Council - Regular Meeting

We'll call the council work session of Monday, January 5th, 2026 to order at 6 p.m. and ask the city recorder to call the role. Council President Briggs, we'll call the council work session of Monday, January 5th, 2026 to order at 6 pm and ask the city recorder to call. Sound awesome. Councelor Blosser here. Councelor Fitzgerald here. Councelor Hosapple here. Councelor Jance here. Councelor Schilling here. Councelor Shane here. Spy here. All right. First item and only item on the agenda is council goals quarterly review. Brian.

Thank you, Mayor Slack. Um I'll also note that councelor Brandon is excused from the work session. He plans on arriving a little bit late today. Um all right. So, uh the council established their goals last year in February. And as part of the goal setting, they asked for staff to give uh quarterly updates. And since they're two-year goals, we do that every six months. Um we last did this back in July and so we're going to do it again today um because we have made some progress on some of the goals and objectives that are in the plan. Um attachment A uh is just a list of the goals and the objectives and action items. So you have those for reference um and then attachment B is the work plan um of each of the departments who have who've been asked to kind of be the lead on um a certain goal or objective item. Um and so we're just going to run through that um starting with public works and then we'll continue through with economic and community development and so on and so forth. So I'll start with uh Jennifer Ward, our public works director as she comes up to introduce um the the goals and the progress made towards those goals as it relates to public works. So

morning counselors, good evening counselors and mayor. um many of your of your goals for um these next two years fall under the umbrella of public works. I've provided in your packet some details about um each project and each each goal, but I thought it might be helpful to just kind of do a summary of of where we're at kind of like a progress report. So, I just have I've prepared just a few slides for you so you can look at the goals from that perspective. So, as of the end of 2025, we'd completed two of the public works related goals, and that was increasing lighting in the parks. Um, we repaired or replaced all of the lights in in City Park and updating the water master plan. Um, this is actually a a CIP update that'll be being bring being being brought to you at your um council meeting tonight. And then we have a whole lot of goals that we that are in pro progress and most of these um well it kind of depends. Many of these we anticipate will be completed or mostly completed by the end of the fiscal year. Um goal number 3.1 is to obtain the storage the water storage rights permit. This is um a predecessor towards um being able to expand Mercer Reservoir um identify and secure funding for Mercer Dam. I think we're going to be able to identify a lot um many if not all of the sources of that funding. We probably won't secure them all um in in the next 6 months. Update the transportation system plan. Complete phase two of the Lock Rail Node sewer project. Um update the sewer master plan. Complete construction of the of the new public works building. Design and build the James How Road Water Storage. That's the James How um reservoir. Uh it'll get designed um probably a um a little ways out there

towards building complete the filter upgrade at the water treatment plant that's in progress and also connecting the trail system. And that one could actually have also um gone on this um of course there uh there is a finite end to con connecting the trail system at some point. all of the segments of the Rickall Creek Trail will be connected. Um, but it's it's ongoing, you know, cutting, chewing off, biting off a little bit um each each year. But other ongoing pro um goals that maybe don't have as finite of a of an ending are increasing the promotion of recreation opportunities. you know, that's something that um will be ongoing, I think, you know, even beyond um this goal cycle and increasing the breadth of recreation opportunities for all ages within our community. So, we've um taken steps to towards both of those goals this year, but I would expect that we would continue to do that. And then there are some goals that um are are not anticipated to be undertaken until the next fiscal year. Um those are completing the design for Mercer Dam. Uh I think it's unlikely that that will be completed next fiscal year. There's just a whole lot of um prep work that needs to happen before we can get to that um to that point, which we're working on, but is going slowly. And then we'll be updating two more of our master plans, the storm water master plan and the parks master plan. And so that's just a quick look at public works. Happy to take any questions.

Council Shane, just a quick one about the new public works building. [clears throat] I see you're still um projecting having it done sometime this spring. So, no snags of any any consequence. Um for for the future or that we've had in the past? [laughter] No, for the current build for the building. No, no. I I foresee us um completing it this spring. Yes. [snorts] Councelor Briggs, us on where we're at with the with the trail from what pieces are left and what you think timing wise.

