[00:00:02]
[Park, Trails, and Environment Committee on September 5, 2023.]
OKAY.IT IS SEPTEMBER THE FIFTH AND THE TIME IS NINE 10.
AND I'M CALLING TO ORDER THE FIRST PARKS, TRAILS AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING.
WE ARE ALL AWARE THAT THIS COMMITTEE IS NEW, BRINGING PARKS AND TRAILS AND PAIRING THEM WITH ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY.
I BELIEVE IT'S A GOOD PAIRING, GIVING US THE FOCUS OF IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR OUR RESIDENTS.
GREEN SPACE WILL HELP US IMPROVE OUR HEAT ISLANDS AND OUR AIR QUALITY.
STUDIES SHOW THAT GREEN SPACE IS ALSO GOOD FOR BOTH OUR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH.
OUR GOAL IS TO TAKE STEPS TO MAKE DALLAS A HEALTHY CITY, BOTH FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE AND AN INDIVIDUAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVE.
I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH ALL OF YOU.
OKAY, OUR FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS OF COURSE, TO APPROVE THE JUNE 6TH ME 2023 MINUTES FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEETING.
DO I HAVE A MOTION FOR APPROVAL? SECOND, MOVE APPROVAL.
LET'S GO TO THE FIRST ITEM ON OUR AGENDA WITH RESPECT TO PRESENTATIONS.
OUR NEXT PRESENTATION, OUR FIRST, THIS ITEM IS, UM, ON THE 2023 NATIONAL PARK AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS BY KEISHA RANDALL, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE N R P A AND THE CONFERENCE CO-CHAIR.
WE ARE EXCITED TO HEAR ABOUT THIS CONFERENCE.
SO GOOD TO SEE YOU, ALL OF YOU ALL.
IT IS SO GOOD TO SEE ALL OF YOU ALL.
AGAIN, I'M JOHN JENKINS, THE DIRECTOR FOR THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT.
AND, UH, I DO HAVE WITH ME HERE.
UH, BUT LET FIRST JUST THINK IN FRONT OF YOU ALL, I WANT TO THANK CRYSTAL ROSS, WHO SERVED AS THE INTERIM DIRECTOR WHILE I WAS OUT.
AND I APPRECIATE YOU ALL GIVING HER ALL Y'ALL'S SUPPORT WHILE I WAS OUT.
UH, DOMA, UH, SHE DID AN AMAZING JOB.
AND I ALSO HAD KEISHA RANDALL HERE WITH ME TODAY.
YOU ALL, UH, KEISHA'S ONE OUR SUPERINTENDENTS IN THE PARK SYSTEM AND SHE'S BEEN INVOLVED WITH, UH, THE N R P A CONFERENCE, NATIONAL RECREATION PARK ASSOCIATION, AND THEY ARE GONNA KICK US OFF THE TABLE AT ALL THIS GREAT EVENT THAT'S COMING HERE.
SO WE ARE SUPER EXCITED TO GIVE YOU GUYS SOME INFORMATION AND HIGHLIGHTS ON THE UP COMPANY, UPCOMING NATIONAL PARK AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION NATIONAL CONFERENCE.
UM, WE ARE SUPER EXCITED TO BE HOSTING IN DALLAS.
WE HAVE NOT HOSTED SINCE 1985, SO THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT IT WILL BE BACK IN OUR CITY.
AND SO WE JUST WANTED TO KIND OF GIVE YOU A GOOD OVERVIEW OF WHAT'S GONNA BE HAPPENING, UM, ONCE WE GET TO THE CONFERENCE HERE IN OCTOBER.
SO THE, THE, UM, CONFERENCE IS COMING TO THE K BAILEY HUTCHINSON CONVENTION CENTER ON OCTOBER 10TH THROUGH THE 12TH.
AND THEN, UH, THE HOST HOTEL WILL BE THE OMNI DALLAS.
AND THE, THE POINT OF THE CONFERENCE IS FOR ALL OF THE PARK AND RECREATION PROFESSIONALS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO ACTUALLY CONVERGE INTO ONE PLACE TO LEARN ABOUT THE, ALL OF THE EXCITING THINGS THAT WE'RE, THAT ARE GOING ON IN PARK AND RECREATION TO LEARN ABOUT THE UPCOMING ITEMS THAT WE'RE DOING, THE NEW TRENDS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO IT'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERYONE TO COME INTO ONE LOCATION AND TO LEARN AND TO NETWORK AND TO SHARE INFORMATION THAT'S VALUABLE ACROSS THE PARK SYSTEM ACROSS THE US.
SO WE ARE SUPER EXCITED TO BE THE HOST FOR THIS UPCOMING, UM, COMMITTEE, THIS UPCOMING CONVENTION.
WELL, ONE OF THE EXCITING THINGS IS THAT THE DALLAS PARK AND RECREATION STAFF ARE PRESENTING 16 SESSIONS AT THIS YEAR'S CONFERENCE.
THIS IS RECORD BREAKING FOR US.
UM, OUR STAFF DOES SUCH AN AMAZING JOB AND WE ARE REALLY, WE REALLY WORK HARD TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ON THE FOREFRONT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE FIELD OF PARK AND RECREATION.
AND SO THE CONFERENCE, YOU KNOW, WE SUBMIT OUR SESSIONS AND THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE, THEY ACTUALLY GO THROUGH PROBABLY OVER 700 SESSIONS AND WE WERE CHOSEN TO PRESENT 16 OF THEM.
SO THAT IS A REALLY RECORD BREAKING, BREAKING, BREAKING AND EXCITING FOR US.
UM, SO WE WILL BE PRESENTING ON BOTH ON TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND THURSDAY.
SO THERE ARE VARIOUS SESSIONS, UM, THAT WE WILL BE PRESENTING.
SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
UM, THE OTHER EXCITING PART ABOUT THE UPCOMING CONVENTION IS THAT WE HAVE OPENING SESSION SPEAKERS AND OUR MAYOR IS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE OPENING SESSIONS, OPENING SESSION SPEAKERS ON TUESDAY MORNING.
UM, SO WE ARE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THAT AS WELL AS OUR DIRECTOR.
WE'LL ALSO BE GIVING A WELCOME AT THIS YEAR'S CONVENTION.
UM, ONE OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT WE'LL BE DOING ON THAT DAY, AND YOU GUYS ARE ALL WELCOME TO ATTEND WITH US, IS WE ARE HO HOSTING A WELCOME TO DALLAS SOCIAL FOR ALL OF THOSE THAT WANT TO COME AND NETWORK WITH PARK AND RECREATION PROFESSIONALS WITH OUR LEADERSHIP IN
[00:05:01]
THE CITY AND GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE, TO GET TO KNOW EVERYONE AND NETWORK.AND THAT WILL TAKE PLACE AT, UM, CLYDE WARREN PARK ON MONDAY EVENING.
SO WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT AS WELL.
UM, SOME OF THE OTHER EXCITING PARTS OF THE CONVENTION IS THAT WHAT WE DO, UM, FOR PROFESSIONALS TO GET CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS, YOU TYPICALLY DO THAT AT CONFERENCE.
SO WE WILL BE HOSTING SEVERAL OFFSITE INSTITUTES WHERE PROFESSIONALS WILL ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO VISIT SOME OF THE LOCAL DALLAS AMENITIES AND PARKS AND SYSTEMS SO THAT THEY CAN GET SOME LEARNING AND EDUCATIONAL CREDITS BY DOING THAT.
UM, SOME OF THE EXCITING PLACES THAT THEY'RE GOING TO VISIT, INCLUDING THE TRINITY RIVER AUDUBON CENTER, UM, FAIR PARK, THE STATE FAIR, THAT WILL BE ALSO AN EDUCATIONAL SESSION THAT WILL BE OFFERED.
UM, THERE IS A DALLAS PARK PAVILION TOUR 'CAUSE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE AMAZING ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN THAT OUR, OUR PLANNING AND DESIGN TEAM DOES.
AND SO, UM, LOTS OF PROFESSIONALS HAVE ACTUALLY REGISTERED FOR THESE PROGRAMS TO BE ABLE TO GO THROUGH THESE TO GET CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS.
UM, WE'LL BE AT THE DALLAS ZOO, THE DALLAS ARBORETUM.
I MEAN OUR PARK SYSTEM IS SO EXTENSIVE AND SO PEOPLE ARE REALLY EXCITED.
I WILL SAY MOST OF THE SESSIONS ARE ALREADY SOLD OUT.
SO WE ARE, WE ARE DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB IN BEING ABLE TO GET THE PROFESSIONALS IN HERE TO SEE WHAT DALLAS HAS TO OFFER.
UM, ANOTHER OF THE EXCITING EVENTS THAT WILL TAKE PLACE IS THE ANNUAL N R P A GOLF TOURNAMENT.
SO THIS IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY AND WE CHOSE CEDAR CREST GOLF COURSE AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE TO SEE THE HISTORIC GOLF COURSE AND TO BE ABLE TO COME OUT AND SEE ONE OF THE JEWELS OF OUR GOLF SYSTEM, ANOTHER PART OF THE PARK SYSTEM.
SO ON THAT DAY, THAT WILL BE TAKING PLACE ON MONDAY AS WELL.
UM, SO THEY WILL BE THERE ON MONDAY.
UM, 144 GOLFERS WILL BE OUT ON THE COURSE.
UM, THEY'LL HAVE THE SHOTGUN START, THERE'LL BE A RECEPTION THERE AS WELL.
SO IT'S ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO NETWORK WITH SOME OF THE VENDORS AND PARK PROFESSIONALS THAT WILL BE THERE AS WELL AT THE GOLF TOURNAMENT.
AND THEN ON THURSDAY, THERE'S SO MUCH GOING ON ON THURSDAY, WE WILL HAVE THE N R P A FIVE K WALK, RUN, ROLL AT THE KATY TRAIL.
SO WE'RE REALLY MAKING SURE THAT EVERYONE IS GETTING TO SEE, SEE DALLAS AND SEE THE PARK SYSTEM AS A WHOLE.
SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
SO THERE WILL BE OVER 250 PARTICIPANTS OUT THERE, UM, ON THE KATY TRAIL RUNNING THE TRAIL AS WELL THAT MORNING.
UM, ALSO WE, WE JUST WANNA KIND OF HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE BENEFITS OF THE CONFERENCE COMING TO DALLAS.
OBVIOUSLY WE WANNA SHOWCASE OUR TRAILS AND OUR PARK SYSTEM.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE GETTING TO SEE THE GREAT AMENITIES THAT DALLAS HAS TO OFFER.
UM, OF COURSE EVERYONE KNOWS WE HAVE OVER 20,000 ACRES OF PARKLAND, 411 PLUS PARKS.
UM, WE WANNA SHOWCASE OUR BEAUTIFUL CITY ALONG WITH THE ARTS DISTRICT AND ALL OF THE CUISINE AND THE EXTRAORDINARY VENUES THAT WE HAVE TO OFFER.
UM, ONE OF THE PARTNERS THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH IS VISIT DALLAS.
AND SO, UH, THEY DO A LOT OF THE, UM, ANALYSIS.
SO RIGHT NOW N R P A IS EXPECTING MORE THAN 10,000, UM, ATTENDEES AT THIS YEAR'S CONFERENCE, WHICH IS GONNA BRING IN ABOUT APPROXIMATELY 1200 HOTEL ROOM NIGHTS AND VISIT DALLAS IS, IS EXPECTING KIND OF THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ABOUT 14 OVER $14 MILLION FROM BRINGING THE CONFERENCE TO DALLAS.
SO WE ARE SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY AND WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD AGAIN, THE CONFERENCE TAKES PLACE, UM, THE FIRST THE SECOND WEEK IN OCTOBER, OCTOBER 10TH THROUGH 12TH.
AND SO WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO IT AND WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SOME OF YOU JOINING US AS WELL.
YEAH, I JUST JUST WANTED TO REITERATE, YES, IF YOU ALL COULD DEFINITELY, UH, HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY IF YOU GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO COME FOR THE CONFERENCE JUST FOR A COUPLE HOURS OR A DAY, I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE THAT.
THIS IS VERY UNIQUE FOR US TO GET THIS CONFERENCE HERE.
UH, AS, AS, UH, MS. RANDALL MENTIONED THERE WILL BE OVER 10,000, I MEAN ABOUT 10,000 PARTICIPANTS.
THAT'S NOT INCLUDING THEIR FAMILIES THAT WOULD BE HERE.
THIS IS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY SHOW OFF OUR PARK SYSTEM THAT YOU ALL AND, AND PREVIOUS COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE INVESTED IN THIS PARK SYSTEM OVER THE YEARS.
UH, THIS IS GREAT AND A GREAT PRESENTATION.
I HAD SEVERAL QUESTIONS FOR YOU, BUT YOU ANSWERED THEM ALL
BUT LET ME DO, OPEN IT UP FOR OTHER, UM, COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND SEE IF THEY HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU.
AND YOU'RE DOING A FANTASTIC JOB GETTING, GETTING YOUR FIRST COMMITTEE MEETING WITH A LITTLE BIT OF COACHING FIRST COMMITTEE MEETING AND AS CHAIR, I MEAN WHAT A THAT THAT'S YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, YOU, UH, YOU YOU WON THE LOTTERY THIS MORNING ON THAT, SO, BUT YOU'RE DOING FANTASTIC.
UM, CHAIR, UM, REALLY QUICKLY, UM, YOU MENTIONED ABOUT SHOWCASING OUR PARK SYSTEM AND UM, OUR TRAIL SYSTEM, WHICH IS WONDERFUL AND FANTASTIC.
UM, AND YOU DID PUT SOME HIGHLIGHTS OUT THERE.
I OBVIOUSLY DON'T HAVE THE ENTIRE LIST, UM, BUT YOU ONLY HIGHLIGHTED SOUTH DALLAS, EAST DALLAS AND DOWNTOWN.
AND UM, I WANTED TO KNOW IF YOU KNOW, Y'ALL WERE HIGHLIGHTING ANYTHING IN THE NORTH NORTHWEST WEST DALLAS.
UM, BECAUSE WE ALSO HAVE, UM, PHENOMENAL FANTASTIC PARKS AS WELL.
UM, ESPECIALLY THE BACHMAN AREA BECAUSE IT'S SO, IT'S
[00:10:01]
SUCH A UNIQUE PARK.UM, WE'VE COMPLETED OUR DREDGING.
WE, YOU KNOW, MADE SURE THAT WE GOT A TRAIL AROUND THE ENTIRE PARK.
WE HAVE THE SKATE PARK COMING.
WE REMODELED THE RECREATION CENTER AS WELL AS THE BRAND NEW SPLASH, I MEAN, UM, AQUATIC CENTER.
AND SO I WAS JUST WONDERING, UM, AND IT'S ALSO UNIQUE 'CAUSE IT'S PROBABLY ONE OF THE ONLY PARKS THAT'S NEXT TO AN AIRPORT ALSO HAS, UM, A WATER UTILITY.
WE HAVE THE DAM, WE HAVE STORM, WE THEN A PARK AT THE SAME TIME.
AND SO IT'S, IT'S JUST SUCH A VERY, VERY UNIQUE, UM, PARK WONDERING IF ANY OF THOSE THINGS ARE BEING SHOWCASED AS WELL.
SO I'LL, I WILL TAKE THAT CRYSTAL ROSS DEPUTY DIRECTOR.
SO HOW THIS IS OUTLINED, THE THINGS THAT KEISHA JUST PRESENTED TO YOU ARE WHAT N R P A AGREED TO TAKE ON.
HOWEVER, THERE ARE SEVERAL, UH, SPECIAL AUXILIARY GROUPS THAT ARE HAVING KIND OF SIDEBAR TOURS.
AND SO WE'VE BEEN CONTACTED ABOUT OUR AQUATICS FACILITIES.
AND SO OF COURSE WITH BACHMAN BEING ONE OF OUR MOST RECENT, UM, RECENTLY OPEN FACILITIES, WE KNOW THAT WE WILL SHOWCASE THAT FACILITY.
UM, BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN SOUTHERN DALLAS AS WELL.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF KEISHA SKIPPED OVER THAT PIECE.
UM, THE LAKE CLIFF, THE LAKE CLIFF PARK, WE WILL DO A TREE PLANNING THERE AS ONE OF OUR COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS.
SO WE WILL TAKE PLACE, THAT'LL TAKE PLACE WITH OVER 200 VOLUNTEERS IN OAK CLIFF.
SO WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE SOME OPPORTUNITIES WITH OUR AUXILIARY AUXILIARY ORGANIZATIONS TO SHOWCASE SOME OF OUR REC CENTERS, SOME OF OUR AQUATIC FACILITIES, AND JUST SOME OF THE HIDDEN GYMS THAT ARE THROUGHOUT WEST DALLAS, NORTH DALLAS.
THAT'S WHY I WAS ASKING BECAUSE I KNOW YOU CAN'T GO OVER THE WHOLE THING AND I DON'T HAVE THE WHOLE LIST IN FRONT OF ME.
AND THEN, UM, ALSO IF I KNOW, I MEAN IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE TOO LATE, BUT ALSO, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S AN AUXILIARY GROUP THAT DOESN'T MIND A LONG FIELD TRIP AND GETTING OUT TO SEE THE NEW TRAIL THAT'S BEING BUILT AT CYPRESS WATERS, THAT'S A REALLY, REALLY EXCELLENT TOUR WITH WHAT'S GOING ON AND THE UNIQUENESS AS WELL OF, UM, THAT AREA WITH US GETTING THE BRAND NEW DART STATION.
THE TRAIL IS BEING, BEING BUILT, UM, ALL THE NEW, THE NEWNESS, UM, THAT'S BUILT ALL AROUND THE HOUSING IS GOING UP FASTER THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE.
I WAS JUST THERE THIS PAST WEEKEND AT THE SOUND TO SEE, UM, YOU KNOW, SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON OUT THERE AND IT'S JUST LIKE EVERY TIME I GO OUT THERE, IT'S LIKE SOMETHING NEW.
AND UM, AND WITH ALL THE ART AND EVERYTHING, IT'S JUST AGAIN, ANOTHER VERY UNIQUE, UM, PARTNERSHIP THAT WE HAVE OUT THERE.
BUT I MEAN, I'M, IT MIGHT BE TOO LATE FOR THAT ONE, BUT UM, IF THERE IS A GROUP THAT WANTS TO GO OUT, YOU KNOW, EVEN IF IT'S NOT THEM, UM, LET'S GET 'EM OUT TO CYPRUS WATERS AS WELL 'CAUSE WE'VE GOT THAT WONDERFUL, AMAZING TRAIL GOING OUT.
BUT I'M VERY EXCITED TO HAVE THIS HERE, UM, BECAUSE UM, I WAS SUPPOSED TO GO, UM, AND THEN THE PANDEMIC HIT AND, UM, WE ALL GOT SCREWED OUTTA DISNEY WORLD.
AND SO
UM, BUT THIS IS REALLY EXCITING FOR DALLAS FOR US TO SHOWCASE OUR PARK SYSTEM.
AND I MEAN, WE'VE JUST GOT SUCH, SO MANY AMAZING BIG THINGS HAPPENING, UM, WITH ALL THE NEW DEDICATED PARKLAND AND JUST, I MEAN, THERE'S NOT ENOUGH AMAZING STUFF, UM, THAT WE CAN SHOWCASE THROUGHOUT OUR ENTIRE PARK SYSTEM.
