Good afternoon, everybody. We have a quorum now, and I call to order a March 3 city council work session. Now turn it over to Jay Chapa. Jay, let's hear your report, sir. Good afternoon. Sorry we're not outside. It's beautiful weather out there. Under upcoming and recent events, I wanted to remind everyone of the twenty twenty five mayor's community engagement workshops and neighborhood awards luncheon this Saturday from, at doxology church. So if you don't have it on your calendars, you might wanna add that.
I'd have no organizational updates or employee recognitions this week, so we'll move on to informal reports. The first one is 26 dash zero zero three five Choctaw code talkers historical marker at Veterans Memorial Park. Joel McKnight with Park and Rec is here to answer any questions. Are there any questions on this, informal report? None. The next zero zero three six, citations issued in the East Lancaster Corridor related to the new public safety initiative. Robert Stewart, police commander is here. Answer any questions. Right now we discussed this very, vigorously in our public safety meeting.
Are there any questions regarding that? I have some comments. Go ahead, Chris. Well, Commander, if you can just give, an overview of the IR. I know we talked yesterday, and I have one, two questions I put on the record. Yeah. So we began an initiative in the corridor at, around January 23. It's been going on today. So we had seen a uptick in violent crime over the over the fall. So we're tracking these numbers. We saw that we needed to address the violent crime.
So we began, with an SOF detail. We also incorporated the HOPE unit, environmental services, and patrol all working together to address some of the issues of, illegal camping, blocking the roadway, blocking the sidewalks, trying to get traffic offenses for people that are possibly bringing drugs into the area. So it's been a coordinated effort. We the IR basically had all the citations that were written to that date of the request. It also had it separated the citations that were issued during the time of the
cold weather freeze. Now on the IR, it says the there was 12 citations issued during that time frame of January 23 to January 27. That was a you know, the cold weather event was Friday, Saturday, Sunday really bad. It started getting a little better on Monday and Tuesday. One citation was written on Monday, and all the rest of the citations were written on Tuesday. So during that time frame where we were dealing with that catastrophe, we were merely driving people to shelters, giving out bus passes, making sure that everybody was safe. I have a lot more I could go over with the with the initiative, if
you have any questions specifically. Well, as it relates to the illegal camping, because I think that was kind of a lot of the issues. Which one articulates that on this violent crime, or is it not listed here? So a lot of the violent crime, what we've noticed so in just looking at it and looking at the violent crime that we're seeing, a lot of it is is unhoused person on unhoused person. So and we look at kind of, like, what's happening. So a lot of it's disputes over property. So this person, whether they stole the property or they believe they stole the property,
turns into an assault, turns into an aggravated assault, somebody gets hit with something, stabbed with something. So we are starting to see a lot of these offenses. Well, we go in there to go try to look at things. Well, there's camps all over the place, big, large tents. We can't really see what's going on with the tents, and they're obstructing the passageways for anybody going through there. So we're forcing all the people that work there and all the people go into the resources to walk in the middle of the roadway, which is also a safety issue. So we begin with asking people that's our obvious right in front of us illegal
illegal, action that's we're observing is that they're illegally camping. So we go over there, and we've had major success with people just cooperating with us. Hey. You can't camp here. It's against city ordinance. You need to pick up your camp and go. And as you can see on, well, in our broader presentation, there's something like 734 warnings we've given out in comparison to 74 citations over the total time. So only about one in 10 times are we issuing a citation for illegal camping or locking the roadway, obstructing a sidewalk, all issues that are creating an unsafe environment
for everybody and creating small little environments where these assaults are occurring. So our numbers overall, we've dropped significantly in major violent crime. So we still are seeing around the same amount of minor assaults, which is like, something that doesn't result in serious bodily injury. But all the ones that result in serious bodily injury, sexual assaults, robberies, all those things have dropped significantly. My last question. So when, the officers approaching the illegal camping, are they asking for IDs and checking
the IDs and then because I think yesterday, you may have mentioned that through some of the process, you was able to Yeah. So it's standard police procedure that anytime that we engage with someone in the public and they've committed a criminal offense, that we're going to ask for their identification and we're gonna run them in our databases. So illegal illegal campaign is a criminal offense? Yes. Okay. Okay. Any other questions? Just one moment. Actually, if we could have chief Garcia come up because there was something that he said earlier during the, public safety committee meeting. Is he back there?
Jeffrey, here. Yeah. You're right. That I think is good for this entire body to hear. Chief, can you tell us go over again what you told us about those two sectors there, Lancaster and the, the grids? Well, yes. As, we're aware, we're obviously launching our, violence prevention strategy and plan with our criminologists. And one of the things that our outside criminologists did is when we start a grid program with regards to areas of the city that, that need more treatment than others as it pertains to violence. So they divided up the city of Fort Worth in about about 95 plus thousand
small grids. These grids are no bigger than the size of a football field or two football fields. And the reality, once you break down the data to be a grid in the city of Fort Worth, you have to have led the city of Fort Worth in incidents of aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, or murder. When they ran those statistics of, of 95,000 plus grids throughout the city of Fort Worth, One of those one of those, one of those areas, was number one, in the city of 95,000. The other one was number 10. When you add those three categories in addition to simple assault, one of those areas
moved down to number two. However, the other moved up to number five out of 95,000. So when we talk about, the homeless issues and how it pertains to violent crime, certainly, we wanna make that area safe for not only the individuals that work in that area that are trying to provide services, but also for our other homeless, unhoused population that's looking for services. And so this is broader, than simply just, you know, dealing looking at the the police department of the city dealing with a homeless issue, rather, we it's overlaid with the fact that there is a violent crime component.
