The city council returns to the city's business on Wednesday ... or is that Tuesday? But till mid-September, at the earliest, committee meetings are canceled: Mayor Mike's asked the chairs to scratch meetings till at least mid-September, when he'll reshuffle the deck chairs -- and we'll find out whether he's got the pepperoni to name Angela Hunt chair of the Trinity River Corridor Project Committee, a position previously held by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Took Leppert till September 12, 2007, to make that call.
So instead of committee meetings, this weekend's packet of council memos covers what would have been the pre-council meeting discussions, and they cover a wide range of familiar topics: those town homes intended to go in front of Dallas Farmers Market, the Continental Building's extreme makeover, Tim Headington's slow-but-sure downtown takeover via the Joule expansion, the sale of that police helicopter, up-and-down revenue forecasts and Love Field concessions. Where to begin? Why, it's a regular Unfair Park greatest hits (and some what will be) -- and, for the new kids, a bit of a primer.
The memos are self-explanatory and follow after the jump for those who like to keep score. But first a few spoilers: The Continental won't be done by the end of the year as initially promised and needs 12 months more, at least; Headington's added investment (from $76.5 million to $98 million) means more TIF reimbursements (from $20.65 million to $23.85 million) will be used to help fill in 114,000 square feet of currently vacant downtown space along Main and Commerce; Dallas PD Chief David Brown says that spacious eggbeater has to go; the city will cover $3 million in infrastructure improvements to expedite those Farmers Market town homes; and the city received 42 food-and-wine proposals at Love Field, and another 10 for retail ... and none from the incumbents, but there's still that first-right-of-refusal deal cut with council, that vague two-tiered review process and a lottery, so good luck with all that.
That about covers it. Oh, and till I get 'round to a real FYWLP selection, here's Foreigner at Reunion Arena in 1981. Admit it. It's kind of awesome. Better'n effin' Kings of Leon at Starplex last night, at least.