Thank you.

Good afternoon.

Welcome to Fort City Council Meeting.

Thank you for your patience.

I'll call us to order.

Turn it back over to Jeanette.

Today's invocation will be provided by Bishop Kevin Dickerson from Day Spring Family Church.

Please rise for the invocation and remain standing for the pledges of allegiance.

Let us pray.

Deavenly Father, we come before you with gratitude for the opportunity to gather in this place of leadership and service.

We thank you for the city of Fort Worth, a vibrant and growing community, the mayor, the city council members, and all the residents who call Fort Worth home.

Lord, as we enter this sacred season of Holy Week, we're reminded of the humility, sacrifice, and servant leadership demonstrated by Jesus Christ.

As he entered Jerusalem with purpose and compassion, may these leaders also walk in wisdom, humility, and deep commitment to serve others above themselves.

Today we pray for the council as they conduct the business of Fort Worth.

Grant them clarity of thought, unity of purpose, and integrity of heart.

Let every discussion and every decision be guided by what is right, just and beneficial for all the people of Fort Worth.

We pray especially for the continued economic growth of our great city.

As Fort Worth expands, may the growth that may that growth create opportunities for all, strengthening families, empowering small businesses, attracting innovation, and ensuring that prosperity reaches every neighborhood across the city.

Give the mayor and the council discernment to balance progress with equity, development with responsibility, and vision with compassion.

Lord, just as Holy Week reminds us that sacrifice often precedes victory.

Help this council embrace the hard work and difficult decisions that lead to lasting good.

Grant them courage when the path is challenging, wisdom when the issues are complex, and unity when opinions differ.

Bless the residents of Fort Worth, who are now over one million strong, that we may be people who support one another, engage in our community, and work together for the good of everyone.

May all that is said and done today reflect servant leadership, promote justice, and advance the growth of the city of Fort Worth.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Thank you, Jeanette.

Um, I'm gonna start our process here and ask Ian, President and CEO of One Community SA to start his presentation because this really does give special thanks to the hard work of the men and women of the Fort PD and specifically our SHOP Talk program.

Ian, the floor is yours.

Microphone's right here, Ian.

Yeah.

Good morning, Mayor Parker and Fort City Council.

My name is Ian Fuhrer, and I serve as the president and CEO of One Community USA.

On behalf of One Community USA and the SHOP Talk Program, my team and I have the honor of presenting a plaque to the Fort Worth Police Department's Community Engagement Unit.

I brought a few friends.

The SHOP Talk Program brings together law enforcement and community members in meaningful conversations, has flood and has flourished thanks to the men and women of the community engagement unit.

Our relationship began under Chief Neil Noakes, continues under Chief Eddie Garcia, and operates successfully under Deputy Chief Wheeler's leadership.

As we present this plaque today, let it serve as a symbol of appreciation for the dedication, compassion, and tireless efforts of the Fort Worth Police Department's Community Engagement Unit to make Fort Worth a safer and more inclusive place for all.

On behalf of One Community USA and SHOP Talk, we're honored to recognize the importance and impact of the Fort Worth Police Department's Community Engagement Unit.

And we have a letter that I won't read, but that we'll present uh to uh to the department.

And now I'd like to introduce Brad Deeson, director of the Shop Talk program to read the plaque.

Good afternoon.

On behalf of One Community USA, Fort Worth Police Department Community Engagement Team for outstanding service and dedication to building trust and stricken community relationship through the Shop Talk program.

Presented by One Community USA 2026.

We appreciate all the hard work that y'all do on a daily basis.

Uh the program could not survive without y'all backing.

So we are excited to be a part of the team.

And we present you this plaque.

Also, we want to present you the ribbon as well.

The yellow is for community, blue, law enforcement community working together to build unity and strength.

One team, one dream.

Let me present this to Chief Will.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Do y'all want to take a picture before y'all sneak off?

Okay.

Just take down that barrier, and y'all can come around and take one here at the dice.

Council, you're welcome to join them with a photograph if you'd like to.

All right.

One, two, three.

And Councilman Beck, I think the next one is yours.

Oh, if I could get Mike Brennan and the folks from Near South Side to join me at the podium, please.

But most importantly, Mike Brennan.

And anyone that's ever worked with Mike Brennan, come on down.

Hello, Mike.

Good.

All right.

So it took a lot of doing to get Mike Brennan here by surprise.

And I will say I'm not a recording of your daughter, so I probably won't make you cry today.

So I like your dress, Ann.

Ann says she took a risk.

She's wearing my dress.

We're down here today, and you see so many people at the podium to celebrate Mike Brennan.

We have a special recognition today.

I'm not going to read all of it because I really just want to take the time to talk about the 20 dedicated years that Mike spent at Near South Side.

That is a truly distinguished career.

We have watched Magnolia and South Main, those um little villages grow from dilapidated office spaces to a premier entertainment district for the city.

And we could not have done that without Mike Brennan's leadership first as the planning director and then as the executive director.

So, Mike, thank you so much for all your years of service.

As you can turn around and look behind you, there's some ACMs standing there, some former council members.

I see a wife, at least one, at least one.

And some family, some predecessors.

Everyone's here to celebrate you because you really have transformed an area of our city.

And when we talk about TIFFs in our um in our community, we look to Near South Side, and we always say that's the shining example of how you operate a TIFF.

So thank you, Mike.

Thank you for your years of dedicated service to Fort Worth.

Thank you for letting us surprise you.

And thank you for continuing that service with Trinity Metro.

So if you'd like to say a few words.

Oh my gosh.

Thank you.

First, I want to tell my mom this is the first time I've ever been in City Hall without a blazer.

And I apologize.

This is too much.

This is this is unbelievable.

I am so fortunate to have worked for the last 20 years in truly my dream job.

I could spend the next hour telling you how attached I am to the Near South Side and have been since I was a kid.

And for somebody who got into just being interested in cities and in urban planning, uh, to be able to work in that district, but more importantly, with these amazing people, this the people behind me and the and everything that you represent and have accomplished in partnership with our amazing team.

And I want to call call them out.

It's it's Megan, it's Woody, it's it's Natalie, it's Austin, it's Becky, and our newest teammate, Rachel, and our board of directors.

Um, it has been uh just the opportunity of a lifetime.

I can't thank you enough.

Hopefully, everybody in this room that has no uh attachment to Near Southside Inc.

is well aware of all the progress that they that we've all seen.

That is the result of all of the the folks that I'm accepting this on your behalf, uh, just to recognize the great progress, and that includes the people that work in this building every day.

Um, the partnership between Near Southside Inc.

and the city of Fort Worth is what makes all of this happen.

And and Jay, you've been there literally from the beginning uh in creating uh the TIFF.

And um I saw Don Scott, yes.

Uh yeah, so uh this is a legacy that goes far beyond my work, but I'm I'm very proud to accept this recognition, recognizing the the progress that all of us have been able to achieve.

And there's so much more to come.

And Megan Henderson is the perfect person to lead the way, and that's what's gonna happen over the next 20 years.

So thank you so much.

In true Mike form, he wants to accept this on behalf of everybody else, but we're not gonna let you do that today, Mike.

Mike, that is your proclamation, okay?

Thank you.

As well.

Thank you all for surprising Mike.

Take him out to lunch or something now.

Mayor and council, uh, there are no items being withdrawn or continued, but I do have one correction that I was asked to read into the record for MNC 26025, and that is to correct the MNC to delete the phrase.

This project has been publicly bid and replace it with in accordance with chapter 212's sub chapter C of the Texas Local Government Code.

The city's participation in the contract is exempt from competitive bidding requirements because the contract is for oversizing public improvements being constructed by the developed developer.

The developer will execute a performance bond to cover the total project cost, including all of the city's cost participation, and the city's cost participation will be determined in accordance with the city's community facilities agreement unit price ordinance.

Mayor that gets us to consent agenda speakers, and I believe we have four.

Thank you.

Our first speaker is Bob Willoughby, followed by Eric Elrod.

Now before Mayor Mary Parker, we used to have three minutes on each one of these.

We got to split it to a minute and a half.

Thank you, Mayor.

Whenever she gets on, oh, they already started my time.

I knew I should have stayed over there.

Anyway, MC 260231.

You know, back when Bessie Price mayor, they read these things off and vote on them one at a time so people know what was going on.

Maddie, you messed it up so much no one knows.

You did a great job.

Um say 21.

This is about the uh police chief appointing Michael J.

Moore.

Well, we don't know who Michael J.

Moore is.

He might be like that.

You know, we have a uh a woman cop beater on the force now that we pay for because the POA put him back on the force.

He was priorities back on it.

So we don't know none of these people how they are.

Second thing is the police chief, he can't he runs away from the camera.

That's a coward.

I don't know, it's not a post chief.

You need to hire a chief that's not afraid to talk to people.

Bob, do you have anything around to MNC 2602131 or 0217?

Well, this is on you're on two consent agenda.

Oh two three one, the first one's all I'm talking about, the post chief.

Okay, and then the other one, oh two seven one, the kitchen equipment.

That's the one down next one underneath the line there.

This one I was kind of uh surprised.

What are you buying kitchen equipment for and stuff?

And now the firefighters, they they live at the base.

I mean, at the deal for a few days, so I can understand that.

But public events, you know what I see when I see public events.

This is what I see if they get it up in time.

You know, your private event, you have Matty at Dickey Arena, the mayor, only by invitation.

We're not allowed to go to that when you have meetings, uh, the general public.

I guess we should call us the uh the peasants.

That's the word for it they use in the old days.

That's what we are.

We're not allowed to go to these private meetings like you had there.

Now, is that 200,000?

Does that does that go for that kind of public meeting there in your events?

Park and retrolation, what are they doing with 180,000?

Jeez, I don't know.

Having parties or what?

Aviation, the airport, the pilots.

I don't understand that.

The courts, those judges make enough money, they could pay for this themselves.

So I don't understand all that.

600,000 at all.

And I know you won't answer.

You people never have answers since you've been down here, so that's why we're here.

See, first you do things to aggravate people, and then they retaliate, you make them look like they're bad.

You're the ones that are bad.

Understand that, okay.

All right.

Well, let's see.

That's the two there.

And I wouldn't trust anything that the police chief uh votes for because he's not qualified like y'all, you know.

Half of you, you never been to a council meeting.

I never seen anything run so bad.

I wish people would see the whole picture how it was before you.

Then they know how bad it really is.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Eric Elrod, followed by Jonathan Ragsdale.

Thank you, Eric.

Our next speaker is Jonathan Ragsdale.

Thank you.

Council, I think that's the conclusion of our nope, I lied.

Adrian Smith.

Adrian Smith, District 6.

I am one with the people.

I'm here to speak on agenda item.

M and C two six hyphen 0240.

This is the authorization execution of a fourth lease addendum to the lease agreement between the city of Fort Worth and Casa Mayana Incorporated to authorized funding participation of an additional 171,526.

Um79 cents for the building systems, repairs, and all replacements uh made for the physical year of 2025.

So I stand in uh support of this particular agenda item.

We know that Cost of Mignani, if anybody who's a Fort Worth native like myself, is an important part of uh what Fort Worth is.

Uh custom, sorry, Cost Mignana Theater.

To those who don't know about it, is the house of tomorrow.

It's a historic Fort Worth venue in the culture district, known voice unique, aluminum domed theater in the ground design.

Originally, originally built um for the 1936 Texas Centennial.

It hosts Broadway shows, children's theater, and cavalry, offering a full season of uh musicals and plays, and also provides musical theater training.

The current structure design by uh Buck Minster Fuller replaced the original outdoor amplitude with a fully enclosed air conditioned space in 1958.

So again, Cosminiana is a very important um venue within our city.

Um thank you all for continuing to support the arts.

It is necessary.

We know that um no city survives without arts because we know that we can have various developments that that cover various industries, but the arts is what tends to bring people together from all over.

So thank you all for your continued support.

Um finding funding to support Casamanyana, I just hope we can find the same funding for the Fort Worth Communities Arts Center eventually.

Mayor Parker.

I know you all stated that it was 30 million dollars needed for repairs, and still we don't know what's going to happen with that property, but just like Casa Mignana is part of the coach district to Arch District, the Fort Worth Community Arts Center is as well.

So hopefully we can find funding for it because it's it's empty right now.

And we found plenty of money for this facility over 33 million dollars to bring it online.

So we could, I know we have some money somewhere for the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.

Thank you.

That's a conclusion of our consent agenda speakers.

Council.

Got a motion a second, any other discussion and consent.

Please vote.

Motion carries.

Next will be announcements by city council members.

Councilmore Flores.

Thanks, Mayor.

All right, first slide.

Uh attended the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Tarrant County uh big impact luncheon.

They recognize the individual partnerships and also organizational partnerships with that organization.

Among those recognized was uh Commissioner Roderick Miles Jr.

and uh a valued district two employer, BNSF Rail Ray.

So thank you to them and to all the other awardees.

Uh next slide, please.

All right.

Uh the mayor's 2025 neighborhood awards luncheon.

I haven't had a chance to speak on that, and as far as district two is concerned, uh, there were several of our districts that had great representation up there on stage, recognized for what they've done throughout the year.

And I just want to say that district two was one of them.

Uh Marine Creek Ranch HOA, you know, for its participation, co-compliance, and uh the Fort Worth uh police neighborhood policing uh unit.

Congratulations to all award winners and city departments who make Fort Worth a great place to be.

Next slide.

All right.

Uh as mentioned in our work session, uh, along with city staff, I attended the briefing of the Cotton Bowl for the FIFA World Cup 2026 event.

Uh it's projected to boost North Texas economy by 1.5 to 2.1 billion dollars, and it's gonna leave a big lasting civic cultural and infrastructure legacy for us.

And so it requires close collaboration.

So appreciation to our staff members and their close coordination with the organizers.

Next slide.

Dowtown goes during 25 years of observing St.

Patrick's Day here in Fort Worth and the Fort Worth Stockyards that featured live music, festive foods, drinks, lawn games, armadilla races, cow milking contest, two rodeos, and an Irish themed uh parade.

So thanks to uh Stockyards Heritage and all the sponsors and participants for making that a wonderful event.

Next slide.

I joined uh Nuestras Raíces as they hosted dignitaries visiting our city, and these representatives were from the Consulado General de Mexicon from Dallas and the state of Sacateca.

So we started out at Joe T.

Garcia's Esperanzas for breakfast with these officers that later took them to go see Air One and Meet from Airport, and then later we celebrated the National Calgiral Museum uh with a dinner and an award ceremony.

Next slide, please.

All right.

Planning for FIFA again in the Fort Worth Stockyards.

What are we doing?

Collaboration between Fort Worth Stockyards Inc., my office and the Fort Worth Police Department.

We held the town hall to educate everybody and inform them on the upcoming safety improvements in the stockyards, featuring Bollards, approved safety protocol, enhanced police patrols, uh installing uh traffic signal there as a public improvement project there at North Main and 24th Street.

Next slide.

All right, in celebration of America's uh 250th birthday, there was a video project that came through town, the Great American Road Trip, and it stopped by towntown.

And so the U.S.

Transportation Secretary Duffy would have been there, but unfortunately had to go to LaWordia to attend to the accident there with the Canadian Air Aircraft.

His wife, Rachel, and the children, though, did join us there at the historic stockyards.

And uh the tour was uh wonderful for them.

They got to learn a lot about uh our stockyards in Texas.

Next slide, please.

All right.

Umjoyed spending time with the participants of leading edge class 2026.

Uh joining me was uh Councilmember Hill.

I'm sorry, Hall, and uh as a leader of uh Ship Fort Worth graduate, it was wonderful to reconnect with uh these class members and both uh myself and Mia answer questions from the moderator and allowed to share our experiences here on council.

Next slide, please.

