansas Lane and west of South Fielder Road.

Main differences between the original plan and the revised plan are that the west side of the property is now being left natural as an undevelopable area.

The development has moved to the east side and changed from a two building development to a single building but larger building development.

The number of units decreased by six from 57 units down to 51 units now.

All garages have been removed and replaced with car ports.

However, car ports do cover 88% of the parking space, or 86 total spaces.

On April 29th, the planning zoning commission approved zoning case, PD 23-06R1 for visit development plan by vote of 7-1 and 1.

City has received one response in support and two responses in opposition.

This evening we have the applicant Nikki Moore from MMA presenting their case.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Tonight I am representing OM Housing to facilitate a development plan amendment for PD 23-6 Autumn Park.

This is originally approved in 2023.

And the reason behind the change in the development plan is to address some technical issues that we had in removing the existing drainage channel.

With the expiring tax credits upon us, we needed to rethink the design and find a better path forward.

And so the design team came up with an alternative plan that did reduce our developable developable area.

Can't talk to this evening, um, in order to change our site plan.

So just take a little brief overview.

The site is located on the edge of town, right along Arkansas, west of Filter, just almost to the Pantiago border.

It is only about two and a half acres, and it currently operates as an RV and boat storage business and is prime for redevelopment.

Surrounding uses include commercial, multifamily, single family to the south, and commercial once again to the west.

The site does have a few challenges, as there is the existing drainage channel on the west of the property, and then on the eastern side of the property, we have existing utilities.

Here's more of a side-by-side comparison of the of the plan development.

So on the left side, you see the original design.

You can see that the drainage channel has been placed underground with an underground attention area, with that being preserved as tree preservation in the existing channel.

The site plan was condensed.

So that two those two buildings that were three stories were condensed into one singular building, and we also had to remove those 12 garage spaces.

We're compensating for that by basically placing all of the resident parking that is behind the gate in covered parking in the terms of carports.

That's more desirable from management anyway, so we ensure that those spaces are being used for parking and not necessarily for storage.

All the same amenities have been left in place, and the amount of units has been reduced.

A couple of the changes that came out of Planning and Zoning Commission where recommendations were to move the gate, which has been done to right there.

We also had to on our elevations, get there.

The elevation stayed generally the same from the original concept plan, but out of P and Z, their recommendation was to increase a story of brick on that south side of the elevation that faces faced Arkansas.

So we have done that and wrapped that around the edges as well.

Kind of going back to this slide, I think one of the benefits of having had to redo our development plan is that we went from the required 10% tree preservation to the required 35%.

And so now we're well over that.

We are at 131% once you start to include the bonus points from the special species.

Here is a force four interior layout, shows kind of where all of the amenities are.

I think Councilmember Garcia Dumas requested that.

This is a local developer.

He's done another project here in Arlington Park West, won multiple awards and provided a wonderful housing development.

One last thing that came out of planning and zoning is at the DIES, they had asked for a total of four electric vehicle charging stations.

We typically see four or five electrical vehicle charging stations in developments that are around a hundred to two hundred plus units.

This development does only have 51 units, and so we would like to request that be reduced to two.

All the infrastructure will be there, so should the demand increase in the future, but at least we can start with two, and that would be more proportional to the amount of units that we have in this development.

And that kind of concludes my presentation.

If there's any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Thank you, ma'am.

Do we have any other speakers on this item, Miss Garcia?

Yes, mayor.

We have one other speaker in support deepy.

I'm going to develop wrong here.

Do I have some questions?

Thank you, sir.

Any other speakers, Miss Garcia?

No, Mayor, we have no other speakers.

Thank you.

I'm going to close the public hearing.

I have a motion from Councilmember Galante and a second from Councilmember Gonzalez.

Please cast your vote.

Councilman.

Thank you.

The motion passes.

10.3, Mr.

Bloom.

Thank you, Mayor.

I'm 10.3.

Zoing case PD 26-03.

It's Campbell Place.

Is a request to change the zoning from residential single family 7.2 or RS 7.2 and neighborhood commercial NC to plan development PD for residential multifamily 22 or RMF 22 uses with a multifamily development plan on approximately 7.9 acres of land addressed as 6710, 6706, 6704, 6700, and 6708, U.S.

Highway 287, generally located south of West Supplett Road and west of US 287.

The development plan includes 78 units, which is 9.9 units per acre.

The units will be in four buildings and include 24 one-bedroom units, 42 two-bedroom units, and 12 three-bedroom units.

A fifth building is also proposed for office amenities and a pre-K center.

Eight deviations are requested on the development plan, including having no garages.

Approximately 50% of the parking spaces will be under a carport.

Reducing the minimum size of one-bedroom units from the required 750 square feet to 640 square feet, and an increase to the allowable cementitious fiber board from 50% to 70%.

The proposed development is not compliant with the 2015 comprehensive plan, which calls for borough residential or low intensity uses.

It's very low residential, low density residential with various natural amenities and trails to connect this to the city's greenway network.

The proposal is also not compliant with the 2016 US 287 Corridor Strategic Plan, which also identifies this area for low density residential and commercial uses.

The city has received two responses in support.

Eight responses have been received in opposition, including four within 200 feet of the subject property.

This evening we have Evan Bobb with Penrose, Mark McCasey with McCasey Architects, and Matthew James with Kimley Horn presenting the case.

Good evening.

My name is Evan Bob.

I'm a resident of Philadelphia.

I'm a developer with Penrose.

You're a resident of where?

Philadelphia, sir.

You lose next.

I will add that I work for our Texas office base in Houston.

Okay.

Are you an Eagles fan?

No, sir.

All right, thank God.

No, sir.

I started my career here in DFW and I am a Cowboys fan.

So I'll give you your 10 seconds back.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Well, thank you, Council, and thank you, Mayor Ross, for your time tonight.

We are here to present our proposed plan development for Campbell Place, which is a multifamily property that is going to be just south of West Sublett Road along U.S.

287.

Penrose is a leading affordable housing and mixed income developer.

We've been operating for over 50 years and over that time have delivered over 27,000 units in 19 states.

Our footprint has spanned from Houston up to Tulsa, Oklahoma, and as far west as El Paso, Texas, as we've worked over the past few years to build out our footprint for Penrose.

