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Minutes July 31, 1990CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JULY 31, 1990 The Council convened into the Work Session at 5:15 p.m. in the Civil Defense Room. PRESENT: Mayor Castleberry; Mayor Pro Tem Boyd; Council Members Gorton, and Trent. ABSENT: Council Members Alexander, Ayer and Hopkins 1. The Council received and discussed a report from the Human Services Committee regarding their final budget proposals. Dorothy Damico, Chair-Human Services Committee, stated that three proposed budgets had been presented. The first preliminary budget had been presented several months ago which showed an increase in the number of dollars that would be spent over what was spent last year. Two other proposed budgets were presented, one with the same dollar amount as last year, another one that represented a ten percent cut. The first choice of the Committee would be the preliminary budget which gave the Committee an increase in funds. That preliminary budget represented the bare minimum needs of the agencies that the Committee wanted to fund. The same dollar budget gave modest cuts to three agencies which had' been with the City the longest. Those agencies were picked not because they were not worthy or because the need was not there but because those agencies could probably handle a cut better than another' agency. The cuts were made to give some funding to an agency which was not funded last year. Although not its first choice, the Committee was recommending the budget with the even dollars. The ten percent cut budget gave each of the agencies that were funded last year a cut of 12 1/4% in order to have some funding for the new agency that the' Committee felt was necessary to fund. It would be difficult for those agencies to function with a 12 1/4% decrease in funding. Council Members Hopkins and Alexander joined the meeting. Damico continued that in the second and third proposed budgets, the three agencies which dealt with health care were eliminated. This was done as the Committee had felt that, in conversations with the staff liaison, City Attorney, and private conversations with some of the City Council members, the health care situation had not changed and as the City was still in litigation regarding health care issues, there would be no attempt to give dollars to health care. Damico pointed out that the Food Room dollars were $2800, not the $2980 listed in the back-up materials. Council Member Hopkins asked for the rational for cutting the SPAN budget and what such a cut would do to the agency. Such a cut upset her especially at the point of putting an agency in that had not previously been funded. City of Denton City Council Minutes July 31, 1990 Page 2 75 Damico replied that the cut for SPAN was not the cut shown in the back-up materials. The back-up materials indicated that SPAN had gone from $36,000 down to approximately $25,000. $10,000 of the reduction was not a cut but had been moved to a transportation area and was not a cut. The actual cut given SPAN was 3 or 4%. Council Member Hopkins asked what SPAN'S budget was last year without transportation. Damico replied last year SPAN received, without transportation, ~26,000. $10,000 for transportation and the entire amount for Handihop was moved to a different budget area. Council Member Hopkins asked why Parents Anonymous had been added. Damico replied that it was not a unanimous vote to include Parents Anonymous. However, it was the feeling that the agency provided protective services which aided the Police Department. The agency was picking up some of the services that Friends of the Family no longer provided. Council Member Hopkins asked what the cuts would do the City-County Day Nursery. Damico replied that the Nursery would not receive as much as they had requested but they would receive the same as last year. The three agencies which were cut included SPAN, Friends of the Family, and RSVP. Damico stated that the charge to the Human Services Committee was that the recommendations be made for funding and to keep the Council informed of what were the human service needs in the community. The needs assessment showed that low cost primary health care was the number one need in Denton as perceived by people who were involved in human services. The two recommendations by the Committee were that the Council would approve the same dollar budget and give low cost primary health care a priority in planning for the year. 2. The Council received and discussed a report on the City Council goal of creating a Court of Record. Sandra White, Municipal Judge, stated that several years ago, the City Council established conversion of the Municipal Court to a Court of Record as a long term goal priority. A Municipal Court of Record would greatly enhance the City's ability to maintain local jurisdiction and control over violations occurring within the community. The "loophole" for automatic appeals would be closed, as defendants would be required to show error on the part of the Municipal Court before an appeal could be pursued. City of Denton City Council Minutes July 31, 1990 Page 3 Recommendation from the Committee established to determine if a Court of Record was viable for Denton, was to pursue conversion utilizing the "special