Council considers spending $1.3 million, approves CDBG allocation plan

At its regular meeting on July 9, the Amarillo City Council is expected to consider spending $1.3 million, adopt the CDBG and HOME 2024-2025 investment partnership programs and approve an amendment to the contract with new City Manager Grayson Path. They are also expected to receive a certificate from the Sanctuary City for the Unborn Ordinance Petition Committee formally requesting an election.

The largest item on the agenda, Item 8H, is consideration of approval of a $568,042.05 contract with Dell Financial Services to lease computer network equipment for the Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport.

Other spending items include renewing the multi-factor authentication subscription, refurbishing the airport’s HVAC cooling units, acquiring traffic engineering services, purchasing sights and holsters for the Amarillo Police Department, purchasing a mini skid steer for park maintenance, and reimbursing Polk Street streetscape improvements. A table summarizing all spending items is included at the end of this article.

In addition to regular spending items, council will also consider adopting the 2024-25 plan for the allocation of Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnership funds. A total of $2,288,725 is expected to be allocated to the two programs.

For the CDBG program, $200,000 is to be allocated for “demolition and clearing,” $238,619.85 is to be allocated to various public services including Coming Home, Guyon Saunders Resource Center, Martha’s Home and Maverick Boys & Girls Club, $486,000 is to be spent on CARE program elements as well as rehabilitation support, $348,019.35 will be split between the city’s parks and planning departments and $318,159.80 will be spent on administration.

For the HOME program, $139,585.20 will go to Amarillo Habitat for Humanity, $488,584.20 will go to tenant-based rental assistance and $69,792.60 will be spent on administration.

Also on the agenda is an amendment to new City Manager Grayson Path’s employment contract. The amendment will move up his start date from August 12 to July 29. You can read our full article on the subject by clicking this link.

The meeting is expected to conclude with the council formally receiving a request from the Sanctuary City for the Unborn Ordinance Petition Committee to call an election on the issue. While the request was formally received during the meeting, the item does not appear to be an action item, meaning the election may not be called until a future council meeting. You can read our full article on the topic at this link.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 9. The meeting will be held on the third floor of Amarillo City Hall. The full agenda and agenda packet can be downloaded at this link.