All right, raicis Vivas.

Now, this is a Spanish gardening seminar that was held at ADLR, that's uh Arte de la Rosa at the Rose Marine Theater in District 2, and that was held by uh our own city staff, and so it was a free day of regional gardening water conservation info from local experts.

So thank you for doing that, city staff.

All right, next up, we have another opportunity to keep your vehicle clean in District 2.

This is the first car wash by Quick Trip, and it's going to be next to the existing Quick Trip there on 28th Street.

And so Bubble Bath Car Wash, welcome to uh the stockyards area into District 2.

Last slide.

The Northside Community Center and Diamond Hill Community Center, so their own respective eager, uh, sorry, Easter extravaganza events, Easter egg hunts, uh petting zoos, etc.

games, uh good representation there for our Fort Worth Police Department and other organizations that came together, visited with uh residents, and uh thank you one and all for making that a success.

And the kids had a lot of fun.

And I believe that's all I have.

Thank you now.

Councilmember Larsdorf.

Thank you, Mayor.

Just a couple of announcements.

Next slide, please.

Uh, we're gonna have uh our the North Park YMCA expansion update.

This is the second one that we're having uh on this topic to really take a lot of the feedback we got from the last one and discuss what the uh the way forward looks like.

That'll be Thursday, April 9th at 6 p.m.

at North Park YMCA.

So hope to see you there.

Next slide.

Also at the North Park YMCA, we're gonna have our second annual District 4 Resource Fair on April 25th from 11 to 2, and it's free for everyone to attend.

We'll have some co-nights out there for the kids at no charge, uh a lot of activities for them as well as a lot of our uh city uh staff to talk about what's going on in District 4 and what we have coming up.

That's all I have.

Thank you.

Councilmember Peoples.

Thank thank you, Mayor.

I'm gonna make this presentation short, but I'm the theme of my presentation today is community and collaboration matters.

And so my first slide is I want to thank Congressman Mark Vesey and uh for working with us in the Fort Worth Housing Initiative, the Stop Six Neighborhood Choice Initiative.

Uh Congressman VZ bought home another 3.1 million dollar investment in the work that that community is doing.

So uh and grateful to that.

So next slide.

Uh I had an opportunity to represent the city of Fort Worth at the National League of Cities Congressional City Conference in DC, and it does matter.

I am pleased to announce Mayor and Council that I have been appointed to the community economic development committee, and we have already started to do work to bring great things home to Fort Worth.

So next thing uh I could not be prouder of what is happening in District 5, and I will tell you uh that the Central Storehouse, which is an amazing organization that does outreach to community and takes care of our neighbors, had their ribacting.

I was honored to join the mayor there who had uh remarks and it is about taking care of citizens in Fort Worth.

So it's all about collaboration.

And then the next slide, I have to thank my staff.

Um, on Friday, I lost an amazing cousin and community activist, Marion Ernest McMillan in Dallas, Texas.

And so I was unable to attend this event, but my staff went and they had a mother-daughter fancy Nancy Tea Party.

And so my staff represented complete with fascinators and gloves.

And I need to thank uh the Fort Worth Library for providing educational gifts for all the children.

So we do use money wisely, and those kids really appreciated the gifts they got and from the library.

And then finally, I see you back there, Director Romley.

I have to thank our extraordinary uh City of Fort Worth municipal court for the work that they do.

On Saturday, we work together and presented a court in the community.

This is where individuals across the city of Fort Worth, not just in District 5, who have outstanding warrants are free to come in and take care of those warrants for uh things that happened in the city of Fort Worth.

We said uh they were only set up to take 120 patrons.

They actually took 131.

They handled 428 cases and were able to resolve those and clear 360 warrants.

And if you could have seen the families that come in, the young people that come in that get tickets, things the grandmother brought her grandson in to take care of tickets.

It is a much needed service, and we saw residents from across the city of Fort Worth.

So I need to thank not only our city courts, but also the Potter's House of Fort Worth who opened their doors free of charge to allow us to do things.

So my presentation today was about collaboration and working together.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

And Councilmember Nettles.

Thank you.

The first slide you hear, uh, you see, we had opportunity to go to the uh Tuskegee Airmen State Day, uh, Thursday, March 26th.

I was joined by Councilwoman Beck honoring our veterans for their hard work and effort that they have done for us, paving the way for us to come next.

The next slide was a uh an awesome event at the Hillside Park Street Soccer Field.

They transformed the old lapidated tennis courts to soccer fields.

Uh mayor and I were there speaking on the behalf.

We also had opportunity uh to kick the soccer ball blindfolded.

We had several um uh individuals that was there that were blind, they were playing soccer, and it was just amazing to see uh the effort that is happening.

It's gonna be transformable for the Hillside Community Uh Center there.

And so we are grateful for Visa uh Street Soccer USA, Bank of America, and all those partnerships, as well as the Fort Worth uh City.

Next slide.

We have the annual spring uh Glenwood Park cleanup.

It's gonna be Saturday, April the 11th, from 8 a.m.

to 12 p.m.

The next slide.

We uh opportunity for Sycamore uh Park uh public uh art dedication, April the 9th at 10 a.m.

And the next slide is our all-star community bank.

We have opportunity to honor those who serve on our boards as well as our community with the best yards and those who are beautifying the city of Fort Worth in District 8.

I'm not sure if that next slide made it in.

Oh, it did.

We want to say congratulations to the North Crowley Panther basketball team winning the state championship again for the second time uh on Thursday at on Thursday, April the 2nd.

It is uh a day to celebrate, so if you can make it out, uh is going to start at 6.15.

So I'm gonna ask you to get there early.

As we say at North Crowley, we're a blue, be loud, go Panthers.

And also I want to give one other acknowledgement, and I will tell you, I guess, you know, since I was a great athletic athlete myself.

Also, ODY, thank you, Michael Crane.

ODY is in a matchup here in just a second.

Uh the soccer, uh, the boys' soccer team is playing at 2:30 in Midland.

So we're rooting on ODY to win uh in the regional uh championship today.

And so those are my announcements.

Thank you.

Councilman Rebecca.

I hope they play soccer better than you play kickball.

Uh first slide.

Have the opportunity to join um Andy Taft and Jay Choppa for the uh downtown Fort Worth Neighborhood Alliance annual meeting.

Um it was informative as always.

Next slide.

Um attended the convention center phase two town hall for folks that didn't get the opportunity to attend that meeting or haven't seen.

Um I highly encourage you to go online and check out the concept plans of our new improved um uh convention center.

Next slide.

On um the 24th, had the opportunity to speak to a dynamic group of women from across Texas and the Leadership Texas panel um for their women's leadership program, um, annual women's leadership program.

Next slide.

Joined Councilman Nettles at the Tuskegee Airmen Statewide Day, um, something that will be happening each year, um, which I think is a great opportunity to just remind us um the work that those brave men did in the military and the precedent they set for those of us that served after them to follow.

So it was um an honor to be included in as part of that.

Next up, all right, we've got uh future events.

So free yoga is back in Burnett Plaza, or I'm sorry, Burnite Park, Tuesdays from 5:30 to 6:15, and then the lunchtime music series is Wednesdays from 12 to 1.

Next slide.

April 16th through the 19th, our Main Street Arts Festival will be back downtown.

I hope you all um come out and enjoy over 300 live performances and 200 plus juried artists admission is free.

Next slide.

April 4th will be the Greenbrier Community Center Easter egg hunt and spring fling.

There'll be a petting zoo, snacks, eggs.

I hope you'll join us out there from 11 to 1 p.m.

Next slide.

Uh uh Mike is not here anymore, but Near South Side is continuing their Lost and Sound series.

Um, Saturday, April 25th, that we'll be back um in the South Main villages.

There's several businesses that are part of this particular um venue, so are this particular event.

So I would um encourage you to go to the Near South Side website or social media and look at the lost and sound venues available to you.

Next slide.

Uh last but not least, we have the Super Safety Saturday, uh, April 29th at 10 from 10 to 1 at the Texas Health Clear Fork um facility.

And that's all I've got.

And Councilman Martinez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, next slide, please.

So on uh next Monday, April uh 6th, uh our transportation department will be hosting a Hempel Street corridor meeting uh this uh to discuss the findings of the Hempel Street Quarter follow-ups traffic study.

And this uh section does span both districts nine and eleven.

So if you are interested in hearing what the study found, then please join us.

And the event will be from six to seven, the meeting will be from six to seven thirty at the Victory Force Community Center.

Next slide.

And District 11 will be hosting its annual Earth Day or Environmental Day event this year.

It's gonna be on Earth Day, April 22nd from 9 a.m.

to 12 at Black Coffee.

We will have uh several uh free services provided at the event in partnership with our environmental team.

And so that's free paper shredding, uh disposable disposal of household hazardous waste, electronic recycling.

And this year we've partnered with the DEA, and so people will be able to drop off prescription drugs that are unused or expired.

Uh, please join us on that day.

We will have complimentary coffee and conchas for anybody that attends between that time span.

Thank you.

Mayor, I believe that gets us to the non-consent speakers, and we have two.

Thank you.

Our first speaker is Bob Willoughby, followed by Alexander Montalvo.

Bob, your time started.

Thank you.

I know it's going to start here in a minute.

That's okay.

I don't need much.

Okay.

Deborah Peoples is my council member.

And I just wonder if Walter Peoples is a family member, because these people get elected up here.

Or I was supposed to talk to them, though.

I'm not allowed to talk to y'all.

I used to live in a country called America.

Um you get elected up here.

A lot of you never even been to you never did your civil duty.

That's why I don't have no respect for you.

Peoples.

If you came down to some council meetings or bond meetings or done any of your ship, but I asked you three years ago.

I said Matty Parker took away our right to speak.

You didn't care.

You never showed up once down here at hell.

Now you're here.

Sustained.

Chris, did you point to order me?

Yeah.

Why are you point order me?

Mr.

Willoughby, just attempt to be responsible.

So here's the point is that well, I'm trying to make so you won't let us connect the dots.

So that's what that was never here before y'all were here.

That's your project here 10 years.

I never heard of order one time, and they were here on time.

You were an hour late.

Um, but anyway, my point, I want to connect the dots like they do in a courtroom.

You know, you don't allow us to do that in a courtroom.

You can start off and a judge may interrupt you but say, give me time, I'll put it again.

They'll allow it, but you don't allow it.

You see a chance to shut you down, you shut you down.

This three minutes should be immune from government.

It should be.

I mean, we should we should be able to speak, not this one, the comment.

But anyway, I just wonder if that's your family member, and then again.

I don't know how in the world we can't even trust you.

I offered you a hundred dollars to answer questions, you wouldn't do it.

I don't have no faith, no trust in you.

That's why I have no respect for you.

I'm gonna offer you again, I'll offer you a hundred dollars if you'll take five questions, and I'll give a hundred dollars to take Jews Children Hospital too.

If you'll just answer five questions.

That's what a council member's job is.

If you do that, I'll get some respect for you until you do that.

I have no respect.

And Matty Parker, you lied about me, you never took that back.

I smile no respect for you.

When you take back that line, channel eight takes back that line, the star telegram reprints that lie, then we'll be in good shape.

Nothing about thanks.

Great to see you, Bob.

Next speaker, Alexander Montalvo.

Is Alexander here?

I don't see him.

Council, I think that's the conclusion of our non-consent agenda speakers.

Thank you.

Council that gets us to CP D8-336.

Thank you.

Councilmember Peoples, I'll call on you.

Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to spend the council rules of procedure.

5.2.1 to allow this council proposal, CP 336 to be acted upon at this meeting.

A second council.

Any other discussion?

Please vote.

This is the motion to suspend the rules.

I've lost my voting screen.

If somebody wants to come fix it.

Thank you.

Let me hit this.

No vote.

Okay, we're gonna vote for those voice vote on suspending the rules.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any nays?

Okay.

Motion carries to suspend the rules.

Councilmer Peoples, you can continue.

Provide a fee waiver for breaking every chain march, which serves to denounce human sex trafficking and spread mental health awareness on Saturday, April the 25th, 2020 six at East Over Park.

Got a motion and a second.

Council, please vote.

I'm an aye if you can vote for me, and then the rest can vote.

Aye, because y'all have a voting screen, yes or no?

No.

There we go.

I'm still riding blind.

Motion carries.

Next will be board and commission appointments, with the first one being 26-5834 from District 5.

Councilmember Peoples.

So, Mayor, it is with great pleasure that I request your consideration to appoint the five following individuals to their respective boards with partial terms effective March 31st, 2026 and ending October 1st, 2027.

And first, let me start Mr.

Willoughby with Walter Peoples, who has an MBA and a CPA, and is a respected member of the community.

And no, he is not related to me, but he will be an excellent addition to the historic and cultural landmark commission.

And I hope that answered one of your five questions about whether people are um are qualified or not.

And then the second is to nominate Donaldo Elias Elias uh for a term uh partial term effective March 31st, 2025, and ending October 1st, 2027, to the library advisory board.

He too is eminently qualified, uh lives in District 5 and is ready to get to work.

A motion and a second council, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next will be board appointments at large.

Item 26-5835.

Is this your board of adjustment?

Yes.

Yes.

Looks like we've got Madison Gutierrez as a partial term alternate three for board of adjustment council.

All applications and information are available in the city secretary's office.

Okay.

Got a motion and a second.

Please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is at large appointments for the downtown design review board.

26-5864.

Council would like to make the following appointments to DDRB, including appointments position six, Ashley Johnson, position seven, Terry Bailey.

Reappointments, including position one, Paul Rett Retma, position three, Leah Dunn, and position five, Andrew Blake, and all applications are available in City Secretary's office.

I'm gonna motion a second, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is 26-5865.

Oh boy.

Councilmember Flores, I'll call on you.

Sorry, you may have to come back IT.

Council Flores.

There we go.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, before I read uh the language of this resolution, I want to provide some comments to give it some context and clarity.

When new information calls into question whether an honoree reflects the city of Fort Worth's values, this council has a duty to act.

Recent allegations regarding Cesado Chavez raise those serious and credible concerns.

Therefore, this council will consider rescinding only the honorary designation for Cesar Chavez along Texas 183.

Recall that back in 2020, this council approved the designation for Cesar Chavez, including Dolores Huerta for the other segment of Texas 183.

Honorary street names are not merely symbolic gestures.

There are public endorsements of character, conduct, and legacy.

So upon learning of these allegations, I contacted assistant city manager William Johnson immediately.

Contacted City Manager Jay Choppa and Mayor Parker.

They instructed staff, specifically TPW to remove the signage.

I contacted several Hispanic groups and stakeholders to personally explain this situation.

So I want to emphasize that Ms.

Huerta's status as a victim of sexual misconduct is not tarnish for historic contributions or her legacy of advocacy and leadership for the Hispanic community.

Therefore, I'll read in this resolution rescinding the honorary designation.

State Highway 183, Northeast and Northwest 28th Street from Beach Street to Business 287, North Main Street in recognition, Cesar Chavez.

Whereas on January 14th, 2020, uh Mayor, it's it's your discretion.

Would you like me to read the whole thing?

No, you don't have to do that, council.

Are there any questions from council members?

Got a motion a second.

Any other discussion?

Councilmember Nettles, please.

Yes, Mayor, thank you.

I have some questions about uh uh the process to uh the taking down of the signs.

I'm not sure if Jay Chopper will answer it or is there a staff member that's here to answer my question?

Speaking of answer choppable answer.

Okay.

Um I noticed that we have already removed the signs uh off of the street top.

Is that correct?

We removed the the street toppers, yes.

Okay.

When we uh voted, well, I guess we wasn't here, but when council voted on this resolution, um, this resolution was voted on to put the street topper signed there.

Is that correct?

That's correct.

And the normal process, and maybe Leanne can jump in.