legislation" and that the legislation be sought for the 1991 Legislative Session. The Committee further recommended that the conversion not be actually implemented until such time as adequate space needs and courtroom facilities could be met. A major concern with becoming a Court of Record w~s the additional space that would be required due to the amount of filing. Legislation required specific filing needs and files for records. The Committee also recommended that two Council Members be appointed to the Committee to further the legislative bill process. White continued that once the legislation was passed, it could be on hold for five years before it needed to be implemented. Mayor Pro Tem Boyd asked if the files needed to be kept in one location or could they be separated. White replied that t.hey needed to be in one location. There was recent legislation passed that enabled them to keep certain information on a computer system but initially the actual filing system would b~ needed. Council Member Hopkins asked if money were authorized to begin the conversion during the next fiscal year, where would it be housed. And if the microfische system was not used, something had to be done about space. Council Member Gorton wanted the cost looked at to do the legislation in the 1991 session and have a five year layover. Mayor Castleberry asked what would be the advantages of a Court of Record. Debra Drayovitch, City Attorney, stated that two advantages would be increased revenue and increased respect for the law enforcement system of the community. Council Member Trent asked if the revenue would eventually support the cost of the system. Drayovitch replied yes it would pay for the operation. Council Member Trent asked if the decision were reversible and if there were cases of such. White replied that Arlington had passed the legislation but had not implemented it. It did not have to be implemented. City of Denton City Council Minutes July 31, 1990 Page 4 77 City Manager Harrell asked Judge White to review the general legislation versus the special legislation. White stated that the Texas Legislature passed House Bill No. 1879 which authorized a Municipal Court to establish itself as a Court of Record. A city may draft its own special legislation and design measures suitable for its own particular circumstance~. Mayor Pro Tem Boyd asked if a full-time court reporter would need to be hired. White replied that other cities surveyed stated that if the city did not have a full-time court reporter who sat in at court time and heard the cases, the reporter would not certify the transcript. However, the court reporter did not have to be a full-time employee of the city. That individual could be a part-time employee only employed when court was in session. Council Member Alexander expressed his desire to move ahead with the Court of Record. He did not think it was a budget question. A plan should be implemented to get a special bill passed in the next Le'gislature written the way Denton needed it written. Mayor Pro Tem Boyd suggested finding a temporary space to house the Municipal Court. Judge White replied that thought had been given to the Moore Building but that since that option did not seem to be viable, there were no additional locations under consideration. Council Member Alexander suggested directing staff to look at the possibility of identifying an auxiliary space for the Municipal Court assuming that the City might be in a position to implement a Court of Record by the next fiscal year. That would keep at option open if the legislation the City wanted and space could be found. Mayor Castleberry asked that the possible cost of the overall program be added to that direction. Council Member Gorton suggested the Council follow the suggestion of appointing two Council Members to work with the Subcommittee. Consensus of the Council was to appoint Mayor Pro Tem Boyd and Council Member Hopkins to work with the Subcommittee. 78 City of Denton City Council Minutes July 21, 1990 Page 5 Item 4. was considered. 4. The Council discussed and considered the hotel/motel tax recipients' budgets. A. The Denton Convention and Visitors Bureau George Gilkeson, Chairman-Denton Convention and Visitors Bureau Advisory Committee, stated that the Denton Convention and Visitors Bureau under the supervision of the Denton Chamber of Commerce was an operation charged with using and collecting 3% hotel/motel occupancy tax for the purposes of advertising and conducting solicitation and promotional programs to attract tourists and convention delegates to the City of Denton. The new contract between the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Denton to operate that program was issued on March 20, 1990. Twelve hotel/motels were currently operating in Denton. The Denton Hotel/Motel Association was functioning well. Gilkeson listed various programs and activities designed to assist tourist and convention attendees to the City. Mayor Pro Tem Boyd stated that'he noticed a 10% increase in salary expense this year. He had a rob · the C~ty was having a tiaht b..~ _A~_ l~m .Wl~ that in that no salary increases for ~it..