Good afternoon, everybody.

We have a quorum now, and I called to order the March 3rd City Council work session.

Now turn it over to Jay Choppin.

Jay, let's hear your report, sir.

Good afternoon.

Uh sorry we were not outside, and it's beautiful weather out there.

Uh under upcoming and recent events, I wanted to remind everyone of the twenty twenty-five mayor's community engagement workshops and neighborhood awards luncheon this Saturday from uh at Doxology Church.

So if you don't have it on your calendars, you might want to add that.

So we'll move on to informal reports.

The first one is twenty-six-three five Choctaw Code Talkers Historical Marker at Veterans Memorial Park.

Joel McKnight with Park and Rec is here to answer any questions.

Are there any questions on this uh informal report?

None.

The next Zero Zero Three Six Citations issued in the East Lancaster corridor related to the new public safety initiative.

Robert Stewart, police commanders here.

Answer any questions.

Go ahead, Chris.

Well, um, come on, if you can just give um an overview of the IR.

I know we talked yesterday, and I have one or two questions I'll put on the record.

Yeah.

Um, so we began an initiative in the corridor at uh around January twenty-third.

It's been going on today.

So we had seen an uptick in violent crime over the over the fall.

So we were tracking these numbers.

We saw that we needed to address the violent crime.

So we began uh with an SOF detail.

We also incorporated the Hope Unit Environmental Services and Patrol all working together to address some of the issues of uh illegal camping, blocking the roadway, blocking the sidewalks, trying to get traffic offenses for people that are possibly bringing drugs into the area.

So it's been a coordinated effort.

We the IR basically had all the citations that were written to that date of the request.

It also had it separated the citations that were issued during the time of the cold weather freeze.

Now on the IR, it says the there was 12 citations issued during that time frame of January 23rd to January 27th.

That was a you know the cold weather event was Friday, Saturday, Sunday really bad, started getting a little better on Monday and Tuesday.

One citation was written on Monday, and all the rest of the citations were written on Tuesday.

So during that time frame where we were dealing with that catastrophe, we were merely driving people to shelters, giving out bus passes, making sure that everybody was safe.

I have a lot more I could go over with the with the initiative.

If you have any questions specifically, well, as it relates to the illegal camping, because I think that was kind of a lot of the issues.

Which one articulates that on this violent crime, or is it not listed here?

So a lot of the violent crime what we've noticed, so in just looking at it and looking at the violent crime that we're seeing, a lot of it is unhoused person on unhoused person.

So and we look at kind of what's happening.

So a lot of it's disputes over property.

So this person, whether they stole the property or they believe they stole the property, turns into an assault, turns into an aggravated assault, somebody gets hit with something, stabbed or something.

So we are starting to see a lot of these offenses.

Well, we go in there to go try to look at things.

Well, there's camps all over the place, big large tents.

We can't really see what's going on in the tents, and they're obstructing the passageways for anybody going through there.

So we're forcing all the people that work there and all the people go into the resources to walk in the middle of the roadway, which is also a safety issue.

So we begin with asking people that's our obvious right in front of us, illegal illegal uh action that's we're observing, is that they're illegally camping.

So we go over there and we've had major success with people just cooperating with us.

Hey, you can't camp here, it's against city ordinance, you need to pick up your camp and go.

And as you can see on the uh, well, in our broader presentation, there's something like 734 warnings we've given out in comparison to 74 citations over the total time.

So only about one in ten times are we issuing a citation for the illegal camping or blocking the roadway, obstructing a sidewalk.

All issues that are creating an unsafe environment for everybody and creating small little environments where these assaults are occurring.

So our numbers overall, we've dropped significantly in major violent crime.

So we still are seeing around the same amount of minor assaults, which is like uh something that doesn't result in serious bodily injury, but all the ones that result in serious bodily injury, sexual assaults, robberies, all those things have dropped significantly.

My last question.

So when uh the officers approaching the illegal camping, are they asking for IDs and checking the IDs and then I think yesterday you may have mentioned that through some of the processes you was able to do.

Yeah, so it's standard police procedure that any time that we engage with someone in the public and they've committed a criminal offense that we're going to ask for their identification and we're going to run them in our databases.

So illegal illegal camping is the criminal offense.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

Any other questions?

Just one.

Um actually, if we could have Chief Garcia come up, because there was something that he said earlier during the uh public safety committee meeting, is he back there?

Jeffrey here.

Um that I think is good for this entire body to hear.

Chief, can you tell us go over again what you told us about those two sectors there, uh, Lancaster and the um the grids?

Well, yes, as uh we're aware, we're obviously launching our uh violence prevention strategy and plan with our criminologists, and what one of the things that our outside criminologists did is when we start a grid program with regards to areas of the city that uh that need more treatment than others as it pertains to violence.

So they divided up the city of Fort Worth in about 95 plus thousand small grids.

These grids are no bigger than the size of a football field or two football fields.

And the reality, once you break down the data to be a grid in the city of Fort Worth, you have to have led the city of Fort Worth in incidents of aggravated assault, aggravated robbery uh or murder.