Should we have voted on a resolution prior to us removing the street topper off of the street, as well as letting council know uh what we're doing?

I believe so.

I I think what happened is as was mentioned by council member flotus, he contacted uh William Johnson about uh the issue that came up in the media about Cesar Chavez and uh ACM Johnson agreed that it would not was not a good reflection on the city regarding you know what had come out and having those street toppers there.

Alerted me, we both agreed that it would make sense to take it, take down the toppers.

We kept them in case the city council wanted them to put back up, and so those are kept in storage, they're still in storage.

But we went ahead and had crews go out and take those top those street toppers off, considering uh how that was coming in the media and how the the reflection of of having those street toppers and those design that designation.

It did not remove the designation of the street, it was just the street toppers themselves.

Thank you.

Let me let me be very clear.

Um, I don't disagree with removing of the street topper.

What I have an issue with is the process.

And I have been one of the loudest council members on this diet's talking about process.

We as a city of Fort Worth, if we vote collectively as the mayor and council to put a street topper on the street before it is removed, we should take a vote on this council.

There should not be one meeting with a council member and the city manager to come up with a decision to remove what is this council uh um responsibility to vote on.

I shouldn't be sitting on my couch seeing signs removed off of the city of Fort Worth without my knowledge, and so I'm very disappointed in the way this uh played out, and I think we're setting the presidents that one person on this diet can make move things change in the city of Fort Worth when it requires 11 votes.

So I am not in agreement with what we have done, and I think that moving forward, we need to make sure that we're not validing our own process that we have set in policy when we vote every single time we come to this diet.

Those are my comments.

Yes, sir.

Just uh to follow up do duly noted, I understand.

Uh it wasn't because one council member asked for it, it was really using our professional judgment on this specific issue and the the fact that the other the toppers was was part of the reasoning of taking down the toppers.

I respect their response.

Was it your professional judgment that put the topper on the street?

No, sir, I wasn't here.

Okay.

Councilmember Beck.

May I respond to that first?

Let me call on Councilman Beck, and I'll come back to you.

Count Carlos.

Yeah, I would just like to reiterate the concerns that councilman uh nettles uh expressed here on this dais about the process.

I fully support uh councilman Flores's um resolution today to rename or to remove that naming designation.

Um but anything that requires a council vote to do should require a council vote to undo, regardless of professional opinion or not, because it wasn't your professional opinion that got us that street topper, it was the vote of council, and uh and again uh that I think it is a very slippery slope because we have street toppers named, you know, named for people all over the city.

And if one of my colleagues were to wake up tomorrow and decide they don't um, you know, we just did Hank Nava.

We we have a Tatiana Jefferson.

If they decide they don't like something in their legacy that they can unilaterally make that decision to call staff and have that removed without a robust conversation on uh city council about that particular action, and I will say about this particular action specifically as it relates to Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta.

The accusations that have been lobbed against uh Cesar Chavez are serious um by Miss Huerta and others, and we owe it to our community to have a robust discussion about why we're taking that uh the street topper down.

I think Councilman Flores did a good job of laying that out today with some of the history, but we shouldn't be making decisions without giving the community the opportunity to officially voice their opinion and for this body to have a robust conversation about why we're doing that.

So I don't think it should have been one council members or staff's decision to remove those street toppers.

Councilmember Flores.

I appreciate the input that I'm getting from my fellow council members.

I will point out that very day that all this was in process.

I sent an email out to mayor, copied relevant city staff, and all of you.

I did not receive one response, so I assume that it was fairly clear, but I do understand you know our adherence to process, so that is duly noted.

I will say this that uh I need to further articulate that there were several members of the community that communicated to me personally and felt that the longer those toppers stayed up, it would be a bad reflection on the city and including a disservice, you know, to especially women in our community, Latina women, and I took all this, and again, we're city manager form of government.

I communicated with William Johnson first.

Why?

Because back in 2020, when he was heading to the TPW department, I worked with him to set up the stage for this council to vote on getting that uh those two designations set up.

And both myself and he talked with Jay Choppa.

It was staff that directed TPW staff to begin to take those down.

I had my own personal views on that.

And when I spoke to the mayor, you know, we were in agreement there, but I understand several of uh my fellow council members were over in DC at the time attending the NLC conference.

So there was not an opportunity where I could have one-on-ones with every one of you.

So the most expedient way to do that was through email.

So again, I appreciate the comments here, and I think ultimately this council has to do what's right.

Any other questions or comments from council?

If not, we've got a motion and a second on the floor.

Please vote.

Motion carries.

Next will it be 26-5867.

Got a motion and a second.

Council, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is MNC 26-0205.

Staff available if you have questions.

Councilmember Flores.

Try one more time.

No.

I'm trying more time.

No.

Is your light on?

The light is on.

There we go.

There it goes.

All right.

On this particular matter here, I've been told and confirmed by staff that the revel uh relevant uh neighborhood organizations were notified of this uh request to uh have a variance from the distance requirements allowing alcohol sales uh for off-premises within 300 feet.

In this case of a church where Carne Sería and Tortería.

Uh we did not hear back from them, but I did talk to some individual uh residents who were concerned about it.

Therefore, I am going to support denial of this variance request.

Got a motion and a second, council.

Any other discussion?

Please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is MNC 26-0243.

Council, I'm gonna move straight into public um speakers and call the yeah, I'll call you just a second.

Um, and I'm gonna call the two applicants up afterwards because I know there's gonna be a series of questions.

Councilmember Crane.

There we go.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Right.

Thanks, Mayor.

Um, and thanks for everybody that's here uh attending.

I have uh out of full transparency, uh, I want to introduce the motion that I'm going to make uh ahead of time so everybody understands where we're going with this.

Um listen to talk to many of y'all.

I got to everybody that was signed up yesterday, those that signed up late last night and this morning.

Sorry I haven't called you, but I'm happy to talk to you at any point in time about that.

My phone number 817-677-8258.

Happy to chat about it.

But here's my motion, and then um it addresses a lot of the questions that you had.

I've again met many of you through this process, and I have some longer comments after we listen uh to public uh input here.

Um I move approval with the following additions to investment and company commitments in the discussion of section of this MNC.

One, the company must comply with residential decibel level requirements at the project site as provided in the city's noise ordinance.

Company is limited uh two, company is limited to the domestic water flow demands included in the approved water loading study by Kimley Horn.

Three, company must provide an annual tax abatement agreement compliance report to city staff.

Four, company must comply with all lighting, screening, and setback requirements at the project site as required by city code.

Five, company must comply with all state and federal environmental standards, including any required reporting.

And six, company must maintain must maintain a publicly accessible website that provides a project contact information and regular updates on the construction progress.

Those were most of the the concern, but almost all the concerns that we'd heard as part of this have other things we can address as we go through, but I wanted y'all to understand the motion I was going to make as part of this uh with your public comments.

That's my motion.

And I'll reserve comments for afterwards.

Our first speaker is Peter Irvin, followed by Judy Williams.

Hello, my name is Peter Irvin, and I'm a resident of Council District 6.

This development and this motion isn't directly in my district, but I feel it is important to speak on it because you know it sets precedent for what we do here in Fort Worth going forward.

So as you consider your vote today, um I ask that you also consider what happens after it passes, not just for this development, but for every data center that follows it in Fort Worth.

An economic data uh development agreement is only as strong as its enforcement.

This agreement requires quarterly and annual compliance submissions uh from EDC before any abatement is paid.

This is a meaningful requirement, but compliance submissions are self-reported.

The company reports its own numbers, the city reviews them, and abatement is paid.

There is no independent verification.

There are no boots on the ground performing an inspection function.

There is no ongoing monitoring of noise levels, air quality, water use, or waste disposal over the life of this development or any data center that follows it.

Fort Worth has already solved this problem once before.

When oil and gas development expanded in this city, Fort Worth built its own gas drilling division inside the planning department.

Dedicated inspectors, a permit requirement, enforceable standards, and mandatory noise monitoring at the operator's expense.

Critically, that ordinance applied to every gas well operator in Fort Worth, not just those who sought incentives, not just those who asked for tax abatements, every operator, because the city recognized that the potential for harm to surrounding communities does not depend on whether a company sought a city incentive.

Data centers are the oil and gas of this decade.

They are arriving in Fort Worth right now, not just on this site, but across our city.

And right now, there is no equivalent oversight infrastructure.

No dedicated inspection staff, no permit requirement specific to data centers, no mandatory noise or air quality monitoring.

Additionally, there is no framework that applies to all operators, regardless of whether they seek a city incentive.

As you consider this vote today, we are asking you to commit to establishing an ongoing inspection and compliance function for data centers in Fort Worth with dedicated staffing, independent monitoring authority, and real enforcement power that applies to every data center in the city, just as the gas drilling ordinance applies to every well operator.

So that commitments made in this agreement and every agreement that follows are verified and not just promised.

Um that that first you still have 30 seconds left.

So I just don't want anybody to cut themselves off too short, just in case.

You did great.

I just want to make sure everybody else knew you had the extra 30 seconds.

Well done.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

Morning, mayor and council members.

I'm Judy Williams.

I've been a Fort Worth resident for 43 years, and I'm still involved.

I want you to know that I oppose the data center being located where it's proposed to be located with residents around many neighborhoods.

And I want to make uh some comments here.

Many of the residents in this room did not know this development was coming until it already had been approved.

The zoning change for this site, ZC24162 was approved in 2025.

The required notification went to property owners within 300 feet.

The zoning sign was not posted until the day after the zoning hearing, not before the day after.

And I have a picture.

I'm not going to um submit that, but a picture of a sign that was put up after.

It was among the only neighborhood association close enough to receive a required notification.

The notification system was a failure.

This failure led to flawed decisions that came afterwards.

I consider it an insult to the residents nearby.

This location.

The city's own director of development services admitted the sign was posted the day after the zoning hearing, which he described as not ideal and committed on the record to following up with the timeline and location and sharing it with council member crane.

He also acknowledged a 300-foot notification standard is inadequate for developments of this size and scale.

That acknowledgement matters, but it does not fix the problem.

Our next speaker is Gary Hogan.

Gary Hogan will be followed by Jamie Perkins.

Afternoon, Council.

My name is Gary Hogan, and I don't live in the area that this proposed data center is going.

But uh and Mr.

Peter there pretty much covered most of what I was going to bring forward.

But I would like to also emphasize that I'm not in complete agreement with these uh abatements for these businesses coming.

They're going to be coming anyway.

We all know that.

So uh given an abatement in my mind, just incentivizes more of these data centers coming in and saying, I want some money to put this in your city, put this in your communities.

And everybody knows that well, not everybody.

I think a lot of us are learning what's going on with data centers across the country.

Now I did go to the meeting with the edge data center group, and they seem to be if they commit to the things that they've told the public they're going to be doing and how they're going to be doing it.

They're a little bit above par from what we're hearing around other places and around the country as to how they're going to mitigate to some of that.

But again, I'm a little concerned about us handing out money to attract all these data centers to come in as like a reward for coming in here to do this.

I'd also like to mention that my biggest concern is too the future trend of these data centers and the impact on the communities that they're gonna be close by to.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Hogan.

Our next speaker is Jamie Perkins.

Mr.

Perkins, Ms.

Perkins, be followed by Adrian Smith.

Jamie Perkins.

Adrian Smith will be followed by Julie Eppert.

Well, he's just doing Adrian, go ahead and start and then we'll we'll get it up there.

Adrian, you can go ahead and start your time.

There you go.

Time started.

You're go ahead, Adrian.

Go ahead.

And then I'll call Ms.

Ebert.

City Secretary's office has that handle.

Thank you, Adrian.

Go ahead.

Time started.

Nope.

Time started.

Thank you.

That's so disgusting of you, Mayor Parkham.

So who's in your backyard?

PMB Capital Investments.

All right.

Just on their website.

They own VR Wrench.

They're the ones who invested in that particular plot of land.

The Global Edge Data Center market size is valued at $19.47 billion in 2026.

We haven't even started the year.

And it's expected to grow to $88.89 billion by 2034, registering a CAGO compound annual growth rate of 20.9% during 2026 through 2024.

Couple of questions.

How much did PMB capital investments make off the sale of the land that this juggernaut now controls?

Why are we considering tax abatements for a juggernaut which has the capital to build right out?

Why should the community as well as the city lose out on taxes that could be secured for future growth purposes?

Don't we currently have a budget shortfall of city manager J.

Chapel?

There is 67.5 million in taxes we can bring in over the course of this particular agreement if we hold this juggernaut to building right out.

Mayor Park, I recalled a previous council meeting where you stated we haven't done our homework, and that was in relation to data centers.

This was related to another data center that was greenlit for development in predominantly black and brown communities.

You see how they don't circle around.

It's no longer in our communities, it's in the other, it's on the other side now.

There is only one color multi-billion dollar corporations recognize, and that's green.

Amendments, amendments, amendments.

We heard amendments by council member crane.

Amendments tell you everything that's wrong with what's being considered.

This barrier, as well as council has a non-track record for going against the will of the people, regardless of opposition against what's being considered by a developer.

The data center proposed we the people stand in great opposition against the cons far outweigh the pros for the data centers and the establishment of them.

The zoning commission should operate non-biased and make decisions independent of the council members which appointed them.

The zoning commission's decisions on a case rather for or against or not final.

The council member has the authority to override them.

In closing, you all, it only takes 20% to remove a council member out of the seat.

I think the time is now.

Starting with this community.

You got one.

Our next speaker is Julie Ebert.

Julie will be followed by Amy Dodd.

Mayor, if we could just as a reminder for the speakers to state their name in their city.

Thank you, Jeanette.

My name is Julie Ebert, and I first became a resident of Markham Ranch in the 2871 corridor in 1995.

And I'm a lifelong Fort Worth resident.

As you consider this vote today, we ask that you also consider what our community will live with permanently once this development is operational and what protections need to exist, not just for this data center, but for everyone that follows it in Fort Worth.

At our March 24th community meeting, EDC confirmed that an acoustical study was conducted by a firm called Ostergard in August of 2025.

EDC has stated that they will comply with Fort Worth's noise ordinance, and we take them at their word.

What we are asking for is the ability to verify that over time for this development and every data center that comes after it.

That study has not been made public.

EDC cited financing confidentiality provisions.

Our community cannot review the methodology, the measurement locations, the assumptions made, or whether the study accounted for cumulative noise from multiple buildings operating simultaneously on the same site.

We are being asked to trust numbers from a study we cannot see.

And with no ongoing monitoring in place, we have no way to verify them once operations begin.

What we do know is this generating generator noise at the property line during emergency operation was estimated at 60 to 65 decibels.

And unlike most industrial uses, a data center never stops.

The noise will be constant 24-7, 365 days a year.

Directly across the street from this development is a horse breeding farm.

The OsterGuard study found noise levels of 30 decibels at the nearest residence.

But animals have significantly more sensitive hearing than humans.

The long-term impact of continuous low frequency noise and generator operation on wildlife in this corridor has not been studied and was not part of the acoustical assessment.

These are our neighbors' livelihoods, and they deserve the same consideration as the human residents of this community.

Fort Worth currently has no data center-specific noise standards, no requirement for pre-construction sound modeling, no push-construction verification study.

As you consider this vote today, we are asking you to pursue a data center overlay district and citywide ordinance that includes noise standards, pre-construction, sound modeling requirements, an advanced notice for generator testing, and to establish an ongoing inspection and compliance function with independent noise monitoring so that our community is protected, not just on paper, but in practice.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Amy Dodd, followed by Christopher Harris.

Good day.

My name is Amy Dodd.

I am a resident of Barkham Ranch.

But prior to that, I've lived more than 40 years in Fort Worth.

As you consider the vote today, we ask you that also consider what the council already knows.

