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- Meetings of Interest 5: Feb. 4, 2024
Meetings of Interest 5: Feb. 4, 2024
Meetings of Interest: 💪🏽 Your (Likely) Bond Package
Sunday, February 4, 2024
Good evening:
It's looking like an expected $1.25 billion May bond election will include major investments in Streets & Transportation, Parks, Public Safety, Arts, and Economic Development.
Dallas City Council members on Wednesday preliminarily signed off on base allocations for each category, and also gave themselves another $75 million to allocate 15 ways (14 City Council members and the mayor) across the various categories. Those "discretionary" allocations are included in the below breakdown and
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These numbers still could change, but that appears increasingly unlikely with a Feb. 16 deadline to call for a May election fast approaching. Instead, council members are expected to discuss specific projects within each allocation this week, before voting the following week to send it off to voters.
Of note is that city staff now says much of what they previously thought could be funded with housing bond dollars actually has to shift to the economic development bond.
"Bond Counsel has provided refined guidance regarding eligible expenditures from the Housing and Economic Development propositions,"
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It is unclear why that wasn't flagged earlier in a process that has gone on for more than a year and included more discussion on housing than most other categories.
There was also quite a bit of discussion in recent weeks about the recommendations from 90 volunteers serving on the Community Bond Task Force (CBTF) and five subcommittees (I served on the CBTF representing Lake Highlands). Those groups gathered public input and deliberated for much of 2023 before sending bond recommendations to City Council in December.
I did my best in the below chart to compare the final CBTF recommendations to the current City Council allocations. It is admittedly not an apples-to-apples comparison because the CBTF was instructed to allocate $1.1 billion, while the City Council ultimately is planning for a $1.25 billion bond. The CBTF also blended funding for economic development, housing, and homelessness across those categories differently from how the City Council and staff appear to have done.
That said, it is worth noting how close the City Council ultimately got to the CBTF recommendations in many categories.
Compiled by Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI)
Read on for more on the bond and:
A "reorientation" of the planned Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas redevelopment.
What's on the agenda for the Charter Review Commission this week.
What's behind the Dallas Zoo's wildly successful public-private partnership with the Dallas Park & Recreation Department -- and huge plans for a transformational capital campaign.
⚡ Highlights From Last Week's Meetings of Interest:
-- The City's quasi-independent nonprofit Economic Development Corporation (EDC) board held at least two closed-door meetings related to the search for the organization's first permanent CEO. The board also held a regular meeting on Thursday, including discussion on the entity's strategic plan that the new CEO would presumably finalize. The above slide outlines the EDC's primary functions, while the below slide captures some of the specific goals the board appears to be focused on.
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-- The EDC will meet at least twice more this week to interview more CEO candidates in executive session.
-- A committee of the City Plan Commission (CPC) on Tuesday endorsed recommended changes to parking regulations that proponents say will create a more walkable city. Others say letting developers decide how much parking to provide will make parking harder to find.
on the latest in the long-running parking reform debate. The full CPC will take the matter up next before City Council ultimately decides what to do.
-- City Council discussion on allowing more duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes in single-family neighborhoods did not go well for proponents of the concept on Wednesday.
on the tense debate. Read the briefing
.
Thanks to DDI's Nikia Summerlin, Urban Planning Manager, for monitoring hours of meetings every week and contributing to the above summaries.Questions? Nikia can be reached at summerlin@downtowndallas.com.
📝 Memos of Interest:
-- The Charter Review Commission has laid out the schedule for when it will take up remaining amendment proposals.
also includes the recommendations the body has already made.
-- Responsible Hospitality Institute's Sociable City Summit is coming to Downtown's Adolphus Hotel, April 18-20, with a focus on "Fusion, Women's Voices, and Sustainability," according to
. Speakers include our Downtown Council members Jesse Moreno and Paul E. Ridley.
-- The City Council on Feb. 28 will consider amending the City's Development Code to better protect historic homes from demolition when they fall into disrepair. The action would repeal a 2010 ordinance that has had a disproportionate impact on predominantly African American neighborhoods, including the Tenth Street Historic District in southern Dallas.
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-- City staff
to questions about the Dallas Housing Policy raised during a City Council committee meeting last month.
-- Check out all the latest City Hall memos
and
.
Meetings of Interest: February 5 - 9, 2024
Monday, February 5
🦛
Parks, Trails, & The Environment Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- Recently hired Dallas Zoo CEO Lisa New is expected to be on hand to help deliver a briefing on the "wildly successful" public-private partnership with the Dallas Park & Recreation Department and the zoo's planned $100 million-plus capital campaign.
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-- The proposed Dallas Water Commons is a public-private partnership project would restore a portion of the original Trinity River bed to provide insights into water conservation, filtration, and flood management.
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🗿
Landmark Commission, 11 a.m. Briefing, 1 p.m. Public Hearing, 6ES Council Briefing Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The owner of
, a new event space at 1511 Main St.in Downtown, is seeking a Certificate of Appropriateness to install a sign on the storefront of the historic building.
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💹
City Council Economic Development Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- City staff is seeking committee approval of a significant "reorientation" of the footprint of a redeveloped Downtown convention center,
. It is difficult from the briefing documents to fully understand the changes, so we will be watching closely for details at tomorrow's meeting.
-- Also of note is
. The memo notes a 1,702% increase in overall value of the Farmers Market TIF since its inception in 1998 and a 1,126% increase in overall value of the Downtown Connection TIF since its inception in 2005. Pretty, pretty good.
Tuesday, February 6
📃
Charter Review Commission, 6:30 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The commission will consider numerous proposed charter amendments touching on City personnel, the bike plan, platting, redistricting, petitions for referendums, and more.
Wednesday, February 7
💸 Dallas City Council Briefing, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The Bond Program discussion will be focused on specific projects within each of the major bond categories, as specified in the above agenda item.
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-- Here's
. TL;DR - It's a vision document, NOT a zoning document.
🤑
Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board of Directors, 6 p.m., 2101 Cedar Springs Rd., #1450, Dallas
-- Board members will interview a candidate for CEO behind closed doors.
Thursday, February 8
🤑
Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board of Directors, 9 a.m., 1900 N. Pearl St., Suite 1800, Dallas
-- Another candidate interview for the nonprofit's CEO position, to be held in executive session.
🏞
Dallas Park & Recreation Board, 10 a.m., 6FN Conference Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- A quarterly park system safety update is on this agenda. There may also be discussion of how the parks bond package looks heading into a final City Council vote the following week.
🚉
Regional Transportation Council (RTC) , 1 p.m., Transportation Council Room, North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), 616 Six Flags Drive, Arlington; Watch Live Here
-- Regional transportation officials expect to learn whether Dallas will be awarded a $95 million federal grant for projects including a Klyde Warren Park expansion, potential Interstate 30 deck connections from the Farmers Market to the Cedars, and Southern Gateway Park development, according to agenda materials.
-- Discussion is expected on the potential for $30 million in regional transportation funding for a pedestrian structure at Interstate 30 and Harwood Street, and $10 million in funding for transportation improvements around Downtown's Thanks-Giving Square.
-- Further discussion on high-speed rail between Downtown Dallas and Fort Worth is also referenced.
Join Us For DDI's 2024 Annual Meeting, March 1
Purchase individual tickets
for DDI's signature event.
Did we miss anything? Do you have any questions? Just want to talk about meetings?
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Have a great week.
Best,
Scott GoldsteinChief of External Affairs& Government Relations
Downtown Dallas, Inc.
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