AND I KNOW THAT, UM, THOSE 10,000 FOLKS COMING TO VISIT ARE GONNA BE VERY ENVIOUS OF A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING.
AND I THINK, UH, ISN'T IT JUST IN TIME FOR THE GRAND OPENING OF THE BRAND NEW DOWNTOWN PARK AS WELL? SO THAT'LL BE ANOTHER BIG HIGHLIGHT FOR US.
AND, UM, LOOK FORWARD TO ATTENDING SOME OF THE CONFERENCES.
THEY REALLY, MADAM UH, FOLKS ONLINE REALLY CAN'T HEAR US, SO WE'RE GONNA TRY TO SPEAK LOUDER IN THE MIC.
NO, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT ABOUT Y'ALL SPEAKING UP.
IT'S, THEY'RE LIKE, UM, WITH COUNCIL MEMBER NORS WAS, IT WAS CUTTING OUT ALMOST EVERY OTHER WORD AND IT'S BEEN DOING THAT THE WHOLE MEETING.
I JUST WANNA LET YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE I'M SURE THAT'S WHAT THE PUBLIC IS HEARING.
I, MY STAFF HAS CONFIRMED THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE HEARING AS WELL.
THANK YOU GUYS FOR THE HEADS UP.
WE ARE LOOKING INTO THAT AND UM, WE MAYBE WE'LL TAKE JUST A PAUSE AND SEE IF WE CAN GET THAT FIXED BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD.
WE WANT EVERYBODY TO BE ABLE TO HEAR SIX MINUTES.
LOOKS LIKE WE, OUR PAUSE IS GONNA LAST FIVE TO 10 MINUTES.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA TAKE A BIT OF A RECESS AND SAY WE'LL BE BACK AT 9 35 AND SAY WE'LL BE BACK AT 9 35.
IT'S SO GREAT TO HAVE A HELPER,
[00:15:01]
TECHNICAL ISSUES.[00:24:44]
OKAY, EVERYBODY, TIME IS NOW NINE THIRTY FIVE AND I'M GONNA CALL THIS MEETING BACK TO ORDER OUT OF RECESS AND LOOK TO MY, UM, COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR YOU.[00:25:01]
THANK YOU.UH, COUNCIL MEMBER MORENO, GO RIGHT AHEAD.
CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN HEAR YOU.
UH, DIRECTOR JENKINS, I WANNA THANK YOU FOR, UM, TAKING TIME THAT YOU NEEDED AND, AND SPENDING THAT TO, TO GET BACK, UH, TO WHERE YOU NEEDED TO BE.
UH, CRYSTAL, YOU DID AN AMAZING JOB, UM, UNDER YOUR LEADERSHIP AND I LOOK FORWARD TO THE TEAM COMING BACK TOGETHER.
UH, MADAM CHAIR, APPRECIATE YOUR, YOUR LEADERSHIP IN, IN TAKING US IN THIS, UH, VERY IMPORTANT, UH, COMMITTEE WORK THAT WE HAD BEFORE US.
UM, AS A FORMER PARK BOARD MEMBER, I KNOW HOW CRITICAL OUR PARKS AND TRAIL ARE TO OUR COMMUNITY.
I KNOW THAT, UH, THE DEPARTMENT IS ONE OF THE BEST HERE AT CITY HALL, UM, AND I KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO PUT AN EVENT LIKE THIS TOGETHER IN COORDINATION WITH THE N R P A.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT Y'ALL HAVE TO WORK, UH, JOINTLY WITH.
AND TO PUT DALLAS, UM, AT THE FOREFRONT.
UH, WE ARE TRULY, UH, BECOMING AN INNOVATIVE, UM, PARK SYSTEM.
WE'RE TRENDSETTING FOLKS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY ARE LOOKING AT, WE'RE DOING, UM, HERE IN DALLAS.
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO THAT BEING HIGHLIGHTED THROUGHOUT, UH, THE COUNTRY.
UH, AND BOTTOM LINE IS WE MUST CONTINUE INVESTING IN OUR PARKS AND TRAIL TO CONTINUE ON THAT TRAJECTORY TO BEING THE BEST PARK SYSTEM IN THE STATE OF TEXAS AND ONE OF THE BEST AMONG THE NATION.
UM, I LOOK FORWARD TO THE CONFERENCE COMING TO DALLAS.
UM, I KNOW IT'S HASN'T BEEN HERE SINCE 1985 AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO, TO SHOWCASING EVERYTHING THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING THE PAST COUPLE DECADES IN DALLAS.
AND I'LL HOPE, UH, MY COLLEAGUES WILL JOIN ME, UH, IN OUR AMAZING STAFF, UH, IN THE NEXT, UH, IN UPCOMING MONTH.
OKAY, THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER MORENO, WE APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS.
DID, DID, WAS THAT EVERYTHING? JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WITH ALL OF OUR, UH, NOISE ISSUES THERE.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? OKAY, KEISHA, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
DO YOU HAVE A, WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER ARNOLD, I JUST HAD A QUICK QUESTION FOR YOU.
UM, WHEN YOU WERE TALKING MS. RANDALL, DID YOU SAY THERE WERE 400, 411 PARKS IN THE CITY? 411 PLUS PLUS.
SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I GOT THAT.
I'M EXCITED, OF COURSE, ABOUT US GETTING, UH, THE CONFERENCE HERE.
BUT I WANT TO ALSO, AND I'LL TAKE EVERY MOMENT THAT I CAN, ESPECIALLY SINCE THIS IS A CONVERSATION AROUND PARKS TO UNDERSCORE, UM, REALLY TO FOLLOW UP WITH, WITH COUNCIL MEMBER NAVARRO COMMENT ABOUT OTHER SITES, AND WE'RE NOT WHINING AT THIS TIME.
WHAT WE'RE DOING IS JUST STRESSING THE FACT THAT WE HAVE KEITH PARK, WHICH IS IN THE SOUTHERN SECTOR, WHICH IS SOME 264 ACRES.
UH, WE DO HAVE TRAILS, WE HAVE TENNIS COURTS, WE HAVE SOFTBALL FIELDS, WE HAVE A LOT OF AMENITIES THAT MANY PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT, WE DO KNOW IN THE SOUTHERN SECTOR.
BUT I'M TAKING THIS OPPORTUNITY TO JUST DO A PLUG FOR KEYS PARK BECAUSE, UM, MY CONSTITUENTS HAVE ASKED THAT WE PUT A HIGH PROFILE, UH, ESPECIALLY DURING THIS SEASON OF THE BOND.
UH, OUR CONSTITUENTS WANT TO BE INCLUDED, OF COURSE, ON THESE TYPES OF, OF VENUES, BUT IT'S STILL ABOUT THE DIVISION BETWEEN THE TWO CITIES.
IT, IT, AS WE TALK ABOUT THE TALE OF TWO CITIES, WE SUPPORT AND APPLAUD THE LARGER PARKS WE SUPPORT AND APPLAUD, UH, CLYDE WARREN, FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE KATY TRAILS.
BUT OUR COMMUNITY WANTS VERY MUCH NOT TO BE DISCONNECTED AND THEY WANNA STAY IN THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOODS.
AND SO PART OF THE BOND, THE PUSH AROUND THE BOND IS FOR US TO GET THE UPGRADES THAT WE NEED SO THAT WE CAN STAY IN OUR OWN COMMUNITIES SO WE CAN ATTRACT FOLKS WHEN THEY COME HERE TO REALIZE THE BEAUTY OF THE SOUTHERN SECTOR.
SO I WANTED TO PUT THAT ON THE RECORD THIS MORNING THAT I AM STILL ADVOCATING, AND I KNOW YOU ALL ARE SUPPORTING KEITH PARK, BUT IT REALLY HAS BEEN A JOURNEY EMOTIONALLY WHEN WE CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE AND WE CONTINUE TO SEE THE HEADLINES OF, OF THE, WHAT IS IT KIND OF AN IMBALANCE IN TERMS OF THE ATTENTION THAT WE DO GET ON SOME OF THE, UH, EMPHASIS ON CLYDE WARREN.
AND IT WAS FUNDED A SEPARATE WAY, DIFFERENT WAY WE KNOW THAT.
BUT THAT KEITH PART BECOMES OUR CLYDE WARREN.
AND SO FOR THOSE WHO ARE LISTENING, I DON'T, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I PUT THAT ON THE RECORD FOR MY CONSTITUENTS WHO HAVE ASKED ME TO CONTINUE TO PUSH.
AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH FOR SOME EQUITY IN TERMS OF,
[00:30:01]
OF THE RESOURCES, UH, THAT ARE GIVEN TO THAT PARK WHEN WE DO HAVE THIS MAJOR, MAJOR, UH, JEWEL IN THE SOUTHERN SECTOR OF SOME 264 ACRES KNOWN AS KEITH PARK, WHICH WAS GIVEN TO US, UH, IN THIS CITY TO MAKE SURE WE DON'T DROP THE BALL ON IT.AND I WANT TO THANK THE PARK DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR THE WORK THAT YOU'VE DONE TO SUPPORT THE FRIENDS OF KEITH PARK AND YOU ALL HAVE DONE THAT.
AND THEY, AND THEY HAVE PUT COME OUT OF THEIR POCKETS TOO, TO MAKE SURE THIS CITY HAS A JEWEL IN KEITH PARK.
SO FOR THOSE OF YOU AROUND THE HORSESHOE WHO DON'T KNOW ABOUT KEITH PARK, YOU MIGHT GOOGLE IT TO SEE.
AND, AND MAYBE IT'LL GIVE YOU A BETTER UNDERSTANDING AS TO WHY, UH, THE CONSTITUENTS THERE WANT A PARK THAT THEY CAN CONTINUE TO SUPPORT, BUT THEY WANT MORE RESOURCES AND THEY WANT TO BE INCLUDED WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SUPER PARKS, SUPER SITES AND JUST EQUITY IN THE SOUTHERN SECTOR.
SO THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU ALL DOING.
YOU KNOW, YOU'VE BEEN NOTHING BUT A JEWEL TO US, UH, WITH THESE PARKS, BUT YOU KNOW, I HAVE TO TAKE A FEW MINUTES, UH, TO FOLLOW UP.
SINCE COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, NAVARRE STARTED IT, I HAD TO GO AHEAD AND PIG PIGGYBACK ON WHAT HE HAS TO SAY IN TERMS OF DISTRICT FOUR AND THIS WHOLE CITY.
THANK YOU DEPUTY MAYOR PROAM ARNOLD FOR SHARING THAT WITH US.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS, COMMITTEE MEMBERS, OR QUESTIONS? OKAY.
WE'LL MOVE ON TO ITEM B ON THE AGENDA.
OKAY, ITEM B IS AN UPDATE ON THE BOND PROGRAM FOR PARKS AND RECREATION.
I WILL NOW TURN IT OVER TO CHRIS TURNER WARE, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR WITH THE PARK AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT TO GIVE US THIS BRIEFING.
ALL RIGHT, GOOD MORNING AGAIN.
UH, THIS, UH, UH, CHRIS, UH, TURNER NOWHERE IS GONNA TAKE YOU ALL THROUGH THE BOND PROGRAM.
I DO WANNA STRESS, THIS IS A WORKING DOCUMENT.
UH, IT IS, IT, IT WILL PROBABLY CHANGE 20 TIMES BETWEEN BEFORE THE COUNCIL FINALLY APPROVED THE BOND PROGRAM.
UH, SOMEONE WHO'S BEEN THROUGH AT LEAST FIVE BO BOND PROGRAMS SINCE I'VE BEEN
I KNOW THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF THIS PROCESS, BUT I DO WANNA STRESS THAT, UH, I WANNA THANK THE, THE STAFF, THE PART BOARD, THE, THE, UH, SUBCOMMITTEE, ALL THE WORK THEY HAVE PUT INTO IT WHILE I WAS OUT IN MY ABSENCE.
AND, AND THEY PRETTY MUCH, UH, I I THINK EVERYONE DID A GREAT JOB.
BUT ONCE I GOT BACK, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I PUT MY EYES ON THE DOCUMENT THAT, THAT I WAS DEFINITELY GONNA BE RECOMMENDED BEFORE THE, THE, UH, PARK BOARD, THE SUBCOMMITTEE, THE BOND COMMITTEE, AND THE CITY COUNCIL IN THE FUTURE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DIDN'T MISS ANYTHING.
AND I WILL SAY THAT I THINK THEY DID A GREAT JOB, BUT WITH MY 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE, THERE'S ONE THING TO LOOK AT.
SCORING, SCORING, THAT SHOULD BE THE STARTING POINT, BUT NOT THE END POINT FROM MY POSITION, BECAUSE THERE ARE THINGS I JUST KNOW IN THE PARK SYSTEM OVER WORKING HERE 30 YEARS THAT THERE EVERY COMMUNITY IS DIFFERENT.
THERE ARE AREAS WHERE, UH, WE HAVE DENSITY ALL OVER THIS CITY.
THERE'S AREAS WHERE I KNOW IT MAY BE NORTH, SOUTH, EAST OR WEST, THAT THEY HADN'T RECEIVED ANYTHING IN OVER YEARS.
AND I WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE DIDN'T MISS ANY COMMUNITY THAT HAD NOT BEEN S SERVED OVER THE LAST COUPLE, FOUR OR FIVE BOND PROGRAMS. AND I WENT BACK AND I MADE CHANGES 'CAUSE THE SCORING JUST DIDN'T SHOW IT, IT DIDN'T SHOW THE BARRIERS.
THAT'S BETWEEN DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES WHERE THEY MAY HAVE SIX, SIX LANES OF INTERSTATE, BUT THEY MAY ONLY BE THREE MILES FROM THE NEAREST PLAY.
I MEAN ONLY A MILE FROM THE NEAREST PLAYGROUND.
AND THEN THERE'S AREAS IN THE CITY WHERE WE GOT ALL THIS DENSITY WITH APARTMENTS AND THAT'S THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CITY WHERE THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE A PLAYGROUND.
THEY MAY NOT EVEN HAVE ANY AMENITIES.
AND I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I DIDN'T MISS THOSE AREAS.
AND THEN I WANTED TO LOOK AT THE PARKS WE DO OWN, BUT THEY HAVEN'T BEEN DEVELOPED JUST BECAUSE THOSE COMMUNITIES MAY NOT SPEAK OUT.
I WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE DIDN'T MISS THOSE COMMUNITIES.
AND SO, SO I APOLOGIZE THAT IT TOOK ANOTHER EXTRA TWO WEEKS, BUT I COULD NOT IN GOOD FAITH SUBMIT ANYTHING TO THIS COUNCIL, TO THE BOARD, TO THE SUBCOMMITTEES AND NOT MAKING SURE WE DIDN'T MISS ANY OF THOSE COMMUNITIES.
AND I'M NOT GONNA SAY THAT WE GOT A HUNDRED PERCENT CORRECT HERE BECAUSE AS WE CONTINUE TO WORK THROUGH THIS PROCESS, WE'RE GONNA KEEP FINE TUNING THIS.
I KNOW IT MAY BE $400 MILLION AT THIS POINT, BUT I CAN TELL YOU IT STARTED 900 MILLION AND WE CONTINUE TO KEEP GETTING, I MEAN, MOVING IT DOWN WHEN I GOT BACK, WHEN I SAY THIS GROUP, THEY SPENT PROBABLY STAYING UP TO 12 AND THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING WITH ME TO MAKE SURE WE KEPT REFINING THIS DOCUMENT JUST TO GET IT DOWN TO 3 99
[00:35:01]
AND I KNOW IT'S GONNA HAVE TO GET LOWERED THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH YOU ALL AND, AND ALL THE SUBCOMMITTEES AND THE BOND COMMITTEE TO DO WHAT WE NEED TO DO.
SO I JUST WANNA SAY, UH, I JUST WANT TO SAY, UH, IT'S A WORKING DOCUMENT AND, AND I APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S PATIENCE AT THIS TIME.
I, I'VE ASKED CHRIS NOTE WHERE TURN IF SHE'LL JUST BRIEFLY KIND OF WALK YOU THROUGH, UH, SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS.
BUT I WILL TELL YOU SOME OF THE THINGS I SAT ON WHERE YOU MAY NOT SEE SOME CERTAIN PROJECTS ON HERE IS BECAUSE WE'RE WORKING WITH A PARTNER.
I'M, I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT OUR BIG PARTNERS, BUT WE'RE WORKING WITH OTHER PARTNERS WHERE WE MAY BE ABLE TO LEVERAGE DOLLARS.
YOU'LL SEE WHAT WE, I RECOMMENDED SOME PROJECTS 'CAUSE I KNOW I GOT A PRO THERE.
GUESS WHAT? PRO I NEED YOU TO COME TO THE TABLE WITH ANOTHER COUPLE MILLION DOLLARS TO LEVERAGE DOLLARS.
I DROPPED THE PRICES BECAUSE I SAID I FEEL LIKE I CAN GO GET SPONSORSHIP THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO GO OUT AND LEVERAGE SOME OF THESE REGIONAL PLAYGROUNDS.
SO THERE WAS A LOT OF THOUGHT PUT INTO, UH, FORMULATING THIS BOND, UH, FUND RECOMMENDATION.
CHRIS TURNER, NOWHERE
SO OUR PURPOSE IN OUR ACTION ITEMS TODAY IS TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW WE GOT HERE, TALK ABOUT THE METHODOLOGY UTILIZED FOR THE DIRECTOR'S 2024 RECOMMENDED, RECOMMENDED BOND PROGRAM PROJECT PRIORITIES.
WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT OUR 399 FUNDING, $399 MILLION FUNDING SCENARIO.
WE ARE NOT GONNA TALK ABOUT A 450 OR A $500 MILLION FUNDING SCENARIO AND TALK ABOUT HOW WE OBTAIN CONSENSUS ON PRIORITIZED PROJECT LIST PER CATEGORY AND TALK ABOUT OUR NEXT STEPS.
SO HOW WE GOT HERE, WE STARTED FIRST OF ALL WITH OUR NEEDS INVENTORY AND THE PARKS NEEDS INVENTORY HAS NEARLY 3000 ENTRIES AND OVER $2 BILLION IN IDENTIFIED NEEDS.
SO THE 2024 BOND PROGRAM SCORING CRITERIA IS WHERE WE STARTED, UM, THAT WAS APPROVED BY OUR PLANNING AND DESIGN COMMITTEE ON FEBRUARY 9TH, 2023 AND WAS APPROVED BY THE FULL PARK AND RECREATION BOARD ON FEBRUARY 23RD, 2023.
WE STARTED WITH A $610.2 MILLION PROGRAM THAT WAS PRESENTED TO THE PARK BOARD ON APRIL 10TH, 2023.
ADDITIONAL DOLLARS AND CATEGORIES WERE REQUESTED TO BE ADDED FOR MASTER PLANS, NATATORIUM AND INDOOR POOLS AND SPECIALTY PARKS.
WE THEN BROUGHT A $712.2 MILLION PROGRAM TO THE PARK BOARD WITH SCORED PROJECT LISTS ON JUNE 1ST, 2023.
UM, A $719.7 MILLION PROGRAM WAS PRESENTED TO THE PARK BOARD WITH SCORED PROJECT LISTS ON JUNE 8TH.
AND WE ADDED AN AGENCY MATCH CATEGORY AND FUNDING AMOUNTS WERE DEVELOPED FOR, FOR A $450 MILLION SCENARIO.
