Meetings of Interest: Sunday, December 10, 2023

Meetings of Interest: 💸 Downtown Bond Investment

December 10, 2023 • Estimated Reading Time: 16 minutes

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Good evening:

As our Central Business District continues to evolve into a livable neighborhood, Downtown Dallas, Inc. (DDI) sees the 2024 Bond Program as a key opportunity to fund transformational infrastructure projects.

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Investing In Downtown

On Wednesday, DDI President & CEO Jennifer Scripps (pictured) was one of more than 100 speakers to address the City Council on priorities for the estimated $1.1 billion bond. On behalf of DDI's Board of Directors and the months of work by our own Bond Task Force, Scripps called for strategic investments for Downtown transportation projects.

Current bond proposals fail to adequately address priority infrastructure needs in our urban core. A $4.5 million allocation specifically made by Downtown representatives on the City's volunteer Community Bond Task Force (CBTF) to fund a portion of a Field Street complete reconstruction project was stripped from the proposal after city staff review.

As outlined in the City Council-approved strategic 

360 Plan

, that project is in a catalytic development area that includes nearly 15 acres of developable land, including the planned Field Street District. It also links to the planned Goldman Sachs campus just north of Downtown. 

DDI is continuing to work with City Council members and staff on allocations for critical Downtown needs.

Wednesday's meeting ended with uncertainty about next steps in the bond process (

 summarizing where things stand). And on Friday afternoon, Mayor Eric L. Johnson directed City Manager T.C. Broadnax to

. So, it appears likely that both CBTF and staff recommendations will remain in play.

You can read more about DDI's bond priorities in 

.

⚡ Highlights From Last Week's Meetings:

-- The Dallas Housing Opportunity Fund (DHOF) has more than $23 million and currently supports 280 units of affordable housing. The fund seeks to support at least 1,500 affordable housing units by 2031, with at least $40 million in private funding.

-- There appears to be mixed feelings among City Council members on whether to ban horse-drawn carriages in Dallas. Some members of the Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture Committee are seeking additional information. Only one horse-drawn carriage company is currently operating in Dallas.

-- The City's draft curb lane management policy aims to address our ever-evolving uses of the curb adjacent lanes throughout the Central Business District, and other urban neighborhoods. Following a committee briefing last week, it remains on track for a full City Council briefing next month and final adoption in the spring. 

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Thanks to DDI's Nikia Summerlin, Urban Planning Manager, for monitoring hours of meetings every week to help compile these summaries.

📝 Memos of Interest:

--

attempts to answer a long list of questions about a plan to hike development permit fees, which is set for a vote on Wednesday's City Council agenda (noted below).

-- Check out all the latest City Hall memos

and

.

Meetings of Interest

Monday, December 11

🏢

 Workforce Education and Equity Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

--  Proposed state and federal legislative priorities for committee consideration are outlined in the above slide.

.

-- Also on this agenda:

and

.

👩🏽‍🌾

 Farmers Market TIF District Board of Directors, 11 a.m., 6DN Conference Room, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- The Farmers Market Tax Increment Financing District's (TIF) assessed tax value in 2023 was $643.7 million, an increase of $608 million since 1996,

. The report also tracks housing in the district, as noted above.

👮🏽‍♀️

 Public Safety Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- Overall violent crime is down by more than 12 percent through November as compared to the first 11 months of 2022,

. Murders, however, are up by more than 10 percent, as noted in the above chart.

-- The average Dallas Police response time so far this year for stolen vehicle calls is over 12 and 1/2 hours. In an attempt to improve the response, the department is starting a pilot to take such calls through "recorded call conferencing."

.

-- The Dallas Police Department is launching a new Constitutional Policing Unit,

.

-- A pilot Welfare Crisis Response Team based in the Central Business District is helping reduce the overall workload for Dallas Fire-Rescue units,

. Instead of sending typical Dallas Fire-Rescue resources on "welfare check" calls, teams that include a paramedic and crisis coordinator are responding to these calls Monday-Friday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The initiative is a response to significant call volume in Downtown for welfare checks.