~3~=~ a~ s~a~ was proposin ~ u~£. ~as~ year the budget wa~ $143,000 and they received $127,000 being a shortfall from the Lalor funds. Boyd noticed that to make up the difference, travel/services were scaled down. Salaries remained constant. If there were a decrease in revenue from the Lalor funds this year, would the Bureau handle the situation the same way - leaving salaries the same and cutting back on the services. Gilkeson replied probably yes. The Bureau was asking a lot of volunteers to work the conventions and travel shows so they would pay their own expenses. Bob Woodin, Treasurer, stated that the policy had been to cut back on services and not on salaries The salaries were already approved. · Council Member Hopkins asked if the budget was in proper order. John McGrane, Executive Director for Finance, stated that he had not done an indepth analysis but it seemed to comply with the contract. Council Member Hopkins stated that if it were not possible to give City employees any increase, it was difficult to see a justification for a 10% salary increase agencies, for the funding City of Denton City Council Minutes July 31, 1990 Page 6 John Gavin. Manager-Sheraton Hotel. asked if the City had any plans on how the money would be used when funding would begin the planned decrease. Mayor Castleberry replied that there were no plans at this time. B. North Texas Fair Association Bob Powers, Vice-President-North Texas Fair Association, stated that the largest event the Association sponsors is the nine day fair each year. The fairgrounds was used almost every weekend for different activities. Salaries for staff were down for the next year so that more money could be spent on brochures and advertising. C. Denton County Historical Commission Leon Callahan. Chairman-Denton County Historical Commission, stated the Denton County Historical Foundation was the entity which received the Lalor funds from the City. Their budget did not use Lalor funds for salaries as those were paid by the County. The Commission Was responsible for helping the City's Historic Landmark Commission and the Denton County Historical Society determine where historical structures and sites were located in the County. Council Member Alexander asked if there was anything Callaha~ could identify that the City could do to facilitate the process of historical designations. Callahau replied traditionally the Historical not initiate the search for historical Members of the Commission did point out to Landmark Commission those buildings/sites designated as a historical site. Commission did sites/buildings. the Historical that could be D. Denton County Historical Museum Clota Vauqhn, Chairman-Board of Trustees of the Denton County Historical Museum, presented activities that the Museum participated in which included photo brochures, post cards, tourist information center at the Courthouse on the Square and special community events. With regards to the budget figures. salaries had not increased in many years so a modest increase was proposed. The total operating budget had actually decreased due to the shortfall of Lalor funds. Council Member Hopkins took exception to the phrases in the budget "reduced financial support from the City" and "reduction income from the City". The City did not reduce any funds to the Commission, the Lalor funds were down. 79 80 City of Denton City Council Minutes July 31, 1990 Page 7 E. Greater Denton Arts Council Herbert Holl, Executive Director-Greater Denton Arts Council, presented a summary of the programs and services offered by the Council. He stated that the budget was fairly straight forward. They operated on a cash basis. The audit was not completed as the fiscal year had just ended. The Council was beginning the fiscal year with a balance of $44,000 in the operating fund. He also pointed out that during the Spring of this past year, the building fund balance had been completely repaid. The Council returned to th~ regular agenda order. 3. The Council received and discussed the proposed 1990-91 budget and provide staff with direction regarding major budget issues. John McGrane, Executive Director for Finance, presented the proposed budget to Council and reviewed the sections of the budget document. He stated that the City had received the certified roll from the Denton Central Appraisal District. He presented various scenarios regarding the effect of the certified roll on the proposed budget. If the tax rate were left 'at $.6483, it would impact the budget with an additional $376,000 available which would take into consideration all of the program cuts and eliminations in the proposed budget. If the rate were left at the current rate of $.6183, a shortfall of $225,000 would occur. To fund the complete proposed budget, a rate of $.6298 would be needed. The effective tax rate was based on the assessed valuation on certified roll and was calculated at $.6553 which would mean that in order to produce the same amount of revenue that $.6183 was producing this year, the tax would have to be raised to $.6553 to stay even. City Manager Harrell stated that over and above the effective rate there was still an 8% increase that could be used and still be under the rollback rate. The effective rate would get the City back even. Council Member Alexander asked what was the rollback rate. McGrane replied ~.6648. Council Member Hopkins asked if the rate could be changed due to protests. McGrane replied