THAT $450 MILLION PROGRAM WAS PRESENTED TO THE PARK AND PARK BOARD WAS SCORED PROJECT LISTS ON JUNE 15TH, 2023.
AND THEN WE WERE THEN ASKED TO DEVELOP A 200 300 AND $400 MILLION FUNDING SCENARIO, WHICH WAS PRESENTED TO THE PARK BOARD ON JULY 20TH, 2023.
AND AT THAT POINT, WE WERE GIVEN DIRECTION TO DEVELOP A PROGRAM FOR A $350 MILLION FUNDING SCENARIO.
THAT $350 MILLION FUNDING SCENARIO WAS PRESENTED TO THE PARK BOARD ON AUGUST 3RD, 2023.
AND WE INCLUDED PARK BOARD MEMBER TOP 10 LISTS.
WE ASKED THE PARK BOARD MEMBERS THEM SPECIFICALLY WHAT THEIR TOP 10 PROJECTS WERE WITHIN THEIR DISTRICT.
AND WE INCLUDED THOSE WITHIN THIS PRESENTATION.
AND WHEN DIRECTOR JENKINS GOT BACK AND WE STARTED WORKING TOGETHER, WE THEN PRESENTED PRIORITIZED LISTS FOR A $399 MILLION FUNDING SCENARIO THAT WAS APPROVED BY THE PARK AND RECREATION BOARD ON AUGUST 17TH, 2023.
AND THAT SAME PRIORITIZED LIST FOR THE $399 MILLION FUNDING SCENARIO WAS APPROVED BY THE PARK AND TRAIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON AUGUST 22ND, 2023.
AND THAT PROGRAM IS ESSENTIALLY WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IN FRONT OF YOU TODAY WITH A FEW MODIFICATIONS AND A FEW TWEAKS.
SO TALKING ABOUT THE METHODOLOGY, WE HAVE A SCORING MATRIX, WHICH IS OUT OF A HUNDRED POINTS AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT NEXT.
WE UTILIZE COUNCIL AND PARK BOARD MEMBER FEEDBACK FROM CONSTITUENTS BECAUSE THAT'S VERY, VERY IMPORTANT.
WE HAD STAFF INPUT AND THEN PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT CAME INTO IT WAS COMMON SENSE.
AND THAT'S WHAT DIRECTOR JENKINS WAS DISCUSSING WHEN IT CAME TO HIS 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE.
AND LOOKING AT THESE LISTS AND JUST APPLYING THE GENERAL, THIS HASN'T HAD ANY, ANY LOVE GIVEN TO IT FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS.
THIS OVER HERE REALLY NEEDS SOME ATTENTION.
SO THAT WAS THE COMMON SENSE ASPECT THAT REALLY NEEDED TO BE APPLIED TO THE PROGRAM AFTER DIRECTOR JENKINS GOT BACK FROM HIS ABSENCE.
SO LOOKING AT OUR A HUNDRED POINT SCORING CRITERIA ON, UM, WE HAVE THREE DIFFERENT COMPONENTS.
THE FIRST COMPONENT IS TECHNICAL SCORING CRITERIA, AND THAT BASICALLY IS ABOUT 50 POINTS OUT OF THE 100.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, WE HAVE SEVERAL
[00:40:01]
DIFFERENT, UM, COMPONENTS THAT GO INTO THAT TECHNICAL SCORING CRITERIA INCLUDING LEVERAGE FUNDING, MATCH REVENUE GENERATION, ECONOMIC STIMULANT, SAFETY CODE, HUMAN HEALTH IMPACT ON OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE COSTS AND ENERGY USE IF THERE'S AN EXISTING MASTER PLAN, IF THE PROJECT IS COMPLETING A PRIOR PHASE OF A, OF A MASTER PLAN, IF THE PROJECT IS AT THE END OF ITS SERVICE LIFE OR IF IT'S GONNA MEET A SERVICE LEVEL GAP.SO WE HAVE CERTAIN POINTS ALLOTTED TO EACH OF THOSE TECHNICAL CRITERIA WHICH ADD UP TO 50 POINTS.
SO THAT'S OUR TECHNICAL SCORING CRITERIA.
WE ALSO HAVE CITY COUNCIL AND PARK BOARD CRITERIA ON THE NEXT SLIDE.
THAT'S 25 POINTS OUT OF THE 100.
AND BASICALLY IF WE HAVE PARK BOARD OR CITY COUNCIL, UM, PRIORITY, THAT CAN GET UP TO 15 POINTS.
AND IF WE'VE HEARD FROM THE COMMUNITY, IF A PROJECT IS A COMMUNITY WANTED PROJECT THAT CAN GET AN EXTRA 10 POINTS.
SO THAT HAS A TOTAL OF 25 POINTS OUTTA THE 75 OR 25 POINTS OUTTA THE 100.
AND THEN FINALLY WE HAVE OUR EQUITY CRITERIA.
UM, THE PARK DEPARTMENT USED EQUITY CRITERIA OF 25 POINTS AND FIRST BEING 10 POINTS USED A SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX, WHICH USED THE C D C SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX TO BASICALLY UTILIZE THE, IN THE INFORMATION THAT WAS PUT OUT BY THE C D C TO, TO UTILIZE UNDERVALUED AND UNDER, UNDER, UM, PRIVILEGED NEIGHBORHOODS TO ASSIGN A SCORE TO THAT WE UTILIZED PARK ACCESS IF A PROJECT DID NOT FALL WITHIN A 10 MINUTE WALK OF A PARK, BASICALLY, UM, AND A AND A PARK WAS CREATING THAT, THAT ACCESS WITH THAT 10 MINUTE IT COULD GET UP TO 10 POINTS.
AND THEN FINALLY THAT PARK INVESTMENT, IF THE PARK HADN'T HAD ANY INVESTMENT IN IT WITHIN THE LAST 10 TO 15 YEARS, IT COULD GET UP TO FIVE POINTS.
SO THAT'S HOW THE PARK DEPARTMENT DID OUR EQUITY CRITERIA.
AND WHEN YOU TAKE THE TECHNICAL CRITERIA OF 50 POINTS, UM, THE PARK BOARD AND CITY COUNCIL CRITERIA OF 25 POINTS AND THE EQUITY CRITERIA OF 25 POINTS, THAT'S HOW WE GOT THE 100 POINT SCORING CRITERIA.
SO LOOKING AT THE DIRECTOR'S RECOMMENDED DOLLAR DISTRIBUTION, WE HAVE ABOUT 26 CATEGORIES OF PROJECTS THAT WE UTILIZED.
UM, STARTING WITH A D A COMPLIANCE, WHICH WE'RE RECOMMENDING A MILLION DOLLARS.
WE HAVE AGENCY MATCHES FOR 27 MILLION AQUATICS PROJECTS FOR 20 MILLION ATHLETIC FIELD DEVELOPMENT FOR 10 MILLION.
ATHLETIC FIELD LIGHTING FOR 3 MILLION, EROSION CONTROL FOR 2 MILLION GOLF CENTER IMPROVEMENTS FOR 10 MILLION, LAND ACQUISITION FOR 30 MILLION MASTER PLANS FOR 1 MILLION MULTI-DEPARTMENTAL PROJECTS FOR 17 MILLION.
SMALL PARTNERSHIP MATCHES FOR 2 MILLION.
OUR LARGE PARTNERSHIP MATCHES 82 AND A HALF MILLION DISCRETIONARY FUND PROJECTS, 34 POINT HALF MILLION PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE REPLACEMENTS, ONE AND A HALF MILLION.
AND MOVING TO THE NEXT PAGE, SOME OF THE BIG ONES ARE PLAYGROUNDS OF 14.25 MILLION.
OUR RECREATION CENTERS, OUR NEW EXPANSION AND REPLACEMENT AND MAJOR RENOVATIONS OF 80 MILLION.
WE HAVE SEPARATED OUT JUST RENOVATION OF RECREATION CENTERS FOR 12.11 MILLION AND YOU CAN KIND OF SEE THE REST OF THEM DOWN HERE.
BUT BASICALLY WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO IS OUR TOTAL REQUESTED AMOUNT IS $399,000,835.
AND SOME OF THESE PROJECTS SPECIFICALLY HAVE LISTED CATEGORIES AND LISTED PROJECTS.
NOW WE'RE NOT GONNA GO THROUGH EVERY PROJECT LISTED IN HERE, BUT WHAT I WANT TO EMPHASIZE IS THE PROJECT LIST THAT WE DO HAVE PROJECTS LISTED FOR.
WE HAVE PROJECTS THAT ARE LISTED ABOVE A BLUE LINE THAT'S CALLED RECOMMENDED FUNDING.
AND WE HAVE SOME PROJECTS THAT ARE LISTED BELOW THAT BLUE LINE.
THE PROJECTS ABOVE THE BLUE LINE ARE THOSE THAT ARE ABLE TO BE FUNDED WITH THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT WE HAVE LISTED HERE WITH THIS 399 830 5 MILLION.
AND THE PROJECTS THAT ARE BELOW THE LINE ARE NOT ABLE TO BE FUNDED WITHIN THAT AMOUNT.
BUT WE WANTED TO PUT THEM HERE TO SHOW YOU WHAT WE THOUGHT THE NEXT PRIORITY PROJECTS WERE WERE TO BE.
IF WE MANEUVERED FUNDING AROUND LIKE, LET'S USE RECREATION CENTERS FOR AN EXAMPLE.
RIGHT NOW WE HAVE $80 MILLION ALLOTTED FOR NEW EXPANSION AND REPLACEMENT AND MAJOR RENOVATIONS.
IF FOR SOME REASON WE WANTED TO PUT AN EXTRA $20 MILLION INTO REC CENTERS, OUR FIRST REC CENTER WE WOULD RECOMMEND WOULD BE UM, MARCUS REC CENTER.
SO THAT'S THE FIRST ONE SHOWING BELOW THAT BLUE LINE IN, IN THESE TABLES.
AND WE HAVE THAT IN SEVERAL OF THESE TABLES FOR PEDESTRIAN BRIDGES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
KIND OF THE FIRST RECOMMENDED, UM, PROJECT TO BE BELOW THE LINE IF FUNDING WERE TO MOVE, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
THERE ARE MANY OF THE, OF THE CATEGORIES SUCH AS A D A COMPLIANCE AND SOME OF THOSE THAT THE TOTAL FUNDING AMOUNT IS JUST PER THE CATEGORY PROPOSED.
WE HAVEN'T ACTUALLY GONE THROUGH AND IDENTIFIED SPECIFIC A D A PROJECTS OR SPECIFIC PROJECTS BECAUSE THEY KIND OF POP UP AS THEY COME UP.
UM, SO THE CATEGORIES THAT WE DID FEEL IMPORTANT ABOUT,
[00:45:01]
YOU KNOW, IDENTIFYING SPECIFIC PROJECTS FOR SPECIFIC PROJECTS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AND YOU HAVE THESE PROJECT LISTS IN HERE WITH SCORES AND RANKINGS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.AND THAT IS PRETTY MUCH THE REST OF THE PRESENTATION IS ACTUALLY PROJECT LISTS AND GOING THROUGH, UM, ON PROJECTS.
AND AS I SAID, WE DON'T WANNA SPEND A LOT OF TIME TO GO THROUGH PAGE BY PAGE BY PAGE ON PROJECTS, BUT WE'RE CERTAINLY HERE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ON ANY SPECIFIC PROJECTS YOU HAVE.
BUT TO SUMMARIZE, WE'RE PROPOSING A 399,000,835, UM, MILLION DOLLAR PROGRAM.
IS THAT COMPLETE YOUR PRESENTATION? YES MA'AM.
LET ME OPEN IT UP FOR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS.
YEAH, THANK YOU, UH, CHAIRWOMAN.
THIS IS A VERY TOUGH, UM, SITUATION.
I MEAN, YOU'RE RECOMMENDING $400 MILLION.
I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS ON THE BA BOND TASK FORCE ADVOCATING FOR PULLING MONEY OVER FROM CRITICAL FACILITIES FOR PARKS.
AND I BELIEVE WE WERE SUCCESSFUL IN DOING THAT.
UM, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S POPULAR WITH OUR CONSTITUENTS, BUT IT'S FUNNY NOW BEING ON THE INSIDE AND SEEING THE NEEDS OF CRITICAL FACILITIES OF FLOOD CONTROL OF STREETS.
UM, I WAS TOLD THE OTHER DAY THAT CITY HALL COULD COLLAPSE IN ON ITS GARAGE AT SOME POINT.
I MEAN, HOW DO WE JUSTIFY PUTTING FORWARD 400 MILLION OF A $1 BILLION BOND TO PARKS? I MEAN, HOW DO WE WEIGH THAT? UM, AND I'M NOT SAYING WE SHOULDN'T, I'M JUST SAYING LIKE, Y'ALL SELL ME ON IT.
TELL ME WHY IS THIS THE BIGGEST NEED OF THE CITY? I WOULD USE THE TERM THAT I'M A SELL YOU ON IT
I'LL TELL YOU MY THOUGHT PROCESS WHEN I GOT TO THE NUMBER 3, 9 9.
IT'S, AND, AND, AND AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, WE KNOW THIS NUMBER'S GONNA HAVE TO COME DOWN.
OH, UH, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER WHEN, UH, MY OPENING STATEMENT, WE KNOW THROUGH THIS ENTIRE PROCESS, THIS NUMBER'S GONNA COME DOWN.
I MEAN, BECAUSE YOU ALL HAVE A LOT OF, YOU GOT A LOT OF NEEDS AND AS A COUNSELOR, IT'S GONNA BE A TOUGH DECISION.
UH, I I CAN SAY, UH, GOING THROUGH AT LEAST THREE OR FOUR BOND PROGRAMS, I REMEMBER WHEN WE WAS TOLD WE WAS GONNA GET 40, I REMEMBER WHEN WE, WE WAS TOLD WE WAS GONNA GET 80 AND WE ENDED UP AT THREE 12 OR 300 MILLION.
UH, I KNOW THERE'S SOME OTHER THINGS THAT'S IN THE EQUATION THIS TIME.
THAT'S WHY I'M, I'M LIKE, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS REALITY, WILL WE GET TO 300? NO.
DO I THINK WE SHOULD TRY TO GET TO THE 26% THAT FOR THE LAST TWO BOND PROGRAMS, THAT'S BEEN OUR AVERAGE.
I THINK WE SHOULD, BUT OF COURSE THAT DECISION WILL BE UP TO YOU ALL.
BUT I WILL SAY BECAUSE WE SERVE EVERY COMMUNITY, WE SERVE EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD, OUR NEEDS ARE GOING TO BE GREAT.
IT'S A PARK SYSTEM THAT HAS OVER $3 BILLION WORTH OF NEEDS OVER THE LAST TWO OR THREE BOND PROGRAMS. WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO, UH, SLOWLY BRING THAT NUMBER DOWN.
I CAN SAY PROBABLY AT LEAST 60% OF MY REQUESTS IS TRULY JUST TAKING CARE OF WHAT WE HAVE.
BUT THE SAME TOKEN, I HAVE TO RECOGNIZE IF WE'RE GONNA BE ONE OF THE BEST PARK SYSTEMS IN THE COUNTRY, THERE ARE GONNA BE THOSE TRANSFORMATIONAL PROJECTS THAT DOES HELP WITH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TRANSPORTATION, MOBILITY, TOURISM, JUST COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT.
I MEAN, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE A UNIQUE DEPARTMENT BECAUSE WE TOUCH EVERY SINGLE COMMUNITY, EVERY SINGLE NEIGHBORHOOD.
I WISH THE NEEDS WERE LOWER, BUT THEY ARE WHAT THEY ARE.
YOU ON THE, UH, SERVICE CENTER PAGE, PAGE 37 OF YOUR PRESENTATION, UM, WHAT ARE THOSE SERVICE CENTERS AND UM, WHY IS THAT UNDER THE PARKS BUDGET AND NOT BUILDING SERVICES? UH, THE REASON IN, IN YEARS PAST, I MEAN, AND I'M OPEN TO GOING TO FACILITIES, UH, TO THAT COMMITTEE, BUT WHAT NORMALLY WILL HAPPEN IS BECAUSE WE HAVE SO MANY BUILDINGS IN THE PARK SYSTEM, WHEN IT GOES OVER TO FACILITIES, IT NEVER MAKES THE TOP LIST LIKE OUR REC CENTERS, OUR, UH, FAC, UH, SERVICE CENTERS.
SO THESE ARE SERVICE CENTERS WHERE, UH, THEY, THE ONE THAT'S ON THERE? UH, I WANNA SAY IT'S THE DISTRICT TWO ONE.
UH, IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE REPLACING THIS LAST BOND PROGRAM.
JUST WASN'T ENOUGH MONEY TO GET IT DONE.
WHERE, FIRST OF ALL, WHERE ARE THESE FACILITIES?
[00:50:01]
OH, LOCATED.LIKE, ALL RIGHT, SO DISTRICT STREET DISTRICT TWO IS LOCATED IN, UH, PLEASANT GROVE.
YEAH, IT'S PLEASANT GROVE AND IT'S A, IT'S JUST AN OUTDATED CENTER.
WE ALREADY PURCHASED THE, UH, THE, THE LAND.
WE'RE JUST WAITING TO GET ENOUGH MONEY TO GO AHEAD AND, UH, AND MOVE THEM.
IF YOU'VE SEEN THE WORKING CONDITIONS THEY WORK IN.
AND WE'LL MAKE SURE WE HAVE PICTURES.
AND THEN THE PAUL DYER IS JUST COMPLETING WHAT THE, UH, WHAT WE ALREADY INVESTED IN, WHERE WE DID PROMISE THAT WE WOULD OPEN THIS FACILITY AND ALSO HAVE LIKE A COMMUNITY ROOM.
WE JUST WEREN'T ABLE TO BUILD THE SECOND FLOOR TO RELOCATE STAFF THROUGHOUT THE PARK SYSTEM.
AND THAT'S A, A WHITE ROCK LAKE AREA.
AND THAT IS A, THAT'S A, UH, A, IT ALSO HAS COMMUNITY ROOM IN THERE TOO.
WHAT ABOUT THE D TWO SERVICE CENTER IN PLEASANT GROVE? UH, D TWO IS STRICTLY JUST A MAINTENANCE FACILITY.
WHY DON'T WE MOVE THAT AND CONSOLIDATE THAT WITH ONE OF OUR OTHER FACILITIES, LIKE THE NEW PERMIT OFFICE THAT WE JUST BOUGHT.
I MEAN, I'M JUST LOOKING AT, WE HAVE SO MUCH EXCESS LAND IN THE CITY.
IF WE COULD ACTIVATE SOME OF THAT LAND, WE COULD THEN HELP PAY FOR SOME OF THESE NEEDS, YOU KNOW, HAVE WE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT? YEAH, I'LL, TRUST ME, I'M OPEN.
LIKE I SAID, WE ALREADY OWN THE LAND NOW WHERE WE PLAN ON MOVING THEM.
SO I'M OPEN TO COLLABORATING WITH OTHER, ANY DEPARTMENT, JUST LIKE ANIMAL SERVICE APPROACH DOES ABOUT COLLABORATING, PUTTING A FACILITY ON PARK PROPERTY.
OKAY, WELL WE'LL FOLLOW UP WITH THAT WITH G P F M.
UM, AND THEN LAST QUESTION, I SAW THAT A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY WAS PROPOSED FOR SAMUEL FARM.
ARE WE DOING ANYTHING WITH THE FARM? IT'S NOT IN A DISTRICT, SO THERE'S NO ONE TO ADVOCATE FOR IT.
