Meetings of Interest
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Meetings of Interest 21: June 2, 2024

Meetings of Interest 21: June 2, 2024

Meetings of Interest: Bring On Your Wrecking Ball 🏗️

June 02, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Sunday, June 2, 2024

Good evening:

Planning for the long-awaited demolition and rebuild of a $3 billion Downtown convention center is entering a critical stage.

A little less than two weeks ago, the City of Dallas issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for architectural and engineering design services for the portion of the new center that will lie west of Lamar Street.

“The scope of services includes the overall concept, layout, and aesthetics of the building, ensuring it meets functional requirements and adheres to building codes,” according to talking points provided via Friday memo to City Council members. “Also included are Structural & Civil Engineering, HVAC systems, plumbing, and other mechanical systems, as well as designing and specifying the electrical wiring, lighting systems, and communication infrastructure.”

This is the part of the process where we go from all those pretty pictures and flyover videos to reality. As Dallas Morning News Architecture Critic Mark Lamster recently noted, billions of dollars in public and private money is at stake. These key details will determine the success of the project, as well as a long sleepy quadrant of Downtown.

Lamster poses the question: “How — exactly — will the convention center and its ancillary developments create connections to each other and to the rest of downtown?”

With a ceremonial groundbreaking set for June 26, we are rapidly moving closer to an answer.

Read on for more on:

Awful conditions at a City-owned Downtown property and what a City Council member wants done about it.
City Charter amendments up for debate this week.
Why former city manager T.C. Broadnax is back on a committee agenda.

⚡ Highlights From Last Week's Meetings of Interest:

— The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board lacked a quorum to hold its meeting last week. A vote on the agency’s new strategic plan goals and objectives is now expected to be held this month.

— It was an otherwise light week for meetings, as the Dallas City Council and most of its committees did not meet.

Thanks to DDI's Nikia Summerlin, Urban Planning Manager, for monitoring hours of meetings every week and contributing to our summaries.Questions? Nikia can be reached at [email protected].

📝 Memos of Interest:

— Council member Jesse Moreno in this memo details terribly unsanitary conditions at a vacant City-owned building in Downtown that previously housed nonprofit Family Gateway. According to Moreno, more than 20 people and some animals were found inside the facility at 711 South St. Paul St. during a Dallas Police canvassing last week.

“I am concerned that the City has not maintained for our facilities the same high standard we hold for our residents and business owners when it comes to proper maintenance of a building,” Moreno writes. He is asking the interim city manager to properly secure the building and conduct a security assessment, among other things.

Warning: The photos accompanying the memo are best not viewed over breakfast — or at all.

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— Cruise autonomous vehicles will soft launch in Dallas tomorrow in a limited geographic area and with human drivers without the autonomous systems engaged, according to this memo. It is unclear what the timeline is for when the vehicles will truly be autonomous in Dallas. This slow relaunch follows a pause in operations last year after a Cruise vehicle dragged a pedestrian 20 feet in San Francisco.

— A new commercial permitting dashboard will launch tomorrow, providing monthly data on commercial permits, including application submissions, permits issued, and issuance times, according to this memo. The dashboard will be available on the Development Services website. — Check out all the latest City Hall memos here and here.

Meetings of Interest: June 3 - 7

Watch City of Dallas Meetings Live

Monday, June 3

🚭 City Council Parks, Trails, & Environment Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

— The City Council is expected to vote in the coming months on whether to expand the City’s smoking ban to include e-cigarettes, according to this memo and draft ordinance. The committee was also briefed earlier this year on the proposal.

— The agenda also includes discussion of state legislative priorities, the Park & Recreation Department budget, and parks bond program implementation options.

🤑 City Council Economic Development Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

— HR&A Advisors is expected to complete an initial Dallas economic impact analysis for the proposed Dallas-to-Fort Worth high-speed rail line by this fall, according to this memo. Meanwhile, planning continues to advance for the separate Dallas-to-Houston line.

— The latest on the Downtown convention center RFQ for architecture/engineering design services is also on this agenda for discussion.

— The nonprofit Dallas Economic Development Corporation (EDC) is asking the City Council to approve amendments to the organization’s bylaws. The changes are summarized in this memo and detailed in this redline version of the bylaws.

— Budget briefings are scheduled from the Economic Development and Development Services departments. Neither briefing is publicly posted.

— The committee will also discuss federal and state legislative priorities related to economic development. The state priorities will be discussed in a separate special-called committee meeting scheduled to start at 2:50 p.m.

🙅‍♂️ City Council Ad Hoc Administrative Affairs Committee, 3 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

— This committee just can’t quit former city manager T.C. Broadnax. Members will discuss in closed session “legal issues related to severance payment” to Broadnax. Mayor Eric L. Johnson last month asked the committee to consider a resolution denying any severance payment to Broadnax.

Wednesday, June 5

📑 City Council Briefing Meeting, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

— City Council members will continue to debate possible amendments to the City Charter. This discussion will include 17 amendments recently submitted by City Council members themselves. They include:

Changing Dallas to a “strong mayor” form of government where the mayor runs the city instead of the city manager.
Moving City Council elections from May to November of odd years, ensuring they still would not coincide with partisan races.
Expanding City Council term lengths from two years to four years.
Dedicating 10% of all general fund revenues to the Park and Recreation Department.
Allow for the chief of police to be hired under a contract.

Read all the City Council member proposals here. Voters in November will have the final say on any proposed Charter amendments.

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— Federal legislative priorities for 2025 are also up for discussion ahead of a planned vote on the package on June 12. Read more here.

Thursday, June 6

📃 City Plan Commission, 9 a.m. briefing; 12:30 p.m. public hearing; Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

🏞️ Park & Recreation Board, 10 a.m., 6FN Conference Room, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

Did we miss anything? Do you have any questions? Just want to talk about meetings? Let me know.