Uh, when they ran those statistics of uh of 95,000 plus grids throughout the city of Fort Worth, uh one of those, one of those uh one of those areas uh was number one uh in the city of 95,000.

Uh the other one was number 10.

When you add those three categories in addition to simple assault, uh one of those areas moved down to number two.

So when we talk about uh the homeless issues and how it pertains to violent crime, uh certainly we want to make that area safe for not only the individuals that work in that area that are trying to provide services, but also for our other homeless uh unhoused population that's looking for services.

And so this is broader uh than simply just you know uh dealing looking at the police department of the city dealing with that homeless issue, rather, we it's overlaid with the fact that there is a violent crime component.

Uh, and unfortunately, uh those there's two areas in there that that are top 10 uh in the city of Fort Worth that we're trying to deal with as well.

And so obviously, as move as we move forward uh, you know, with this, we're we're the and I've said this before many times with the Advil, where the Tylenolder reduce the fever, we're not a cure to the illness.

Uh and so I know in speaking of the criminologists as an area, it's a criminological theory with regards to place network investigations that moving forward, this area will be collectively an all-hands on deck approach that we'll be taking where the police department is simply a cog in the wheel of all the other city services that we're going to need to get this area out of where it's in.

Uh, and so I am proud, obviously, the efforts that this department's been taken.

I am absolutely proud of the teamwork uh that the city as a whole um has taken with other departments to really understand that violent crime and safety is not just one department's responsibility, it's all of ours collectively.

Uh and certainly that's part of the strategy of the crime plan moving forward, but ultimately in the end, uh this is more than just simply dealing with uh with what I think people think are issues with homeless and things of that nature, but there's a broader perspective as it relates to violent crime and how it affects the entire city.

Thank you very much, Chief.

That's it.

Okay.

Any anything else?

I just have a comment.

Um, and maybe I can add it to a fusion item.

I want us to uh if this what we're doing is working on East Lancaster, and we know this is a long-term issue that we have, those resources would need to stay there.

But I'm concerned about some of the resources that we're taking from other communities, as is the HUP team.

And so if we need to look at increasing the HUP team so that those resources can continue on East Lancaster and other resources can uh people in other districts can receive the resource they used to get.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you.

Jay, next to IR.

0037 update on the city support for veteran-owned small businesses.

Or if it's here to answer any questions.

Yes, if we can get can we get an overview on it?

Yes, ma'am.

Ori.

Good afternoon, council.

Yes, so I know uh this IR was asked for a couple of weeks ago.

Essentially, we do have one dedicated staff member that works specifically with the veteran-owned businesses and also veteran outreach.

And then all six of us on the team uh also assist with any efforts or any support efforts uh for our veteran-owned small businesses.

I'm not sure if you need details on anything else in terms of the programming.

Uh we are trying to expand that programming.

We do have two um programs there that are listed.

I think we have one in May and then one in November.

We are looking to add a couple more, so I just kind of wanted to make you all aware of that as well.

We also work in partnership with all three chambers.

We have different types of training, not just uh for veteran-owned small businesses, but all of those who are looking to open a small business, we have um you know, programming like access to financing, uh, QuickBooks, marketing, et cetera.

So I can I can give you all more specific details if you need them.

Um happy to answer any questions.

Where are we sharing the links to register for the May uh session?

And have we had any registrations thus far?

I believe we we have had registrations.

We do share them on our city news, and then we also have them on our social media platforms.

Okay.

And then I know on our uh small business uh the the business assistance center, sorry, we do have a website dedicated specifically there as well.

And all of those dates and programs are listed.

Those as well as all the additional ones that take place at the back.

Okay.

And then we are also sharing that information with our chambers, and they also disseminate that information through their email uh group serves or listservs.

And then we also have a small business advisory board who last met yesterday, and then redistribute that to them as well, and they send that out to their contacts as well.

You're welcome.

So one, thank you for putting this together.

I know we we had a discussion earlier.

Um whenever uh Christina Brooks had started this uh this initiative at one point it was any city contracts that were over 100,000, and there were three or more willing and able uh veteran or small businesses in the marketplace, they could then compete for those uh contract set asides.

Um now reading this IR looking at the between for the procurement side, anything between three thousand and a hundred thousand, um businesses certified under the the new vet hub uh that they would qualify for the five percent bid preference.

Um, but are we able to go further and say it's not just a bad habit as long as you have your better known small business designation through SBA, they qualify for that five percent?

As as long as they're recognized, right?

We had five different um agencies that we work with.

So if you fit into one of those categories, and or you're certified or recognized through the SBA through their guidelines, the answer is yes.

They would they would qualify.

Okay, so I think these are this is gonna be an amazing program.

And I I do want to make sure that the all three chambers understand what this can do for those better known small businesses and how this could lead to generational wealth, especially registering a lot more uh because we know there's a lot more out there that just have a registered, but now that there is a vehicle for them to get preference on contracts or procurement uh contracts, then I I see this thing really getting big as long as we communicate it properly.

So thank you so much for the update.