Our March 23rd, council members, Member Crane filed an informal report asking on the data center regulations, and we're grateful for that.

It signals that this council recognizes what our community has been saying all along.

The Fort Worth standards were not built or made for data centers.

We need to update our standards.

On September 30th, six months ago, Council Member Jeanette Martinez called for the ordinance create creating limits and restrictions for data centers.

Right here in this chamber.

Councilmember Deborah Peoples, Elizabeth Beck, and Mayor Parker all echoed and uh that and agreed to that, and it was on record.

Six months has passed.

There's no ordinance, no draft, no timeline.

What our community is asking for is not acknowledgement, but action.

We need accountability.

This the informal report process is where the policies began.

That process is only as valuable as to what this council does with it.

A report that sits on the shelf protects no one.

A report that produces ordinances, inspection standards, the enforceable zoning requirements will protect everyone.

Our community, when we got wind of this, acted in within 10 days, not only did we have a website up, thank you to uh some of our young mothers, they also we had this meeting where it was standing room only at the Rolling Hills School, and then we really believe that this process can work.

We want to protect our community.

Fort Worth already has got multiple data centers ready to roll, they're ready to be built, they're ready to come into the neighborhoods.

And so we're asking, you know, this window is slipping away from us.

We need to have ordinances and things already in place to protect not only my community and the especially our wildlife and our multimillion dollar breeding farm across the road.

I live within less than half a mile from the data center.

And so we want you to ask you to commit on record uh to get a specific timeline and informal report findings to ensure that our community's full range of questions are included.

Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Todd.

Our next speaker is Christopher Harris.

Mr.

Harris will be followed by Morgan Ford.

Hi, thank you.

My name is Christopher Harris.

I've been a Vintana resident since the end of 2020 here in Fort Worth.

I work in cybersecurity, so I do have an interest in seeing the continued building of data centers in general, but I do not agree with having a data center being built so close to residential areas just because of how little we know about this data center in particular.

I'm particularly concerned about infra sound or the low frequency sound that was mentioned before, which is typically below 20 hertz.

These low frequencies travel farther than the typical frequencies that you'll measure for city ordinances.

So, for example, with the edge data center, they said it'd be around 50 to 60 decibels at the uh property line, but it can travel farther and still impact people at those lower frequencies.

There's been a lot of studies on people with these low frequencies that can cause things like depression, sleep disorders, uh stress, nausea, headaches, uh extended exposure can cause vibroacoustic disease, which can make your heart harden and not pump blood.

Um so the data around low frequencies is pretty well understood, but there's still a lot of research being done into how data centers affect that.

Um there's been some research done on larger data centers, much larger data centers that show it's actually 40 to 50 decibels louder in these lower frequencies at extended ranges than just your general ambient noise.

And so, because of that, I have a lot of concerns about how that will impact our health.

Being so close to neighborhoods being within two miles of an elementary school, we don't really know how that's gonna impact those kids and just the people who live there and don't have the opportunity to just go up and move away if they start having symptoms.

So that's all I had to say.

Our next speaker is Morgan Ford, followed by Deborah Tissell.

Hi, my name is Morgan Ford, and I'm a Fort Worth resident.

Specifically, I live in Skyline Ranch, which is a neighborhood in very close vicinity to the location of the proposed data center.

Thank you for the opportunity to address the council.

My neighbors and I are frustrated that we're here today simply to discuss tax breaks for the corporation set to build the data center.

As Judy mentioned, we were not aware of the zoning decision that took place that enabled this to progress to this point, and thus could not have a meaningful seat at the table at the critical moment.

There is no hiding or mitigating my position.

My neighbors and I do not want the data center to be built, period, full stop.

However, given where we are now, let me be crisp in my request for you.

Please vote against giving this tax abatement.

And here's why.

A study published last summer by the University of Michigan Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the Ford School of Public Policy, found that tax breaks for data centers do not deliver the promised economic benefits.

They reduce local tax revenues while shifting financial burdens onto communities and schools and imposing significant costs on state and local budgets.

Bloomberg's talking tax discussed just last month how the amount we are foregoing on tax revenue is likely much higher than projected.

The data center builders are making much more money from the tax exemptions than predicted.

Forbes made the point that the tech companies that dominate the markets for these centers are among the most valuable companies in the world.

These corporations have ample resources to manage their own operational costs without public support.

This is a hot topic across the country.

Federal legislature has been proposed to pause data center construction until further research is conducted.

Residents and councils across the country are entrenched in significant discord.

Many states are making moves to rescind pause or restrict tax abatements for data centers for not delivering on promises.

I commend your efforts to bring business and revenue to the city of Fort Worth, but not like this, not by alienating constituents.

Vote no to the tax abatement, make them pay their fair share, use the dollars to benefit us.

We are not getting a break.

We aren't getting anything for our grievances, inconveniences, and possibly worse, such as unknown howcomes from data centers and further industrial development proposed for this site.

Please give careful consideration to future zoning decisions to prevent this from happening to other people in this city.

The future of our communities is at stake.

No one wants this in their backyard.

But if you're going to facilitate it happening in ours, please give us the dignity of making them pay their fair share.

Thank you.

Deborah Tassell, followed by Ambika Sharma.

Is Deborah present?

Ambika Sharma.

Hi.

My name is Ambika Sharma.

I'm a constituent of Dr.

Mia Hall, so District 6.

Congressman Michael Crane, you did call me yesterday.

Thank you, but you didn't listen.

So here I am to have my say.

So I'm originally from India.

I moved to the US specifically to Fort Wars at the age of 15th.

I'm a graduate of Earth ISD, went to Northside High, then went to TCU and uh basically graduated with international economics, political science, and mathematics, and then went off to Washington, DC, and then eventually Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Chile, several countries, doing nothing but international diplomacy and also international economic development.

So I've spent my 20s, like really thinking about what causes growth.

So I have a sense, like I have an opinion about that.

And in my 30s, I got privilege and I was uh I landed up in Silicon Valley.

So I've been part of some companies that have gone from startups to now being a publicly traded company.

And in my next stage, I hope to leverage from AI and have my own startup leveraging artificial intelligence.

So similar to another person who spoke from a perspective of cybersecurity, I also have an interest in AI from North in North America, but in a responsible manner.

And what I mean by that is I wish this was a discussion about whether we should have this data center, but unfortunately, it's about whether there should be this property tax abatement as an economic tool to spur growth.

In return, what do we get?

We get 50 full-time jobs for less than the median salary of Fort Worth.

That's not really a good fundamental.

Let's look at what Abilene is doing.

Um, Abilene is an international news for Project Stargate.

That's a 500 billion dollar project, and it's being funded by OpenAI, Oracle.

Um SoftBank, excuse me, the Japanese company.

Um, so that's a really big project.

And Ablin already has 100 billion dollars invested.

And in exchange for that 100 billion that has already been invested, they're getting the project itself is getting 85% abatement.

So for 100 billion, 85% abatement.

This data center, the one that we're talking about, it's only 1.1 billion comparatively, and it's 50% abatement.

Like that just doesn't make sense to me.

It's such a small, minute scale.

And in return, you're gonna give away 50%.

Then what you're telling uh entrepreneurs like me is don't do a startup, just come to Fort Worth and buy a larger large piece of land and uh just build data centers because the city will just give you massive abatements.

Um, lastly, there are seven bills in Congress currently that are deliberating.

Well, hopefully they deliberate on the need for data centers.

There was one introduced last week on March 25th, and it calls it calls for a temporary moratorium on data centers across the country.

So I ask you, you are a part-time government body, and I want you to ask, like be a little humble and say that you don't know enough to pass this right now.

Um is John McFarlane, followed by Diane Simmons.

Is John here?

No.

Diane Simmons.

Diane will be followed by Daniel Kamenha.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council members.

I'm Diane Simons, and I live in Binbrook.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak today.

I'm here to urge you to reject the proposed tax abatement for this data center project.

This is not a question of whether we support economic development.

We do.

The question is whether this particular deal meets the standard of fiscal responsibility.

Excuse me, fiscal responsibility, measurable public benefit, and long-term sustainability for our community.

Right now, the answer is no.

First, from a policy standpoint, tax abatement should be performance-driven investments, not speculative giveaways.

Data centers by design are low employment facilities.

Industry averages show relatively small permanent workforces compared to the scale of capital investment.

That means the cost per job created is extremely high, making this a poor use of public incentives when compared to other types of development.

Second, we have to consider infrastructure and resource impact, especially here in North Texas.

Data centers require continuous high load electricity and significant water for cooling systems.

In a region that already faces grid reliability concerns and periodic drought conditions, approving incentives without strict safeguards shifts real risk onto residents.

Have we required a full accounting of projected water usage?

Guarantees against increased strain on local utilities, commitments to renewable or off-grid energy sources.

If not, then we are subsidizing infrastructure pressure without adequate protections.

Third, there is the issue of foregone tax revenues.

Property tax abatements directly affect the funding base for local schools, public safety, streets, and infrastructure.

And Bimbrook and the greater Fort Worth area, we're already balancing growth with the need to maintain services.

Every dollar abated must be justified by a clear quantifiable return.

And in this case, that return appears limited.

Fourth, site selections, reality matters.

Data centers are typically located based on access to transmission power, fiber connectivity, available land.

Those conditions already exist in this region, which raises a key policy question.

Are we incentivizing behavior or simply rewarding a decision that would happen anyway?

If it's the latter, then this abatement is not economic development policy.

It is a um it's a transfer of public value to a private equity.

Fifth, equity and consistency.

Small businesses in Benbrook Ridgeley Hills and Southwest Fort Worth do not receive tax abatements to operate.

They contribute fully to the tax base while creating jobs and community activity.

Public policy should not favor capitalism, uh capital intensive low employment projects over the businesses that actually drive local economical economic life.

Thank you.

Daniel Kamen, followed by Catherine Godby.

Hi there, good afternoon, city council.

Uh, my name is Dan Camille.

I'm a resident here in Skyline Ranch uh here in Fort Worth.

Um so I just want to say thank you for the opportunity to address the council here today.

Uh first off, I wish this meeting was at night because I know I talked to multiple um neighbors and they said they would make it if um if they uh could get off of work, but they weren't able to.

I actually had to take a vacation day just to show up today.

Um so I and I also want to mention I think this tax abatement, uh, but also the proposed data center as a whole needs to have a more robust conversation.

I work in finance and I graduated from TCU going through the full-time MBA program at Neely School of Business.

I'm invested in the city, and I don't think this is a good deal for any of us.

When it comes to tax abatements, Fort Worth already has natural advantages, uh, location, transportation, a pro-business culture, and a growing population.

I I feel like true economic growth comes from a strong tax base and high quality of life, not from temporarily shielding profitable companies from their fair share fair share of taxes.

Um next, I also I was at the neighborhood meeting last Tuesday at Rolling Hills Elementary, and I just felt like the tone was you know, this is how we're gonna change your community, and it it didn't seem like they were um you know working with us.

It it it you know, I just wanted to be able to be included in the conversation here uh since this is being put in our backyard, and that's um that's how I feel about the whole process.

It's just been a lack of transparency, beginning with the rezoning uh that was mentioned earlier on the piece of property, you know, less than two miles away from my community.

Um, and also I did want to echo the the horse ranch there, uh Buffalo Ranch and uh the horses.

Um I'm glad that was mentioned prior.

That was one of one of the things I wanted to talk about.

And uh, because yeah, there's been no studies done on animals.

Um also, you know, uh I feel like we need to be concerned too about our our children.

You know, how is this going to affect them?

I have a one-year at home, and so the question is near and dear to my heart, you know, how this is gonna affect him.

Uh Edge was established in 2023.

Um, so what's the long-term health impact to residents that live within two miles of data centers?

I feel like we need to know that question before we move forward.

Um Fort Worth is uh, you know, we we say this is where the West begins.

And when I think of the West, uh every square inch isn't developed with homes and data centers and Walmart distribution centers.

I feel like it's a place we're gonna explore outside, enjoy the view of cattle, uh, cattle roaming and horses grazing.

Um, I did want to note too an article came out yesterday.

Um, the Earth Observation Group at the city of Cambridge.

They found surface temperatures increased by an average of 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit after a data center started operations in extreme extreme cases, nearby temperatures increase up to 16.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Um, so just uh I want to say no to tax abatement and no to this data center.

Um, I think there's just too many questions still unanswered.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Catherine Godby.

Catherine will be followed by Nellie Gampy.

I'm Catherine Godband with the Justice Network of Terrent County.

Uh, Councilmember Crane, I heard what you're going to add.

My comments are just kind of general and overall regarding data centers for AI.

Our addiction to technology seems to really be blinding us to how the tail really is wagging the dog here.

Some questions.

Why do we have economic development in the first place?

What do we want out of it?

Shouldn't we have some idea of how many jobs AI will actually replace before we just automatically roll over and say yes?

What do we value?

Do we do you value our children and our children, grandchildren's futures?

Each one of you on this dais knows what's wrong with this mad rush to build data centers.

Pollution, wasting resources, destroying the silence that can be life giving to nearby communities.

You are leaders, a leader who is both inspiring and morally responsible, reminds people that yes, our potential is vast, but it is not unlimited.

Progress is complicated.

It demands some answers before just plunging in.

These big tech companies are in a mad, dangerous, competitive rush.

And you, the people's elected government leaders, whose job is to regulate business to put some guardrails up for us.

Really seem to be asleep at the wheel here.

For no one else for the sake of your own children and grandchildren.

I urge you to wake up.

Now I also want to say something that I think relates regarding the respect that leaders show or do not show to the people.

County judge Tim O'Hare regularly shows tremendous disrespect to the people.

But he has never kept us waiting for an hour.

And then to come in with no explanation, no explanation or apology.

I mean, what is that?

Our time is valuable as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speech speaker is Nellie Gomfi, followed by Cheryl Lee.

Is Nellie present?

Our next speaker is Cheryl Lee, followed by Krista Irby.

Hello, my name is Cheryl Lee, and I've been a resident of Fort Worth in the Ventana area for about 10 years.

Like the vast majority of our community, I was not informed about the data center until it was too late to have any meaningful input.

I want to ask that this council advocates for provisions that would give residents designated channels to bring concerns to, find accountability in, and a clear channel for escalation when commitments are not met from the data centers that want to call Fort Worth home.

At our community meeting, when we asked specifically for a named point of contact with defined response times, access to annual compliance data, and a clear escalation path, we were told flat out they would not provide that and they would not change their minds.

When we asked where we could send concerns or requests for accountability and transparency, we were told we could write a general email to the address found on the data center's website homepage with no promise of even getting a response.

I hear that, Councilman Crane just clarified that we'll have access to updates about the project, but that has nothing to do with transparency and paths to accountability.

As these data centers seek to land here and be completed before regulations and protections can be established.

It is crucial that people of the communities who will be impacted have the ability to make sure that they are held accountable.

I found out this morning that this tax abatement decision leaves us stuck between a rock and a hard place.

With a one billion dollar project they can afford to pay their taxes, and they should.

But I found out that this abatement would put very few, very minimal but important provisions in place for accountability.

So we are stuck with this one chance to advocate for ourselves and our community in a total catch 22.

The situation has felt incredibly unfair.

And though we are settled with a situation that we are unable to change or influence at all, it seems that the best we can hope for is that other communities don't find themselves as helpless as we are.

I urge the council to ensure that projects moving forward would allow specific provisions for citizens to become better informed, more involved, and measurable accountability standards.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Lori Norris.

I'm sorry, Krista.

I've apologized.

Please come up, thank you, and Lori, you'll be next.

My apologies.

Thank you for catching that.

My name is Krista Irby, and I'm a resident of Fort Worth and the RM2871 corridor.