Sure. Sure. Um how about um if you can go with me, why don't we start on the western side of the city since the intent is that this trail will more or less follow the creek from um the western urban growth growth boundary to the um to the east to the city limits. So, um the westernmost is what we we refer to as like the Applegate trail. It's kind of south of that um development that comes off like Oregon Trail Road. And um there is a little section there that runs behind the mobile home park that once completed will connect it to um Kingsboro Park. And we're working on that section this year, not construct, but to design. So that's our that's our push this fiscal year is to design that part of the trail. Very short but um

it's technical. It's technical side of the river. It's not going to cross over because

it will not cross over there. No. Um and you make a good point counselor Spivey, which is most of the um that most of the sections of the trail that remain unbuilt are because they are technically difficult. They require a lot of engineering and and also are expensive. And this is a section as well. Another section is um a lengthier section that will eventually connect um that southern part of Kingsboro Trail or Kingsboro Park to the arboritum. And um that's that's quite lengthy. There are a couple of ways we could go about that. um we don't necessarily have um you know easements or um uh rightways necessarily that we can go through depending on how we go. [clears throat] So that's going to be a challenging one to to do. That brings us to uh the arboritum to city park connects through Ian Tony. So then we have a gap between Ian Tani and basically the aquatic center comes a little bit um over and we're sort of looking at that in in three sections. We've designed what we call the mill section um which uh basically takes the trail behind the public works yard. Okay, that's designed. Um then there's a um p private housing development that's going on called Crystal Estates. the trail will go through there. Um, and we've made progress in working with that developer and getting that trail in as part of the development that's happening. And then we'll need to connect that section through downtown to Ian Tony and we haven't um haven't looked at that in depth yet. So that brings us to the aquatic center and what we call the Barberry Trail um which goes kind of by

Barberry and Hawthorne. Um there's a gap there um between where that ends currently and uh John Barard Park, but with development that should then connect up through John Barard Park, come down through Fur Villa. We have um and then it would extend to the golf course. We have half of that trail built between Fur Villa and the golf course and we need to complete the other the other half. Did you follow me? How did that go? [laughter] summer any of those segments.

As far as construction, if I recall correctly, um completing that eastern most section from Fur Villa to um to the golf course is a capital project for next year. Um I don't know that we will get to uh that we will start construction this summer. It may be something that we start in the spring of 2027. You're welcome. [cough] questions. Jennifer, we recently met with uh Representative Sharf regarding [clears throat] the water storage right permit. Do you want to just summarize that conversation and what the path forward is with the assistance from our representatives?

Sure. Um so uh one of the challenges that we've come uh that we've confronted with is of course the agencies have um requirements for um that we need to comply with as we um get our water storage permit and eventually as we design and build the dam. And prime among those are ODF and W. um they have two studies that they required us to um complete and are we have tried our best to um comply [clears throat] with that request and to complete those studies. we've um experienced some delays in them responding to what we submit to them and also um kind of moving goalposts. And so we'll submit something and they'll say, "Thank you. Now you need to do this." And um you know, we've been at this for about 2 years now without um real substantial progress. And uh so um city manager LA arranged for a meeting with myself and himself and uh Craig Massie from Jacob's Engineering who's our consultant on this uh to meet with Representative Sharf and let her know the um you know the problems that we were running into. And so she was very responsive to that. And uh we are going to well she is going to try to arrange then a meeting with um the [clears throat] applicable members of the of the agency to um try to get a really firm plan in place like here's here's what we need Dallas to do so that we can comply with that and some asurances that we will comply with that and you're not going to change the rules on us you know a year out. um also some some asurances that the studies that we

do now will still be relevant and useful when we go to construct which is likely you know 5 to 10 years out. So we just need a little um more stability and consistency from from the right now especially ODFNW.

Yeah. Well, when that meeting takes place, given the history and and the uh the difficulty we're all familiar with in navigating the regulatory landmine landfield, uh you might want to ask them, particularly given recent history, um what other surprises are you saving for us? You wouldn't want to word it that way. You want to be as tactful and diplomatic as possible, but you might want to try to pry out of them what it is they what questions they haven't asked you yet. if there's a you know a way to do it within the tone of the meeting.

