City Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome everybody to the City of Farmers Branch City Council meeting for Tuesday, July 21st. Our first order of business this evening will be our invocation and our pledges. So if you would please join me. Heavenly Father, we ask that you shine your light on our city and our city council this evening as we are here to do important work for our community. Help us to remember that we are here to serve others and not ourselves, and that we are here to make decisions that will move our community forward, recognizing that we serve many different people. Give us guidance to look beyond ourselves. We ask that you also shine your light on our police officers, firefighters, and first responders. They too are here serving our community without fail every day, and we ask that you keep them safe. And finally, may the blessings that you have given us be a reminder that serving others is service to you. In Jesus' name, we thank you. Amen. If you would, please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

And now the Texas Pledge.

Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state, under God, one and indivisible. So we have two ceremonial items this evening. The first one is to consider approving Resolution 2026-085, accepting a donation from the Farmers Branch Women's Club for the branch connection in the amount of 14, or excuse me, $1,450. So, ladies, would you all want to come up? Farmers Range Women's Club is a non-profit organization that provides philanthropic support to the Farmers Range community through volunteer-led fundraising efforts. With the help of donations from local businesses, supporters, and club members, the Farmers Range Women's Club supports local causes. They also provide scholarships to deserving students in the Capital Farmers Range Independent School District. This donation by the Farmers Branch Women's Club demonstrates their continued support for city programs, particularly at the Branch Connection. We'd like to thank them, or thank the Farmers Branch Women's Club for this donation and their continued support of the City of Farmers Branch. So at this time, council, I would make a motion that Okay, pass them unanimously. Ladies, thank you all very much. Who's in charge?

Thank you so much. I just wanted to add that we are always looking for members. You don't have to be a woman if you want to be a member. You can always be a man and join us. We have a lot of different events. And one of our most successful events is our fashion show in March, where we just showcase different designs from local stores. And I would love for everybody to consider coming. This is our biggest fundraiser. and last year was the the biggest one just yet, where we were able to give out everything that we actually made. And that was very, very fun. But we have existed since 1963, way before I was born. And that is just a lot of history. There's a lot of history. There's a lot of things that we are still doing the same, but a lot of things that we're changing because we just want to make sure that we attract more members. So if you have questions, go on our website. and our social media. Thank you so much.

Ladies, thank you all so much. Thank you.

Next up is item G to consider approving resolution 2026-07 accepting a donation from Atmos Energy Corporation to the Farmers Branch Fire Department in the amount of $1,500 and take appropriate action. So, Clayton Childs from Atmos is with us, as well as Chief Latimer. So let me just, I'll say my little part first, and that is Atmos Energy is a well-established has a well-established corporate giving program and makes regular contributions throughout communities in North Texas. While many of its donations support education initiatives and nonprofit organizations, the company also provides generous support to fire departments, police departments, and other first responders. On behalf of the City Council, Chief, let me . All right.

So Daniel Lambert, fire chief here in Farmer's Branch. This is Clayton Childs, like I said, from Atmos. Thank you, Clayton, again. Atmos has been a great partner. They've been on our team in the city for a long time, but they've also continued to donate to the fire department. It's our third year in a row they've done this, which we're always trying to find their funding to help offset our budget here in the City of Park Ranch and the fire department. So thank you again, Clayton and Atmos, and all that you do for us. And also, if you would, just give a round of applause for Clayton. So he's doing good up here. Thank you. But yes, thank you. And thank you, Mayor and Council, for going to accept this donation. Thank you very much.

I think Chief hit on it perfectly. We very much, and Terry Lynn did say as well, there are areas The fact that we're able to support them and the support they provide to us day in and day out is just phenomenal. This truly is an honor for us. You guys are our heroes. We're glad to support any way we can. This is just such an amazing state. I have to say that.

Atlas is a great partner and they do a lot in the community and so we're just very appreciative that they chose to do possible go to very good use. So, Council, at this time, I'd like to make a motion to approve Resolution 2026-097. I'll second.