Thank you, sir.

Good potential there.

Jane, next IR if they're not gonna do that.

The next is update on water service disconnections and water weather practices.

Chris Harder's here to answer any questions from the water department.

I don't see any questions.

I think we're all good.

Uh Chris, Jim.

Was it something updated today?

I know I had asked for that a while back when we changed the water from being set off on Friday to Thursday.

We can hear from it.

Um back in 23.

I believe uh councilwoman people's asked for the after the ice.

Okay.

After the ice room.

Oh, after the ice thumb, okay.

So there is there any additional changes to what we've been doing?

No.

So like you said, we made that change back in 2023.

The IR that we prepared uh for this uh council workshop, it references back to a 2025 IR and the 2023 IR where we made that change.

Good.

Okay, all right.

That's all we have.

Okay, thank you, Jane.

Uh let's move on.

Questions regarding uh changes in memberships on boards and commissions.

Anything there?

Okay.

Next uh questions regarding significant zoning cases for March 10th.

Anything?

Chris, do you want to say anything about yours or are you okay significant zoning cases coming up on March 10th?

No, uh no.

I'm working with staff on it, and so I'm good.

Thank you.

Everyone else good.

Okay, moving on.

Questions regarding city council M and C log.

Any MNCs want to talk about?

Okay.

Still moving on.

Okay, we have annual comprehensive financial report and audit results.

I think we have copies there.

Reggie Zeno is available.

Uh good afternoon, Mayor Pro Tim and Council members.

Uh we're here today to present the FY25 annual comprehensive financial report.

Uh this document was actually reviewed earlier this morning during the audit committee.

Um, and then we'll just briefly uh summarize the document.

Some of this, you know, we've already reviewed uh previously at the January uh work session.

Uh as you know, the the report, well, this is the agenda, brief agenda for today.

You know, we'll cover briefly cover the annual financial report as well as several accomplishments within uh the financial operation, and then we'll we'll touch on some of the financial performances of various funds, and then close with uh Kate Perry, who's joining me.

Uh, we'll review uh the external audit process.

Uh the annual uh comprehensive financial report uh you know provides the public with a detailed accounting of the city's expenditures.

Uh that data is prepared on a gap basis, uh, which is slightly different from the monthly reports that are presented to council.

There are several deliverables you should have at your desk.

Uh the annual financial report, uh, the single audit of federal grants.

There's a reserve requirement supplement that provides an analysis of each fund's uh reserve uh compliance.

Uh, and then uh for the first time we've prepared a popular annual financial report, which is a summary basically of the 243-page annual financial report.

And the popular um annual financial report, this is new, right?

This is yes, that's a new document in KP Ariel discussed.

I like it briefly.

Oh, yeah, it's announced the document.

That's right, exactly.

We got a tremendous amount of assistance from communication developing the documents.

Lots of pictures.

And then of course the documents are utilized by residents, granting agencies, bond rating agencies, as well as in potential investors as it relates to purchasing bonds.

Generally accepted accounting principles.

It's on the matching principle philosophy.

And then on a budgetary basis, which all of the monthly reports are based on, revenues and expenditures are recorded as they occur.

Several accomplishments for 25.

Annually, the city has received the certificate of achievement in financial reporting.

Annually as well, the lab has received the distinguished budget presentation.

Both of those awards are coordinated through the Government Finance Officers Association.

As we just mentioned, this year we've produced the first popular annual financial report.

This year we've been quite successful with an unmodified clean external audit opinion, which incorporated uh no audit findings.

Uh we briefly uh touched on the Texas Comptroller Transparency STARS program.

Uh and uh we're excited to add the purchasing star was actually awarded last week.

And so we will have now received five out of the six stars uh for the city of Fort Ward.

Uh the last one, uh the economic development uh department is currently working on producing the data uh to qualify for the star.

Uh additionally, an achievement of excellence in procurement.

We've received that award uh consecutively uh over the over the past several years, and then the certificate of distinction for investment policy, uh, which is provided by the Texas organization of uh treasurers.

Uh just briefly, financial performance uh overall on an entity-wide basis.

Uh we ended the year with a 15% increase.

Uh that's primarily attributable to Met Star transfer of operations, as well as some additional capital projects and contributions that were received during the during fiscal 25.

Uh embedded in into these gap bases are several non-cash transactions, pension and uh our post-employment benefits, our OPEP liabilities also increased, decrease, which assisted in increase in the overall net position.

Uh outstanding debt is currently at uh 3.1 billion, uh, and approximately 50 percent of our debt is attributable to water and sewer revenue bonds.

Uh geo bonds represent about 35 percent of the total outstanding debt.

Uh on a fund performance basis, the general fund we've reported uh this data uh previously, property and sales taxes, which represent the majority of general fund revenue collections were slightly down as compared to the budget in fiscal 25, but still well within a two to three percent uh variance uh hurdle.

And expenditures were below the budget, which assisted in offsetting some of the revenue losses.

