Amarillo City Council is set to meet on Tuesday at 1:00 pm to discuss multiple items, including board appointments, tax increment reinvestment zones, issuing certificates of obligation, applying for grants for bullet-resistant shields, and just under $9.5 million in spending items. The council will also conduct an executive session regarding the Civic Center funding lawsuit.

The council will discuss appointments to numerous city boards, a process expected to take a large chunk of the meeting, though that item is the last on the agenda aside from the executive session.

The council will consider two items related to Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones, also known as “TIRZ.” The first of the two items would add a 20 year extension to the downtown TIRZ Number One, which is currently set to expire in 2036. The second would create a new 1,046 acre zone near Loop 335 and Interstate 27. The city hopes the new zone, which is planned to last for 20 years, will also feature participation by Amarillo College and Randall County. The city projects $5.7 million in tax deferments.

Also on the agenda is approval of publication of notification to issue $12 million worth of certificates of obligation for parks and landfill facilities.

The council will also consider applying for a state grant for $196,860 to purchase 50 bullet resistant shields for police officers.

As for spending items, the largest on the agenda is $8,661,800 for construction of a new transit multimodal terminal at 6th & Bowie. The award is set to go to Tri-State General Contractors. According to the agenda packet, Plains Builders also submitted a bid. Based on an evaluation of the bids, Plains Builders had a better ranked bid but was disqualified for the following reasons:

“Buy America Form Not submitted with bid & Lobbying Restrictions not submitted with bid submittal, therefore bid is non-responsive.”

The agenda packet notes that the funding “is provided through a combination of federal grants and local match requirements,” though the local match amount was not given on the packet.

There are just over $800,000 worth of other spending items on the agenda, as detailed in our chart at the end of the article.

At the end of the meeting, the council will convene in a closed door executive session to discuss the Civic Center funding lawsuit. Last month, Judge William Sowder ruled that the city broke the law when attempting to issue anticipation tax notes to fund civic center improvements. The city responded last week by asking Judge Sowder to “modify, correct or reform” the judgment.

To view the full meeting agenda packet, click on the button below. You can sign up to speak at the meeting at this link.