OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Killeen City Council Work Session and Regular Meeting – October 21, 2025

City Council & Commissions — Tuesday, October 21, 2025
BodyKilleen, Texas
SessionCity Council & Commissions
DateTuesday, October 21, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:50

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you all for coming.

0:54

Um the request to speak form Madam uh City Attorney uh before I call the meeting to order, we have a request form with a name, and this person is not in the here at all.

1:07

And I called their name.

1:09

Uh would you please look into the legality so that just falsifying people name on our city uh documentation, please?

1:18

Thank you.

1:19

All right, with that being said, I would like to call the meeting to order.

1:25

Let the record show that council member cop is not present.

1:38

We will now have the invitation invocation by Councilman Solomon, and we will have the pledge of allegiance uh by Mayor Nash Kane.

1:52

Would you all please stand?

1:58

Most precious father, we want to thank you for this day.

2:03

This is the day you made.

2:04

We thank you for this meeting.

2:06

We ask for your wisdom.

2:07

We ask for your guidance as we would take on the city business.

2:12

We thank you for every citizen that's in clean.

2:16

We thank you for our soldiers.

2:18

We ask you to protect them.

2:20

Guard them and guide them.

2:23

In your money name we do pray.

2:25

Jesus' name we pray.

2:27

Amen.

2:28

Amen.

2:28

Please join with me in honoring our nation's flag.

2:32

I pleaded.

2:37

And to the republic for which it stands one nation under God in the liberty and justice for all.

2:47

Thank you all.

2:48

Thank you, Councilman Solomon.

2:55

Can I get a motion to approve the agenda?

3:00

Mayor Pro Tem.

3:01

Mayor Motion be approved to present the Genesis Predic.

3:04

Councilman Alvarez.

3:07

Mayor, I second that motion.

3:08

All in favor, yes.

3:09

All opposed, no.

3:39

Motion carries six to zero.

3:42

I forgot that I would like to go back, madam city uh attorney.

3:55

We have an exception for our approval of agenda for item number IS twenty-five-175.

4:03

And the council have already uh approved it, but that item was left off of the uh approval of the agenda with the exception of RIS-25-175.

4:20

I would like to redo that motion because that item was not taken off of the agenda.

4:30

Okay, the the motion to approve the agenda.

4:33

I'm sorry.

4:33

What I since I mean if you want to open up that emotion again, um you can do so.

4:39

It's uh it's on the agenda though, so you could um when you're going to approve the consent agenda, approve it without that item because it was withdrawn.

4:47

Thank you kindly.

4:51

With that being said, we will have a presentation with Hill Country Transit District Update.

5:00

PR 25-023.

5:05

Good afternoon, Mayor.

5:06

Good afternoon, sir.

5:07

How are you?

5:08

Distinguished members of the City Council.

5:10

Um for the record, I'm Raymond Suarez, the general manager of the Hill Country Transit District.

5:15

I'm here to provide an update on the what we think is a very good news story about the progress that we've made since the last time I was here.

5:24

Um as you will recall, we uh worked with the board of directors of the Hill Country Transit District a couple of years ago, developed a new strategy, basically overhauling the transit district uh with new technology, a new approach to delivering service.

5:39

We started the service uh September of 2024.

5:45

And I'm uh I'm happy to say that ridership is growing significantly in 2024 on the right.

5:53

You can see that our ridership, and this was prior to launching the service was about 140,000 passengers that we carried.

6:02

In the nine months so far, we've carried 156,000 with a wonderful customer satisfaction indices of uh 95, roughly 94.4 percent.

6:13

That doesn't mean we're perfect, and um we do get calls from concerned citizens.

6:18

Uh that's always going to be be the case, but uh I'm very happy to to say that staff does a wonderful job in in um getting a hold of people and and working with them.

6:28

We'll probably talk a little bit about that here in the future.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Transportation Safety███████████████████19%
Public Engagement████████████████16%
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████████16%
Water And Wastewater Management████████████12%
Zoning███████7%
Fiscal Sustainability██████6%
Procedural█████5%
Public Safety█████5%
Aviation Regulation███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Killeen City Council Work Session and Regular Meeting – October 21, 2025

At a combined work session and regular meeting on October 21, 2025, the Killeen City Council received a presentation on the Hill Country Transit District (The HOP), discussed a slate of capital projects and routine contracts, and gave direction on changes to the parade/assembly ordinance and on consolidating four boards of adjustment. The meeting began at 3:00 PM in City Hall Council Chambers. Councilmember Cobb was absent. The Mayor noted a falsified speaker request form and asked the city attorney to investigate.

