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- Meetings of Interest: Sunday, November 12, 2023
Meetings of Interest: Sunday, November 12, 2023
Meetings of Interest: 🚓 Police Academy
Sunday, November 12, 2023
Good evening:
The Dallas Police Academy has been housed in a woefully inadequate "temporary" facility for more than 30 years. A $140 million plan for a new academy hinges on the 2024 bond election.
New Dallas Police academy conceptual rendering.
The biggest single allocation in the proposed bond package is for $50 million toward a modern facility to be built on the University of North Texas at Dallas campus in southern Dallas. Another $20 million in state funding was approved during the 88th State Legislative session earlier this year. The remaining $70 million is being raised privately.
The new academy has been in the planning and fundraising stages for years. The City in 2021 executed a memorandum of understanding with UNT Dallas, with the vision of a state-of-the-art facility that can boost hiring and retention, a key reason DDI is among many supporters of the plan. Officials involved in the planning stress that the facility would serve law enforcement throughout the region.
The City and UNT Dallas are negotiating a 40-year ground lease for use of approximately 5 acres of the campus, with four ten-year renewal options. The annual rent the City would pay to UNT Dallas is expected to be $1. The City would be responsible for design, construction, and maintenance.
According to
, the City plans to hire an owner's representative to initiate design and "coordinate between the City, the project architect, and eventually the contractor to keep the program within scope, schedule and budget." This is the same model the City is using to build a new Downtown convention center.
But that $50 million in bond funds still needs approval from both the City Council and Dallas voters in an election expected to take place in either May or November of next year. If all goes as planned, the new academy could open by 2027.
❎ Highlights From Last Week's Meetings:
-- Recent state law changes will
, including how fees and land dedication are calculated. Members of the City Council Parks, Trails, and the Environment Committee on Monday said they did not feel comfortable making a recommendation on how to proceed without understanding the impacts on affordable housing stock. They also expressed concerns about the impact on developers who already have projects in the pipeline, but appeared to favor the simpler "low fee calculation" method for determining fees.
-- Also Monday, the Landmark Commission approved revised plans for renovations and a three-story addition to Downtown's historic Magnolia Hotel at 1401 Commerce Street, across from the AT&T Discovery District. DDI is working closely with hotel building owners Newcrest Image to advance this project.
about the plans.
-- On Tuesday, the City Council Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture Committee continued its review of the decades-long process of fluoridating drinking water to prevent tooth decay. The committee heard from people who advocate against a practice that is "recommended by nearly all public health, medical, and dental organizations," according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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-- The nonprofit City of Dallas Economic Development Corporation (EDC) reports receiving 176 applications in the search for its first permanent CEO. Of those, 15 candidates have been screened and at least 10 are slated to meet with the board.
-- Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) officials reported numerous efforts to boost security, cleanliness, and reliability of trains and buses, during a joint meeting of City Council members and DART board members. DART officials also said they are open to discussions on advancing the planned Central Link streetcar to connect existing streetcar lines through Downtown, a major DDI priority.
-- Charter Review Commission members expressed an openness to changes to the length of terms for City Council members and the mayor, which are currently two and four years respectively. They also continued discussions on potentially moving elections from May to November, which would also require a state law change.
-- The City needs to pump more money annually into the Dallas Police & Fire Pension system in order to meet state requirements that it be fully funded by 2055,
last week. Read more from
and
.
Thanks to DDI's Nikia Summerlin, Urban Planning Manager, for helping compile these meeting summaries.
📝 Memos of Interest:
-- The Community Bond Task Force (on which I served) earlier this month completed its recommendations on how to allocated $1.1 billion for the 2024 bond election. Those recommendations are outlined in the above chart from
. The City Council will be briefed on the package on December 6.
-- The City’s GIS, Building Services, internet, City network external traffic, and websites including DallasCityHall.com and DallasPolice.net, will be unavailable from approximately 10 p.m. Tuesday to 1 a.m. Wednesday to complete an upgrade to the City network,
.