-- The City's proposed priorities for state and federal public safety legislation are

.

-- The Dallas Police and Dallas Fire-Rescue dashboards include a wealth of interesting data.

.

⚖

 Ad Hoc Committee on Legislative Affairs, 3:01 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- Committee members will be briefed on the status of code amendments forced by state law changes, and proposed future legislative priorities.

Tuesday, December 12

🌆

 Comprehensive Land Use Plan Committee (CLUP), L1FN Audiorium, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- Work continues on

ForwardDallas

comprehensive land use plan updates. DDI's President & CEO Jennifer Scripps is on this committee.

🏘

Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

💹

 Government Performance and Financial Management Committee, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- Here's

. This is a top priority for committee Chair Chad West.

-- The committee may also discuss the mayor's recent State of the City address,

.

-- Proposed state and federal legislative priorities relevant to this committee are listed

.

📜

 Charter Review Commission, 6:30 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

Mayor and City Council Salaries

-- The body will discuss Commissioner Michael Jung's proposal to tie salaries for the mayor and City Council members to median household income. The mayor currently makes $80,000 annually and City Council members make $60,000. The above slide notes current salaries in Dallas and other major Texas cities.

.

-- The Commission will also

for the public to submit proposed amendments from Dec. 15 to Jan. 19 or 26. You can submit proposed amendments

.

-- The Commission will also discuss the

and consider approval of

.

🚇

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board of Directors, 6 p.m., Board Room, 1401 Pacific Ave., Dallas; Watch Live Here

-- The agency's fiscal 2024

is up for approval

Wednesday, December 13

🌆

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

--

is a $3.6 million engineering design services contract with Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc. for the long-planned McKinney Avenue/Cole Avenue Two-way Conversion Project in Uptown.

--

includes hikes in building permit fees to boost annual revenues about $22 million, enough to recover operational costs. Implementation is expected in February.

.

--

is an increase of $150,000 in reimbursements for Downtown's Dallas Museum of Art costs tied to professional art handling and storage after historic rainfall in August of last year flooded the museum.

--

is for adoption of the City Auditor's 2024 work plan.

.

--

is appointments to three seats on the prestigious Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport Board. There are four nominees, including former City Council member Angela Hunt. Current board members Gloria M. Tarpley and Vincent Hall, and Haynes and Boone Senior Counsel Timothy E. Powers are the other nominees.

--

is an ordinance to create a registration process, including fees, for unattended drop boxes like those used for clothing donations. The program dictates where the boxes can be placed and how often they must be monitored, among other things.

--

is a public hearing to receive public comments regarding designating all territories within the boundaries of the City of Dallas as a suburban area, urban area, or central business district area for the purposes of calculating Parkland Dedication fees per the requirements of House Bill No. 1526.

Thursday, December 14

🗺

 City Plan Commission Workshop, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., West Dallas Multipurpose Center, 2828 Fish Trap Road, Dallas, TX 75212

-- The CPC workshop agenda includes a keynote presentation from

, president and CEO of nonprofit Builders of Hope.

🚌

Regional Transportation Council, 1 p.m., Transportation Council Room, North Central Texas Council of Governments, 616 Six Flags Dr., Arlington, TX 76011; Watch Live Here

-- RTC staff is seeking an increase in the consultant budget for a Downtown Dallas-Fort Worth high-speed rail study.

in the complete agenda packet.

Friday, December 15

🏙

 Urban Design Peer Review Panel, 8:30 a.m., 5ES, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.

-- A review of the Magnolia Hotel plans for a more than $200 million makeover, which

. DDI is working closely with hotel building owners Newcrest Image to advance this project.

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

.

Were you forwarded this newsletter?

.

Have a great week.

Best,

Scott GoldsteinChief of External Affairs& Government Relations

Downtown Dallas, Inc.

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