City Manager Chris Hohman presented the City of Irving's Exceptional Employee of the Year awards during the work session, recognizing staff across multiple departments for customer service, operational innovation and technical skills.

Award recipients named by Hohman included April Aguayo (administration/senior administrative director), Durenda Martinez (business services manager/management exceptional employee), core operational staff in water utilities — Hector Santos (environmental compliance technician) and Corey Garner (utility inspector) — and technical and facilities employees Daniel Robles and Wilbur Vasquez (CIP/facilities maintenance). Corey Rivera, Human Resources Employee Relations and Compliance Administrator, was named Professional Exceptional Employee of the Year.

Hohman thanked staff for steady service during citizen "not best" moments such as public-safety responses and utility/payment issues, and noted the awards include plaques, cash and preferred parking spaces.

Communications update and winter storm recap: April Riling, director of communications, told council the city's cable/online channel ICTN surpassed 14,000 YouTube subscribers in December and provided a short "winter storm" recap: fleet services prepared vehicles, street crews sanded bridges and overpasses, solid waste maintained collection schedules where roads remained passable, police and fire responded citywide, and water utilities worked overnight on water-main breaks.

Ending: Council members thanked staff for the awards program and for the storm response; city communications urged residents to subscribe to the city's official YouTube channel for updates and video content.