And much of that time throughout my time here at Penrose has been focused on this project here, and we're excited to be presenting it to you today.

We pride ourselves on delivering projects on time and on budget.

We have the local presence and team here with us tonight to make this project a reality.

And we have the financial capacity and network of investors to take on complex projects and deliver the power of housing in communities across the country and across the state of Texas.

Here tonight we're looking at four tracts of land that are just south of West Sublett Road and along US 287.

To the north, we have the Albertsons and surrounding shopping center, and to the south we have the St.

Paul's Prep School.

We feel that we are situated between some really exciting community amenities, and we think that we've come up with a strong development plan to activate this site and integrate it with the larger community.

This is a uh rendering of our proposed plan here, and we have 78 units designed by our architect Mark New Casey of Mucasy and Associates, who here is who is here tonight.

This will be a general population serving families with a range of one, two, and three-bedroom units.

We are pursuing an allocation of 9% housing tax credits in the 2026 cycle through TDHCA, and we appreciate the council's support with the resolution of support earlier this year.

An example of our rents based on the uh program limits for 30%, 50%, and 60% AMI are listed there, with rents ranging between 720 and 1400 uh dollars roughly.

Um and those are subject to the program limitations that will extend through 15 years at a minimum.

At this point, I'd like to invite Mark Mucasy, our architect up to briefly describe the site and go over some of the changes that were made since our presentation at planning and zoning.

I'm Mark Mucasy, resident of Houston, Texas.

Much better.

I've also been privileged to work on a project here.

We're doing our second phase now, the market Arlington, and really enjoyed working with uh the city and all of its departments on that.

Um this community is a very different uh community than a normal apartment project.

It's one of the few in the state of Texas that will include a pre-K classroom facility for its resident use, and that's something that's shown the circular area that we've shown as our entry or public entry to the project offers entry into the amenity center as well as the pre-K center.

And so all of that is designed with a playground for the pre-K, a separate playground and a courtyard with pool for the residents as a community that's much more than just an apartment project.

That was our intention.

Uh we have uh designed a connection for the public sidewalk system that comes as far south as we could get uh before the detention facility that's there in the south part of our site.

Um we have worked with the uh planning and zoning uh department uh regarding the uh deficiencies uh that uh they have indicated, and one of the things we have done, they had a concern about uh the parking for the project uh utilizing in lieu of just uh the percentage of garages required, which I think is 25 percent.

What we did in this project uh being an affordable project is we're providing carports, covered parking for 100% of the units, and we feel like that is going to be a very uh good amenity to have.

Uh because of our site planning, our concept was to create a courtyard uh in the center of the project that has uh acoustical separation from the highway 287 that includes the pool and entertaining areas for the resident, and that established the need for along 287 a series of carport structures uh that were against the freeway as creating a kind of an edge to the project.

What we have done is to completely uh screen those carports with a masonry wall, which is the requirement for uh frontages along the freeway, and that masonry wall is built of the same materials as the apartment building, and it's uh higher than the carports.

They will be completely invisible from the street.

And that was one thing that the planning commission asked us to do, which we have done.

Um we've also established the uh masonry wall that basically goes all along 287 uh with again the same materials, the masonry that the project is built from.

Um we have other amenities that uh we've worked with the uh planning and zoning commission about.

We've got bike racks adjacent to each one of the three apartment buildings.

We've got EV parking, we've got two on each side of the project, total of four for the property.

Um, and uh we've got a a good series of amenities for the apartment residents that are in the fourth building uh the amenity center that has a give you another 10 or 15 seconds since I took up time beaten up on your Philadelphia counterpart there.

Oh, that was his problem.

Well, we can talk for 10 or 15 seconds, but okay.

Well, we're we appreciate all the input we've had from the planning and zoning commission.

We've incorporated everything they've asked us to do, and we'd welcome any questions.

Thank you.

Ms.

Garcia, any other speakers on this?

We have one uh speaker in support, Evan Bop.

That's myself.

That's you.

Okay.

I'm gonna recognize council member Garcia Duma.

Hi there.

My question is about your pre-K.

Sure.

So pre-K what?

So this is gonna be a facility that meets TDHCA's definition of high quality pre-K, which would mean that we're gonna go and get a license provider who will lease the space for the entirety of our time of ownership.

We will not be operating ourselves as Penrose.

We're going to have a licensed provider who who has experience here in Arlington, Texas.

And should we be unable to identify one ourselves, there is a period where the state can help and identify that provider and install them into the location that we're providing.

So we we anticipate about a 12 to 18 month period of identifying that provider and then getting them on and operating as soon as the properties available for occupancy.

Sure, but that didn't answer the question.

Pre-K what?

So pre-K 3, pre-K four.

Understood.

So that would be, I believe the definition would allow for ages three through five and before you would matriculate into the public school kindergarten program.

Okay.

And so have you looked into the providers that Arlington already has for pre-K that could maybe utilize this space?

We have not worked with any providers directly.

We have worked with a number of community organizations as part of our application process for their uh support, and and some of them do provide so supportive services on site, and we're going to engage with them for communications and and see if they have affiliate uh organizations or partner organizations throughout the community that could provide that continuous programming Monday through Friday.

Okay, great.

Um we're very, very proud of the pre-K services that we have here in Arlington and in fact our AISD has uh universal pre-K4.

We're one of the first people to adopt that.

We're very, very proud of that.

We also do have pre-K3.

And outside of AISD, again, we have several providers.

I just want to encourage you to look within Arlington.

We have great providers that do you know great, great work.

Um so I would love to see that come from this development.

Um, so how long will that pre-K be operating?

I guess my question is is there at a certain point where you guys just say, Well, we don't really want to do that anymore.

It's such a great amenity to this project.

So wanted to know your your projection on that.

Absolutely.

So we internally project this to be operational for the entirety of our period of ownership.

Should there ever be a period where we're not able to identify, we we do not have the ability to stop a provider from occupying that space, the state could come in and enforce that occupancy.

Um that being said, we would agree that we are excited about this amenity for the property.

We are excited about the opportunity to engage with local providers in Arlington and would imagine that this uh would be a competitive space for any provider to to come in and have uh a large you know population on site who will be eligible for for free daycare at this facility.

And is this for these residences only?

No, no.

So the the residences on site will have uh priority access and have uh no cost access, though there will be occupancy and we're building to a uh an ability to house more than just children who will be on site.