YOU GUYS HAVEN'T BEEN OUT THERE.
IT'S JUST, IT'S KIND OF SAD 'CAUSE THERE'S NO MONEY EVER PUT INTO IT.
'CAUSE WE'RE NOT FINISHED WITH THE MASTER PLAN.
AND WE DO, WE DO HAVE THE SALMON FARM TRUST AND SO WE DO HAVE FUNDS THAT WE CAN USE AS PART OF THAT DEVELOPMENT.
AND HOPEFULLY BY THE NEXT BOND PROGRAM WE'LL ABLE TO SAY THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED.
BUT WE KNOW WE PROBABLY AT LEAST HAVE ABOUT A MILLION AND A HALF DOLLARS JUST FROM THE TRUST TO INVEST IN SAMUEL.
AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WAS SAID DURING THE LAST BOND PROGRAM.
OKAY, OTHER QUESTIONS? COUNCIL MEMBER BLACKMAN.
SO, UM, I THINK Y'ALL ALL REMEMBER THE FORMER MAYOR MIKE RAWLINGS.
AND ONE THING HE TAUGHT ME WAS THE ESSENCE OF STRATEGY IS SACRIFICE.
WHICH MEANS IF YOU HAVE A STRATEGY AND YOU WANT THAT STRATEGY, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO SACRIFICE SOME THINGS.
IT DOESN'T MEAN WE'RE NOT GONNA DO IT, IT JUST MEANS WE'RE NOT DOING IT THIS YEAR.
SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, TELL ME NEEDS VERSUS WANTS.
BECAUSE WE ALL SAY WE NEED SOMETHING, BUT THE QUESTION IS DO WE REALLY NEED IT? AND SO YOU SAID THERE'S A NEEDS INVENTORY.
HOW MUCH OF THAT IS REALLY NEED AND HOW MUCH OF IT IS WANTS? YEAH, I I WOULD SAY FROM THE NEEDS INVENTORY, I WOULD SAY PROBABLY AT LEAST, UH, I, I'D SAY ABOUT 70% OF NEEDS INVENTORY IS, IS NEEDS.
THE WAY, ONCE AGAIN, WHAT WE'RE JUST TRYING TO MAKE SURE WE, WE, WE KEEP INVESTING IN THE PARK SYSTEM WHERE YOU HAVE THESE TYPE OF PROJECTS THAT PEOPLE WANT TO COME AND SEE.
I MEAN, THAT HELPS WITH THE THINGS I MENTIONED EARLIER WITH THE CITY.
UH, NOW THIS PARTICULAR ONE WE PUT TOGETHER, AS I MENTIONED, I, I FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE AND I WILL RUN THE NUMBERS.
I FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE THAT THIS PARTICULAR REQUEST IS ABOUT 65% OF NEEDS BECAUSE WE'RE REPLACING THINGS THAT HAVE LIVED THEIR LIFE.
AND WE'RE, UH, EXAMPLE ARE THE PLAYGROUNDS.
AND I, WE PERSONALLY WENT THROUGH AND LOOKED AT IT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE AND SAID, HEY, CAN WE, THE ONES WE'RE RECOMMENDING, CAN WE EXTEND THIS A LITTLE LONGER? WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO IS GET TO A CYCLE WHERE ON THESE PLAYGROUNDS, THEY'RE NOT HAVING THIS LIFE OF WHERE THEY'RE 15 AND 20 YEARS OVER.
I'M TRYING TO GET IT, IF I, IF THIS ONE, I THINK I'M RECOMMENDING ABOUT 40 PLAYGROUNDS.
NO PLAYGROUND BEING BEYOND THEIR LIFE BY MORE THAN THREE TO FIVE YEARS.
SO ON THAT VEIN, UM, TO ME A PLAYGROUND IS NOT A BOND.
IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE, I THINK IT SHOULD BE IN OUR GENERAL FUND.
AND BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT IT BRICK, IT'S NOT A BRICKS AND MORTAR, IT IS A PIECE OF EQUIPMENT.
SO HOW ARE WE GONNA GET FROM MOVING THAT OFF OF CREATING OF A BOND LINE ITEM AND PUTTING IT IN OUR GENERAL FUND? YOU KNOW, I'M ALL, I'M ALL OPEN
'CAUSE I MEAN, HOW LONG IS A A PLAYGROUND'S LIFE? A PLAYGROUND LIFE IS ABOUT 20 YEARS.
SO IT TECHNICALLY FITS THAT SLOT OF A 20 YEAR PLUS.
BUT I'M LIKE, THIS IS, I DON'T, WHEN I MEAN THAT, TO ME, A PLAYGROUND IS SOMETHING THAT'S JUST GENERAL MAINTENANCE.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT'S $200 A HIT, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO PUT IT IN OUR GENERAL MAINTENANCE FUND, IN MY OPINION.
SO THAT'S JUST ON THAT, HOW MUCH DID WE PUT IN FOR THE LAST BOND FOR PARKS?
[00:55:01]
UH OH.LAST BOND PRO PROGRAM WAS 311 MILLION.
AND THAT WAS CONSIDERED A BOND? A PARKS BOND.
SO HOW MUCH OF THAT HAS BEEN UTILIZED? UH, ESSENTIALLY AT THIS POINT WE HAVE OBLIGATED EVERYTHING EXCEPT APPROXIMATELY $20 MILLION.
EVERYTHING IS EITHER IN PROCESS TO BE OBLIGATED.
WE HAVE SOME PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS THAT, UM, WE ARE NOT NECESSARILY EXPECTING TO EXPEND RIGHT NOW.
BUT EVERYTHING OTHER THAN ABOUT $20 MILLION IS IN PROGRESS RIGHT NOW.
AND HOW MUCH OF THIS PREP, THIS PROPOSAL THAT YOU HAVE IS NEW ITEMS? 'CAUSE REMEMBER WHEN NEW ITEMS COME ONLINE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO, THERE'S A, THERE'S A COST TO THOSE AS WELL.
AND I'M HOPING THAT IS SOMEWHERE IN YOUR PROJECTION.
SO HOW MUCH OF THIS IS NEW ITEMS THAT YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO BUDGET FOR AS WE MOVE FORWARD? I WOULD SAY, AND IF YOU NEED TO GET ME, I MEAN YEAH, WE'LL GET YOU THE NUMBERS.
I, YEAH, DO NOT, 'CAUSE I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE HAD NEED TO LOOK AT IS, IN MY OPINION, I THINK WE NEED TO GET OUR HOUSE IN ORDER.
WE GOT A LOT OF NEEDS, AS YOU'VE SAID, 70% OF OUR NEEDS INVENTORY AND 65% OF THESE 400 IS NEEDS.
AND THEN WE CAN WORRY ABOUT ADDING ON, BECAUSE OUR FOUNDATIONS, OUR ELECTRICAL, IT'S STARTING TO CRUMBLE.
IN MY DISTRICT, I'M FOREGOING A REC CENTER.
WE ALL KNOW THAT RIDGEWOOD NEEDS TO BE REDONE, BUT IT'S LIKE THERE'S OTHERS THAT ARE WAY BEYOND THAT.
AND SO MY THING IS, BUT THEN WE'RE GONNA GO BUILD SOMETHING NEW THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO X, Y, AND Z TO.
SO I THINK, I MEAN, SO I JUST WANNA UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH WE'RE BUILDING, HOW MUCH ARE WE DOING IN OUR NEEDS TO GET IT UP TO PAR AND DO WE HAVE THE PLAN FOR THOSE NEW BUILDINGS BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA BE COMING BACK TO US AND ASKING FOR MORE MONEY.
AND THIS CONVERSATION IS HAPPENING AROUND TAX RATE RIGHT NOW.
AND SO IT COSTS AND ONLY COSTS ARE GOING UP AND WE'RE NOT IMMUNE TO IT.
SO THAT'S MY THING ON THAT ONE.
AND THEN, UM, YOU TALK ABOUT TRANSFORMATIONAL, WHICH KIND OF GOES IN THAT SAME THING VERSUS MAINTENANCE.
TRANSFORMATIONAL PROJECTS DO GIVE YOU AN R O I, SO THEY, THEY GO INTO A DIFFERENT CATEGORY, BUT I THINK WE NEED TO EXPLAIN WHAT, WHAT ARE THOSE TRANSFORMATIONAL ONES? BECAUSE UH, WE ALL KNOW THAT.
AND SOMETIMES TRANSFORMATIONAL ONES THAT HAVE BEEN IN THE PO IN THE PIPELINE FOR A WHILE MAY NEED TO HANG BACK AND LET OTHERS HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY BECAUSE INSTEAD OF, YOU KNOW, SO I THINK THAT'S A DIALOGUE THAT WE NEED TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION ABOUT TRANSFORMATIONAL AND MAINTENANCE BECAUSE THEY DO NEED, I MEAN, WE DO NEED TO, TO, TO PUT SOME TRANSFORMATIONAL MONEY IN OTHER AREAS AND LET THOSE THAT HAVE HAD IT LET IT PERCOLATE A LITTLE BIT MORE.
SO THAT'S WHERE THE ESSENCE OF STRATEGY IS SACRIFICE.
IT'S NOT THAT WE'RE NOT DOING IT, IT'S JUST NOT TO THIS BOND.
MY, THAT'S ALL MY CONVERSATION.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS, MADAM CHAIR.
UM, SO WITH, UM, THERE, THERE'S A LOT IN HERE.
I MEAN, I KNOW WE NEED IT IN THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.
EVERYBODY, EVERY DEPARTMENT NEEDS $400 MILLION.
UM, WE HAVE 1.1 BILLION AND SO, YOU KNOW, YOU GOTTA ASK FOR WHAT YOU GOTTA ASK 'CAUSE Y'ALL AREN'T NEW TO THIS AND YOU KNOW, IT'S GONNA GET WHITTLED DOWN AND THAT'S WHY YOU START HIGH SO THAT WE CAN GET YOU HOPEFULLY TO WHAT YOUR ACTUAL GOAL IS.
UM, I ALREADY HEARD 35% THAT CAN BE CUT, WHICH ARE THE WANTS.
UM, SO RIGHT THERE I SIT THERE AND GO 35 TIMES FOUR.
WE'RE PROBABLY IN A MUCH BETTER ACTUAL SPOT.
AND THAT'S JUST ME FROM NOT REALLY DELVING INTO IT.
UM, AND YOUR DIRECTOR'S ASKS, UM, THERE WAS 82 MILLION FOR LARGE PARTNERSHIP MATCHES.
UM, TO ME, I JUST HEARD, UM, UM, DIRECTORS SAY, I MEAN, UM, UM, UM, ASSISTANT DIRECTORS SAY, UM, THAT THERE'S 20 MILLION IN OUTSTANDING LARGE PARTNERSHIP, UM, BOND MATCHES.
WAS, WAS THAT ACCURATE? THAT THAT WAS NOT EXACTLY ACCURATE? WHAT I, WHAT I INDICATED WAS WE HAVE $20 MILLION OF OUTSTANDING, UM, 2017 BOND PROJECTS THAT WE HAVEN'T STARTED YET.
UM, THO THOSE ARE NOT NECESSARILY LARGE PARTNERSHIP MATCHES.
BECAUSE A SECOND AGO YOU SAID WITH LARGE MATCHES.
THERE ARE SOME THAT ARE LARGE PARTNERSHIP MATCHES.
AND RYAN, IF YOU WANNA JUMP IN HERE, I OKAY.
'CAUSE IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WHEN WE'RE, WHEN WE'RE HERE THAT WE HEAR EXACTLY WHAT'S LEFT.
[01:00:01]
KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHETHER THEY'RE LARGE MATCHES OR NOT, I THINK THAT'S REALLY SOMETHING THAT HAS TO BE PAID ATTENTION TO WHEN YOU'RE COMING HERE BEFORE THIS BODY.BECAUSE THAT, THAT'S GONNA CHANGE OUR LINE OF QUESTIONING.
SO IF WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT WE GET THAT IN, I THINK YOU HAVE WHAT'S, WHAT'S OUTSTANDING IN THE 20 MILLIONS.
HI, RYAN O'CONNOR, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR SPECIFICALLY, THERE ARE THREE PROJECTS KIND OF, UH, PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS THAT HAVE YET TO START.
THE THREE ARE FUNDING FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMONS LAND ACQUISITION.
IT'S THE DALLAS ZOO PARKING GARAGE.
AND IT IS, UM, IT IS THE DALLAS WATER COMMONS.
SO FOR THE ZOO PARKING GARAGE, THAT PROJECT IS ACTUALLY BIDDING THIS WEEK.
SO EFFECTIVELY THAT FUNDING HAS BEEN SPOKEN FOR THE DALLAS WATER COMMONS PROJECT, WHICH IS SEVEN AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS.
I'M ACTIVELY WORKING ON A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WITH THAT PARTNER RIGHT NOW.
SO THAT PROJECT IS ALSO, UM, ON ITS WAY, THE LAST PIECE OF MONEY IS SIX AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMONS.
THAT HAS, UM, BEEN DISCUSSED QUITE HEAVILY.
WE'VE, UH, MADE, UM, YOU KNOW, GRANT APPLICATIONS FOR IT.
BUT I WOULD SAY OF THE THREE THAT IS PROBABLY LAGGING THE OTHER TWO.
SO, SO IF WE PASS THESE BONDS AND THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE MATCHES, DO WE NOT, UM, CHECK OR ASK FOR PROOF THAT THEY HAVE THESE MATCHING DOLLARS SO THAT WHEN WE PASS THE BOND, WE'RE NOT WAITING SEVEN YEARS LATER TO GET THE PROJECT GOING WHERE WE COULD HAVE DONE THIS SEVEN YEARS AGO AND HAD IT READY TO GO.
'CAUSE ONCE THE VOTERS PASSED THE BOND, WE CAN GET THE DOLLARS FOR THE MATCH.
SO IS IT A TRUE MATCH OR IS THIS A WISH AND A PRAYER MATCH THAT? WELL, IF YOU PRETEND LIKE YOU'RE GONNA PUT SKIN IN THE GAME, THEN WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE WE'RE THEN WE'LL START FUNDRAISING AT THAT POINT.
AND WE HEAR THAT A LOT IN THIS BUILDING, UM, FROM BIG GIANT DONORS THAT SAY THEY, THEY HAVE BIG, BIG DREAMS AND PLANS, BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE READY.
SO IS THAT WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE OR IS THIS, UM, SOMETHING THAT WE CAN CHANGE IN THE BOND? 'CAUSE I, 'CAUSE EARLIER IN THE, IN THE, IN THE, UM, SCORING, UM, 10 POINTS GET GIVEN IF COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND, AND THEN ANOTHER 15 FOR COUNCIL OR PARK BOARD MEMBER, UM, OUTREACH ON AN ITEM.
THAT'S, THAT'S A QUARTER OF THE POINTS.
AND OF COURSE IF FOLKS SAY THAT THEY GOT A BIG MATCH AND THEN YOU GET ANOTHER, WHAT WAS IT, 10 POINTS IF YOU'VE GOT, IF YOU'RE A LARGE DONOR MATCH OR, OR THERE'S A MATCH FOR IT.
SO THAT'S 35% OF THE POINTS THAT YOU CAN GET IF YOU HAVE A QUOTE UNQUOTE MATCH THAT MAY NOT EVEN EXIST.
AND WHO GETS HURT ARE, UM, RIGHT THERE 20 MILLION.
I'M NOT SAYING THESE FOLKS DIDN'T HAVE THE MONEY, I'M JUST SAYING, BUT 82, IF THEY DON'T HAVE IT AND IT'S SEVEN YEARS LATER, THAT'S ALL YOUR PLAYGROUNDS THAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT DIRECT OR HALF OF THEM.
'CAUSE IF WE'RE DOING 20 OR 40 THIS TIME AROUND, I DID THE MATH, THAT'S ABOUT $10 MILLION AT 250,000 A PLAYGROUND, WHICH IT'S GONNA BE MORE AS THE YEARS GO ON.
AND SO THAT'S WHERE I'M GETTING AT IS THAT, YOU KNOW, ALL OF A SUDDEN IT'S LIKE YOU, YOU ALSO MENTIONED ABOUT EQUITY.
ALL OF A SUDDEN THE HAVES THAT MAYBE DON'T EVEN HAVE THE HAVE, BUT BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE VOICE AND THEY CAN APPEAR THAT THEY HAVE THE DOLLARS BECAUSE WE TRUST THOSE BIG ORGANIZATIONS OR THOSE BIG ORGANIZATIONS HAVE A LOT OF BIG DOLLAR DONORS.
ALL OF A SUDDEN WHAT GETS HURT IS THE COMMUNITY, THE THE SMALL PERSON, THE SMALL REGULAR, UM, NEIGHBORHOOD PARK THAT ISN'T GETTING THE LOVE THAT IT NEEDS.
LIKE THE PARK THAT'S, UM, I HAVE PARKS IN WEST DALLAS THAT STILL HAVE EITHER HAVEN'T HAD A PARK IN SEVEN, UH, PLAYGROUND IN SEVEN YEARS BECAUSE IT BURNED DOWN ANOTHER ONE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN BUILT.
I'VE GOT OLD METAL PARKS THAT HAVE RUST ALL OVER THEM WHERE KIDS ARE GETTING SCRATCHED OR ANYBODY CAN GET HURT.
I'VE GOT AN ALL ABILITIES PLAYGROUND THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN REPLACED 10 YEARS AGO AND NOTHING'S BEING DONE WITH THOSE BECAUSE OF THESE BIG DOLLAR MATCHES.
SO THAT'S, I THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER BLACKMAN FOR TALKING ABOUT THE, THE NEEDS VERSUS THE, THE, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE ACTUALLY, UH, THE NEEDS VERSUS THE WANTS.
UM, BECAUSE WE'VE GOT A LOT OF NEED OUT THERE, ESPECIALLY IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS AND OO, SHINY IS GREAT, TRANSFORMATIONAL IS WONDERFUL, BUT WHY CAN'T WE FOCUS AND GET TRANSFORMATION HAPPENING INSIDE OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS FOLKS LOVE THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS.
THEY, THAT, THAT IS THEIR OUTLET.
THOSE ARE RECREATION CENTERS, THOSE ARE CULTURAL CENTERS.
YOU ALREADY KNOW I'M A HUGE PARKS FAN.
SO, AND REC PARK AND REC FAN, THE, THE PANDEMIC PROVED IF WE DIDN'T HAVE THESE PARKS, THESE OUTDOOR SPACES, I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE WOULD'VE DONE AS FAR AS WHERE PEOPLE COULD GO AND ENJOY AND DO THE THINGS THAT THEY NEED TO DO.
AND THEN THE OTHER THING I WANTED TO MENTION WAS IF, IF THERE'S A PROJECT THAT WE STARTED, UM, 'CAUSE WE'RE ALSO NOTORIOUS FOR THIS AS WELL, PHASE ONE, PHASE TWO, PHASE THREE.
AND WE ALWAYS DO PHASE ONE AND WE NEVER GET TO TWO OR
[01:05:01]
THREE.SO IF WE ALREADY DID A PHASE ONE OR A PHASE IN A MULTIPLE PHASE PROJECT, UM, BECAUSE OF BOND, WE NEED TO FINISH THAT BECAUSE WE PROMISED THE COMMUNITY, UM, THAT WE WERE GOING TO, WE WE, AND WE LOVE TO DO THIS.
WE GOT YOU THIS TIME AND WE'LL GET YOU LATER.