that the Appraisal District now had to certify to the City ~h~ amount that was under protest that was not subject to change. City of Denton City Council Minutes July 31, 1990 Page 8 City Manager Harrell stated formal budget hearings. He consider from Council. that the next week would start asked for additional items to Council Member Alexander asked staff to bring numbers about what it would take relative to how much more additional funding would be needed to provide, beyond the proposed tax rate the propos'ed budget called for, first, merit increases for City staff and second, for a percentage of across the board increases. Alexander suggested presenting the information in increments such as a 1% or 2% or a 3% increase. Mayor Castleberry asked that calculations, also be made for a merit increase only and not an across the board increase for a 3% and 5% increase. Mayor Pro Tem Boyd echoed the need for salary increase figures. He also wanted to see options on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center library funding. He suggested perhaps a trolley token for children using the trolley to the main library. Council Member Gorton also expressed a need for the increased salary figures. He also wanted to know what percent of the employee would not be receiving an increase and the dollar amount difference. Council Member Trent asked for a more detailed explanation of some of the broader categories in the expenditure section of the budget. City Manager Harrell replied that a detailed line item report was available. He stated that at the next meeting the Council would need to adopt the tax rate. The rate could be lower but not raised. He suggested approving the effective tax rate and the Council could reduce the rate later if desired. 5. The Council held a discussion concerning the City of Denton expressing its intent to Contract to Purchase from the Upper Trinity Regional Water District a portion of the raw water obtained from the Sulphur River Basin by the District by contract with the City of Commerce. (Public Utility Board recommended approval.) Bob Nelson, Executive Director for Utilities, again presented the details of the project which the Council had reviewed at a number of meetings. He reviewed that there was a good chance for approval with a cost of $83,000 and a rebate of approximately one-half if approved. City of Denton City Council Minutes July 31, 1990 Page 9 Council Member Alexander stated that staff should pursue the options. Council Member Hopkins stated that it was a farsighted approach but if the projections were correct, this would not help enough. This would not assure the future for Denton. She felt the legal fees would be much higher than proposed. She did not like the contract and the way the City had to pay for the contract. 6. The Council held a discussion concerning an interim Wastewater Treatment Services Contract between City of Denton and the Upper Trinity Regional Water District. Bob Nelson, Executive Director for Utilities, stated that this was a follow-up on the contract with Argyle. There would be one contract with the Upper Trinity Regional Water District and they then could make other contracts with other communities such as Krum, Hickory Creek, etc. There would be one contract with the opportunity for multiple points of delivery. It was a standardized contraqt. Rates would be utility based rather than cash based with a 1 1/2% administrative fee on top of that. Council Member Hopkins asked what effect the current debate between the City of Argyle and the Argyle Independent School District had on the contract and what the termination date was. Nelson replied that this contract placed the contract in the hands of the Upper Trinity Regional Water District. 7. The Council held a discussion concerning the After School Action Site Program. Alicia Mentel, Superintendent of Leisure Services, stated that funding had been received from the Community Development Block Grant program for a center at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreation Center. The program would provide potential services for an additional 35 children. These children would be those children who would not be able to participate otherwise because they were in economically disadvantaged homes. This also would provide more financial support to these families because currently scholarships were being provided for at approximately a 40% reduction in cost. The Community Development Block Grant funding would allow payment up to full cost in some cases. · The Community Development Block Grant program did not replace the scholarships already provided in the other sites. City of Denton City Council Minutes July 31, 1990 Page 10 Council Member Alexander asked if, for example, at the Houston program, there were currently 35 enrolled which was the maximum number allowed, would there be a turn down for a requested scholarship. Or were all the applications for scholarships already built into the system. Mentel. replied that the number of children served was limited by licensing requirements. Those 35 children could apply for scholarships at any time. Scholarship applicants did have to come during the normal registration time. Priority was not given to scholarship applicants so that someone was pushed out of the program to put a