Uh culture and tourism ended the year with approximately 139 million uh in its fund balance, and as you're aware, these resources will be needed as we go forward with various uh large ticket projects, namely the convention center renovation, uh as well as some additions, some improvements to Will Rogers that are planned over the next several years, actually, but really healthy fund balance within culture and tourism operation.

Uh CCPD ended the year with a slight increase in the fund balance.

They ended the year with 55.2 million in its fund balance.

Uh EMS we ended the year with approximately 29 million in fund balance.

Uh and that's primarily attributed to a transfer of resources from uh Met Star.

Uh we were able to with uh hold on to that fund balance that actually came from Met Star during the transition, which was really impressive.

We saw some increases in revenues, which helped to uh fund some of the transition costs.

But overall, a pretty healthy fund balance within the EMS operation at the end of fiscal 25.

Risk financing, as you can see, we've made some major strides in funding the negative net position over the past three to four years.

And we're currently at approximately 1.3 million negative net position, but uh with a very sizable cash on hand of 42.8 million.

So this this fund has seen a dramatic turnaround over the past several years.

Group health, uh there was a uh pretty um how can I put it?

Um depressing conversation yesterday at audit committee um and um they ended the year with approximate 21 million dollar operating loss and fiscal 25, uh which left the fund balance at approximately 10.3 million.

Uh there are still a lot, there's still a lot of work left in balancing uh this fund going forward.

Uh but uh there'll be some uh significant uh medical health care changes that'll be required, uh either on the premium increase side or adjustments to health care benefits, uh, and a lot of that is being worked on with the econom uh with the uh human resources department, and there's more more to come during the budget process relative to the impact potentially to the general fund uh with health care, but it is probably the one area that is of the most concern for us.

So if you have any upcoming medical procedures, do them now, is about the well, we'll still get the cost, so maybe hold off for a few years.

Uh but as I said, uh HR is working on on this topic and will be presenting data certain during the budget process.

Uh water and sewer, another great year uh for that operation.

They've ended the year with a net position of 3.7 billion.

Uh another, it was an actual increase of almost 300 million uh in their net position during fiscal 25.

Uh pension and uh our post-employment benefits.

Uh pension uh ended the year, and these these this data is based on a gap presentation.

Uh we ended the year with 44 percent of the pension liability unfunded.

Um we are still awaiting the annual actuarial valuation report, and that document will be finalized uh by the Fort Worth Employees Retirement Fund and will be presented to council during the joint meeting uh when it's held either in May or June in the next couple of months.

But it's that document that actually provides the funding update uh for the pension fund, which we're pretty optimistic about.

Um that document will be finalized in the next couple of months.

Uh the OPEB is where we account for retiree health care, and uh we do have a trust in place of approximately 115 million as of the end of uh fiscal 25.

Overall, uh the the expenses, the health care expenses of finance and funded on the pay as you go basis.

Those are all funded by the various funding sources, whether it's general fund or the other funds within the organization.

Um so while we do have an unfunded uh rate of almost 78 percent, we do manage the the fund by uh budgeting the cost on an annual basis.

Reserve compliance, uh the general fund ended the year with approximately 22 percent in the fund balance and the unassigned fund balance.

Uh this is a really a key metric for rating agencies in particular.

Uh they're looking uh for really positive uh fund balances, and this will help to offset uh some of the negative uh comments relative to the pension fund.

So this is really a key metric for us that we're always attempting to maintain that 22 percent, but ultimately to grow it up to the reserve policy goal of 25 percent, which would represent three months of reserves.

Special revenue funds were all within compliance except for the Gulf Fund and the Gulf Fund that the director has provided finance with a two-year plan to resolve the deficit within the reserve requirement.

Government funds, debt service, all of those uh funds are within compliance.

Uh enterprise fund again, all of the funds are within the reserve requirements.

Uh and then lastly, the internal service fund.

Uh we've we've just talked about the group health and risk fund, uh, but obviously uh there'll be more uh information provided on the group health plan going forward.

Uh information technology currently has a shortage within its uh reserve requirement, and a lot of that is due to uh IT moving to an internal service fund without the benefit of having a fund balance.

Uh the director has provided finance with a five-year plan to uh generate uh sufficient uh fund reserves to remedy that situation, and I'll turn it over to Kate Perry who will review the audit.

Good afternoon, Kate Perry, uh Financial Management Services Assistant Director and Controller.

So we have successfully completed the audit once again with no findings.

We're incredibly proud of that.

Um we received unmodified and clean opinions on both the ACFAR and the single audit report, and that's the highest level of assurance that we can get from our external auditors on that.

Um they conduct the audit in compliance with the uniform grant guidance and the Texas grant management standards, in addition to whatever other applicable laws and governance there is.

And when we look at what findings are possible, they look at material weaknesses and significant deficiencies in two areas internal controls over financial reporting and internal controls over compliance.

And so, with that third year of no audit findings, we were moved from a high-risk audit as far as the single audit to a low risk auditee.

So that can produce some savings regarding the testing that has to happen with the audit firm.

They come in and they have a certain percentage that they have to test if you are classified as a high-risk auditee.

And now that that's been lowered to a low risk, we should see some savings there.