Thank you.

We have a motion and a second. If you would, please indicate your vote. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you very much. And Clayton has a big check, so...

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up are our items of community interest.

Good evening. My name is Erin Wallace, Communications Manager, and here are your items of community interest for the week. Join us for Community Town Hall to discuss the proposed multifamily residential development at 12150 Medical Parkway. The Town Hall will be held on August 3rd at 6 p.m. at City Hall. Join us at Brookhaven Country Club for a dialogue with your District 5 representative this Wednesday, July 22nd from 4 to 6 p.m. This will be a recurring opportunity every second and fourth Wednesday of the month for residents to connect, ask questions, share any concerns, and have an open conversation with your council member. Code Care Initiative has launched. The Farmers Branch Code Enforcement Division is excited to launch Code Care, a new community initiative connecting residents with volunteers and resources for property maintenance and minor home repairs. Whether you apply for yourself, nominate a neighbor, or are referred by code enforcement officers doing routine patrols. Our goal is simple. Work together to keep our neighborhoods safe, attractive, and vibrant. For more information about the program, volunteering, and to apply, visit FarmersBridgeTX.gov slash code dash care. Community meeting to discuss the Spooky Dash 5K. Farmers' Bridge residents, join us at Venue 1842 at the Historical Park on August 5th and September 9th to learn more about the race route, temporary impacts to nearby streets, and visit the community organizations. To register or volunteer for the race, please visit farmersbridgetx.gov slash all best spooky dash. Don't miss the free recycling and shredding event. Got old electronics or confidential papers piling up? Clear out the clutter safely and securely at our upcoming drop-off event. Join us at Barmers Ridge City Hall this Saturday, July 25th from 9 to 11 a.m. to dispose of your hard-to-recycle items. All papers brought in for sensitive document shredding must be completely free of binders, plastic sleeves, and binder clips. View the complete list of accepted electronics online at FarmersBridgeTX.gov slash public works events. Sign up for city e-news. As always, you can sign up for city e-news at FarmersBridgeTX.gov or by scanning the QR code on the screen. Have a great evening.

Thank you very much. Next up are public comments. Each person that speaks this evening will have three minutes to speak. Citizens must adhere to our speaker policy, and no disparaging marks or personal attacks to city staff, council members, or anybody else here on the panel. We have one person signed up to speak, and that is Price Trosen. When you come up, please state your name and address.

You remember from last time, don't you? Hello council price chosen 27, 11, not a few farmers branch. Just a couple of quick things won't take too much time. Just want to kind of bring up some roads issues as, you know, it looks like the Mavericks are going to be moving to the old value mall location. A fun fact is our DART station is the second closest one to that. So it might be a good idea to start looking into getting some sort of dedicated lane down Valley View Alpha back over to that area so that we can get ahead of the transportation that's going to be needed because the public transit to there is going to be bad and the traffic is going to be even worse. So our DART station may be one of the more used ones for people coming from other areas to get to there. The second one is I have been riding my bike on, I'm trying to ride every single street in Farmer's Branch. And one thing I've noticed is that B Street is really bad, like really bad. The There's a lot of potholes. The road's in really rough shape. It has a bike lane on it, which means the bike lane, painted bike lane on it is really faded as well. But even that whole... It's a pretty heavily trafficked street during the daytime, and I think allocating some resources to get B Street a little bit up to snuff would be pretty good. A lot of our roads are in really good shape. So, I mean, thanks to the city and the council for that. But I think B Street could really use some love, especially for people coming down to our Mustang Station businesses coming from the north. that are coming from our city, not from Carrollton. These are people coming from our city to come down to Mustang Station to do their some eating and shopping, et cetera. But that's all. Thank you.

Thank you. Next up is our consent agenda.

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we approve the consent agenda.

I second. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. If you would please indicate your vote accordingly. Motion passes. Thank you very much. Let's see. Next up is item L1, regular agenda item. Consider the request for a detailed site plan approval for a multifamily residential development on approximately five acre property addressed as 4707 Alpha Road and located within the plan development district number 107 and take appropriate action.

