Amarillo City Hall/Photo by Noah Dawson
Amarillo City Council is set to consider $73 million in spending items, repealing downtown paid parking, approving a resolution to support a senate bill prohibiting employer COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and discuss a potential ordinance to prohibit abortion in the city during their regular meeting on Tuesday, October 24th.
Of the seven spending items on the agenda, the most expensive is 10E, which is a $71,266,760.15 contract with S.J. Louis Construction of Texas, LTD for the construction of Phase 1 of the Amarillo Northeast Sanitary Sewer Interceptor Project. This will include about 13 miles of sanitary sewer pipe to help alleviate the load on the Hollywood Road collection system. The project will initially be funded by $47,440,125 from water and sewer revenues. The rest will likely be funded by future water and sewer revenue bonds. (According to the latest agenda planner released by the city, such bonds are set to be issued during a December 12th meeting of City Council.) According to a bid sheet attached to the agenda packet, Harper Bros Construction also submitted a bid for the project, though their bid was for $84,483,281.00.
The next largest spending item, item 9P, is consideration of a $770,770.18 purchase of equipment from Evans Consoles for the Amarillo Emergency Communications Center remodel. This is anticipated to be reimbursed by the Potter-Randall 911 District. Other spending items include a $590,130 purchase of seven police patrol vehicles from Caldwell Country Chevrolet, a $97,600 annual contract with D-A Lubrication Co. Inc for fleet hydraulic oil, a $19,060 award amendment to Tate CO/Tate’s Excavation for sidewalk construction services in the San Jacinto Neighborhood. The council will also consider grant-funded items including a $51,000 purchase of surveillance cameras meant to “reduce violent crime and identify offenders” and a $184,474.20 purchase of furniture for the new multimodal terminal project.
The council will also consider adopting a resolution in support of Senate Bill 7. If SB 7 passes, it will prohibit businesses from making employment conditional on receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine and will also prohibit adverse action from being taken against an employee who refuses to take a COVID-19 vaccine. The bill does include a carve-out for healthcare workers, who can be required to use protective medical equipment if they do not receive a vaccination. If passed, the law will be enforced by the Texas Workforce Commission, who may issue a fine “of not more than $10,000 for each violation.” As of writing, the bill has passed the Texas State Senate and has not yet been voted on by the Texas State House. The resolution being considered by Amarillo City Council states that “The City Council supports the passage of SB 7 and joins with the Texas legislature and their efforts to protect employees, contractors, and applicants from COVID-19 vaccination mandates by employers throughout the state.”
Also on the agenda is consideration of an ordinance to repeal the downtown paid parking program. This item follows several discussion items where members of the council expressed their opposition to the program. If passed, the city will replace signage in the paid parking area with 2-hour time restriction signs. The city will also work with Potter County to ensure jurors parking downtown will not be ticketed.
The final item on the agenda is discussion of a potential ordinance to prohibit abortion in the city. The discussion item is expected to draw activists from both sides of the debate, with leaders of various local groups asking their supporters to attend.
There are several items that had been planned for the meeting that were not on the final agenda. According to an agenda planner posted earlier this month, the council had been set to discuss ETJ agreements and an Animal Management and Welfare Ordinance, as well as consider an $88,000 purchase of Dell desktops and a $903,000 seven-year contract for two-way radios. The council was also set to vote on the members for the Potter County Appraisal District Board of Directors and Randall County Board of Directors. The ETJ discussion and appraisal district votes are now set for the November 14th meeting, according to the most recent posted planner. The two-way radio contract has also been pushed to the November 14th meeting, with a new price of $922,802.58. The AMW discussion and desktop purchase have been pushed to the December 12th meeting.
You can read more about what’s on the updated agenda planner here to get a preview of items coming on future agendas by clicking here.
The October 24th meeting is scheduled for 3:00 pm on the third floor of City Hall. The agenda and agenda packet can be found at this link. Those interested in speaking at the meeting can sign up at this link. Ahead of the meeting, at 1:00 pm, the council will hold a closed-door executive session meeting to discuss the “purchase or sale of real property” in Roberts County and in the Northeast Quadrant of Amarillo. The agenda for the executive session can be found at this link. Ahead of that meeting, Councilman Place 3 Tom Scherlen will be available to meet with members of the public from 12:00 pm to 12:45 pm in Room 203 of City Hall.
Summary of spending items