Amarillo City Hall/Photo by Noah Dawson
Amarillo City Council is set to meet on Tuesday, June 13th, to discuss various items including $1.9 million in spending items.
The largest of these items is item 7K, which considers the purchase of 13 1/2 ton pickups to replace existing fleet vehicles. The item comes with a price tag of $499,638.50 and is set to be awarded to Rockdale Country Ford.
The council is also set to consider two agreements for temporary staffing services to help with the response to the ongoing flood disaster. The two awards are set to go to Angel Staffing, Inc. and Express Employment. The contracts are worth up to $80,000 and $45,000 respectively. According to the agenda packet for the meeting, the city will seek reimbursement from FEMA to pay for these contracts if approved.
One other notable spending item is 7L, which considers the purchase of 2,000 polycarts for solid waste removal. The city’s trash cart system has been controversial since its inception. Shortly after the program’s implementation in January 2019, concerns continued to rise as the carts, which were advertised as “designed to withstand the elements,” were frequently blown into streets. According to the agenda packet, the new polycarts will “allow for the creation of a new polycart route in certain neighborhoods which are currently serviced by hand collection.” We reached out to Councilman Place 3 Tom Scherlen, who told us that the affected neighborhoods are Tradewinds and The Shores in subdivisions without alleyways. The item comes with a $118,700 price tag and is set to be awarded to Rehrig Pacific Company.
All spending items on the agenda are included on the consent agenda, meaning the council may choose to approve all items with a single vote. A summary of all spending items is included at the end of this article.
One item on the agenda set to generate revenue is item 7Q, which is consideration of the sale of $65,000 in copper scrap wire to Amarillo Metals Company. According to the agenda packet, the wire being sold “has been tested and has been found to be unfit for use” and “was previously used to provide electrical power to potable water wells.” There were three responses to the bid for the sale, though the other bidders were not named in the packet.
During the meeting, the council is also set to discuss the ongoing new City Hall project and the state of the city’s vehicle fleet, and will meet in an executive session to discuss the ongoing appeal of the civic center lawsuit.
The meeting will be held at 3:00 pm at Amarillo City Hall. More information about the meeting can be found at the city’s website here. To sign up to speak, click here.
Graphic by Noah Dawson