All right, well, thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Council. Good evening. It's always a privilege and a pleasure to be presenting before you. I'm Brian Campbell, planner with the Planning Division of Community Services, here to present to you tonight on the detailed site plan for 4707 Alpha Road. And so this is the subject property. It's located on the east side of our city at the northeast corner of Alpha and Welch Road. Just down the street is the Aussie Grind coffee shop and some of our prominent retail. And then up the street on Omega Road is Jen's Place. And so this property is within close proximity with some of our prominent retail and restaurants on this side of the city. It is zoned PD 107, and this is a detailed site plan request for a multifamily development. And so the applicant is David Bond with Spires Engineering and Surveying. He is requesting approval of a detailed site plan for a multifamily development in line with PD 107, which was created specifically for this development via ordinance number 3734 back on May 3rd of 2022. He's proposing a multifamily residential community. which will consist of 391 units. That unit count will be split between 261 bedroom units and 131 two-bedroom units. The two multifamily buildings will be wrapped around a seven-story parking garage, which will feature 646 spaces, with an additional 10 spaces on the east side of the property adjacent to the fire lane, for a grand total of 656 spaces. Amenities will include a pool and courtyard area for each of those residential buildings, a first floor club and amenity space, an outdoor seating area with an art installation, and a dog park. And now turning to landscaping, the applicant is proposing to landscape 28% of the property with 24 of the 36 existing trees being preserved. And now I will point out the locations of those amenities I just mentioned. So here at the southwest corner, we have the outdoor seating area with the art installation. We have our pool and courtyard areas here and here. And at the northeast corner here, we have the Dolph Park. And so these amenities, as well as the entire site, will feature enhanced landscaping. And in addition to all of these amenities, we will also have two trails. A six foot wide trail that will run adjacent to Welch Road and a 10 foot wide trail that will run adjacent to Alpha Road and connect to the existing ADA ramp here. So now turning to building design and articulation, the facades will feature a combination of materials typical of multifamily developments, including brick, stucco, and board and batten. Each facade will feature a combination of these materials in order to enhance architectural aesthetics. In addition, the buildings will be pulled up close to the street along both Welch Road and Alpha Road to encourage walkability. And at this time, the applicant is not proposing any signage. Any signage that is proposed will have to meet the requirements of PD 107 and receive approval of all proper permitting prior to installation. And so now turning to the multifamily development policy. A city council adopted the multi family development policy, the ordinance number 3715 on November 16th of 2021. With this policy, we've put forth a series of guidelines for how we would like to see multi family developments developed within the city. At the time of creation, that iteration of this development was evaluated against the policy to see where it's stacked up. And so now given that we're at the final stage, tonight with the detailed site plan, we wanted to do the same thing here to see how the final iteration of the plan stacked up against the policy. And so as you can see, in all but one instance, the policy is being met somehow, which is exactly what we want to see. And I'll just point out that one instance where the policy was not being met was the one regarding mixed use, given that this isn't a mixed use development. So now turning to the recommendations of the Farmers Branch 2045 plan, the plan does designate the subject property in the surrounding area as a mixed use. With this land use designation, the plan recommends a healthy mix of the recommended land use types in order to form a series of cohesive districts for areas of the city that have this designation. And so with that, those recommended land use types are medium to high density residential, office, commercial, light industry, small manufacturing, civic parks, and open spaces. And so given that this is a high density residential development, it is in line with the Farmers Branch 2045 plan. And I would also point out that in addition to the subject property that we're looking at tonight, we do have several adjacent properties within the area that are entitled for multifamily development. And so we could potentially have several multifamily developments coming online within this area in the future. And as these multifamily developments come online, there's also the potential for those compatible retail and commercial uses that will not only benefit these multifamily uses, but also be compatible with Aussie Grind and Jim's Bakery and the other retail and restaurants that we have in the area. And so, thus creating that cohesive district that the plan recommends. And so I say all that to say that even with our daily development cases, the Farmers Branch 2045 plan comes in handy with our work as planners, given that we're not only evaluating what's on the ground in the present, but doing the same thing with what could be on the ground in the future. And at their June 22nd meeting, the Planning and Zoning Commission did unanimously recommend approval of this request. And with that, that does conclude my presentation. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to take those. Otherwise, as always, I thank you for your time this evening.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Brian. This is in Council District 4, so I will start with Councilman Villafranca.