A fair a fair point. I think one of the challenges is that um there hasn't been a new dam built in the state of Oregon for quite a while. And so most of the uh most of the ODFW staff I mean there really isn't a protocol for this. You know, that's interesting because the dam that we're currently using is approaching 70 years old. And I'm wondering if there are any other cities in the state that are in similar situations to ours cuz if there are, then they better develop a protocol because they're going to have a bunch of these coming down the pike at them.

And the city of Newport is is an example of that. Councelor Shane, um they're working on getting a dam built there. They have two dams right now. They're trying to consolidate that into a single dam. um they've worked with, you know, even some federal partners to be able to leverage some funding and some commitments that way. I don't know the status of that at this point, but um you know, as as um [clears throat] Jennifer was saying, we're really trying to just get ODFNW to and the other agencies that are participating in this have a framework that says, you know, these are the walls, you know, that we have to operate within. These are the requirements. What we submit is is going to be good. You're going to look at that and say, yep, this this is good. um as long as we comply with whatever the requirements are that they're putting in front of us. Um we met with ODFNW and OWRD, the water resources department last year um and asked the exact question that you proposed, right? Is there anything else? We want to make sure we're covering every base. And we were told then this is all you need.

And now a year later,

um we're being told, "Oh, wait, no, there's these other things now that you have to do." So that's what prompted the conversation with Representative Sharf to say, "The goalposts need to stop moving." Um, and we need to have some consistency and some um, really an end of the road, right? What is the end of the road where we get this water right permit approved? Um, and I think, you know, Representative Shar's looking at it from, you know, also a political side, which is what happens if you have a change in administration, right? And is the new administrative staff and the new new bureaucracy that comes in place, are they going to, you know, kind of reset and start the process all over again? We want to avoid that. So, she's looking for like a physical framework plan that says this is what Dallas has to do for this project. Um, that will pass, you know, from uh administration to administration, from bureaucracy to bureaucracy, whatever it is. As long as we're doing what we've set out, then we're going to be Yeah, that's the path

you want to try to short circuit is the the Columbbo syndrome. Oh, and there's one more thing. Yeah, correct. Um because that's that the Columbbo syndrome moving from goalpost. Um, that's what we're experiencing and it's just unacceptable. Exactly. questions for Jennifer. Thank you. All right. Uh so next up is our economic and community development department. So I'll invite uh the director Charlie Mitchell up to present on those topics.

Good evening, Mayor, city council. Um just like Jennifer, although I don't have this awesome slideshow for you tonight, so I apologize. Um so there's 10 objectives related to the goals that relate to my department. Half of those are ongoing, half of those um are more certain in terms of completion. Um one of them is a little bit more ambiguous because the terminology says explore. So I don't know if you check the box when we're done exploring or when we've actually accomplished it. Um but just kind of walking through the very first one um in your packet 2.1. Uh we actually did complete this uh you all completed it actually uh by adopting the master plan for the lock rail node um in May of what I can now say is last year. Um 2.2 uh 791 Main Street. Um we feel pretty good about this project where we're at with this project. I think everybody's aware of where we're at. Uh we have a uh an exclusive negotiation agreement with a developer and that's moving along just fine. Um 2.3 is is one of those ongoing goals that never really gets completed. Um and the the item that's uh applicable in this reporting period is our work with the folks that are moving into the former Wraid building. Um the next one is the um the [clears throat] reszoning for the lock rail node. um we can't really fully complete that until there's until the transportation system plan is actually completed. But there are some pro some steps of things we can do in the in the interim on a concurrent track and one of those is uh creating the the the mixed juice uh mixed use zone in the development code and we're in the process of doing that right now. That should be done relatively soon this year. Um going on the next page 2.5 again another ongoing goal um