As you consider this vote today, we ask that you also consider what makes data centers fundamentally different from every other industrial use Fort Worth currently regulates.

A warehouse is quiet at night, manufacturing plant has shifts that end, a data center never stops.

It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

The noise, the cooling equipment, the backup generator testing, permanent, continuous, and cumulative.

Our current industrial zoning standards were not written for this type of use, and they do not adequately protect the communities that surround it.

Fort Worth has no data center-specific zoning standards, no water use reporting requirements, despite Texas data centers projected to consume 6.6% of the state's total water use by 2030.

No standards for hazardous e-waste disposal, no pre-construction environmental baseline documentation, and no requirement the data centers use closed loop pooling systems rather than our drinking water supply.

Many data centers nationally use evaporative pooling systems that discharge large volumes of water containing cooling chemicals into municipal wastewater systems, water that is then treated and returned to our TAPS.

The long-term health impacts of those chemicals cycling through new municipal water supplies are not fully understood.

Fort Worth has no standards requiring closed loose systems or limiting the discharge from cooling systems entering the municipal wastewater.

Hood County, 40 miles from here, tried to pause and study these impacts.

After hours of resident testimony, a state senator threatened illegal action and the moratorium failed.

We do not have the luxury of a pause, which is exactly why strong zoning regulations are not optional.

They are the only tool we have left to protect our community.

PMB Capital reviewed dozens of data center proposals before selecting edged.

They chose the most technically advanced environmentally responsible operator available because they have homes and commercial investments surrounding this site and they wanted to protect them.

We are asking this council to have the same level of care for the people of Fort Worth.

As you consider this vote today, we are asking you to pursue a data center overlay district for the RM2871 quarter and a citywide data center ordinance.

One that covers noise, water use, waste disposal, environmental baseline documentation, and community transparency standards for every data center in Fort Worth, not just those seeking a tax incentive.

Fort Worth already has multiple data center projects in the works.

The time to establish these standards is now before this becomes the norm without the protections our community deserves.

Thank you.

Lori Norris, followed by Susan Smith.

Hello, I'm Laurie Norris, and I'm a resident of Fort Worth and of the RM 2871 corridor.

As you consider this vote today, we ask that you also consider what our community has invested and what this council has a responsibility to protect.

The families along the RM2871 corridor have made significant financial commitments to this community.

We purchased homes, built businesses, established farms and ranches, and raised families here.

For many of us, this is the largest investment of our lives.

When a 1.1 billion dollar industrial development is announced, adjacent to our neighborhoods, one of the first questions every homeowner asks is the same.

What will the state of my property value?

In our March 24th community meeting, that question was asked directly.

No independent analysis was provided.

PMB Capitals representative acknowledged that their motivation is long-term value creation and that a development that hurts surrounding property values would hurt their own investment.

The research on data centers and property values is limited and mixed.

Some studies show minimal impact when developments are well managed and adequately buffered.

Others show measurable negative effects, particularly when noise, traffic, and visual impact are not adequately addressed.

Uncertainty itself affects property values.

When buyers do not know what to expect from an adjacent industrial development, they press that uncertainty into their offers.

Fort Worth is asking the residents of this corridor to absorb that uncertainty without the benefit of an independent property value impact study, without corridor-wide zoning protections that would govern feature adjacent developments, and without a clear answer about what comes next on the hundreds of acres of industrial sound land surrounding this site on the RM2871 side of the corridor.

As you consider this vote today, we're asking you to commit to an independent property value impact study.

It's part of the informal report process and to ensuring that the informal report delivers concrete zoning protections for this corridor before the next development on adjacent land reaches a vote.

Our homes are our investment.

We are asking you to protect them with the same urgency you would your own.

Thank you.

No.

Brennan will be followed by B.

Kohler.

Good afternoon.

My name is Brennan Shestock, and I've lived in Fort Worth since 2019.

And I recently moved to Benbrook last year, and I'm a resident along the RM2871 corridor.

I'm here today to voice my community's concerns with the construction of data centers in and around Fort Worth in regards to environmental and community health.

The research is clear.

Diesel backup generators used by data centers release fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and other pollutants linked to respiratory and heart disease, asthma, and lung cancer.

A 2025 study found that communities within one mile of EPA regulated data centers face particulate matter and nitrogen oxide levels above the national median.

Fort Worth already sits in an EPA designated ozone non-attainment zone with our air quality below federal standards.

Right now, data center generators in Texas are currently only required to self-report emissions to TCEQ.

There is no independent air quality monitoring, no pre-construction health impact assessments, and no post-construction measurements to compare against the baseline.

Once a data center is operational, there is nothing to measure against it and no way to monitor if the surrounding air quality has changed.

Fairfax County, Virginia updated its zoning ordinances in 2024 to require noise pollution studies prior to data center construction and regulate proximity to residential areas.

Illinois required air quality modeling for a fleet of 34 generators serving two new data centers before issuing construction permits, but Fort Worth has no equivalent requirements.

In this case, EDC has made commitments that go beyond what is legally required of them, and we acknowledge that.

But they are only one operator, and Fort Worth has multiple data center projects already in the works.

Without pre-construction baselines, there is no way to measure the cumulative impact on our community and environmental health over time.

As somebody said earlier, I agree that we're kind of stuck here.

If EDC wants to be our neighbor and contribute to the community, they should pay their fair share of taxes.

But I also acknowledge that this EDA is the only way to get in writing certain protections for our community.

And I think that should be a wake-up call to the city council.

The fact that the only way we have written protections is in an EDA agreement.

So I urge all of you to pursue data center overlay districts and citywide ordinances that require health impact assessments and independent air quality monitoring before and after construction and to establish ongoing inspections to verify that those standards are being met for every data center in Fort Worth.

The time to act to update our laws to keep up with new and changing industries is now, before irreparable damage is done to Fort Worth, its citizens, and its open spaces.

So I think y'all should really find other avenues to provide the community with those protections that don't have to come with a tax break.

Thank you for your time.

Good afternoon.

My name is Brady Kohler, and I'm a resident of the RM2071 corridor, and I live in the ETJ directly across from this project.

The problem is that RM2071 is not a highway.

It's a two-lane ranch to market road that serves as the primary artery for thousands of residents in West Fort Worth, Benbrook, and surrounding unincorporated communities.

It crosses an ad grade railroad crossing that creates daily backups.

It lacks the capacity, safety infrastructure, and design standards to absorb the significant additional industrial traffic.

And yet is the road that connects this corridor to everything.

We want to acknowledge what EDC has committed to.

Their construction entrance will access the site from the I-20 frontage road rather than RM2871 for the full duration of their project.

That's meaningful commitment, and our community is grateful for it.

But PMB Capital's current infrastructure.

I'm sorry.

And the data center will employ approximately 50 full-time staff, but the industrial uses that follow on adjacent parcels may be significantly more and impact traffic further.

The RM2871 overpass over the Union Pacific Railroad is a tech stop project with an estimated total cost of approximately 100 million dollars.

The current identified funding stands at approximately 45 million, leaving a $55 million gap.

The Fort Worth 2026 bond on the May 2nd ballot includes $5 million for the design phase.

And we feel that the gap cannot be allowed to grow faster than the funding will close it.

As you consider this vote, we're asking you to commit to requiring independent traffic impact studies and funding infrastructure solutions as a condition of approval for every future data center project in this corridor.

I'm sorry.

Because the road our community drives every day, cannot wait decades for the funding to catch up with this development.

Thank you.

Alexander Montalvo.

There should not be any consideration of any new data center because this city council and this city is not equipped for these type of developments.

It also means that we have a lot of work to do to clean up the mess we're currently in because of the zoning that's been passed up to this point.

And that's going to be a lot of work that UC community is having to do, and they are here asking for y'all to be a part of this work.

Now we know there's conflicts of interest because there's data center CEOs who love to give y'all campaign contributions, where eight of the 10 council members and the mayor received these contributions.

So if you're not willing to work to address the issues that you helped cause, then there's an election coming up next year that a lot of people in this room are going to be motivated to replace who's on the city council and who is our mayor.

All the things that have been mentioned are still just scratching the surface of the potential issues that we have.

And I'm gonna read from a local federal research paper that was published in February just to expand on the additional issues that are not being considered as zoning is being passed for these data centers, and tax abatements are being considered that will not nearly cover the cost of what they will bring to our residents and to our city.

The information, the Energy Information Administration, or EIA, recently published a new federal research paper, and it's February Short-Term Energy Outlook.

It highlights the following.

The main headline is that data center demand spike could drive 79% ERCOT price hike in 2027.

In a high demand scenario, data centers could drive 25, 25 to 27 annual load growth, 15% higher in Texas.

Data centers are driving higher load growth in Texas faster than in the rest of the country.

That rapid growth could increase electricity prices and gas and coal consumption under some scenarios.

Most regions can accommodate higher than expected electricity demand growth without large price impacts.

EIA said, but the model price effects in EarthCott highlight some of the challenges grid operators have in managing large increases of load in the near term.

In Texas, while some increases may be four to five percent in Texas, average wholesale electricity prices at the EarthCot North Hub could be 78.9% higher than the current $47 and change.

This impacts all of us.

Okay, thank you all.

I'm Taylor Baird with PMB Capital.

Uh, we're our the owner and the developer of the Beal Ranch.

Um appreciate all the comments that uh residents have shared with us today, and in our three-hour community meeting that we held last week.

Um, in that meeting, um, obviously uh what I wanted the point I wanted to get across to our um constituents and residents is um you know, we've spent 12 years developing the community around this.

There the compatibility of the development that we uh execute on is as important to me as is the investment that we have made.

We would not sell 187 acres of 5,000 acres if we felt like we were diminishing the value of the rest of our investment.

We went through a process to bring all of this land into the city limits of Fort Worth.

It was a two-year-long negotiated development agreement.

What was important in that with the city was that we had a balance of commercial investment with residential investment.

Um, and we agreed at the time to fully comply with the city's future land use plan.

That land use plan was put in place and adopted in 2019 before we got involved with acquiring the land.

That future land use plan had industrial growth center as part of the plan for this area, including our property as well as Walsh Ranch and some of the areas around there.

Uh, and so what we have done is comply with what is been on the plan.

Um we had dozens of people interested from the data center perspective in this hearsaw.

What was important to us when we went through that process is to find a partner that was aligned with our values.

Edge data centers was founded on energy sustainability, on zero water use, on being a good steward in the community.

Uh, and that was long before the the industry has moved in that direction.

We are glad to have them as a partner.

We trust that they will be good for beau ranch as a development.

Um, and it's an important investment.

Uh, 1.1 billion dollar is a tax assessed value.

That would be the number two taxpayer in the city of Fort Worth today.

It would more than double the number one taxpayer in Fort Worth ISD.

We are talking about an incentive which will allow Edge to put in writing all these commitments that they've made, but they're making significant investments in the community and the schools, uh and we intend to hold them accountable to that as well.

Our next speaker is Bill Greenwood.

Taylor, I know that you'll probably have questions.

You might sit on that front row.

Yeah.

Bill.

Uh, Bill Greenwood, Edge Data Centers, um, representing our project here in Fort Worth.

Um, recognize a lot of the faces that came up here to speak today.

We spoke to them last week at the community meeting for over three hours.

Um, when edge comes to a community, we are here for the long term.

We are owner operators.

We want to be good stewards to the community.

Um, for this project specifically, we identified power that was available within the grid.

We have a contract with Encore that was done over a year ago.

We have spoken to ERC hot.

Any necessary upgrades that we are making, edged is paying for, and it will not cause any local residents uh utility bills to go up, as Taylor mentioned.

We are also waterless.

Um we again we intend to be good partners to this community.

We want to have minimal noise.

We are planting over 600 trees on the property to um beautify the landscape for the surrounding community.

And um I I appreciate the feedback from the community that we heard today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um I'll ask the first question and then I'll turn it back over to Councilmember Crane.

Um you're gonna have to probably be more specific when you say waterless.

And I know that several speakers today talked about their concerns um over the use of water at your facility.

Yeah, so again, edge spaces of design is a closed loop design.

Many of our competitors and hyperscalers use evaporative cooling where you're pulling out of the ground millions of gallons a day and evaporating evaporating that via cooling towers to cool your data centers.

When you have a closed loop, you fill that loop once with glycol and you use air cooled chillers to cool your system.

The only water usage will come from the office space that's inside the data center.

Thank you.

And your approval at ERCOT, walk the audience through that process, please.

So when we go to Encore, what they do is called a load study, and they go look at the power that's being produced by the power producers, and they also look at the infrastructure, your power lines that are in the surrounding area, and they identify where there is capacity and where that capacity can go.

So when we enter into a load study with Encore, they go through that process, and I think it's it usually takes like six, eight months for us to go through that process to ensure that what we are contracting with them is available and can be provided.

Umce that is identified, we then on our own site are building a substation for edged that will then power our data center.

And you mentioned other data centers across the country.

How many does Edge currently operate?

We have about a dozen sites across the country.

And how many planned across the country?

Probably about a dozen more potential sites.

And how many of those have received a tax abatement?

50%.

Thank you.

I'll pause there and turn it back over to Councilman McCrane.

I saw some other comments here.

I go ahead and talk more.

You've talked about the water usage that's the closed loose loop system.

I've gotten, I've started calling legacy data centers because that seems to be a lot of the information that we're getting.

But you're the but this isn't what I would say legacy data center uses uh small lot less water, 10 to 15%.

We also have a um two-inch water pipe, I think.

Is that is that am I getting that correctly?

So even if you wanted to use more water, you couldn't.

Right.

A two-inch tap at our site would probably wouldn't allow for an evaporative design.

Um, it's just too small of a volume to support that design.

Maybe I can just address we're planning the water infrastructure for the entirety of the project.

So we have some involvement on this.

But the way that the water volume and the water entitlement is work works here, is you have to, before you can get your preliminary plat approved, you have to submit a water study.

You're committing to the amount of water that you're going to use and you're charged fees according to what you say.

What is approved today is a very minimum amount of water.

They would not be allowed to move forward with anything other than the waterless technology.

And on top of what's already approved and already the cap, we're obviously adding this as a component of the incentive agreement to make sure there's an a loop around double check, the the waterless technology will be in place.

Mayor, thanks for putting out the ERCOT approval.

Can you talk a little bit about that too?

How that process works and what that means if there is a major incident and what that would mean for the neighbors if there's a major incident because you have an ERC an encore substation on property.

Right.

So and I want to point this out.

I live through Skyline Ranch through that process in 21 after the after with the major incident there.

People that live in Skyline Ranch, I was getting your power back on.

So I know this is pertinent out there.

Bentana hadn't been fully developed or developed out to the level at that point, but I know what happened out there.

So when this when this property went through ERCOT approval, that was two years ago.

There's been new state and federal regulation on power itself, but um studies on a site the reliability of the project, not whether they actually have the power, but in their worst event is their excess power to uh reliably power everybody that's already being served, plus this new project.

And you don't get through ERCOT unless you can pass the reliability.

There's been lots of proposed data center projects all over the state, the Metroplex, the country.

And it's an important component to understand when um when edged and encore uh entered into an agreement to supply the power.

Um, this was in April of 2025.

Edged agreed that in an event of an emergency, it would take off the grid and use its backup power.

Two months later, that became state law and Senate Bill 6, but at the time that was not a requirement.

Edged voluntarily um agreed to that.

Now our great um state senator Phil King authored and sponsored a bill last year in the state legislature that requires all data centers to come off or all large load users to come off the grid in the event of an emergency.

They also made sure that data centers pay their own way and that uh you know edge is building its own private substation to uh again help with the reliability and ensure that in those events of emergency, they have backup plan fully in place and they can come off the grid.

What do you mean by pay your own way?

Just that they wouldn't cause the rates for electricity to go up in the state.