AND YOU KNOW THAT, THAT, THAT, THAT'S LIKE MY AUNT THAT I NEVER EVER SEE THAT SAYS SHE'S GONNA GIMME 50 BUCKS FOR MY BIRTHDAY AND SAID, I GOT YOU LATER AND LATER NEVER COMES.
AND I'M OVER THERE THINKING THAT I'M GONNA GET MY $50.
WELL, THAT'S THE SAME THING FOR THE COMMUNITY.
WE'VE SAID THAT WE'RE GONNA FINISH THEIR RECREATION CENTER.
WE'VE SAID THAT WE'RE GOING TO UPGRADE THEM, WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE NOT FALLING APART.
AND, UM, AND YEAH, I I, I, I'M WITH COUNCIL MEMBER BLACKMAN, WE CAN'T BUILD A BRAND NEW ONE UNLESS WE GET EVERYTHING BACK UP TO PAR.
UM, BECAUSE THAT MAINTENANCE AND THE MAINTENANCE IS THE NEXT THING WHICH, SORRY, CHAIR, I'M GONNA FINISH WITH THIS.
THE MAINTENANCE IS, THE OTHER THING IS WE'RE NOT EVEN FUNDING MAINTENANCE AND OUR GENERAL FUND FOR PARKS.
SO IF WE CAN, THERE'S A LOT GOING ON.
SO I'M, I'M NOT GONNA BE AN ADVOCATE FOR BRAND NEW OO SHINY, UM, UN UNLESS WE'VE GOT THE MAINTENANCE THAT'S GOING TO MATCH IN ORDER TO KEEP THOSE THINGS UP TO PAR AS WE GO FORWARD.
I JUST WANNA JUST CLEAR UP WHEN I, WHEN I USED THE TERM TRANSFORMATION, UH, WHEN I, WHEN I SAY TRANSFORMATION AS WELL, IS WHERE I GOT ATHLETIC FIELDS.
WE HAVE NEVER INVESTED IN OUR ATHLETIC FIELDS SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE.
AND THIS IS WHERE WE GET THE GREATEST USE.
AND MY NUMBER AT ONE WAS 20 SOME MILLION DOLLARS FOR ATHLETIC FIELDS.
I THINK IT'S DOWN TO LIKE 10 MILLION NOW BECAUSE OF THOSE, KNOWING THAT THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER WANTS IN THE CITY, THE REC CENTERS REALLY NEED ABOUT $300 MILLION.
I'M ONLY RECOMMENDING $80 MILLION BECAUSE ONCE AGAIN, I RECOGNIZE THOSE NEEDS AND WANTS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CITY.
I CAN GO ON AND ON ABOUT TRANSFORMATIONAL PROJECTS.
IT IS NOT JUST THE CLYDE WARRENS, BUT THE CLYDE WARRENS WERE A TRANSFORMATIONAL THAT TRULY DID HELP THE CITY ECONOMICALLY.
UH, WE, WE GOT SOUTHERN GATEWAYS IN THERE.
WE KNOW THAT THE ZOO IS TRANSFORMATIONAL.
IF WE WOULD'VE NEVER HAD THE WOWS OF AFRICA, THE ZOO WAS NEVER WOULD'VE BEEN ON THE MAP.
AND SO WE DO HAVE TO LOOK AT THAT BALANCE.
'CAUSE THIS TIME, NO, I PUT A LOT OF EMPHASIS ON NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES.
I GOT ANOTHER $200 MILLION WORTH OF POOLS NEED TO BE REPLACED.
I HAD TO TAKE THAT NUMBER DOWN TO ABOUT, I THINK MY NUMBER'S SOMEWHERE AROUND 20, $20 MILLION I CAN GO ON.
'CAUSE WE DIDN'T GO THROUGH THAT SLIDE.
AND IF YOU, IF I WOULD'VE WENT THROUGH THAT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE WHY I RECOMMENDED WHAT I RECOMMENDED.
NO, MY NEEDS ARE REALLY, ARE $400 MILLION.
IT REALLY IS BECAUSE I'M TRYING TO MAKE SURE WE SERVE EVERY SINGLE COMMUNITY.
BUT I KNOW YOU ALL HAVE A HARD CHOICE, BUT IN GOOD CONSCIENCE, IF I DIDN'T PUT THIS BEFORE YOU, THERE IS NO WAY YOU WOULD KNOW WHAT THE REAL, THE REAL NEEDS ARE IN THE SYSTEM.
BUT SPRAY GROUND, I CAN'T EVEN GET TO 'EM.
I HAD TO MAKE SURE I LOOKED AT STRICTLY UPGRADING THE ONES THAT WE PUT IN LIKE 20 YEARS AGO AND MAKE THOSE SOMETHING THAT EVERY COMMUNITY WANTED TO BE PROUD OF.
AND I COULD NOT, AND I'M SORRY.
AND I, I WOULD STOP, BUT I COULD NOT IN GOOD CONSCIOUS, YOU ALL KNOW THAT I HAVE SOME, IF WE GONNA TALK ABOUT EQUITY WHEN CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOOD CITIES, NICE AQUATICS FACILITIES WE HAVE TODAY.
AND THEN I GOT EIGHT OTHER AQUATIC FACILITIES THAT LOOK LIKE, AS YOU MENTIONED, LIKE RAWW AND OTHERS.
AND THEY SEE THESE NICE, THESE NICE POOLS NOW, BUT IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND THOSE, THOSE POOLS ARE STILL IMPORTANT TO FOLKS.
THEY CAN'T THINK THE CITY IS SERVING EQUITY IF I LEAVE THOSE TYPE OF SPRAY GROUND IN POOLS IN PLACE.
SO I KNOW THE NUMBER REALLY IS CLOSE TO 400 MILLION.
THERE'S NO IF AND BUTS ABOUT IT, BUT I, BUT I JUST WANTED TO SAY, I LOOKED AT THE BASICS THAT WERE WHERE WE NEVER HAVE REALLY INVESTED IN OUR PARK SYSTEM, ATHLETIC FIELD LIGHTING.
THAT SHOULD BE ON A ROTATION EVERY SEVEN YEARS.
I NEED 30, BUT I'M ONLY ASKING FOR ABOUT, I THINK I'M DOWN TO $2 MILLION OR $3 MILLION.
AND I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, SO THE PUBLIC HERE, EVERY DECISION WAS MADE.
AM I MAKING SURE I'M SERVING EVERY COMMUNITY AND NEIGHBORHOOD? IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY WHERE I CAN GET SUPPORTERS, DONORS? DO I HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY, IF I GET SOMEBODY A DOLLAR, THEY CAN GO MATCH $3? AND THAT WAS THE THOUGHT PROCESS, BUT IT WAS ALSO TAKEN CARE OF.
THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE THEY DON'T HAVE A VOICE, THEY'VE BEEN LEFT OUTTA SEVERAL BOND PROGRAMS. SO YES, MY NUMBER IS HIGH, IT'S BECAUSE I WANNA MAKE SURE NO ONE GETS LEFT OUT THIS TIME.
[01:10:01]
AND DIRECTOR, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PASSION THERE.AND THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO SEE IN THIS PRESENTATION IS, UM, WHERE THESE DOLLARS REALLY ARE GOING TOWARDS.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, NEEDS VERSUS WANTS IS, IS A BIG DIFFERENCE.
UH, A UPGRADE OF A POOL THAT'S 25, 30, 40 YEARS AGO, I DON'T SEE THAT AS A WANT.
I SEE THAT AS A NEED BECAUSE THE, I HAVE, I HAVE ONE POOL LEFT IN WEST DALLAS, ONE, AND EVERYTHING ELSE HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN.
AND THAT ONE POOL IS NOT GOING TO MAKE IT MUCH LONGER EITHER.
I GET THAT PART, BUT TO ME, THAT ALREADY EXISTS.
SO WE HAVE TO, THAT'S TAKING CARE OF WHAT YOU ALREADY OWN.
IT'S, I I, I SAID THIS TO ANOTHER BIG GROUP THE OTHER DAY THAT, UM, YOU, IF, IF YOU BUY A CAR AND I JUST HAD TO RECENTLY GET ONE, I CAN'T AFFORD A BRAND NEW MERCEDES-BENZ.
THAT'S MY POCKETBOOK AS MUCH AS I WOULD LOVE ONE.
AND IT'S NOT THAT I COULDN'T BUY ONE, IT'S THAT I LOOKED AT WHAT THE MAINTENANCE WOULD BE ON THAT NEW MERCEDES-BENZ AND WENT, WHOA, YEAH, I CANNOT AFFORD THE MAINTENANCE AND DO THE PAYMENT AND THE INSURANCE AND ALL OF THAT.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT I THINK I'M TRYING TO GET AT IS THAT IF WE DON'T GOT MERCEDES-BENZ MONEY, THEN WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO BUY, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO BE OKAY WITH THE THE HONDA.
THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.
IT'S JUST HOW DO WE GET THERE? AND THE HARD PART IS, AND IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT, IT'S DECADES OF KICKING THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD.
AND UNFORTUNATELY IT'S ALL HIT US AT THE EXACT SAME TIME.
STREETS, ROADS, LIGHTING, YOU KNOW, UM, POLICE, YOU KNOW, UM, FIRE STATIONS, PARKS, YOU, ALL OF IT IS HITTING ON AND IT'S JUST PILING ON ALL OF US.
AND THEN WE'VE GOT A PUBLIC THAT'S ALSO SCREAMING.
WE DON'T WANT TO PAY ANY MORE, ANY MORE PROPERTY TAX, RIGHT? SO IT'S LIKE, IT'S A CULMINATION OF DIFFERENT THINGS.
'CAUSE UM, I WANT, IF I COULD DO A WHOLE BILLION JUST FOR YOU, I WOULD, I WOULD BE ALL OVER IT BECAUSE THAT'S HOW IMPORTANT PARKS AND REC IS.
BUT I ALSO GOTTA TAKE CARE OF STREETS AND FIRE STATIONS AND YOU NAME IT.
SO ON THE LIGHTING, IF THERE'S ANY WAY THAT WE CAN MAYBE ALSO GET WITH, UM, TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE AND SEE IF THAT CAN BE PART OF, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE ACT MATCHES AND WHAT HAVE YOU.
BUT LET'S SEE WHERE WE CAN LEVERAGE DOLLARS IN ORDER TO, UM, GAIN MORE TO HELP STRETCH THESE BOND DOLLARS FOR YOU AS WELL AS THE REST OF US.
UM, LET'S GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER.
MARINA, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR COMMENT? NO, JUST, UH, COMMENTS.
I THINK IT'S NO SURPRISE THAT I'M GOING TO BE ONE OF THE BIGGEST ADVOCATES FOR OUR PARKS.
OUR PARKS ARE CRITICAL TO OUR EVERYDAY LIVES HERE IN DALLAS.
AND SAYING THAT WE MUST CONTINUE TO INVEST IN OUR PARKS.
I WANT TO THANK OUR PARK SUBCOMMITTEE, OUR PARK BOARD.
I KNOW THAT THE WORK THEY DO IS, UH, IS CRITICAL.
THEY HAVE A GREAT PULSE ON WHAT THE COMMUNITY WANTS AND NEEDS, AND I HOPE THAT WE CONTINUE ADVOCATING FOR THE FULL SUPPORT THAT THEY'RE ASKING TODAY.
UM, I DO HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ON THE EQUITY INDEX.
JOHN, I KNOW YOU SAID IT'S NOT PERFECT.
SO I, I DO WANNA THANK YOU FOR WORKING WITH THE WHITE ROCK HILLS, UM, COMMUNITY IN, IN EAST DALLAS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE INDEX REFLECTED THEIR NEEDS.
WHEN IT COMES TO AQUATICS, OUR SPRAY PARTS HAVE BEEN A HUGE HIT.
OBVIOUSLY WE NEED MORE SHADE IN AND AROUND THEM.
UM, WITH THAT, OUR CLIMATE CHANGES, UM, WHEN A CONTINUED PRIORITY ON INDOOR POOLS AND AUDITORIUMS. BOTTOM LINE IS OUR PARKS ARE, UH, AN INVESTMENT.
OUR PARKS HAVE PROVEN TO BE REWARDING.
PARKS TOUCH EVERYTHING THAT WE DO EACH AND EVERY SINGLE DAY.
THEIR FLOOD CONTROL PARKS ARE QUALITY OF LIFE.
PARKS ARE HEALTH AND WELLNESS PARKS GIVE US ONE OF THE BIGGEST RETURN.
OUR INVESTMENTS, THEY'RE AN ECONOMIC ENGINE.
THEY'RE PART OF OUR C A PARKS HELP WITH RELOCATION OF COMPANIES AND RESIDENTS.
AND SO, UH, JOHN, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO FOLLOW YOUR, UH, BOARD'S RECOMMENDATIONS AND LET US MAKE THOSE DIFFICULT CUTS.
UH, BUT IF, IF THIS IS WHAT'S NEEDED, PLEASE CONTINUE ADVOCATING FOR, FOR THAT FULL AMOUNT.
AND, UH, WE'LL JUST HAVE TO CHIP AWAY WHEN, WHEN NEEDED.
UH, BUT I DO FEEL THAT WHAT YOU HAVE PRESENTED TO US ARE THE NEEDS OF THE, OF THE DEPARTMENT.
AND SO, THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR.
I, I BELIEVE, DO YOU HAVE SOME COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? OKAY.
I'M, I, I'M STILL HAVING REALLY HARD TIME, UH,
[01:15:01]
FOLLOWING WITH THE, UH, AUDIO IN, IN, IN ALL HONESTY, I THINK IT'S WORSE WHEN, UH, MEMBERS FROM THE HORSESHOE SPEAK.WELL, THAT IS NOT GOOD NEWS,
IF THERE'S, I THINK WE'RE WORKING ON, ON OUR, ON OUR END.
UM, AND I'M, I HAD HOPED MAYBE THERE WAS SOME IMPROVEMENT, SO I, I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT.
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR, UH, THIS CONVERSATION.
AND I, I'M GONNA TALK AS QUICKLY, BUT CLEARLY AS I CAN, UH, FOLLOWING UP ON, UH, MEMBER, UH, NAVARRA'S COMMENT.
I THINK WE ALL, I MEAN, I'M GONNA SPEAK FOR MYSELF TODAY.
UM, I'LL SAY SOME, LET ME NOT SPEAK FOR, LET ME JUST REGROUP.
PARKS I, FROM WHERE I AM AND IN, IN ACT IN ACT, INTERACTING WITH COMMUNITY.
I KNOW THAT PARKS ARE VERY INSTRUMENTAL MANY TIMES IN HELPING US TO PROVIDE THOSE RESOURCES.
AND THE FUND, UH, THAT PROBABLY FAMILIES COULDN'T AFFORD.
YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WE BROUGHT, I KNOW I BROUGHT MY CHILDREN UP, WE BROUGHT OUR CHILDREN UP IN THE PARK 'CAUSE WE HAD A, YOU KNOW, FREE MERRY-GO-ROUND AND FREE SPACES TO RUN AND HAVE FUN.
UH, THE ZOO COST A LITTLE BIT MORE, BUT YOU COULD AT LEAST AFFORD TO TAKE YOUR CHILDREN TO THE ZOO.
AND SO FOR ME, THOSE, I MEAN, YOU, YOU, YOU GOTTA LOVE THE PARKS BECAUSE IT'S A PLACE WHERE YOUR FAMILY CAN GO.
AND, AND SO YES, I AM FOCUSING ON THOSE NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS AND I APPRECIATE YOU EMPHASIZING THAT BECAUSE IT IS THE LEAST EXPENSIVE WAY THAT A FAMILY CAN, CAN HAVE FAMILY FUN IF THERE IS SOMETHING FOR THEM TO AT LEAST, YOU KNOW, TO PLAY WITH.
BUT, UH, I WILL SAY THAT, UM, THROUGH THE YEARS AS MY CHILDREN WERE GROWING UP, THOSE TWO, THE PARKS AND THE ZOO WERE VERY, VERY INSTRUMENTAL.
BUT WE HAD A VERY, WE HAD A NEIGHBORHOOD PARK, UH, THAT WE COULD JUST WALK TO.
AND, AND AS YOU ALL ARE PUSHING FOR WITHIN 10 MINUTES, WE COULD ALWAYS JUST WALK TO, UH, AND SO THAT WAS VERY IMPORTANT.
BUT IN TERMS OF THE CONVERSATION AROUND BUDGET AND BOND, WE DO HAVE TO BE MINDFUL AND WE HAVE TO STRESS THAT TO OUR COMMUNITY.
AND, AND FROM, FROM A STANDPOINT OF ECONOMICS, THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NEED AND A WANT.
AND, UH, AND WE DON'T WANNA BE IN A POSITION WHERE WE HAVE TO BEG FOR WHAT WE NEED, YOU KNOW, BEG FOR WHAT WE NEED, BUT WE BEG FOR WHAT WE NEED AND, AND GO AHEAD AND SPEND THINGS ON WHAT MONEY IS ON WHAT WE WANT AS OPPOSED TO TAKING CARE OF NEEDS.
SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I I PUT THAT OUT.
BUT THE CLARIFICATION THAT I NEEDED WAS AROUND THE COMMENT, AROUND THE QUESTION ABOUT THE DOLLARS THAT ARE STILL NOT OBLIGATED.
AND SO THERE WAS A COMMENT ABOUT THE ZOO BEING BIDDED THIS WEEK.
SO WHAT IS, WHAT IS THAT COST FOR THIS GARAGE? YES, MA'AM.
THAT'S THE GARAGE ADJACENT TO THE DART STATION.
IT'S A THREE AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS, UH, ALLOCATION IN THE 2017 BOND PROGRAM.
NOW WHAT ARE THE, SO THE CLARIFICATION AROUND THIS 30 MILLION FOR THE ZOO ON THE BOND, WHAT IS THAT FOR? YES, MA'AM.
SO THAT IS, UH, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE DID BACK IN 2006 WITH THE GIANTS OF SAVANNAH.
THAT WAS A TRANSFORMATIONAL OPPORTUNITY THAT DROVE ATTENDANCE, DROVE REVENUE.
THIS IS A SIMILAR OPPORTUNITY.
THIS IS REPURPOSING THE OLD MONORAIL THAT RUNS THROUGH THE ZOO.
THIS IS OPENING UP ACRES AND ACRES AND ACRES, PROBABLY 25 ACRES OF NEW EXHIBIT SPACE THAT THE ZOO INTENDS TO HAVE NEW ANIMALS AND NEW EXHIBITS IN THAT SPACE WITH THE SAME GOAL BACK IN 2006 OF HAVING A NEW ATTRACTION, GROWING ATTENDANCE AND GROWING REVENUE.
BECAUSE WHAT HAPPENS AT ZOOS, AS YOU HAVE NEW EXHIBITS, YOU SEE A SPIKE IN ATTENDANCE AS THINGS BE AGE A LITTLE BIT, YOU SEE THE ATTENDANCE CAN LIKE GO DOWN A LITTLE BIT.
SO THAT'S KIND OF WHERE WE ARE.
SO THE, THE THOUGHT HERE IS THAT IF THE CITY CAN HELP THEM MAKE A VERY SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT IN THE ZOO, BY THE WAY, THEY'RE PLANNING TO BRING $70 MILLION TO THE TABLE.