Thank you so much, Brian. I love how you explain everything in such great detail that anybody can understand. I appreciate it. This is a great project, and I'm excited about everything coming to our great city.

Absolutely. Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Gonzalez.

Thank you, Brian, for your presentation. Sure. I guess I'm just a little concerned on the parking spaces. If there's 391 units, let's say... At least two people have a car. That's 782 cars, but there's only 656 parking spaces. I guess that's the only thing that's kind of a little concerning to me. And then on top of that, having visitors. And then... Are they going to create a road on slide three? Is that going to be an extra road that they're going to create? Because we drove by, and I don't think there's a road on that side.

It's my understanding that they're not going to create a road at this time. And then with regards to the parking, the applicant felt that what they're proposing would be adequate.

Okay.

Okay. Thank you.

Of course.

Councilwoman Bennett.

Similar question. Sure. Have the police department reviewed this plan, the site plan and the parking specifically with how the garage is kind of encompassed in the middle for safety? Just want to make sure that they don't wind up on some of our other programs to remediate.

Absolutely. So we do include our police department in our development committee reviews. They did review this, and they didn't relay any concerns to us at this time. Thank you. Thank you.

Councilman Reed. Hey, Brian. Hey, David.

What is the requirement for parking number per unit? Is it like 1.6, 1.4?

If you bear with me just a moment, I do have a copy of my staff report.

Oh, I'm sorry to throw you a curveball.

That requirement is 1.6 spaces per dwelling unit.

Oh, okay. So it does meet because it's like 1.6, 8, something like that. Yes, actually, they're actually exceeding that requirement by quite a bit. Okay. Which is fantastic. Plus the extra 10. So that's a good positive. Do we know... I know it's not stated here, but are they looking to include any attainable housing units in that complex or no?

To the best of my knowledge, no, sir. Okay. I figured if they did, they would have stated it. Yes.

All right. That's all I have. Thank you, Brian.

Thank you, Councilman Reed. Councilman Neal.

Thank you, Brian. As always, great job. Thank you, sir. This is PD 107, correct? Correct. And PD 107, was that created specifically for this project?

Yes, sir, and I didn't mean to mention that at the top of my presentation, but yes, it was.

Okay, so this PD was created specifically for this project, and that was back in May of 2022. Yes, sir. About four years ago, right? Four plus. Do you have any idea... when the building might commence their construction and a duration time to complete the build-out?

My best estimation of all goes, well, I would imagine they'd be breaking ground sometime next year, maybe in the second or third quarter.

I see. Okay. And then just... One final question, probably more for the attorney on this project. I want to make sure we have the appropriate protections from a city perspective with respect to any insurance, bonds, performance bonds, anything like that. This is a rather large project. I want to make sure that we're well covered here.

It's a very large project, but the zoning is in place, so it's a use by right. The scope of our authority, really, under these circumstances is to improve site plans, BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATIONS AND OTHER DEVELOPMENT-RELATED PERMITS, BUT IN TERMS OF IMPOSING BONDING REQUIREMENTS ON CONSTRUCTION, THAT'S BETWEEN THEM AND THEM.

NO, I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S NOT, have a financial difficulty and the project goes under and we're stuck with a Myra Jr.

The issues would be a bit different. The Myra Jr. problem primarily came from off-site infrastructure construction and insolvency.

I just want to make sure our city is well protected on this project.

We're never completely protected. I understand.

