Allen City Council met on Tuesday, November 9. View the full agenda or watch video of the meeting.
Allen’s Downtown Steering Committee gives its first-year report on revitalization research 
Allen’s Downtown Steering Committee, led by resident volunteers, gave its first-year update to City Council. The group was formed in Summer 2021 and recently completed Phase 1 of its work to develop a new vision for Downtown Allen. Watch the Council presentation.
During this initial phase, the group collected data, identified stakeholders, researched grant opportunities, and visited and learned from other local downtowns. The committee shared its research and downtown information through online blogs posts and trivia questions at CityofAllen.org/DowntownPlanning. It also selected a third-party consultant, Stantec, to help lead the community engagement and feedback processes in Phase 2.
The group has already selected a name and brand for its community engagement efforts: Downtown Allen: Dare to Dream! A website featuring progress reports and public input opportunities is scheduled to debut by the end of November 2021.
Allen police officers to receive shift differentials, education pay as result of Meet & Confer process
Councilmembers unanimously authorized a Meet and Confer agreement between The City of Allen and Allen Police Association. This process, authorized by state statute, gives Police Associations the right to be recognized as the sole bargaining agent to negotiate compensation and other conditions of employment.
In 2019, Allen City Council voted to accept a request from Allen Police Association to engage in Meet and Confer processes. The Allen Police Association presented its first requests to Allen city management in 2021. After evaluation by City staff, the groups came to a quick agreement.
“This has been such a collaborative and positive experience,” said Deputy City Manager Eric Strong. “They’ve understood when there are things we can’t do and why we can’t do them, and they’ve been so supportive.”
Significant changes include a $200 monthly shift differential for officers assigned to a night shift and increases to monthly compensation for those who hold advanced degrees ($50/month for an associate’s degree, $75/month for bachelor’s degree and $100 for a master’s degree) or serve on the SWAT Team ($100/month). In addition, the City will reconfigure the way it calculates market rate pay increases by adding 2% to salaries benchmarked in annual market analysis.
The 3-year agreement is retroactive to October 1 but has no immediate financial impact to the City. Items that cost money will be evaluated by City Management during the budget process in March 2022. If budget capacity supports adding these items, they will be implemented at that time. If not, they will be considered as part of the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 budget process.
Stacy Road Pump Station approved for $4.7M in improvements
Allen's Stacy Road Pump Station was approved for $4.7 million dollars in improvements. The existing pump station is a facility with two twin pump houses: Stacy Pump Station No. 1 (SPS1) and Stacy Pump Station No. 2 (SPS2). Constructed in 1986, SPS1 is the older of the two and is approved for replacement of its aging pumps and equipment.
Replacing the pumps at SPS1 will increase pump efficiency and reduce system voltage, saving the City approximately $900K in construction costs. The project also replaces a damaged HVAC system at SPS1 and provides for installation of a backup emergency generator. SPS2 will have an automatic start function added to its existing generator, which discontinues the need for staff to manually power the generator during a power failure.
The City of Allen operates two pump stations: the Stacy Road Pump Station and the Custer Road Pump Station. Together they can pump up to 66 million gallons of water per day, meeting the City's highest level of demand.
Ad hoc committee on diversity, equity and inclusion presents findings and recommendations to achieve full community engagement in Allen
A committee formed by Allen City Council has identified key ways to make Allen more welcoming and engaging to people of all backgrounds.
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Ad Hoc Committee presented their final report to Allen City Council on November 9. The committee was formed in April 2021 in response to the goals outlined by City Council in the 2036 City of Allen Strategic Plan. Councilmembers charged the group with finding ways to enhance Allen’s diversity, equity and inclusion, then presenting recommendations to help guide future initiatives.
Committee members logged closed to 2,000 hours to research and prepare recommendations. Their findings coalesced into four themes: Listening, connection, education and continued citizen involvement through creation of a permanent Community Engagement Citizen Advisory Board.
Councilmembers will discuss the recommendations as part of an upcoming strategic planning session.
Proclamations and honors
Mayor Fulk declared November 11, 2021 as Veterans Day in Allen. This proclamation was presented to representatives from VFW Post 2195, which is based out of McKinney.
To bring attention to members of the community experiencing homelessness, the week of November 13-21 was proclaimed Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Dr. Maroba Zoeller from the Collin County Homeless Coalition accepted the proclamation, and was joined by Tamara Monroe and another representative from Hope Restored Missions.
Addressing the Allen | Fairview Chamber of Commerce and Allen’s local business community, Mayor Fulk proclaimed November 27, 2021 as Small Business Saturday, highlighting the importance of supporting local businesses. Small business owners and members of the Allen | Fairview Chamber of Commerce accepted the proclamation.
Follow council news and future meetings
Allen City Council meets at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month. Meetings are held in Council Chambers at Allen City Hall (305 Century Parkway). A calendar of upcoming meetings is available on the City website.
To receive a link to upcoming meetings by email, visit CityofAllen.org/NotifyMe and sign up for City Meeting Notices. Meeting agendas are posted at least 72 hours prior to each meeting. Agenda links are provided within the meeting details of each calendar listing and at CityofAllen.org/Agendas.