That's been a very important state policy of the governor, Lieutenant Governor, that um any of these new data center projects would have to make substantial payments to Encore and to ERCOT in order to ensure that any of the infrastructure they were using, they were paying for.

Right.

And it wouldn't affect taxpayer their their rights at the end.

Yeah, I mean, that's really a cornerstone of Senate Bill 6 is um making sure that the current existing rate payers um are taken care of and protected.

Not affected.

Thank you.

Adrian, I don't need you to speak from the audience.

I'd rather you like to stay, but just don't yell at Councilmember Crane or anybody else for that matter, or in the middle of a case.

Adrian, do you I guess yeah, I am answering.

I am making him Adrian.

It's fine.

I hate that, but thanks, Marshalls.

Bye-bye, Adrian.

Um, we did.

Okay.

Thanks for everyone with operating with decorum as we work through this.

Unfortunately, Mr.

Smith always has challenges with that.

Yeah, as we see, we continues, it continues.

Bye-bye, Adrian.

Thank you.

Uh you brought up too, I and listen, I over the last several weeks.

If you thought, if I thought that I would get up and start trying to learn about data centers, et cetera, I would have thought there are 8,000 other things I would have be learning than this, and probably my council colleagues as well.

But you brought up the noise, you brought up the um the systems itself.

I you mentioned the other night at the our community meeting uh that there you would have generators.

You talked about that, about the noise from that as well as the noise that comes off the facilities.

I will mention, and I don't see her here, but there was a woman that went and went to your Irving facility and and took a video.

Are you here?

They posted on Skyline Ranch uh neighborhood page to talk about the decibel levels, et cetera.

And so I just want you to speak to that a little bit because those are the three main concerns that we've heard, you know, obviously noise.

Uh but please.

Yeah, so initially um before we do anything as part of our due diligence, we do a noise study.

Um we actually did a noise study just of the ambient noise on the property prior to any data center being there.

And that that average um noise level over a 24 hour period was about 50 dBA from the highway, from the railroad, just everything that surrounds the property.

From the closest property, which is probably Markham Ranch in the county, I believe so.

Yes.

Um then we move on to a noise study, the model.

The on a day-to-day basis, the equipment that's emanating noise from the site is usually your chillers that are on our roof.

Sometimes they're in the yard for us, they're normally on the roof.

The generators, they only run for about 15 minutes a month just for maintenance, and then they would run in an emergency should we lose power in the grid, as Taylor just spoke to.

So when during normal operation with screening walls and sound buffers around the property via trees and anything else that kind of obstructs that that noise, the the decibel levels by the time they get to any residential um dwelling, we're down in the 30s.

And I know they asked the other night, and it was sort of a what is that decibel level?

Uh the common um kind of basis for uh 30 dB noise level is like a whisper.

A very, very quiet whisper of someone standing next to you.

Okay.

Um I would say this, I I'd like to call up all the the city team that kind of worked through this process, Dana Bergdoff, Jessica Rogers, um McCordal or Stephen Murray, I don't know who's gonna talk from the zoning perspective.

Uh who else is out there?

Jess McAkron, could you all just come up?

Because I there are tons of questions I just want to be able to answer.

Um, and I know probably my colleagues have questions about some of this, um, but probably first maybe because we've heard a lot about the we're voting today about the tax abatement, the zoning's been done.

But Jess, maybe JR, maybe you want to talk a little bit about how the abatement process works, what that looks like.

Um, and and yeah.

Absolutely.

Um, so going kind of stepping back from this, um, when we are looking at an abatement or any economic development project, um, and particularly specific to data centers, the city has taken a very selective approach.

Um, and really we're looking for two primary things.

One, is this compliant with the city council's adopted policy?

And then two, is this consistent with our adopted strategies?

So this project represented a project that not only met both of those things, we we set the bar a little higher.

We said there were some other things that we wanted to make sure that this project was compliant with.

One we looked at, was it within an established industrial area, this project being in an adopted industrial growth center.

Um, so kind of clearing that hurdle.

We looked at compatible zoning and land use, residential distance from residential properties.

We also looked at whether this um data center was going to be able to get and then eventually get ERCOT approval.

Um, I will kind of inform you we have a number of requests that come into our office on a very regular basis, as you all of you for data center projects.

Um, getting through that ERCOT approval process is very significant and takes a lot of time.

So we want to make sure that if we're evaluating a project, that it is viable.

Um and lastly, we looked at water capacity.

So we worked um economic development worked with our water department, um, worked with Taylor and the edge team to really evaluate um what they were going to be able to commit to.

Um and if you'll recall back to our work session presentation, we talked specifically about having water and energy efficiency requirements in this in this project.

And so with that, we proposed a tax abatement.

This tax abatement on this particular project is on the BPP only, and that's important because this project sits within the Veal Ranch tax increment finance district.

Sorry, business personal property.

I'm sorry.

Um, so on the business personal property only.

So the 50% tax abatement does not apply to the real property that is being invested by this project.

So that represents over 500 million dollars of investment that's going um directly into the tech 65% into the tax increment finance district and with the remaining coming to the city.

And so with this abatement process, kind of just to speak to how that works.

Essentially, it doesn't change the assessment of the property, the valuation of the property.

They will get their tax bill.

And if then the city confirms that they have met all of those commitments, then their tax bill on the business personal property alone would be reduced by that 50%.

So after the 10 years that this abatement is proposed for, all of those assessments, all of those taxes would go back.

And that would that would remain.

So there's no impact to county taxes, no impact to school district taxes.

I know that was brought up as well.

This would be on the city's business personal property taxes alone.

And that was a lot of answers at once.

So if I miss something, just let me know.

I think that was just important to let there was a full process that before it gets to us ever we see it that y'all work through.

Do you approve every application that comes in for a tax abatement?

We do know.

What do you think your percentage is that you actually before it gets to us or to approve?

Um I've been here, I've been here a short amount of time, but I would say it's a it's a very high, it's a high bar.

To reach.

Yeah.

Um, okay.

Who wants to speak to uh the industrial growth center?

What's been planned out there for a period of time, at least as part of that.

Thank you, Councilmember Dana Burkoff, assistant city manager.

So the uh as was mentioned, JR mentioned the comprehensive plan designates this area as an industrial growth center, and the comprehensive plan is designated it for some form of industrial for many years.

The location is on Interstate 20, which is a major freight corridor across Texas, an interstate freight corridor.

It's also bounded on the south side by the UP or Union Pacific Railroad, which is also a major, really cross-country freight railroad.

And so that area along I-20 and along the UP Railroad, you've got the Davidson Yard to the east, a few miles to the east.

And so that makes it attractive for industrial development and has for a long time in Fort Worth's history.

Umy years ago, for example, Walsh Ranch to the west had some of that property designated for single family.

They recognized several years ago the opportunity for industrial because of that I-20 frontage and that railroad frontage to the south.

And then uh Veal Ranch and their planning also recognized that opportunity with I-20 frontage and the UP railroad frontage, uh, that industrial opportunity as well.

And so the comprehensive plan reflects that, and that's also consistent with our land use policies to locate industrial uses along the interstates, particularly freight interstates and and railroad frontages.

So with respect to the specific site, as uh Taylor's mentioned, the the property owners and developers have been looking and master planning this area for a long time.

Um we've been working specifically on this development agreement, uh, at least going back to, I want to say prior to COVID, but certainly in earnest, going back to 2021, and then working on the conceptual plan uh that was adopted by the city council at the end of 2022.

And that conceptual plan laid out the intent for the land uses and set up that entitlement for the the landowner and the developer at that time.

And then the agreement was that as the properties developed or platted that it comes in for annexation and zoning in accordance with that conceptual plan approved in late 2022.

Got it.

Um I also want to ask about the ongoing inspections, the real enforcement power that was also mentioned.

I don't know if that might be part of the economic development agreement.

What do they have to report as part of that?

So, as part of our standard um language in our agreements, we require quarterly construction reporting.

So they have to come uh so anything related to commitments during the construction period.

We also require annual commitment reporting.

So that would be anything on investment commitment, jobs, salary, wages.

Um, that's something that we do take very, very seriously, and those documents are reviewed.

Um, if we don't feel that they're sufficient to demonstrate any of those commitments, we do reserve the right in our agreements to ask for additional information and for audit rights to review anything that we feel would demonstrate compliance with those agreements.

Um, and the city has taken a position if a company can't demonstrate, then you know, they're either A in default or B, they could be not received their abatement in that given year.

Um, and that report from this past year was just provided to council in I think in the last month from Fort Worth Lab.

So we do provide a public report every year on all of our compliance agreements.

Thanks.

And one question, Stephen Murray, I think you know about the zoning process, the notification that was also an issue or problem with some folks.

And I'll say for those that are remaining, I just want to I forgot to say this earlier.

Sorry that we were late.

Uh, fortunately, when you get a bunch of us in a room and we have we we're in meetings downstairs, it went much longer than we expected.

The topics that we were discussing took much longer than we expected.

That's not a reflection on how important we think you are.

It's a reflection on that there's a lot of work and a lot of things coming at all of us from the city.

So that's what took uh the extra hour I think that we are sitting down there.

Believe me, I'd much rather have been up here uh moving this meeting as well.

But Stephen, you want to talk about that, the 300 foot, where we get that, and then the signage and the posting uh that was a question.

Yep, Stephen Murray development services.

So we do numerous types of things in order to notify uh the public for a zoning case that we do state requires us to do 200 feet.

We do 300 foot notification to property owners.

We also do neighborhood notification for registered neighborhoods that are within a half mile.

So if you're a registered neighborhood, you would get a neighborhood notice uh for a um for a zoning case.

We do signs.

Um our current requirement is 10 days prior to this sign was placed uh on March 7th.

The zoning commission was March 12th, so it was um it was a couple of days before the zoning commission meeting.

We um we but tell me when those rules were changed, right?

Those rules were changed in September by state law.

Right.

So now currently state law requires 10 days, and we've uh uh changed our sign process to reflect that.

So signs will be going up uh 10 days prior to currently.

And then um we also place um we have an email list server for people who sign up for zoning cases from districts.

So if you're in district three and you want to hear about all the zoning cases, you can sign up to receive emails.

We place a map on our zoning page um to to kind of show what type of zoning cases are going forward.

So we but it's also important to note that the applicant is also responsible for reaching out to the council member or reaching out to the neighborhood associations prior to uh a zoning case being heard.

So there's several things that we do.

Um the requirement is state law, two in our feet property owners uh via uh letter or a um index.

Thanks.

Um I'll say this.

Uh I think there's still some unanswered questions.

I've got lots of remarks I could give.

I think my council members might have questions.

I think I'm at a point right now where I'm gonna withdraw my motion that I made earlier um until we can have a more robust council discussion about the abatement itself and what that looks like.

Um I'm happy for y'all, yeah.

Uh if anybody wants to answer questions, but that's my intent today is to withdraw that motion and move this case uh until we also to Jay.

I think what I heard as well uh is some more um additional parameters around data centers, what that looks like for the city, et cetera.

That's not necessarily tied to this case, but I think that is what we should be doing as a council.

I I'll give council member Martinez, as was pointed out, months ago asked for something like this.

I did an IR last week to ask about part of that process.

I know many of my council members, if not most, if not all, also have concerns about this.

So I think that that's probably a more um responsible thing to do at this point is to kick this uh to the future and maybe have some better um parameters.

But if anybody wants to ask any questions, got a motion, a second, councilmember Larsdorf.

Yeah, I just wanted to make a couple comments.

Uh I mean I support your decision to go ahead and uh withdraw the motion for the time being.

Um, but Jay, I I would just ask that we do take some of the considerations that we heard today.

Um strong consideration for how we could do things better in the city.

I think the task force was a great idea.

I do believe the in-house inspection of compliance is extremely important when it comes to the data centers.

Um we had an issue in district four with the old gas well and some compliance issues.

We were able to get that handled pretty quickly.

Um, I think from Stephen Murray and your group, I think we can do better on on uh zoning notices for again, just specifically to data centers and doing more than even just a thousand feet.

Um District Four is certainly no stranger to uh contentious zoning cases, but that's water under the data center as we say now.

So we won't go into that one.

Um but I do think we can certainly do better on that to ensure that they are notified.

Um I agree.

I think we should see more pre-construction baselines um at the developer's expense.

Um, I think that'd be an excellent idea to know whether or not we are seeing any issues uh and it really protects the developer as well, instead of just making assumptions.

Um, and I believe that the reliability study that we heard about earlier and the URCOT approval, um, that should be something we look for on all data center approvals, not just uh not just some of them.

Um, because there's certainly a lot to unpack here, and we don't really have the room in district four for a data center right now.

So I'm kind of thankful for that.

Uh believe the the other ones in the hot seat, but as a city, I think we can do better and we should.

So thank you, Jay.

Councilmember Flores.

Very briefly here.

Um I appreciate all the input that we received or heard.

I know Councilmember Crane has uh been listening uh very intently on this in light of upcoming legislation, as we alluded to, as staff alluded to, and growing information on data centers.

Um, I'll support uh the direction that Council members crane is giving on this.

It aligns with uh concerns that I've you know that I have after hearing the comments.

Councilman Martinez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I just want to make sure that this is on everybody's radar, and it might not be an issue, but I know that this uh specific property was zoned, um, project was zoned PD, but uh I'm worried about what will happen if project zoned industrial fall through.

I want us to be prepared and to ensure that we have restrictions in place to exclude crypto and data mining that we know have noise uh issues, and so um in any upcoming zoning cases.

Thanks, Jeanette.

Um I'll just add I really appreciate so much organization.

Um, the coalition that provided this um page.

Interestingly, I think your statewide leaders are looking at some of these elements across the state because candidly every single city, large and small, is being approached on the data center front.

Um, I do know that um edge is an incredibly um important provider, and I think that they've demonstrated that.

I think unfortunately at this point, there is enough question that I hope that they understand it's not a reflection of how they do business, it's just an understandable concern across the country about where we're headed on data center front.

Um, Taylor, to you and your team, y'all are top notch.

This is not a reflection of that, and we've been enjoyed working with PMB.

Um, but there's just enough concern today related to a tax abatement.

I also want to ensure that our staff always adheres to the butt for test, um, which is simply that does a development not come to Fort Worth if we don't put a tax abatement in place.

And that was not clear to me today as to why we were offering a tax abatement in the first place.

It may very well be there, and that's a conversation I would need to have with Edge directly.

Um but that is always how we've approached tax abatements to keep investment in Fort Worth.

It's also not lost on me.

This would have been um Edge would become the second largest taxpayer in the city of Fort Worth with this development.

Um, and also as a reminder to our residents, the zoning is already in place.

So Edge could decide that they wanted to proceed with building without the tax abatement.

Um, there's also been some in actually in Councilmember Crane's motion today, he articulated several of the items that were going to be required as a part of this tax abatement, including decibel level levels, the domestic water flow um requirements out of the Kimley Horn study, and I could go on based on research as well.

These are many things that Edge already does at their data centers across the country.

So those are open questions for us to consider.

Um Councilmember Crane, I don't know if you want to articulate date and time that you want this to come back or not based on our zoning schedule.

Yep, Councilmember Crane, holding a second, Jay.

Yeah, I had a quick chance to look at the schedule a month from now is a voting meeting.

Uh so I would like to move to uh uh kick this to uh sorry, April 28th uh council meeting.

What I would ask during that time is uh we also, if we need to do another community meeting, we can um tailor, et cetera.

Um the the uh EDC folks.

Um if anybody wants to go visit the data center in Irving, I'm sure that they're willing to take you over to see the facility to see what it looks like, to hear it, to be a part of it and see what's around, et cetera.

I I would encourage that to do a lot of due diligence.

I'll continue to do diligence, do my due diligence.