IT'S GONNA BE A BIG SHOT IN THE ARM AND IT'S GONNA PUT THE ZOO BACK WHERE WE WANT IT TO BE, WHICH IS ONE OF THE PREMIER ZOOS IN THE COUNTRY IN COMPETITION WITH FORT WORTH AND OTHERS.
SO I I, I ALREADY FEEL THAT THE ZOO IS A PREMIER, UH, UH, ATTRACTION.
BUT THE QUESTION FOR ME IS GETTING CLARITY AROUND WHAT IS THE $30 MILLION FOR? AND IT'S KIND OF LIKE A DEFERRED, UH, DEFERRED, UH, FOR ME.
DO, IS IT A NEED OR IS IT A WANT? AND SO IT'S KINDA LIKE THE MATCHING THAT COUNCIL MEMBERS SPOKE ABOUT.
IS IT SOMETHING THAT YOU, YOU, YOU PLAN ON DOING IT, YOU SAID YOU'RE GONNA DO IT, BUT WE DON'T HAVE ANY, WE DON'T HAVE ANY DESIGNS OR PROOF RIGHT NOW THAT YOU HAVE IT ALREADY
[01:20:01]
UNDERWAY.SO MY, I'M JUST TRYING TO GET CLARITY AROUND THE NEEDS AND THE WANTS CONVERSATION AND CAN IT BE DELAYED FOR THE NEXT BOND PACKAGE? YOU SEE WHERE I'M GOING? SO THEN WE CAN PUT OUR, OUR FUNDS INTO THE NEEDS CATEGORY FOR SOME OF THESE COMMUNITY PARKS, UH, COMMUNITIES.
OR IF WE HAVE TO CUT AND WE VERY WELL MAY NOT ALL AGREE ON THAT AMOUNT THAT YOU'RE COMING FORTH.
NOW THE QUESTION BECOMES, IS THAT A NEED OR IS IT A WANT? YES MA'AM.
YEAH, I'M GONNA JUST SAY I WOULD AND, AND RYAN CAN ADD TO IT, BUT REAL QUICK, I WOULD SAY THAT'S MORE OF A NEED BECAUSE THEY HAVE A OLD MONORAIL SYSTEM JUST SITTING THERE NOT BEING UTILIZED.
'CAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THE FUNDING.
BUT THEY, THEY WERE ABLE TO GO OUT AND CONVINCE THEIR THEY HAVE OLD WHAT? A MONORAIL SYSTEM.
SO, SO THE OPPORTUNITY OF BEING ABLE TO CONVERT THAT INTO SOME TYPE OF USE NOW THAT WOULD DRIVE ATTENDANCE, WHICH WOULD THEREFORE ALLOW US TO CONTINUE TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS IN THE FUTURE WHERE IF THEY'RE DRIVING RECORD ATTENDANCE AND THEY, THEY'RE GOING FROM 1.3 MILLION TO NOW 1.7 MILLION, THEN YEAH, WE CAN START HAVING THOSE DISCUSSIONS 'CAUSE YOU'RE GETTING THIS ADDITIONAL REVENUES AND WE COULD LOOK AT LOWERING THEIR O AND M COST THAT THE CITY GIVES THEM.
WE'RE LOOKING AT THOSE TYPE OF PROJECTS THAT'LL ALLOW US FOR THESE PARTNERS TO TAKE ON MORE OF THE O AND M AND GET THE CITY OUT OF THE BUSINESS AS IF YOU ALL HAVEN'T NOTICED, AND I KNOW Y'ALL MENTIONED ABOUT O AND M, A LOT OF THESE PROJECTS, WE'RE PUTTING IT ON THE, WE'RE PUTTING IT ON THE, UH, PARTNERS TO TAKE ON ALL THE O AND M FOR THESE NEW PROJECTS.
UH, OUR, OUR, UH, METHODOL, I MEAN OUR, OUR PRACTICE HAS CHANGED.
THE CITY CAN'T AFFORD TO KEEP PAYING FOR O AND M FOR THESE NEW PROJECTS.
SO WE TELLING EVERY PARTNER IT IS ON YOU TO PAY FOR O AND M.
AND SO DO YOU, WELL DO YOU THINK IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL POSITION, OPINION AND EXPERIENCE THAT IF WE ARE ABLE TO BRING THEM TO THIS POINT, AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU ALL SOME OF YOU REALIZE WE, THE ZOO IS PRIVATIZED.
SO WE WERE TRYING TO GET THEM TO THE POINT, IS IT POSSIBLE TO GET THEM TO THE POINT THAT THEY'RE DEPENDING LESS ON THE CITY DOLLARS BECAUSE WE ARE GIVING THEM A STIPEND EVERY YEAR.
SO I THINK WE'RE UP ROUND ABOUT $14 MILLION THAT WE'RE GIVING THEM EVERY YEAR.
IS THAT CORRECT? ALRIGHT, SO WE'RE GIVING THAT'S CORRECT.
14 MILLION AND WE'RE TRYING TO, WE ARE GIVING EXTRA BOND DOLLARS.
I GUESS THE PROJECTION SHOULD BE WHEN CAN WE REDUCE THE AMOUNT THAT WE'RE GIVING? BECAUSE WE'RE GIVING THAT EVEN IN THE MIDST OF CONVERSATIONS AROUND BOND AND GENERAL FUND.
YOU SEE WHERE I'M GOING? SO IT'S ALMOST LIKE THEY'RE GETTING A TOO FAR, TOO FAR.
I THINK THAT'S THE WAY WE SAY IT IN TEXAS.
SO, UH, THAT'S WHAT I'M, THAT'S WHERE I'M TRYING TO GO SO THAT WE CAN GET TO THE MAINTENANCE OF SOME OF THESE OTHER FACILITIES AND WE CAN GET DEEPER INTO THE COMMUNITIES.
BECAUSE I, IF WE'RE GONNA PRIVATIZE AND YOU COME TO US AS A MANAGER OF AND AND WANTING TO RAISE MONEY, THEN WE HAVE TO AT SOME POINT SAY, LISTEN, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO IT.
JUST AS YOU SAID, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO BRING THE MONEY TO THE TABLE AND YOU'RE GONNA GONNA HAVE TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE ABOUT YOUR FUNDRAISING SO THAT YOU CAN GET THESE THINGS.
'CAUSE IT'S GONNA BE A LITTLE BIT DIFFICULT FOR ME TO EXPLAIN, TO COMMIT COMMUNITIES, UH, ABOUT THE MONORAIL NEEDING TO BE REHABBED IN SOME SPACE WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT CHILDREN WHO DON'T HAVE, UH, SOME OF THE FACILITIES THAT YOU ARE FIGHTING FOR.
AND I KNOW IT'S A LOT OF POLITICAL PRESSURE AND I'M SURE THERE'S A LOT OF POLITICAL PRESSURE THAT WILL BE EVEN COME AROUND MY STATEMENT, BUT I HAVE TO, WE HAVE TO BE REAL R E A L AND THIS IS IN REAL TIME.
HOW CAN WE GET TO THE BOTTOM ECONOMIC E ECONOMICS OR ECONOMICS WHERE IT, DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU'RE FROM, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NEED AND A WANT AND WHAT WE CAN DELAY, WILL IT NOT? WE WANNA MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T CRIPPLE OR HARM IF WE DELAY.
BUT IF WE DELAY JUST A FEW YEARS, THEN I WOULD SAY FOR THOSE PROJECTS THAT CAN BE DELAYED, WE DELAY.
BUT THOSE WHERE YOU HAVE THE UMBRELLAS IN THE CEILING AND THE WATERS COMING THROUGH AND, AND WE HAVE RISK MANAGEMENT, UH, CLAIMS INCREASING BECAUSE OF OF INCIDENTS, WE NEED TO LOOK AT THOSE INDIVIDUALS, UH, THOSE INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS WITH THE UMBRELLA, UH, SUPPORT.
SO, UH, I DID WANNA MAKE SURE I MENTIONED THAT, UH, AND GOT THAT CLARIFICATION.
AND WE'LL CONTINUE THIS THROUGH THROUGHOUT THE, UH, WEEKS.
UH, IF, IF I MAY, DEPUTY MAYOR PRO TIM, THERE WAS A LOT OF THOUGHT PUT INTO A LOT OF THESE PARTNERSHIP MATCHES BECAUSE A LOT OF THE MATCHES, YOU GIVE US A DOLLAR, THEY'RE GONNA GO, AS RYAN O'CONNOR JUST MENTIONED, THE ZOO.
IF WE GIVE 'EM 30, THEY ARE READY.
AND THEY HAVE PROVEN THAT THEY WILL GO OUT AND RAISE FUNDING.
SO THEY'RE GONNA GO RAISE ANOTHER $72 MILLION.
YOU MENTIONED ABOUT, UH, SOUTHERN GATEWAY, WE'RE GIVING THEM $15 MILLION IF WE GIVE 'EM 15 OR 18, WHATEVER THE NUMBER IS.
THEY ALREADY HAVE A COMMITMENT FROM FOR BETWEEN
[01:25:01]
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THEIR FUNDRAISING, THEY HAVE ANOTHER COMMITMENT OF ALMOST $76 MILLION.AND, AND YOU KNOW, BECAUSE I'VE BEEN HERE 30 YEARS, I WOULDN'T HAVE NEVER THOUGHT PARKS WHEN I STARTED PARKS, I WOULD DID, USED TO THROW OUT BASKETBALLS AND HAVE ALL THIS PASSIVE PLAY THAT WOULDN'T HAVE NEVER THOUGHT PARKS WOULD BE PART OF SOME OF THESE TRANSFORMATION PROJECTS HAS BEEN TRULY PART OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
AND A LOT OF THESE ARE TRULY IN THAT CATEGORY OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TOURISM SERVING THE COMMUNITY.
AND SO THERE IS THOUGHTS PUT INTO THE ONES THAT THE MATCH THAT WE DO HAVE THE MATCHES FOR.
AND CHAIR, LET ME JUST, JUST A FEW SECONDS.
I WANT YOU ALL TO KNOW AS WELL.
I WILL DO, AND I'M COMMITTED TO, TO, TO, TO SITTING DOWN WITH YOU SO THAT WE CAN DEVELOP A PLAN TO GET OUT AND DO THE HUSTLE THAT HAS TO COME ABOUT WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO GET PARTNERSHIP.
SO WHATEVER IT IS I CAN DO AND I'M COMMITTED TO DOING, TO GETTING PARTNERS WHO WILL COME TO THE TABLE TO LOOK AT SOME OF THESE UNDERSERVED, UH, HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES IN PARTICULAR, UH, TO DO WHAT I CAN.
AND SO I DID WANNA MAKE SURE YOU ALL UNDERSTAND.
I KNOW THAT YOU JUST CAN'T GO AND AND, AND JUST CUT A TREE AND MAKE AND GET THE PAPER AND MAKE MONEY.
BUT I DO KNOW THAT IT'S GONNA TAKE HUSTLE AND WE'VE GOTTA BE, AND I KNOW I'VE GOTTA BE MORE AGGRESSIVE ABOUT TRYING TO FIND THESE FOLKS WHO HAVE THE HEART FOR INVESTING IN THE COMMUNITIES AND, AND THE COMMUNITIES.
LIKE RIGHT NOW, EVEN WITH CADILLAC HEIGHTS, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE PROMISED YEARS AGO, AND UH, IT'S LONG OVERDUE, BUT I WILL DO WHAT I CAN.
AND ANYONE THAT'S LISTENING, IF THEY HAVE PARTNERS OR THEY HAVE REVENUE SOURCES THAT THEY WANNA PUT INTO THE PARKS, PARTICULARLY I'M SPEAKING WITH THE UNDISTURBED COMMUNITIES, I'M ALL EARS.
AND WE HAVE THE COMMITMENT TO WORK WITH THEM, UH, TO GET THAT JOB DONE.
AND SO THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH CHAIR FOR, FOR ALLOWING ME THESE FEW SECONDS AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO ARE LISTENING AS I MOVE FORWARD.
BUT, UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN FOR WHAT YOU DO.
BUT AFTER ALL, I HAVE BEEN HIRED BY ALMOST 80,000 FOLKS TO GET HERE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF THEIR NEEDS AS WELL AS THE AND DEPUTY TON YOU MENTIONED CADILLAC HEIGHTS, THAT'S WHAT I MEAN BY TRANSFORMATIONAL PROJECT, WHERE WE GO INTO A COMMUNITY, UH, JUST LIKE WE DID AT UH, UH, UH, UP NORTH THE HILLWOOD WHERE THE AREA, IF WE COME IN, UH, HILL CREST HILL, CREST VILLAGE, YOU HAD A SHOPPING MALL THAT WAS GOING DOWN.
WE WAS ABLE TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE DEVELOPER ON PUTTING THIS PART THERE THAT, THAT JUST DONE WONDERS FOR THE COMMUNITY.
CADILLAC HEIGHTS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A TRANSFORMATIONAL PROJECT THAT WILL BRING, THAT WILL HELP WITH THE, THE, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THAT COMMUNITY.
AND I CAN NAME SEVERAL, MIDTOWNS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE.
IF I'M ABLE TO GET THE MIDTOWN PROJECT, IT'S GONNA DRIVE ALL KIND OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
I DIDN'T GO THROUGH THE LIST, BUT IF I WOULD'VE WENT THROUGH EVERY ONE OF THOSE PROJECTS, YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THEY WAS CHOSEN.
THEY WAS CHOSEN BECAUSE THEY'RE GONNA DRIVE COMMUNITY.
THEY'RE GONNA DRIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
THEY'RE GONNA DRIVE, UH, JUST HELP SPARKING TO FOR THAT COMMUNITY.
IT, IT, IT, THE DREDGING AT WHITE ROCK LAKE, IF I DON'T DREDGE AT WHITE ROCK LAKE, WE AIN'T GONNA HAVE A LAKE NO MORE.
SO I KNOW THERE'S SOME BIG DOLLARS OUT THERE, YOU ALL, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF THOUGHT PUT INTO IT.
UH, CHAIRMAN ARVA AND, AND BLACKMAN'S QUESTION ON THE MAINTENANCE ISSUE.
UH, WHAT IS THE LEAST EXPENSIVE TYPE OF PARK PROPERTY FOR US TO MAINTAIN OVER TIME, THE LEAST EXPENSIVE TYPE OF A NATURE AREA.
EVEN THEN WE GET ILLEGAL DUMPING.
AND SO THE COST GOES UP LIKE IN THE O LIKE OPEN SPACE YEAH.
HAVE WE, DO WE HAVE ANY KIND OF A PLAN? AND I'M NOT SAYING LET'S CREATE A CONSULT, GET A PLAN FOR THIS, BUT IS THERE ANY KIND OF A PLAN OR PUSH TO DO MORE OF THOSE LESS EXPENSIVE OPEN SPACE PROJECTS, WHICH THEORETICALLY COULD HELP US WITH OUR CCAP GOALS, TREE CANOPY COVERAGE, ET CETERA, ET CETERA? YEAH, THE ANSWER IS YES.
JUST LIKE WE JUST NEGOTIATED, UH, CEDAR, BIG CEDAR SPRINGS.
THAT'S, THAT'S ANOTHER EXAMPLE.
BUT EVEN THEN, THAT MAINTENANCE IS PROBABLY GONNA RUN, PROBABLY GONNA RUN 20 TO $30,000 A YEAR BECAUSE OF ILLEGAL DUMPING, MAINTAINING THE TRAILS.
BUT THOSE ARE MY LEAST EXPENSIVE.
BUT THEY STILL, THEY'RE STILL A COST BECAUSE THE SECURITY, THERE'S MAINTENANCE STILL INVOLVED.
AND WHAT TYPE OF A RELATIONSHIP DO WE HAVE WITH THESE GROUPS LIKE THE TEXAS LAND CONSERVANCY AND
[01:30:01]
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY THAT THEIR GOALS ARE TO PRESERVE MORE OPEN SPACE NATIONALLY AND STATEWIDE AND THEIR NONPROFITS? DO WE HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH THOSE GROUPS? UH, I DEFER TO RYAN, YES, SIR.UM, THEY'RE SOME OF OUR MOST VALUABLE PARTNERS.
WE'VE WORKED WITH THEM FOR YEARS AND YEARS AND, YOU KNOW, IN ADDITION TO BIG CITY WILDERNESS, WE'VE ALSO BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN ADDING PARKDALE LAKE TO THE INVENTORY, WHICH IS A NATURAL AREA.
UM, SO WE'RE ALWAYS WORKING WITH TRUST REPUBLIC LAND AND GROUPS LIKE THAT TO BRING THESE, UM, NATURAL AREAS INTO THE PARK SYSTEM BECAUSE THERE'S VALUE THERE.
AND WE DO HAVE AGREEMENTS WITH THOSE GROUPS, UM, TO FURTHER THOSE EFFORTS.
ARE THERE OPPORTUNITIES TO HAVE THEM HELP WITH THE FUNDING AND THE ONGOING MAINTENANCE? ABSOLUTELY.
I WOULD SAY IN ALMOST EVERY INSTANCE THAT WE'VE WORKED WITH TRUST REPUBLIC LAND, THEY'VE ALWAYS STEPPED TO THE TABLE WITH ADDITIONAL PRIVATE FUNDING TO EITHER DO MASTER PLANS OR PHASE ONE IMPLEMENTATION.
THAT'S A VERY COMMON PRACTICE.
SO I'M GOING BACK TO THE PARKING GARAGE AT THE DALLAS ZOO.
I'M KIND OF CONFUSED 'CAUSE IT SAYS, UH, SO THE, IT'S NOT A PARK, THE DALLAS ZOO, IT'S NOT FOR A PARKING GARAGE.
IT'S ACTUALLY TO HELP WITH TRANSFORMING THE MONORAIL.
WE TALKED ABOUT TWO DIFFERENT PROJECTS IN THE 2017 BOND PROGRAM.
THERE WAS FUNDING FOR THE PARKING GARAGE THAT'S ABOUT TO GET UNDERWAY.
AND HOW MUCH WAS THAT? THE TOTAL PROJECTS IS ABOUT 19.2 MILLION.
WE PUT IN, THE CITY'S CONTRIBUTION WAS THREE AND A HALF MILLION FROM THE 2017? THAT'S CORRECT.
AND THIS 30 THAT THEY'RE ASKING FOR RIGHT HERE IS NOT FOR THE PARK, THE REST OF THE PARKING GARAGE? OR IS IT IT IS NOT FOR THE PARKING GARAGE ADJACENT TO THE ZOO.
ADJACENT TO THE DARK TRACK? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
THIS IS FOR PRIMARILY A MONORAIL RE, UH, REPURPOSING PROJECT ALONG WITH SOME EDUCATION CENTERS AND OTHER MISCELLANEOUS IMPROVEMENTS AT THE ZOO.
SO THEY'RE, THAT TOTAL PROJECT'S GONNA BE ABOUT A HUNDRED MILLION 72 TO A HUNDRED MILLION, AND OF WHICH THEY'RE ASKING FOR 30 FOR US.
SO MORE THAN A TWO TO ONE MATCH.
WAIT, 72 TO A HUNDRED MILLION? CORRECT.
THAT'S THE TOTAL PROJECT COST.
OUR, OUR CONTRIBUTION, THE CITY'S CONTRIBUTION WOULD BE 30 MILLION.
'CAUSE IT SAYS RIGHT HERE MATCH AMOUNT COMMITTED 70.
SO THAT'S, I KNOW, BUT HE JUST TELL ME THE PROJECT 72, THAT IS PRIVATE DOLLARS THAT WOULD BE COMING TO THE PROJECT.
