Killeen City Council Regular Meeting - March 24, 2026
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Killeen City Council Regular Meeting - March 24, 2026
The Killeen City Council convened on Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at 3:00 PM in Council Chambers at City Hall. All four council members were present. The meeting included presentations, a consent agenda, four public hearings, discussion items, citizen comments, and an executive session. Key actions included approval of the annual audit, contracts, zoning changes, and several policy directions.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of the February 17, 2026 meeting.
- Accepted the annual audit report for FY ending September 30, 2025, which received an unmodified (clean) opinion with no significant deficiencies or noncompliance.
- Awarded RFP#26-17 (Killeen Convention & Visitors Bureau Junetober Fest) to SBG Hospitality for $75,000 annually.
- Adopted the Killeen Public Library Five-Year Strategic Plan 2026-2030.
- Dissolved the Downtown Advisory Committee and created a Main Street Board with seven members (three citizens, four from specified organizations).
- Appointed presiding and alternate judges for the May 2, 2026 General and Special Elections.
- Appointed Councilmember Jessica Gonzalez to the Killeen Economic Development Corporation for a partial term.
- Declared Charles "Chuck" Kimball as unopposed candidate for District 2 and canceled the May 2, 2026 Special Election. All consent items passed unanimously (4-0).
Public Hearings
Four city-initiated rezoning requests were approved to bring legally non-conforming residential properties into compliance:
- Z26-01: Six properties on Wood Avenue rezoned from B-5 to R-2.
- Z26-02: 1011 Rocky Lane rezoned from B-5 to R-1.
- Z26-03: Six properties on West Jasper Drive rezoned from B-3 to R-2.
- Z26-04: Six properties on Leader and Mona Drives rezoned from B-3 to R-1. No public comments were received; all passed 4-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- David Bass urged the council to allow citizens to speak on any issue during citizen comments, not just agenda items, citing unresponsive council members.
- Michael Fanino raised allegations that the city manager may not reside within city limits and criticized performance. He also suggested moving meetings to 5:00-5:30 PM for better accessibility.
- James Seals accused the city manager and city engineer of misleading statements regarding road projects (Federal Line, Llewellyn Road) and erroneous MS4 reports to TCEQ about septic tanks.
- Melissa Brown requested earlier public access to audit reports before council votes, questioned co-naming only for Shoemaker High School, criticized the meeting time (3:00 PM), and called for reinstating citizen comments on non-agenda items and Zoom participation.
- Heather McMillan supported allowing Zoom comments, spoke about the lack of agenda items on septic tanks (citing $20 million reportedly spent), and opposed holding workshops and votes on the same day.
Discussion Items
- Inclusive Programming (DS-26-022): Parks and Recreation presented a comprehensive plan for adaptive recreation, including an adaptive aquatics program, a new coordinator position, inclusive proms, community walks, and a long-term goal of a regional inclusive park. Council directed staff to continue development and bring back a plan with funding options for an inclusive playground and Miracle Field (motion passed 4-0).
- Excess Fund Balance (DS-26-023): Council approved use of $3,297,571 in general fund excess for various allocations: $1.4M to Capital Projects, $600K for downtown solar street lights, $150K for municipal court security, $200K for additional KEDC abatements, $155K for senior center roof repair, and $50K to evaluate city services (motion passed 4-0).
- Bond Refunding (DS-26-024): Staff presented an opportunity to refund $28.5M in existing bonds, saving $1.2M over time (net present value savings of $1,029,871 or 3.6%). Council approved proceeding with Option 2 (delegation ordinance for pricing flexibility) (4-0).
- Co-Naming Elms Road (DS-26-025): Council approved co-naming a segment of Elms Road (Clear Creek Road to Robinett Road) as "Grey Wolves Trail" in honor of Shoemaker High School's mascot. After debate, the motion was amended to stipulate private funding for the estimated $1,618 cost (passed 4-0). Discussion included potential future co-namings for other high schools.