I know this council will as well.

Um, but any other questions you have, et cetera, as part of this, um, please don't hesitate to reach out.

I know you won't because you already have.

Um happy to answer those.

But um, that's my motion that we move uh this uh table this uh uh ZC, whatever it is, until April 28th.

Councilmember Peoples.

So I just quickly wanted to say thank you, Councilman Crane, for being willing uh to let us get some more information.

But I want to thank all of you who came out today as a parent of two very, very, very brilliant daughters um who have uh educated me on data centers.

This is not something that's going away.

And I know that some of you said uh we need to not have data centers.

That's not the world that we live in.

What we have to do as a body is try to ensure that we do it in the safest way and most uh profitable way possible for the citizens.

And by profit, I don't mean revenue, but what they can get out of it.

So I just think we all should take this time to do some more homework on data centers.

They are not going to go away.

We are going to see them in the future, just like Bitcoin mining and other things that are happening.

And we just need to make sure that we're doing it in the safest way possible for the most residents.

And so I applaud you all for coming.

I want to thank my friend Diane Simons for coming today.

And you I heard everything you said.

We listened.

And so we will take this forward.

But thank you all for being here and thank you for being willing to work on this issue.

Thank you.

Um, our city attorney just pointed out that we actually it'll actually won't be April 28th.

It'll be later than that.

You have to have a 30-day posting for tax abatement agreements.

So go ahead.

May 12th would likely be the meeting.

And also there is a hearing in business and commerce in the state senate.

I think it's April 7th, but I'm not possible dealing with data centers.

This I've got several emails, but one in particular is that info at 2871 Community.org.

My office will send information to that.

And we'll also just send an email to the email addresses that are here in case you wanted to tune in and watch that hearing, or if you want a road trip to Austin, I guess you could do that as well.

Just letting you know.

I think we've got a motion and a second on the floor.

We can vote.

Motion carries.

Next item is MNC 26-0250.

Motion and a second, please vote.

Chris is not here.

Motion carries.

Next is ZC-25-172.

Motion and a second council, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-001.

Councilmember Blaylock, we have a few speakers on this item.

The first is Wes Hoblet, followed by Stephen Carlton.

Good afternoon, Wes Hoblet with Master Plan Consultants representing Fifth Gear Automotive.

And we're here to talk about a kind of a obviously difficult zoning case.

We really didn't want to be here initially.

You know, obviously we went in received permits.

Those are some of the handouts you'll receive as the CO that was issued by the city.

And you know, frankly, you know, we didn't really have a presentation, by the way.

I'm not sure if I can go through this or not.

Sorry.

Thank you.

Is there a way I can get my presentation posted?

I'm not sure if we can or not.

She's working on that.

Okay, thank you.

I'm pausing your time.

Thank you.

So this is fifth year staff, obviously, you know.

Um, just wanted to, you know, stay here with.

You know, just really key points.

You know, we're all in a bad spot.

You know, water zoning cases, you know, there's a winner, there's a loser.

This one, you know, we feel we're in a bad position, uh, obviously everything council's a bad position, neighbor's staff as well.

Uh, but we do want to talk about the women use compatibility, which you know, this PD is very odd.

It's a PD with specific uses that, you know, are aren't really tied to anything in particular.

And we really felt like we got off on a wrong foot uh without our say so initially with the uh HOAs in the neighborhood.

So, you know, here's just kind of a timeline.

You know, this is about a 10-month process from when we started of, you know, when we started reaching out to the city, seeing if we can go here by right, uh, some of the you know things we're doing to the property, upgrades, things like that.

And you know, we you know had obviously our CO pulled and then, you know, obviously filed a zoning case after that to correct the issue.

So our zoning request is to remove um, you know, the items listed over there.

Uh, this is what staff proposed, and we agreed with it.

You know, we're adding pretty good protections, I think, to a property that really doesn't have them right now.

Uh, you can pretty much, and as you can see in the documents that I have, you know, on the second page, there's some photos of really what I believe is allowed by right now, which I think the protections we're adding and our operations really go to benefit the site overall.

So here's a little photo.

You know, this photo is I think from when the penguin patch, the previous user was there, you know, temporary storage containers, we're gonna remove that.

Uh, you know, outdoor storage being tied to primary usage, which it's not right now, have a site plan, neighborhood commercial development standards, which are not existing on the property today, as well as the landscaping and screening.

A little bit about the operations, it's all indoors.

Um, you know, we're not doing anything outside.

We have one bay door.

I know there's concerns from the neighborhood about somebody else occupying the space, like a high frequency Mavis tire or discount tire, something like that, but that's not who we are.

We don't do commercial vehicles, no paint and body, closed on the weekends, and you know, we're trying to do our best to make this property correct.

So got off onto a wrong foot with the neighbors.

These are some of the comments we got, uh accusing us of corruption of the city staff of corruption, which I think is wrong, not correct.

Um of these, you know, why did they even want to meet with us?

This is before we met with them.

You know, we really didn't uh have a chance to even talk before we were kind of vilified in our opinion.

So, you know, we really didn't get off on the right foot and never thought we could.

And we did have support, uh, surprisingly.

And on the last page of that document is a letter from Children's White House next door.

These are the neighbors that supported us, and um that's all I wanted to say.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Stephen Carlton, followed by Eric Wilh.

Thank you.

I should have taken a picture of the five-foot weeds that are in the front yard of that property.

My name is Stephen Carlton out of less than 700 feet from the property in question.

And I hope after this vote, we can put this zoning case in the hall of shame for everyone to learn from.

We're all aware that fifth gear was mistakenly told by the city staff that auto repair was allowed at this property.

According to internal emails, I turned, I obtained via open records.

On November 18th, staff was in agreement that a mistake had been made and that rezoning would be required.

However, after the mistake was caught, we were first told by staff that the PD has a base zoning of light industrial, which allows auto repair.

Eric Wilhite, who you'll hear from in a minute, our own resident and certified city planner, had to fight to prove them wrong.

After the mistake was caught, the now ex-assistant, director of zoning, tried and failed to tell us that auto repair was only an accessory use, even though the PD clearly states specific uses, which do not include auto repair.

One month after the mistake was caught, we were told by DJ Harrell that staff thought this was a warehouse, not auto repair, even though the original change of use application from September clearly stated auto repair, and open records later proved staff was aware of the auto repair reuse for over a month.

And this all happened before the applicant even official officially applied for zoning.

After the application was submitted, city staff still worked against home homeowners to make this happen.

The applicant was given an extra week after the deadline to obtain the owner's signature.

Staff coached the applicant on the new PD language to override city zoning ordinance that protects residents from adjacency to auto repair.

And as a last stand, city staff somehow recommended approval of this case, despite recommending denial of two auto repair shops adjacent to residential districts within the last two years.

Luckily, the PNZ commission saw through this and voted unanimously to recommend denial with prejudice.

Mr.

Nettle stepped away, but I think everybody in the room was in agreement regarding the street sign toppers and city staff making decisions that belong to you, the city council.

Mr.

Choppa, I hope you will investigate why city staff decided to insert itself into this case over and over again, despite obvious ordinances and strong opposition.

Basic intuition tells us that this should not have happened.

A simple denial of this case is not enough protection for residents and frees the applicant and city staff to try a new angle against residents immediately.

Please choose to deny this case with prejudice.

So residents can finally believe the city is working for them and not against them.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Eric Wilhite, followed by Barbara Brewer.

Hello, Mary Council.

My name is Eric Willhide.

I live at 12012 Lostwood Trail.

I'm within 200 feet of the subject property.

I'm also here with some of my neighbors representing them.

I'm the HOA vice president of Hudson Oaks HOASC Mitchell.

I am a certified planner and a registered landscape architect, and I've been doing community planning and development for over 30 years.

So obviously, when I before I moved in to buy my property in that residential neighborhood, I checked what the zoning was.

The zoning was the PDCU with specific uses.

They weren't all really that great, but it certainly wasn't automotive use then, and it certainly shouldn't be now.

When we started noticing when P1 Patch left, a new tenant was coming in.

We could tell it was an automotive repair facility going in because fifth year trucks and other people were coming in from fifth gear.

I reached out, contacted the broker as well as city staff on the land use change not being permitted because it is not part of this PDCU.

For over six weeks, went back and forth showing city staff where their error in their ways of allowing them to continue on moving forward with the um development or their improvements to the property.

Furthermore, it's specific in chapter five supplemental use standards 5.104 automotive repair and paint body shops are not to be adjacent to residential properties.

This property is adjacent to residential on both sides.

In fact, one of the PNZ commissioners put it most eloquently that it's smack dab in the middle of the neighborhood and automotive uses shouldn't be.

Furthermore, we never really saw a PD.

We did have discussions with the applicant.

Never got to see the PD site plan until P and Z.

That PD site plan, in my opinion, was willfully inadequate and doesn't show anything on the standards that the PD ordinance requires to show that there's any um mitigating or protective measures made for adjacent properties on that site plan.

So, you know, uh as Steve mentioned, we went the city staff seemed to always be working against us.

Some of the uh ordinance ordinance verbiage that was added was added after my conversations and emails with city staff to add those.

So we felt like they were getting coached.

I don't think a PD, and I think most people would agree, should be used to circumvent city code or make waivers for specific things that are conditional or additional supplemental uses required in zoning.

And that's exactly what this PD is attempting to do, in my opinion.

So with that, we would request respectfully request that you would adhere to the Planning Zoning Commission's 10.0 denial with prejudice of this zoning change.

Thank you, Eric.

Our next speaker is Barbara Brewer, followed by Russell Fuller.

My name is Barbara Brewer.

I'm a resident in Fort Worth.

I live in the villages of Woodland Springs.

Um I'm here regarding 3553 Loddick Lane, zoning case C62601.

The property is zone PD 894.

Under that zoning and under the section 5.104 C of the city's ordinance, out of repair is not permitted on a site adjacent to a residential property.

That is exactly the situation here.

Homes are like within 28 feet of this building.

Families live here.

Children play in those backyards.

The ordinance is clear.

This use is not allowed.

The zoning commission already recommended denial with prejudice.

So I please ask that uh don't ask these families to live with um the situation, and uh it should have never been allowed in the first place.

Thank you.

Rusty Fuller, followed by Joshua Allison.

Mayor and Council, thank you very much for the opportunity to uh address you.

I'm Rusty Fuller.

I'm president of the North Fort Worth Alliance, and I am also a Fort Worth resident.

We are an alliance of 48 homeowners associations in the far north.

We've been working on supporting and uh reasonable development for a long time now.

We are here to support the residents of Hudson Oaks Vows uh village of Woodland Springs and the residents of uh the far north in opposition to the rezoning of the property on Lotick Lane proposed in ZC 2601.

This is a very simple case with only one logical outcome.

The property in question is a planned development district that requires waivers for the use of auto repair.

An avalanche of emails from residents opposing the use due to the proximity of uh uh residential district is obvious.

On information and belief, a petition has been presented with sufficient signatures to result to uh of residents within 200 feet to require a supermajority of the council to approve the petition.

Comments from the zoning commission and the zoning commissioners, who unanimously opposed the position, was telling their observation was this is not a good use of this land.

Sufficient logical, reasoned opposition to this petition has been has been presented by the residents.

It is up to the council to uphold the recommendation of denial with prejudice from the zoning commission.

Thank you.

Joshua Allison, followed by Gary Dubas.

Good afternoon.

My name is Josh Allison.

I live in villages of Woodland Springs in North Fort Worth.

I also represent the Homeowner Association for Village Will and Springs as the president.

We're about 4,600 homeowners.

We actually surround the property to the east, the north, and if you go far enough, actually to the west as well.

So I want to talk about safety.

In order to get to this property as a as a uh uh if you want to use their services, you have to enter from from the south.

You go directly through Hudson Oaks, you pass about 10 residential properties, or you have the option of doing a U-turn right in front of children's lighthouses at about, I think it's actually within a school zone, as well as there's another school zone about 500 feet away into our neighborhood and village of Woodland Springs.

Um I use that exit.

U-turn there is pretty pretty difficult in the morning.

Um these these employees come into work.

We were told there's gonna be 15 employees at this location.

Um their fenced area they're creating is is for 96 cars.

They told us at our open house at our many center that they're planning on running about a hundred cars through this location every week.

Um 100 in and out, 15 employees and out every day.

That's 200 and in customers and and 30 every single day.

So 350 total cars, uh, assume half of them come from the south and half come to the north.

They're either going through Hudson Oaks directly past 10 houses to get to this location, or they're doing U-turns.

Um, that's a lot of cars doing that.

Um, there's kids that play out there.

Um, there's people that commute, kids that commute on their bikes to the to the uh to the high school that's within a half mile from this from this place.

These facilities are next to residential areas already, other places in the Metroplex.

They have that in their presentation.

That is true.

Uh the problem is that the main access for those facilities is not through those residences, it's through a main thoroughfare or something like that without U-turns and those kind of things.

So this is just not smart, it's not safe.

I would I would actually probably go a little bit stronger than I say it would be irresponsible to put all the kids in the community right here in the residences at risk with that much traffic and that many um vehicles and that much stuff going on around those areas, um, which is not historically been a problem.

So I know the pictures show some issues with the previous uh tenant of this facility, just because the previous tenant was bad doesn't mean we need to put another bad tenant in there.

So thank you.

Gary Dubas.

Hello, my name is Gary Dubas.

I actually live in the development that we're talking about, um, Fort Worth District 10.

Um, a lot of the things that I was going to talk about have already been talked about, so maybe I'll be short.

Um I would like to say that as someone living in the development, one of the great things about it is the just kids can sit there and play.

You know, you're always hearing kids laughing, playing in the front uh uh yards, riding their bikes in the streets.

Um, it's just a wonderful place, a wonderful neighborhood.

So once again, I'd like to um reiterate reiterate what uh he said that getting extra cars coming through the neighborhood would just not be safe.

It worries me that some kid will get hit.

Um, in addition to the cars driving in and driving out, another concern of mine, which maybe is a possibility, I don't know, is test driving.

Um used to live in Phoenix, and we had a mechanic that we loved going to.

He would say, jump in the car.

And he actually worked on a street that was commercial, and we would drive to the end of the commercial street and then go into a development.

And we he would test drive the car there, find out what that noise was that I was talking about.

So my concern is that that would also be traffic that would be in the neighborhood.

Um at various times, uh, the traffic on beach can be very bad.

Um, there's a middle school just south of us, half a mile, and there's a high school just north of us.

So when those are either students are going to or coming from beach can be very busy.

Um it would not be surprising if at those times, you know, mechanics would be like, uh-oh, uh I'm not getting out on beach.

You know, I'm gonna stay in the development.

One would hope not, but once again, just because fifth gear puts up something that they don't, once this is zoned as auto-repair, then it's that way.

The other thing uh concern, of course, is the fact that all of the um money and hopes that these residents have put in their homes.

Um they um we have invested very heavily in our homes.

Um, one of the houses that sold just before all of this broke, um, sold um for about six hundred thousand dollars.

The exact same model that sold after this broke, sold for twenty-six thousand dollars less.

Um that's a large difference.

So please disapprove the zoning change.

Thank you.

Councilmember Blaylot.

Thank you, Mayor.

Council.

I want to say thank you to everybody that spent so much time on this case.

I know it's been a lot of energy and effort from everybody.

Uh and and I regret you know that it's been such a challenge.

At this point in time, though, a move to uphold the zoning commission's recommendation to deny with prejudice.

Motion and a second, council, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-014.

Motion and a second, please vote.

Tyler doesn't even get heckled today.

No, I have a you did.

Okay.

Charlie's not here.

Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-023.

Councilmember Flores.

Motion a second, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-024.

Councilmember Flores.

Motion a second, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-025.