Can you tell me exactly where is the pre-K?

So that's it's page left, but it's site north, that red building that's um, I don't know if I have a pointer, but it's just to the left of that circle.

So it has a dedicated drop-off point and would also allow for some user parking to come in and out during that pickup hour.

That's great.

And so last question is so I love that this is away from the other residences, should you know, because it's not just for um them, you know, we have that traffic being able to go in and out without disturbing these other people's homes.

Um, so if you cannot identify a provider, then the state comes in, finds one for you, and the state runs it at that point.

That's correct.

We would we would operate it in partnership, and we would still you know uh own the property itself, but they would be able to install for lack of a better term, and uh an operator uh to take on that space, a license operator to to fulfill the obligations of of the pre-K program.

Great.

I think this is a uh great um to have here.

And again, if you have um if you want any great ideas of great providers, we have so many of them in Arlington.

We we appreciate that, and we would certainly take you up on on those conversations.

Thank you council member ware um I suppose you've noticed there's a great deal of uh construction going on 287 going to the north yes sir I had a constituent that brought up something rather interesting about that he said uh that uh 12 foot sidewalks will be going along that area and he and I now would like to verify with you that uh y'all would also extend that and do the 12 foot sidewalks in front of us yes sir so that was actually one of the comments that we had at the PNZ committee meeting a few weeks ago uh previously the sidewalk did end kind of where that traffic circle starts um but if you see that dotted red line we have extended that along through the southern end of the the site um so there'll be a continuous access for pedestrians whether they were to come out of the south end of those buildings or or the northern end of the pre-K.

Of course.

Councilmember Odom Wesley Thank you mayor would you talk to us about your plan for long-term maintenance absolutely um so Penrose is a long-term owner operator we stay with the communities that we build and we hold on to them for a minimum of 15 years uh that is that is both mandated by the program the state the low income housing tax credit program but also a part of the Penrose business model um we do not build to sell or to exit any point uh the majority of our properties that we've developed are still within our portfolio and we have an affiliate management company that is uh well versed in affordable housing operations um from a constructibility and and quality of construction perspective we are building these to have the longevity of a 50 years of useful life um we would expect these to last long through the the compliance period and be of of equal quality to any multifamily project in the in the state so you have management on site absolutely maintenance and those services yes yeah we we commit to having um on site maintenance and management staff uh just allows for a much more holistic community experience for the residents good thank you of course any other speakers miss Garcia we have no other speakers mayor and uh we do have two non-speakers in support and two non-speakers in opposition for this item Mr.

Galante you just popped up on here yes sir or you have an afterthoughts about something about the thoughts right uh payrolls thank you so much for the work and the quality of the project that you are presenting it's really remarkable having uh affordable housing unit with so many amenities in uh in the pre-K uh that helps the working families to give their kids where they you know the same place that they live uh let's talk about site selection right so um comprehensive plan in um the strategic plan for the highway to two eighty seven they call for a low density medium density in that area so it does not comply with the two comprehensive plans in the area so what makes you to select a site if you know those those things are big deal so we we are about to roll out a new comprehensive plan for the entire city uh that's the vision that the city has back in 2015 and the one we have now is going to be for the next 20 years um I know you're presenting a great uh a great product but have you put uh extra thoughts on what does it mean um propose something in an era that doesn't call for it absolutely and and we do recognize the original intent of the comprehensive plan um in getting to know the site and when we first identified it in um in June of 2024 we recognized that there was a tremendous amount of growth as as mentioned uh to the north along West Sublet, the commercial activity there, the new fitness center um and the new multifamily and townhome developments that are going in in that community uh we felt that this was a natural extension to the south uh we're bounded to the west by two multifamily properties, and so we felt that it would be a low likelihood that a single family developer would come in between those multifamily properties and the U.S.

287 frontage road um and so we felt that that this community, a low density community under 10 units per acre, would be the best compromise between activating the site to its highest and best use with both uh multifamily housing and an impactful pre-K.

Well, not putting the typical density that you may see from some other multifamily properties in 20 plus unit per acre ranges.

Um we felt like this was a natural um balance and to some of the comments that Mark mentioned about our ability to enclose the site and create a campus like feel.

Um we felt that this was an opportunity to redefine the intents of the land and really deliver uh a comprehensive community.

All right, thank you.

Okay.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

I appreciate you.

Not bad for a guy from Philadelphia.

I appreciate that.

All right.

Thank you, sir.

I'm gonna close the public hearing.

I have a motion from Council Member Odom Wesley.

Can I get a second, please?

Second from council member Hunter, please cast your vote.

And I'm sorry, the motion has failed.

10.4, Mr.

Bloom.

Thank you, Mayor.

I am 10.4 is specific use permit SCP 08-15 or 1, also known as the Stoner Drill Site and Drill Zone.

The applicant requests an amendment to approve a specific use permit for gas drilling to establish the location of a drilling zone on an existing gas well site within 2.95 acres uh tract of land located uh south of Interstate Highway 20, west of Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Drive, and north of Southeast Green Oaks Boulevard.

Addressed it 4151 Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Drive.

The applicant Total EMP Barnett USA proposes to add five new wells in this drill zone.

The proposed drill zone includes area includes both the existing and proposed well locations.

In the staff report, there's also an alternate site plan that shows a reduced size drill zone capturing only the proposed wells.

If council wishes to approve that modified drill zone, any motion to approve the case should state which drill zone is being considered.

To date, the city has received five written responses in opposition.

This evening we have Leslie Garvis, behalf of Totel presenting this case.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

My name is Leslie Garvis, and I'm here representing Total Energies located in Fort Worth, Texas.

We have two cases that we're bringing towards uh council tonight.

Our first is our Dorothy Stoner location, located uh to the west of the Arlington Airport and the south of Highway 20.

As staff mentioned, this is uh an existing location that has nine existing wells that have been operating for approximately 17 years.

We are requesting five new wells at this location.

Our drill zone encompasses the existing as well as the newly requested wells.

The setbacks at this location, there are no protected uses within the 600-foot required setback by ordinance.

The closest residents are within 1,200 to 2,300 feet, and this represents a two to four times the amount of required setback of 600 feet required by the ordinance.

The closest school is 3300 feet, and the closest child care is approximately 2100 feet.