And, unfortunately, those there's two areas in there that that are top 10, in the city of Fort Worth that we're trying to deal with as well. And so, obviously, as as we move forward, you know, with this, we're we're the and I've said this before many times, we're the Advil, we're the Tylenol to reduce a fever. We're not a cure to the illness. And so I know and speaking of the criminologists, this is an area. It's a criminological theory with regards to place network investigations that moving forward, this area will be collectively an all hands on deck approach that we'll be taking where the police department is simply a cog in the wheel of all the other city services
that we're going to need to regret this area out of where it's in. And so I am proud, obviously, the efforts that this department's been taking. I am absolutely proud of the teamwork, that the city as a whole, has taken with other departments to really understand that violent crime and safety is not just one department's responsibility. It's all of ours collectively. And, certainly, that's part of the strategy of the crime plan moving forward. But, ultimately, in the end, this is more than just simply dealing with, with what I think people think are issues with homeless and things of that nature, but there's
a broader perspective as it relates to violent crime and how it affects the entire city. Thank you very much, chief. That's it. Okay. Any anything else or anyone? I I just have a comment. Okay. And maybe I can add it to a fusion item. I want us to, if this what we're doing is working on East Lancaster, and we know this is a long term issue that we have. Those resources would need to stay there, but I'm concerned about some of the resources that we're taking from other communities as is the HOPE team. And so if we need to look at increasing the HOPE team so that those
resources can continue on East Lancaster and other resources can, people in other district can receive the resource they used to get. Okay. Alright. Thank you. Jay, next to IR. 0037, update on the city support for veteran owned small businesses. Ori Fernandez is here to answer any questions. Yes, ma'am. Can we get an overview on it? Yes, ma'am. Ori? Good afternoon, counsel. Yes. So I know, this IR was asked for a couple of weeks ago. Essentially, we do have one dedicated staff member that works specifically with the veteran owned
businesses and also veteran outreach. And then all six of us on the team, also assist with any efforts or any support efforts, for our veteran owned small businesses. I'm not sure if you need details on anything else in terms of the programming. We are trying to expand that programming. We do have two, programs there that are listed. I think we have one in May and then one in November. We are looking to add a couple more, so I just kinda wanted to make you all aware of that as well.
We also work in partnership with all three chambers. We have different types of training, not not just, for veteran owned small businesses, but all all of those who are looking to open a small business. We have, you know, programming like access to financing, QuickBooks, marketing, etcetera. So I can I can give you all more specific details if if you need them? Happy to answer any questions. Where are we sharing the links to register for the May, session? And have we had any registrations thus far?
I believe we we have had registrations. We do share them on our city news, and then we also have them on our social media platforms. K. And then I know on our, small business, the the business assistance center. Sorry. We do have a website dedicated specifically there as well, and all of those dates and programs are listed. Those as well as all the additional ones that take place at the back. K. And then we are also sharing that information with our chambers, and they also disseminate
that information through their email, group serves or list serves. And then we also have a small business advisory board who last met yesterday, and then we distribute that to them as well, and they send that out to their contacts as well. You're welcome. Carl? So, one, thank you for putting this together. I know we we had a discussion earlier. In the whenever, Christina Brooks had started this, this initiative, at one point, it was any city contracts that were over a $100,000, and there were three or more willing and able, better known small businesses in the marketplace.
They could then compete for those, contract set asides. Now reading this IR, looking at the between for the procurement side, anything between 3,000 and a 100,000, businesses certified under the the new vet hub, they they would qualify for the 5% bid preference. But are we able to go further and say it's not just the vet hub, but as long as you have your veteran owned small business designation through SBA, they qualify for that 5%? As as long as they're recognized. Right? We have five different, agencies that we work with.
So if you fit into one of those categories and or you're certified or recognized through the SBA through their guidelines, the answer is yes. They would they would qualify. Okay. So I think these are this is gonna be an amazing program, and I I do wanna make sure that the all three chambers understand what this can do for those better known small businesses, and how this could lead to generational wealth, especially registering a lot more, because we know there's a lot more out there that just haven't registered. But now that there's a vehicle for them to get preference on contracts or procurement,
contracts, then I see this thing really getting big as long as we communicate it properly. So thank you so much for the update. Thank you, sir. Good potential there. Jane, thanks IR. If there The next is update on water service disconnections and water weather practices. Chris Harder is here to answer any questions from the water department. I don't see any questions. I think we're all good. Yep. Chris, Jan? Was it something updated today? I know I had asked for it a while back when we changed the water from being shut off on Friday to Thursday. We can hear from it. Yeah, I believe back in '23. I believe, councilwoman Peoples asked for the Oh, I had after the ice Okay.