Motion and a second, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is ZC-26-026.

Motion a second, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is MNC MNC 26-021.

Motion and a second, please vote.

Motion carries.

Next is MNC 26-0239.

Motion.

And I believe Councilmember Crane is going to read into a record a motion for that item as well as 26-0242.

Sorry.

There you go.

Y'all just thought you were getting out without some imminent domain language, but here we go.

I move that the Fort Worth City Council adopt the resolution authorizing the use of the power of eminent domain to acquire the following 4.620 acres and permanent easement 1.544 acres and temporary easement at 9513 Chapin Road in the LB Cresswell Survey Abstract number 367 and the John Burcy Survey Abstract number 128, City of Benbrook, Tarrant County, Texas, owned by Andrews 440 Ranch LP.

2.70 acres and permanent easement 2.625 acres and temporary easement at 4501 Westloop 820 South in the TG Zachary survey.

Abstract number 1759, City of Binbrook, Tarrant County, Texas, owned by Chapin Holdings LLC.

The land rights and the subject property are needed for the Mary's Creek Force Main Project, a public use that provides for transporting wastewater to the future Mary's Creek Water Reclamation Facility in order to treat wastewater produced in the rapidly developing western part of the city.

Property interests to be acquired as described by meets and bounds and depicted by survey exhibits attached to this mayor and council communication.

This motion indicates that the first record vote applies to all units of the property to be condemned, and the minute shall reflect that the first vote applies to all of those units.

Motion and a second council, please vote.

Motion passes.

Next item is MNC 26-0235.

Councilmember Crane.

Councilmember Hill.

Yeah.

Thanks.

So the Kraft Agreement basically was an agreement with the company to provide food services at the Will Rogers facility.

This was done a few years ago, and it was a 10-year contract.

They invested into some uh kitchen equipment and those kind of things.

And the city had actually requested that we end this agreement at the end of the year.

Uh craft came back and um uh asked that that be that be eliminated now sooner than later.

And so we went through a process of doing a negotiated settlement so that we could end the contract and move forward.

And so the provider of food um food and beverages at at Dickey's will be taken up for the end of the year.

Um, and then we'll have a another contract that will take its place.

Thank you.

And maybe a motion on the floor.

Second, please vote.

Motion carries.

Mayor, that conclude concludes all of the action items and gets us to public comment.

Thank you.

Our first speaker is Darmatrius Kilgore.

After Mr.

Kilgore, it's Chris Wood, followed by George Charles.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council members.

My name is Darmitrius Kilgore, founder, president, and CEO of Findemy Academy Global.

I stand before you today with humility, but also with conviction, seeking clarity, standing and truth, and with purpose.

My journey began in a fatherless environment, searching for identity and direction.

As a young man, I made mistakes, carried a legal firearm, went to jail for theft, and was bullied up until the seventh grade.

But in the midst of that brokenness, my life changed when my grandparents began raising me and introduced me to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

That transformation led me to basketball.

Although I didn't have my grades to attend a four-year university, I continue at Tyler Junior College, where I became the number one shooting guard in the country and was projected 37th pick in the 2001 NBA draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies, who now the Memphis Grizzlies.

Twelve years ago, during a divorce, I became homeless for two weeks in battle thoughts of suicide.

During that time, during that time, I saw God through a no fool three-day fast.

It was there that he gave me a vision to step out on faith and serve youth full time, no matter what it looked like.

And I did just that.

Today FMA Global has served over 5,000 youth across the DFW Metroplex.

We provide college of career readiness, financial literacy, and reading literacy, conflict resolution, life skills, workforce development, entrepreneurship, public speaking, steam, social and emotional learning.

However, I stand before you today because on March 13th, 2026, during a Microsoft Teams meeting with district leadership, I was informed that our program was placed on hold without any reason provided.

During the meeting, unprecedented accusations were made, stating that I was a bit pushy, had a slight attitude, and engaged in harassment.

These are strong and damaging claims.

At that moment, I respectfully ask for clarity, specific examples and documentation, but none was provided.

To this day, there has been no formal complaint or evidence presented.

As a man of integrity, I document everything.

My records reflect professionalism, respect, and alignment with expectations.

This is not just a program.

This is my purpose.

And the mission that God has placed on my life to serve, uplift, and transform lives.

And it's my hope that no person or system within the city of Fort Worth unintentionally handles that mission.

I share this not in accusation, but in accountability, because this work is about positive impact on youth, families, and our communities.

Despite these challenges, I remain committed to integrity to keeping my word and to teaching our youth to do the same.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Thank you, Mr.

Kilper.

Our next speaker is Chris Wood, followed by George Childs.

I'm Chris Wood from Fort Worth.

I'm here today to talk about air quality and community toxin resilience.

Fort Worth's air quality is moderate, but we do face challenges, particularly from ozone and fine particulate matter.

These pollutants are largely driven by vehicle emissions, industrial activity, and rapid population growth.

Air pollution is associated with increased respiratory strain, cardiovascular stress, and higher long-term health care burdens.

Improving air quality directly reduces health care costs and improves overall quality of life.

Environmental conditions play a critical role in population level health outcomes.

Fort Worth is addressing this issue through air quality teams that monitor pollution levels and evaluate city facilities for compliance.

Ongoing strategies such as improving traffic flow, expanding pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, and transitioning toward cleaner vehicles reduces emissions.

In addition, Fort Worth is a blue zone community, building an environment where people live longer, healthier lives.

City-led initiatives that support walkability, access to healthier food options, and smoke-free environments strengthen long-term community resilience.

Air quality is not uniform across the city.

I live near the intersection of three major roadways, which results in higher concentrations of pollutants.

However, Fort Worth helps offset this through access to health supportive environments like the Trinity River Trails, which encourages physical activity and reduces disease risk.

Nearby access to grocery store and convenience stores that offer healthy, nutrient-dense foods, also helps prevent conditions like diabetes and lower health care care costs.

Please continue efforts to reduce air pollution and support community health initiatives.

Also, I urge you, expand use of health-based research by strengthening partnerships with universities, medical institutions, and public health experts.

Incorporating emerging research, such as such as evidence around eating patterns and meal timing will help further protect against chronic disease and improve population health outcomes.

Thank you.

George Charles, followed by Bob Willoughby.

Okay, timers on the first document before you is a press release issued by the city of Fort Worth.

The mission statement of the department had generated reads in pertinent part, quote, residents and visitors want effective, accurate, and timely information, unquote.

This document appeared in Fort Worth Report for April 27th, 2022.

As to news releases, Fort Worth report states, quote, submit your press release to Fort Worth and Terran County's trusted source.

Amplify your message through our influential platform, unquote.

The second paragraph of this document consists solely of the personal feelings of the mayor about the soon to be now current city attorney.

The first sentence of that paragraph states said person is quote a trusted confidant, unquote, of the mayor.

Time limitations of three minutes, if that keep me from giving all the reasons why I think that is the first sentence instead of those based on her qualifications for position that currently pays her $39,580 and 96 cents a year.

To put it as simply as possible, I think the quality of trusted confidant is the first mental association the mayor experiences when she thinks of the city attorney.

There is, of course, no such person as an untrusted confidant as a second document will show.

When a former mayor pro Tim was shocked, shocked to learn that suddenly that from the city attorney that quorum had suddenly evaporated.

And so it was whoopsie for Bob and his video.

But it was blatant enough to provide the impetus for me to find that news release.

So I hope that the members of the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association can at least know that when the mayor publicly stated the case law was so in favor so strongly in favor of the other side in a zoning case that it would be a waste of taxpayer money to oppose it.

I'm gonna film you so I can show people how you act.

It's Bob Willoughby.

Okay.

I uh who is that Macy?

You're the only one that looks like you care.

No one else pays attention.

I got their head down doing everything.

Even though that's not enough, that's better.

Play the video.

We have a few departments that we do not need.

This department is not essential to our system, like the uh fire department of police.

We do not have to have it.

It was put in because we were complaining and we wanted a police oversight.

Well, and now that I have other time to think about it, we don't need even a police oversight.

We don't need none of that.

This is a total waste of taxpayer money, and this money can be used to hire more important people for more important jobs than this.

It's not not needed.

The girl that works there makes more than the attorney general for the state of Texas.

What's this?

Well, you took Tim's place.

She was on our show.

Oh, you want my cards you do?

Uh she came on our show, and I like Kim a lot.

She was really good.

But here's my question.

First one is what is your salary join us?

What is my web?

How much they pay you to do this job.

I think it's public.

It's listed on the website.

I know it's with us.

You know how much you make, don't you?

Okay, could you want to tell us?

It's north of 100,000.

North.

You don't want to tell us what it is, in other words, come right out.

Okay, these are the little things that we want to uh get them to come through.

I'd like to know when you say north.

150,000 or more than that.

More than 150.

So more than Ken Patzon, the uh uh the attorney general of Texas only makes 150,000.

So you make more than Kenzen for this job.

And it's a non-essential job.

No.

You see what I mean?

That is just too much money for a non-senific.

I can't say the word, the type of job, but this department we don't need, and there's other departments that we need to close.

Well, let's start one at a time.

The police monitor oversight was not what we've asked for, but we got it anyway.

We don't need it, do away with it.

What the city needs more than ever is a mayor.

The first thing is a mayor.

That's where we start.

The root of the cancer is you.

You lie, Matty, you don't answer questions, you hold private meetings.

You're not a mayor.

And that's what we need first.

So if you're a real mayor, you'd move the comment meeting, the public meeting from the bottom of the agenda to the top.

You got us on the bottom.

And the commissioner's court moved us to the top, and I asked.

So we're at top everywhere, but here in Fort Worth, Maddie.

Move us from the bottom to the top.

And move the council to the bottom.

Yeah.

Make your celebrity show to the bottom.

Our next speaker is Kevin Carlson.

Is Kevin present?

Hi, Kevin.

Kevin will be followed by Lauren Chong.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Parker, and Council.

My name is Kevin Carlson.

My home is within the community of Liberty Crossing, Homeowner Association in North Fort Worth, to which I have been a resident for 13 years, District 10.

There is a commercial property at the southwest corner of Blue Mound Road and Heritage Trace Parkway with an assigned address of 9251 Blue Mound Road.

Greeting for construction at the 7 Eleven at this location has begun last week.

Per email from the city, no building permit has been permitted yet, has been submitted yet.

To my knowledge, no one in our community was notified of this construction.

137 of my fellow Liberty Crossing residents have signed a petition and commented on their concerns regarding the construction of the 7-Eleven site.

Comments in the petition make it clear that we don't want to have or need a third 7-Eleven within a one-mile radius.

We have one a third mile away at 287 Blue On Road.

One of the major concerns for me is a significant, significant drop in property value, potential fuel spills, 24-7 operation with noise and lights around the clock with alcohol sales too.

This site is literally 100 feet from the backyards of many of my fellow property owners.

Lights, noise, fuel vapors, car exhaust traffic, and the attraction of suspicious persons from anywhere directly next to residents' backyards at all hours of the night.

The current zoning is E-neighborhood commercial.

I respectfully request the city to rezone the property to ER neighborhood commercial restricted.

It would provide peace and security to my fellow Liberty Crossing families and property owners while still allowing for commercial use, making it available for businesses that would close in the overnight hours, maintaining a safe, clean, quiet neighborhood.

We need your help before this 7-Eleven gets built.

And that's all I got to say about that.

Just hoping that someone like Blaylock or Councilperson Blaylock or yourself, mayor, can help me out.

And if I can send you an email to communicate all this, that would be awesome.

Absolutely.

And I've got your email here, Kevin.

I'll have a staff member reach out to you directly and also include Tara from Councilmember Blaylock's office.

Perfect.

I'll send you an email today.

It'll be coming from uh KDC of my first three letters.

Yes, sir.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

Our next speaker is Lauren Chion, followed by Alexander Montalvo.

Lauren here.

Is Alexander here?

James Smith will be followed by David Martinez.

Good afternoon, Council.

My name is James Smith.

I live in District 8.

I'm sorry, my councilman's not here, but before I talk about what I came to talk about, I want to mention the community center, new soccer field.

It's a nice soccer field.

My grandchildren played on it.

They enjoyed it.

I have to afford a soccer ball.

But to correct my councilman's statement on them replacing a dilapidated tennis court.

The tennis court wasn't dilapidated, dilapidated.

They overlaid the tennis court.

The tennis court was fine.

I just want to make that statement clear.

Seven years is a long time to accept the accountability for something that shouldn't have happened.

Her family is still struggling with this incident, as I and there needs to be a resolution to this predicament.

I spoke with Ashley briefly.

She's having problems mentally.

So I fear for him.

So I'm gonna ask you to pray for him that he'll make his deployment and make it back home to be helpful to his sister and the two nieces, to the new two nephews that they were uh left with with the death of Tatiana and her mother and Amber.

Accountability.

And I'm just gonna, you know, this thing that I'm involved in, that this this club that I've I've been joined, several other cities showed more accountability for their mistakes than my own city is.

Brianna Taylor, they just ruled that the officers won't be charged in our murder, but yet the city was accountable, and they made that plan.

George Floyd, the city was accountable before George Floyd even had his trial.

We had a trial, we had a conviction.

Your officer was in the wrong, your city is liable, and I will continue to stand for the accountability for Tatiana Jefferson.

I can't walk out my door and and feel at ease.

I'll I'll never feel at ease, but I want to walk out that door and know that when I look across that street, I know I've done all I could do in the city did what it was supposed to do.

Well, I'll talk to John Jefferson.

Thank you.

David Martinez, followed by Thomas Hamilton.

My name is David Martinez.

Uh I live in Fort Worth.

Um, I have property in uh multiple districts.

Um I reside in district eight.

Um I want to I want to talk to you about what's going on with the data centers.

Okay, so I'm torn between I'm torn in half with that, okay.

Because at one, it's like fear factor over here.

It's like you get X amount of dollars for your tax for tax money, and then but you have to eat a bucket of roaches.

It's just like you you gotta take the good with the bad, but uh the bad is is it could be terrible, especially with what people are saying things about what uh toxins and things like that, and and I have personal experience with how things were handled with my father in Vietnam with the agent orange, and then also with uh the vaccine that caused me to have a quadruple bypass.

So uh without accountability, without liability, um I don't see uh a way that we can work around it without having some type of measures where the citizens that have complaints or can address these complaints without legal well with legal recourse.

I mean, it's the liability has got to be there uh in order for me to even start having that conversation where we could I could push that in my community uh at the same time because I think about my grandchildren, um, the possibilities of what could happen to them.

And so I mean, I I'm all for getting the tax money.

I'm not gonna be the person that says, well, you know, I got a cell phone, but I don't want data centers.

I don't want to say not in my backyard because it doesn't affect me, but it does, and it does affect other people's children too.

So I have to I have to be mindful of those things, and I know that y'all have families also, so I know it's not like y'all don't have skin in the game either.

So and I know that uh a lot of people, y'all know y'all meet with other people that have this knowledge and all this stuff, and then be able to do due diligence with these things, but that's one of the things I wanted to bring up also with the hemp hill uh uh street expansion.

Now I know we need more contractors for that area of like the because we had the pipe that was took a year to do, and then I have people that they're in the oil recover business and an A lay pipe real quick.

So I know we have a problem with having um we have vendors that that need to be, we need more vendors to have more competition in that.

So I know the also one before I forget, I want to thank uh city manager Jay Choppa, he's doing a great job.

He's just today he I was talking about him, uh give him giving him good praises, and then I show up at a meeting, he saved us like 20 million dollars on that building that they're gonna save.

So I mean, he's already earned his uh his money already and stuff like that with that.

Thanks a lot.

I'll bless y'all.

Thomas Hamilton.

Thomas present counsel that is the end of our public speakers and meeting adjourned.