scholarship student in the program. City Manager Harrell stated that the registration was in Saturday but five slots were held on that Saturday. During the next week, anyone on the food program in the School system could register for any of those slots. At the end of the week, the slots were filled by applicants on the waiting list. Mentel stated that there really were two issues being discussed. The five slots held open for the free lunch applicants was separate from the scholarship. The five slots were held open for an extra week because those families tend to have more difficulty coming for a one day registration. The program was not limited to five free lunch slots. The scholarship application issue was separate from the slots being held open for the free lunch program. Council Member Trent asked if the program was still completely self-supporting. Mentel replied yes that it was funded through revenue the participants pay. Council Member Gorton stated that he still had a problem with the notification process. He felt that anyone on a scholarship the year before, should have a letter sent to their residence regarding the registration date. He felt that the scholarship positions should be held until the second week of school, if possible. Mayor Pro Tem Boyd commented that he understood that the program needed to be planned will ahead of time, but that anyone new to the school district would not know of the program. Mentel replied that a notice was sent home with every child registered at the elementary school two weeks prior to the registration date. The notice listed information concerning scholarships and the five available slots for free lunch participants. Holding the registration in May was in response to requests made by parents who wished to have their plans finalized before the beginning of school. · City of Denton City Council Minutes July 31, 1990 Page 11 Council Member Gorton asked if there had been confirmation from the DISD regarding transportation to the MLK Center~ Mentel replied that this program was addressing the needs of the children who live in the area of MLK. City Manager Harrell asked if there had been an agreement worked-out with the DISD where they would drop those children at the MLK Center. Mentel replied that they would be dropped at their regular bus routes. Council Member Gorton stated that then the child would be responsible to get from his regular bus stop to the MLK Center. That was not the situation at the other action sites. Mentel replied that they had talked with the School District to see if they could make MLK an additional drop. At this point, they had not made that decision to add that drop. Council Member Hopkins felt that if the DISD were not willing to make MLK a bus stop, then the item needed to come back to Council for further consideration. 8. The Council held a discussion concerning the bridge over the railroad tracks on Loop 288 and the future widening of the Loop. Rick Svehla, Deputy City Manager, stated that the City had been approached by the Highway Department several weeks ago. The Highway Department was getting ready to employ their consultant for the design of Loop 288. One of the issues under consideration was the elimination of the overpass near Target. The railroad was no longer using the track and had no plans to use the track in the future. The Highway Department would buy the right-of-way and eliminate the tracks which would result in a no grade crossing. Staff had been talking with DART about the possibility of preserving the right-of-way for future commuter lines. DART had done that for a piece of track that runs from Carrollton to Lewisville. There were several alternatives to consider. One was to eliminate the grade crossing which would reduce the cost to the Highway Department which might be a consideration for future City applications. DART could be accommodated in several ways such as having the main DART station south of the Loop, using a spur, using a site between the existing Loop 288 and the spur with a parking facility available. The possibility of DART being in Denton was out past the year 2010. All things taken into account, staff was comfortable with the Highway's plan of purchasing the right-of-way and eliminate the grade crossing. Additional input could be obtained from the Chamber's Transportation Committee and the Economic Development Committee. · City of Denton City Council Minutes July 31, 1990 Page 12 Consensus of Council was to have the item reviewed by the Chamber Committees for input. Mayor Castleberry recognized a member of the audience wishing to speak to the issue. Matt Soltis visualized the opportunity to use the lines for economic development. Possibly in the next five years, the lines could be used for freight or pleasure lines. He asked for a ninety day stay of a decision to do a feasibility study for future use of the line. City Manager Harrell questioned if ninety days might be too long for the Highway Department to wait for a decision by Denton. .Svehla replied that the Highway Department needed an answer soon or they would go ahead with the project and do as they wanted or it would delay the project perhaps for a long period of time. Discussion of the Council concerned how long to delay a decision concerning the crossing. Svehla stated that a decision could probably be delayed until the first meeting in September but not much later than that. Consensus of the Council was to schedule the item for the first meeting in September for a decision. 