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Minutes March 24, 1992157 CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES MARCH 24, 1992 The Council convened into the Special Call Session at 5:15 p.m. in the Civil Defense Room. PRESENT: Mayor Castleberry; Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins; Council Members Alexander, Chew, Perry, Smith and Trent. ABSENT: None 1. The Council received a report and held a discussion with the Parks and Recreation Board and the '91 Committee regarding implementation of the 1986 bond program. Steve Brinkman, Director of Parks and Recreation, detailed several of the options dealing the with 1986 bond program. Option One would build two new district recreation centers in the northeast and southeast part of the community. Included in that option would be money to purchase land for the sites. A disadvantage of this option was the operation and maintenance costs associated with new facilities, approximately $300,000 for both facilities. These facilities would be low revenue producing facilities due to the size of the facilities. The facilities would be approximately the size of North Lakes and Denia which was half the size of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center. Option Two would expand the two existing centers and would add approximately 10,000 square feet on to North Lakes and Denia. It would allow for the purchase of a new community park somewhere in the community for approximately $500,000. This would bring North Lakes and Denia up to the size of MLk or 20,000 square feet. The operation and maintenance costs for the expansion would add approximately $150,000 for both facilities. Option Three would build a new district recreation center the same size as Martin Luther King, Jr. Center. Land would be purchased for the facility and remaining funds would allow for a small addition to North Lakes and Denia. All of the options used the $2.7 million which was available and all of the options included $500,000 for the purchase of land except for options one and three. Option Four would create a community center at the North Lakes Recreation Center. This would add approximately 20,000 square feet to the current 10,000 square feet at the facility. The new operation and maintenance costs would be approximately $100,000 and the revenue increase would be approximately $30,000. Land would be considered in this option and $100,000'would be used at Denia for renovation of the existing building. 158 City of Denton City Council Minutes March 24, 1992 Page 2 Option Five would use approximately $2 million of the available money and build a natatorium adjacent to the North Lakes Recreation Center. Because there would be no funds for expansion, it would not be possible, design wise, to create one building. There would be the recreation center and a pool next to it as two separate buildings. Option Six would be a joint venture with the Denton Independent School Board. This was the option which the Park Board and the '91 Committee felt was the most desirable option. The option would include an additional 10,000 square feet onto North Lakes Recreation Center, a 20,000 square foot indoor/outdoor swimming pool with one half of the cost of the pool being covered by the DISD. The DISD would be involved with a portion of the operation/maintenance costs. The operation and maintenance costs for the facility would be approximately $150,000 per year with approximately $80,000 of potential revenue. Brinkman reviewed the cost comparisons of the three primary options which were shown in the agenda back-up. Norman Hatfield, architect with Hatfield Crookless Architects, detailed the plans for option six. The proposed structure would include a new large gym with dressing rooms, a renovated center with a fitness facility where the current gym was plus meeting rooms. They had visited a number of pool facilities which were jointly owned by a city and a school district and found that the competitive pools were very heavily oriented toward competition and very little done with recreation. It had been discussed that a pool needed to be competitive but was heavily oriented towards the recreation and community activities. A youth center would be designed which would be separate from the rest of the Center. The addition would involve approximately 10,000 square feet which would double the present capacity of the Center. The natatorium would include a 25 meter competition pool but a final decision had not been made on the size of the pool. This option included a $1 million participation by the DISD. The pool would included eight lanes with a large recreation pool. There was the possibility of developing a water slide which would generate possible revenue. The proposal would also include a spa. Mayor Castleberry asked if a 25 meter pool was equivalent to an olympic size pool. Hatfield replied that an outdoor olympic size pool was 50 meters. Competition for high school was run at 25 yards or 25 meters. City of Denton City Council Minutes March 24, 1992 Page 3 159 Council Member Perry asked what percentage of the pool use would be for competition and what percentage would be for recreational swimming. Hatfield replied that scheduling would determine how it would be used. The competitive pool could be used for recreation and competition. The competitive pool had a minimum depth of four feet which would limit some activities. There would also be a recreation pool at the facility. Brinkman stated that the competitive pool would be used primarily for events such as swim teams. When the general public was in the facility, both the competitive pool and the recreation pool would be used by the recreational swimmers. The water temperature in the