Presentations

  • Hill Country Transit District (The HOP) Update (PR-25-023): General Manager Raymond Suarez reported on the system’s performance since launching a new micro-transit model in September 2024. Ridership reached 156,000 in nine months (up from 140,000 annually pre‑launch), with a customer satisfaction score of 94.4%. The average rider takes 12–13 repeat trips, 70% use the mobile app, and average trip distance is 4.7 miles. The service at Fort Hood received a national Pentagon award for community partnership. The district’s FY26 budget (to be approved by the board Nov. 5) projects 270,000 rides for Killeen, with the city’s local share at $650,000. Suarez recommended implementing Phase 2 expansion (2.1 sq. mi. in southwest Killeen) by January 2, 2026, at no additional cost to the city. He estimated covering the whole city with a 30‑minute wait time would require roughly $2 million/year in local investment, up from the current $650,000. Councilmembers Solomon and Kendrick (board representatives) supported Phase 2. Councilmember Segarra expressed concern about past sudden cost increases and asked for a test period. Councilmember Gonzalez asked about advertising and transit management associations. Councilmember Alvarez noted requests for extended service hours. The Mayor thanked presenters for transparency.

Consent Calendar

  • The Council approved the consent agenda (items 2–14) with the exception of RS-25-175 (petition for release from ETJ, withdrawn by petitioner), motion by Mayor Pro Tem Adams, seconded by Councilmember Solomon, passed 6–0. Items included:
    • RS-25-162: Change Order No. 2 for Taxiway E Relocation with TTG Utilities, reduction of $343,611.62.
    • RS-25-163: Interlocal Agreement with Fort Worth for JP Morgan Chase commercial card program (est. annual rebate $34,000).
    • RS-25-164: Tire Services contract with Oyervides Tire Service, $382,000 for FY26.
    • RS-25-165: Water and Sewer Materials to multiple vendors, not to exceed $990,570.
    • RS-25-166: Street Construction Materials to multiple vendors, not to exceed $1,000,000.
    • RS-25-167: Professional services agreement with Pape‑Dawson Engineers for Mohawk Drive design, $1,417,641.58 (funded by 2025 CO bonds).
    • RS-25-168: Lift Station No. 6 Rehabilitation/Expansion to Bell Contractors, $6,961,950.10 (capacity increase from 17 to 24 MGD).
    • RS-25-169: Contract amendment with BGE for Rancier Avenue final design, $7,396,410.95 (includes underground utilities and streetscaping from WS Young to Fort Hood; partially funded by TIRZ No. 2 and a K‑Tempo sidewalk grant).
    • RS-25-170: 24‑inch water line on Highway 195/Chaparral Road to Blackrock Construction, $9,981,018 (new transmission line to serve west side of city).
    • RS-25-171: Contract amendment with Freese and Nichols for Chaparral Road Phase 1A final design and right‑of‑way services, $6,351,144 (project from SH 195 to the high school, including roundabouts; construction targeted after 2028).
    • RS-25-172: Easement Conveyance Agreement with BTM Holding LLC for 0.3 acres in exchange for water line and tank easements.
    • RS-25-173: Change Order No. 1 with Cerris Builders for Fire Station No. 4, reduction of $514,916.27 (excess contingency redirected to training tower).
    • RS-25-174: Letter of Agreement with Aqua‑Metric for Phase 3 water meter replacement (5,117 radios, 4,544 new meters, 297 commercial meters), $1,305,192.78.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Citizen Comment: Michael Funino criticized the Mohawk Drive and Rancier Avenue projects as a waste of money. He alleged the Mohawk Drive project benefits a former council member’s commercial property and questioned the design’s impact on businesses along Rancier Avenue. He challenged council members to meet with citizens for a direct discussion. The Mayor closed citizen comments.

Public Hearings

  • PH-25-061 (Rezoning): A public hearing was held on an ordinance to rezone 0.23 acres at 4100 S WS Young Drive from B‑5 to R‑1 (single‑family residential). Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval 5‑0, and no public comments were received. The Council approved the ordinance on a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Adams, seconded by Councilmember Alvarez, vote 6‑0.

