Killeen town hall begins effort to get citizens engaged in upcoming decisions regarding city’s future

KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) - The City of Killeen on Thursday held a special town hall meeting and invited the community to be part of the conversation for improving municipal services and the overall quality of life.

Several topics were addressed during the special meeting’s agenda, including city development, fiscal responsibility and public transportation.

Mayor Debbie Nash-King says it is important to make the necessary developments while maintaining the highest fiscal discipline.

A hot topic across all four districts was bettering the city’s parks and recreation services, including the potential development of three new parks in west Killeen.

“We have actually put millions of dollars into our area parks already, and also trying to allocate parks for some of our areas that don’t have them,” said City of Killeen District 1 Councilmember Jessica Gonzalez.

Another vital project for the city is fixing rocky roads and creating safer streets. City of Killeen District 4 Councilmember Michael Boyd says it has been a goal of his since he was elected to resolve these issues.

“We had a meeting in September at Live Oak Ridge Middle School to discuss the redesign of Watercrest Road,” Boyd says.

In addition to the needed improvements, they have already made some much needed progress.

“Robinett Road as we all know, was rough. You could break a tooth just driving on it. It was recently milled and overlaid through a maintenance project,” Boyd adds.

After the councilmembers presentations, they opened the floor for community comment and engagement. And community member Mellisa Brown says there is much more that needs to be done, that is getting the focus it deserves.

“Where’s the forward thinking? We are listening to the council argue over trivial niceties, not what the future and current needs are,” Brown expressed.

The city says that this comprehensive plan should span over five to 10 years and that everything they do is to better the lives of the people they serve.

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