By Brant Mills – Pearland Stories
Pearland City Council’s February 9, 2026 regular meeting blended celebration, citizen concerns, major economic development decisions, and the appointment of a new chief of police.
Mayor Kevin Cole called the meeting to order at 6:41 p.m. and led an invocation asking for guidance for council, protection for first responders, and safe travel for residents, followed by Councilmember Layni Cade leading the pledges to the U.S. and Texas flags.
The city secretary then certified that all councilmembers were present, establishing a quorum, and the mayor moved immediately into citizen comments, noting four speakers had signed up.
District Director Nancy Stickler, representing State Representative Jeff Barry, read a resolution honoring the City of Pearland for being ranked number three in the United States and number one in Texas in the 2025–2026 U.S. News & World Report “Best Places to Live” rankings.
The resolution noted that the ranking was based on thousands of data points across quality of life, value, desirability, job market, and net migration, and highlighted Pearland’s strong scores in value and quality of life, its job market and health care, and a family‑friendly community of roughly 124,000 residents with median home and income levels cited in the text.
It also commended the leadership of Mayor Cole, Mayor Pro Tem Clint Byram, and councilmembers Joseph Koza, Tony Carbone, Mona Chavarria, Layni Cade, Rick Fernandez, and Rushi Patel, along with city staff and residents, and formally extended congratulations and best wishes to the community.
Resident Victoria Forsberg, speaking on behalf of approximately 534 homes in the Avalon Terrace community, raised concerns about consistency and transparency in how safety issues and potential offenses are handled.
She described an April 2025 HOA vote removing board member Ivory Franklin and an August 2025 incident in which playground equipment was spray painted; according to her remarks, Franklin publicly admitted to spray painting the equipment because he believed it was unsafe, despite a vendor’s prior assessment that it did not pose a hazard.
Forsberg said the incident was treated as an “event report” rather than a formal police report, that an assistant district attorney twice declined charges, and that the original admission was not reflected in the record, leaving the community without a clear resolution.
She added that a December 13 Christmas event at the neighborhood playground involved a visibly impaired woman being assisted or “almost dragged” by a man, with police ultimately escorting them back to their rental home without citation or clear explanation to onlooking parents.
Her request to council was for clear standards and thresholds for action so residents can understand when and how law enforcement responds, emphasizing that inconsistent or unclear responses erode trust and that one resident’s voice should be enough to trigger serious attention.
Mayor Cole responded from the dais that some community outreach appeared necessary and directed staff to follow up with Forsberg.
Scott McReynolds, vice president of the Pearland Police Officers Association, then spoke in support of Assistant Chief Derek Dunham.
He formally presented the association’s endorsement of Dunham as the city’s next chief of police, describing Dunham’s 16‑year career, leadership record, understanding of Pearland’s needs, commitment to fairness and integrity, and his ability to build a motivated, accountable team.
McReynolds said the association believed Dunham had the vision and experience to guide the department through the coming decade while strengthening community relations, and he closed with a personal anecdote about predicting years ago that Dunham would one day serve as chief.
The final citizen speaker, David Tilbury, president of the Pearland Professional Firefighters Association, addressed the council as it prepared to take up civil service items later in the meeting.
Tilbury thanked union members, city staff, and more than 700 residents who had signed a petition related to civil service, and spoke about Pearland’s strong community support for first responders and quality fire and EMS services.
He explained that civil service is a state law framework providing employment standards, due process, transparency, and consistency, noting that it has been used across Texas for many years and that Pearland voters previously adopted civil service for the police department in 1982.
Tilbury stressed that the current initiative does not call for a tax increase or mandate new spending or staffing, and framed the evening’s agenda as an important step that allows citizens to decide whether to extend a similar system to the Fire Department.
Consent agenda and Old Town “Grand Link” design
Following citizen comments, council moved to the consent agenda, with Mayor Cole noting that only one item, labeled “N,” would be pulled for separate consideration.
