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Minutes December 21, 1993457 CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES December 21, 1993 The Council convened into the Work Session on Tuesday, December 21, 1993 at 5:15 p.m. in the Civil Defense Room. PRESENT: Mayor Castleberry; Mayor Pro Tem Smith; Council Members Brock, Cott, Perry, and Miller. ABSENT: Council Member Chew 1. The Council convened into the Executive Session to discuss the following: A. Legal Matters -- Under TEX. GOV'T CODE Sec. 551.071 Considered action in the matter of the application of Bolivar Water Supply Corporation for an amendment to CCN No. 11257; Docket Nos. 9824-C and 9447-C of the Public Utilities Commission. Considered offer of settlement in Pitts & Gaffney claims. B. Real Estate -- Under TEX. GOV'T CODE Sec. 551.072 Personnel/Board Appointments -- Under TEX. GOV'T CODE Sec. 551.074 Continued to consider evaluations of the Municipal Judge, the City Attorney, and the City Manager. 2. The Council received a report and held a discussion regarding a recommendation from the Cable Television Advisory Committee relative to the City's application for Rate Regulatory Certification from the Federal Communications Commission. Bill Angel·, Director of Community Services, stated that as a result of the Telecommunications Act of 1992, all local jurisdictions were give the opportunity to get back into the rate regulation business for basic service and related fees. Under the regulations the City had the option to regulate or not to regulate. There were three options which included to not seek certification, apply for certification now or apply at a later date. Once the City had applied and received certification, it would be obligated to follow certain regulations which might require additional funding for the City. If the City did not apply for certification, there would be no recourse for citizens regarding rates for cable services. With the third option of applying at a later date, perhaps after the rate freeze had passed, the City could reexamine rates at that time. The Cable Board did not expect Sammons to raise rates unnecessarily. From a public perspective, the City needed to apply for certification as it was an obligation to the citizens to be sure rates were fair. The Cable T. V. Advisory 458 city of Denton City Council Minutes December 21, 1993 Page 2 Board recommended that the City proceed with certification. Council Member Perry stated that if the City went for certification, it still would not have much room for regulation as the rates were determined by the FCC and brought to the city. Angelo stated that the FCC had established a benchmark rate level. As long as the cable company's rates were at or below that benchmark, the rate would be acceptable. It appeared that if a rate increase request were received from Sammons which was at or below benchmark, the city would have to approve that rate. Council Member Miller asked if the current Sammons rates were below benchmark. Angelo stated that Sammons was currently $3.00 below the benchmark. Council Member Miller stated that if the City were certified, Sammons would have to go through a regulatory body such as the City to approve increased rates. If the regulatory body did not agree with the increase, would the City have to have outside consulting services to work that situation. Angelo stated that current staff would be able to do a cost of service study. The question would be if the time would be adequate to do that type of analysis. Council Member Cott felt that supply and demand would prevail and this was the citizens surest control over Sammons. Under a government control situation, the supplier would supply only what was required. Under a free market situation, it would supply the maximum it would have to. He felt it was best to not try to control this area and not seek certification. 3. The Council received a report, held a discussion and gave staff direction regarding the Solid Waste Master Plan Task Force Committee member appointments. Bob Nelson, ~×ecu%ive Director for Utilities, stated that thi~ was the beginning of a major strategic issue for the community which was how to address solid waste projects in the City. This Task Force would fine tune what the city wanted to do with its solid waste business and what areas to go into. The Public Utilities Board had recommended possible individuals for selection to the Task Force. Howard Martin, Director of Environmental Operations, reviewed the possible members for the Committee. The Committee was proposed to 459 City of Denton City Council Minutes December 21, 1993 Page 3 be made up of 25 members representing a cross section of the community. Materials were presented in the agenda back-up indicating possible members. Council Member Perry asked if the suggested members had been off a particular board/commission for a year. Martin replied that the members of the Denton Area Technical Committee were not appointed by any governing body. The original idea was to get major industries and the universities together to see how all could cooperate and to get better prices for recyclables, etc. The Committee also looked at the City's situation and made some recommendations for alternatives to explore regarding these issues. Mayor Castleberry asked about the number of individuals for each area. Martin replied that there would be one member from each district. Council Member Cott asked about the time frame for meetings. Nelson replied that the Committee would meet two to three times per month for three to four months. Council Member Cott suggested considering a representative from Cooke County College for a position on the committee. City Manager Harrell stated that the organizations listed would be asked to submit names for the Committee but the others would be from the Council. The names listed had confirmed that they would be willing to participate. Council Member Miller suggested considering a high school student to be included on the Committee. City Manger Harrell stated that staff needed from Council an indication if other members needed to be added. At the next meeting Council would establish the seats in order to fill those slots. Martin reviewed the charge of the committee and the recommended goals which were included in the agenda back-up materials plus a preliminary outline of activities to be undertaken. Mayor Castleberry asked if Council wanted one or more Council Member on the task force. 