North Richland Hills City Council Meeting – September 8, 2025

The North Richland Hills City Council met in work session at 5:30 p.m. and in regular session on September 8, 2025, at City Hall. The work session included a short-term rental scheduling discussion, an e-bike safety presentation, and the city manager report. After executive session and related board meetings, the regular meeting was called to order at 7:17 p.m. and adjourned at 9:56 p.m. Council approved the consent agenda, FY 2026 budget, tax rate, drone/heliport use revisions, construction awards, an appointment, and an Atmos settlement by 7-0 votes.

Work Session and Presentations

• Mayor Jack McCarty said he intended to continue the short-term rental public hearing; no council member objected. City Manager Paulette Hartman recommended continuing it to the October 13, 2025, City Council meeting at 7:00 p.m. and postponing companion ordinances D.1 and D.2. City Attorney Bradley Anderle confirmed that homeowners associations have clear authority to ban or limit short-term rentals under their governing documents; a council member noted the Thornbridge HOA documents ban them.
• Police Chief Jeff Garner and Parks and Recreation Director Adrien Pekurney presented the ongoing E-Bike safety public education campaign. The presentation covered Class 1, 2, and 3 e-bikes; the 12 mph trail speed limit and 10 mph park speed limit; and the legal difference between e-bikes and e-motorcycles. E-motorcycles have no pedals, require a license, registration, and insurance, and cannot be ridden on sidewalks, trails, or bike lanes. The city has used social media, an educational video, newsletters, a website page, and planned high-school sessions with Birdville. Council discussed trail signage, announcing passes, retailer partnerships, and different speed limits in nearby cities.
• City Manager Hartman reported that fleet and permits efficiency audit benchmark results are expected within about two weeks, with final reports at the October 27 work session; the IT efficiency study is underway. She highlighted upcoming events: the TML Region VIII meeting, a September 11 remembrance ceremony at 7:30 a.m., and the Fall at the Hall kickoff on September 27. The Capital Programs Advisory Committee will meet September 16 and tour Fire Stations 1, 2, and 3 to discuss reconstruction needs and possible library expansion.

Consent Calendar

• Approved 7-0 on a motion by Council Member Mitchell, seconded by Council Member Rodriguez: the August 25, 2025 meeting minutes; Resolution 2025-037 supporting Epic Real Estate Partners' TCEQ Municipal Setting Designation application for 200, 300, and 316 Grapevine Highway, Hurst; Resolution 2025-038 approving the Certified Tax Roll for Tax Year 2025; RFP 25-027 award to Meeder Public Funds, Inc. for discretionary investment management and consulting, not to exceed $100,000 for the initial two-year term with two optional one-year renewals; an emergency payment of $10,874.01 to Stewart and Stevenson for Fire Department Unit 9003; and payment to Bound Tree Medical, LLC not to exceed $228,998 through December 31, 2025.

Public Comments and Testimony

• No speakers signed up for the regular public comments portion.
• During Citizens Presentation, Pete Peters, 118 Business 820, Bedford, Pennsylvania, said runoff from Riata Park Apartments had threatened or flooded his mother's home at 7700 Terry Drive six times since April 2025. He asked the city to re-examine drainage and said he had video of the runoff. Staff and an engineer were directed to follow up with him.

Public Hearings

C.1 and C.2 - Heliport and Drone Service Revisions

• Council heard the two related applications together but voted separately. The requests from Kimley-Horn and Associates, on behalf of Walmart and Wing Aviation, would add autoloader equipment for the existing drone delivery service at 6401 NE Loop 820, a 25.09-acre site, and 9101 North Tarrant Parkway, a 24.65-acre site. The autoloader is a stand roughly within one parking space where a store associate hangs a package for the drone to pick up without landing. Wing representative Josh Bucci said the current drone package capacity is about 3 pounds. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval 7-0 on August 21. No public speakers appeared. Ordinance 3920 and Ordinance 3921 were each approved 7-0.

C.3 and Companion Items - Short-Term Rental Regulations

• The public hearing on Ordinance 3922 was continued to the October 13, 2025, City Council meeting at 7:00 p.m. by a 7-0 motion. Companion items D.1, Ordinance 3925, adopting short-term rental regulations, and D.2, Ordinance 3926, adding registration fees, were postponed to the same date.
• Planning Director Cori Reaume presented the draft regulations, including annual registration, a local point of contact, a maximum of four parked vehicles per site with no on-street parking, occupancy of two per bedroom plus one capped at 12, recordkeeping for hotel occupancy tax, a required inside informational bulletin, inspections, and permit revocation after three violations in one year or five in 24 months. The zoning proposal would prohibit short-term rentals in traditional single-family districts, permit them in R-7 multifamily, some commercial districts, town center core, and potentially transit-oriented development zones. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended removing town center neighborhood center and removing the 50-unit minimum and owner-only requirement for multifamily.
• Most speakers opposed the ordinance as drafted or opposed banning short-term rentals in single-family neighborhoods. Their arguments included that responsible hosts should not be punished for a few bad operators; that regulations should focus on noise, trash, parking, and behavior rather than occupancy caps; that short-term rentals help families pay mortgages and support local businesses; that the $500 fee is high relative to other DFW cities; that street parking restrictions are difficult to enforce and unfair; and that the city had promised more operator input. Several speakers supported the proposed regulations, including neighbors who described problem properties and a resident who cited crime research and a Fort Worth-area court case upholding Arlington's restrictions. Non-speaking support was recorded from Victor Baxter, David Dodson, Janice Owens, and Ann Johnston. The minutes categorize some speakers as support or opposition in ways that do not always match the transcript; for example, Eliot Salazar is listed as support even though his remarks criticized the restrictions as unfair.