businessfriendly environment um you know we we interpret as staff this one really focuses on our um on our work supporting [clears throat] um our partner agencies namely the chamber and the downtown uh Dallas association Dallas to town Dallas downtown Association sorry um and our work um supporting those those those entities um as well as just um you know our own internal efforts around culture um around uh helping businesses and developers solve the problems that and get the roadblocks out of their way etc. Uh the next one's another big one is the milite uh redevelopment plan. Technically that one's done because we did develop and adopt the plan itself. Um but obviously just getting that done doesn't really do us much good if till we get something actually done out there. But that's where the big lift comes in. Um, and it's becoming more and more obvious to us that the and this this was born out of the TGM uh project as well that showcased this is that the Ash Creek uh drainage is the is the big early stage project and also a very very expensive one. So, we're still trying to get our heads around kind of how we approach that. It's going to be a joint project obviously between um my department and Jennifer's. And like the the the water storage project, you know, there's it's a sizable dollar amount. It's somewhat complex and it's going to be competing for funding with a lot of the same agencies. And so, um, it it it may be that we don't want to compete with ourselves for funding with some of the same agencies cuz clearly the water storage project, I I would I would think you would agree, has a higher priority than this one, even though this is a very important project. But we have to be strategic, I think, about how we approach um the agencies and funding. But we're not we're not stopping. We're not giving up, but we just have to be mindful of kind of what we're up against

with that with that project. It's not going to get done quickly and it's not going to get done cheaply. Did you have a question counselor Greg? I can see a question on your face. I was loading one up. How could you tell? Is there anything we can do in a phased manner where we could develop part of that and start to create some economic value and and and wait on relocating that? Or is that thing just right stuck in the middle? I was wondering the same thing. Can we chip away at it in a little?

Possibly. Possibly. um possibly. That's about the best answer I can give and we haven't, you know, analyzed all the scenarios. Um and again, keep in mind that um this is not property that we own or control and so it's really up to the private owner what they want to do. Um we're just trying to facilitate and assist them as best as we can and play the appropriate role. Um that all being said, I mean, it is an actively listed market. There is an agent and it could sell tomorrow. um and they can decide then or not if they want to mess with the creek. What we do know is that given where the creek is right now underground, you can't you're limiting about half of the site I think for development if you want to include the entire site up into the up into the the forested hillside as well. So there may be 10 or 20 acres on the north side, but but again we have to keep in mind there's plans for the street to go through there as well and we don't know exactly where that's going to go either. So, it's just it's just kind of one problem after another of sorts there.

Is the street something we could start with?

Possibly. I mean, we could we could spend the money to have it surveyed and figure out exactly where the best place is to put it based on what we think we know. Um, but again, we don't have we don't know how exactly how it's going to get paid for because typically how streets would get paid for in a situation like this, like in a residential subdivision, you divide up the land and the developer would pay for the street. We don't really have that scenario here. And so we could again, we could design it, maybe design it, plan it, figure out where it's going to go. It's probably going to cost several hundred,000 just to do that. And then we could sit on that that plan indefinitely, but we could have something ready to go. I mean, that is a possibility, but we haven't been given that direction really yet.

I really think the steps for us is to figure out, you know, what the financial plan looks like for these these major projects. Um, and I think the city council has has done some things proactively to assist with that already. Right? We're we're going into this um kind of ahead of the curve, if you will. Our storm water fee that we collect on the city bill right now, we're collecting $16 a month from our residents. Um, the the relocation of Ash Creek um is a is a flood control project as well, right? So, we can utilize those funds for that project. Um, and that fund continues to grow year-over-year. I don't think we're as far away as maybe um you know, we're not having to go out outside of the city of Dallas to find all the money to pay for this project, right? We could debt service that project, utilizing the revenues from that fee in part to help pay for that debt service. And so, um I think we just really need to look at kind of our financial position, where we're at, and how do we pay for that project? Um so, I don't think we're as far away as maybe we're feeling we are. Um, but that really does I think Charlie and I have talked about this a lot and Jennifer and others that that is the the first project that has to happen. Um, so much is kind of contingent on that. The exact location of the road is contingent on where the creek ends up. Um, cuz you don't want to, you know, build a road and then, you know, find out that the creek has to come right up to it or, you know, maybe so far away that it makes the site not really workable. So, we want to be able to kind [clears throat] of base everything else off of the the eventual location of that creek. Um, so that really is the first phase project, but I don't think we're that far away on the financial side to make that a reality. It's just looking at that closely, evaluating that. So that I think is our next step. I don't know, Charlie, if you have anything to add to that.