As staff mentioned, we um received a request by council to start showing a reduced drill zone that encompasses only the new wells.

If staff chooses, if council chooses to approve this, this new drill zone is approximately 46 feet by six feet and encompasses only the proposed new wells.

At this location, we do have an existing uh tree preservation that we will be doing at this location with existing trees, adding 12 new trees that will encompass some open locations in the foliage.

Four of those are cedar elms and eight are savannah hollies.

And they do have a three-inch caliper as required by ordnance.

This gives you an example of the average planting, our typical planting at locations, just to give you an idea of the trees.

This is also an example of our stone wall that will be erected at this location if it's approved.

We do currently have a chain-like fence at this location, but it will be upgraded.

In addition, we will do upgrades to the road as needed, as well as initiate any dust control that's needed on this location.

And we do sound abatement in the form of sound walls and 24-7 monitoring.

And we do monitor and make adjustments as necessary to make sure that we stay within ordinance.

This is an example of the approved water plan.

We do have a freshwater frack pond in between the two wells, and we will be utilizing that.

We do have approval for the use of city meters, uh city gas, city fire hydrants that are metered with uh allowances that have been set.

We do work with city staff during times of drought to adjust our drilling schedule to take into account water usage so that we don't put a hardship on the residents.

We'll be utilizing the interstate 20 coming down south to um Matlock and then taking uh an east uh transit to Barden, which will take us back up north to our location.

And this is the same transportation that'll be used for both locations.

One thing that I would like to um point out is that we do have a history of safe operations in Arlington, 10 years of safe operations with no incidents at this location.

We do make our decisions based on the geology alone, and uh we do safety training uh mandatory as well as um training with the Arlington Fire Department on an ongoing basis, and we um basically take any environmental protections at all of our sites, including any new locations that we're adding wells to.

We'll have the existing measures there, it will pertain to the new wells also.

We do emissions reduction, with includes electric drilling, longer laterals and solar on site.

We have also finished a program of gas conversions on all of our pneumatic devices to electric or solar or air.

We do a robust leak detection and uh repair program with uh annually about 5,000 surveys that we do all of our locations.

We do voluntary um surveys at our locations in addition to what's required by the state, and then we do have containment berms on site for soil protection, and we also have well-borne integrity controls to protect groundwater.

We have staff on location tonight to answer any questions that council may have.

Thank you, ma'am.

Ms.

Girls.

Any other speakers on this item?

Yes, Mayor.

We have uh six speakers in opposition.

First speaker being Jaime.

You'll come to the podium.

And next up will be Jane Collins.

Uh so yeah, once again, hi.

I live here in Arlington, uh urgent council to vote.

No on uh this proposition SUP 08-15R1.

The proposal to approve a new drill zone permit and for additional gas wells at Totel Energy Stoner site.

Every time these permits come before council, we're told this is uh reasonable expansion, a minor adjustment, or simply the next phase of development.

But when do we stop calling it an expansion and start recognizing it for what it is?

The continued systematic sacrifice of our black and brown communities.

This proposal would add four more methane gas wells to a city that already hosts hundreds of wells.

Arlington residents have spent years living with the noise, truck traffic, emissions, pollution, and uncertainty that comes with urban gas drilling.

Tonight, instead of reducing those impacts, we're being asked to increase them.

These votes don't happen in isolation.

Every new well approved today adds to the cumulative burden created by wells approved yesterday.

Community doesn't experience these permits one at a time.

They experience the combined effects of drilling activity across our city.

More emissions, more industrial pollution, more opportunities for something to go wrong, more reasons for residents to worry about the air they breathe and the future of their neighborhoods.

What concerns me most is that people who live, work and attend school near these facilities.

Families did not choose to live next to an ever expanding industrial gas operation.

Children attending nearby schools did not choose to spend their school days in the shadow of gas drilling industry.

We often hear discussions about setbacks, permits, conditions, and technical compliance, but compliance does not eliminate risk, it does not eliminate pollution, it does not eliminate the reality that these operations are taking place in a densely populated city where people live, learn, and raise families.

Nearby schools, Williams Elementary, and Workman Junior High exist within this area.

You are condemning school children to a life of pollution related risks and health harms.

Every additional well means additional emissions and industrial additional industrial activity in a part of Arlington where children spend their days learning and growing.

How can you believe to care about children while expanding these gas drilling operations instead of moving away from them?

Council has often said that public safety is its highest priority.

How can you care about public safety and throw all precaution out the window?

There are legitimate concerns about air quality, methane emissions, and cumulative pollution impacts, and the only responsible choice is not to approve more wells.

The public safety choice is to stop adding to the problem.

I also think Arlington needs to ask itself a larger question.

What is the end goal here?

How many wells are enough?

How many expansions are enough?

At what point do we stop saying yes to more drilling and start focusing on protecting the quality of life of the people who live here?

Thank you, sir.

Jane Collins.

My name is Jane Collins, and I live in Arlington.

I have a new reason now.

I've been concerned about the general population and what they're breathing and how the fracking has contaminated water permanently.

But I'm getting rid of granddaughter right around Thanksgiving.

So I'm even more concerned now because I think all the emissions, I think what Jaime just said, you know how many gas drills are enough because the more we have, the more pollution there is of the air, and the and the more fracking that's done is there's more pollution of the water.

So I, and I I always have worried that people that live in the apartments are the places where they usually choose to work, mainly because the people in the apartments don't have the choice.

It's the owner of the building where they're renting that has that choice.

And so I would really encourage people on the council to start voting against more and more drills.

I'm really asking you to do that.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am, and congratulations on your grant baby.

Next speaker, please.

Spencer Dickinson.

And next up will be Tammy Carson.

My name is Spencer Dickinson.

I reside in Tarant County outside Arlington.

I'm here representing the Greater Fort Worth Sierra Club, of which I'm on the executive committee.

And our numbers include about a thousand members in Terran County and approximately 200 in uh residents of Arlington.

So I'm speaking on their behalf, and I've prepared some comments I wish to provide.

To start off, we do implore that you vote no uh for uh regarding this permit.

Um uh here are my comments.

Close proximity gas wells are harming the health of Arlington residents.

Most impacted are the residents in East Arlington, but all Arlington residents are impacted.

