City Council - Regular Meeting

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Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. good afternoon everyone. Uh [snorts] want to welcome everybody to the work session for January 14th, 2026. Happy new year to everyone. I guess first time we get together um publicly. So, uh, we'll go ahead and start the meeting. Uh, citizens comments. Jennifer, do we have any residents? Okay. Number two, city operation update.

We have one. April come up with last month on ICTN.

Good afternoon, mayor and council. April Riley, director of communications for the city of Irving. Pleased to present to you last month for [clears throat] December. But before we start the video, I'd like to share some stats for 2025 on behalf of the ICTN team. The team posted 775 videos on YouTube last year alone. They had over 370,000 375,000 views on those videos with a,000 additional subscribers added to our YouTube channel. And our top content of the year was the Sparks and Stripes live stream with over 16,000 views. So, um, shout out to the team. They've done a great job. We're going to continue to producing outstanding video content for this community. And with that, we'll roll last month of ICTN for the month of December. [music] Your ICTN team produced 31 videos in the month of December. It's that Christmas Hallmark feeling right here in Irving, which is such a large town, but on a night like this, it feels like such a small town.

It's really a privilege that I get to dance with these people that I've known my [music] entire life and make the story come to life. Babe is a year and 8-month old dog. We've had her [music] about 8 months. She loves to be around people, loves to be around the family. I had a gut feeling that it was going to be successful. I don't think anyone could have predicted the global phenomenon that it's become. This room [music] is built for connection. Every seat feels like front row seat. Making sure that they're engaged with the community, they're engaged with our staff, letting them know that we're [music] here for them.

We want to give back. It's just a testament to the commitment that we all have to the community. This location is really different, really good atmosphere and the largest one and we do our best for better food, better life to my customers. [music] That just shows the commitment that our city leaders have into providing these types [music] of services for our citizens here in Irving. Isn't it great that we have to stop here [music] because there's bikers and there's walkers and there's joggers. It makes your heart feel good that you did the right thing.

Stay up todate by subscribing to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/the city of Irving. Did I hit that one right? Thank you. Thank you. Uh the next thing I have is a recognition for the uh convention center which is celebrating 15 years. Congratulations [applause] Mora. You want to bring your team up? Send them up. Mayor, you bet.

I'll tell you who's up there. There are a lot of faces you guys don't usually get to see. Oh jeez.

It's warm.

All right. So, just so everybody knows on the on the far side is Tom Gilbert who is our director of facilities. Casey Via Seenor our director of sales. Who's next? Corey Black, our director of food and beverage, Bria Scott, one of our sales managers, Maddie Thornton, our HR queen, Cayla Perez, who came to us as a concession supervisor, but as of a couple of weeks ago, is uh an assistant general manager. So, yay on you. And director of events, Kim. And I'm going to come back to the man here in a second. We're going to skip one and go to assistant general manager Jeremy Pierce. our board chair Sam Reid, former board chair Bob Bugeois, the convention visitor bureau director of sales Matt Tungut who started with the convention center sales team and who we stole from the Weston on the north side of the airport. And then Lorie F Lorie Fetasic who just marked 32 years with us and is now our assistant or executive director sales and services. Coming back to the man almost in the middle, the man, the myth, the legend, the magic maker, Chef Eduardo Alvarez. [applause] Mayor, if you want to

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. [laughter] So close. [cough]

You've been involved with this since the start. So I have a proclamation from the office of the mayor. Whereas since the first hotels in began operating in advance of the 20 or of the 1974 opening of the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the idea of a convention center arose from time to time, but plans were never solidified. And whereas the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau began feasibility studies in 1999 for a convention center and headquarters hotel with the initial vision moving forward until economic downturn of 2020 of 2003. And whereas in 2006, a complete new focus for the new set of studies led to a plan that included a convention center, a headquarters hotel, and an entertainment district for for Irving. And whereas in January of 209, the city of Irving sold bonds for the convention center phase, which was ultimately delivered both on time and under budget. Thank you, Mora. And whereas since it officially opened on January 27th, 2011, nearly 3,500 events and more than 3 million attendees have been welcomed home to Irving, Texas, generating more than 76 million 337,157 in adjusted gross income and increasing weekend occupancy citywide by 15%. And whereas the city's long range vision has led not only to the success of the Irving Convention Center at Loscalinus, the Toyota Music Factory, and the Western Convention Center Hotel, but it's also been a vibrant and business for business for a bustling business corporate neighborhood emergence of companies including Caterpillar, Christa's Health, and Wells Fargo. Now therefore, I, Rick Stoer, mayor of the

city of Irving and the Irving City Council, do hereby proclaim January 27th, 2026 as Irving Convention Center at Los Kalina's 15th anniversary in Irving, Texas. Congratulations, Mora. [applause] Sam, you get to say a few things, but you [clears throat] know, one of the things that happens when you're around here for a long time is you get to see these things happen. Excuse [clears throat] me. So, I know a lot of you uh they're just on to the council and we're talking about big ideas and big things that are going to happen in the community. A lot of times it takes 20 to 30 years. I was elected in 1999 when we first or actually in '98 and in 99 when we started this whole project of looking at how we could do we had purchased land to build a just a a greeting center actually behind the flower clock. That was the original plan that we looked at. And then as we were able to really look at what could we do for Los Cleanest and what could we do for the hospitality industry with the business climate that we had here and the amount of things that we were able to do, we were able to buy the 40 acres and to have the vision and finance it at one of the worst times to be financing in in history, but we knew that we would be able to pay refinance a few years down the road, which then eventually brought us back to where we are today. And uh it's been a an amazing uh opportunity for the city to see and grow and the businesses to really understand it. Uh [clears throat] also would be reluctant if I didn't talk about the fact that really as a city people don't realize the hospitality industry is one of our key industries. It oversees about a third of the debt within the community. uh 33,000 33,000 people a day are in the city of Irving because of the hospitality industry. That's the business people that are here filling over 14,000 hotel

rooms and over taking and eating at over 600 restaurants. So that's what uh the convention center does for us. So thanks for letting me add lib a little bit. Congratulations, Sam.

Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Um, mayor and council, I just wanted to take a couple minutes to express our thanks to all of support that you have given us regarding the convention center. As mayor just stated, um the contributions that the convention center has made has really been amazing. But it all started with an idea and it all started again with your support and the great leadership that Mara Gast and her team have provided during this entire time. So, on behalf of the um Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau, we accept this proclamation and we say thank you again and appreciate everything that you've done today and what you'll do going forward. Thank you so much. [applause]

Want to just kind of squish squish act like we like each other? Do I have to stand between these two tall giant [laughter] Sam? Would you hand that to the mayor? He's going to get somewhere near chef. to be in the middle. [laughter]

Okay. Thank you for watching.

I was going to call you. Okay. It's hard to believe that building is 15 years old. Every time I walk in there, it looks like it just was redone. They do an amazing job. The next item is the uh review of the regular agenda. So items one and two are for the minutes from Thursday, December 11th for the work session and regular meeting. Item number four is amending ordinance number 20251167 providing budget adjustment number two to the 202526 fiscal year budget. Item number five is a resolution accepting the award of grant funds from departments of justice office of community oriented political services for use in creating a targeted recruiting plan amid a tough to-reach segment of the population and authorizing the city manager to execute any necessary grant documents. This is uh something that [clears throat] David met with some people the other day and I've met with people and they're and they one of the things they always say is with the diversity within our city, why do we not see more diversity within our police that that is your Asian-American that Indian Asian Indian Asian population, your Hispanic population and your African-American

population. So [clears throat] the question and I think David would did a very good job when they asked him about it. He said, "Well, how many of your sons and daughters want to work for the police department?" Uh, realistically, that's the first thing that has to happen. If you want to see something different, people have got to they've got to apply and they've got to go through the training. So, this is a special grant that is just great timing that gives uh our people the opportunity to go into the different uh minority groups and and and try to recruit the individuals to fill those positions. So, perfect timing, David. You can report back to them what you got done. And Abdul was there as well. You can report back and say, "Look how fast we got that handled. Wish we could handle all of them that fast, huh?" [clears throat] Yeah. Then item number six is a resolution authorizing the city manager or designate to sign the Texas Park and Wildlife Local Park grant program resolution authorizing application uh form and certification uh programming assistance directory grants form for submitt of Campion Trails Mfork Extension phase two for the legislative director directed grant. Again, this is uh staff moving forward. Uh Chris, I'll let you talk about

This is just great news. We really appreciate I'm just going to do a quick shout out [clears throat] to Representative Fernandez uh who is our representative for helping us to get this grant. She was instrumental in helping to secure these funds. And just a thanks to John Wuest and Joe and Trevor for working through this as well. So, thank you very much. We're just very appreciative to have $2 million coming in from the state to help us finish Campion Trails. And as always, we appreciate whenever the staff and any department has the opportunity to bring grants forward so we can continue to do the day-to-day work we need to do. Item number seven is a resolution awarding a contract to Dallas Harmony Construction LLC in the amount of 181,478 for the community development block grant fund funding the Heritage Senior Center Ballroom Floor Replacement Project. I think we talked a little bit about that this morning about CDGB grant money and how it can be used in a lot of different ways and this is this is one of them where we're able to uh continue to make sure the buildings are maintained. Uh item number eight is the bids items 8 through 20. Do any of the council members have any questions on any of the bids?

David. Yeah, Mr. Mayor. Uh, number eight. I just was curious what the 791 cooperative is.

Here comes Carly. Okay,

we have the expert in the room. We'll pretend that's the case. Um Darlene Humphre, purchasing manager for the city. The 791 purchasing cooperative is a cooperative that's run by the Central Texas Council of Governments. It is very similar in nature to all the other purchasing cooperatives that we utilize. Um, it is an agency that puts out bids and RFPs on behalf of its members to put contracts in place with companies that we can benefit from the utilization of because they have bid with a purchasing cooperative that generally speaking will provide cost efficiencies for us because that contract is going to get them business from hundreds if not thousands of customers. Whereas if we put something out ourselves, it would just be us.

Great. Thank you. You're welcome. Good question, David. I didn't know what it was either. Okay, item number 21 is calling. Excuse me, mayor. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Uh, I'm sorry. Yeah, I just I actually had a similar question on um Sure. It's numbers 17 and 18. just the interlocal purchasing system uh administered by the region 8 education service center and sure just a little bit of background like I don't know I'm just a clarification question really what um region 8 when I looked it up it wasn't we're not in region 8 I guess is this how did we come to get into an agreement with them I suppose

so region 8 is an educational service center that is running that cooperative Um but as a local government entity, we also have the opportunity to use those contracts. Um by board is run by the Texas Association of School Boards. Some of the other cooperatives that we um are members of are also run by educational service centers. Um it's just the entity that chooses to take that step and go out and um create this nonfor-profit organization who does these bids on behalf of whoever wants to become a member.

