Amarillo City Hall | Photo by Noah Dawson
Amarillo City Council is set to meet for what will likely be the last time before the May 6th election. During the meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday, April 25th, the council will consider $13.7 million in spending items, the sale of land by the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation, approval of revisions and updates to the cooperative agreement for the Amarillo Area Public Health District, approval of use of American Rescue Plan Act funds, appointment of members and a chair for the South Gateway TIRZ 3 board, and several other items.
Spending Items
Of the $13.7 million in spending items, just under $9 million worth of spending items are on the consent portion of the agenda, meaning the council is not expected to have a separate discussion on any of those items. Of these items, three items (6F, 6H, and 6K) are worth over $1 million. Item 6K, which would authorize a $1,089,460 contract with Rockdale Country Ford for the purchase of 21 police patrol vehicles. Item 6F would authorize a $1,317,343 purchase of a ladder-style fire truck from Lone Star Emergency Group. The largest item on the consent agenda, item 6H, is a $4,182,433.10 contract with Hammett Excavation, Inc. for the completion of the construction of Cell 10 at the City of Amarillo landfill.
Two other major items on the consent portion of the agenda are 6L and 6M, which would award contracts to Carpet Tech and ServiceMaster for emergency repairs and water mitigation services at the Globe News Center. The two contracts combined are worth $942,271.46.
The two spending items not included on the consent portion of the agenda are items 7H and 7I. Item 7H would authorize a $200,576 contract with Rubicon Global, LLC for software related to city dumpster service. Item 7I, the most expensive item on the ballot, would be a $4,570,000 contract with Plains Builders, Inc. for the Polk Streetscape Improvement project construction services.
A full summary of spending items is included at the end of this article.
Other items
Discussion item 5B relates to “a potential violation” of the City Council Member Code of Conduct by a member of the council. The agenda does not specify which member of the council the item is referring to or what conduct allegedly violated the policy. Read our full story on this item here.
Item 6O would approve the sale of approximately 21 acres of land off of Carport Boulevard just northeast of the intersection of Lakeside Drive and Amarillo Boulevard. The property will be sold to BHD Development Land, LLC for $820,000 plus closing costs.
Items 7A and 7B relate to proposed changes to the Amarillo Area Public Health District Cooperative Agreement. Item 7A is the approval of the amended agreement, while item 7B is the approval of an ordinance to update the municipal code to reflect the amended agreement.
Item 7C is the approval of the amended project plan for ARPA funding.
Item 7D would allow city staff to waive parks and recreation fees for recognized neighborhood associations to provide free outdoor programs/events for the community. The city would allow the associations to apply the waiver for three events per year, and the events would “need to provide free, outdoor programs in underserved, economically-disadvantaged areas.”
Item 7I is for the appoint the city’s 3 members to the South Gateway Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Board of Directors, located near Interstate 27 and Loop 335. Item 7J is to appoint a chair of the board.
Item 7G is for the approval of the lease agreement and memorandum of understanding between the City of Amarillo and Transformation Park. (Drafts of the lease agreement and memorandum of understanding were not included in the agenda packet.)
Meeting Information
The meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, April 25th, on the third floor of Amarillo City Hall at 1:00 pm. Those interested in speaking at the meeting may sign up on the city website starting Sunday at 8:00 am and ending on Tuesday at 12:45 pm. The full agenda and agenda packet may be downloaded by clicking here.
While this meeting is expected to be the last meeting of the council before the May 6th election, the current council is expected to meet at least two more times following the election. A regular meeting of the council is scheduled for Tuesday, May 9th, while a special meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 16th. The May 16th meeting is expected to feature the official canvassing of the results of the May 6th election. Winning candidates will then be sworn in.