We've done the best we can. Thank you. That's all I have. Thank you, Brian. Absolutely.

Thank you, Councilman. Anything else, any further? Seeing nothing, this item is French.

Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve R2026-098. I apologize, 2026-059. There you go.

I'll second. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. If you would, please indicate your vote. Motion passes. Thank you very much. Thank you, Council. All righty. We have three brief items to finish up from our study session earlier, so we're going to move right into that. And so we'll resume with item C6, which is to receive an update on gateway monument signage options at key entry quarters and neighborhood locations.

Hello, Mayor, Council, Erin Flores, senior management analyst. Back again today to discuss monument signs for key areas of the city and neighborhood entryways. So we brought this item last in May where Council gave the direction for us to go out for RFP and get approval, excuse me, get proposals. from some different vendors to see what options we might have. So staff has done that and based on design quality, cost, turnkey services, staff has determined that SSC Signs and Lighting gave the best overall quality product. So we brought their concept ideas here for you all to review today. There are several different options here. So for LED messaging with double-sided, they presented this first, option A. Keep in mind, even though this is darker colors and council did not want to go that direction, that this is customizable. It could be changed to be like sandstone color or lighter color. They just wanted to show a design option here. And this is option two. Again, customizable. If we wanted it smaller, we could do that. The cost for these signs is from $125,000 to $165,000, dependent on the different specifications of the sign and what council would like to see for that. It is a little more pricey, but they do include all the services as far as installation, wiring, permit approval, all of those different items are covered by the vendor. And additionally, they offer a five-year warranty on parts. So if anything were to go wrong, we have a five year warranty and they offer a 10 year guarantee that the parts will be available for us to purchase. And then here's some options for static signage, meaning they do not have electronic messaging capabilities. The vendor recommends using these types of signs Potentially for medians neighborhood entryways places that have smaller slower speed streets And then reserving these larger LED ones for major corridor areas And I'm here for any questions Thank you very much.

This is an item that was originally brought up by councilman Neal.

So we will start with him Thank You mayor Thank You Aaron These look pretty good. I'm a little surprised by the cost, but I think our original costs were in the $30,000 to $40,000 range, and now we've pretty much tripled or quadrupled that, so that's just a bit of a surprise. I had one question regarding some of the neighborhoods would like to identify themselves within Farmer's Branch. Which one of these examples might facilitate an option to say this is the I don't know, Johnston Park neighborhood, Farmers Branch, Texas, or some other similar neighborhood.

Sure.

Is there one here? Do we have any kind of example, or do we just have to modify the design?

I do not have an example for that. However, I had spoken with the vendor and asked about how it could be customized. And they did let us know that the size of the letters shown here on this rendering can be altered however we would like. And then a neighborhood name could be placed right underneath Farmer's Ranch. We can move Farmer's Ranch up. We can move it around however we'd like.

OK. And it says here the height. Is that seven inches?

It should be seven feet. Sorry. That's how it was in the proposal. And I copied and pasted. I should have checked.

So it's seven to 10 feet tall? Yes. What about the width?

So the width for these is 18 to 24 feet, depending on the corridor size and how large we wanted it.

Right. These are for this page you have here, the smaller signage? Yes. What are the sizes of the larger ones?

Although it says smaller, but they're meaning as far as shortness, and they can make it as small as we need to to fit into the corridor area. They say 18 to 24 feet, but the vendor also told me that they could reduce it even more if they wanted to.

So they could go down to maybe 10 feet or 12 feet or even, but keep the same sort of design aspect of it?

Yes, and that would also reduce the cost.

I see, I see, okay. What about ongoing maintenance costs? Are there any, or is that covered for warranty period and then we're on the hook?

It is covered for the five-year warranty period. After that, we would have to pay for parts if any of the parts were to go out. And that just depends on which part would go out for the static signage. The obvious thing that would go out would be the lighting from behind the letters, which they told me would be approximately $500 to $1,000 depending on which parts went out, if it was the whole thing or just a part of it. So it would really just depend on what the issue was as to the cost. For LED, that's gonna be more expensive. The screens, they did tell me that they last 7 to 10 years and then they may have to go in and replace the bulb on the inside. And that could cost anywhere between $2,000 and $3,000.