After the ice storm. Oh, after the ice storm. Okay. So there is there any additional changes to what we've been doing? No. So like like you said, we made that change back in 2023. The IR that we prepared, for this, Council workshop, it references back to a 2025 IR and the 2023 IR where we made that change. Good. Okay. All right. That's all we have. Okay. Thank you, Jay. Let's move on. Questions regarding, changes in memberships on boards and commissions. Anything there? Okay. Next, question is regarding significant zoning cases for March 10.
Anything? Chris, do you wanna say anything about yours or are you okay? Significant zoning case cases coming up on March 10. No. No. I'm working with staff on it, and so I'm good. Thank you. Okay. Everyone else good? Okay. Moving on. Questions regarding City Council M and C log? Any M and Cs we wanna talk about? Okay. Still moving on. And we have annual comprehensive financial report and audit results. I think we have copies there. Regisino is available. Good afternoon, Mayor Pro Tem and council members. We're here today to present the FY twenty five annual comprehensive financial report.
This document was actually reviewed earlier this morning during the audit committee, and then we'll just briefly summarize the document. Some of this, you know, we've already reviewed, previously at at the January, work session. As you know, the the the report well, this is the agenda, brief agenda for today. And I will cover briefly cover the annual financial report as well as several accomplishments within, the financial operation. And then we'll we'll touch on some of the financial performances of various funds and
then close with, Kate Perry who's joining me, will review, the external audit process. The annual comprehensive financial report, you know, provides the public with a detailed accounting of the city's expenditures. That data is prepared on a a gap basis, which is slightly different from the monthly reports that are presented to counsel. There are several deliverables you should have at your desk. The annual financial report, the single audit of federal grants as a reserve requirement supplement
that provides an analysis of each fund's reserve compliance. And then, for the first time we've prepared a popular annual financial report, which is a summary basically of the 02/1943 page annual financial report. And the popular annual financial report, this is new. Right? This is Yes. That's a new document in Cape Perio discussed briefly. Oh, yeah. It's announced as a new document. Finance for non finance people. That's right. Exactly. We got a tremendous amount of assistance from Big words.
Communication from developing the Lots of pictures. And then, of course, the documents are or utilize our residents, grant agencies, bond rating agencies, as well as in potential investors, as it relates to, purchase and bonds. The the annual financial report is is is built off of, GAAP basis, generally accepted accounting principles. And the only distinction there between the budgetary basis is that on GAAP, the revenues and expenditures expenditures are matched based on when revenues are expend are earned, and when
expenditures then are matched against the period in which those revenues are recorded. So on the matching principle, philosophy. And then on a budgetary basis which all of the monthly reports are based on, revenues and expenditures are recorded as they occur. Several accomplishments for '25. Annually, the city has received the certificate of achievement in financial reporting. Annually as well, the lab has received the distinguished budget presentation. Both of those awards are coordinated through the government finance officers association.
As we just mentioned, this year we've produced the the first popular annual financial report. This year, we've been quite successful with an unmodified clean external audit opinion, which incorporated, no audit findings. We briefly, touched on the Texas Comptroller Transparency Stars program, and, we're excited to add the purchasing star was actually awarded last week. And so we will have now received five out of the six stars, for the
city of Fort Worth. The last one, economic development, department is currently working on producing the data, to qualify for the star. Additionally, an achievement of excellence in procurement, We've received that award, consecutively, over the past several years and then the certificate of distinction for investment policy, which is provided by the Texas organization of, treasurers. Just briefly financial performance, overall on an entity wide basis.
We ended the year with a 15% increase. That's primarily attributable to MedStar transfer of operations as well as some additional capital projects and contributions that were received during the during fiscal twenty five. Embedded in into these gap basis are several non cash transactions, Pension and, our post employment benefits, our OPEB liabilities also increased decreased, which assisted in increase in the overall net position. Outstanding debt is currently at, 3,100,000,000.0,
and approximately 50% of our debt is attributable to water and sewer revenue bonds. Geo bonds represent about 35% of the total outstanding debt. On a fund performance basis, the general fund we've reported this data, previously property and sales taxes which represent the majority of general fund revenue collections were slightly down as compared to the budget in fiscal twenty five, but still well within a two to 3%, variance, hurdle.
And expenditures were below the budget which assisted in offsetting some of the revenue losses. Culture and tourism ended the year with approximately a 139,000,000, in its fund balance. And as you're aware, these resources will be needed as we go forward with various, large ticket projects, namely the convention center re renovation, as well as some additions, some improvements to Will Rogers that are planned over the next several years actually.
