During their upcoming meeting on Tuesday, May 28th, Amarillo City Council is set to consider spending items totaling over $8.8 million.

Item 8R is by far the largest spending item on the agenda, clocking in at $4,967,536. The item is an expansion to the scope of work for the new City Hall project with Western Builders. According to a memo provided by the city, “the project consists of installing drainage infrastructure from City Hall to the north side of 3rd Avenue along Grant Street and will involve significant earthwork and concrete paving, aimed at improving drainage and aesthetics which should help enhance future redevelopment opportunities in the immediate area.”

Item 8R isn’t the only expansion to a current downtown construction project with Western Builders. Item 8Q is a $118,036.01 expansion of the MPEV improvements contract. Elmore Sports Group is set to contribute $59,018 to this, one cent less than the city’s portion.

The next largest item on the agenda is 8H, a $1.5 million expansion of the airport engineering contract with RS&H, Inc. “This change is necessitated by the need to do numerous unforeseen projects over the last four and a half years of this contract,” according to the city. This will be 90% funded by FAA grants.

Most of the spending items on the agenda, including all of the above-mentioned items, are on the consent portion of the agenda, meaning they may be approved together with a single vote by the council.

The only spending item set to receive a separate discussion and vote is item 9E, a $90,000 development agreement grant with Big Texan Steak Ranch/Galaxy Catering, Inc. for the Route 66 Bug Ranch project at Sunrise Drive and Interstate 40. The grant will be funded through TIRZ #2 revenues. In addition to this developer agreement, the council will also consider a change to the city zoning ordinance to separate outdoor art galleries from the indoor art gallery use type in a separate item.

Other notable items on the agenda include appointments to the city’s Library and Animal Welfare & Management advisory boards and discussion and possible action on two potential abortion restriction ordinances.

The meeting will begin at 3:00 pm on Tuesday, May 28th, and will be held on the third floor of Amarillo City Hall. Ahead of the meeting, at 2:00 pm, the council will meet in a closed-door executive session to “discuss the purchase, exchange, lease, sale, or value” of “Property located in the Downtown Central Business District.” The full agenda and agenda packet for the regular meeting can be found at this link. Below is a table summarizing all spending items on the agenda.