So this option A here, I'm sorry, what did you say the width of this is? 20 feet?

So in this depiction here, this is 3.5 feet tall by... I'm sorry, I want to say it was 12 feet wide.

For this one here, option, okay. Okay, that's all I have. Thank you, Erin. I appreciate all the hard work on that.

You're welcome.

Councilwoman Gonzalez.

These look amazing, but I am also surprised on the cost of these. Is there anything that could be placed over like the LED screening for protection, like we have a hailstorm or... I don't know if there's like a plexiglass type thing that can be placed over it for a little extra protection?

From my understanding, and I'll double check with the vendor to be sure, but from my understanding with the conversation I had with the vendor, he said that it is reinforced. It is still glass, but it's reinforced so that it can withstand the weather, the different weathers that come up. But I'll double check with him to see if there's another added layer of protection we could have. But from what I understand, it's reinforced already.

Okay. That's all I have for now. Thank you. Okay.

Councilman Bennett.

Insurance. Yes. Okay. So assuming one of our amazing drivers has an accident and takes one out, will our insurance cover the replacement?

Yes. So it would be under the same as all of our city assets. It would be covered under our TML. Yes.

Councilman Reed.

They look fantastic. I'm looking forward to getting them installed. For the LED messaging, how or where is the messaging controlled from and by?

So it includes a software that's included in the price that they'll come and do free training for our staff on. So it'll be a software that we can control from the city and also from our cell phone. they have an app that you can have on your cell phone.

Fantastic, thanks.

Yes.

Councilwoman Villafranca.

Thank you, Mayor. I am a little bit, so last year we had a surplus. We had a huge budget surplus. And this year things, you know, staff is only getting a 1% increase and I'm a little bit concerned about the cost that has gone up so much. So I would be in favor of maybe doing something like this, but maybe not the fanciest. As an example, the lighting behind the letters, I think that brings the price up quite a bit, and also it brings the maintenance up quite a bit. So maybe not necessarily having, so I feel like the daytime rendering and the picture that you have up on the screen, that one might not be a lighting behind the letters. I'm not sure, or all of them are. They all have it, yes. Oh, okay. Um, so the very first picture where the background is, if you could go to the, your first slide and you know what? No, no, no. The previous slide previous.

I'm sorry.

This was, this was the first one. Yes.

And so that's all right here. Yes, I know.

Yeah. So I kind of like something more simple that never goes out of style and maybe have, have it lit. Um, I know at the time when the other signs with the leaves were put in, everybody thought they were great, and they really look dated now. Even though they're pretty, but they look dated. And I really like all of the renderings, so thank you very much. But I am more in favor of keeping it more simple and effective, if that makes sense. Thank you.

Anybody have anything else?

Aaron, go ahead. I was just going to say, I think when we first launched this idea, we were looking at a means to be able to communicate therefore the LED screens on there. So not only saying farmer's branch, but city council meeting, warnings for high temperature warning, like for today, and things along those lines. So I think despite the cost, I think the service that those signs would provide would be more beneficial than just something saying here's City Hall. Like we were talking about putting it in front of the police station and different places like that so people, we can communicate to residents of things that are happening. My thought is to go more for the LED signs than just the static.

Thank you. I agree. I agree, Councilman. But I agree with the simplicity, but with the LED screens in strategic places, Josie Valley View, you know, somewhere maybe three or four places, I don't know where the entrances would be.

Okay. I was under the assumption the whole premise of the original discussion was to have the messaging capability to our residents and have that placed throughout the city. So what I'd like to see from staff are suggested locations for messaging signs. And so those would be whichever digital capability you want to have, but I'd like to see you all come back with, hey, here's a suggestion. We need X number of digital signs. This is approximately where they would all be throughout the city, and I think that would help give council a better idea on, okay, what is the most appropriate spend of money on this?