THE CITY'S CONTRIBUTION WOULD BE 30.
SO RYAN, WHAT IS THE TOTAL COST OF THE PROJECT? IT'S ABOUT A HUNDRED MILLION BUCKS.
'CAUSE YOU SAID 72 TO A HUNDRED, SO
BUT IT'S A VERY SIGNIFICANT AND LARGE PROJECT.
'CAUSE I MEAN, IF YOU LOOK AT THE RATIO, THIS IS HALF THE PROJECT COST WHEN YOU, BUT YOU LOOK AT THE REST OF 'EM, AND I UNDERSTAND THE WHOLE DISCUSSION THERE, BUT THAT'S, WE'RE NOT BRINGING IN A HALF TO EVERY OTHER PROJECT.
SO THE GOAL IN ALL OF OUR PARTNERSHIP MATCH PROJECTS IS AT LEAST TO HAVE A TWO TO ONE MATCH.
EVERY DOLLAR THAT CITI PUTS IN, THERE'S AT LEAST $2 THAT ARE EITHER PRIVATELY OR FEDERAL FUNDED MATCH.
AND ARE WE LOOKING AT WHY DID WE USE BOND AND DIDN'T DO LIKE A REVENUE? LIKE TO, TO, I MEAN, WHEN WE DID A PARKING GARAGE BECAUSE THEY CHARGED FOR PARKING AND THEY COULD PAY THAT BACK.
THAT'S ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT WE'RE STARTING TO LOOK AT, UH, MORE CLOSELY.
BUT THE TRADITIONAL FUNDING METHOD FOR THESE TYPES OF PROJECTS HAS BEEN GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, THOUGH I, AND I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT TO EVERYONE, THE LAST TIME THAT THE CITY DID A SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT IN THE ZOO, TAKE 2017 OFF THE TABLE WAS REALLY IN 2006.
SO THE, THE 2017 PROJECT WAS REALLY KIND OF A MODEST AMOUNT, RELATIVELY SPEAKING.
UM, SO THE LAST BIG SERIOUS INVESTMENT THAT WE'VE MADE AT THE ZOO IS IN 2006, WHICH WAS $25 MILLION THAT THE CITY PUT IN TO BUILD THE GIANTS IN SAVANNAH, WHICH IS PROBABLY THE MOST POPULAR ATTRACTION AT THE ZOO TODAY.
SO GOING BACK TO THAT PARKING GARAGE AND THE 3.5, CAN YOU GO BACK AND CHANGE IT TO A REVENUE AND COLLECT REVENUES AND THAT WAY GET PAID? I MEAN, I JUST, I'M HOPING THAT NOW WE'VE LEARNED OUR LESSON AND LET'S FIND OTHER WAYS TO, DON'T NECESSARILY GO WITH THE TRADITIONAL WAY, BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, BUT I, I JUST KIND OF, BECAUSE YOU CAN PAY FOR, YOU CAN FIGURE OUT A DIFFERENT MEANS OF PAYING IT AND THESE DOLLARS ARE BECOMING MORE SCARCE AS WE'RE SEEING AND MORE FOUGHT OVER.
AND SO IF SOMETHING CAN BE DONE IN ANOTHER VEHICLE, ANOTHER MECHANISM, WE SHOULD REALLY LOOK AT THAT AND 'CAUSE IT THAT.
AND, AND WE'RE ABSOLUTELY LOOKING AT THAT, UM, PATH FOR OTHER PROJECTS.
OKAY, COUNCIL MEMBER SCHULTZ, I'LL BE VERY QUICK.
THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR FOR INCLUDING ME.
UH, I THINK AS YOU SEE, THERE'S SO MANY DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS ABOUT HOW THE MONEY SHOULD BE SPENT, AND I COMMEND YOU ALL FOR THIS LABOR.
UM, SO I, I DO THINK THAT IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU, WE ADD THE FACTORS THAT PEOPLE REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW THE SCORING CAME OUT.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO BE CLEAR ABOUT IN THE BOND WHEN, WHEN A CITY
[01:35:01]
BORROWS MONEY IN ORDER TO DO SOMETHING, THERE ARE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT.MY SCHOOL OF THOUGHT IS THAT THERE SHOULD BE A AN R O I FOR THE CITY.
AND WE DON'T BORROW MONEY FOR THINGS THAT HAVE NO WAY OF INCREASING THE VALUE OF THE CITY.
AND SO I THINK IT INCLUDES, UH, NOT JUST THE R O I ON DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT, BUT MAYBE IF THERE'S ANY STUDIES THAT THROUGH THE, THE CONVENTION YOU'RE GONNA HAVE AND OTHERS IS THE HOME VALUE IMPACT OF HAVING GOOD PARKS NEARBY, I'M SURE IT'S A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT.
I THINK THOSE ARE THINGS THAT WILL HELP US BE ABLE TO JUSTIFY INVESTING IN SOME OF THE AREAS THAT SEEM LIKE THEY ARE, UH, JUST AN ENDLESS WHOLE SORT OF LIKE STREETS.
UM, THE OTHER THING I JUST WANTED TO BE CLEAR ABOUT, BECAUSE IT CAME UP ON THE MATCH, IS I THINK THAT THE $6 MILLION FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMONS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHAT NOT TO DO IN THE LAST BOND IT WAS PUT IN WHERE OH, IT WAS A BET, YOU KNOW, SORT OF BETTING ON THE FUTURE.
AND I THINK THAT WE SHOULD NOT DO THAT AGAIN.
IT WAS A FAILURE BECAUSE THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY IS NOT GOING TO INVEST IN THIS PARK UNTIL THE CITY DOES.
AND 6 MILLION WASN'T ADEQUATE.
SO WHAT THAT SAYS TO ME ON THE LARGE PARTNERSHIP MATCHES IS THAT I THINK WE SHOULD GET WRITTEN COMMITMENTS FROM THOSE DONORS BEFORE ANY FUNDING, NOT JUST BEFORE WE EVEN AGREE TO PUT IT IN THE BOND.
IN OTHER WORDS, GO BACK TO ALL THESE PEOPLE AND SAY, SHOW US YOUR LETTERS THAT SAY THIS MONEY WILL COME IN FROM ME AS A PHILANTHROPIST OR ME AS A COMPANY.
WHOEVER IS MAKING THAT MATCH WE NEED TO HAVE IN WRITING THAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY GONNA WRITE THE CHECK BECAUSE WE LEARNED A BIG LESSON I THINK FROM THE LAST, UH, MATCH, CERTAINLY WITH THE INTERNATIONAL COMMONS.
UM, AND THEN THE LAST THING IS WHEN WE TALK ABOUT NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS AND PUTTING MONEY IN NOT JUST THE HOME IMPROVEMENT VALUE, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL ON SOME OF THESE NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE CATCHMENT AREA FOR THAT PARK, HOW MANY, WHAT'S THE POPULATION THAT'S DESIGNED TO SERVE BE SERVED BY THAT PARK? BECAUSE THAT, I THINK WILL ALSO HELP US JUSTIFY SOME OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS.
THERE'S PLACES WHERE, YOU KNOW, A PARK IS ENORMOUS AND WILL IMPACT AND MAYBE THE IMPACT THE CATCHMENT AREA IS A HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE AND OTHERS, IT MAY BE 10, BUT IT'S THE ONLY PARK FOR THAT, YOU KNOW.
SO I THINK THAT THAT DATA WOULD BE VERY, VERY HELPFUL AS WELL WITHOUT ADDING MORE TO YOUR PLATE.
THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR FOR INCLUDING ME.
COUNCIL MEMBER NEVE HAS ONE MORE QUESTION.
LAST ONE, AND I'M SORRY, BUT, UM, YOU BROUGHT IT UP.
SO THANK YOU, UM, TO MY COLLEAGUE, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER SCHULTZ, UM, FOR WHAT SHE SAID AS FAR AS THE GETTING THESE LETTERS THAT, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER IT IS, YOU KNOW, BANK STATEMENTS, ANYTHING THAT SHOWS THAT, I GET IT.
YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY'S NOT GONNA HAVE $72 MILLION SITTING IN THEIR ACCOUNT JUST WAITING FOR, YOU KNOW, THE CITY MIGHT DO A 30, $30 MILLION MATCH, BUT, BUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
WE KNOW THAT THE ZOO DOES GREAT WORK AND THEY GOT THE FOLKS THAT'LL, UM, FUNDRAISE, BUT JUST HAVING THAT LETTER OF SUPPORT OR WHATEVER SHOWS THAT THEY'RE REALLY GONNA DO IT.
'CAUSE HOLDING $30 MILLION FOR 7, 8, 9, 10.
I MEAN, WE HAVE PROJECTS THAT WE'RE STILL HOLDING ONTO FROM OLD BONDS, UM, FROM TRANSPORTATION THAT YEAH, I GET IT.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THAT'S MONEY THAT'S JUST SITTING THERE NOT BEING UTILIZED.
AND THEN THE LONGER IT GOES, THE LESS THAT MONEY'S WORTH THE VALUE.
UM, AND SO MY QUESTION IS, AND AND, AND IF I'M WRONG ON THIS, IT'S JUST A QUESTION.
UM, BUT ON THE INTERNATIONAL COMMONS, IF THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN OR IF IT'S GONNA BE SO DELAYED THAT IT'S NOT ENOUGH, IT, YOU KNOW, AND AGAIN, I WOULD WANT TO TALK TO MY, MY COLLEAGUE, BUT, UM, CAN THAT MONEY BE REPURPOSED IF IT'S NOT GONNA BE USED OR IT'S GONNA BE ANOTHER 6, 8, 10, 12 YEARS BEFORE WE USE IT.
IF THERE'S SIX MILLION-ISH DOLLARS SITTING THERE, THAT COULD GO A LONG WAY FOR A DIFFERENT PROJECT.
UM, SO CAN WE LOOK INTO REPURPOSING IT AND TAKE THAT OFFLINE? I JUST ASKING IF IT'S POSSIBLE.
UH, YES SIR, TO YOUR QUESTION.
UH, IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THE WAY THE 27TH BOND PROGRAM, UH, WORDING, UH, WAS ON THE BALLOT, THAT IF THE FUNDING IS NOT MATCHED BY THE TIME THE NEXT BOND PROGRAM IS CALLED, IT'S, IT'S LIKE THE PROJECT NEVER EXISTED.
SO, UM, IF WE ARE SEEING THAT AND WE, WE SEE IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN, THEN LET'S SEE WHAT WE CAN DO WITH THAT MONEY AND MAKE SURE IT, YOU KNOW, BENEFITS WHERE WE THOUGHT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO.
UM, AND TO GET THAT INVESTMENT, UM, FOR US.
'CAUSE WE ALL KNOW WE HAVE A PARK SHORTAGE UP IN THE NORTHERN PORTION OF OUR CITY.
UM, AND THEN WE HAVE A LOT OF MAINTENANCE THAT WE NEED, UM, IN THE REST OF OUR PARK SYSTEMS. SO SOMETHING THAT WE COULD DO SIX AND A HALF MILLION, IT'S SOME MONEY, IT'S NOT A TON, BUT IT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN GO A LONG WAY FOR OTHER PROJECTS.
COUNCILMAN SCHU, DO YOU HAVE A FURTHER QUESTION ABOUT THE 6 MILLION? WE'RE CLEAR ON ON ALL OF THAT.
CAN YOU TELL WE HAVE A PASSION FOR PARKS
[01:40:01]
MY COMMENTS AND CONCERNS HAVE ALL BEEN REFLECTED IN IN MY COLLEAGUES, UM, UM, STATEMENTS AND QUESTIONS TO YOU.I DO REALLY WANNA THANK, UH, RYAN AND CHRIS AND JOHN FOR SITTING HERE WITH US AND WALKING US THROUGH THIS.
WE KNOW YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH QUITE A PROCESS OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS.
UM, I HAVE SEEN THAT FROM A DISTANCE AND, UM, AND I APPRECIATE WHAT YOU DO AND THE STAYING UP UNTIL 3:00 AM AND THE REALLY FOCUSING IN ON THESE NEIGHBORHOODS WHO DON'T HAVE A VOICE.
UM, IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE THERE'S A, A NEIGHBORHOOD OUT THERE WHO DOESN'T HAVE A VOICE TODAY BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH GREAT REPRESENTATIVES AT THIS HORSESHOE.
AND I THINK WE REALLY ARE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS ARE REPRESENTED AND THEY DO.
UM, THEY DO HAVE A VOICE IN THIS PROCESS, AND THEY WILL HAVE SOME GREEN SPACE.
THEY WILL HAVE A PARK, THEY WILL HAVE A LOOP TRAIL, THEY WILL HAVE SOMETHING THAT, UM, CAN HELP THEM IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THEIR LIFE, IMPROVE THEIR HEALTH, IMPROVE THEIR MENTAL HEALTH, AS I HAD ALLUDED TO EARLIER.
UM, WE'LL LET YOU GUYS, UM, GO AT THIS POINT.
AND IF WE COULD DO A MIC CHECK, UM, JAVIER I THINK COULD PERHAPS HELP US.
I THINK MAYBE RYAN AND CHRIS'S MICS WERE, WE'RE NOT GREAT.
BEFORE WE GET INTO, UM, OUR NEXT AUTUMN AND MADAM CHAIR, CAN I JUST CLEAR UP ONE OTHER THING ON TRANSFORMATIONAL? YES.
JUST LAST TIME, LIKE SANTOS RODRIGUEZ REC CENTER.
IT'S A NEED TO ME BECAUSE WE NEED TO RENOVATE THAT REC CENTER, BUT WE ALSO NEED TO REALLY RECOGNIZE MR. RODRIGUEZ, YOU KNOW, AND SO THERE'S MONEY IN THERE FOR THAT.
AND THEN WE HAVE, WHICH USED TO BE PIKE REC CENTER.
AND THEN WE HAVE MONEY IN OLD EAST DALLAS WHERE WE GOT ISSUES WITH CRIME ISSUES, NEIGHBORHOOD ISSUES WHERE WE NEED TO INVEST IN THAT PARTICULAR PARK SO IT CAN HELP CHANGE THE COMMUNITY.
AND THEN WE HAVE IN YOUR AREA, LIKE FOREST ARDELIA A TRANSFORMATIONAL PROJECT.
IT'S NOT A, IT'S, IT MAY BE A WON, BUT IT'S A NEED BECAUSE IF WE CAN TAKE THAT COMMUNITY THAT HASN'T HAD ANY TYPE OF SERVICE, AND WE CAN SHOW THAT THE CITY CARES BECAUSE WE ARE PUTTING AMENITIES THERE FOR THEM TO GIVE THEM HOPE AND GIVE THEM OPPORTUNITIES, IT'S ALL ACROSS THE CITY.
I CAN GO TO ROSEMEAD PARK WAY UP NORTH, I GOT ALL KIND ISSUES, BUT I GOTTA INVEST THERE BECAUSE IF NOT, IT'S GONNA CAUSE ALL KIND OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES, WHICH IS THEREFORE GONNA COST THIS CITY MORE MONEY, TRYING TO PAY FOR MORE POLICE.
IF, IF, YEAH, THAT'S A WANT, BUT IT'S A NEED THAT'S GOING TO HELP ADDRESS ISSUES IN THIS CITY.
AND SO I JUST WANT TO CLEAR UP WHEN I SAY TRANSFORMATIONAL PROJECTS, THAT'S TRANSFORMATIONAL TO ME.
THAT'S VERY CLEAR AND, UM, AND VERY HELPFUL.
WE CAN, WE COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT THIS.
GOOD, GOOD MOR, GOOD MORNING CHAIR.
UH, WE UNDERSTAND THE TIME CONSTRAINTS.
SO WOULD YOU LIKE TO, TO BE AS BRIEF AS POSSIBLE? YES.
ARE THE MICS WELL? DO YOU THINK IT? YES.
ALRIGHT, SO MOVING ON TO ITEM C, A PRESENTATION, I BELIEVE BY MARTIZA FIGE.
IS THAT CORRECT? HAVE I GOT YOUR NAME CORRECT? MARISSA? MARISSA? CLOSE UP.
THANK NO, NO T IN THERE MARZA.
UM, AND YOU ARE THE CLIMATE COORDINATOR FOR THE OFFICE EN ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY, AND YOU ARE PRESENTING ON THE DALLAS URBAN HEAT ISLAND MAPPING STUDY.
IS THAT CORRECT? YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
IF I MAY, CARLOS, JUST, UH, BRIEFLY, UH, REFRAME THE DISCUSSION.
CARLOS EVANS, DIRECTOR OF OFFICE OF ENVIRON QUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY.
AS YOU'LL RECALL, THE CCAP HAS ESSENTIALLY FOUR BUCKETS, CLIMATE MITIGATION, REDUCING GREENHOUSE GASES, CLIMATE, UH, CLIMATE ADAPTATION, MAKING OUR CITY MORE RESILIENT, UH, IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND THEN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.
THIS, UH, FIRST, UH, ITEM C IS FOCUSED ON CLIMATE ADAPTATION, MAKING OUR CITY MORE RESILIENT, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT USING DATA, WHAT AREAS ARE BEING IMPACTED THE MOST BY, UH, THE URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT.
UH, ULTIMATELY SO THAT WE CAN, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, INVESTING WHERE WE CAN INVEST, UH, SMART, SMART, UH, AND SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS, SMART SURFACE SOLUTIONS
[01:45:01]
SO THAT WE CAN MAKE OUR CITY A LITTLE, UH, A LITTLE COOLER.SO WITH THAT, UH, I'LL PASS IT TO MARITZA.
THANK YOU FOR THAT CONTEXT, MR. EVANS.
SO LAST MONTH ON AUGUST 5TH, WE CONDUCTED OUR CITY'S FIRST URBAN HEAT ISLAND MAPPING STUDY.
WE HAD ABOUT 60 VOLUNTEERS COVER A HUNDRED SQUARE MILES OF THE CITY OF DALLAS.
WE FOCUSED ON ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AREAS.
SO MOSTLY WE COVERED WEST AND SOUTH DALLAS, ALONG WITH DOWNTOWN.
AND OUR GOALS WERE, UM, TO FIND THESE HOTSPOTS IN OUR CITY AND COME UP WITH SOLUTIONS.
AND WE HAVE, UM, THE DATA THAT WE COLLECTED WERE THROUGH SENSORS THAT WERE MOUNTED ON THE WINDOWS OF, OF THE VOLUNTEERS' CARS.
AND THEY DROVE THE ROUTES THREE TIMES DURING THE DAY, MORNING, MIDDAY, AND EVENING.
AND THE SENSORS COLLECTED TEMPERATURE, HUMIDITY, TIME, AND LOCATION EVERY SECOND WHILE THEY WERE DRIVING THE ONE HOUR ROUTE.
AND THE DATA WE'RE EXPECTING TO BE, UM, WE'RE EXPECTING FOR IT TO COME TO US MIDDLE TO LATE NEXT MONTH, OCTOBER.
AND WE WILL SHARE THAT DATA WITH EVERYONE WHEN WE HAVE IT.
AND SOME OF THE SOLUTIONS WE HOPE THAT THE CITY WILL ADOPT ARE INCLUDING, UM, COOLING CENTERS, INCREASING VEGETATION AND CANOPY AND, UM, AND PAVEMENT.
SO, UH, SMART SURFACES AND COOL SURFACES.
AND I JUST WANNA ADD THAT, UH, THE RESPONSE TO THE COMMUNITY WAS OVERWHELMING.
