Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
The City Council of North Richland Hills, Texas, convened for a work session at 5:00 PM and a regular meeting at 7:00 PM on January 12, 2026. The work session covered discussions on the adoption of 2024 ICC International Building Codes and 2025 Resident Survey results, and included updates from the City Manager on Short-Term Rental registrations and facility efficiency studies. The regular meeting included special recognitions, public hearings on zoning and development standards, approvals of consent agenda items, an eminent domain authorization for a drainage improvement project, and the appointment of an ad-hoc committee to draft an ethics ordinance.
Note on Date Discrepancy: The agenda, work session minutes, and transcript consistently record the meeting date as January 12, 2026. A single line in the regular meeting section of the official minutes draft erroneously states the date as January 12, 2025. The summary above uses the correct date of January 12, 2026, as confirmed by the provided agenda and transcript.
Thank you, Russ. Good evening, welcome to the North Hill City Council meeting at seven o'clock, and I will call the January 12, 2026 City Council meeting or Cormace City Council is present. The meeting has been duly hosted in accordance with Texas meeting back of the Texas government code. Go to the first two items, hang one and eight two for the invitation of the pledge. Councilmember Getz will lead us, and I invite you to join us in prayer as well as the pledge to the United States and Texas flags as you choose. Dear God, thank you for the opportunity to start a new year here in North Richland Hills. We come to you with an appreciation of yours past, looking forward to the future. May your grace remain present over us and our community, including our residents, first responders, staff, and loved ones as we begin our journey into 2026. Help us to know and follow your will. Let your light guide our path as we humbly work together for the betterment of our city. Thank you for your mercy and love in Jesus' name. Amen. I Brienne Getz. Do you solemnly swear? Do you solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute? The duties of the office of North Richard Hills City Council of Place Two. Of the state of Texas. And we'll say the best of my ability. And the young man in the red here is my son, Derek, who's 14. And then my mother, Kimberly, Arnes, and my stepfather, John Arnes. Did I miss any other relatives? That's everyone. All right. Thank you, everyone, for coming out. Yeah, thank you. Moving right on. We're going to call on the key NRH Beautiful Commission chair, Kathy Lippy. Present the next item. Thank you, Mayor and Council, for the opportunity to present the 2025 Christmas lighting awards. As members of the Keep North Risten Hills Beautiful Commission, we get to do participate in lots of fun activities during the year. We get to work with children during the school year and in the summer to teach them about recycling and making uh crafts out of natural uh items. We uh attend and sponsor gardening seminars through the year, uh all kinds of things from uh butterfly gardens to uh native plants to how to plant trees and build rain barrels. But I think we can all agree that the most fun we have is when we all pile in the city van with Kristen driving um night in December and judge the Christmas lights. We drive from one end of the city to the other. And if you didn't know, I think it's seven miles from one end of the city to the other. Our city is divided into nine areas, and so we choose a winner from each area of the city to award uh the award. Um we received about 40 nominations this year, and we drove by all of those houses. Um on December the 14th, and we didn't get it all done in one night. Usually uh we quit at 10 o'clock last year.