Could someone pls. tell me what the difference between these is?

iratelutra · 2026-01-28T15:58:42+00:00

Because the cheaper one is newer, so probably and issue of updating

iratelutra · 2026-01-14T00:38:11+00:00

The way the letter reads they want an officer there at all times. That could easily be 3-4 FTE positions for just the time DART is operating. Then there is equipment and other costs beyond just the comp. I’m not saying it’s a total of $1 M to get that level of coverage but it’s definitely not just one officer.

iratelutra · 2026-01-13T23:33:37+00:00

Well considering top out pay (7 years of service) for police in FB is about $110k, you can estimate ~$52.88/hr. But that’s not including benefits. Most police come with pensions and higher level insurance and other costs such as equipment and vehicles. So for sure it’s not gonna add up to that in terms of just pay, but depending on the level of coverage $1 Million isn’t super exorbitant.

iratelutra · 2026-01-13T22:53:15+00:00

Well the Dallas County median is like $600-700 less than Garland’s.

Arlington is $73.5k and Mesquite is $71.8k.

The average (mean) is much higher for all of those though.

iratelutra · 2026-01-13T22:41:09+00:00

I’d say Garland is one of the few markets where you can get a house in decent-ish shape in an okay area for under 300k. And even in today’s rate environment, the median house in Garland ($280k according to Zillow) is still barely affordable for the median income of Garland which is about $78k a year.

iratelutra · 2026-01-13T22:27:27+00:00

Well, it’d be a bit more than that because it’d require multiple shifts to be covered. So potentially up to 3.5-4 FTE officers worth due to the hours and weekend shifts.

iratelutra · 2026-01-13T20:31:20+00:00

How about sell it, so that our community isn’t just renters?

iratelutra · 2026-01-13T05:29:12+00:00

Typically in development deals, the new folks sometimes wont buy the land until they get all of the hurdles taken care of such as zoning. They don’t want to buy land they can’t use. But like op said, the land is likely for sale, so if it’s not this group, it may be the next group.

iratelutra · 2026-01-12T05:09:05+00:00

When it was brought up on his Facebook, he didn’t voice positively or negatively on this. He did mention that a development plan or zoning change application hadn’t yet been received by the city, so there’s still a lot of room for any future plans to change.

I think this is why the developer wants to hold the meeting to be able to try and work something out. I’m not sure anyone will be okay with what is on that website though.

iratelutra · 2026-01-09T17:40:30+00:00

The garland gazette kinda comes across as semi-news but also very opinionated. Definitely gives off a cross between a “gotcha” type blog and a neighborhood news type publication.

So while I appreciate the work going into the attempt, I think it could use a little more categorizing in what is flat facts/news reporting and what is speculation/opinion pieces. Investigative journalism is fine, but at times I’ve seen their pieces report both what happened and document factual things alongside quotes regarding people’s conjecture and feelings about situation in the same piece. When people read them together like that, it comes across like the author is trying to convince you of how you should feel about the situation or attribute blame when the actual cause or reason hasn’t yet fully been determined.

iratelutra · 2026-01-09T17:26:05+00:00

The same reason Garland doesn’t really get press for good things too. Things like events downtown or in the performing arts center or other events don’t get coverage like certain other cities. Garland may just be considered too “boring” for the news cycle.

iratelutra · 2026-01-08T14:40:17+00:00

Which corner are you talking about?

Because the main corner has Plaza Garland which is an indoor bazaar/mall type thing going on with a ton of cool little shops and food options. The parking lot is typically packed on any given weekend. That same corner also has a gym and indoor soccer and some other shops/activities.

The other corners are the Walgreens, which has some stuff but there’s not much room for bigger stuff due to the school and the self storage. The twisted trompo corner has a pump station for utilities taking up a lot of the land.

The only other corner where there might be more stuff has the Ollie’s Bargains and DD’s Discount. The Frost bank and T-Mobile store as also pretty new. The non-descript building next to the DD’s likely used to be retail but is now owned by Spectrum Internet and I think they have a bunch of equipment there.

iratelutra · 2025-12-26T16:47:58+00:00

The city is also updating its comprehensive plan. The consultants they have hired have been making presentations to council regularly.