But really healthy fund balance within culture and tourism operation. CCPD ended the year with a slight increase in the fund balance. They ended the year with 55,200,000.0 in its fund balance. EMS, we ended the year with approximately 29,000,000 in fund balance, and that's primarily attributed to a transfer of resources from, MedStar. We were able to hold on to that fund balance that actually came from MedStar
during the transition which was really impressive. We saw some increases in revenues which helped to fund some of the transition costs. But overall, a pretty healthy fund balance within the EMS operation at the end of fiscal twenty twenty five. Risk financing, as you can see we've made some major strides in funding, the negative net position over the past three to four years. And we're currently at approximately $1,300,000 negative net position, but, with a very sizable cash
on hand of $42,800,000 So this this fund has seen a dramatic turnaround over the past several years. Group health, there was a a pretty, how can I put it, depressing conversation yesterday at audit committee? And, they we ended the year with approximate $21,000,000 operating loss in fiscal twenty five, which left the fund balance at approximately 10,300,000.0. There are still a lot there's still a lot of work left in balancing, this
fund going forward. But, there'll be some, significant, medical health care changes that'll be required, either on the premium increase side or adjustments to health care benefits. And a lot of that is being worked on with the, with the, human resources department. And there's more more to come during the budget process relative to the impact potentially to the general fund, with health care. But it is probably the one area that is of the most concern for us.
So do you have any upcoming medical procedures through them now? Is both Yeah. Well, we'll still get the cost. So maybe hold off for a few years. But as I said, HR is working on on this topic and will be presenting data, certain during the budget process. Water and sewer, another great year, for that operation. They've ended the year with a net position of 3,700,000,000.0. Another it was an actual increase of almost 300,000,000, in their net position during fiscal twenty five. Pension and, our post employment benefits.
Pension, ended the year and these these this data is based on a gap presentation. We ended the year with 44% of the pension liability unfunded. These we were we are still awaiting the annual actuarial valuation report and that document will be finalized, by the Fort Worth Employees Retirement Fund and will be presented to counsel during the joint meeting, when it's held either in May or June, in the next couple of months.
But it's that document that actually provides the funding update, for the pension fund, which we're pretty optimistic about. But, that document will be finalized in the next couple of months. The OPEB is is where we account for retiree health care. And, we do have a trust in place of approximately a 115,000,000 as of the end of, fiscal twenty five. Overall, the the expenses, the health care expenses of of finance and funded on a
pay as you go basis, those are all funded by the various funding sources whether it's general fund or the other funds within the organization. And so while we do have an unfunded rate of almost 78%, we do manage the the fund by budgeting the cost on an annual basis. Reserve compliance, the general fund ended the year with approximate 22% in the fund balance and the unassigned fund balance. This is really a key metric for rating agencies in particular.
They're looking for really positive fund balances and this will help to offset some of the negative comments relative to the pension fund. So this is really a key metric for us that we're always attempting to maintain that 22%, but ultimately to grow it up to the reserve policy goal of 25% which would represent three months of reserves. Special revenue funds were all within compliance except for the Gulf Fund. And the Gulf Fund that organiz the director has provided, finance with a with a
two year plan to resolve, the the deficit within the reserve requirement. Our government funds debt service, all of those, funds are within compliance. Enterprise fund, again, all of the funds are within the reserve requirements. And then lastly, the internal service fund, we've just talked about the group health and risk fund, but obviously, there will be more information provided on the group health plan going forward. Information technology currently has a shortage within its, reserve requirement.
And a lot of that is due to, IT moving to an internal service fund without the benefit of having a fund balance. The director has provided finance with a five year plan, to, generate, sufficient, fund reserves, to remedy that situation. And I'll turn it over to Kate Perry who will review the audit. Bless you. Good afternoon. Kate Perry, financial management services assistant director and controller. So we have successfully completed the audit once again with no findings.
We're incredibly proud of that. We received unmodified and clean opinions on both the ACFAR and the single audit report, and that's the highest level of assurance that we can get from our external auditors on that. They conduct the audit in compliance with the Uniform Grant Guidance and the Texas Grant Management Standards in addition to whatever other applicable laws and governance there is. And when we look at what findings are possible, they look at material weaknesses and significant deficiencies, in two areas, internal controls over financial reporting and internal controls over compliance.
And so with that third year of no audit findings, we were moved from a high risk auditee as far as the single audit to a low risk auditee. So that can produce some savings regarding the testing that has to happen with the audit firm. They come in and they have a certain percentage that they have to test if you are classified a as a high risk auditee. And now that that's been lowered to a low risk, we should see some savings there. On the background, again, we talk about material weaknesses and significant deficiencies. Significant deficiency is a deficiency or a combination of deficiencies that is less severe than
a material weakness, yet important enough to merit attention by by those charged with governance. And then you go up a step for the material weaknesses, being in a deficiency in an internal control such that there's a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the financial statements could could happen. Right? And so what we see, because we have had no findings in the last few years, is that really our internal controls and our procedures and processes that we have are operating as designed. Right? And that's something that we look at every year. We look at the policy statements. Has a situation occurred that needs to be updated?