Discussion Items

  • DS-25-049 – Parade and Assembly Permit Changes: City Attorney staff (Ms. Wilson) presented proposed changes to Chapter 25, Article V. Current ordinance allows only one parade/assembly per day; Mayor Pro Tem Adams requested a change to allow multiple events based on resource availability. A stakeholder meeting (Sept. 19) with downtown merchants, downtown advisory committee, and youth advisory council recommended: first‑time/smaller events use city‑owned lots (8 lots available, capacity up to 500), 15‑day business notification for road closures, designated parade routes avoiding the private bus station, tiered permit structure (21‑day for small events, 45‑day for mid‑size, 90‑day for large), and requirements for insurance, emergency plans, and cost recovery. Staff also proposed adding a condition that applicants pay for damage before future permits. Councilmembers expressed support for protecting downtown businesses. Councilmember Alvarez raised concerns about itinerant peddler permits for food trucks at city events (staff noted pending state legislation). The Council voted 6‑0 to direct staff to bring back an ordinance incorporating the discussed changes at the next available meeting.
  • DS-25-050 – Consolidation of Boards of Adjustment: The City Attorney presented the option to combine the Zoning Board, Construction Board, Aviation Board, and Fire Board of Adjustment. The fire and aviation boards rarely meet. The zoning board had unfilled seats in the annual appointments. Consolidation would require ordinance amendments. On a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Adams, seconded by Councilmember Alvarez, the Council voted 6‑0 to direct staff to prepare a consolidation ordinance.

Adjournment

  • Councilmember Segarra moved to adjourn; Councilmember Kendrick seconded. The meeting adjourned.

Key Statistics

  • Hill Country Transit District: Ridership 156,000 in 9 months (vs. 140,000 annually before); 94.4% satisfaction; 70% app usage; average trip 15.5 minutes/4.7 miles; FY26 Killeen local share $650,000.
  • Consent agenda total value: $29,339,000+ (sum of major contracts and change orders, excludes materials annual caps).
  • Rezoning: 0.23 acres; no public opposition; Planning & Zoning vote 5‑0.
  • Votes recorded: All roll‑call votes 6‑0; item RS-25-175 withdrawn before consent agenda approval.
  • Meeting duration: Approximately 4.5 hours (3:00 PM to after 7:00 PM based on transcript times).

Note

  • The agenda listed a work session to discuss items 2‑16 before the regular session; the transcript shows the work session discussion was folded into the regular session consent agenda and individual presentations. The citizen comment occurred after the work session and before the regular session adjourned. No formal minutes were provided.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you all for coming. Um the request to speak form Madam uh City Attorney uh before I call the meeting to order, we have a request form with a name, and this person is not in the here at all. And I called their name. Uh would you please look into the legality so that just falsifying people name on our city uh documentation, please? Thank you. All right, with that being said, I would like to call the meeting to order. Let the record show that council member cop is not present. We will now have the invitation invocation by Councilman Solomon, and we will have the pledge of allegiance uh by Mayor Nash Kane. Would you all please stand? Most precious father, we want to thank you for this day. This is the day you made. We thank you for this meeting. We ask for your wisdom. We ask for your guidance as we would take on the city business. We thank you for every citizen that's in clean. We thank you for our soldiers. We ask you to protect them. Guard them and guide them. In your money name we do pray. Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Please join with me in honoring our nation's flag. I pleaded. And to the republic for which it stands one nation under God in the liberty and justice for all. Thank you all. Thank you, Councilman Solomon. Can I get a motion to approve the agenda? Mayor Pro Tem. Mayor Motion be approved to present the Genesis Predic. Councilman Alvarez. Mayor, I second that motion. All in favor, yes. All opposed, no. Motion carries six to zero. I forgot that I would like to go back, madam city uh attorney. We have an exception for our approval of agenda for item number IS twenty-five-175. And the council have already uh approved it, but that item was left off of the uh approval of the agenda with the exception of RIS-25-175. I would like to redo that motion because that item was not taken off of the agenda. Okay, the the motion to approve the agenda. I'm sorry. What I since I mean if you want to open up that emotion again, um you can do so. It's uh it's on the agenda though, so you could um when you're going to approve the consent agenda, approve it without that item because it was withdrawn. Thank you kindly. With that being said, we will have a presentation with Hill Country Transit District Update. PR 25-023. Good afternoon, Mayor. Good afternoon, sir. How are you? Distinguished members of the City Council.

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