recreational pool would be warmer than the competitive pool for therapeutic functions. Council Member Perry did not want to see the City subsidize a private operation with competition. Brinkman replied that the competitive meets would be DISD meets and for City meets. There might be occasions where the facility would be rented as any of the other city facilities. Hatfield detailed option four which would not require DISD participation. Option four would include similar renovation of the North Lakes Recreation Center but would not include a pool. There would be a new gym and additional meeting rooms. The design would include future pool use. Option six was approximately $3.1 million and option four was approximately $2.1 million. Dalton Gregory, Chair-Parks and Recreation Board, stated that in 1986 when the bond package was passed, the vision for Denton was to have more increase the park facilities in Denton. At that time, three new recreations centers were envisioned. One center had been built, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center. As time went on, it was hard to justify the two new centers with rising operation and maintenance costs making it hard to keep the current centers open. Another change was the park land donation policy. That policy relied on the donation of land for park facilities. Now, however, most of the developers who had been involved in the establishing of that policy were no longer developing property in Denton and the land possibilities were gone. If two new centers were to be built now, they would have to be the size of North Lanes and Denia which really were inadequate. The Parks Board would like the Council to pursue other option~ to the building of two new centers. They suggested creating better recreation facilities but not overburden with operation and maintenance costs. Option six allowed City of Denton City Council Minutes March 24, 1992 Page 4 participation with the DISD. The Board recognized that there may be problems with the DISD and wanted more than one option. Option four added an additional recreational facility which also had the potential for a future pool expansion. Council Member Trent asked that if the DISD participated, they would pick up the cost of the pool. Gregory replied that the DISD would pick up half of the cost of the pool. Council Member Trent asked if the Board had received any public input on these options. Gregory indicated that these had been preliminary discussions. The strategy was to narrow the options before public hearings. Various sites in the City had been contacted to hold the public hearings. Council Member Perry suggested holding one of the public hearings at the North Lakes Center as there was a strong neighborhood group there and the Board could get good input from those individuals. North Lakes would be impacted no matter which option was chosen. Gregory replied that one of the first meetings was at the North Lakes Center when the Board first started considering the idea. Council Member Chew suggested holding one of the hearings at the Senior Center as many of those individuals voted for the bond program back in 1986 and needed the opportunity to participate. Jack Miller, Chair-'91 Committee, stated that the purpose of the '91 Committee was to keep check on the bond funds so that they were spent as designated in 1986. He stated that conditions had changed since 1986 and that the Committee had looked at the expenditures of the funds over the years to see if that was the intent of the voters. The Committee felt that the proposed options remained in the intent of the voters. The options had the endorsement of the '91 Committee and felt that it did not violate the trust of the voters. The Committee supported option six as the primary option with option four as a secondary option. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins stated that she was supportive of both groups in taking the initiative in this issue. She felt it was better to have several facilities which could offer more than four smaller facilities which could offer less. She requested a refinement in the options which would allow money for repair and renovation of the Civic Center Pool. She suggested using bond funds for the Civic Center Pool and perhaps interest money to fund land City of Denton City Council Minutes March 24, 1992 Page 5 161 purchases. She was very supportive of the options but did not want to neglect the Civic Center Pool. Council Member Chew agreed. Council Member Smith stated that the City needed to repair what it already had and keep it in good condition. Mayor Castleberry indicated that the staff should look into the renovation of the Civic Center Pool after this season and include it in the 1992-93 budget. Lloyd Harrell, City Manager, stated that staff would work with the Park Board to determine the needs of the Civic Center Pool and modify options six and four to accommodate those renovations. The item would be placed on the next Council agenda for consideration. 