That kind of thing. That's kind of our annual process there to ensure that we can continue with this as the standard for our audits. Okay? Regarding grants, the single audit does cover both the federal and the state grant expenditures. We currently have two fifty three active grants, across 21 departments. We have 60 grant managers. It comes in 22 federal and state agencies, and we spent this year a $113,000,000. We are seeing the ARPA funding winding down, a lot of the projects getting completed,
and so that's why we have a significant drop in what the expenditures were this year. There are other agreed upon procedures that Forrest and Zars will complete for us regarding budget compliance, investment compliance, the TCEQ compliance. I believe that letter's already been signed. Water sewer system insurance and the water excess revenues compliance. So with that, I would like to provide a few thank yous, a few acknowledgements. You have a copy of the the PAFR, which Reggie touched upon briefly.
This is the first year that we have published it, and I want to make a shout out to communities to communications and public engagement because we accountants do not have this kind of creativity. I promise you, we tried. It just did not work. But we handed this off to them, told them what our vision was, and they knocked it out of the park. So I want to thank them from the bottom of our hearts. We initially printed a 100 of these. We can print more should you have the, you know, need for them. And so we will distribute them.
You know, let us know how many you would like. It will be published digitally along with the ACFRA and the single audit and the reserve requirement supplement. And then finally, we just wanna extend our sincere appreciation to all the departments for their year round efforts and to the staff and the leadership of Financial Management Services because their unwavering commitment to accuracy, transparency, and accountability is central to maintaining the city's fiscal integrity and enables us to serve the leadership and the residents with confidence. Right? And so at this time, I would like to ask those of from FMS who
have come to watch this, please stand up. I want them to be acknowledged for this daily weekly for their dedication. Their dedication and excellence provides all of this. So I really, really am pleased and proud of the team that we have. Absolutely. Thank you very much. Thank you all. Appreciate it. Go ahead, John. I wanna thank all of staff, and I wanna thank Reggie for his leadership. And if you think about it, there's 60 different grant managers. There is a lot of opportunities for something to go wrong when you have them. That's just on the grant side, that many folks, you know, monitoring these things as
they go along. I was here with the city when we had issues getting the actual audit report out in the hundred and eighty days that required. And the fact that we have three years without straight and four out of the last five without a single finding is is top notch. And so thank I wanna thank Reggie and the staff for everything they've done. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. Oh, absolutely. Now we're already talking about, you know, trying to get the fourth year of no findings. I I like that. I like the way you think. Let's go for the next one. Appreciate it. Alright. Jay, what's next up?
Proposed economic development agreement. Okay. We have the proposed economic development agreement with EDC in Fort Worth, LAZ. We have Sherry. Tell us about that, please. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. The purpose of the presentation is to propose an incentive for EDC Fort Worth LLC, which is EDGED Data Center. EDGED Data Center is a data center project at Viole Ranch. It's at a site that is planned for this type of development and with ERCOT support. The red outline on the Northeast corner shows where the site would be located.
It's separate from the other industrial footprint at Beale. This is a planned industrial area. It's compatible with zoning and land use and has residential buffers. This is a more recent rendering with the proposed encore substation at the site and how the site would lay out. EDC Fort Worth LLC proposes to develop a new data center in multiple phases. The total capital investment is $1,100,000,000 over two phases. Phase one real, dollars $270,000,000. Phase one BPP or equipment, dollars 300,000,000.
Phase two real or construction, dollars 300,000,000. Phase two BPP, dollars $225,000,000. So that's a total of $570,000,000 in real property or construction and 525,000,000 in BPP or equipment. The company would maintain a minimum of 300,000,000 on an annual basis in assessed BPP or equipment. It's a full time 50 full time jobs and 25 in each phase, with a minimum average salary of 73,000 and a small business firm goal of 30% of construction costs.
The proposed incentive terms are a ten year tax abatement agreement to abate the BPP taxes for 50%. It's subject to performance requirements, including failure to meeting the minimum capital investment resulting in default, failure to meet the annual assessment levels of $300,000,000 in BPP, the full jobs commitment, or the salary requirements would be a forfeiture of the annual abatement in that year. So the overview for this project, again, a $1,100,000,000 minimum capital investment with fifty minuteimum
full time jobs at 73,000 average salaries. These are technical positions. There's a small business goal, and there are energy and water best practices included as a part of the agreement. Take a little time going through the numbers. Of almost 68,000,000 that would be generated in taxes over the ten year period would be an $18,200,000 abatement on BPP only. The net new taxes would be $49,300,000 over that ten year period. Of the 68,000,000, 31,000,000 is real property tax.