On the background, um, again, we talk about material weaknesses and significant deficiencies.

Uh significant deficiency is a deficiency or combination of deficiencies that is less severe than a material weakness, yet important enough to merit attention by by those charged with governance, and then you go up a step for the material weaknesses, um, being in a deficiency in an internal control, such that there's a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the financial statements could happen, right?

And so what we see, because we have had no findings in the last few years, is that really our internal controls and our procedures and processes that we have are operating as designed, right?

And that's something that we look at every year.

We look at the policy statements.

Has a situation occurred that needs to be updated, that kind of thing.

That's kind of our annual process there to ensure that we can continue with this as the standard for our audits.

Okay.

Um regarding grants, the single audit does cover both the federal and the state grant expenditures.

We have currently have 253 active grants across 21 departments.

We have 60 grant managers.

It comes in 22 federal and state agencies, and we spent this year 113 million dollars.

We are seeing the ARPA funding winding down, a lot of the projects getting completed, and so that's why we have a significant drop in what the expenditures were this year.

There are other agreed upon procedures that Forest and Czars will complete for us regarding budget compliance, investment compliance, the TCEQ compliance, and I believe that letter's already been signed.

Um, the water sewer system insurance and the water excess revenues compliance.

So with that, um, I would like to provide a few thank yous, a few acknowledgments.

You have a copy of the the PAFER, which Reggie touched upon briefly.

This is the first year that we have published it, and I want to make a shout out to communities to communications and public engagement because we accountants do not have this kind of creativity.

I promise you, we tried, it just did not work.

But we handed this off to them, told them what our vision was, and they knocked it out of the park.

So I want to thank them from the bottom of our hearts.

Um we initially printed a hundred of these.

We can print more should you have the you know need for them.

Um so we will distribute them.

You know, let us know how many you would like.

It will be published digitally along with the ACFAR and the single audit and the reserve requirement supplement.

And then finally, um, we just want to extend our sincere appreciation to all the departments for their year-round efforts and to the staff and the leadership of financial management services because their unwavering commitment to accuracy, transparency, and accountability is central to maintaining the city's trans fiscal integrity and enables us to serve the leadership and the residents with confidence.

Right.

Um, and so at this time, I would like to ask those of from FMS who have come to watch this.

Please stand up.

I want them to be acknowledged for daily weekly for their dedication.

Their dedication and excellence provides all of this.

So I really really am pleased and proud of the team that we have.

Absolutely very much.

Thank you all.

Appreciate it.

Go ahead.

I want to thank all of staff, and I want to thank Reggie for his leadership.

And if you think about it, there's 60 different grant managers.

Um there's a lot of opportunities for something to go wrong when you have them.

That's just on the grant side, that many folks, you know, monitoring these things as they go along.

I was here with the city when we had issues getting the actual audit report out in the 180 days that are required.

Um, and the fact that we have three years without straight and four out of the last five without a single finding is is top notch.

And so thank I want to thank Reggie and his staff for everything they've done.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Now we're already talking about you know, trying to get the fourth year of no findings.

I like that, like the way you think.

Let's go for the next.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

All right, Jay, what's next up?

Proposed economic development.

Yeah.

Okay.

We have the proposed economic development agreement with EDC and for Worth LSE.

We have Jerry.

Tell us about that, please.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Sure, I got that right.

The purpose of the presentation is to propose an incentive for EDC Fort Worth LLC, which is edged data center.

Edge data center is a data center project at Veal Ranch.

It's at a site that is planned for this type of development and with ERCOT support.

The red outline on the northeast corner shows where the site would be located.

This is a planned industrial area.

It's compatible with zoning and land use and has residential buffers.

This is a more recent rendering with the proposed encore substation at the site, and how the site would lay out.

Phase one real, 270 million, phase one BPP or equipment 300 million, phase two, real or construction, 300 million, phase two BPP, 225 million.

So that's a total of 570 million in real property or construction and 525 million in BPP or equipment.

The company would maintain a minimum of 300 million on an annual basis and assessed BPP or equipment.

The proposed incentive terms are a 10-year tax abatement agreement to emate the BPP taxes for 50%.

It's subject to performance requirements, including failure to meeting the minimum capital investment resulting in default, failure to meet the annual assessment levels of 300 million and BPP, the full jobs commitment or the salary requirements would be a forfeiture of the annual abatement in that year.

So the overview for this project, again, a 1.1 billion dollar minimum capital investment with 50 minimum full-time jobs at 73,000 average salaries.

These are technical positions.

There's a small business goal, and there are energy and water best practices included as a part of the agreement.

Take a little time going through the numbers of almost 68 million that would be generated in taxes over the 10-year period, would be an $18.2 million abatement on BPP only.

The net new taxes would be $49.3 million over that 10-year period.

Of the $68 million, $31 million is real property tax.

The $36.6 is BPP, and half of that is the abatement.

For that $31 million that's real prop that's on real property tax, $65% of that goes into the TIFF.

That's $20 million that would go into the TIFF for veal ranch.