9. The Council reviewed and considered proposed jail contracts with the University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University. Rick Svehla, Deputy City Manager, stated that there had been some difficulties several years ago with receiving prisoners from North Texas. This agreement would facilitate a reestablishment of those contracts. Some revenue would be generated from the contract, however, the main focus would be on improving the working relationships between the two police forces. There was an out clause which stated that the City could refuse to take the prisoner if there was no room in the City jail. City Manager Harrell stated that there were some previous legal problems and the City would not take prisoners from North Texas. North Texas then was using the JP court as opposed to the City court. For a number of years, the City did not receive any revenue from North Texas fines where Dreviously it received around $20,000-$30,000. City of Denton City Council Minutes July 31, 1990 Page 13 Council Member Trent felt that the City would not make any money as there would be associated costs of more manpower, more jailers, more judge time at the jail, etc. Council Member Hopkins stated that there were liabilities associated with such a contract such as a suicide in the jail. Debra Drayovitch, City Attorney, replied that a suicide in the jail would Be the City's responsibility while such things as an injury due to excessive force either before or during the arrest, would not be the City's responsibility. Mayor Castleberry asked about status of the relationship between the University and the City if the contract were not approved. Svehla replied that Chief Jez saw the benefit from the community-oriented policing as the University was the next area for the program. Adding the North Texas prisoners would not make the manpower situation any worse. Council Member Alex.ander stated that the cash flow was not necessarily good. He felt it was the responsibility of the City and it was important to have a good relationship between the City and the University. It was not necessarily a budget issue as it was what was good for the community. Council discussed the possible liability of the City for any prisoner accepted from North Texas and the liaDility of the City for a possible lawsuit due to error on the part of the North Texas Police Department. Consensus of the Council was to refer the contract to the University for consideration. 10. The Council received and discussed a report regarding City-sponsored pro-rata charges. Bob Nelson, Executive Director for Utilities, stated that it had been the general consensus of the Council, Public Utilities Board and the Planning and Zoning Commission that the City did not want to move forward in developing impact fees. In 1987, the Texas Legislature passed a bill regarding impact fees which identified pro-rata fees charged on water and sewer lines that the City installed, would be declared as impact fees and therefore not chargeable for an impact fee. The Public Utilities Board at its July 23, 1990 meeting recommended to Council that the Texas State Attorney General's Office be requested to give an opinion on whether pro-rata fees for City funded water and sanitary sewer lines were in fact impact fees. Staff was ready to follow the current legislation which would allow anyone to tie onto the line without the pro-rata fee. City of Denton City Council Minutes July 31, 1990 Page 14 Council Member Alexander asked that after June 20, 1990, were all pro-rata fees eliminated. Nelson replied only on City lines. Council Member Hopkins stated that being a member of the Impact Fee Committee, she took exception to the statement that the Committee decided that impact fees should be placed on hold until the economy improved. The Committee felt that impact fees should-be studied. The Legislature changed the scope of the project when they passed the impact fee legislation. Consensus of the Council was to not seek an Attorney General's opinion. 11. The Council considered adoption of an ordinance authorizing the execution of a change order to a contract betWeen the City of Denton and Sunmount Corporation~ and providing for an increase in the contract price. Dave Ham, Director of Water/Wastewater Services, stated that the project involved replacing deteriorated and undersized lines on Oak, Fry and Bryan Street. Final being asked for. The following ordinance was considered: NO. 90-104 payment was also AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF A CHANGE ORDER TO A CONTRACT BETWEEN THE CITY OF DENTON AND SUNMOUNT CORPORATION; PROVIDING FOR AN INCREASE IN THE CONTRACT PRICE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Gorton motioned, Hopkins seconded to adopt the ordinance. On roll vote, Trent "aye," Alexander "aye," Hopkins "aye," Gorton "aye," Boyd "aye," and Mayor Castleberry "aye · Motion carried unanimously. · With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m. B CASTLEBERRY, MAYOR/ ~ 1 CITY OF DENTON, TEX~ JEgN~IFER ~ALTERS CIT~SECR~TARY CITY OP DENTON, TEXAS 3284C