Each additional gas well that is approved adds to emissions and causes ever greater pollutants to be in the air for Arlington and North Texas.

Emissions from fracking are linked to an increase in ground level ozone and higher ozone levels are linked to higher mortality rates of lung and heart disease.

The DFW region has not met national ozone standards, as I suspect you're aware for decades, and it's getting worse.

So my comments go to not just the local community but the broader community.

I work in Fort Worth on my commute every day.

I'm on the highways uh driving past Arlington, and I see the TCEQ ozone alert days on the electronic boards, as I suspect that you do.

And you may have noticed as I did in May, there were eight of 31 days that were unhelpful days, ozone alert days, and uh which is amazing given all of the rain that we had in the month of May, uh, extraordinarily wet.

Uh, that data is for all of DFW, not just Terrent County, not just Arlington, and to my knowledge, the ozone parts per billion metrics not captured on a local level.

So if it were, I suspect the number would be much higher than the DFW average for Arlington, given the density and the number of uh of wells.

It would be much more alarming.

More wells mean more pollution, more ozone enough is enough.

I believe this council is comprised of people with good intentions that wish to do the right thing for the citizens of Arlington.

Use your authority to deny these additional wells, protect the health of the children at Williams Elementary School, protect the health of the residents of Southeast Arlington, protect the health of everyone in this room, including you and your families.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

And next will be Ronjana Bandari.

Hi, Tammy Carson, Arlington residents since 1975.

There are some nice things about Arlington.

We have a great library.

We have nice parks.

I've seen online that the city is proud to be repairing potholes in the streets.

We heard tonight about friendship tables.

That's nice.

But you know what's not nice?

Fracking.

Fracking by schools, by daycares, and people's backyards.

You know what else is not nice?

When the decision makers, the people in charge of saying yes or no to more gas wells, when these people are presented with hundreds of pages of scientific data showing the harmful effects of fracking on people's health, unborn babies and elderly or those with health conditions.

When these decision makers see video after video from floor cameras showing the poison being billowing from these frack sites, like looking from the gates of hell.

Also not nice when the decision makers look at a young boy, maybe nine or ten years old, alone at this podium, who has asthma, and tells them that when fracking is going on, that it's hard for him to breathe.

This young boy is having trouble breathing, and he's asking these decision makers to please say no, and those decision makers voted in favor of more wells and more fracking.

Also not nice when the decision makers who don't listen to the citizens, their constituents asking them to stop approving the pollution and destruction of their neighborhood and their homes.

Those decision makers need to do better.

Thank you.

And Donna Bandari.

Good evening, Minnie Ross and Council members.

My name is Ranjana Pandari.

I live at 903 Loch Loman Drive, and I've lived there for 33 years.

Today I'm speaking on behalf of Livable Arlington, urging you to deny this permit.

So first I want to say the demographics of the census tract where these two drill sites are located.

Seventy-seven percent people of color.

Once again, all of Total's expansion in the last three years in Arlington is happening in East Arlington and District 5 in Council District 3 are particularly hard hit by this.

And once again, we see more drilling in District 3.

So the Stoner site is located in close proximity to 10 existing drill sites, as you know, and this neighborhood and all of District 3 is already overburdened with fracking and fracking pollution.

I want to look at some of the schools that are near the site.

So north of the Stoner site is the Workman Junior High and McNutt Elementary.

And I want to go through the list of all the drill sites around those schools.

Stoner is at half a mile, the Matlock site is at 0.7 miles, landing is at 0.95 miles, Oday at 0.96 miles, Galeta at 0.99 miles, the pear drill site at 1.13 miles, Rocking Horse at 1.18 miles, high point at 1.21 miles, Agape at 1.28 miles, Rice Low at 1.36 miles, and I 20 JV at 1.5 miles.

Altogether, there are already 115 gas pills within one and a half miles of Workman Junior High.

Exactly the same for McNutt Elementary, which is right next door.

Of course, we worry more about elementary children because at that stage of development, they breathe in more toxins per pound of body weight, and their bodies and brains are still developing, so they experience pollution much more intensely.

It has key exemptions from the Clean Water Act and is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act.

You know what that means.

They are unable to frack and meet meet the requirements of those laws.

Getting back to children.

Studies show that children living within a mile of natural gas fracking wells are up to seven times more likely to suffer from lymphoma.

And that should be of concern.

I think I brought this to you before.

What I want to also point out is the issuing of drill zone permits.

What that means is in the future, if somebody wanted expansion, they wouldn't be able to.

Thank you.

Rita Beving.

Again, my name is Frida Beving, and I'm here on behalf of public citizen and our members that live in Terrant County and Arlington.

DFW ranks as one of the top 20 asthma capitals in the US, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

Our regional asthma rate is 9.4%, higher than the state average.

However, medical studies have shown even higher rates of childhood asthma associated with close proximity to drilling and fracking.

Similar research studies have shown significantly increased odds of hospitalizations in children with asthma near drilling and fracking sites.

Arlington has a very high rate of childhood asthma.

According to Cooked Children's Study, Terrack County has a rate as high as 19% compared to the national average of seven.

A 2020 study in Texas documented a link between the intensity of drilling and fracking activities and the frequency of hospitalization for childhood asthma.

No amount of walls that Total puts up is going to stop the pollution from fracking.

According to a clean air task force report, oil and gas pollution causes more than 45,000 asthma attacks per year in the DFW Metroplex.

We need to think about the children that are going to school and living in the shadows of these drill sites.

Please vote no on this permit.

Thank you.

Any other speakers, Miss Garcia?

Mayor that concludes all speakers on this item.

We do have uh six non-speakers in support and eight non-speakers in opposition.

Thank you, ma'am.

I'm going to close the public hearing.

I have a motion from Council Member Hogan.

Can I ask for clarification, Councilmember Hogg, are you going to move for the original slated zoning borders or the restricted ones on the amended one?

I can get my button to work.

I think we I thought we were going with the restricted, which is reduced.

That's what I want.

Okay.

Yeah.

If if you're going to do, I just wanted to clear it up for the record.

Sorry, I thought that was the.

I didn't know we had the first one still.

That makes sense.

Yep.

You and I were on the same page, but our city attorney told me I had to get it clarified for the record.

It's always those lawyers with more.

They mess everything up.

