Killeen City Council Special Meeting - December 2, 2025: Public Hearings on CDBG Amendments and CAPER
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Killeen City Council Special Meeting - December 2, 2025
The Killeen City Council held a special meeting on December 2, 2025, immediately following the regular council meeting. The meeting included approval of the agenda (6-0 vote) and two public hearings related to Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and HUD reporting requirements. No council discussion occurred on the items; the sessions focused on presentations from staff and public comments.
Consent Calendar
- Agenda Approval: Councilmember Mayor Pro Tempore moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Councilmember Mannaris. The motion carried 6-0 (Councilwoman Cobb absent).
Public Hearings
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PH-25-073 – Substantial Amendment to the 2025-2026 Annual Action Plan for CDBG Fund Reprogramming
- Staff (Ms. Macnair) presented: The amendment proposes reprogramming $1,349,445.69 from the suspended reunification center project to appliances, furniture, and IT ($349,455.69) and design/construction of a reuse water irrigation system for the community center ballpark ($1,000,000). The comment period runs December 8, 2025 – January 6, 2026, with a final public hearing on January 6, 2026.
- Public Comments:
- Melissa Brown opposed the proposal, arguing that an irrigation system was not a pre-approved HUD project, that furniture and furnishings were already contracted per Open Records, and that funds should instead be used for a homeless shelter at Station One (combining with $1M in CIP funds) or to renovate Station One as an operable fire station. She stated the city could defer reprogramming to next year.
- A second speaker questioned the total cost of the Rosa Hereford Community Center renovation, suggesting it might be cheaper to tear down and rebuild, and proposed turning Fire Station One into a fire museum.
- A third speaker criticized the city’s track record of incomplete projects (e.g., Gilmer Street), said funds should go to help residents with lead contamination, and urged focusing on finishing one job before starting another.
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PH-25-074 – Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) for Program Year 2024-2025
- Staff (Ms. Macnair) presented: HUD requires the CAPER to describe resources made available, investments, geographic distribution, families assisted, fair housing actions, etc. The city has CDBG balances of ~$1.6–1.7M (including the $1.349M from the reunification center) and HOME balance of $1.6M. The comment period runs December 8–22, 2025; staff will submit final CAPER by December 29, 2025.
- Public Comments:
- Melissa Brown raised specific questions: 276% of expected code enforcement abatements paid; only nine families helped by Tibra (less than half expected); zero non-home homeless households supported; $828,590 excess match unexplained; questioned spending on Bob Gilmore Center wing ($1.5M since 2018-2022) and reunification center (paid $101,207 in FY24-25 but center does not exist). She also criticized use of CDBG funds for code enforcement.
- Michael Fonino cautioned about the city’s damaged reputation with HUD (referencing a past arrest and federal prison time for mismanagement of funds). He urged the council to formally read public comments into the record and weigh them carefully.
Key Outcomes
- The council voted 6-0 to approve the agenda.
- No votes were taken on the substantive amendments or CAPER; the public hearings served to inform the public and open comment periods as required by HUD.
- The comment periods were formally opened: December 8, 2025 – January 6, 2026 for PH-25-073 (substantial amendment) and December 8–22, 2025 for PH-25-074 (CAPER).
- Staff will present an update on the reunification center project on January 20, 2026.
- Final action on the substantial amendment is scheduled for January 6, 2026; the CAPER will be submitted to HUD by December 29, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
All right, welcome back to December 2nd, Tuesday 2025, Special City Council meeting. Let the record show that all council members are here except Councilwoman Cobb and she was trying to zoom back in. Um can I get a motion on to approve the agenda? Councilmember Mayor Pro Town. Madam Mayor, move to approve the agenda for the special city council meeting. Councilman Mamaris. Mayor, I'll second that motion. Thank you. We will now go into our public hearing. Madam Mayor, we need to take a vote for motion phase. Yes, all opposed, no. Thank you, madam. Secretary. City Secretary. Thank you. Motion carry six to zero. Whenever you're ready, madam secretary. It's councilwoman call up on thank you, Francisco. Yes, ma'am, whenever you're ready. Yes, ma'am. PH 25073. Hold a public hearing and inform the public of a comment period from December 8th, 2025 through January 6, 2026 to receive citizen participation and comments regarding substantial amendment to the 2025 through 2026 annual action plan for the reprogram reprogramming of C DEBG funds and the amount of 1,349,445 and 69 cents. Thank you. Good evening, Mrs. McNair. Good to see you. Good to see you too. Thank you. On July 15, 2025, staff presented an update to council on the reunification center project, a city-owned emergency shelter facility. Council provided a motion of direction to suspend the project until further notice. Additional direction was given on how to proceed with preservation or reallocation of the project funding. The CIP is uh continuously at this point being held. And our community development block grant. Um we were instructed to reallocate the funds to a CDBG eligible project. As noted in that presentation, reallocation of CDBG funds requires a substantial amendment to the annual action plan. Substantial amendment occurs when there's a change in the purpose scope location of beneficiaries of the activity or project. On August 27th, CDAC recommended a second substantial amendment to the annual action plan for program year 2024 for the reprogramming of the CDBG funds in the amount of 1,349,445 and 69 cents from the reunification center to the Hertford Community Center and Senior Wing Project. On September 16th, a public hearing was held to publicize a comment period for the proposed second substantial amendment. After the public hearing, staff became aware of a potential compliance issue if the CDBG funds were to be reprogrammed to the Heifer project, compelling the withdrawal of the proposed substantial uh amendment, second substantial amendment. Public notification of the withdrawal was published on September 21st, 2025, and we also made sure that the places we were going to have the draft amendment available that it was uh there was publication there for the public if they wanted to review. Reprogramming of the funds is still necessary to maintain compliance with HUD. CDBG funds allocated to the reunification center totaled 1,399,103 and nine cents. The balance is 1,349,445 and 69 cents. Uh where the CDBG money was awarded from those different years, and then what we spent and how much remains. CDAC was convened on November 12, 2025. CDAC received a presentation from staff, which included an update on the proposed second substantial amendment for 2024. Staff requested that CDAC consider reprogramming the available CDBG funds from the reunification center to the Hertford Community Center project and the Kaleen Community Center ballpark water reuse irrigation system. CDAC was presented with the following options for reprogramming. CDAC members present voted unanimously to recommend the following funding be reprogrammed for program year 2025, and that's 349,455 and 69 cents to go towards the appliances furniture and IT as uh applicable, and then a million dollars towards the design and construction of a new reuse water supply center, um sorry, system for the community center ballpark. The comment period allows for additional input from the community synes comment period will be open from December 8th to January 6th.
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