And so there's no geographical limit or anything like that? No, there's not. There's not. Thank you.

Other questions? Item number 21 is an ordinance calling a regular municipal election to be held on Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 for the purpose of electing the position of mayor and city council place districts three and five and calling uh subsequent runoff elections if necessary. Item number 22 is an ordinance authorizing the partial abandonment and vacationing of a 5-ft utility easement along a portion of property located at 1612 Brentwood Drive and being a portion of lot 21 blockplat of the Freeman Irving Heights edition owned by Jacob Davis. Item number 23 is a public hearing and [clears throat] [cough] and designating approximately 15.808 acres of land as tax payment reinvestment zone number 63. [snorts] Item number 24 is a resolution approving a tax abatement agreement between the city of Irving and Edge Dallas 2 LLC and the amount dependent upon annual qualifications. And that brings us to our zoning cases. [cough and clears throat] Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. Jocelyn Murphy, director of planning. We just have a few cases tonight. We split the January PNZ cases to lower the uh amount of cases um on each agenda. So, the first one, item 25, um PNZ did not need to see this one. It's a temporary use permit at 215 East Airport Freeway. This is Airport Freeway at Windrren. Um it was a complaint received by code for a essentially a work yard or a layown yard. It's an atmas contractor and um so they were told to come talk to us go through the process and so this they're requesting a temporary use permit for 6 months 180 days for the outside storage the layown yard and staff does recommend denial. So here's the property. It's zoned for multif family assisted living essentially for senior living. Um we understand that it might be developed for that but for now the owner of the property uh worked out just a temporary use. It was a hotel in the past. So the the center was the footprint of the building itself and the the whiter the lighter colors are pavement. All the activity is happening on the west side of the property uh where there's already concrete pavement where there used to be a parking lot. So, this is just their site plan. Um, if they were going to get a temporary use permit approved by council, the ordinance requires that it be 100 ft from a residential use, a residential district. Uh, so we have single family here on the west. There's multif family to the north. It's an apartment complex. So, if they get approved, um, they're in the area outlined as red right now. They would have to pull back to the area outlined as blue. Um the word shall is in the ordinance and therefore we see that that does not allow for any type of variance.

So here's some pictures of the use. They do have a temporary uh looks like a black chain link type fence. It is not a screen fence. It was more of a security fence. And just some more pictures of their [clears throat] activity. We're seeing it as we're calling it outside storage since there's no real building other than an office building. and I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Tennis, yeah, [clears throat] I'm I'm curious about the denial of this. I've seen that. I passed it all the time and uh they're going to be doing, you know, Atmas has a pipe replacement program going on in entire Dallas County. So, you're going to start having needs for these contractors to set up somewhere uh that's on Airport Freeway. And uh I don't see how that's a detriment to that neighborhood which is across the street. So uh I mean we need to think about this. I mean we're going to be having gas pipes replaced all throughout our city and throughout the county and they got to they got to they got to park somewhere. So I don't see how this is a detriment to that community or anybody else. So I don't understand the denial. I mean I understand the denial from from what you have to use it for. I think we need to cooperate with with these [clears throat] contractors who are going to have to find somewhere to set up their uh their sites.

Yeah, agreed. I mean, last thing we want to do is stop stop Atmos. I mean, that could delay them for four months for one little thing, but nonetheless, what would put it in compliance? They would need to pull their fence back to this area outlined in blue. And how how far are we talking about? Um well it's 100 feet from the northern property line and probably I don't know 40 feet from the western property line. And what have they said about that? They they said they'll be in compliance if that's what they need to do. We give them a time frame or do they need to do it immediately or what? Uh uh they would work with code to usually they are given probably 10 days at least to to get that moved back and they so what decision are we making right now

whether to allow the outside storage to allow the operations at all for 180 days in the current configuration not in any configuration in any configuration. Okay. So I'd be in favor of any configuration or Yeah. And and and what we're saying is they can't even if they get approval they can't do it in in the red. It would have to be in the blue and they think they can have enough space to do that. They've expressed they could do it. Okay. I think we give them opportunity to do it and go ahead and Yeah. Mark. [clears throat]

Yeah. I talked to Shane a little bit about this and um there is a the process for the temporary permits. I mean there is a [clears throat] an expedited process that's in place but that it's a process that should be gone through. I mean there should be an examination of is there going to be impact on streets? Are there easements that could be adversely affected? Um, fire is an issue. So, to just let them go wherever they want, whenever they want is not is not in the best interest of the city. So, they they should be required to go through this process. And and I Why did they think that they could just like plop it down? I mean, they're a contractor. They they do this all over. I mean, certain Were they aware that they needed to go through a process to to get this approval?

I don't believe they were. I didn't talk to them directly. don't believe they were aware of it.

Okay. Well, um yeah, I agree with what Dennis and David have said, which is obviously this work has to be done and so they can just move the fence over and be in compliance. I mean, that makes a lot of sense and um nobody seems to be complaining about it much. Um [laughter] so, uh u and it like it's on it's on the freeway and um and I know they're doing work, you know, right along Rashelle and and Wendrin in that area. So it makes sense for them to be closely located to it. So that makes a lot of sense. But yeah, but the there's it's it's important to go through that process and I think that we we should make them I mean Shane, can you speak to that? I mean, what are we going to do to make sure that um these contractors when these situations come up actually go through the go through the process so that we can have that review of fire safety and other considerations? Well, our our current process is what's resulted in the the discussion today. So, we receive a complaint or we observe activity that's unpermitted and then they are issued a notice from us. They're given typically 7 to 10 days to connect with the inspections and planning departments to begin a process as to whether or not what they're doing is legal. uh if there are conditions or constraints that are uh involved there in certain circumstances depending on the the situation uh review from fire and the fire marshall's office may be involved as well. uh in a situation here as we walk out of today's meeting, if they are uh if they're denied, we would issue them uh formal notice of that and provide them a brief amount of time, typically, you know, 10 to 15 days to cease operations and uh and then begin issuing citations if they don't. if it's approved and there's conditions that they need to meet outside of the way the the site is designed now we would give them uh that that 10 10day period to say hey this is where you need to be work

with them a little bit on timing and then if they chose not to comply and just continue then we'd begin issuing uh probably the operator and the the property owner citations at that point for violation of our our zoning. It sounds like um maybe it does happen where these things uh they just contractors prop up and nobody says anything and they just kind of like do their work and everything seems to be I guess if nothing nothing bad happens then nobody really cares. Is that kind of like the SOP for it's not uncommon for something to occur and and be so quick in the way they're operating that they're gone before uh we're either it's either brought to our our attention or we notice it.

Okay. All right. Thank you, Al. [clears throat] Thank you, Mayor. I guess what I'm understanding, join, is that they were going to have enough time to be able to correct the situation where the red outline is. Am I Am I reading that correctly? [clears throat] Yeah, I think Shane Express, they would have [snorts] 10 to 15 days. I'll let you Yeah, we would work with I don't understand why that section is what it is and why is it redlined? It's it's the way the temporary use ordinance is written that if there's going to be a temporary use, it's a protection from the residential district. So, it's a buffer from the residential.

Okay. So, we got a process to go forward, is it? Am I correct? Yes. Okay. Thank you, Adam. Just a quick question. Do we know if they checked with the property owner before they set up shop? Oh, yeah. Yeah. We wouldn't process Oh, before they set up shop. Yeah, they have permission, full knowledge of the property owner. Okay. [clears throat] Well, that's what you never you never know. TNZ. Okay. All right. That Well, the way Yeah.

There's a lot of stuff they never know about. So, your question's valid and a lot of respects. Okay. Any other questions? Next one. Thank you.

All right. Next case, number 26, 4019 Jackson. This is zoned R six. They're wanting to do SP246 to allow a parking lot. It's a principal use. Staff recommend approval. PNZ approval 8 to zero. No opposition or support. Um, this is across the street from the current Dallas Fort Worth Islamic Center. It was location of their previous Islamic Center. It was a home um and they used as the Islam Islamic Center and then they built a newer bigger one across the street. So, they have since uh get some pictures. They've since removed the house and they just want to uh request a parking lot as a primary use and it will be for the purposes of the Islamic Center directly across the street. So, just some pictures. I understand from what we can tell on the site plan, this um storage building will be removed and no longer necessary on the property. and just pictures the area and this is the Islamic Center that will be using the property. Be happy to answer any questions.

Al. Yeah. Thank you, Justin. Are we then looking at continuation of this kind of taking down homes and expanding for parking or what are we looking at here? It's just a sight by sight. I mean, I can't say it's a continuation per se, but it's it's not unusual. you look downtown, there's plenty of lots that are not [clears throat] connected to the church. They may across the street or something. So, it just depends on the need of the church. And then because it is not contiguous, they have to ask for the specific permission to be a primary use. Okay. Thank you. No other questions? I'll move to the next one.

Okay. Um 818 South Irving Heights, currently zoned RMF2, requesting go to R six. This one's pretty simple. a staff approval, PNZ approval late to zero, no opposition or support. It's uh existing home. The property owner got a permit, started doing some work, and decided it would just be a whole lot easier to take the house down and start over again. Um it was part of a excuse me, [clears throat] part of an area resoning in the 70s that took it to the multif family. Can't do single family in multif family district. So, he's having to zone it to single family so we can rebuild his house. Pretty simple. So, this is the construction underway and just some surrounding properties. Happy to answer any questions.

We're getting a new house. Sounds good.

Yep. Next one is uh 13:30 West Pioneer Drive. This is the Angelos's restaurant. Um they're CC Community today. They're wanting to go SP1 RAB wanting to start selling I believe it's beer and wine. Staff recommends approval PNC approval 8 to zero. Uh you have a memo. We yesterday got a letter in opposition from a church across the street. It does not equal the 20% opposition nor does it meet the 300 ft requirement. They are about little over 400 ft as measured doortodoor. So that does not trigger the variance. So, here is the location. So, the opposition I have a map in a second, but it came from this Fellowship Baptist Church across the street. Well, I thought I had a map. Anyway, it's number 13 is where the opposition came from. So, they're not changing anything on their building. Their parking is essentially the same. They I think they have a little less parking than they're supposed to, but we're considering that non-conforming. Since the request is not to change the use or change the site plan, it's just to add alcohol. We didn't see that as a concern. And I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Any other questions? Oh, John. So we are sure that there is no distance variance required for the church or any church in the area that might be in a strip mall. Yeah, we well we we mapped we definitely mapped this one that was in opposition. Let me go back to Yeah, for sure that one. Yeah. [snorts] Um but no, that that's the closest church in the area and it's door too, right? And you have to cross at the nearest Right. So what we did is we we took it over here down the sidewalk and we take it across the street and then we take it back over to their door and that was about I think it's 405 ft. No staff and I talked about it for a little bit yesterday to make sure we had it on point. Yeah. Okay. I just wanted to make sure cuz you know we've had that issue before

and it seems obvious across the street but we shouldn't be encouraging people to hop across the street. Yeah. [clears throat] Any other questions? This ah David, how long's this restaurant been there? It's continuously operating in Irving. It's a good question. 40 years. It's the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Irving. In terms of like the actual location, Joe's has it beat by in terms of uh longest operating franchise in Irving, but they're the oldest operating location. all these years. [laughter]

He's a little late. I'll take it. I think probably the price of food has gone up and he's trying to keep his prices low. So, he's trying All right, next one.