WE WERE TURNING, WE, WE WERE WORRIED ABOUT GETTING ENOUGH VOLUNTEERS, AND I THINK WE MADE SOME PEOPLE MAD BECAUSE WE HAD TO TURN THEM AWAY.
UH, THERE'S NO, I NEVER HAD ANY, ANY EXPERIENCE DECLINING VOLUNTEERS BEFORE.
UH, IF YOU COULD PULL UP THE NEXT PRESENTATION, PLEASE.
WELL LET, UH, LET THE CHAIR FIRST QUESTIONS.
YEAH, LET'S JUST SEE IF THERE ARE ANY.
UM, LET ME CHECK AND SEE IF THERE ARE QUESTIONS FROM, UH, OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS, OUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
VERY QUICKLY, DO YOU PLAN ON EXPANDING THIS AND DOING THIS ANNUALLY? WE, WE PLAN ON, UH, SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION FOR NEXT YEAR.
UH, THIS YEAR WE COVERED 100 SQUARE MILES OF THE 300 SQUARE MILES OF THE CITY.
UM, OBVIOUSLY WE WOULD LIKE TO, TO COVER THE ENTIRE 300 MILES.
AND OF COURSE, THIS SUPPLEMENTS I SHOULD NOTE AS WELL.
UH, TEXAS TREES FOUNDATION, UH, UH, CONDUCTED A STUDY IN 20, THEY RELEASED THEIR STUDY IN 2017.
UH, SO THIS, THERE WAS A MODELING STUDY, AND THIS IS ON THE GROUNDS, THIS IS ON THE GROUND OF THIS CITY.
UM, BUT WE VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THEIR, UH, THEIR INVESTMENT IN THIS EFFORT AND SEE THIS AS A SUPPLEMENT TO THEIR ANALYSIS.
BUT TO YOUR POINT, WE DEFINITELY PLAN ON SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION FOR NEXT YEAR.
AND ONE MORE COMMENT, THEY QUOTED US ABOUT A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS TO COVER THE OTHER 200 SQUARE MILES OF THE CITY.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER BESSEL, DO IT.
DID YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? NOPE.
ALRIGHT, WELL, IF THERE ARE NO OTHER QUESTIONS, THEN THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE NEXT, UM, LET ME GIVE YOU THAT.
SO AGAIN, UH, FOCUSED ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, IMPROVING ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, UM, AS WE KNOW, UH, GENERALLY SPEAKING, E P A AND T C E Q AND, UH, THROUGH OUR CONTRACT, WE, UH, OPERATE AND MAINTAIN REGIONAL AIR QUALITY MONITORS.
UM, BUT WE WANT TO HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF NEIGHBORHOOD LEVEL AIR QUALITY, UM, PARTICULARLY IN OUR COMMUNITIES WITH ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CONCERNS.
SO, UM, UH, I'LL PASS IT TO, UH, UH, KEVIN OVERTON, WHO'S OUR SE SENIOR, UH, CLIMATE COORDINATOR.
AND I'LL JUST NOTE, UH, AS WELL, THIS IS HIS LAST DAY.
HE'S RETIRING OH MY GOODNESS AS WELL.
SO WE APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR, UH, HARD WORK OVER THE YEARS.
UH, HE'S BEEN A, A STAPLE OF OUR, OUR DEPARTMENT.
UM, RIGHT NOW WE HAVE IN OUR POSSESSION A TOTAL OF 24 SENSORS.
UH, FIVE SENSORS HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED, UH, IN LOCATIONS IN THE CITY.
THAT INCLUDES WEST DALLAS MULTIPURPOSE CENTER, FISH TRAP, LAKE PARK, LARRY JOHNSON RECREATION CENTER, AND MILL CREEK BATCH PLANT, AND SOUTH CENTRAL PARK, WHICH IS IN AJOY NEIGHBORHOOD.
UH, WE HAVE THREE MORE THAT ARE READY TO GO OUT, BUT WE'RE WAITING ON SOME LANDOWNER PERMISSION ISSUES FOR THOSE THREE.
UH, WE HAVE EIGHT SENSORS THAT ARE UNDERGOING OUR CALIBRATION PROCESS, WHICH WE CALL CO-LOCATION AT THE HINTON, UH, SITE, WHICH IS WHERE THE REGULATORY, THE FEDERAL REFERENCE MONITORS ARE.
WE, WE PUT THESE MONITORS NEXT TO THE REFERENCE MONITORS AND THEN MEASURE THE DIFFERENCE OVER TIME.
[01:50:01]
AND WE WERE ABLE TO, UH, THEN ADJUST HOURS, UH, MATHEMATICALLY, UH, SO THAT WE CAN MAKE IT CLOSER TO THE REFERENCE MONITORS AND MAKE IT AS ACCURATE AS POSSIBLE.AS SOON AS THOSE EIGHT ARE DONE, UH, WE WILL ROTATE THEM OUT AND START PUTTING, DISTRIBUTING THEM THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
AND WE WILL PUT EIGHT MORE AT HINTON TO, UH, GET THEM CO-LOCATED.
UH, THE EIGHT THAT ARE THERE, UH, THEY ARE ALMOST DONE.
WE HAVE COMPILED THE, UH, REFERENCE MONITOR DATA AND WE HAVE SENT THAT OFF TO THE MANUFACTURER.
THEY HAVE OFFERED TO DO THAT CO-LOCATION CALCULATION ANALYSIS FOR US.
SO THEY HAVE A LOT OF, A LOT MORE EXPERIENCE DOING THAT.
IT'S A FAIRLY COMPLICATED PROCESS, SO I THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD TO GO AHEAD AND LET THEM DO THAT.
UM, AND LIKE I SAID, ONCE WE HAVE THE CORRECTION FACTORS IN THE HAND, THOSE WILL BE READY TO GO AND BE PLACED THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
SO, UH, THE NEXT BIG ADVANCE IS WE HAVE, UH, OUR DASHBOARD UP AND RUNNING.
UH, THE DASHBOARD WAS DONE BY THE DATA ANALYTICS DEPARTMENT.
UH, IT IS SET UP RIGHT NOW FOR THE FIVE UNITS IN THE FIELD.
IT'S GOING TO BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE ALL THE OTHER SENSORS WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE.
IF YOU, ANY OF YOU GUYS SEE ANYTHING ON THERE THAT YOU THINK NEEDS TO BE CHANGED OR ADJUSTED, PLEASE GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK.
THIS IS A SCREENSHOT OF THE DASHBOARD.
UM, THE, UH, THE SCALE ON THE LITTLE SPEEDOMETERS, UH, IS, UH, WHAT I CALL THE BLUE SCALE.
THIS COMES FROM SOMETHING THAT THE E P A DID ON ONE OF THEIR PROJECTS.
AND THE POINT IS TO AVOID, UH, GREEN YELLOWS AND REDS BECAUSE THAT INSTILLS AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE.
I CAN'T TELL SOMEONE WHEN IT'S DANGEROUS.
ALL I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT IF IT'S HIGH, IF THE VALUES ARE HIGH.
SO, UH, I WANTED TO AVOID, UH, THE, THE USING REDS ON THAT.
UH, THERE'S A LOT TO THIS DASHBOARD.
I WISH WE HAD TIME TO GO THROUGH IT, BUT WE'RE GONNA SKIP THAT FOR ANOTHER TIME.
LET'S TALK ABOUT WHERE WE'RE GONNA GO.
UM, WE DID A REPORT ON THE DATA THAT WE COLLECTED FROM THE FIVE, UH, SENSORS OUT IN THE FIELD.
AND THAT REPORT WAS, UH, FOR, UM, UH, MARCH, APRIL AND MAY.
UH, WE'RE NOW DOING PROCESSING ANOTHER REPORT THAT, UH, WILL DO JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST.
OBVIOUSLY WE'RE JUST NOW INTO SEPTEMBER, SO WE HAVEN'T QUITE GOTTEN THERE YET.
PLEASE ALSO WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THE STATE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE GRANT FOR WEST DALLAS.
UH, WE FINALLY HAVE THAT GRANT READY TO GO, AND THEN WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH IT.
OUR PARTNER IN THAT PROJECT IS THE TEXAS A AND M, TEXAS TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE.
UH, WE HAD THEM UP HERE LAST WEEK AND WE WERE GOING OUT AND REVIEWING SOME SITES IN WEST DALLAS WHERE WE THINK, UH, THAT, THAT THEY WILL BE, UH, MOST USEFUL FOR THEM.
UH, AND, AND THIS IS, I SHOULD HAVE, THIS IS, UH, SOMETHING THAT THEY JUST INFORMED ME ON.
THEY'RE GOING TO BUY FOUR NEW SENSORS, AND THEN THEY'RE GOING TO TAKE THREE SENSORS FROM THE OLD BREATHE EASY DALLAS PROJECT AND REVIVE THEM.
SO INSTEAD OF FIVE SENSORS, UH, IN, IN THIS DOCUMENT, IT WILL BE ACTUALLY A TOTAL OF SEVEN SENSORS THAT THEY'RE GONNA HAVE AVAILABLE TO, UH, PLACE IN DALLAS.
UH, JUST FOUND THAT OUT LIKE FRIDAY OF LAST WEEK.
SO, UM, UH, DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE TO UPDATE IT.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, RIGHT NOW TWO SENSORS.
WE'LL JUST SKIP THE REST OF THIS NEXT SLIDE.
I'M JUST GONNA RUN THROUGH THIS.
UH, WE HAD, UH, WE DID AN ANALYSIS OF, UH, LOCATIONS FOR SENSORS, UH, BASED ON THE EPAS EJ SCREEN TOOL.
UH, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.
THEY ARE VERY RECEPTIVE TO ALLOWING US TO PUT THESE SENSORS UP AT RECREATION CENTERS AND PARKS.
SO WE FOCUSED ON PARKS THROUGHOUT AREAS WHERE WE THOUGHT THEY WOULD BE, UH, MOST
[01:55:01]
USEFUL.AND WE HAVE SORT OF A, A PRIORITIZED LIST AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, THAT WHERE WE THINK THE SENSORS ARE WOULD, WOULD BE GOOD PLACES TO PUT SENSORS.
IN, IN F M A, JUST, JUST ONE POINT, THIS IS AN INITIAL SCREEN USING EPAS EJ SCREENING TOOL.
UH, THIS IS BY NO MEANS AN EXHAUSTIVE, NO, IT'S NOT FILED.
RECOGNIZING THAT WE HAVEN'T ENGAGED, UH, MANY OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
WE HAVE NOT NECESSARILY ENGAGED MANY OF YOU.
SO, UH, BUT JUST WANNA MAKE THAT POINT.
THIS IS AN INITIAL LIST FOR WHERE, WHERE THESE SENSORS SHOULD GO.
UH, AND, AND YOU CAN SEE HERE THE LOCATIONS OF THOSE PARKS ON THE MAP WHERE WE'RE, I MEAN, THIS IS, THIS IS OUR, OUR FIRST CUT AT THIS AND THERE WILL BE OTHERS.
IN FACT, ONE LOCATION HAS ALREADY BEEN SUGGESTED THAT I THINK IT'D BE ANOTHER LOCATION THAT WE DON'T NEED TO RUN THIS ON.
THE, UH, AIR SENSORS SUMMIT, UH, IS COMING OUT FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH.
UH, WE ARE, UH, TRYING TO BRING TOGETHER AS MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE INVOLVED IN DOING THE LOW-COST NON-REGULATORY SENSOR WORK THROUGHOUT NORTH TEXAS AS POSSIBLE.
WE WILL HAVE, UH, THE CITIES OF DENTON, LEWISVILLE, AND PLANO, WHO ALL THREE HAVE PROJECTS SIMILAR TO WHAT WE'RE DOING IF AT A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT SCALE.
UH, WE HAVE E P A REGION SIX COMING.
WE HAVE, UM, UH, VARIOUS UNIVERSITIES AND, AND, AND DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS.
UH, THE FEATURED SPEAKER WILL BE, UH, ANDREA CLEMENTS FROM THE E EPAS OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.
THEY ARE THE LEADING AUTHORITY ON THE LOW COST, UH, NON-REGULATORY SENSORS, UM, IN, IN, IN THE US.
AND, UH, SEPTEMBER 8TH, EIGHT 30 TO 1230 CITY HALL AUDITORIUM.
AND I SHOULD SAY THAT, UH, OF COURSE, TWO, TWO OF THE PRIORITIES IN IN GATHERING THIS DATA IS TO MAKE SURE WE PROVIDE THIS INFORMATION TO USE AS YOU MAKE POLICY DECISIONS.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, LAND USE DECISIONS, OR FOR EXAMPLE, WHETHER TO APPROVE THE OPERATION OF A BATCH PLANT, ET CETERA.
AND ALSO TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO OUR RESIDENTS.
SO WHEN WE ENGAGE, WHEN WE ENGAGE, UH, OTHER STAKEHOLDERS WHO ARE RUNNING THIS, THESE TYPES OF PROGRAMS, ONE OF THE POINTS WE, OR ONE OF THE POINTS OF CONVERSATION WILL BE, OKAY, YOU'RE RUNNING THESE TYPES OF AIR MONITORS OR AIR SENSORS.
WHAT IS THAT INFORMATION GOOD FOR? YOU'RE RUNNING, YOU'RE RUNNING ANOTHER TYPE OF, UH, AIR SENSOR.
WHAT IS THAT INFORMATION GOOD FOR? SO WHEN WE CONSOLIDATE ALL THIS INFORMATION AND, AND YOU SEE IT, YOU KNOW EXACTLY, YOU KNOW, THE VALUE OF IT, WHAT IT CAN BE USED FOR, AND SO YOU CAN MAKE DECISIONS.
SO JUST WANTED TO MAKE THAT POINT.
UH, I WANTED TO MENTION, UH, CHRISTOPHER MORRIS AND BRITTANY WELLS.
CHRISTOPHER IS NOW WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.
UH, AND BRITTANY WAS, UH, WORKED WITH US FOR A LONG TIME.
SHE'S MOVED ON TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
UH, ALSO, UH, JUST WANNA MENTION, I WOULD LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THAT WITHOUT, UH, THE SUPPORT OF JAMES MCGUIRE, FORMER DIRECTOR, WHO, UH, SORT OF, UH, BELIEVED IN ME WHEN I CAME TO HIM WITH THIS IDEA THAT, UH, UH, THIS WOULDN'T BE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION TODAY.
SO, UH, JAMES MCGUIRE, UH, SUSAN ALVAREZ AND CARLOS, WITHOUT THEIR SUPPORT, THIS WOULDN'T BE HAPPENING.
AND, AND I'M VERY GRATEFUL FOR THAT.
JUST, I HAVE TWO SHORT THINGS.
FIRST OF ALL, THE SLIDE 12 WITH ALL OF THE RED, UM, IS ALARMING TO ME.
THAT JUST MEANS I THINK THAT THEY SCORE 80 OR ABOVE USING EJS SCREEN.
IT'S, IT'S, IT'S MORE OR LESS A, A, UH, A A YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO, WE JUST LOOK FOR NATURAL BREAKS MORE THAN ANYTHING.
WELL, WE'LL LOOK FORWARD TO MORE INFORMATION AS WE MOVE FORWARD AND WHAT THE DIFFERENT, UH, SENSORS ARE TESTING FOR.
AND, AND I WILL ADD THAT, THAT ALONG WITH THE ONES IN THE RED, WE ALSO NEED A COUPLE OF SENSORS IN LOCATIONS THAT ARE IN THE GREEN.
'CAUSE WE NEED SOMETHING TO COMPARE THE DATA THAT WE'RE COLLECTING TO.
SO THIS ISN'T NECESSARILY, EACH ONE OF THESE SITES IS GONNA GET A A, A LO A SENSOR.
IT, IT, IT IS STILL OPEN TO DISCUSSION, BUT WE WANTED TO SEE, UH, YOU KNOW, TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING, COME UP WITH SOMETHING THAT WOULD GUIDE US IN OUR EFFORTS ON WHERE TO PUT THESE.
AND I SHOULD NOTE TOO, THAT, UH, THIS IS USING EPAS EJ SCREEN, WHICH IS A NATIONAL TOOL.
UM, AND IT'LL BE SIMILAR TO E J'S SCREEN, JUST HOPEFULLY WITH MORE, UH, CITY DATA.
[02:00:01]
I HAVE THEIR QUESTIONS.UM, THANK YOU CHAIR REALLY QUICKLY.
I KNOW WE'RE, WE'RE FINALIZING THE AIR MONITORS.
IT'S WAS WAY FAR TOO LONG, BUT WE FINALLY ARE GETTING THERE AND WE GOT THE TWO, AND NOW WE'RE GETTING, UM, FIVE MORE.
UM, BUT ALSO WE'VE GOTTA START THINKING ABOUT WHERE OTHER CONCRETE BATCH PLANTS ARE, ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTHWEST DALLAS.
UM, IT'S, UM, ON LUNA ROAD, WE'VE GOT A LOT OF THEM, WHICH THAT'S WHERE THEY BELONG.
UM, BUT WE'VE HIT KIND OF OUR MAX.
UM, AND, BUT IT'D ALSO BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT THE AIR QUALITY IS IN THAT INDUSTRIAL AREA, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE IT IS ADJACENT TO SO MUCH PARKLAND AS WELL AS NON-PAR LAND THAT'S GREEN SPACE, LIKE THE ELM FORK AND OTHER, YOU KNOW, OTHER AREAS.
BUT, AND THE, THE DUST IS STARTING TO GET ON TREES AND YOU'RE STARTING TO SEE IT.
AND EVEN THOUGH PEOPLE DON'T LIVE IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT, UM, THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT STILL WORK THERE.
AND SO, UM, SOMETHING JUST TO THINK AS WE MOVE FORWARD, UM, YOU KNOW, BUT I WANT TO GET THE AREAS THAT ARE CLOSEST TO RESIDENTIAL AREAS ALL ACROSS THE CITY FIRST.
UM, BUT FROM THERE, UM, THAT'S AN AREA THAT LIKE, IF WE CAN KEEP IT ON THE RADAR, THAT'S GREAT POINT A, AS YOU'RE POINTING OUT, I THINK OUR PRIORITY HAS BEEN MORE IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS OR AREAS WHERE RESIDENTS ARE, ARE, ARE LIVING.
BUT, UM, I TAKE, TAKE YOUR POINT THAT WE, AND, AND OBVIOUSLY BATCH PLANTS ARE A PRIORITY FOR US.
I THINK WE'VE GOT FOUR OF US, RIGHT? OH, OH, NO.
I'M BEING ADVISED WE MAY NEED TO RE UH, STOP THE MEETING OR END THE MEETING BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A QUORUM.
UH, WE JUST LOST COUNCIL MEMBER BETS WILL DO IT.
AND UM, SO THERE'S JUST THREE OF US.
UM, I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO THE CITY.
IT'S BEEN AN HONOR AND A PRIVILEGE TO WORK FOR THE CITY.
I, I, IT'S BEEN A REALLY GREAT OPPORTUNITY.
WELL, AND I'M SORRY THAT YOU HAVE TO MAKE A PRESENTATION ON THE LAST DAY
AND I'M SORRY THAT, THAT, UM, THAT IT WAS RUSHED AS WELL.
UM, BUT WE WILL START DIGGING INTO THIS INFORMATION AND, AND HAVE MORE TIME IN THE FUTURE TO SPEND ON IT.
A MEETING IS ADJOURNED AT 1113.