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2026-10-08 - City Council

Summary

Built from YouTube auto-generated captions, the City's Legistar agenda item titles, and a City news release; the agenda PDF and minutes were not read (minutes not yet posted). Names and figures are as captioned and may be misspelled.

  • Opening: Mayor Joseph Solomon called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM on a Thursday, with a councilmember joining remotely. The applicant for zoning case O26-018 (White Willow Court) withdrew. The acknowledgment of Interim City Manager Kent Cagle's retirement was moved to follow citizen comments. The agenda was approved 6-0.
  • City Manager: Council appointed Dr. Marie Peoples as City Manager with an employment agreement (RS-26-162), 6-1, after a national search. Councilmember Brown voted no, citing compensation terms (base pay, upfront sick leave, relocation and housing allowances) rather than the choice of Dr. Peoples. Assistant City Manager Lori Wilson was then appointed Interim City Manager effective October 10 (RS-26-163), 7-0, until the permanent manager starts. Council members paid tribute to Cagle and presented a plaque. See City Manager Appointment.
  • Axon agreement: a ten-year, roughly $21.2 million agreement consolidating Axon cameras, tasers and license plate readers, with drone-as-first-responder capability, was approved 7-0 (RS-26-161) after a presentation on privacy and transparency safeguards. See Fleet Procurement and Axon Agreement.
  • EMS agreement: an interlocal agreement for emergency medical service to unincorporated Bell County, with the county paying $750 per call in addition to patient billing, was approved 7-0 (RS-26-159). See EMS Interlocal Agreement with Bell County.
  • Cell tower marketing agreement: a ten-year master agreement with Verta Wireless for monopole towers on city-owned parcels, with the city receiving 30% of subtenant rent, was approved 6-1 (RS-26-158), Councilmember Brown opposed over the lack of competitive bidding. Each site returns to Council separately. See Verta Wireless Cell Tower Agreement.
  • Economic Development Policy: readoption with new sections for the Chamber of Commerce, the Fort Hood Regional Economic Development Corporation and the Killeen Industrial Foundation was tabled to the November 3 meeting after concerns about removal of the annual audit, the Killeen Economic Development Corporation's role and reduced-price land provisions. See Economic Development Policy.
  • Water and construction items: the emergency $515,860 replacement of a water line under I-14 was ratified 7-0 (RS-26-156), and a $1.74 million change order for the parks maintenance, fleet maintenance and police evidence storage buildings was approved 7-0 (RS-26-160).
  • Consent agenda: approved 6-1, with the lead and copper service line item (RS-26-149) pulled for questions on resident notification and Spanish translations, then approved 7-0. The consent items included setting the November 17 hearing date on the water and wastewater impact fee update. See Water and Wastewater Impact Fee Update.
  • Rezonings: Z26-16 (408 East Stan Schlueter Loop, B3A to B5 for a private social club) was approved 6-1. Z26-17 (311 East Stan Schlueter Loop, B5 to BC1 for a lounge with alcohol) was disapproved 5-2; adjacent-owner opposition meant a three-quarters majority would have been needed to approve. Z26-18 (10002 Medical Drive, B3 to R3A for an emergency shelter proposed by a business applicant) drew extensive public testimony on both sides. A motion for R3A with no conditions failed 4-3; a second motion to approve R3A with a conditional use permit on the staff-recommended conditions passed 7-0. Those conditions were round-the-clock accommodation and staffing, a part-time licensed social worker, a solid screening fence along the rear property line, and permit expiry terms. Additional fencing and security requests from a neighboring school were not added. See Council Rezoning Cases and 1002 Medical Drive Rezoning.
  • Executive session: the land purchase from Killeen Independent School District for affordable housing was listed; the captions do not show what was discussed. See KISD Land Purchase for Affordable Housing.
  • End of meeting: near 11 PM Council voted 7-0 to table discussion items DS-26-090, DS-26-091 and DS-26-093 to the next meeting, then heard citizen comments on non-agenda items.

Related: City Manager Appointment, Fleet Procurement and Axon Agreement, EMS Interlocal Agreement with Bell County, Verta Wireless Cell Tower Agreement, Economic Development Policy, Water and Wastewater Impact Fee Update, Council Rezoning Cases, 1002 Medical Drive Rezoning, KISD Land Purchase for Affordable Housing

Agenda

Agenda: see Sources.

Sources

Video

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