A state official will address the Texas-side City Council regarding downtown's Cultural District on Monday.
At the council's regular meeting, Gary Gibbs, executive director of Texas Commission on the Arts, will give a presentation on the Texarkana Arts and Historic District's recent designation as a Texas Cultural District.
Last month, the commission named TAHD an official Texas Cultural District. A part of downtown is now one of 35 such districts and the first in the northeast region of the state. That makes TAHD eligible for a share of $2.5 million per year in Cultural District Project grants.
Gibbs is also scheduled to speak at a ceremony celebrating the designation Tuesday morning. Organizers invite the public to the event at 10 a.m. Tuesday in front of the downtown post office and courthouse, where they hope to take the " largest pic in two states ever" with a drone-mounted camera.
The meeting's agenda also includes two public hearings on proposed ordinances. One would adopt less restrictive energy-efficiency regulations for new construction, and the other would allow "sandwich"-style sidewalk signs downtown.
The council will hear a first briefing on a proposed 50 percent property tax rebate to incentivize remodeling a building at 3103 Summerhill Road. One state agency with 37 employees plans to move there from a different local facility, and another with 38 employees plans to relocate there from Austin, according to agenda background materials.
The agenda includes an open forum, during which members of the public can address the council on any topic for up to five minutes each.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 220 Texas Blvd.