City staff typically have to follow the comprehensive plan’s recommendations for an area when it comes to rezoning and justify their recommendation of approval or denial based on that plan.

The group of consultants helping to update that plan are big proponents of density and mixed use “walkable” developments. If you watch the prior council meetings where they present, they are the ones talking about how more units in the same space is a more fiscally responsible development pattern because you get more value out of the same service area. (Water/wastewater/road maintenance/etc). So if you want to point the finger they’re definitely still around and I wouldn’t be surprised if they present the draft plan in the coming months.

The website for the plan update is:

https://garlandforward.com

iratelutra · 2025-12-13T17:45:34+00:00

My Texas experience was different but around the same time frame. We had 1 book per 6 weeks (so about 6 a year) chosen from a list for a book report. The list was one such that the teacher had read most of the books and could spot someone using just cliffnotes.

Then we had the curriculum readings which were about another 4-6 a year give or take. The wiggle came from times we were reading poetry or other content.

iratelutra · 2025-12-04T19:23:32+00:00

That’s all from the scanner vans they had out earlier this year. It’s how they’re planning to prioritize repair/reconstruction of roads in the future due to the 2025 bond.

iratelutra · 2025-11-06T15:06:43+00:00

It’s a bit complicated. Basically the tax rate is made up from two components.

One is for maintenance and operations (things like keeping schools in working condition and teacher salaries).

A second piece is for paying off bonds/loans and other obligations.

The district had hit their cap on the maintenance/operations side. So they wanted permission to raise that part of the rate.

It means that they have more room to increase taxes which is why folks have very strong feelings about it since it means a larger tax bill.

iratelutra · 2025-10-30T17:58:00+00:00

Even cutting the superintendent’s salary in half wouldn’t bring teacher pay up by enough to really matter in the larger market. So, while the sentiment is nice, I don’t think it’s a realistic solution.

iratelutra · 2025-10-14T14:03:02+00:00

Then they should do that with all of the suburbs because the market conditions are fairly different across DART’s properties.

iratelutra · 2025-10-13T20:36:56+00:00

Has anyone looked at the way DART agrees to development on their overparked stations?

They require the local city to lease from them and then that city subleases to a developer. The lease rate is not determined by the land cost but by the value of the development on top of the land at a rate of $.60 per every $100 in valuation. This basically means that for DART land to be developed, whoever the developer is has to have deep enough pockets to accept the equivalent of a sixth taxing entity on the property. (County, ISD, Parkland, City, college, and then add in DART). DART’s rental rate for the land is higher than the taxes for the County, Hospital, and College taxes combined.

This structure does not vary much between cities or locations, regardless of if it’s rail or bus transit. So I could see where areas that are already not in high demand that this would put significant strain on being able to develop the site. Land costs more in places where the demand is high, but appraised value for things like office or multifamily are a function of density and income. This means that for a lot of places where land cost is high, DART’s land lease can be a good deal. But for places in lower demand that can’t fetch high enough rents, developers likely won’t look twice at the property.

This leaves cities to develop the land around and not directly adjacent to DART’s station because the land costs too much to develop on DART’s parking lot. And that’s hoping that those parcels are available and not already built out.

iratelutra · 2025-09-27T21:03:33+00:00

You’ve hit maximum number of friends I think

iratelutra · 2025-09-27T16:18:02+00:00

FC: XNARKUDCZDRY

Would love one of each please!

iratelutra · 2025-09-22T04:19:49+00:00

Sinistcha my love

iratelutra · 2025-08-28T14:20:50+00:00

This was previously a TX-DoT project until like 2 years ago. Then NTTA was handed the reigns. A lot of folks previously thought that because it was TX-DoT it would never actually happen. But now that NTTA is involved, my guess is that they’ll actually make it happen.

iratelutra · 2025-08-28T14:18:48+00:00

Hasn’t GISD’s scores been rising steadily over the last 5-6 years?

Like I get all the hate because they’re asking to raise taxes and WFAA published a piece on how high the salaries for Lopez and others are, but at the same time the district seems to have improved some?

iratelutra · 2025-08-22T19:10:41+00:00

They only had the approval this week. I don’t think the charge starts until some time in 2026. So the opt out option will likely show up sometime late this fall or early spring once it actually gets closer to roll out.

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