The 36.6 is BPP, and half of that is the abatement. For that 31,000,000 that's real prop that's on real property tax, 65% of that goes into the TIF. That's $20,000,000 that would go into the TIF for Veal Ranch. Other financial information is included here, including city participation at 1.7, public private ratio 59.9 to one, and the lifetime value of the incentives would be covered after two point
one five years into the ten year term. So on strategic alignment, this delivers strong near term value, that 20,000,000 to the Veal Ranch TIF, which helps to support nearby infrastructure financing. The company is committing to using best practices for energy and water conservation and reflects a highly selective approach to data center support. Recommendation and next steps are entering into the ten year tax abate meant agreement on 50% of the BPP. We're at work session today. We had a thirty day notice that posted on February 27, and we'd have this
for MNC consideration on March 31. And any questions? Sounds like a good value proposition. Mike, I'll start with you. Do you wanna say anything if it's in your district? Okay. Alright. Any questions for anyone? Alright. Looks to be a decent value proposition. Thank you, Sherry. Appreciate it. Thank you. Alright. Next up, we have Main Street America project updates. And we have, I think, Philip Smart kicking us off. And I know to acknowledge, I see at the, back of the room, we have some members of the historic Northside District, that's tied in to the Main Street America project. And we have, I think, let's see.
Where are the poly people? The project. Okay. Back there. Okay. Good. Okay. There we are. Okay. We have Anzata dancing to two sides there. Alright. Okay. Good. Well, glad you are here, to listen in on this, update. Go ahead. Yeah. And I wanna thank them for coming and showing, appreciation and gratitude as they really spearhead this program. So this is, overall, a three year project, program update, and so we're gonna kick it kick it off with a purpose. So we're basically demonstrating how Main Street America and the City Of Fort Worth along with local partners are basically using revitalization to, strengthen neighborhood development and revitalization target areas.
So Main Street and Fort Worth. So we're basically using Main Street as a framework and the best best practice tool for neighborhood community led revitalization. The city of Fort Worth is basically the strategic funding partner to align this redevelopment work, and then we're counting on the community partners to be the primary implementers for this type of work. So basically, the Fort Worth Main Street pilot program started in 2023. It was funded by the LDC, and we contacted we contracted with American Main Street as a for a $110,000. The pilot program included a competitive progress, art process, and it was basically off the
corridors, the the boundaries, just basically statistics and data that was collected to make sure that everyone was being, addressed fairly, and they were chosen with Historic Northside and Polytechnic Heights. So part of this process, after those, districts were appointed, Main Street, then started Main Street 101 classes. So basically, they were given training, community asset mapping board roles, volunteer recruitment, retention, classes. Basically, everything they needed to get the program running.
And their local leaders also got upskilled to define and implement revitalization projects for their local government plans. And each district was provided with administrative and project funds from the LDC. And so here's a map of historic Northside Main Street. And this was the historic Northside funding for 2023 to 2025. Administrative fee was 120,000. The project was 150,000, totaling 270,000. And the other area is poly Polytechnic Main Street, and this is the map for it. This was the funding for Polytechnic.
It was the same funding. The administrative was 120,000. Project was 150,000. If you see the asterisk, the 150,000 was not utilized by Southeast Fort Worth Incorporated. Those those unused funds from 2,023 to 2,025 were then rolled into the new extension for this year. So the program goals, at the end of this pilot was to basically have the district's fully structured to be self sustaining. The program would increase stakeholder involvement in the areas. We would, allow the community to see tangible transformation and basically, help with fundraising external
investments and make sure that they would see growth beyond just the initial city funding. And so our two, partners have done a great job with that. And so I would like to ask one of them to come up, and that's doctor Chandler with Texas Wesleyan University. Good afternoon, doctor Chandler. Good afternoon, everyone. Hello. So as Philip has mentioned, my name is doctor D'Wayla Chandler. I serve as the director for service learning at Texas Westland University, as well as the Polymain Street program coordinator. So kinda wanna touch a little bit about Polymain Street.
And so what makes PolyMainStreet unique is our anchor institution model. So with that, by leveraging the university's talent, the students, and infrastructure, we're not just supporting, revitalization. We are building a workforce and leadership pipeline that strengthens the corridor long term. And so this positions Polymain Street to be very strategic for sustainability. So I'll touch a little bit on our mission and our vision.
I'm excited to, share that our mission is rooted in unity and intentional collaboration. So Polymain Street exists to bring together neighbors, residents, students, and businesses to cultivate a thriving and connected community. And so everything we do from beautification to our communication is about honoring the legacy of Polytechnic Heights while creating real opportunity moving forward. So our vision is bold, but it is grounded.
We are working toward a vibrant mixed use district that supports entrepreneurship, celebrates identity, and creates generational growth. So at the end of the day, our goal is simple but powerful. Polytechnic Heights should be a place where people can truly live, work, play, and prosper. So I'm excited to share that Poly Main Street has moved firmly into the implement implementation phase. And so with the transition of leadership to Texas Westland University, this gives us strong
administrative and strategic capacity. Texas Westland launched a community based project management course, which I teach, where students are now directly embedded in real revitalization work. So in addition to that, PolyMainStreet has completed our transformation strategy workshop with MainStreet America, hosted a community wide logo voting, event to engage stakeholders, and we're currently finalizing our bylaws while standing up a nonprofit foundation to support long term fundraising.