So, the next two cases are are two um text amendments. The first one is our car ports by special exception number 29. Um, PNC recommended [laughter] uh PNZ recommended I didn't put approval in here. Approval 7 to one. And um I won't go through all these in detail. You've seen those numerous times. But the proposals are to uh just create some of the procedures and requirements in the special exceptions section. It does include the public hearing and notice just like a zoning change. Creating the criteria for the board of adjustment. um and allowing the board of adjustment to consider those by special exception. So, just quickly again, the criteria that are recommended are um a carport has to be at least 10 ft or more from the front property line. So, if we do get a request at our desk, we will not allow them to proceed with a special exception. They would also have to ask for variance if they are asking for less than 10 ft. It has to comply with all the other applicable regulations. Um, number three, what you see here is in red is what the PNZ recommended. So, it has to at least be originally built with a onecar garage or no garage. Um, has to or could u has to have at least other legal non-conforming carports on the lot or it could accommodate a disabled person's ability to access, use, and enjoy the dwelling. Um, so at when this was discussed at PND, the comment was made and so PNZ did ask us to add it to the ordinance. In your packet, you've got two different ordinances. The only difference is this phrase. So, um, for the motion tonight, if you choose to approve, um, please identify which ordinance, uh, you are approving, whether it be what we call the original or the PZ PNZ recommended. Again, the only difference is this disability

clause. Um, other requirements is whether there's access to the rear of the property through an alley, whether it's um enough property on the side of the home where they could put the carport instead. Um, and whether the height, size, and location of the carport will not have a detrimental impact on adjacent properties. So, all those criteria would have to be met. Number three, just one of those would have to be met. Justin. [clears throat] Yes. So, back to number three. So, if a house was built originally [clears throat] with a twocar garage, it it could not apply for this.

It would. Yeah, it would not apply. Yeah. It could not essentially couldn't get a carport because it would not be processed through a special exception. Um, the ordinance also does not provide for if a special exception is denied, it could not go through the SP process. If I can clarify that the way that the PNZ recommended, if it was a two-car garage and the finding was that the carport would accommodate a disabled person's ability to access and enjoy the dwelling unit, then it could be approved. But you'd have to find one of the three conditions in item three would have to be true. And one and two don't involve twocar garage ports, twocar garages. But the third one, if you found that one to be true and it was a twocar garage and all the other statements were true, it could be approved.

Al, yeah, let me see if I understand what you just said, Phil. [laughter] Is there a disabled person in that home that that's why they need this? That would be the fine that that's what the applicant would have to show and prove uh to the board. Okay. Thank you, Mark. I heard at P&Z there was the the definition of disabled would be taken from the ADA. Is that what it was? Well, both there are state and federal definitions of disabled or disability. They're all the same or is it is there federal is a a little more expansive, but we would obviously follow both, but we would follow federal as well. They they they match pretty closely.

Well, Kayla, how does that work? What do we what do we follow? I would say we would follow the most expansive definition here. I mean, this is not it's a very unique situation here. It was just to make sure there was room for a very special or unique circumstance that was brought forward. Again, it's not a it is, hey, do they meet this criteria that it can even be considered? It is not a requirement that the BOA say yes. That's how I understood. Um, it was just if we didn't have anything there and we had this unique situation, they didn't meet any of the other criteria, we didn't want to foreclose the ability for them to at least be able to present their case to the BOA.

Okay. And then on number three, so it's in the disjunctive. So the first one is the primary dwelling was originally built with either a onecar garage or no garage. That's so we get that. Then it says, "Or there are legally permitted or legally non-conforming car ports on the block that encroach into the front sub act that could encompass two car Yes. garages. Yes. So So if there's a neighborhood where there are non-conforming carports of you and those could be properties where there's one there was was there was a onecar garage, then they could have a double carport. Yes. Yes. Maybe configuration wise that wouldn't make sense but

the the thought was is to respect the past carport blocks. So if it or carport allowances so if there were already carports within that front setback that kind of already penetrated the view site for lack of a better word um then it's it's already it's already started. So that that was the intention with that is if there are already carports on that block on that side of the block then it's it's kind of a no harm no foul to have additional ones. We just didn't want to be the first to have a and if it's a twocar garage then they could have a double carport if there are other carports already on the block. Yes. Or disabled.

And if and if their property was a former onecar garage. I mean, does it I mean, that that would be weird, I guess. You know, if you put a double carport on there and there was only a single garage there before. They could We just recently had a zoning case where it was a onecar garage and they wanted a double double carport. It just has to meet the size limitations for carport, which I think is and the driveway. Yeah. This is just to be able to apply. Well, they're going to get it. I mean, if they if it fits these criteria, they'll they'll get approved. Mhm. Yeah. Well, it wouldn't be approved. It's it's still a consideration. So, it's still a may approve. So, if if they go through all these and and PNZ gets a lot of opposition. I

mean, there'd be no reason not to if it meets these criteria. Well, there's opposition. So, if there's, you know, if for some reason the neighbors don't want it, then PNZ does not have to approve. Okay. All right. Thank you. And just real quick, block is defined by the same side or do we need a It's the same side. So, if we look actually at a plat that block is that same. Okay. Thank you. No other questions. The

rest of it's easy. That's the hard part. Um, so we just did some amendments to the board of adjustment duties and then uh just did some cleanup allowing that uh bigger lots could have up to 200 or two garages as long as basically one is in the rear and cleaned up that requirement for demolition and the additional fee um if they u with what's been done with the permit. Um so here we are just a little bit of quick history of what we've been through this year. doesn't include all everything we've done for the past few years. I'm just asking for your consideration tonight um again of one of the two ordinance versions that you have in your packet

questions. All right, sounds good. And then the last one is our cemetery regulations. This was a re recommended for approval by PNZ as well. Um, again, I won't go through all the backgrounds, but the proposals are a minimum lot width of 80 ft, certain setbacks from the right of way, not located in easement, um, maximum height depends on whether adjacent to residential zoning or other zoning districts wanting to protect any residential uses. A minimum lot size, uh, still remains at 25 acres. um no fencing that's you don't s typically see a um a cemetery with fencing. There are certain accessory buildings that are permitted. Lighting has to remain aimed and directed onto the property. Um the parking there are there are minimum parking requirements for funeral homes. The internal driveways would serve as parking for the actual sites themselves. So the roads will be designed to be wide enough so that people can park on the side and still pass. And there are certain minimum sizes of roads that uh follow the ones that were recommended to us. The application procedure is the SP2 application. So they would be be asking for an SP SP2 for a cemetery and we have uh the checklist they would be following. We also added a requirement that was requested that we see the proposed locations of the internal driveways on that SP2 generalized site plan. We're also adding just some definitions that are consistent with the state definitions for cemetery, colarium, and mausoleum. And then again, just a little history of uh the discussions that we've had and here we are today uh requesting consideration tonight. So, I'll be happy to answer any

questions. And Ken is here for questions as well. David. Yeah. Thank you, Jocelyn. Uh, thank you, Mayor. Uh, we have, uh, looks like 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 nine cemeteries already. What are those zoned as cemeteries right now? No, I mean, those are historic cemeteries. Actually, the one one thing one that we find humorous, this Tomkins family cemetery is actually part of the 183 ride ofway. People don't realize it, but if you drive down and you'll see a tuft of trees, that's actually a cemetery. Wow. Yeah. So, let's say one of these cemeteries wanted to expand on land they already own. Do is that a new application or is it Yes, it would be. Okay. They they'd go through the SP2 process.

Mhm. To utilize land that's still on their same plot of land. Well, if if it was designated I mean if if it was designated as a cemetery per the state and that's worry what we'd have to do is is look at the state and see what the state designates. Um but if they want to expand significantly then especially onto other properties and that would definitely go through this process. But if if it was already property that was dedicated as a cemetery, they just haven't filled it up then that that is the cemetery. It's just not full.

Right? So, if we take one, just take the top one for example, Haley Memorial, I'm not even sure where that is. 2.97 acres. Is that the plot of land that they're on or is that the cemetery portion of that plot of land? Ken did this map, so I'll [clears throat] let him answer the questions. Yeah, that's the size of the the cemetery itself. So, that's the entire property. So, that's the entire property, right? So this uh small one next one the Harrington 28.

So Harrington is point 0.28. So that is the size of that cemetery. So if somebody wanted to do a new cemetery adjacent to it, that would be a new zoning case because that's not an expansion of an existing cemetery. That's a new cemetery. Then our biggest one, Oakrove, 26.9 acres, which is down the street from here. Yeah. If if they wanted to ever expand it, that's a new cemetery unless it's on their land that they still have.

Yeah. They they've actually they did that about 15 20 years ago. They actually expanded and went through zoning case at the time. We didn't have the cemeteries. Basically goes back to a zoning case. Let P&Z look at it. Let us look at it. And any variances like we always do on the ordinances or the right, we can still approve it. Right. Right. Okay, Dennis. Yeah. So, in reality, we've only got one cemetery out of all those, excuse me, cemeteries [clears throat] that actually could even expand. The rest of them can't expand because they don't have no they don't have the room. Yeah. Old Oak [clears throat] Grove is definitely the primary cemetery.

Yeah. Um Um because I'm very familiar with all them other ones there. They they don't have no room to expand. So, have we identified any parcels of land in the city that could be 25 acre cemetery? So, this process was simply a response to the state change, not last legislative session, but the one before 2023 to create a process for this. So, we did not actively look for sites. It would be up to if someone wants to propose a site, then we would send them through this process. And and and reason I'm getting at what I'm getting at is to me it just kind of comes down to whether you want more cemeteries or not. 25 acres you're not going to get any more cemeteries uh for the most part cuz you where do you have 25 acres of land?