46O City of Denton City Council Minutes December 21, 1993 Page 4 Council Member Cott felt that that might alter the way the task force would perform. Consensus of the Council was to not have a Council Member on the task force. Mayor Castleberry asked about the recommendation for a high school student on committee. Consensus of the Council was to include a high school student. Mayor Castleberry asked if Council was agreeable with each Council Member making an appointment as outlined. Council Member Brock asked if the individuals needed to live in a particular district. She felt it was more important to have the expertise of an individual rather than an individual who lived in a particular district. Council Member Perry felt that the individuals should be appointed from each particular district. Consensus of the Council was to appoint individuals from any area of the City. Council Member Miller felt that this task force would be an ad hoc advisory committee and that an individual could serve on that task force even if currently serving on a board/commission. Mayor Castleberry indicated that Council could give direction that no individual could serve on the task force who was currently on a board/commission. Council Member Perry recommended to not appoint an individual to the task force who was currently serving on a board/commission. Mayor Pro Tem smith stated that the individuals on the membership list had already agreed to serve such as the Public Utilities Board m~mb~r~. Council Member Brock felt that any group with a special task which was not an on-going board or commission was a special case. This was a group with a specialized task and it was appropriate to have individuals who had already been on a study committee regarding the issues. It made sense to have individuals from the Public Utilities Board and felt there was no conflict of interest in that area. 461 City of Denton City Council Minutes December 21, 1993 Page 5 Consensus of the Council on the Perry recommendation was to not. proceed with that recommendation. Mayor Castleberry asked if Council was comfortable with the basic procedure as outlined. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the basic outline. Mayor Castleberry asked Council if they were comfortable with the recommendations regarding charge and planning for the task force. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the charge and planning procedures. The Council convened into the Regular Session on Tuesday, December 21, 1993 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. PRESENT: Mayor Castleberry; Mayor Pro Tem Smith; Council Members Brock, Cott, Perry, and Miller. ABSENT: Council Member Chew 1. Pledge of Allegiance The Council and members of the audience recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 2. The Council considered approval of the minutes of the Special Call Session of November 23, 1993. smith motioned, Perry seconded to approve the minutes as presented. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Cott, "aye", Miller "aye", Smith "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried unanimously. 3. Citizen Reports A. The Council received a citizen report from Joe Dodd regarding cable casting of Work Sessions. Mr. Dodd stated that the Work Session had an item regarding regulation of the cable television company. Basic cable was a monopoly and needed to be regulated. He urged Council to proceed with the staff recommendation to become certified. That particular Work Session was at 5:15 p.m. and he could not attend the meeting. It had been suggested that the press attended those meetings but the press only covered one or two of the items in summary. The 462 City of Denton City Council Minutes December 21, 1993 Page 6 body language of individuals at those meeting added to the interpretation of the meetings. Radio did not cover those meetings either. It had been stated that moving the work session meetings to the Council Chambers would be too expensive to cover. Dodd felt that the franchise fee would more than adequately cover the expense. Work Sessions sometimes presented a negative public perception as the public perceived that staff told Council what they should do and Council rubber stamped those recommendations. The work sessions were interesting and informative discussions took place in them and needed to be seen by the public. It was important for the public to see the interaction among the Council Members. It was hard to see the Council and hard to hear the discussion in the Civil Defense Room. Council needed to consider televising those meetings. If that were not possible, he urged that the budget hearings be televised from the Council Chambers. 