So in short, the in infrastructure is being built. We have intentionally aligned our work with the Main Street four point approach, and so that means we're building strength in organization. We're telling the district story through promotion. We're supporting business growth through economic vitality and enhancing the visual character of the corridor through design. And so one of the ways, that this is coming to life is through, the Texas Wesleyan Jack Morton Business Accelerator. And so through this work, we are providing businesses, planning support, financial literacy, marketing guidance,
and compliance training to entrepreneurs in the district. We're also, currently assisting the revitalization of two of our Texas Westland commercial buildings, which brings which begins to create the visible wins, that build community confidence. So what I'm most proud of, is the level of collaboration that is taking shape in Polytechnic Heights. We have built new alignment between the university, the city, business owners, property owners, residents,
and students. And so that ecosystem, approach is critical for sustainability, in our corridor work. We were also honored to be selected as a 2025 American Express Neighborhood Champion, which strengthens our shop small efforts and national visibility. And so we continue to work directly with our business owners to assess needs and identify opportunities for growth. And importantly, we're currently advancing a proposal for an outdoor fitness court that will serve
as a safe and active community gathering space, because economic vitality and quality of life and place must move together. And so with that, I'll just say this a little bit. What I hope you see is that Polytechnic Heights is not waiting for transformation. We are actively building the structure, the partnerships, and the momentum to sustain it, and we're just getting started. And so with that, I will pass it over to my colleague, miss Dee, to
talk about the historic North Side. Thank you so much for the opportunity. You go, doctor Chandler. Any questions for doctor Chandler? Chris, you good? Everyone else? Thank you. Thank you. Good Good afternoon, Dee. Good afternoon, council member. Good afternoon, mayor Pro Tem Flores. My name is De Lara O'Neil, and I am our Main Street project manager for the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. We've worked really hard on this pilot for the last three years. And much like the story that doctor Chandler shared with Polly, we're seeing a lot of those same efforts in Northside.
One of the things I'm most proud of is just the amount of collaboration and participation from community members of all walks of life, including Mayor Pro Tem Flores, and several volunteers and community members that are right here in this room. I'm gonna say hi, because a lot of the progress that we've seen on this project has been largely due to their leadership and their efforts. Over the past three years, we've really worked to refine a vision, that reflects a shared identity for the corridor. And what we keep hearing and what we're working towards is a Northside known for
celebrating its vibrant culture, its history of entrepreneurship, and small businesses, and truly, truly shared stewardship of the community where growth and change supports the neighborhood, includes residents, and welcomes visitors. Some of our transformation strategy priorities have been really building community leadership, strengthening partnerships to ensure that residents, businesses, and partners can participate and help shape the corridor as it grows. We support small businesses and corridor vitality through visibility, participation, coordinated economic strategies, and truly,
truly by preserving what matters in the North Side, growing our organizational capacity by using appropriate design tools and leveraging long term stewardship of the corridor. So some of the highlights of our work over the past three year has been establishing our advisory board. We actually have five working committees that I'm really proud of. So it includes our general advisory board, our exec committee, which is pretty much our main street organization point, our design committee, our promotions committee, our economic vitality committee, And
then something that makes our pilot unique is a community action committee, which is our resident leadership advisory body. We're currently exploring the creation of a public improvement district. Our events have drawn over 24,000 visitors to the historic North Side over the past three years, serving current residents, but also attracting new faces to support the corridor. We've seen about 14 projects, on the corridor that either are completed, underway, or planned with a total value of approximately $84,000,000 in capital investment.
Those projects are projected to bring 302 new jobs to the corridor, approximately a 121 new or expanded businesses, And we really work hard to make sure that business owners and property owners are aligning on improvements, and then supplementing that alignment with district marketing. We've also completed several corridor beautification projects. So for example, new murals, a fresh coat of paint at the Marine Skate Park, some landscaping, really bringing community together to create a shared stewardship of our environment and
to continue making sure that Northside is the welcoming gateway it has long been. We are wrapping up a strategic planning process as we work to incorporate a new nonprofit with an urban planning firm called Ash and Lime alongside Friese and Nichols. So, one of those this summer, we can count on that drawing about 10,000 people every year to Marine Park. We've installed cultural murals at Mercado Plaza, at Marine Skate Park, through our partners like Artes de la Rosa and through council member Flores' leadership. There's even been a new major league baseball mural on the corridor.
Smaller events like Posadas, which celebrate an annual holiday tradition with a unique North Side flare, raised about $7,500 in sponsorships and helped local businesses generate approximately $10,000 We've raised about $535,000 independent of city funds over the past three years. And as of last week, I'm really proud proud to announce that, North Texas Communities Foundation has awarded our pilot an additional $250,000, a multi year commitment to making sure
that this grows steady, and collaborative. Again, we're working towards incorporation as an independent nonprofit to support long term stewardship and governance. So now that the pilot program is over for the first three years, we're going to platform. So what comes next? The LDC has basically authorized a two year extension of the program, up to $300,000 combined for both, districts, And they did that back in 2002 June 2025. Main Street has been contacted as a vendor again to continue to support, basically, for technical assistance, district workshops, and field lessons.
