It may not feel like Christmas, but University Park leaders are already making plans for this year’s holiday celebration.
City Council members and staff discussed the annual tree lighting event during a pre-meeting work session on Aug. 18.
The tree lighting will move back to Centennial Park this year after being held in Snider Plaza in 2025, when the traditional large tree over the fountain was replaced by four smaller trees due to changes in the fountain’s design.
Staff discussed incorporating food trucks in the celebration, and whether to feature a live or artificial tree. Although the event is moving away from Snider Plaza, staff told the council that the city still plans to decorate the shopping area, including around its new fountain.
The city also discussed participating in a grant program from Uber with the aim of reducing the number of employee vehicles in retail areas, including the Miracle Mile. The program would award up to $50,000 to the city to create an on-demand mobility program for retail employees. The city would need to provide a matching contribution in the amount of 10% of its grant.
Council members questioned whether the city was already receiving similar services from Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s GoLink program. Special projects coordinator Amanda Hartwick told the council that staff had received feedback on DART wait times.
“The thing about Uber is there’s so much supply,” she explained. “We know the wait times would be low, and I think that’s where we could get some real buy-in from users.”
Council members expressed frustration with the on-demand services being provided by DART.
“We ought to start with DART and ask DART, ‘Why aren’t you providing this,’” council member Phillip Philbin said. “We need to start building a record with DART where we request things like this, and DART ignores the request, so our citizens understand we’ve asked for services from DART that we’re already paying for, and DART makes the decision of whether or not to provide them.”
Staff and council decided at the end of the discussion to continue considering the partnership with Uber.
During the meeting following the work session, the city council:
- Approved a resolution to name the firing range within the city’s new public safety training facility the “Sergeant Robert Ramsey Firing Range” in memory of Sergeant Robert Ramsey, who passed away in 2020. Police chief Bill Mathes noted that Sergeant Ramsey had been named employee of the year in 2018, had served as a school resource officer at Highland Park High School, and was active in training other officers.
- Denied a request to remove and add homes to the resident-only parking district in the 4200 block of Amherst Avenue. Council members expressed concern about the cost of enforcing resident-only parking districts and about creating parking restrictions for individual homes.
Author