Well, thanks for bringing that up, Brian. And just just to remind you all, too, that this area is in the South Dallas Renewal District, and so there is the potential for that agency to debt service and fund some part of it as well. So there's another funding mechanism, but again just again be reminded that that agency, that district is in its infancy still and so there isn't a whole lot of cash there yet, but over time there will be. Also, Councelor Briggs, you mentioned um doing it in stages. Well, in in essence, that's what this is because the North Fork Ash Creek project is actually all the way from one end of the city to the other. This is just one of those four. They're called reaches. And that that could be done standalone that wouldn't affect the other ones. So, and again, right now I'm only talking about just that reach. So, in essence, this is a piece of the larger project, if you will, that could be done first and by itself, but it's still a lot of dollars.

Chilling. Just to follow up on the two comments before and to answer your question a little bit. Um it'd be great to sell the property and have the land owner sell the property, but one of the problems is Ash Creek. When people look at that property, it's constrained by Ash Creek because nobody knows what's going on and we don't know where the flood plane is. And so that's why it's such a priority and that was identified in the committee that we went through and did all this and we identified the relocation of Ash Creek. Then once it gets moved, that property becomes extremely ready to sell. Chicken versus egg.

But until that is done and that is written in stone, this is where it's at. It's find a developer that wants to have an if. An if if doesn't pay the bills. So, if we can get it relined and increase the capacity in that area and make it a crown jewel in our hat because it'll be a beautiful walkway and a beautiful entrance to our city if that gets realigned the way the plan. So, if you want to go over that plan sometime, I'd be happy to sit down with you again and just bring you guys back up to speed on what the plan actually looks like. But that is number one priority. Sounds like chicken and egg. Mhm.

I think to point though, financially, we should probably get a bearing on where we're at. And if we can somehow, you know, look at funding some uh some surveying and kind of figure out this is where it's [clears throat] going to go and this is what it's going to cost, then we can start working towards that. Yeah, we've we've actually done a bit of the work on [clears throat] on the engineering of that creek. Um you know, where it's where it's best alignment is going to be in that. So, a lot of that work has already been done. Um we're we're at the place now where we could really start putting together that financial plan, you know, do a little additional engineering work and be close. I mean, we're not that far away from having it be a project that could be realized. We put it in the CIP yet, have we? It's not in the CIP, but that that would be added.

Are there other barriers other than the financial like um permitting? I mean, you have to get there. There's permitting that would have to come along with that. Um, I think the state would be a little bit more optimistic to get this project completed given that we're daylighting a creek that's currently in a pipe. So, it would be something that they would be more supportive of. Um, so I I don't anticipate those being major hurdles. It would be some regulatory framework that we'd have to jump through and some hoops. Um, but I I don't see it being um, you know, a a multi-year slog like the water right permit has been. W's been involved. Uh, ODFNW would be involved because it's a fish burning creek, but it's daylighting it and putting shade over it.

Yeah. So, I mean, they should be generally in support of these things. Um, but I'm not I'm not discounting the fact that they're going to make it somewhat difficult because I anticipate they would, but but at the same time, daylighting a a covered creek is extremely dirty and very hard to do and stream quality would decrease. By relocating the stream, you're only dealing with the two connections. So all the work can be done outside in dry weather, dry, no contamination of the creek. Then those two teeny tiny little spots at the end are connected. And so that's why the ODFW, etc. would look highly favorable on relocating the creek cuz the creek is not supposed to be a straight line like it is right now.