- Meeting Agenda Format (DS-26-026): Council tabled this item to allow review and readoption of governing standards during the June new council session (motion to table passed 4-0).
- BASIC Act Letter of Support (DS-26-027): Council authorized the mayor to sign a letter supporting the BASIC Act (Bridges, Access, Infrastructure, and Safety for Communities), a federal bill that would increase local funding for transportation projects (passed 4-0).
- Housing Affordability and Tiny Homes/ADUs (RQ-26-002): Council directed staff to research and bring back an item on allowing tiny homes and accessory dwelling units to address affordability, potentially linked to the North Killeen Revitalization Program. The item is to be returned at the April 2026 council meeting (motion passed 4-0).
Key Outcomes
- All consent agenda items and public hearings were approved 4-0.
- Council directed staff to continue developing inclusive recreation programs and funding plans.
- Approved a $3.3 million allocation of excess fund balance to various capital and operational needs.
- Authorized bond refunding to achieve $1.2 million in savings.
- Approved co-naming of Elms Road to Grey Wolves Trail contingent on private funding.
- Tabled agenda format review to June 2026.
- Authorized letter of support for the BASIC Act.
- Directed staff to explore tiny home/ADU zoning changes and bring a proposal to the April 2026 meeting.
- Executive session held from 5:42 PM to 6:43 PM for the city manager quarterly review; no action reported.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. I'm gonna call today's meetings to order. Um time is now three PM. All council members are present. I will remind everyone to please place your phones on silent, and if you have to take a call, please step outside so the meeting is not disrupted. Um we're gonna proceed with the invocation. Uh instead of an actual prayer, we'll ask you that you stand and have a moment of silence reflecting on how good things are, and and also keep in mind pray for those that who are not able to be here to pray for themselves and pray for wisdom um provide exists within all our decisions tonight. Thank you. We'll now have the uh pledge of allegiance laid by the mayor for two. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Uh Council, you have the agenda before you and it's already been posted. Councilmember Solomon. Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor make a motion that we approve the agenda. Councilmember Gonzalez. I second. It's been moved by Councilmember Solomon second by Councilmember Gonzalez to approve the agenda. All in favor, please know yes, all opposed, no. Presentations. PR two six zero zero seven award of insurance services organization classification plaque to the city of Kaleen. As everyone knows that uh Colleen has about a few weeks ago, City of Kleen was recognized as having an ISO one rating, which is the number one rating that uh any city can have based off the performance of our fire department, our war department, and public works. Uh so now we're gonna be presenting some uh awards to those that were involved in the process. She shared especially that it's it's easier to achieve the first time, it's much harder to maintain your ISO one classification as they reevaluate the cities every five years. Uh so that was quite an honor. Uh she also shared that we are one of only one hundred and three cities in the state of Texas out of over three thousand fire departments in the state of Texas. So that is a distinct honor, and it is in no small part to the team Colleen and the team aspect of what this has done. She was very quick to point out that it's not typically the fire department is the one who um takes on all of the recognition for it. They put the ISO one stickers on their engines and fire trucks, and it's a very large sense of pride. But she pointed out very clearly that we are only 50% of the solution. The other 50% comes from our communication center, the Bell County Communications Center. And she said that if we can't get to the cause, we can't have an ISO one certification, and they are definitely responsible for all of that. And our public works department, especially the water department. They're 40% responsible for the overall score. She said if you can't get water into the fire truck and can't put the fire out, it doesn't matter how quickly you get to the scene. And so those are things that resounded very much so with Mayor Adams, and he wanted to make sure to recognize all of the team that puts into this as opposed to just the one department that typically gets recognized. And so uh Mayor, I thank you for that. And with that, I'll turn the microphone over to you to present the uh ward plaques. Our first recognition is Bell County Communication. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. And everybody doesn't know this, but when you pay your cell phone bill, you help us maintain that office. Come on down. How are you, sir? Living a dream about this. Very nice. Come on in.
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