-- The latest
details how the City is managing your money.
-- Public meetings will be held in January to gather input for how the City should use federal housing grant funds for the next five years.
.
-- Check out all the latest City Hall memos
and
.
Meetings of Interest
Monday, November 13
🚔
Public Safety Committee, 1 p.m.,
Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- In addition to the above mentioned briefing on the proposed academy, the committee will get an update on recruiting and retention efforts from both the
and
.
-- Dallas police report murders are up by more than 13 percent as compared to last year,
. Police officials say every other category of violent crime has gone down in a year-over-year comparison.
-- Fentanyl has been a contributing factor in the deaths of more than 260 people in Dallas County so far this year, according to
. The above chart is from that presentation.
-- Also on this agenda are
(see above).
Tuesday, November 14
🏞 Comprehensive Land Use Plan Committee, 8:30 a.m., L1FN, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- This committee continues its work updating the
. DDI President & CEO Jennifer Scripps is a member of the committee.
🏡 Housing and Homelessness Solutions Committee, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The City of Dallas faces a 33,660-unit housing supply gap, where demand for housing exceeds supply, for low-income residents earning at or below 50% Area Median Income (AMI), according to
on a report they produced earlier this year with HR&A Advisors. As the above slide notes, the problem is projected to get far worse by the end of the decade.
-- Here's an update on
.
-- The committee will discuss
related to housing and homelessness.
-- Downtown's The Galbraith project, from DDI Board of Governors member Matthews Southwest, includes 217 mixed-income units, of which 111 are reserved for residents earning at or below 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) and 106 are market rate. Read more on that project and others in
.
💲
Government Performance & Financial Management, 1 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- Single-family housing units in Dallas decreased between 2016 and 2022, while multi-family units increased, according to
. The audit recommends the city manager assign responsibility for maintaining and reporting on the City's housing unit data, among other things.
-- The City Council punted the fiscal 2024 audit plan back to this committee for further discussion.
includes audits on:
The Inspector General's staffing levels
Dallas Police and City Marshal's firearms, ammunition, and equipment tracking
Citywide talent retention and development practices
Homeless response system strategy and coordination
-- The committee has also asked to see the most recent
.
-- A briefing titled "City-wide Real Estate Issues and Opportunities" is not yet posted online. 👀
🚌
Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) Board of Directors, 2 p.m. Committee-of-the-Whole, 6 p.m. Board of Directors, DART HQ, 1401 Pacific Ave., Dallas
-- The Board will be briefed on the status of
. The above slide is taken from that presentation.
📜
Charter Review Commission, 6:30 p.m., Council Chambers, 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- A charter amendment proposal on
is up for discussion.
Thursday, November 16
🛹
Dallas Park & Recreation Board Retreat, 9 a.m., Arlington Hall at Turtle Creek Park, 3333 Turtle Creek Blvd, Dallas
-- The annual retreat will include discussion of board priorities for the current fiscal year.
📑
City Plan Commission, 9 a.m. Briefing (5ES), 12:30 p.m. Public Hearing (Council Chambers), 6th Floor, Dallas City Hall, 1500 Marilla St.
-- The new Operators Club restaurant and bar at 2019 North Lamar Street in the West End is seeking approval to erect an illuminated sign.
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Quote of the Week
DDI President & CEO Jennifer Scripps on the proposed Downtown Central Link streetcar to connect the city's two existing streetcar lines.
"This will allow us to connect not only Bishop Arts to Downtown, but the convention center that obviously is getting revamped, our Main Street corridor, our new Downtown urban parks, with places like the Arts District into McKinney Avenue."
Did we miss anything? Do you have any questions? Just want to talk about meetings?
.
Were you forwarded this newsletter?
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Have a great week.
Best,
Scott GoldsteinChief of External Affairs& Government Relations
Downtown Dallas, Inc.
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