Yeah, there's very little inwater work that would have to take place. Um, and when you have the inwater work permits, those tend to take a lot more attention and time. Um, a lot of this work, as Council Schilling said, is is dry earth work. Um, and then you're just connecting the creek once you've rebuilt the new creek. So, [clears throat] I I don't anticipate the the permits being that um that difficult, but yes, we have to get the permitting. Right. If there's no other questions or comments about 2.6, we'll just kind of move on. And again, the next couple um items on goal four are ongoing activities. There's some updates of kind of what we're doing there. Mostly it's on the marketing side on both of those that we're working on. And just just to anticipate any questions on the first one in 4.1, the the grant that we're talking about is what's called the wine plate grant through Travel Oregon. that the city would apply for up to $25,000 and that is a first or early second quarter of this year kind of time frame on that. Um recreation 5.3 community events um again an ongoing sort of task. Um, we're getting really close to having the city not so directly involved staff-wise in our major community events, which has been a vision for quite some time. And if you've attended any of the events over the last year, I think they've um they've all done really well. They've been great community events, and it's nice that we're not running them. So, that's kind of um the goal there. But we do provide, you know, some financial support, some logistical support, some staffing, but they're they're no longer City of Dallas events. And then the last one, uh, this was the explore one that I kind of joked about

earlier, um, is is around, uh, larger park space with new developments. Um, again, this one's a little bit on hold, waiting for another thing to happen, and that is the parks master plan update. So, another kind of a joint project between my department and Jennifer's. Um, and there's kind of a list of the things that need to happen. Um, so we're still a ways away from probably calling that one complete. Um, but we've begun the explore part of it, I would say, and we're just kind of, um, waiting for the the parks master plan. Shane.

Yeah. Um, a comment and a question. The [clears throat] comment first on U 5.3 community more community events. Just a shout out to our library because they're rapidly becoming an 800 pound gorilla in that area. Um the uh the um the con that they did which was fabulously wellreceived and and it looks like is going to be as good or better next year. They um that's a real that's a real uh what am I looking for? Feather in the city's cap that some of the things that the library does. I know we've said that before, but it it deserved to be mentioned again. Yeah, we should we should add Mark to this list. Well, for the things he's doing. Yeah, I agree. I agree.

The track record. Yeah. Now, the question all the way back on 2.3, which is attracting businesses. Um, obviously getting the right aid building occupied is a is a biggie. We're all happy about that. And and I just wanted to ask if you happen to know, you may well not know, but I'm just going to ask. Um, since we just lost a valued um downtown business when West Valley Tap House closed, do you happen to know what Sam's plans are for that building? Is he going to sell it or does he want to find a tenant for it if you know? So, last I heard was that two wolves was looking to move into that space. Um, now if that occurs obviously then the current two wolf space will be vac.

Um, and I don't know what the plans are if that whole thing transpires, but that's that's what I've been told. Are they looking at it because it would be more space for them? Is that the idea? Yeah. Okay, that's all. As far as I know, Sam plans to keep keep the building. Good. Yep. Spivey. Still on 2.3. The question I get asked the most is when's the liquor store going to open? We have any insight to that. I thought interest.

I thought it had already opened. Um, so I I don't think they're waiting on anything from us um that I'm aware of. So, but I do see that on social media all the time. And I it surprises me. I guess it's a good thing that that's the worst thing that people are worried about in town. Um, but it does seem to be a common question. Um, so I I don't know the answer. Like I said, I honestly thought it had already opened. So questions for Charlie. Thank you, sir.

All right. Thank you, mayor. So the next topic uh the next goals um from a department are from our police department. So I'll invite our police chief, Jerry Mott, to come up and discuss those. So, we're on page 16 of the packet.

Afternoon. I also don't have a slideshow. [laughter] So, um everything we have is under the community safety uh area. Our our one one is secure funding, complete design, and build a new police station. everybody's up to speed on where that is because it's a major topic of tonight's council meeting and of last last council meeting. But to recap, uh during the May 2025 election cycle, voters did not approve a bond to fund a police station build. Since then, council and staff have worked with uh on value engineering projects and alternative funding projects to try to come up with a better way of funding the building and a lesser expense associated with that. That's that's ongoing. Um see 1.2 conduct community education outreach on police station bond measure. This presumes a future bond measure is the direction the council chooses as most appropriate. Uh because that question is not answered yet on an ongoing basis. We're still continuing to enhance and continue do enhanced and continue education with our community members on the need for a police station. We're trying to address incorrect information that's floating around out there and has floated around out there on that project. And once the council determines a direction methodology, um we'll continue to do education outreach on on that plan and direction to to stay in in regular contact with the community. And I'm doing that through uh small and medium group sessions as I meet with neighborhood clubs and HOAs and um things like that. Uh 1.4 improve public outreach with community organizations to support community disaster preparedness.

