July 8, 2019 Newsletter

Home ============ July 15, 2019 ============ July 8, 2019 ============ July 1, 2019 ============ June 24, 2019 =========== VIA - by the numbers ============ CityCouncil Grades ============ Jeff Williams, =====Mayor===== Helen Moise, ===District1=== Sheri Capehart, ===District2=== Marvin Sutton, ===District3=== Andrew Piel, ===District4=== Ignacio Nunez, ===District5=== Robert Shepard, ===District6=== Victoria Farrar-Myers, ===District7==== Barbara Odom-Wesley, ===District8=== Kennedale Knowledge ============

Dog Days of Summer Have Arrived

The dog days of summer have arrived. This week we will see highs in the upper 90s and little or no chance of rain. Blah.

THERE WILL BE NO NEWSLETTERS ON JULY 22 & JULY 29. OUR STAFF WILL BE ON VACATION.

Arlington is a city where citizens are relegated to being spectators rather than players. The SPECTATOR helps citizens know what is happening on the field. Only the few on the in-house team are allowed to play ball in Arlington. The SPECTATOR helps citizens understand the game.

July 8, 2019 – Volume 12 Number 27

GAME SCHEDULE:

Wednesday, July 10: P&Z Meeting, 101 W. Abram Street, 5:30pm.

Saturday, July 13: AMAC Chapter Meeting, Tate Springs Baptist Church, 4245 Tate Springs Road, 9:00am. [Association of Mature American Citizens] Guest Speaker: a representative of Ron Wright's staff.

Thursday, August 6: City Council Meetings, 101 W. Abram Street, times TBA.

Thursday, August 8: AISD School Board Meeting, AISD Administration Building, 1203 W. Pioneer Parkway, 7:00pm.

The Arlngton Spectator can now be found on Facebook.

From THE LOCKER ROOM

Arlington City Council Update

The Arlington City Council is on their summer break. The next scheduled meeting is Tuesday, August 6. At that meeting there will probably be a public hearing for 1201 E. Division where the AISD is trying to obtain approval for the first ever RMU (Regional Mixed Use) zoning. RMU zoning allows up to 100 apartments per acre.

P&Z Commission

The next P&Z meeting will be Wednesday, July 10. There were to be two public hearings on the agenda.

The applicant of the first public hearing has asked for the case to be heard on August 21. It is for a special use permit for a drive-thru for the southeast corner of E. Sublett Road and New York Avenue.

The other public hearing is for the Provident at Debbie Lane Apartments, 8150 S. Watson Road. It was continued from May. The applicant wishes to convert general commercial to a PD, including 331 apartments.

[The staff report: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/390957/PD19-4_Provident_at_Debbie_Staff_Report_P_Z_GT_edits.pdf].

The next P&Z meeting after this Wednesday's meeting will be August 7.

AISD Update

The next scheduled AISD Board Meeting will be on Thursday, August 8.

Press Box

Fielder Road I-30 Bridge

A portion of the Fielder Road Bridge over I-30 will be closed for repair at least through August.

[https://www.arlingtontx.gov/news/my_arlington_t_x/news_stories/fielder_road_bridge_update].

VIA by the Numbers

On December 11, the VIA pilot program began its second year. The City Council approved the second year of the pilot program [for $2.1 million] on December 4.

[http://arlspectator.mysite.com/rich_text_22.html].

When the pilot began, the staff report stated it expected to reach I-20 within four to six months of the pilot’s initiation. That did not happen until September 20, more than nine months after the pilot began. The project has been a disaster and a major waste of taxpayers' dollars.

Even with its newly expanded area, it only covers about 25%-30% of the city, meaning most of the taxpayers have to pay for VIA, but receive no benefit from it. All those taxpayers are paying for something that competes against the private sector Lyft and Uber services.

THERE WILL BE NO NEWSLETTERS ON JULY 22 & JULY 29. OUR STAFF WILL BE ON VACATION.

HELPFUL CONTACTS

The Spectator . ...ArlSpectator@yahoo.com

www.ArlSpectator.mysite.com

The Arlington Voice (online newspaper covering Arlington) www.arlingtonvoice.com

City of Arlington website www.arlingtontx.gov

e-mails of mayor and council

.............................. first.last@arlingtontx.gov

mayor = jeff.williams

district 1 (north) = helen.moise

district 2 (sw) = sheri.capehart

district 3 (se) = marvin.sutton