Texas stadium site. Oh that's right. We got 80. But I mean my the point I'm making is that when I see that 25 acre minimum requirement, it just tells me that this ordinance does not want to allow any cemeteries in Irving. Is that kind of where this council is? It's my question. Um, you know, I I just I'm just trying to be fair. I mean, cemetery is not the most popular place. I understand that.

They're dying to get in. Give them a break. But uh but I'm you know I'm just trying to be you know fair to maybe somebody who kind of maybe wants to they found a a spot somewhere you know that really is not you know an intrusion into a neighborhood or whatever. But when you put that 25 acres up there you just eliminated anybody's chance of trying to do this. So basically what we're saying is we don't want any anymore in a nutshell with the 25 acres. Al. Uh, yeah. I don't think we're saying that. I think we're setting a a 25 acres period. I'm sure there I'm not sure that there is any kind of free space for that. But at the end of the day, I think it's important that we have some level of of measurement. We've done it. I like it. I think 25 acres is a good good number. So, I hear where you're going with it, though. Adam,

then just to clarify and we're saying 25 acres, but if someone proposes a smaller cemetery, they just have they have to go through planning and zoning. It would be considered a variance through this SB process. So, we would identify it as a variance and they could still theoretically get it, you know, if we approved the application. Yeah, it would be council's prerogative to grant the variance at the same time you would do the SP just like we do all the time. All right. Thank you. David, I'm sorry. One last question. Jocelyn, if today before we put this ordinance in, someone wanted to come to a cemetery, what's the process?

It's it's the same process. It would be the SP. We just wouldn't have the standards to measure it by. Okay. So, this is setting the standards in addition to locking in the SP2 process, but we would still whenever we have a use that's not identified, the SP process is what we have to default to. Thank you.

Basically, when the state in their infinite wisdom gave this gave us this great opportunity, we had to create a regulations for it and that's all we've done. It's just like anything else. If you want a setback on your house or you want a variance to parking or something like that, but we have to now that they've given us this, we have to come up with an ordinance. And so that's where we're at. [clears throat] Any other questions? Okay. All right. That's all our cases for tonight. Thank you. Just Mr. Mayor. Yes.

If I could go going back to the previous item, um I want to make sure that there's a point is clear on the carport ordinance relative to um requests. We're we're and I want Jocelyn, I want to make sure that I'm understanding this correctly. We're setting up a process where the person wanting a carport that encroaches into the setback has to go through this process with the board of adjustment. Correct. And they have to meet all these criteria. So if if you had a carport that was going to be 5T from the front property line, um they couldn't bypass this process and then just go straight to an SP, could they? No.

Okay. They would they would have to go through this process. of course, they don't meet the criteria, so they really couldn't get the the the uh the approval for it. I just want to make sure that's clear that what we're doing essentially is foreclosing the avenue of carports that encroach into the front yard to come to the council first. We foreclose that off and they would have to go through this process. If they don't meet the requirements, they're not going to get get approved. And if anything is less than 10 feet, [clears throat] then it would trigger that variance process, which is hardship. So at 10 ft we're we're not triggering hardship under 10 ft we're triggering they have to show us why they can't meet the 10 foot Dennis.

Yeah. And I appreciate y'all making the effort to try to keep this from the uh council members. Uh [laughter] I joke when I say you know I love carports. You I ain't got a problem with carport myself. It's just that uh you know I think council we got more important things to really be spending a whole lot of time talking about. However, just by way of transparency, I will be voting against this tonight simply because I I don't agree with the prohibition of a person who has a twocar garage in the original house who don't meet these requirements, then they cannot get a carport. And to me, that discriminates against a certain uh section of our city uh residents of our city. So that's that that's the only reason why I be will be voting against that because I just don't think it's fair to tell you know somebody whose house was built with two-car garage but you don't meet these requirements. So you can't get a twocar garage unless you already got one on your block or else you got you know needed for a disabled person. But the rest of you you can't get one.

Okay. Everything's clear as mud right now. so we can uh move forward with this. All right,

that was easy. Micro transit and paratransit update. [sighs and gasps] I've got a something I'm going to hand out to all of you. You all got it on a email yesterday. It basically outlines what DART is doing as far as they have set up 14 meetings going around the uh area in some ways like sharing how terrible we are and uh all the terrible things that are going to come to people that if we uh vote out of dart. So the reality of it is uh and there's truth in what they're saying. It's just a matter of my concern has always been from day one on this is it's easy to scare people and if you want something you scare them and then they're less act like likely to do something and so they've basically said and it's been well documented you can listen to the tapes that you know people aren't going to be able to get to their dialysis people aren't going to be able to get to their doctors and I can tell you I've had meetings this last week. Uh Julia can verify with two different groups uh that that use paratransit regularly and and we're putting numbers together of how many. We know that there's 47 people that use dialysis and they're there three days a week at the one clinic. We know that there's a couple others. Oh yeah, why don't I? Anyway, I just wanted you, this came to all of you, so it's not something that's I just wanted it printed out so everybody was on the same page when we started talking about this.

But [clears throat] again, I just it's more for FYI about uh but it does and Chris, it was interesting during this presentation yesterday, we went into great detail. If you look on one of the pages, it talks about how many vehicles and how many people get off and on and things of that nature. And so I asked the question, how do you count people getting off and on? David, you can correct me if I get off the go down [clears throat] the wrong trail because David decided he had nothing better to do in his life than to spend three hours in a meeting at Dart and uh hear about the good things we were talking about. But all of a sudden, they explained to us that they have these magic counters that actually count people when they go in and count them when they go off. and they can actually tell when people get on and when they get off and when they transfer something I to which I said I think my city manager would be very interested in this data that he has been asking for for over two years and I said to Rob Smith again I said so Rob say that to me again we have the ability to know who comes in and out and where they go yes somewhat because it's not on all vehicles. But the reality of all of it is and then it was like but we just started it five years ago [gasps] four years ago. Sorry, I was trying to give them a little leadway. Uh but anyway, the the whole scenario [clears throat] here was that they have put together numbers that they are then going out. This first meeting is at the University of Dallas and they'll be doing 14 around the city and it talks about what what will change within the system which we know and the two things that uh that I have really been vocal on at the at their level was that we would

work to deal with the paratransit and the and the and the uh transit dependent rider through our discussions. Now, that puts [clears throat] us in a real tight time frame and costs a lot of money and all those things, but I think we realistically have to know when this council makes a decision if we're moving forward or not or what we're if we do what our exposure is. And so that uh kind of synopsis, that's kind of a synopsis. David, you may want to add anything that you're observed from the There was one. Well, I'll let you then I'll I remember remembered something else I was going to say, but go ahead.

Yeah. The uh other way they're counting people on the train is some sort of sensor above people's heads because of trains might have two or three people get on the same time. So, it's but not all train cars have it. Not all the buses have the the laser counter, but it looks like about four years. But the all the data they gave us was from October last night. One thing of note, uh, both the mayor, the representative from Plano, the representative from, uh, Carolton have all asked the chairman to put on the agenda the letters that Plano has sent, the letters that Irving has sent, the letters that Farmers Branch has sent, and they don't have those on the agenda for the last two meetings. So as far as timelines are concerned and this is another question for um Chennai and Kon legal department from what I understand we got 45 days before the election to pull it which is I think March 16th the date our council meeting is March 12th but it looks like it might be printed on the ballot even if we don't if we don't pull it by February 28th. I'm just worried about this time crunch right now because seeing from the the meeting last night, none of this was discussed of the pullouts, [snorts] the only discussion was what you got here is all the things that will happen if it is voted on, but not trying to get us answers to our letter uh from from our city manager, from Plano city manager, from the other city managers. So it's I I I just don't sitting [clears throat] in that meeting don't feel the confidence that they're taking it seriously that this is a huge subject. We have people who need public transit in this city. We have a growing population in this city in this metroplex that we need a good area rapid transit. So, it was a little concerning to me not seeing the level of uh at least at the board meeting level. I'm not sure. I'm

sure they're talking about it behind closed doors, but in public and discussing what we have sent, what's Plano sent, what Farmers Branch has sent, Highland Park, and the other members I've sent in uh with no discussions. Yeah, we had yesterday [clears throat] morning uh we had the Metroplex mayor's breakfast and I had met with several of the mayors and they said, you know, everybody's wants to figure out how we can move forward and h make this work. One of the things that I would say the majority if not all other than one city agree on is the governance. And so last night, I believe Carolton uh approved just the governance resolution. So I think that may be one way we all start is just each city approve the governance so that we at least get something that we can all agree on and and talk about. But when it was brought up to bring it forward by several of us uh and I the others were [clears throat] more passionate and more detailed in their request. Very eloquent I thought and the chair just kind of blew them off and and one of the council uh one of the board members just said we don't think that's the thing to do. which I find interesting because the council or council the board member that said that two of his cities have called for a pull out and the other two cities he represents are wanting to change the the board makeup. So he the four cities he represents, two of them want to pull out and the other two want to change the governance and he doesn't want us to talk about it at the count at the board level. And so it's it's kind of one of those things where we're I walked away from I don't know if they're really serious about really trying to work with us or not, Chris. And I Chris has had it a little bit different than I have. He deals directly with Naen. And um the other day, Chris, you can kick me under the table. And I probably Chris had a lengthy discussion and talked about, you know, the fact that you how do we how do we move forward when we're spending more

money and and we're getting less service? And the response was get used to it.

