May 25, 2020 Newsletter

Home ============ June 1, 2020 ========== May 25, 2020 ============ May 18, 2020 ============ May 11, 2020 =========== Arlington City CouncilGrades ============= May 2, 2020 Election ============= Jeff Williams, ====Mayor==== ============= =D1 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=== VIA - by the numbers ============ J.J. Fenceroy, Candidate for ===District1====== ============= =D2 Raul Gonzalez, Candidate for ===District2=== JoAnna Cordoza, Candidate for ===District2====== ============= =D6 John Hibbs, Candidate for ===District6=== Ruby Woolridge, Candidate for ====District6===== ============= =D7 Antoine Lane, Candidate for ===District7=== Hunter Crow, Candidate for ===District7=== Chris Dobson, Candidate for ===District7====== Kennedale Observer Homepage =========== Kennedale City CouncilGrades ==========

Council Discusses the Lack of Large Vacant Commercial Land

At the work session on Tuesday, May 19, staff provided the council with the results of a discussion about what changes they would like to see on staff reports. It was decided that a better knowledge of the history of the surrounding area was needed.

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.

May 25, 2020 – Volume 13 Number 21

GAME SCHEDULE:

Monday, May 25: Memorial Day Holiday.

Wednesday, June 3: P&Z meeting, 5:30pm. (The 3:15pm work session can be viewed on the city website)

5:30pm meeting can be viewed on the city website; register to speak on items at (817)459-6652 or (817)459-6667

Thursday, June 4: AISD Board meeting, 4:00pm. (must be registered to speak by 3:00pm)

Tuesday, June 9: City Council meetings. Times TBD.

The Arlington Spectator can now be found on Facebook.

From THE LOCKER ROOM

Arlington City Council Update

The council met this past Tuesday, May 19 for a full set of meetings. All council members were present. The next meetings will be Tuesday, June 9.

Committee Meeting

The committee meeting discussed CARES funding from the county and emergency housing assistance. The committee approved the fast track policies for the spending of the CARES funds available to help citizens.

The Environmental Task Force has finished much of their work that they were assigned. Their aim is for their report to be at the June 23 meeting. Much of the time of the meeting was spent on the tree ordinance.

Afternoon Session

The open portion of the afternoon session started with a long, productive discussion triggered by the many commercial zoned properties being changed to multi-family zoning in southeast Arlington. Staff reports are likely to change slightly, to include some of this “history”.

The second work session item was a presentation on proposed changes to the UDC regarding minimum parking and square footage requirements. First and second readings of the modifications will be June 9 and June 23, respectively.

The third work session item addressed further considerations regarding the budget issues caused by COVID-19.

The fire chief gave his presentation of the COVID-19 issue. Numbers are steady and trending down. Nursing homes are doing fine.

Evening Meeting

The 6:30pm evening meeting had an appointment, six sets of minutes and 14 consent agenda items. All were approved. There were no citizen speakers.

Upcoming Public Hearings

On May 20, the P&Z continued until June 3 the public hearing for more townhomes at Sublett Road near Matlock Road. The city council will have its public hearing on June 23.

On Wednesday, May 6, P&Z held a public hearing for PD-MF12 (planned development - multi-family) for town homes at 6300 & 6301 S. Collins Street (PD19-21). The P&Z was not impressed, and the public hearing was continued. It will go to P&Z again on June 3 and to the city council on June 23.

On Thursday, June 4, 6:00 p.m., TxDOT will host a virtual public hearing meeting on the I-820, I-20, Hwy 287 project (also known as the Southeast Connector Project). The public can watch the virtual meeting at www.txdot.gov and use keywords “Southeast Connector”. Public comment will be received from the start of the meeting through 5:00 p.m. on June 22 by calling (817) 887-6150 and verbally providing official testimony.

At the May 6 P&Z meeting they approved PD-LI (planned development - light industrial) at 211 Osler Drive (PD20-9). This is scheduled to go to the city council on Tuesday, June 9.

P&Z passed modifications to change parking requirements and square footage requirements for multi-family two-bedrooms in the Unified Development Code (UDC). The city council has established this as a work session item for this Tuesday’s meeting. The public hearing for the city council will be June 9.

On Tuesday, May 5 there was a city council public hearing on a planned development (PD) including MF-22 (380 units) and community commercial zoning for 39 acres at 8224 Webb Ferrell Road (north of Debbie Lane). It was continued until June 23.

The city council will have a public hearing for a car wash at 4442 & 4462 on S. Collins Street on June 23. This passed P&Z, 8-1.

P&Z Commission

The P&Z met this past Wednesday, May 20. There were two public hearings.

The applicant has asked for a CONTINUANCE on the first public hearing, PD20-1, which is taking commercially zoned land to make RM-12 townhomes on Sublett Road near Matlock.

The second public hearing was for a car wash at 4442 & 4462 on S. Collins Street. This past, 8-1.

The next meeting of P&Z will be Wednesday, June 3.

AISD Update

The board met on Thursday, May 21. The meeting started with the swearing in of Kecia Mays and Bowie Hogg.

After executive session, they reappointed Kecia Mays as president, Bowie Hogg as vice president, and Polly Walton as Secretary.

The board approved the first action item, the approval of the Code of Conduct.

The board approved the second action item, regarding paying hourly pay because of the COVID-19 through May 29.

There were two discussion items, the 2020-2021 Trustee calendar, and a COVID-19 update.

The next scheduled board meeting is Thursday, June 4. The format since they have gone to these teleconference meetings allows for the open portion to be held at 4:00pm, but you must be registered by e-mail by 3:00pm if you wish to speak on an agenda item.

Press Box

May 2 Election

The May 2 Elections have been postponed. Our Election Information has been put on hold until closer to election time.

VIA by the Numbers

On December 11, 2019, the VIA pilot program began its third year.

The program is heavily subsidized by the Arlington taxpayer (53%) while the riders only cover about 16% of the costs. [percentages based on the last contract, December 3, 2019. Staff report: https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/481268/Staff_Report_-___MF__RK__-_FINAL.pdf].

VIA's August 2019 Service Update to the city council shows that over 1/3 (37%) of the survey participants thought their experience was POOR or NEEDS IMPROVEMENT!!! [https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/403687/Presentation_-_Via_Rideshare_Update_080619.pdf#page=11].

Patriotic Parachute Display

The Airpower Foundation plans a patriotic parachute display over Arlington on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25. It is scheduled to happen about 4:00pm.

[https://www.arlingtontx.gov/news/my_arlington_t_x/news_stories/operation_airdrop_2020].

Family Aquatic Centers to Open May 30

The two-family aquatic centers will open Saturday, May 30. The other outdoor pools are scheduled to open on Friday, June 12.

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

Southeast Connector Project

TxDOT will conduct a virtual public hearing on Thursday, June 4. See the Public Hearing Section of this newsletter for more details.

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