Um we engage with uh homeowners associations and neighborhood groups and clubs on ongoing basis and have since last July um conversations about uh disaster preparedness or emergency preparedness or part of those meetings. Uh try to get get folks to engage with Everbridge which is our emergency alert system and have conversations about uh evacuation points try to develop a robust inventory of evacuation points. To that end, I've met with the school administration or the Dallas school district. Every school building, every school in the city is now an evacuation center available to us if we need it. Um, I have access to the schools of emergency evacuation plans which allow us into the building, give us contact persons. We can set those up rapidly if we're needed. So, it's we made some considerable progress and that's an ongoing effort by myself. Um, Chief Wallace will be joining me for some of the neighborhood meetings as we roll into fire season as well, uh, to to better prepare for an event if we did have an interface fire come to Dallas. Um, in uh, 1.6, increase community-led crime prevention efforts, example, neighborhood watch, uh, community partners. This is also something that we when we started looking at neighbor neighborhood watch programs postco uh they had all pretty much fallen to the wayside were not active tried to re-engage them and there's a little bit of difficulty getting an upstart there but there's a lot of interest within those existing HOAs and neighborhood clubs to take on some of the roles through there so we engage with them to basically fulfill that same role within their existing organization and I I think there's going to be some some combining of of those programs down the road and and we continue towards those efforts there. So,

and I think that's it for me. Any questions? An idea how many or uh just kind of the spread of HOAs and groups that we have in town uh that you're engaged with? So, we have, I think, four formal HOAs and two or three neighborhood clubs that I found so far. Um, I met with a neighborhood club, for example, today, Meadow Creek out out on West Ellen. Um, they're a fairly large neighborhood club. They do a coffee and donuts once a month.

Um, this I've met with them twice. I'm going to try to meet quarterly to every six months with each club. Um there are two HOAs in the Bridalwood area and then there are two uh west of of Furilla and Saras Glenn areas. So how how much has the bridal remain engaged with you? Are they doing much to report? The reason I'm asking is because there's some development going on up there at the top that over the next few years is going to substantially increase the number of homes that are served by by that one road.

Right. And so I've had some engagement with them. I had more engagement with them in July. Um I believe I'm scheduled to meet with their board again in May. Uh just ahead of fire season and that's like that's the date. That's on purpose. Um they're not they were at one time a very active HOA. They're not so much now. They're a smaller group that meet. Uh but as far as conversations back and forth with Dave Hunt who's their their president yeah we we engage on a off and on on a fairly regular basis. So they've been they've been a great group to work with. So and then Stone Brook they I should be at their meeting I think it'll be the probably the third Saturday of this month. They're the other HOA. They just service that small uh um condos. Yeah.

Questions for Chief Ma. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, Mayor. Um, so the next work plan is, uh, from the administration's office, and so I'll cover those. Um, we have two goals and objective items. Uh, the first is goal three, uh, objective 3.13. Um, this is kind of the 13 of 13 of your priorities. Um, but we did complete this one or almost have it complete uh really because of the funding that was tied to it. It was ARPA funds um to complete this project, but we looked at a space planning analysis to inform renovations uh and renovation recommendations to increase the efficiency at city hall, particularly looking at the second floor of city hall. Um and so again, the conceptual design work was completed back in uh June of this year. And we're working with ANC and company architecture. Um and right now they're completing the final plans and specifications. um basically having construction ready documents. Um and we anticipate that being done here in the next week or two. Um and then the future would be just to see, you know, how do we, you know, do we want to move forward with that project or not? Um so that's basically we'll have construction ready plans that we can put on a shelf um for when we need that in the future.