Now, yes, sir. If one of our residents came in and was concerned about their finances and one of our people just said, "Get used to it." without even really talking about it, that person would probably get a [clears throat] conversation with the city manager. So, uh, when you have the staff that's that way and you have the board that's that way, we're now we are trying to work with them. We are trying to meet with them. We are trying to do these things, but we may have to on the next meeting or two put something on the agenda that that moves forward with at least the governance piece and and see what else. Uh over the next week, I'll be meeting with different mayors to see if there's another point that we can we can all work with. So, just wanted to give you an update. Uh and I appreciate David, I appreciate being there. I know sometimes when you hear me talk about this, you wonder, am I really this crazy? Uh, but now I have someone that saw that I'm really not. Chris,

one update. Mayor, Carolton will be, according to their city manager, taking up the the governance model and what they are doing is putting on their agenda, as I understand, a conversation about their governance at an upcoming uh council meeting. They're looking at the model that was being proposed that is being proposed by the city managers in that working group that has been discussed by the larger mayor and manager working group. I believe that all cities should take a look at that and I think mayor you just mentioned that we'll be looking at putting that on our agenda for the second meeting we have here in January. Again, it probably needs a few tweaks but the concept is I believe appropriate. It is addressing the three focus areas that we had as city managers. Specifically, we wanted to make sure that every single member city has at least one seat. We also believe that every single member should have at least one full vote and not a partial vote. And we also believe that no one city should have a full majority singularly just by that one city. As we talked with uh the chair of DART, he had a couple of other different ideas. We said we'd be willing to continue to have conversations and talk through those questions and thoughts. We are really pushing for Dallas to provide input on the governance piece. DART itself does not have any control over the governance component itself. That is a legislative change. It would be nice if we could go down to the legislature at this next session with all 13 cities and the dart board having passed resolutions in support of a new governance model which again we feel that what is being presented and has been presented is a good way to go with a few minor tweaks

again. So we'll see how that plays out with all the other cities. In the meantime, we're continuing to have our conversations with our see how those are going to play out. And we are committed and I've committed to you as a council that my goal as the city manager is to bring you an alternative for your consideration before that deadline that you have to consider withdrawing from or cancelling that election. We are still working on that and we are still waiting for some more feedback from Dart on our proposal as well as some information from Dallas on the governance model. My understanding is is that it will be on the Dallas Transportation Committee agenda to talk about the governance model here in a week. So, we'll find out how that conversation goes and report back to y'all. [clears throat]

Chennana, you got a date on us for us on that? Dallas County got back to me at 5:30 yesterday, Chris, and they said February 27th is the D-Day for removal of the DART item. Um, printing of the ballots. Printing of the ballots. Yes. So, the ballots will be printed February 27th. If we should have a special election, um, they extend it to March 6, but that doesn't extend to the ballot printing for DART. That just extends to special election names because we have to have everything translated in Vietnamese and Spanish. So that will be February 27th.

All right, Melissa.

Good afternoon. Melissa Baker, public works manager. I'm here just to give you an update of our microtransit and paratransit discussion. [snorts] Just a little overview. We'll go over the background, our request for information. We're going to talk a little bit about community outreach and input and then our timeline and then any discussion. So, a little bit of a background. The city did release an RFI request for information for both microransit and paratransit services on November 21st. Um, you'll see all of the different points that we incorporated in the RFI. It is citywide. Does include both microtransit and paratransit. It is a turnkey project that's flexible, efficient, accessible, and costeffective. We did mention interconnectivity in the RFI to make sure that's both inside the city as well as different stations that would provide that regional connection as well. We were looking at the different software platforms and integration and then of course each company we asked them to include their background references, their marketing approach and then also their reporting components back to the city of Irving. Um the request for information on December 19th we closed that RFI. Um we did have eight respondents total um and we shortlisted three. The evaluation criteria on the screen um is right there. It's the overall system or that regional connection. We also looked at cost estimates, the implementation timeline very important in this situation. So we looked at that as well as making sure that they have experience in both of those areas microtransit as well as paratransit services. um our community outreach input. At this time, staff will present to the following areas, just letting them know the RFI experience and what we have had. We're also open to input on this area from the mayor and council. The timeline that we have right now, we mentioned November 21st is when we released it. December 19th is where we closed it. Um our team evaluated in December and January and shortlisted

those three respondents in January, February time frame. We're discussing that community outreach input. Um and then of course we are going to be updating you today and then of course back for more updates as as uh we see fit for you. Discussion if there's any discussion take any questions at this time. [clears throat] Dennis.

Yeah. I'd like to just kind of chime in a little bit you know and um this is very important [clears throat] uh for our city and for our council members to really understand. You know, I think the prevailing [clears throat] mindset out there is that, oh, well, these cities are bluffing. They're going to come back to the table. You know, they don't want to try to do all this by themselves. Well, from from my vantage point, uh, is that Dart is already pushing cities toward paratransit and microtransit. Dart is getting out of the bus business in Irving, whether you believe that or not. Okay? And so this is something that we got to take serious about. Maybe one day we we have [clears throat] to start operating some type of uh microtransit from a city perspective. Um so I just want our council members to know, you know, we really got a very important decision to make as to whether or not we leave that u referendum on the ballot or not. Um and I'll just be transparent with you right now. right now, I'm ready to leave it on the ballot based on my interactions with RTC and DRMC and talking to people. You know, I get the impression that, you know, that DART really is not serious about this. Um, so I think we need to be ready. Um, I'm not going to go back down that road of how much money we give Dart each year and the sales tax revenue that keep increasing. But again, what I do know is our services keep decreas uh keep uh decreasing. And once you stay in Dart, then if our annual sales tax revenue gets up to 130 140 million, we give it to Dart and we have no control over what happens to it. So that's why there's got to be some kind of governness change. There's got to be a change. And I'm I'm hoping that our citizens understand because I've talked to citizens and you

know and they always say, you know, why y'all doing this? Why y'all doing this? And I try to explain to them that look, all I'm doing is giving you an opportunity to decide whether you want to stay in a transit system that's really decreasing your services on a continual basis, but getting your money increases the money. So, I know it's kind of scary to think that all of a sudden you may not have no trains running through Irving or whatever, but at the end of the day, that's not the end of the day, you know. Um, but I think we do need to make sure that we plan for whatever happens uh on May 2nd if we get that far into a vote. Melissa, sounds like you've got a good plan. How

Melissa, thank you and mainly you Chris for utilizing what I think is a great tool request for information so we see what's out there. So thank you. Absolutely. Chris,

stay tuned to an upcoming council meeting near you on how we're going to pay for it. [laughter] Chris, we know that you are very frugal with the dollars and we know that you always have a plan of how to make dollars work. So, we're very encouraged by having you in that position. [laughter] [laughter] [laughter] Okay, that takes us to the our executive session. So, KO, you want to read us in and we'll

Yes, sir. Happy to do that. The time is 2:21. The Irving City Council will convene into an executive session. This is economic development negotiations, real estate negotiations, and legal advice pursuant to Open Meetings Act sections 551.087, 551.072, and 551.071. In advance of Irving's state of the city, it is time to go motoring with the mayor.

One of the things I've always wanted to do is just kind of show the people what we're doing in the city of Irving and what [music] we've accomplished over the last few years. I'm all about ride alongs and and especially with somebody who's knowledgeable, somebody who has a tremendous [music] sense of what this city is and certainly what it's capable of.

[music] This is Center Park. Right now, we're adding a swimming facility, an indoor facility. [music] Right. And when is this expected to be done? Sometime next year. We got two projects here [music] that I'm really proud of that we've done over the last few years. One of them is the youth center. We put [music] in a whole new array of things so they can come in and do podcasts and different things. Then there's the Irving Police Athletic Levy. And of course, we're [music] very fortunate to have our art center here that's got events going on all the time. So, what was just the thought process behind Levy Plaza?

We realized that with all the density here, we had [music] to provide some green space. What we do here is the 4th of July and we can put 10, 20, 30,000 people and got the pathway [music] that goes all the way around the lake. So, we're coming up here on Mustang Park, and this is something I've been wanting and working on for ever. Once we decided we were going to start doing these indoor [music] aquatics, we said, "Well, let's build a fullfledged facility." So, it's about an $80 million facility. [music] We're trying to elevate our recreational facilities. The Campion Trail comes through here. We've got the dollars [music] and we're working towards finishing that. Isn't it great that we have to stop here because there's [music] bikers and there's walkers and there's joggers. That's quality of life.

You don't realize how important it is until you actually have it. It makes your heart feel good that [music] you did the right thing. And also that just speaks to the quality of your people, too.

Oh, yeah. And that that's the whole intent of this [music] next state of the city is to show here's what the city of Irving has, and you [music] have it because of the people that work here. The conversation continues at the Irving Convention Center [music] during State of the City on January 15th. Tickets are available through the Irving Muscalinus [music] Chamber of Commerce. We are taking a look back at the biggest stories of 2025 along with some of our favorites. Happy new year and welcome to a special edition of City Source. I'm Thomas Gandandy. The fun at Flug Tag and so much more is coming up later, but we begin with some of the major economic development projects in Irving. None was bigger than the opening of the new campus for Wells Fargo.

I think it's incredible. It's a Texas style welcome for a Texassized campus. This is the grand opening of the new Wells Fargo corporate campus in Irving. [applause] It's a great opportunity for us to come out and really get excited about a project that we've been working on for a lot of years. We're very proud to have Wells Fargo as a new very large corporate partner here in the city of Burbank. This day truly represents what teamwork looks like. So, please give it up for Wells Fargo for what they're doing. [applause] Dozens of people representing the teams involved turned out for this celebration.

Other people across the country, if they came here, they could be extremely jealous looking around. It's just seeing just how modern and collaborative it is. About 4,500 employees will be based here, and we got to see some of their workspaces, which include meeting rooms, large and small. There are also nice amenities including a fitness center with locker rooms room to hoop it up, on-site dining, and all around employees get great views of Lascalenus from inside and outside the building. The walking trail that's going to be developed here and access to public transport just makes this just a wonderful place for us.

Beyond all of the visually attractive features apparent all over the campus, there's even more that's not so evident. This is Wells Fargo's first energy net positive campus. And one way they've achieved that is through these dynamic windows that respond to weather conditions. I think the thing that impresses me most is the openness of it. There's a constant level of lighting for people to work with, but yet you don't have that direct sunlight. There are also solar panels on the rooftops. This is a fantastic building. Just walking through it is just unbelievable. And so glad to have it here in Irving. This is such a beautiful building number one, but just solidifies that Los Kenus is the place to be. Wells Fargo unveiling a massive new campus today in Irving, Texas.

The opening is attracting national attention. The mayor is accessible. People love living here. There's great talent. There's great education. Now, city leaders are talking impact. They believe this success and a bigger workforce are sure to have a ripple effect. Development begins development. So when you have this type of development, this scale, and this size of development occurring, that will automatically help ensure that you see success in the surrounding area.

Filling up our restaurants and making sure that Irving stays vibrant for a long time. I'm unfamiliar with any economic development corporation in the state of Texas. There could be more or better than that of right here in Irving, Texas. Great job. [applause] We truly believe Irving's future is bright. It it really shows the hard work that goes everybody the city engages in to make this the best place for everybody to work, live, and play. So leaders are clearly bullish on Irving's future as they celebrate this grand opening of the Wells Fargo campus. It's a joyous day. Obviously, I'm glad it all takes place here at Irving, Texas. [cheering]

That is the ribbon cutting for the opening of Joy's grocery store on State Highway 183. A lot of shoppers turned out on the first day, and there is also a lot of interest in a related grocery store coming soon. A full-size HB is under construction on Interstate 635. And check this out. New drone video shows the progress of the new home of Fox 4 KDFW. It has come a long way since the groundbreaking about a year ago. Here's a look back at that day and also some details on the new station. A big day for our station. It's breaking groundbreaking news. It It's a keep your hard hat handy kind of day. Live and local from Irving.