Other financial information is included here, including city participation at $1.7 public-private ratio $59.9 to 1.

And the lifetime value of the incentives would be covered after 2.15 years into the 10-year term.

So on strategic alignment, this delivers strong near-term value that 20 million to the veal ranch TIFF, which helps to support nearby infrastructure financing.

The company is committing to using best practices for energy and water conservation and reflects a highly selective approach to data center support.

Our recommendation and next steps are entering into the 10-year tax abatement agreement on 50% of the BPP.

We're at work session today.

We had a 30-day notice that posted on February 27th, and we'd have this for MNC consideration on March 31st.

And any questions?

Sounds like a good value proposition.

Mike, we'll start with you.

Do you want to say anything?

And it's in your district.

Okay.

All right.

Any questions for anyone?

All right.

Looks to be a decent value proposition.

Thank you, Sherry.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

All right.

Next up, we have Main Street America project updates.

And we have I think uh Philip Smart kicking us off.

And I know to acknowledge, I see at the uh back of the room we have some members of the historic Northside District that's tied in to the Main Street America project.

And we have, I think, uh, let's see, where are the Polly people?

The project.

Okay, back there.

Okay, good.

Okay, there we are.

Okay, we have Anzata dancing to two sides there.

All right, okay, good.

Well, glad you are here uh to listen in on this uh update.

Go ahead.

Yeah, and I want to uh thank them for coming and showing uh appreciation and gratitude as a really spearhead this program.

So this is an overall three-year project program update, and so we're gonna kick us off kick it off with the purpose.

So we're basically demonstrating how Main Street America in the city of Fort Worth, along with local partners, are basically using revitalization revitalization to strengthen neighborhood development and revitalization target areas.

So Main Street and Fort Worth.

So we're basically using Main Street as a framework and the best practice tool for neighborhood community-led revitalization.

The city of Fort Worth is basically the strategic funding partner to align this redevelopment work, and then we're counting on the community partners to be the primary implementers for this type of work.

So basically the Fort Worth Main Street pilot program started in 2023.

Um it was funded by the LDC, and we contacted we contracted with American Main Street as a for 110,000 dollars.

The pilot program included a competitive progress uh process, and it was basically all the corridors, the the boundaries, just basically statistics and data that was collected to make sure that everyone was being um addressed fairly, and they were chosen with historic north side and polytechnic heights.

So part of this process after those uh districts were appointed.

Main Street then started Main Street 101 classes.

So basically they were given training, community asset mapping board roles, volunteer recruitment retention classes, basically everything they needed to get the program running, and their local leaders also got upskilled to divine and implement revitalization projects for their local government plans.

And each district was provided with administrative and project funds from the LDC.

And so here's a map of historic North Side Main Street, and this was the historic North Side funding for 2023 to 2025.

Administrative fee was 120,000.

The project was 150,000, totaling 270,000.

And the other areas, Polytechnic Main Street, and this is the map for it.

This was the funding for Polytechnic.

It was the same funding, the administrative was 120,000, the project was 150,000.

If you see the asterisk, the 150,000 was not utilized by Southeast Fort Worth Incorporated.

So those unused funds from 2023, 2025 were then rolled into the new extension for this year.

So the program goals at the end of this pilot was to basically have the districts fully structured to be self-sustaining.

The program would increase stakeholder involvement in the areas.

We would allow the community tangible transformation and basically help with fundraising external investments and make sure that they would see growth beyond just the initial city funding.

And so our two partners have done a great job with that.

And so I would like to ask one of them to come up, and that's Dr.

Chandler with Texas Westland University.

Good afternoon, Dr.

Chandler.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Hello.

So as Philip has mentioned, my name is Dr.

DeWela Chandler.

I serve as the director for service learning at Texas Westland University, as well as the Poly Main Street program coordinator.

So kind of want to touch a little bit about Poly Main Street.

And so what makes Poly Main Street unique is our anchor institution model.

So with that, by leveraging the university's talent, the students, and infrastructure, we're not just supporting revitalization, we are building a workforce and leadership pipeline that strengthens the corridor long term.

And so this positions Poly Main Street to be very strategic for sustainability.

So I'll touch a little bit on our mission and our vision.

And so everything we do from beautification to our communication is about honoring the legacy of Polytechnic Heights while creating real opportunity moving forward.

So our vision is bold, but it is grounded.

We are working toward a vibrant mixed-use district that supports entrepreneurship, celebrates identity, and creates generational growth.

And so at the end of the day, our goal is simple but powerful.

Polytechnic Heights should be a place where people can truly live, work, play, and prosper.

So I'm excited to share that Poly Main Street has moved firmly into the implement implementation phase.

And so with the transition of leadership to Texas Westland University, this gives us strong administrative and strategic capacity.

Texas Westland launched a community-based project management course, which I teach, where students are now directly embedded in real revitalization work.

So in addition to that, Poly Main Street has completed our transformation strategy workshop with Main Street America, hosted a community-wide logo voting event to engage stakeholders, and we're currently finalizing our bylaws while standing up a nonprofit foundation to support long-term fundraising.