Council approved the remaining consent items with a 7–0 vote after a motion by Councilmember Koza and a second, as recorded by the city secretary’s roll‑call vote.
Council then took up Resolution R2026‑26, which authorized an expenditure of $289,500 in Pearland Economic Development Corporation (PEDC) funds for a professional services agreement with TBG Partners.
Staff explained that the contract would produce a conceptual design for the Old Town Revitalization Plan “Grand Link” project, described as transforming Grand Street into a festival‑type street and advancing the Old Town plan’s concepts into a more detailed design for both the street and adjacent Zelinski Park.
The conceptual work is intended to form the basis for later detailed engineering design and construction drawings.
Councilmember Tony Carbone, who had asked to pull the item, said he was excited about the project but wanted to discuss cost and phasing.
Staff and council briefly reviewed preliminary numbers, noting that the $289,500 contract would be followed by an anticipated $1 million for full engineering and a rough construction estimate of $20.7 million covering three “links” from Walnut to Orange Street.
Staff stated that current planning expects to fund the overall project with PEDC resources, but emphasized that the work would likely be phased over many years, with an initial focus on the section from Zelinski down to Broadway rather than the entire corridor.
Carbone also mentioned that having conceptual materials ready in time for the chamber’s Grand Dinner event would be a useful opportunity to build excitement and publicity, and staff agreed that would be beneficial.
The council then approved the resolution by a 7–0 vote.
Shank Road design and other open‑session actions
Under new business, Councilmember Carbone presented Resolution R2026‑25, and council again voted to proceed after staff’s report.
Staff stated that the resolution authorizes an expenditure of $871,708 in PEDC funds for professional design services with Consor Engineers for the reconstruction of Shank Road, including a review of Woody Road and its alignment.
This work was described as part of a broader allocation of 20 percent of PEDC’s funding toward infrastructure redevelopment and road projects.
With no questions or comments from councilmembers, the motion passed 7–0.
A second new business item listed on the agenda had been pulled from this meeting and is expected to return at a future session, as briefly noted from the dais.
With no additional “Other Business” or council discussion items raised in open session, the council recessed to executive session at 7:03 p.m. under provisions of the Texas Government Code related to personnel matters for the chief of police position and economic development negotiations.
Executive sessions, police chief ratified, and Knapp Road agreement
The council returned from executive session at 7:15 p.m. and moved to New Business Item 3, related to the police chief appointment.
Councilmember Carbone made a motion “to ratify the city manager’s appointment [of] Assistant Chief Derek Dunham as the police chief of the City of Pearland, effective June 15th,” which received a second.
After noting that discussion had already occurred, the mayor directed the secretary to call the roll, and the vote passed 7–0, prompting congratulations from the dais.
Council then recessed back into executive session at 7:16 p.m. They reconvened at 8:35 p.m. to consider New Business Item 4, a development‑related agreement.
Councilmember Adrian Carmona moved to authorize the city manager or designee to enter into a development agreement between the city and HCA DP Land Acquisition, LLC for construction and funding of right‑of‑way improvements associated with Knapp Road, along with a reimbursement agreement between the city and PEDC, and the motion was seconded.
The subsequent roll‑call vote again passed 7–0.
Following that action, council moved to adjourn at 8:36 p.m., but an associated public hearing segment brought additional comment regarding the Knapp Road area.
Business owner Carl Gering of 2401 Smith Ranch Road addressed council, describing the area as underdeveloped despite interest from multiple developers who want to pursue “real quality projects” involving tens of millions of dollars in investment.
Gering said that, as he understands it, there are currently no public funds available for utilities on the affected properties, which prevents owners from selling or developing their land, and he urged the city to support the agreement so that needed infrastructure can move forward.
See the recorded meeting online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEgIgNiLvIY
See the schedule and agendas for upcoming City Council Meetings at: https://pearlandtx.civicweb.net/portal/