This is for real. Leaders are celebrating the start of construction for the new home of Fox 4. How exciting to be part of history today. Welcome to our new home. [applause] A lot of familiar Fox 4 faces are here to witness the moment. Amazing. Awesome. It is phenomenal and this is our new home. We got the the news that we were going to have a new station. Um kind of everybody was wondering where are we going to be and I think it was you know when they said Irving in Lascalas we're like okay that's good that's good. It's exciting to come out here. You can feel the energy in Lascalenus in Irving. So we're glad to be part of that.

Fox 4 execs say Irving's location is a major selling point. Its news crews will be at a central location to cover whatever's breaking across DFW. When they built our building in downtown Dallas in 1949, you know, that was where the population was. But now, this is one huge market, and this puts us right in the middle of it. It makes a lot of sense that Box is here. Pretty excited. This is what the new building on Royal Lane along State Highway 114 will look like. 60,000 square ft, full of new features. This is going to be much more than a TV station. This is going to be a content creation factory. We're going to have multiple broadcast studios, a digital studio.

There's technology that hasn't even been thought of yet, and we're going to have it. What intrigued me about the whole operation is the fact that we're not going to have big towers. It's going to be a completely different uh arena than you would normally see at a at a news station. From the moment we started the search and started having dialogue with the city of Irving, you felt the warmth. You felt wanted, and I believe that we found a great partner on this project. A lot of people watch the station and to have them come home here to Irving is a great win for us. You guys have made this so easy and I appreciate everything y'all have done. And while this news is spreading, work is ongoing to bring more business to Irving

and we want to turn those prospects into projects and those projects into wins just like we did with Fox Local. Moving Fox forward is a top story today and one to follow up.

We have to be patient, Stephen, and Heather, but it sure does look pretty. Construction on the new home of Fox 4 is expected to take about two years. There were also new attractions at the Toyota Music Factory that opened in 2025. You can see those along with other business and economic development news on our playlist at youtube.com/thecity of Irving. Let's get to aquatics and recreation. Now, we have been talking a lot about the new facilities under construction at Center Park and Mustang Park. Both will be yearround facilities and will require more lifeguards. We covered an event aimed at recruitment. [snorts] You only have 50 seconds. Okay, make them count.

They are competing against the clock for a shot at a job. And I can't wait to get started. This is the city of Irving's lifeguard hiring event at the North Lake and it helps us fill our lifeguard positions for the summer. Feet dive in first. Right now we're doing the swim test. That's the first thing that you got to do to become a lifeguard with City of Herby. Ready? This brick test is considered the most challenging part. I have to pick up a 10 lb brick. What do you got down there? Hold it. Test and then swim back. You got this. You got this. You got this. You got There are tests in both deep and shallow water. You have to take like very seriously. This challenge can prove to be tougher than it looks. Only about one in three people pass.

You did fill your test. So, what drives him to work so hard for this? Some are focusing on the next few months. I think it's a really good summer job to have being able to serve the community. Others are looking at this as a foundation for their futures to help me gain experience for helping people and also helping myself in the medical field for the rest of my career. It's really the field that I'm going to. I want to become like a type of a water physical therapist. Being a good lifeguard is about more than the physical challenges you see here. Another key component is customer service. Knowing how to respectfully enforce rules and interact with residents to make sure everyone has a positive, fun time at Irving Aquatic Centers. In

the front of their certification, it says professional lifeguard. It's because this is a professional level certification that they are receiving. 15 16 year old kids. I treat them as adults because this is a professional job. People think that lifeguards just sit around, you know, don't do anything, aren't paying attention, but there's a lot that goes into Lifeguards are constantly watching, observing, watching people specifically. This is their life. You got it. You got it. You got it. Irving will soon have even more opportunities than aquatics. We are so excited about our three new facilities. First, these job seekers got to pass these tests. Then they will [music] go on to get Red Cross certification. All important steps to keep pool patrons safe. And

it's a [music] job that I've been wanting to do for a while. I just had a dream like to help people. It's nice seeing families have fun knowing that they're in a safe environment. And here's more. The new Lee Aquatic Park celebrated its grand opening over the summer. And in a fun moment, we are happy to show you again. Mayor Stoer taking the ceremonial first trip down the Big Orange Water Slide. And as we talk grand openings, let's shift the focus to public safety. Fire Station 8 is just a few months away from completion. and we saw what will make that a standout facility. This is actually our first time walking through it. First time seeing it.

By late spring of 2026, this is where these Irving firefighters will be working. I'm very excited. Yeah, we've been looking forward to this for a long time. It's the brand new Fire Station 8. We got firefighters unanimous first impressions. It's pretty incredible. It's huge. This station's really big. We got a lot of room. Massive. It's so big. It's going to be a game changer. This new station will be the largest in the city. A big upgrade over the current Station 8. Everything's really tight over there. We're kind of uh packed to gills. Doesn't seem like we'll have that issue here.

Dozens of workers are on site here at Northwest Highway and Riverside Drive every day getting this new station ready. And be assured, this is not the final color. Tell me about this process. What's going on here? So here you have this kind of green paint. That's my waterproofing. What's the final finish going to be?

That's going to be brick and stone. [music] [music] Firefighters say it's not only about having more space and being more comfortable. The fire department has actually recorded a significant increase in the number of calls as more people have moved to the Lascalinus Urban Center. Having this station here puts them closer to the emergencies so they can respond faster. We are located right here on a busy thoroughfare so we can get to the highways really quickly. Access to all the apartments along Lake Carolyn and Lascalina. So it will be really easy for us here. This sidewalk, [music] you can't see it yet, but it leads straight to the boat house.

The boat house will be built on Lake Carolyn. Right now, the department's [music] fireboat is stored offsite. The new boat house is just one of many upgrades. A lot of room to store. We have a whole hazmat rig and a whole bunch of equipment. And I'm [music] looking at all these rooms that we don't have at the other station to store all of our equipment. The second floor, you're going to have all your bedrooms. And to help them get out quickly when a call comes, this is where one of two traditional fire poles will go. It'll be fun getting used to that. Since this crew is the first to see inside, they are already calling dibs. Trying to pick out who's got what bedroom. The snoring bedrooms are over here.

There's so much that goes into a fire station. The crews are getting it all done and firefighters are eager to come work here as they serve the residents and businesses of Irving. So, this is something that's really exciting for me to be a part of this new station. We're all very excited. In that piece, you saw how we use drones to tell stories. While Irving police are using drones more and more often in law enforcement, check out IPD's drone first responder program. So, we got a call of a man with a gun. When we have a a man with a gun call, our officers have a heightened sense of alert.

An eye in the sky gave Irving police officers an idea of what was going on before any personnel were even on site. gathering intelligence on the scene realized it was a group of juveniles. The weapon appeared to be a BB gun. That kind of told us, "Okay, we need to dial back our response a little bit." Drop it. Drop it. Put it down. Okay. Put it on the ground. I believe that had an opportunity to change the course of the outcome for that call for service. The view from above came as a result of the Irving Police Department's new drone first responder program. We are inside IPD's crime information center to see how it works. The whole purpose of what a drone first responder program can do is get eyes on a location faster.

We're able to launch the drone in about 45 seconds [music] uh whenever a call comes in. Say if we have a call for service come in, I can just click a location on the screen. [music] It can be wherever the call location comes in or I can type in an address and it's going to start opening up. Cameras show every step so officers can monitor inside. The [music] drone ascends quickly. You will notice the view is wide and [music] of the horizon. It's not used for surveillance. It's not used as overwatch. Our drones fly autonomously to the location. And once they get within uh close proximity, that's the [music] only time that the camera will actually go down. Once it arrives on scene, the camera will tilt down on its own on itself. And then we can start controlling it with actually [music] a PlayStation 5 controller.

The first 3 months of this program brought positive results. Average drone response time is between about 2 and a half and 3 minutes. Drones assisted [music] in 55 arrests and were first on the scene for more than 300 calls. To get it to this point is really exciting. The view from the drone supplements all of the other technology and cameras available to see in the crime information center. This is going to show body cameras, [music] traffic cameras. So that's a lot of intelligence. Yes, it is a lot. Yes. We can let responding officers know real time through the crime information center what the officers are walking into when they get to a call.

Irving is [music] not the first city to use drones this way, but it did build on the idea and made it more cost effective by using its own radar system. This was something that hadn't been done before. The top left one is our Sparrowhawk radar that we have located across the city by the [music] airport. Monitoring air traffic is especially important here in Irving given the city's proximity to DFW airport. Also, there are more delivery drones, drone hobbyists, and yes, even video crews using drones. That's why Irving police are working [music] with industry experts, including NASA, to plan for a future with more crowded skies. So, it's establishing prioritization of these drones in the air, just like on the highway.

They are committed [music] to the concept because they have a lot of examples of success to share, including this case of a stolen car. They were able to get overhead on scene, direct the undercover officers and the patrol officers to the scene down to [music] the parking space, make sure they pinned the car in so they couldn't escape and took them down safely. With each call they monitor, they see more and more value in Irving's drone first responder program. [music]

It's been tremendously successful. [music] More public safety coverage now and this piece tells the story of a lot of people working together to save a teacher's life. We have the body cam video and the inspiring outcome. [snorts] Okay, there you go. Breathe. These harrowing moments captured on Irving police body cam led to this. [applause] Medical City Loscalas honored five Irving firefighters and two police officers with life safety awards. I'm grateful for it and I'm grateful that we were able to assist with bringing him back to life.

Honestly, it's a miracle. U stuff like this doesn't happen. Let's go through what happened. Let's pull him out. Police respond to a onecar accident and find a man inside. We were opening up the doors trying to get into the vehicle, trying to get hands on to get some kind of pulse or signs of life. We weren't getting any of that. So, we decided we'd have to pull him out of the car and start life-saving measures. Forward, we're starting CPR. Later, tests would show he was in cardiac arrest. It was found that he had 100% occlusion in multiple areas of his heart. He's blue. But at this moment, they did not know exactly what was wrong. So, they drew on their training. There you go. Breathe.

The police body cam view ends shortly after this as Ivring firefighters take over. But, we got an idea of what was going on once the patient was in the ambulance and on the way to the hospital. Quick defibrillation is one of the key things that if we can do that will greatly increase their chance of survival. The other thing is is we can attach them to the Lucas device. That device [music] performs chest compressions. So we add an advanced airway with our BVM here to give high flow oxygen. The patient spent 10 days in intensive care here at Medical City Loscalenus. His brain was injured because of a lack of oxygen, but he made a full recovery. And the team here at the hospital says those actions in the first minutes made all the difference.