So in short, the infrastructure is being built.

And so that means we're building strength in organization.

We're telling the district story through promotion.

We're supporting business growth through economic vitality and enhancing the visual character of the corridor through design.

So what I'm most proud of is the level of collaboration that is taking shape in Polytechnic Heights.

And so that ecosystem approach is critical for sustainability in our corridor work.

We were also honored to be selected as a 2025 American Express Neighborhood Champion, which strengthens our shop small efforts and national visibility.

And so we continue to work directly with our business owners to assess needs and identify opportunities for growth.

And importantly, we're currently advancing a proposal for an outdoor fitness court that will serve as a safe and active community gathering space because economic vitality and quality of life and place must move together.

And so with that, I'll just say this a little bit.

What I hope you see is that Polytechnic Heights is not waiting for transformation.

We are actively building the structure, the partnerships, and the momentum to sustain it.

And we're just getting started.

And so with that, I will pass it over to my colleague, Miss Dee to talk about the historic North Side.

Thank you so much for the opportunity.

Where you go, Dr.

Chandler.

Any questions for Dr.

Chandler, Chris?

Are you good?

Everyone else?

Thank you.

Thank you.

We're just excited.

Okay.

Good afternoon, Dee.

Good afternoon, Councilmember.

Good afternoon, Mayor Pro Tem Flores.

My name is D.

Lair O'Neill, and I am our Main Street project manager for the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

We've worked really hard on this pilot for the last three years, and much like the story that Dr.

Chandler shared with Polly, we're seeing a lot of those same efforts in Northside.

One of the things I'm most proud of is just the amount of collaboration and participation from community members of all walks of life, including Mayor Pro Tem Flores and several volunteers and community members that are right here in this room.

I'm gonna say hi because a lot of the progress that we've seen on this project has been largely due to their leadership and their efforts.

Over the past three years, we've really worked to refine a vision that reflects a shared identity for the corridor.

And what we keep hearing and what we're working towards is a north side known for celebrating its vibrant culture, its history of entrepreneurship and small businesses, and truly, truly shared stewardship of the community, where growth and change supports the neighborhood, includes residents, and welcomes visitors.

Some of our transformation strategy priorities have been really building community leadership, strengthening partnerships to ensure that residents, businesses, and partners can participate and help shape the corridor as it grows.

We support small businesses and corridor vitality through visibility, participation, coordinated economic strategies, and truly truly by preserving what matters in the north side, growing our organizational capacity by using appropriate design tools, and leveraging long-term stewardship of the corridor.

So some of the highlights of our work over the past three years has been establishing our advisory board.

We actually have five working committees that I'm really proud of.

So it includes our general advisory board, our exec committee, which is pretty much our main street organization point, our design committee, our promotions committee, our economic vitality committee, and then something that makes our pilot unique is a community action committee, which is our resident leadership advisory body.

We're currently exploring the creation of a public improvement district.

Our events have drawn over 24,000 visitors to the historic north side over the past three years, serving current residents but also attracting new faces to support the corridor.

We've seen about 14 projects on the corridor that are either completed, underway, or planned with a total value of approximately 84 million dollars in capital investment.

Those projects are projected to bring 302 new jobs to the corridor, approximately 121 new or expanded businesses.

And we really work hard to make sure that business owners and property owners are aligning on improvements and then supplementing that alignment with district marketing.

We've also completed several corridor beautification projects.

So for example, new murals, uh, a fresh coat of paint at the marine skate park, some landscaping, really bringing community together to create a shared stewardship of our environment and to continue making sure that Northside is the welcoming gateway it has long been.

Sony those in the summer, we can count on that drawing about 10,000 people every year to Marine Park.

We've installed cultural murals at Mercado Plaza, at Marine Skate Park, through our partners like Arte de la Rosa and through Council Member Flores' leadership.

There's even been a new major league baseball mural on the corridor.

Smaller events like Posadas, which celebrate an annual holiday tradition with a unique Northside Flair, raise about 7,500 in sponsorships and help local businesses generate approximately 10,000.

We've raised about $535,000 independent of city funds over the past three years.

Proud to announce that uh North Texas Communities Foundation has awarded our pilot an additional 250,000, a multi-year commitment to making sure that this grows steady uh and collaborative.

Again, we're working towards incorporation as an independent nonprofit to support long-term stewardship and governance.

So now that the pilot programs over for the first three years, we're going to platform.

So what comes next?

The LDC has basically authorized a two-year extension of the program, uh, up to $300,000 combined for both uh districts, and they did that back in 2002, uh June 2025.

Main Street has been contacted as a vendor again to continue to support basically for technical assistance, district workshops and field lessons.

Fort Worth will focus on executing strategic work plans for have both main streets self-sustainable, and our new program agreement shows that there's tracking and metrics with measurable KPIs like private funds raised, jobs created, and vacant buildings activated.

So that new funding looks like this.

So the LDC has funded Polytechnic for 2026, 2027.

The administrative cost is 60,000.

Project implementation is 150,000.