I have a motion from Council Member Hogg on the restricted uh zoning borders and a second from council member Ware.

Please cast your vote.

The motion passes.

Move on down to 10.5.

Mr.

Bloom.

I'm thank you, Mayor.

Item number 10.5 is specific use permit SCP 07-17 R1 landing drill site and drilling zone.

The applicant requests an amendment to the approved specific use permit for gas drilling to establish the location of a drilling zone on an existing gas well site located at 4801 Dr.

Martin Luther King Drive, and the use of a temporary fracking pond located at 4301 Dr.

Martin Luther King Junior Drive.

The proposed drill zone area includes both existing and proposed well locations in the staff report.

There's a modified alternate site plan that shows a reduced drill zone capturing only the proposed wells if the council wants to approve that modified zone.

Any motion to approve this case should state which drill zone is being considered.

To date, the city has received eight written responses in opposition.

This evening we have Leslie Garvis on behalf of Total presenting this case.

Good evening again, Council.

My name is Leslie Garvis, representing Total Energies at Forth Worth, Fort Worth, Texas.

At our landing A location, just like to put on for the record that we have seven existing wells that have been producing at this location for 16 years.

We are asking for four new wells in this drill zone application.

We have presented both the uh drill zone that encompasses all wells existing and new, as well as the proposal for a reduced drill zone, and we are we are fine with the reduced drill zone in both locations of both of these wells.

Both of these pads, sorry.

Um, wanted to point back the setbacks on this one.

Also, there are no protected uses within 600 feet of this drill zone.

The closest resident is a little over a thousand feet, the closest school is over six thousand feet, and the closest child care is over forty three hundred feet.

At this location, we have quite a bit of existing trees that will be preserved.

So we have no additional ones that we'll be adding at this location as none are required.

We will install the eight-foot masonry wall as required by ordinance.

And in our freshwater frack pond, we will be adding um eight additional trees at this location, in addition to preserving the existing trees that are at that site.

This will utilize um the same hydrants as approved previously for the other location, and the same uh transportation route.

I would like to point out um at both of these locations, because we do get this question often, um, at the landing end stoner of the 3,500 mineral interest owners at these two locations.

2300 of them are Arlington residents, residents or businesses within um the city of Arlington.

So just wanted to point out that there are residents that will benefit from both of these locations.

In addition to the city of Arlington and Arlington ISD, are also mineral interest owners.

Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, ma'am.

Do we have any other speakers, Ms.

Garcia?

Yes, Mayor.

We have uh one speaker in support and four speakers in opposition.

First speaker is Dusty Anderson.

That's a no, Dusty.

Okay, okay.

Hi, May.

Hi, me.

You know, we still recognize you, even though you took care down, right?

My name is again.

Live here in Arlington, and I'm here tonight as opposed to public, you also have in that hard one.

I think I find it in curious.

In 2026, we are still having these conversations across the country and around the world.

Communities are investing in cleaner energy sources.

Oh, it wasn't on.

Should I start over?

No, we've heard you.

Go ahead.

Give me some time back at least.

Uh, across the country and around the world, communities are investing in cleaner energy sources and working to reduce dependence on fracking fossil fuels.

Yeah, here in Arlington, we are once again being asked to approve the expansion of urban gas drilling directly within our community.

Five new wells is ridiculous.

Approving this is a personal attack on black and brown working class communities living nearby.

It's a personal attack on teachers and school children occupying the nearby schools.

These wells affect the air people breathe, they affect the character of neighborhoods, they affect how families feel about the safety and future of their community.

Arlington has condemned the residents to live next to drilling sites for years.

We have watched drilling sites expand, permits get renewed, and new wells get added.

What we rarely get to see is a meaningful effort to move in the opposite direction.

Instead, this destructive and costly pattern continues.

More wells, more industry, more drilling activity, more health harms, more environmental degradation, more lives at risk.

And every time community members raise concerns, we are often told that project meets test technical requirements, and even if it's true, meeting minimum requirements does not automatically make something a good idea.

I would ask council to consider the broader message these approvals send.

What does it say about you when you continue approving new gas wells near homes and schools?

What did it say about you when you dismiss parents' concerns about air quality?

What does it say about you when you forget about young people who will inherit the consequences of decisions being made today?

History will not look at you fondly.

And I think it's important to remember who is benefiting from the expansion.

The company is headquartered in France, a country that has prohibited hydraulic fracking.

Yet the same company continues to seek opportunities to expand drilling operations here in Arlington, Texas.

Meanwhile, us Arlington community members have to bear the burden of these emissions, the industrial activity and long-term impacts on our community.

Council members, let me remind you that your responsibility is not to maximize drilling opportunities for multinational corporations like Total.

Your responsibility is to protect the people who live here, like me, like my family tonight.

Tonight, you have an opportunity to put your community first.

You have an opportunity to reject the idea that endless expansion of urban gas drilling is inevitable.

I urge you to vote no on SUP 07-17R1.

And send a clear message that Arlington's future should be defined by healthy neighborhoods and not more gas wells.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

And next up will be Rita Beving.

Good evening again.

It's Ranjana Pandari at 903 Loch Loman Drive in Arlington, speaking again on behalf of Livable Arlington.

So once again, as I said before, a few minutes ago, 77% of the people who live around this drill site are people of color.

The closest school is Williams Elementary, and it is about 0.2 miles away.

And I want to list the exposure of kids at Williams Elementary to fracking.

The closest site is landing at 0.2 miles, Cornerstone at 0.56 miles, Stoner at 0.59 miles, Rocking Horse at 0.85 miles, Paulus Wordis at 1.23 miles, Matlock Thornton at 1.46 miles, Matlock, which is expanding, I think right now, 1.76 miles, I 20 JV at 1.8 miles.

There are already 15 gas wells within half a mile of the school, 43 gas wells within one mile of the school, and 88 gas wells within two miles of the school.

You have to think about that.

And since you don't seem to be able to find a solution, I have a very modest proposal.

Do not issue drill zone permits.

Once you issue a drill zone permit, Total or any other driller can keep adding gas wells to the site, and it's it's automatic.

Someday, somebody who's sitting in your seats will realize the harm that's being done, and they may want to do something.

They may want to say no to expansion, as people before you did.

And what happens then?

You have taken this out of their hands.

