Amarillo City Hall | Photo by Noah Dawson
On the agenda for the first Amarillo City Council meeting of 2023 is $6,958,740.64 of spending items. During the meeting, which is scheduled to take place at 1:00pm on January 10th at City Hall, the council is expected to approve a majority of the spending as a part of a single vote, as just over $4 million of the proposed spending are labeled as “consent items.” The council is also set to consider authorization of drainage revenue bonds, waterworks and sewer system revenue bonds, and certificates of obligation to fund improvements to the city landfill. Other items include rezonings, the creation of Neighborhood Empowerment Zones, and an authorization for the displaying of “artifacts and national symbols of Ukraine at City facilities”
The two largest items are 2I and 3J. Item 2I, which is a part of the consent agenda, will authorize $2.7 million for the purchase of waterworks fittings from three different suppliers: Core & Main, Ferguson Enterprises, and Premier Water Works. Among these three, Ferguson Enterprises is set to receive the bulk of the funds, with its portion of the award being $2.6 million.
Item 3J, which is not on the consent agenda and will therefore receive separate consideration by the council, is a $2.1 million contract modification with J. Lee Milligan Inc. According to the city, this item $322,652.46 of the contract modification “is to address additional construction items on Western Street, Wallace Blvd, Hagy Blvd, and Port Ln.” The rest of the contract modification “will be used adjacent to the project for storm sewer repair in Terrace Drive from Cougar Drive to Mays Avenue.” J. Lee Milligan Inc has an existing contract worth $10.4 million.
A full breakdown of spending items, as well as a link to the agenda packet, is included at the end of this article.
According to the city, the rate increases for proposed bonds and certificates of obligation are already reflected in increased fee rates that went into effect on October 1st of last year as a part of the city’s budget.
Regarding item 3F, which is set to create five “Neighborhood Empowerment Zones,” the new zones created will allow for fees associated with development review to be waived, as well as property sales tax abatements “for new construction or rehabilitation projects that invest at least 20% of the PRAD improvements value into the project.” The five zones are located in North Heights, the Barrio, San Jacinto, Eastridge, and Downtown. The program, if approved will last for five years, though it may be extended beyond that point.
Item 3G will authorize “the display of artifacts and national symbols of Ukraine at City facilities.” This item comes after the approval of a sister-city relationship between the City of Amarillo and Dnipro, Ukraine during the council’s previous meeting. Some controversy over this item has occurred after a local satire page made a post fabricating a message from Mayor Nelson claiming the sister city relationship “allows our city to directly assist this war-torn city by sending our tax dollars directly to this city.” No such message has been posted to the City’s website.
One item that is not mentioned on the agenda is discussion of Alex Fairly’s successful lawsuit against the city. The city has previously included discussion of the case during executive sessions, though the item is not included as a part of the upcoming agenda’s executive session. Late last month, the city made a motion for further clarification from Judge Sowder seeking answers as to why he did not accept several arguments made by the city. Both sides are gearing up for a potential appeal to the Seventh Court of Appeals, with documents due by February 1st.