Fort Worth will focus on executing strategic work plans for have both main streets self sustainable. And our new program agreement shows that there is tracking and metrics with measurable KPIs like private funds raised, jobs created, and vacant buildings activated. So that new funding looks like this. So the LDC has funded Polytechnic for 02/2027. Administrative cost is 60,000. Project implementation is 150,000. You see the abstract. That's because that's unused funds carried over from 02/2025 program that wasn't was not utilized
into this program. So a total of 210,000. Historic Northside The same 60,000 administrative costs and then project implementation of 70,000 with a total of a $130,000. So our city Of Fort Worth community development efforts are to continue to support the neighborhood and community revitalization efforts in the Main Street districts and corridors, initiate conversations with Texas Main Street to determine how to better align the city Fort Worth and our program with the state's existing program, continue to develop additional tools for our toolkit, so communities in the economic and community development efforts, and evaluate revitalization strategic, strategy as part
of the economic development strategic plan. Any questions? Mayor Pro Tem, thank you, Philip, for that great presentation. But I wanna say, you know, great job, Dee, all the work that y'all are doing in Northside. You know, you're you're really, hitting out of the ballpark there. But I do wanna thank doctor Chandler for all the hard work that you and the committee has put in thus far. I share the community sentiment when I say that we're really excited to see the future, future accomplishments of the Poly Main Street project. So looking forward to to see all the great work coming out of Poly.
Chris? So I I have a question. The, 150,000, that's the rollover from the unused money, and then there's new dollars, essentially, for the other two years had they used that money. Will Polly receive the additional funding as well in the long term, or did they just lose their funding? It has received the additional funding for administrative costs, not project implementation. So we technically lost that fund. Right. Because the project implementation, implementation funds were not utilized the first, program years, and they
basically just carried that over. Except for them losing the 150,000 for the first three years, we felt like it was more of a due process to allow them to have that, except for stripping them of that 150,000 and only give them 70,000, like historic Northside. And this is a five year plan? Well, just additional two years. Oh, yeah. Altogether, it will be five years. Yes, sir. Okay. Any questions? All good. Alright. Well, before we disperse on this topic again, Philip, thank you, you know, for the presentation. Thank you, Dee. Thank you, doctor Chandler. And, I just wanna acknowledge, you know, all the the hard work and teamwork from
the, Poly and Northside projects. So I know some of you are already standing, but those that aren't standing, if you could stand up, we can give you a round of applause. Very briefly, I saw a familiar head, Bob, from the audience, a, former assistant city manager, Fernando Costa. I was gonna say, communications actually asked if, the council members in, Main Street could come up and take a picture. Yeah. That'd be great. We also have former city council member, Anne Zeta in the back. So everyone come on up. Let's take a picture. And I'll join in. Right. Congratulations. Yeah.
Good to see you. Hey, you know what I mean? Congratulations. Yeah. For sure. Yep. Alright, folks. We're almost done. Just one additional item of business. Request for future agenda items. I know, Chris, you had one. Did you Yeah. If they could just if that can be a future agenda item, that's all I have. And and to be clear, what you wanted is, in light of the, efforts going on East Lancaster Corridor, you wanted an assessment of, current and future hope unit needs as far as personnel. Is that right? Or Yeah. As it relates to the HOPE team, I know we The impact to the rest
of the city is is the HOPE team is focused there. Right? Correct. Okay. Anyone else? Yes. I'd like to ask that we do an IR to get more information on what we're doing, for our unhoused individuals across the city. I have gotten multiple concerns from residents that camps are moving further out, in the districts and would just like to know what the plan is to try to mitigate some of those camps and what we're doing.
Okay. Jay, you wouldn't happen to know, when we would get the latest, point in time count results, would you? I don't know off the top of my head, but I don't know if Terre Perez is in the audience. May? April or May. April or May. Okay. I don't know if that would be a good idea to wait until then to have those If we could get it sooner, I have, just around the Bentley Village area off East Chase, a big growth of camps out there. And so I think if we could get some information sooner, it would be better. Alright.
Got it. Charlie, did you So I think it comes at a good time since we talked about post employment benefits earlier. But I'd like a report from Parks, and Rec to see what the financial impact would be for us to offer a deeply discounted, a community center gym membership to our retired, Fort Worth employees, and the potential impact that could have on our, on the health benefits as well. I heard from a couple of retirees who would actually use the facilities here on a daily basis, which obviously kept them in great shape, but then as soon as
they retired, it's no mas. So are you talking about in city hall? Oh, I mean, either city hall and or community all the community centers and and allowing them a very deeply discounted gym membership, which I think will ultimately have a impact on our health insurance as well. It could. Deborah, did you have something else here? No. It's not an IR, but I wanted to give a major shout out to, ACM Dana, Bergdorf and her team. We just recently broke ground for the parks at Moshe Valley.
So a shout out to our parks department for getting that moving and just, the residents are ecstatic. Good deal. That's good to hear. Anyone else? Any other future agenda items or IRs? Once going twice? Seeing none, we are adjourned at five after three.