You've taken the will of the people of Arlington in the future who do not want future gas wells away from them, and I think that is absolutely wrong.

Not that there's anything right about this.

So let me mention venture newcomer center, which is the second closest school.

Why did I pick half one and two miles?

Those are critical distances, according to public health experts who have studied the issue over and over again.

At two miles, the health effects are pretty severe.

So let me just talk about birth outcomes.

Studies of mothers living near oil and gas extraction consistently find impaired infant health, especially elevated risk of low birth weight, preterm birth, and birth defects.

Prenatal health risks from fracking extend to mothers as well as infants.

A 2021 study of more than three million pregnant women in Texas showed that living near an active gas well increases the risk for high blood pressure, gestational hypertension, eclampsia, onset of seizures, and comas during pregnancy or child.

Thank you.

Rita Beving.

And next up will be Jane Collins.

Again, Rita Beving with Public Citizen.

I also want to mention I'm on the Dallas Environmental Commission as a technical advisor.

And long ago, I served with Mayor Kluck on the North Texas Clean Air Regional Steering Committee, trying to clean up this region that's been in non-attainment for more than two decades.

There are more than 200 airborne chemical contaminants detected near drilling and fracking sites.

Of these, 61 are classified as hazardous air pollutants, including carcinogens, and 26 are endocrine disrupting compounds that have been linked to reproductive, developmental, and neurological damage.

Drilling and fracking operations emit five particles, including volatile organic compounds, including benzene and formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides that combine with VOCs to make ground level ozone and soot from diesel exhaust.

Did you all know that we are now regularly in violation of the PM 2.5 standard for the region, besides ozone?

I get the daily alerts from TCEQ and COC.

The American Lung Association has given Tarrant County an F for smog in 2025.

And this is not the first year we've gotten that grade.

Moreover, elevated levels of fine part particle emissions from fracking and welt pads have been measured at distances of more than four miles.

The production phase of drilling and fracking operations when the raw gas or oil is flowing from the well typically emits the highest levels and the most complex mixtures of hazardous pollutants over the longest period of time.

Studies have shown that dangerous chemicals that escape during the fracking process worsen air quality and pose health risks for those exposed, especially small children and the elderly.

Children breathe in more toxins per pound of body weight than adults.

As well density increases, most of the health effects are amplified.

Vote no on this permit.

Thank you.

And as a teacher, I've seen a child when they had an asthma attack, scared me to death.

I didn't know what to do.

I didn't even realize it was an asthma attack.

And uh, you know, the child was just sitting there with tears in his eyes, and I didn't didn't realize it was asthma, and this child that was sitting next to him said, I think he can't breathe.

And his parents hadn't said he had asthma, so I was totally not prepared.

And it was a total panic.

I had to look calm, but it was I was very panicked about him.

I didn't know, I couldn't have him walk to the office.

I couldn't carry him, so I had to get the office to come to me and bring uh something that he could use to breathe.

And I just, you know, begged people on this council to consider the children, and I'm also concerned about the elderly.

I remember one man got up here and he was basically crying about the fracking and the noise and the vibrations, and he just couldn't stand it, but he couldn't afford to move because he was on a fixed income.

So some people like Ranjana and the last speaker have all these facts which I really appreciate, but I just wanted to appeal to your emotions on the children and also the permanent destruction of air and water, which happens after enough uh, you know, enough chemicals get in the air and into the water.

So please vote no.

Garcia, any other speakers?

We have no other speakers, Mayor, and we do have five non-speakers in support and five non-speakers in opposition for this item.

Thank you, ma'am.

I'm going to close the public hearing.

Need a motion and a second, please.

We have a motion from council member Pham, a second from Council Member Hogg.

Please cast your vote.

Oh, let me clarify it's the restricted one again, Mr.

Pham.

Uh yes, sir.

Okay, thank you.

All right.

I have a motion from FAM, second from Council Member Hogg, and the motion passes.

We're gonna move on down to 11.1, Mr.

Keith Brooks.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Keith Brooks, Director of Public Works.

I'm here to present item 11.1, which is the first reading of a of an ordinance amendment to the transportation trap chapter of the code of the city of Arlington to admit and amend Article 1 general provisions, Section 1.02 definitions amending references related to low-speed vehicle.

Article 5 standards for operation, Section 5.18, pick up and drop off in certain areas prohibited during special events.

Subsection A, uh specific to revising various prohibit prohibitions for parking during special events, revising location for trolley operations and adding a provision relative to vehicle for higher operations that are pursuant to a written agreement.

And Article 5, Pedicab and NEV for higher operations, Section 10.02 definitions, Section 10.04, use of NEV for higher prohibit prohibited, and Section 10.05, presence of passengers, substituting references from neighborhood electric uh vehicle to low speed uh vehicle.

Uh neighborhood electric vehicles, NEVs are a specific subset of a low-speed vehicle, LSVs that happen to be electrically powered, but federal regulations define and regulate LSVs as the broader vehicle category by aligning ordinance with the federal LSV definition, the city avoids limiting the rules to only electric models, eliminates ambiguity created by the narrow narrower NEV term and ensures that all street legal low-speed vehicles operating within a city are held to a uniform safety and operational standard.

This update moderate modernizes the update, the ordinance language enhances regulatory accuracy, and maintains full alignment with state and federal frameworks.

So the proposed amendments to section 5.18 would add east road to six flag street to the prohibited drop-off and pickup locations for special events at ATT, clarified boundaries for prohibited drop-off and pickup on Nolan Rod Expressway, and change the location for the trolley operated by the Arlington Entertainment Area Management District to drop off and pick up passengers in or along the stadium, Globelight Field, and Choctaw Stadium.

And excuse me, and add exception to prohibitions on East Road to Six Flag Street, vehicles for hire that are parking, stopping, and loading or unloading passengers pursuant to a license agreement.

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

Thank you, Mr.

Brooks.

Ms.

Garcia, do we have any speakers on this?

We have no speakers on this item, Mayor.

Thank you.

I have a motion from Councilmember Gonzalez and a second from Councilmember Galante.

Please cast your vote.

The motion passes.

Ms.

Garcia, 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, as these items are not included on the posted council agenda for this evening.

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

First speaker is Jimmy Burke.

Mr.

Burke, I don't see Mr.

Burke present this evening.

Mohammed Khan.

Mr.

Khan.