Their quick response, their quick actions was what saved this patient's life. It's those first few minutes that saves lives for sure. During this awards ceremony, Luis [music] Marani Quas got to meet the teams responsible for his care, among them Irving's first responders. It's amazing to see how excited he is uh to be here. How excited he is. He's he's telling me, "Hey, I'm I'm working hard on my cardio and I'm exercising." And those things are just a joy for him. I'm so happy to see you. All of the personnel involved agree that this case is exceptional. This one particular patient, he really stood out and um stuck with me. So, I'm glad to see that he's doing well. It's really great to see him. He is definitely a miracle.

He is a school teacher here in Ar Irving ISD where he will go back on August 5th to continue teaching to his children. Share your story with your students. flash bars. The true story of an incredible recovery. He was He was close to death. Made possible by teams of people in Irving committed to saving lives. There's no way any one of us could do this alone. This is a great group [music] effort. I'm grateful for all the partners that are here. Everybody that I work with, they're they're amazing. I'm very glad that we were able to bring this school teacher back. I don't know.

Great outcome to celebrate there. Now, let's get to this. Red Bull Fluke Dog returned to Irving after more than a decade. Robert Sheik checked out all of the fun and attempted flights at Ley Event Plaza. There's a strange clock in the air. Does this thing fly as well as chickens? Yes. No. No. Better than [laughter] chickens. You're going to see a chicken fly for the first time. True whole tree in motion at Red Bull's Flugg event at Lake Carolyn where competitors think tequila gives you wings or something like that. We have a fuel tank full of 100 gallons of margaritas in this thing and I consume exactly 10 margaritas per hour. So I got 10 hours of flight time.

That sort of creative engineering was developed by this team of urban residents at a popular local hot spot. We're weekly patrons of a local establishment via realale. They make the biggest margaritas in Lasest. I'm going to soar or I'm going to fall. What do your viewers think? Soar, fall. Take your pick. Teams from across the country built their unique aircraft and all had a similar result. Splashing into Lake Carolyn as thousands watched on at Levy Event Plaza.

Oh my gosh, what a day. I didn't know what to expect, but this energy is amazing. A fall Saturday in Texas though isn't complete without Longhorns. Fortunately for us, a team from Irving brought its own Flying Bivo. And what's big in Texas? Longhorns. Construction of the Thunderbolt certainly drew some attention in the Nickel Spark neighborhood. We had some fun looks from the neighbors as we were pushing it down the street this past week. What qualifies you to fly this? I'm about 40 lbs lighter than everybody else on our team. We're expecting a good 100 150 ft. [cheering]

More like 30 feet. But no bull. That's one of the longest flights of the day. But for all of these teams, this journey is not about those 2 seconds in the air. It's about the hundreds of hours leading up to it. Our friendships have grown within the side of Lake Carolyn. And we wanted to do something to celebrate our friendships and we thought, what better ways is to build a giant margarita and throw it into the lake. A splash of fun with a little salt on the rim. Robert Sheik for City Source. Next up, we have the event that is always one of our team's favorite to cover, the Golden Sneaker Games, hosted by the Heritage Senior Center. This year's program included new challenges and new opportunities to shine. [snorts]

Stance, knock, hitting targets for growth. Shoot. Irving's golden sneaker games are back and bigger than ever. Grab your arrows. Archery is one of [music] this year's new additions. Oh, nervous cuz I'm not very good at this. No, don't worry about it. The only thing you have to worry about is uh just a not shooting anybody. I do not know the technique yet, but I'm having fun. Awesome. Woo. These are the 30 lb bows, so they have to really [music] pull it back. Oh, you have to have good upper body strength to pull the bows. Woo! I've decided to challenge [music] myself. It's been nothing but great. Another new draw. One star cycling. [music]

I haven't done much riding since I moved to Irving. It was sort of a golden proof to myself that I still had it. Get a little exercise. All the good things in life. Starts. Rosie Ming is competing in the Golden Sneaker Games for the first time. She was one of those people who just started signing up for everything. You can do this. Our GoPro picked up how she kept herself motivated. Do not give up. Do not while pushing for the best time. It speaks to my competitiveness. Along with providing [music] these challenges, you always pass on the left. Organizer David Martinez also wants to show off Irving attractions such as the city's trail system. No cars, a safe place to ride anytime.

And they're like, "Oh, wow. There's some back here." You know, sometimes some people say it takes courage to do things you don't normally do. Glad I did this. The Golden Sneaker Games are about more than strong bodies. You can use your mind, your brain. Timed team [music] puzzlem is another new addition this year. It actually went pretty quick. Those activities join familiar favorites. We are playing miniature golf and I am defending my title from last year. Don't do it. The competition stays friendly and fun. Oh yes. On film. That's part of the games here. Just kind of um being funny and just, you know, not taking everything so super serious. My food.

This is great. Just to do stuff like this [music] makes you feel so much better. I think David should give us a cart. [laughter] Here on [music] the pickle ball court, action can get more intense. Pretty competitive when uh the better players are on the court. Got it. It gets very competitive, but I'm not in it [music] for winning. I'm in it just to have fun. Carolyn Bordon [music] figures she's the oldest player here. I played tennis way back 60 years [music] ago. And pickle ball is giving her a way to stay athletic. Oh, I think it's important that you get out there and just keep at it no matter how old you are.

I'm 78 years old, but I don't mind playing against younger guys because that way it helps me improve [music] my game. Two weeks of competition. Woo! You guys are the real stars here. Wrap up with an awards banquet [music] at the Heritage Senior Center. There she is. Even with medals and prizes at stake, competitors say they gain a lot more from all of these games. Self-right, okay? [music] I mean, and to to get out and enjoy the company. And it's good for my health. It means that I may be independent [music] longer and that I can function and keep up with people who are younger than me. So, I'm not letting age [music] define me. Really, they're playing. We are still engaged in life and that we still have things to offer.

We can do anything we want to do. We just [music] have to get up there and try. Making a lasting impact for participants in Irving's Golden Sneaker Games. I am so thankful for the city of Irving to put [music] on this for us because we just have a fantastic time. And congratulations. Awesome. [music]

Always a lot of fun to see them in action. Thank you for watching this look back at some of the biggest and best stories of 2025. Here is how to connect with us. So you can email us at ictn@ irvingtx.gov. Our YouTube channel is youtube.com/the cityof Irving. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss anything. And we always like it when you leave us some positive comments. Let us know you're watching. And you can look for updates on events and initiatives across the major social media platforms at the city of Irving. And that's it for this special edition of City Source. Best wishes for a great 2026. Thanks for watching [music] and we'll see you next time. What has boxing gloves and punching bags but [music] is not a gym? It's Punchline Irving, the new comedy club at the Toyota Music Factory, where comedians work to knock out audiences with [music] powerful punchlines.

This room is built for connection. Every seat feels like front row seat. The club's first location opened in San Francisco back in 1978 [music] and the history is chronicled on these walls. We have Bobby Lee, that's Sacramento, Sarah Silverman, San Francisco, [music] Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, Chelsea Handler. Everyone knows these names and I've seen that some of these are coming [music] to Irving. Some of them are no joke. When tickets went on sale for the opening weekend shows with headliner Dave Chappelle, they sold out in minutes. And he's just the first of many big [music] names slated to entertain on this stage.

400 shows we'll probably do next year. Leslie Jones, Andy Huggin, [music] Steph Cov, Pete Holmes, the list keeps growing before they take the stage. Irving leaders are celebrating and talking impact as people fill this club for shows, hopefully spending their money here and making sure that the city thrives for a long time. This really adds to our vision of over the many many years of building a convention center, building an entertainment venue and to have a diversity of entertainment within the music factory. And so this really tops it off. And Punchline offers more than laughs. This is the callback bar.

The food and [music] beverage menu is going to be exceptional. We have chef partners that help curate that. So it's not just standard comedy club chicken tenders [music] and beer. It's a full night out. and Heavy Hitter Comics will be signing these boxing bells after getting KOs in the form of [music] LOL's on stage all at Punchline Irving. We're excited to have you here and we look forward to many, many years of working together. Thomas Gandandy for City Source.

Hello everyone. Welcome to Irving Spotlight. [music] I'm Susan Stevens. As we ring in the new year, we look back at some of our favorite stories from the past year in this special best of Irving Spotlight 2025. We begin tonight with a special [music] unveiling. The city celebrated the debut of a now iconic work of art, Timeless Irving, with a ribbon cutting ceremony to honor the mural that brightens [music] up the downtown Irving Heritage District. Located at the intersection of Okconor Road and Rock Island Road, the mural spans more than 5,000 square feet, [music] featuring a colorful tribute to Irving's rich history and evolving identity. [music] After 42 gallons of paint, 30 days, over a mile's worth of painters tape, and [music] 240 personal hours, Timeless Irving is completed.

It's amazing what she has done. And I, you know, I come to work every day through there, so I get an opportunity to see how she was moving and, uh, the vibrancy of the colors and stuff. [music] It just looks, looks amazing when you come through. Prior to having the mural, that particular area was really dreary and dark. [music] Uh, and it was just crying to have a mural. It was just crying to have some art on it. It's going to let people know that there's [music]

uh, good things ahead uh, in the heritage district. And, uh, come on in. This mural represents so much more than just paint on the wall, but reflects the spirit of Irving and the pride that we have in our past and [music] the possibilities we see in the future. Stretching over 5,000 square feet, this mural really honors Irving's history and celebrates its vibrant present. And it even includes a selfie spot to incorporate yourself into the mural.

Well, I think it gives it an identity. You know, we've been [music] trying to figure out h how do we create an identity for the historic district in downtown Irving? And so we've spent a tremendous amount of dollars redoing the roads, re helping [music] do some of the businesses, building up this area and making the commercial vibrant and something that people wanted to be part of. [music] I think it's so important to invest in public art and I think it's important for the community to see the city and the city council investing [music] in that.

Oh, I think it's beautiful. I love how it incorporates the history of Irving, but it also creates an opportunity to celebrate those timeless [music] moments throughout the city's history. We want these spaces to not only be a nice spot to catch a train or a bus, but we want them to become gathering places that creates community value and an opportunity [music] for a nice selfie.

I just hope people take pride in it and know that [music] it was for them. It's meant for the community. I hope that they feel that whenever they see it. Long before the hit Netflix series America's Sweethearts Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, ICTN was capturing the auditions right here in Irving. This past summer, I spoke with the DCC about where it all started and the newest season of their hit show. One of the most popular Netflix series returns for an even more captivating season two. Okay.