Um that could be substantially impacted by what we decide tonight. Another matter. Yeah. Yeah. Could be. Um but could also be useful for any conversations like that in the future as well. Sure.

All right. Uh the next objective is 4.2 and this is develop a 2050 community vision. Um so our 2030 vision is what we operate under today. We're not too many years away from 2030. Um so if you want to know what Dallas is going to look like in 3 years, read the vision. Um but uh it's good to kind of set that vision again out in the future. So council put this as a goal to have a 2050 vision kind of a community visioning process. Um, so later this month, uh, in your next meeting, you'll, um, we'll have a conversation about, uh, the process for hiring a consultant, what we want that to look like. Um, we'll go through that, uh, bid process probably later this spring, um, having someone on board by July 1. Um, that's on purpose because we didn't put any funds in the budget this year for this project. We're looking at next fiscal year. We're anticipating that the the project for that will probably be around $50,000. Um and that project will take the better part of um the rest of the fiscal year for 2627. So,

excuse me. Does the uh company did our retreat? They do. So, I'm sure that they would be interested in um in putting a proposal together for this last for the 2030 vision. I'd have to go back and look. Um I don't know if Emily is shaking her head. She doesn't remember. But yeah. So, those are the two items that I had. Any other questions? All right. If not, our final uh department tonight is our fire and EMS department. So, I'll invite Chief Walls to come up and discuss the uh I believe it's just the one goal and objective for her department.

Thank you, Mayor City Council. Uh we have one goal and objective. Um it's under community safety. Um and it is uh 1.3 plan for the future needs of fire response with projected community growth increased height of buildings access updates to training and fire code etc. Uh where we um I met with my team and what we felt was important um to meet this particular um goal um is we need to establish a strategic plan for our organization. We have not had a formal strategic plan since 2016 and we look significantly different since then. Um so um we've been working um with other organizations that are similar in size to us and gathering that information um and looking into different um consultants as far as being able to help us come up with the strategic plan. We did not budget for that in this year's um budget for my organ my department. Um a strategic plan costs anywhere from $35,000 to $50,000 and takes several months to complete. Um so we'll be looking at drafting um a proposal for that to solicit um consultants to help us develop that and from there we'll be able to look at the other tasks and activities that are associated with that goal. questions for Chief Wallace.

What would this consultant do?

Um so basically um so our organization does look different, right? So, this consultant um [clears throat] would be looking at um training, how we respond, um what type of equipment we have, um what programs we offered to the community, um how we would um basically how we could utilize our um current resources with handling our call volume. Um we have a a fairly significant call volume for our size. Um and then also um identifying areas that um we need significant improvement on. Um they use quite a bit of data from dispatch. Um they hold community meetings. Um the last one that I was involved in like I said was in 2016. Um we actually um put together the consultants put together basically like a focus group of volunteers. Um at that time it would have been just paid EMS staff. our administrative staff. Um I think there were a couple members from uh other city departments and community members. Um and then they pull that information um along with dispatch data, call volume, that type of thing to help us u best utilize our resources and our personnel um and where we need to um maybe improve in some areas as well.

Yeah. Do we have the 2016 report? I do have that. Um that was done in combination with Southwest PULK um when we were an all volunteer fire organization with paid EMS staff. Um but I do have that report available if you would like to see that. Like you say the landscape is quite different now.

It's significantly different. And then when you look at um even where we were um in 2023 where we had essentially part-time firefighters and full-time EMS staff um up until that point um and now we have everybody is to the same level of um provider. So and they work a 48 hour shift. So they're there 24 hours a day. Any other questions for Chief Wallace? Thank you. Thank you. All right, Brian. You have anything else to bring? No, that's our report for tonight for the work session.

I just like to shout out to Chief Wallace, Chief Ma, Charlie, and Jennifer for the job that they've done this last year. It's been excellent and phenomenal, and I think I speak for everybody here, but I thank you for the a job well done last year. We look forward to uh supporting you as much as we can for 26. You're here. Right. If there's no other business, we'll adjourn.