Mr.

Khan.

Next speaker, please.

Susie Lady Moore.

Ms.

Sledomore.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mr.

Mayor and members of the council.

My name is Susan Latimore.

I live at 9330 Cardiffs Way, Arlington, Texas, 76017.

I have to speak about the brick fence on Night and Low that border the back of my yard to 21 homes between White Dove and Petro Drive.

And 11 between Petro Drive and Tennessee Avenue.

My home and my home include the wall is deteriorating, sagging in some entrance section of the brick wall has fallen down.

And it is in the I really needed repair.

I'm here to get a resolution to get the brick wall repaired by the city.

I believe the property value had to climb based on the condition and appeal of the wall.

Well, the council had said about three years ago that they should be in the in the backyard or in the garage.

And we want that taken care of.

Also, they have these big uh commercial trucks head that's sitting in the driveway.

We want those taken out too because there's no none of those kind of trucks in your driveway, and we don't want them in our driveway.

Thank you.

That two minutes goes quick, doesn't it, ma'am?

We'll ask staff to direct uh look into this for you, okay.

Okay.

Thank you, ma'am.

Next speaker, please.

Excuse me.

Tasmina Landra.

So I'm on.

I greet you with peace.

I go by the law.

I'm 16, and I reside in Irving and an organizer with the Faith Power Lines.

I'm here to speak in support of the First Amendment rights of our brother Yaqu Behindri about the freedom of religion and the freedom to practice your religion in peace.

About the freedom of holding, expressing, and exploring personal opinions that our government has long interpreted under the first amendment's freedom of speech clause.

Sadly, I am not surprised but surely disgusted to see that we don't get any of that in the great state of Texas in the American dream city of Arlington.

It's extremely disappointing to see that you had multiple residents plead to you about a public health crisis, and you still voted to put profit over people.

This is not disconnected from how Yaqub, a DACA recipient and an Arlington resident, has been abandoned by his city council thus far.

I'm here before you today to demand one thing.

You must sign a resolution demanding the release of the photojournalist Yaqub Aira Vihandre, a Filipino American Muslim, a Dhaka recipient, and a resident of Arlington who has now been in ICE detential for over eight months.

There are people in the crowd far more educated than me about the case, but one thing I must ask you: why was it Yaqub?

And I will say this unapologetically, it is because he is a Muslim who chose to be on the right side of history in the Palestinian people's case.

Yaqub is a brother, a friend, someone who you can trust to show up every time, no matter how hard it gets, and no matter the cost, he would stand beside his truth.

This is how he spoke truth to power.

Yaqub was there at every protest, every press conference, every city council meeting.

Yaqub is the voice of the voiceless through his photography and social media, and that is exactly what got him abducted.

Standing beside the Palestinian people and not giving in to political pressure is the same reason why Mahmoud Khalil of New York was stolen in the middle of the night from his pregnant wife and could not hold his newborn son.

That's the same reason why the Kurdia of New Jersey was stolen from her family and brought here into Yah's backyard to detention center in Texas, thousands of miles away from home.

Now, now I must ask you what role do you want to be remembered for in the fight for our civil rights and constitutional rights?

You have the power to change history.

Thank you, sir.

Next speaker is Abira Mohammed.

Good evening.

My name is Ibira Mohammed, and my address is in 1338 Bogard Lane in Louisville.

I'm speaking tonight as a friend of Yacoub Vihandre.

Jakoub is a resident of Arlington and a DACA recipient who was abducted eight months ago by ICE at gunpoint on his way to work, despite not having any criminal record.

I met Yacub at a community service event after returning from a volunteer medical mission in Gaza where I served as a nurse.

We connected instantly over a shared sense of moral crisis at the 2,000 pound bombs our government was providing to kill innocents, many made right here in DFW.

Yacoub was outspoken in his daily interactions and social media about ending any violence that targets innocence.

Throughout our friendship, I have come to know Yacoub as a man of profound integrity.

Despite the demands of his full-time career at American Airlines, he consistently dedicates his personal time and diverse talents to uplifting others.

He is the definition of an upstanding community member, tirelessly focused on the welfare of others.

He is a definition of, um, sorry, he is the sole provider for his mother in the Philippines, who is now battling cancer.

When I spoke to him last week, he told me he has lost 15 pounds due to stress and lack of proper nutrition at the detention center in Georgia where he's being held, away from his family and friends, which is a for-profit entity where detainees work for a mere two to three dollars a day.

His sudden detention raises a chilling question.

We claim to value free speech, due process, and human rights in this country.

But are these protections conditional?

Yacoub's detention and DACA status revoked is a dystopian precedent.

It suggests that any individual can be targeted and silenced for advocating for the vulnerable, including advocating for the same people I went to help on my medical mission.

You must demonstrate that the city stands for justice and refuses to remain silent while one of its own is unjustly taken.

I strongly urge the city of Arlington to adopt a formal resolution calling for Yaqub's immediate release, and we hope to see every one of you at the town hall this Friday, June 12th.

Thank you.

Next speaker, Miss Garcia.

New Soft Shack.

Good evening, Mayor Ross and City Council members.

My name is Yusuf Sheikh.

Like many others here today, I'm here regarding Yaakoub Aira, a 38-year-old photojournalist and a Dhaka recipient who has lived in this country since he was 14.

He was also a longtime resident of Arlington.

Now, however, Yaqub languishes in Folkson ICE Processing Center in Georgia, where he has been held there uh for eight months without charge.

He was arrested at ICE by ICE at gunpoint outside his home on October 7, 2025, while he was leaving for work.

He has no criminal history, and the reason given for his attention were his social media posts and including his social media likes.

Growing up in Texas, I was always taught throughout middle school, throughout elementary school, high school, even in college, every civics class, every history class, that the thing that makes America different is that we can express ourselves without fear of reprisal from the federal government or from the state government.

Um for the crime of social media posts.

Thank you, sir.

Ms.

Garcia, any other speakers?

Those are all the speakers, Mayor.

Thank you.

Council, do you all have any announcements for tonight?

Seeing none, I will remind everybody that for the next 30 days, Arlington will be home of nine games of the World Cup.

Uh, the first game being on Sunday, this Sunday at three o'clock with the Netherlands in Japan.

I wish everybody a safe ride home.

City Council is adjourned.