Residents urge inclusion, propose skate park and warn of delivery-drone impacts during Richardson public comment

At the start of the Richardson City Council meeting, three residents used the public-comment period to raise a mix of community-safety and recreation concerns.

Saraj Akhtar told the council her family has lived in Richardson for 25 years and asked the city to be welcoming after what she called "horrific, racist" killings in San Diego and an increase in Islamophobic incidents in North Texas. "We hold our breath waiting for what is going to happen," she said, and urged the city to remain "a welcoming, safe, and inclusive place for all our residents."

James Miller, who identified himself as a resident of Dove Meadow Drive, urged the council to prioritize building a public skate park at Cottonwood Park. Miller said a skate park would provide safe, supervised recreation, reduce conflicts over skating in unsafe locations, attract activity for youth after school and could be used for events such as the Cottonwood Art Festival.

A third speaker, Richard Alexander, described his work preparing a report titled Commercial Delivery Drone Noise and Safety and said his measurements show some delivery drones can be large and operate close to people. Alexander said his tests include an Amazon aircraft that he described as weighing about 83 pounds and operating as low as 10 feet above ground during delivery, and noted other delivery platforms use winch or zipline mechanisms at different altitudes. He warned of safety and privacy risks, including an episode where a child ran toward a descending drone.

No formal council action was taken in response to the public comments; the council moved into a closed executive session later in the meeting to consult with counsel about railroad operations.

The council did not indicate an immediate change in policy following the comments. Staff and council members later addressed related infrastructure and public-safety topics during department briefings.