Amarillo city officials have approved adoption of the Amarillo Community Investment Program for fiscal year 2020/21 to fiscal year 2024/25. A public hearing and first reading of Ordinance 7906 regarding the document was conducted during the Amarillo City Council s virtual regular session on Jan. 26, and officials indicated another public hearing is slated on Feb. 9. Effectively, staff does a lot of work to prepare this document and they use this document to guide their decisions moving forward, Kyle Schniederjan, the city’s director of Capital Projects & Development Engineering, said. What this ordinance does is provide the gravitas of the council behind this document. It really does emphasize to us as department heads what our role is in utilizing this document to make good infrastructure and planning decisions. I love the policy governance conversation came up earlier. We ve talked a lot about infrastructure investment. We re not asking council to evaluate each and eve
Amarillo Branch NAACP conducts COVID-19 forum
On Saturday afternoon, Amarillo city officials joined the Amarillo Branch NAACP during a virtual discussion regarding a range of topics related to the local COVID-19 response, including vaccine access, contact tracing and the low level of trust in the vaccine among people of color.
Mayor Ginger Nelson, Amarillo City Council member Freda Powell and Amarillo Public Health Department Director Casie Stoughton participated in the discussion, and Amarillo Branch President Patrick Miller directed a series of questions related to the pandemic. One of the things that has been important to Casie and to the elected officials from the beginning, is that the clinic would be open, accessible and messaged out to everyone in the city - that includes all of our communities of color, Nelson said in response to a question about vaccine access. They chose the Civic Center, partially because it is a large building in the city. It was vac
Firm selected to aid Martin Road Lake project
The Amarillo City Council has approved a $247,300 Professional Services Agreement with HDR Engineering, Inc. to aid the process of delivering erosion repairs and a new fishing amenity at Martin Road Lake.
Per the Agenda Item Summary, HDR Engineering, Inc. was selected for the project due to unique qualifications as the design engineer on the Dale Street improvements and ongoing analysis of the Martin Road Lake Master Plan.
Kyle Schniederjan, the city’s director of Capital Projects & Development Engineering, previously noted the project has roots as far back as 2013, indicating erosion had become a safety issue. He said communities were effectively asked to evaluate liability as it relates to the National Flood Insurance Program as a means of finding solutions and methods to reduce liability. The Martin Road Lake Basin was identified as one of the highest risk basins in the community, per officials.
City: Neighborhood Planning program progressing
A pair of Amarillo City Council members delivered a Neighborhood Planning Oversight Committee report during the council s virtual regular session, sharing insight regarding the plan s progress.
Per the city s website, the Neighborhood Planning initiative was created via a 2016 interlocal agreement between the city of Amarillo and Potter County to aid revitalization of some of the city s older neighborhoods through the development of area-specific plans. The city and neighborhoods collaborate to identify concerns, opportunities, a vision, goals and project priorities and the four participating neighborhoods are North Heights, Barrio, San Jacinto and Eastridge. The Eastridge plan has gotten off the ground, said councilwoman Elaine Hays, who joined fellow councilwoman Freda Powell in providing the update. They ve had their first remote, virtual meeting. It does change your dynamic and changes a little bit of the numbers.
During Tuesday s virtual regular session the Amarillo City Council approved a trio of agenda items that moved the city closer to finalizing details of a project that could yield an Amazon non-sortable fulfillment center here.
City council members adopted on second reading Ordinance 7901, which designates certain areas of the city as Reinvestment Zone 12 for commercial and industrial tax abatement in the vicinity of NE 24th Street and Loop 335 involving approximately 100.39 acres.
Amarillo Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Kevin Carter previously noted local governments often use tax abatements to attract new industry and commercial enterprises and encourage the retention and development of existing businesses.