Kyle City Council renewed its contract with Texas Disposal Systems and accepted a $1.5 million donation from the company at its Jan. 21 meeting.

The donation is to go toward developing Heroes Memorial Park, a tribute to veterans that will be built in the mixed-use Uptown Kyle development. At the same meeting, council members approved the firm Nudge Design as the architect for the project, directing city staff to bring a budget to the Feb. 4 meeting.

TDS, which has been providing solid waste collection services to Kyle since 1997, will be the primary sponsor of the Heroes Memorial Park.

Half of the donation from TDS will be in cash, while the other half will be in the form of materials and services during construction.

Under the new contract for solid waste services that was approved Jan. 21, residents will be able to call in bulky curbside pickup twice per year instead of once, and their base rate starting in April will decrease slightly from $22.97 per month to $22.14 per month. Annual rate increases will be 2.5%, lower than the current rates of between 3% and 4%.