Okay, so we will go back and we'll work with park staff and our city management team to see what the best locations may be. I do think that an aspect of it too was the neighborhood entry signs. So we'll come up with some ideas within our allotted budget and we'll see what we can come back to council for locations and different options.

Sounds great.

Okay. Thank you. All right. Thank you all.

Oh, I'm sorry. Hold on. I was just going to add Aaron and... Ben, if it helps, I've identified eight areas, specifics within District 5. So that would be eight monuments, starting there. So given that District 5 has not received any new park, like every other district here, I was hoping that my district might be able to be given some amenities in this area. So that was one of the other reasons I had brought this forward. OK.

Very good. We'll work on the options and we'll come back, okay?

Very good.

I was thinking it was going to be eight throughout the city.

For the record, I don't think we've had... Recall an additional purpose of this was to identify given neighborhoods, Mercer Crossing or Johnson Park. So those would be smaller sized units, I would think, in my guess.

Yeah, I think it would probably be a combination of both. You'll have digital signs wherever they are and come up with a recommendation for that. Maybe it's two separate plans. And then one is a separate or second plan, which is the neighborhood naming.

Certainly, we would have LEDs everywhere. But maybe the more major thoroughfares, you might have something like that.

OK. And a phased approach may be the best. We'll determine.

Okay. And I would suggest that council, if you have a specific requirement, just communicate that to the city managers in your one-on-one. Go from there. All right. Next up is item C7, receive an update from the mayor and city council members regarding board liaison information from outside organizations and other meetings attended. Councilwoman Gonzalez.

I attended the district to town hall meeting. I had a meeting with the superintendent from Kelton farmers branch. Dr. Wendy Eldridge and our city manager and our deputy city manager. I also had a meeting with. State Representative Rafael and Chia and his chief of staff, Tonya, along with our. a community member, Ms. Loretta, and I had a separate meeting with Ms. Tanya about how to just kind of get an understanding of how to communicate and work with our state reps. Councilman Benn.

Hosted the Code Cares Town Hall Kickoff, and I attended the Shelter Advisory Board meeting.

Councilman Reid. I attended the joint meeting with Planning and Zoning with city council, also the big triple C meeting, the committee, commission, and council meeting that we had, the heads of the committees and commissions joined with council. And I also went and saw Shrek. at Firehouse Theater, and I know it's over, but it was an incredible, incredible production, so hats off, as always, to Firehouse Theater, and if you have not done so yet, make plans to go see Grease. That looks like it's going to be incredible as well, and I hear it is the word. Grease is the word, come on.

We got it. Council Member.

Thank you, Mayor. I met the city manager and I met with the CEO of Habitat for Humanity. I attended the Loteria at the Branch Connection. They have Loteria now on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month from 5.30 to 7. I highly recommend it. It's a lot of fun and it kind of brings back childhood memories if you grew up playing Loteria. I attended a Raise Your Hand Texas meeting. Also attended Rotary Club. And I just want to give a special thanks to Parks and Recreation for all of the work that they do. And as we honor Parks and Recreation Month, I was able to attend the July 10th picnic pop-up, and it was a lot of fun. I appreciate you. Had my office hours, attended the District 2 Town Hall meeting. I had an opportunity to go down to the DART office on the train. It was a lot of fun. and I was able to meet the three candidates, and I'm really, really glad with the choice that they made for the new CEO of DART. I attended the NALEO conference in Los Angeles, California, and I just want to thank you for the honor and the privilege to serve all of you and to represent all of you. It was a great conference. I learned a lot, met a lot of great people, and it was a great use of my time. Attended the charter review committee via zoom Thank you to the city manager and to the staff who work so hard to make sure that we are able to participate in all of these programs I also attended the boards and commissions joint meeting as well as the planning and zoning Commission's joint meeting all by zoom and I know it's a lot of work and I appreciate you Thank you so much Stephanie yes, I've

I initiated the District 5 dialogue for the residents in District 5. However, any residents certainly welcome to come and talk with me. I also was invited to and attended a residence meeting regarding the MIRA project. I shared that information with our city manager and council District 4 representative. I attended the PNZ joint meeting along with the rest of the council as well as the commissions, boards and commissions representatives. meeting. That's it.