2. The Council received a report from the Highway Department regarding litter and sweeping activities on the I35E right-of-way. Rick Svehla, Deputy City Manager, stated that Buz Elsom of the Highway Department was present to brief Council on what the Department did on the I35 corridor. Buz Elsom, Highway Department, stated that the Highway Department's responsibilities on 35E and 35 were from the outside curbs in on the frontage roads and jointly with the City from the outside curbs to the right-of-way line. Currently mowing and litter the Department had personnel to handle emergency/safety situations. The remainder was contracted. The current litter contract had five cycles per year. A cycle was one pick-up over a given area and were spaced out over a 10 week interval. The number of cycles was determined by the amount of litter picked up each time. An acceptable amount of litter was between 5 and 8 cubic feet per acre. Mowing was done in four cycles on the Intersate. The mowing was spaced as the need was perceived. The first mowing was done after the wildflowers went to seed and the last mowing was done after the first frost. There currently was no sweeping contract in the City. The Department used its own sweepers as the maintenance people saw a need. Council Member Trent noted a number of areas where there was a lot of trash. Elsom indicated that the Department would work with the City if an area had an above average amount of trash. The Department mainly had the work contracted out as opposed to their own crews. 16'2 City of Denton City Council Minutes March 24, 1992 Page 6 The Mayor thanked Mr. Elsom for his presentation. Item #4 was considered. 4. The Council considered approval of a resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign a petition requesting a Certificate of Interim Use from the Interstate Commerce Commission for Union Pacific right-of-way. Jesus Nava, Assistant to the City Manager, stated that a prior presentation indicated that the Union Pacific would notify the City when they had submitted a petition for abandonment to the Interstate Commerce Commission which was the federal agency responsible for giving permission for abandonment. At the same time that the Union Pacific filed a petition for abandonment, the City needed to file a petition for a Certificate of Interim Use from the ICC. This certificate put the ICC on notice that the City was interested in the right-of-way and if granted, prevented the Union Pacific from exercising their abandonment rights. The City was still in the process of negotiating a lease agreement with the Railroad. The resolution would authorize the Mayor to sign a petition to submit to the ICC. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins asked if this entailed any financial support from the City. Nava replied no. The following resolution was considered: NO. R92-016 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SIGN A PETITION REQUESTING A CERTIFICATE OF INTERIM USE FROM THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION FOR UNION PACIFIC RIGHT-OF-WAY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Perry motioned, Alexander seconded to approve the resolution. On roll vote, Trent "aye", Alexander "aye", Hopkins "aye", Smith "aye", Chew "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried unanimously. The Council returned to the regular agenda order. 3. The Council received a reDort and held a discussion regarding the Storm Water Utility. 163 City of Denton City Council Minutes March 24, 1992 Page 7 Bob Nelson, Executive Director for Utilities, stated that on Tuesday, March 10, 1992, Bob Coplen, Chairperson of the Council's Storm Water Utility Committee, presented the Committee's report. The Council accepted the report at that time and requested that the issue of establishing a storm water utility be placed on a future Council workshop for additional discussion. The next phase in the process of establishing a storm water utility, if the Council decided to do so, would be to develop an Action Plan which would include the necessary public hearings. The Committee recommended that the storm water utility be established, but left the implementation of the utility fees as an issue for Council's later deliberations. To establish the utility would require (1) preparation of an ordinance, (2) giving appropriate legal notice to the public, and (3) hold public hearings. If, after these steps were taken, the Council adopted the ordinance and established the storm water utility, the utility could either continue to be funded by ad valorem taxes, or the Council would decide to take the next step and develop and set storm water fees. Nelson reviewed the schedule necessary for an October 1, 1993 implementation of establishing a storm water utility. Council Member Perry indicated that he would like a comprehensive lay out of what actually was involved, including current structures and what might be proposed. Was there a five year plan or would it involve only the existing drainage structures. Nelson replied that staff could make a presentation on what the City's long range system. He stated that the way the drainage system currently operated would not be changed a great deal once the utility was established. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins indicated that she was comfortable establishing the utility without establishing the rates. She did not want to move from the current situation until the City received State or EPA requirements. She was comfortable initiating the storm water utility but did not want to see any fees established at this time. Council Member Alexander agreed that the City needed to establish the utility but was not ready to set any rate. He was concerned with the structure of the rates. He was against establishing a regressive rate structure and using it in any way to replace the regressive property tax. Council Member Trent asked about the size of staff needed to administer a storm water utility. If more personnel were needed, it would impact the budget. The recommendation from the Chairman of the Committee was that if there were a fee, a corresponding 1.64 City of Denton City Council Minutes March 24, 1992 Page 8 reduction would occur in the ad valorem taxes. He agreed with that point and also agreed that the fee did not have to implemented at this point in time. He asked why a 25% exemption was given for government properties which would include schools, universities and the City. Nelson