But before this DCC journey became a worldwide hit, ICTN captured the auditions at the original home of the Dallas Cowboys, the Texas Stadium in Irving. Looks like you have a terrific group this year. Again, I'm very pleased. You know, every year I say it gets better, but this is a very strong audition. Once again, I'm very pleased. With the history, what does the city of Irving mean to both of you? Wow. Well, that's where it started for both both Judy and me. So, it's it's sentimental. I mean, I I still can't drive past that intersection where Texas Stadium was without a little bit of a heart tug.

Um, but that's where it all started for me in my uh audition as a cheerleader in 1984. So, Irving certainly holds a special place for us. Irving Texas Stadium, Texas Stadium Club where we had the auditions, Valley Ranch,

just can't go on the field and stand there and be a good dancer. personality needs to project through your face and it's it's not easy. It's hard. So, it takes a special lady to make it. Their Irving ties remain on display at the permanent Dallas Cowboys exhibit at the Irving Archives and Museum. And just last fall, the museum held a special exhibit featuring the iconic Dallas Cowboys cheerleader uniform. Thanks to the success of the series, both the uniform and the famous Thunderruck routine have made lasting impressions. Thunder Struck went viral and the reaction of the crowd. That was so great to see.

After this season airs, is there something you would like to see go viral or really talked about? Oh, that's a that's a great question.

Yeah. Um, I would love to see, um, you know, the Alipcia community become a more talked about topic. Um, or honestly just anything that we talk about in the show that's kind of more of a a taboo topic. Um, these are things that need to be talked about more. And I think when you see someone with such a stature as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader talking about their own personal struggles with that, that helps open the doors for everybody else to come out and talk. while you are inspiring others. Um, who has inspired each of you the most throughout your DCC journey?

I think I could speak for both of us. These two right here, they were our leaders, honestly. No, truly. And the way that they led us throughout this entire season and the changes that they made for the legacy of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders is one of the most honorable things truly about both of you. And we have [laughter] we do have such great leaders to follow through our entire tenure of being a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader. And I think we'll take a lot of what you guys did through us growing through the organization. Yeah. Inspires us to be the best people for this team going forward. Not just going into it, but now just leaving a legacy behind just like they did. Thank you. Sweet.

Well, I was going to say my mom, but [laughter] they're so sweet. But I'll I'm going to say my mom just because she's somebody that's encouraged me to always use my voice for good and to, you know, realize that the worst someone can say is no. And if you know, if that's the worst I have to worry about, then why not speak up? So yeah, I was also going to say my mom. From its Irving roots to a national phenomenon, the rapid success of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders is an inspiration to the city that will forever cherish the history and future of America's sweethearts. We just cut a good one. [music]

From Walker, Texas Ranger to Kevin Cosner's Horizon and American Saga, Irving native Derek Hill has been working as a production designer for decades. We caught up with him this past fall to learn more about his footprint in Hollywood and why he still prefers to call Irving home. Derek Hill walks through his media room to share his experience working on some big feature films. This is another Oliver Stone film that I did when I originally met Kevin Cosner. It's a hard thing to clearly say what a production designer does, but your your hands are in just about [music] everything on the film.

Hill has been a production designer for some of the hottest films and television series for over 40 years. In 1978, I worked a Chuck Norris film and uh I really liked it and then I just continued on from there. After his first movie with Norris, he went on to design and build the set for the DFW base series Walker [music] Texas Ranger. We shot some of it in around the studio and various places in Dallas and Irving and then the studios at Los Kalinus back in the day. It was a really active studio for for a good while.

From there, [music] Hill's career took off quickly with projects like the hit series Ozark and House [music] to films like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Oscar nominated JFK. The truth is the most important value we have because and that's when I met Kevin Cosner back in about 1988. While he works in [music] Hollywood, his home remains in Irving. He moved to Irving when I was one. This is where I enjoy my relaxation and research [music] and prep for shows and stuff like that. I'm not that Hollywood guy that goes to all the functions. I'm not that person. I have a life. I play golf. I love working in the yard doing this stuff and [music] uh having a family life.

Being based in Irving hasn't stopped Hill from thriving in his career. Recently, he worked on Kevin Cosner's Western [music] Horizon and American Saga, which led to Cosner receiving a key to our city. because I know him well enough. I gave him a hard time. I said, "Oh, you got a key to my city and I wasn't even there." Pretty good city, isn't it? Yeah. Think about all the cities in my city honored you. Thank you for today. I won't forget it.

And while Hill has enjoyed his work [music] with Cosner and other filmmakers, a film by Shaun Penn, 10 years in the making, holds special meaning. One of the most heart-wrenching stories and projects that I ever did was a film called [music] Into the Wild. The film is based on the true story of recent college graduate Christopher McCandless, who abandons his possessions to live in the Alaskan wilderness. A journey that eventually ended with Christopher's final days in a historic magic bus.

You know, we went to [music] Alaska to look at the bus. His mom sent provisions and I had them in my snowsuit to leave them in the bus for all the lost souls. Pretty emotional story. Derek Hill shares he is proud of all his work in film and television, leaving behind a legacy that will forever be seen and remembered. Breakfast with the Stars is a beloved Irving event that recognizes the academic accomplishments of Irving ISD students. This past year, over 250 high school seniors were honored with scholarships to help further them towards their future goals. On March 6th, Nimttz High School senior Delmees received a generous surprise that will help make her dreams become a reality as she heads to college.

We are proud to present you with the Tanaska Diversity Scholarship for $10,000. After the shock, Delme takes some photos and then steps out to share the news with her mom. See you.

She's so proud of me that all those um nights that I slept really late like paid off. Weeks after that phone call, Delme and her mom are celebrating her scholarship at the 38th annual Breakfast with the Stars alongside other Irving ISD high school seniors. We have over 280 students receiving scholarships. Over $570,000 is going to be given away today.

I'm receiving a scholarship in honor of Michael T. Anderson. It's a $2,500 scholarship that's going to help me in my education. I came from Cuba about 4 years ago. No English, no nothing. And then without Irving ISD, I wouldn't be here. Not just Irvin High School, but Ian as a whole. All the programs they have, every AP classes, everything from top to bottom. But you know what else is real? Your ability to overcome. We're already proven that we can lead, adapt, and overcome. Now, it's time to take those lessons and put them into motion. The world doesn't need perfect people. and you need to realize people like you.

In addition to her $10,000 Tamascus scholarship, Delme also received a $1,000 scholarship from Gilbert Elementary.

I still don't feel like it's real cuz this is a lot of money to me, but I was very happy to have received something so big. It's a large amount of money she'll be able to put towards her education at the University of Texas in Austin where she plans to study petroleum engineering. I had a woman engineering teacher and she would talk about her the hardships that she had to go through cuz she was always like looked down on cuz she was a chemical engineer. So it was a male-dominated field especially for that one. So I hope to become someone that can be an inspiration to other women.

Say congratulations to our long this event, and I'll quote one of our students said this, it's more than the money. It's more than just scholarships. It's all about the community coming out to show these students that we support you. We have your back. We love you, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for you. It feels great to like be recognized in front of other people and to be with other people who also got a big award like this. Breakfast with the Stars continues to demonstrate the strength of our community and the remarkable potential of our students. [cheering] [applause]

The mobile kitchen available at the West Irving Library continues to provide a unique opportunity for chefs of all ages. We stopped by one of their first classes to see what's cooking at the library. [music] There's a sizzling program happening at the West Irving Library. Hear it sizzling. I'm coming in hot. Kids are taking a crack at cooking some fan favorite state fair foods. Air fryer Oreos and um the corn dog thing, the mini corn dogs.

It's part of the library's edible [music] education series, which gives chefs of all ages an opportunity to whip up a tasty dish and enhance their culinary skills. We haven't tried them with ice cream yet. Oh, okay. It's fun and I really like to do do baking. Kids really [music] like to cook. I feel like people don't give them the opportunity to cook and this is like a great safe space that we have for kids to try out something new. Yeah, like that. You see? Yeah. Yeah. There you go. There we go. Thanks to [music] the library's grantf funed mobile kitchen. These kids are conveniently creating a batter for their mini corn dogs and heating up the oil.

I'm going to be heating up the oil. The kids will watch [music] and I'll give them, you know, little safety tips like don't get too close. Don't just [music] splash things in. I swear I'm not burning this. Once the corn dogs are done and cooling, they pop them. Open a can of crescent rolls to make their Oreos in [music] an air fryer. It's very beneficial just because it helps with their fine motor skills. [music] It also gives them like a sense of like accomplishment. I can't think I did a very good job. It was fun. Amazing. [music] And fun.

The favorite part was when uh when it was frying. The the fried Oreos [music] was frying and then eating it. So good. The edible education series inspires children to cook and explore [music] all the different types of books the library has to offer. You can tell them like, "Oh, we actually have more cooking books." Sometimes they'll come back and [music] let me know like, "Oh, I made this for Eileen." And I'm it makes me really happy.

The Toyota Music Factory is the current hot spot and that location has gotten a little sweeter with the addition of drizzle cheesecakes. We stopped by to try the big tech's best dessert winner along with all their delicious flavors in this Irving Eats. Smooth, rich, and oh so satisfying. You may have heard of drizzled cheesecakes and its awardwinning Bisoff delight. We dip it in milk chocolate. We roll around in crushed biscoff cookies. And then we drizzle it with cookie butter on top. And then we put a lotus cookie on top. The dessert won the state fair's big tech choice award for best sweet in 2023.

Without them, we would not have been or be where we are today. And where they are is in high demand. So much so, they have expanded from their seasonal booth at the State Fair of Texas to a storefront at the Toyota Music Factory. that's now opened year round. The minute I found out that it was available, I put in my offer and we got it luckily. [music] Is there something that drew you to Irving? The way that everything is structured here, the way very modernistic, very simple um design of the entire city, I really like. [music] Um very community-like base, everybody's been just so supportive and so amazing. Have a good one. The concept is simple.

We get a New York style cheesecake. We dip it in rich Belgium chocolate and then we roll it around in different types of toppings. The flavors are unique [music] and delicious. That's even better than I thought it was going to be. It's so good. And what's dessert without a little coffee? Along with their variety of cheesecakes, Drizzle offers specialty coffee drinks ranging from espressos to macchiatoos. But they pride themselves on their Instagrammable made to order cheesecakes. Whether it's customer service or the show, we kind of like to lay it out for you out the front and you can see exactly how every step is made. Um, a lot of people enjoy that [music] and their quality ingredients.

It's actually a really good cheesecake itself, but obviously what we create around is the most important part. Drizzle is proud to serve the city innovative and delectable cheesecakes you'll want to keep coming back for. In the fall, we will have a pumpkin spice

Heat. Heat.

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