If you see the abstract, that's because that's unused funds carried over from 2023, 2025 program that wasn't was not utilized into this program.

So a total of 210,000.

And then project implementation of 70,000 with a total of 130,000.

So our city of Fort Worth community development efforts are to continue to support the neighborhood and community revitalization efforts in the main street districts and corridors, initiate conversations with Texas Main Street to determine how to better align the city Fort Worth and our program with the state's existing program, continue to develop additional tools for our toolkit.

So communities in the economic and community development efforts and evaluate revitalization strategic strategy as part of the economic development strategic plan.

Any questions?

Mayor Pertem.

Thank you, Philip, for that great presentation.

But I want to say uh, you know, great job, D, all the work that y'all are doing in Northside.

Um, you know, you are you're all really uh hitting it out of the ballpark there.

But I do want to thank Dr.

Chandler for all the hard work that you and the committee has put in thus far.

I share the community's sentiment when I say that we're really excited to see the future of future accomplishments of the Polly May Street project.

So looking forward to see all the great work coming out of Polly.

Chris.

So I I have a question.

The uh 150,000 is the rollover from the unused money.

Uh and then there's new dollars essentially for the other two years, had they used that money.

Will Polly receive the additional funding as well in the long term, or did they just lose their funding?

They just received the additional funding for administrative costs, not project implementation.

So we technically lost that fund.

Because the project implementation um implementation funds were not utilized the first uh program years, and they basically just carried it over.

Except for them losing the 150,000 for the first three years.

We feel like it was more of a due process to allow them to have that, except for stripping them of that 150,000 and only give them 70,000 like historic north side.

And this is a five-year plan.

Well, just additional two years.

So yeah, altogether it will be five years, yes, sir.

Okay.

Any questions?

All good.

All right.

Well, before we disperse on this topic again, Philip, thank you, you know, for the presentation.

Thank you, Doc you Dr.

Chandler, and uh just want to acknowledge you know all the hard work and teamwork from the uh Polly and North Side projects.

So I know some of you are already standing, but those that aren't standing, if you can stand up, we can give you a round of applause.

Yeah.

Very briefly, I saw a familiar head Bob uh from the audience, a uh former assistant city manager Fernando Costa.

I was gonna say um communications actually asked if um the council members and uh main street could come up and take a picture.

Yeah, that'd be great.

We also have former city council member uh Anzeta in the back.

So everyone come on up.

Let's take a picture.

Uh yeah, we can all join in.

Yeah, probably open it.

Okay.

Between you and me, can't we can't play favorite?

I don't know.

I probably didn't care.

Right in the middle of the five.

Ready to congratulations.

Yeah, good to see you.

Congratulations.

Yeah, for sure.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you.

There was a city employment.

I didn't know who it was with what departments are about 94 meetings.

That's right.

Just future agenda items.

Yep.

Thank you.

Yeah.

All right, folks, we're almost done.

Just one additional item of business.

Uh request for future agenda items.

I know Chris, you had one.

Did you just if that can be a future agenda item?

That's that's all I have.

And and to be clear, what you wanted is in light of the uh efforts going on in the East Lancaster corridor, you wanted an assessment of uh current and future hope unit needs as far as personnel.

Is that right?

Or yeah, as it relates to the hope team.

I know we the impact to the rest of the city is the whole team is focused there, right?

Correct.

Okay.

Anyone else?

Yes.

I I'd like to ask that we do an IR to get more information on what we're doing uh for our unhoused individuals across the city.

I have gotten multiple concerns from residents that camps are moving further out in the districts, and would just like to know what the plan is to try to mitigate some of those camps and what we're doing.

Okay.

Uh Jay, you wouldn't happen to know uh when we would get the latest uh point in time count results, would you?

I don't off the top of my head, but I don't know, Tara Bettis is in the audience.

April or May.

April or May, okay.

I don't know if that would be a good idea to wait until then to have those.

If we could get it sooner, I have uh just around the Bentley Villa village area off East Chase, a big growth of camps out there, and so I think if we could get some information sooner, it would be better.

All right, got it.

Charlie, did you so I think it comes at a good time since we talked about post-employment benefits earlier?

Um, but I'd like a report from Parks uh and rec to see what the financial impact would be for us to offer a deeply discounted um community center gym membership to our retired uh Fort Worth employees and the potential impact that could have on our uh on the health benefits as well.

Heard from a couple of retirees who would actually use the facilities here on a daily basis, which obviously kept them in great shape, but then as soon as they're retired, it's no mass.

So are you talking about in city hall?

Oh, I mean it either city hall or and or community, all the community centers, and allowing them a very deeply discounted uh gym membership, which I think will ultimately have an impact on our health insurance as well.

It could Deborah did you have something else or no it's not an IR but I wanted to give a major shout out to uh uh ACM Dana uh but uh uh Bergdoff and her team uh we just recently broke ground for the parks at Moshe Valley so a shout out to our parks department for getting that moving and just uh the residents are static.

Good deal that's good to hear.

Anyone else any other future agenda items or IRs for going once going twice seeing none we are adjourned at five after three