Thank you. I report that I had actually two different meetings with Commissioner Summerman. One was in regards to a million dollar grant that we're going to receive from the county that will help fund some road and other infrastructure work in the city and then yesterday met with him and others in regards to housing of unhoused individuals. So we're working on that. Of course, we had the pop-up picnic at Farmers Branch Park. Thank you to the Park Department for cooking hot dogs and doing that. Mayors and city managers had a virtual meeting with the three DART finalists last week. And so it was a nice opportunity to meet those folks. I participated in the I-58 July food giveaway. Kelton farmers branch ISD had a dancing culture program that they kicked off and So I was a part of that along with Denton County Commissioner Kevin Falkner, thank you Of course, we had a joint meeting with City Council on PNZ. We also had board and commission reports With the City Council Our mayors, Metroplex mayors, we toured the GM assembly plant last week, and that was really interesting to go through that and see that in full swing. Very, very interesting. I attended the MetroQuest Chamber Luncheon, and I appreciate all the Farmers Branch businesses that are taking time out of their day to go and attend the Chamber Luncheon and network with other businesses in... Farmers Branch, Carrollton, and Addison. I attended the North Texas Crime Commission meeting last week, and they had a DA's panel. They had six DA's from around the area that talked about crime and what they are seeing in their courts with their prosecutors. Last week I was also a part of Michael Finley's Gifts Foundation, which had a graduation ceremony for the seniors that had gone through his program and are now getting ready to go on to college. And so I was invited to talk about giving back to the community, and I really appreciate them including me and the City of Farmers Branch in that. Chamber also put on a little snack and shoot event at Eagle Gun Range, which was the first one. They're going to do this the third Thursday of every month, and it's just an opportunity to come, have some snacks, and then do some shooting at Eagle. Of course, we had Friday Franks last Friday at the Branch Connection. And then I also had the opportunity. I also had the opportunity to have dinner on Friday night with Congresswoman Beth Andine and talking about opportunities for not only Farmers Branch but our MetroCrest region. So that is all I have. Next up is item C8, review and discuss future agenda items. Councilwoman Gonzalez.

I would like to request that staff research and present the funding opportunities available through the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, including how the city may leverage applicable grants to advance local housing initiatives.

Councilman Bennett. I have two. I know that we just received an update on grants, but can we get a more recent update on grants that we, I know times are tough and some granting, we're losing some grants and how we're actually reallocating funds to cover those expenses. And then I'd like to go to RFQ for legal services. I'd like to direct the city manager to issue a request for qualifications for city legal services and return to us with recommendations negotiated professional services agreement for city council consideration approval. The agreement shall establish a defined contract term a clearly set forth scope of services, compensation, billing standards, performance expectations, conflict of interest provisions, notice of termination expectations, and other material terms governing the City's legal representation. The City Council does expect the City's current legal services to participate in this competitive process.

Councilor Reid. I'd like to direct the city manager to research and present recommendations for establishing an independent ethics committee applicable to elected officials and members of the city's boards and commissions. The recommendation shall include proposed standards of ethical and professional conduct, procedures for the review and resolution of ethics complaints, due process protections, committee composition and responsibilities, ethics, education, and training, and any ordinance or charter amendments necessary to establish a fair, impartial, transparent, and legally sound ethics framework that promotes accountability, integrity, and public confidence in the city's governance. Councilman Villafranca.

Nothing for me. Thank you, Mayor.

Councilman Neal.

Nothing at this time, Mayor. Thanks.

Thank you. Okay. I do not have anything, and that is all the business that we have for this evening, so we will adjourn at 6.55. Thank you.