C.4 - Fiscal Year 2026 Operating and Capital Budget

• Director of Budget and Research Chase Fosse presented the proposed budget. Staff noted a scrivener's error on the agenda: the ordinance number should be 3923, not 2923. No additional public comments had been received since the first budget hearing. The city held two public hearings, three budget roadshows, and a flash-vote survey with 481 responses; budget posts reached over 16,000 people.
• The proposed budget used a tax rate slightly above the prior adopted rate but below both the no-new-revenue rate and the voter-approval rate. It included $4 million for preventive street maintenance, five new public safety positions, two new efficiency studies, AI-powered customer service chatbots, and water and sewer pass-through increases totaling $4.90 for the average residential customer. New capital investments totaled about $18 million, added to over $133 million in previously approved projects, including $3.85 million in drainage improvements.
• Council adopted Ordinance 3923 approving the FY 2026 operating and capital budget by 7-0, and separately ratified the increased property tax revenues reflected in the adopted budget by 7-0.

C.5 - Tax Year 2025 Tax Rate

• Fosse presented the proposed tax rate. No public comments were submitted. The total net taxable value for tax year 2025 is $9,269,019,819, including about $622 million from appreciation and $102 million from new construction. The city offers the state maximum 20% homestead exemption, saving the average NRH homeowner $358.66, plus a $36,000 senior exemption and tax ceiling; 29.9% of residential accounts have a senior tax ceiling.
• Council took three separate votes, each 7-0: the maintenance and operations rate of 34.6946 cents per $100, the interest and sinking rate of 15.0895 cents per $100, and the total rate of 49.7841 cents per $100, adopting Ordinance 3924.

Public Works and Construction Awards

• RFB 25-024: Awarded to DDM Construction Corporation for the North Richland Boulevard Project from Holiday Lane to Davis Boulevard, in the amount of $4,208,041.50, including Alternate 1 to reconstruct all existing sidewalks. Staff recommended against the sewer pipe-bursting and lime-stabilized subgrade alternates. The contract has a 470-calendar-day duration. Approved 7-0.
• RFB 25-022: Awarded to Pavecon Public Works LP for the Preventive Street Maintenance Asphalt Overlay Program, in the amount of $2,051,900. Pavecon had completed 35 of 78 scheduled street segments on the prior program. Funding comes from existing capital projects with no new debt. Approved 7-0.
• RFB 25-025: Awarded to Taknek LLC for installation of the Conn Pump Station Permanent Generator, in the amount of $672,000, including site work, electrical work, testing, and commissioning. Approved 7-0.

General Items

• Resolution 2025-039 appointed Caroline Martin to the Substandard Building Board, Place 4, with a term ending June 30, 2026. Approved 7-0.
• Ordinance 3927 approved the negotiated settlement between the Atmos Cities Steering Committee and Atmos Energy Corp., Mid-Tex division, on the company's 2025 rate review mechanism filing. Atmos requested $245.2 million; steering committee consultants initially recommended $185.6 million; the settlement provides $205.6 million in additional revenues. The average residential bill impact is projected at $7.83 per month, about 9 percent, for bills rendered after October 1, 2025. The city's estimated budget impact is $25,000 to $30,000. Approved 7-0.

Executive Session

• The council entered executive session at 6:08 p.m. and returned at 6:55 p.m. under Texas Government Code Section 551.071 to consult with the city attorney about pending litigation, including cases involving Manuel Financial No. 2 LLC, Manuel Oldsmobile Inc., Jessie Goodfellow, and short-term rental regulations. No action was taken as a result.

Related Board Meetings

• Immediately before the regular meeting, the council convened as the Parks and Recreation Facilities Development Corporation and the Crime Control and Prevention District boards. Both held public hearings and approved their proposed FY 2026 budgets. The parks budget presentation totaled approximately $12.94 million, although the transcript figures are garbled; the crime control district budget was $9,292,976.

Key Outcomes

• Consent agenda approved 7-0.
• Ordinance 3920 and Ordinance 3921 approved 7-0.
• Short-term rental public hearing continued and companion items postponed to October 13, 2025, at 7:00 p.m.
• FY 2026 budget adopted 7-0; property tax revenue increase ratified 7-0.
• Tax rate of 49.7841 cents per $100 adopted 7-0.
• RFB 25-024 awarded for $4,208,041.50; RFB 25-022 awarded for $2,051,900; RFB 25-025 awarded for $672,000.
• Resolution 2025-039 and Ordinance 3927 approved 7-0.
• Next steps: staff will review short-term rental comments and return with revised information on October 13; construction contractors will proceed with contract execution and public notifications.