replied that it was a compromise on the part of the Committee. The universities and schools did not currently pay ad valorem taxes and the effect of the utility would be a round robin effect. Lloyd Harrell, City Manager, stated that he did not see the implementation of the storm water utility having an effect on the staff. There would be no more staff to run that utility. The philosophy of the Committee regarding the implementation of the fee had been divided. One group wanted to wait until the EPA required it, one group wanted to implement in the following year's budget, and one group wanted to implement it at the next budget year. Once the quality mandates were received, there would be no debate as costs would increase greatly. A budget question which Council needed to discuss was an equity question of funding storm water charges. He agreed with Council Member Alexander that a fee on the surface tended to be regressive. What Council needed to discuss was the current community situation in that there was so much tax exempt property in the community which did not pay property tax. In that situation, the residents had to pay a much higher property tax in order to generate the same income most communities of Denton's size generated. When the Council decided to implement the utility, it could broaden the base which would include more entities to help pay the cost. Council Member Perry felt that without the universities, the City would not have to worry as much about the size and structure of the drainage system. However, the universities contributed in another fashion to the City. The University of North Texas contributed approximately one third of the dollars that flowed into the Denton economy and in that sense did contribute to the tax base. Council Member Alexander felt that the fee should be structured in an equitable fashion. He was concerned that the fee structure, itself, was regressive. He wanted to see that corrected before it was implemented. He felt there was some value, in an equity sense, of replacing the existing property tax used in this area with fees. He wanted to be sure that the fees .implemented were not more regressive than the property tax. Council Member Chew asked about an exemption for churches. 165 City of Denton City Council Minutes March 24, 1992 Page 9 Nelson replied that the state law prohibited totally exempting churches. The Committee had recommended that staff continue to search for ways to assist churches. That probably would have to be done on the state level. Council Member Perry stated that one would have to be very careful about the equity of the fee. What might be taken away in ad valorem tax might triple in fee. City Manager Harrell stated that there were three elements involved. One was the operation and maintenance of the current system, one was the drainage improvements to take care of the storm water quantity and one was the water quality problems versus water quantity problems. Council Member Trent asked about the effect on new subdivisions or development and the effect during the development stage. Nelson replied that there would not really be a problem during the development stage as the fee involved impervious surfaces. The streets would be dedicated to the City and unless there was a lot of concrete slabs, a developer would not have a problem. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the set up of the storm water utility but not to proceed with any fee structure. 5. Miscellaneous matters from the City Manager. Lloyd Harrell, City Manager, presented the following item: A. The School District had invited the Council for a joint luncheon. They had proposed the following dates: April 21, April 22, April 27, April 29, April 30 and May 1. He asked the Council which dates would accommodate their schedules. Consensus of Council was to try and hold the luncheon on May 1. 6. New Business The following items of New Business were suggested by Council Members for future agendas: A. Council Member Trent had had a call from a homeowner on Fairfax who had a drainage problem. He asked staff to look into the problem. B. Council Member Trent stated that portions of sidewalks had been replaced on East Hickory and were lower than the original grade. He asked that be investigated. 1,66 City of Denton City Council Minutes March 24, 1992 Page 10 C. Mayor Pro Tem Hopkins asked for a report on the possibility of drafting an ordinance regulating pockets of acreage in the City which could be developed similar to the Goldfield plat. D. Council Member Perry asked for a better explanation of the State ruling relating to the plat/replat issue. E. Council Member Chew asked for an update on the bird roost problem. F. Mayor Castleberry asked for a redrafting of the letter sent to homeowners concerning the bird roost problem to make it more user friendly. G. Council Member Perry asked for a description of the bounds of the egret nesting places. 7. The Council convened into the Executive Session to discuss legal matters, real estate, and personnel/board appointments (considered appointments to the Building Code Board, the Electrical Code Board, the Sign Board of Appeals, the Historic Landmark Commission, and the Planning and Zoning Commission; considered an appointment of an Assistant City Judge for the Municipal Court; and consulted with the City Manager, the City Attorney, and the Municipal Judge regarding goals and objectives for 1992 for Municipal Court. 8. There was no official action taken on Executive Session items. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned. JENN% R' W TERS CITY~CRETARY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS BOB CASTLEBERRY, MAYOR/ CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS/ / ACC00056