Photo by Noah Dawson
Amarillo City Council met today in their first regular meeting since last month. On the agenda was nearly $4 million in spending items, approval of various Public Improvement District budgets, approval of a purchase of land near Rick Husband International Airport by the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation, and more.
In addition to items on the agenda, the council voted to approve the city’s taxpayer funded lobbying priorities in a split vote, with Councilman Cole Stanley being the sole vote against approving the priorities. The council’s approval of the item was contentious in part due to the fact that the item was not on the agenda, with an item related to recommending policies for the Texas Municipal League legislative priorities being erroneously on the agenda instead. Read our full story about that vote here.
The taxpayer funded lobbying issue was not the only item objected to by Councilman Cole Stanley during today’s meeting.
Stanley also voted against an item awarding Howell Sand Co. $116,003.000 to demolish “railroad tracts ties and paving […] to allow for utility updates for the remodel of the new City Hall.” Stanley cited his opposition to the controversial City Hall project as the reason for his vote against the item. Many in the community have expressed concern that the project is similar in nature to a portion of the failed 2020 Prop A Civic Center project, which included construction of a park where the current City Hall is.
One other item Stanley voted against was the purchase of properties on Grant Street downtown from Burgess Trust No. 2 in the amount of $1.3 million. According to the Potter-Randall Appraisal District (PRAD), the appraised market value of the properties is $334,310.00. City Manager Jared Miller noted that PRAD appraisals tend to be lower than actual market prices of property. However, Assistant City Manager Andrew Freeman noted that the property had had a separate appraisal putting the price at $1.1 million in April of this year, which is still below the city’s asking price of $1.3 million.
Stanley noted he had objections to the project stating “this is not something that I would be encouraged to do, just because of the price per square foot for the land.”
Part of Stanley’s objection also seemed to be rooted in a concern about the city competing with another party interested in purchasing the property.
Ginger Nelson explained her support for the item related to her support for the Civic Center expansion, stating “the Civic Center needs more storage.”
All other items on the agenda were passed unanimously. To read more about the spending items on the agenda, read our story here. The council closed the meeting to convene in a closed executive session at about 4:45 pm. As of publishing at about 7:10 pm, the livestream for the meeting was still up on the city’s website, displaying a silent test pattern, hinting that the executive session is still in progress.