4. The Council considered an ordinance providing for a change in zoning of .330 acres of land from Planned Development No. 87 (PD- 87) to Single Family-10 (SF-10) zoning district classification and use designation and approving a new detailed plan for 0.296 acres of PD-87. The tracts totalling 9.626 acres were located on the west side of Lillian Miller Parkway at Southridge Drive. Z-93-022 (The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval.) Frank Robbins, Executive Director for Planning, stated that Council had held a public hearing on this item on December 7. The Planning and Zoning Commission had placed conditions on the proposal which were not shown on the plan on December 7th. The plan now included a 16' utility easement and no fences would be allowed in the drainage easement and should be part of the consideration at this meeting. council Member Cott asked if there would be additional north turns allowed on the east side of the development. Robbins replied that there would not be any additional median cuts. The Lillian Miller median cuts would be same as the east side of Lillian Miller. The following ordinance was considered: NO. 93-232 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, PROVIDING FOR A CHANGE IN ZONING OF .330 ACRES OF LAND FROM PLANNED DEVELOPMENT NO. 87 (PD-87) TO SINGLE FAMILY-10 (SF-10) ZONING DISTRICT CLASSIFICATION AND USE DESIGNATION AND APPROVING A NEW DETAILED PLAN FOR 9.296 ACRES OF PD-87 LOCATED ON THE WEST City of Denton City Council Minutes December 21, 1993 Page 7 463 SIDE OF LILLIANMILLER PARKWAY AT SOUTHRIDGE DRIVE; PROVIDING FOR A SAVINGS CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY IN THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF $2,000 FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Brock motioned, Smith seconded to adopt the ordinance. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Cott, "aye", Miller "aye", Smith "aye", Perry "aye" and Mayor Castleberry "aye" Motion carried unanimously 5. Consent Agenda Council Member Cott indicated that he had a question concerning the driving range and the insurance liability coverage for the community. He questioned what assurances there would be that the coverage would remain after the close of the deal. Denise Harpool, Senior Buyer, replied that the insurance would be addressed with this contract as with any other contractor. They would send the City a certificate of liability coverage and if the certificate went out of effect, the City would have the option to cancel the contract. Perry motioned, Cott seconded to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Cott, "aye", Miller "aye", Smith "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried unanimously. A. Bids and Purchase Orders: Be RFSP #1558 - Golf Driving Range P.O. #41491 - Darr Equipment Co. Plats and Replats Preliminary replat of Lot iR, Block A, Exposition Mills. The 22.493 acre tract was located at the northeast corner of Westgate Blvd. and IH-35. (The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval.) Preliminary plat of Lots 18-27, Block A; Lots 41- 46, Block 36 of the Southridge Oaks Subdivision; and the preliminary replat of Lots 28 and 29 (into Lots 28A and 29A), Block 36 of the Southridge East subdivision, Phase I. The 10.235 acre site was located immediately west of Lillian Miller Parkway at Southridge Drive. (The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval.) 464 City of Denton City Council Minutes December 21, 1993 Page 8 6. Ordinances/Resolutions - Consent Agenda A. The Council considered adoption of an ordinance providing for the expenditure of funds for emergency purchases of materials, equipment, supplies or services in accordance with the provisions of state law exempting such purchases from requirements of competitive bids. (4.A.2. - P.0.#41491) The following ordinance was considered: NO. 93-233 AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR THE EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS FOR EMERGENCY PURCHASES OF MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES OR SERVICES IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF STATE LAW EXEMPTING SUCH PURCHASES FROM REQUIREMENTS OF COMPETITIVE BIDS; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Perry motioned, Smith seconded to adopt the ordinance. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Cott, "aye", Miller "aye", Smith "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried unanimously. B. The Council considered approval of a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute a golf driving range lease between the City of Denton and Walter Nusbaum. (The Parks and Recreation Board recommended approval.) (4.A.1. - RFSP #1558) The following resolution was considered: NO. R93-081 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE A GOLF DRIVING RANGE LEASE BETWEEN THE CITY OF DENTONAND WALTER NUSBAUM; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Smith motioned, Perry seconded to approve the resolution. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Cott, "aye", Miller "aye", Smith "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried unanimously. 7. Ordinances A. The Council considered adoption of an ordinance amending solid waste rates for commercial sanitation collection services as authorized by Chapter 24 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Denton by establishing charges for dumpster refill and extra dumpster pick-up service; and establishing charges for unsecured landfill loads. (The Public Utilities Board recommended approval.) 465 City of Denton City Council Minutes December 21, 1993 Page 9 Bill Angelo, Director of Community Services, stated that there were three issues associated with this ordinance. One dealt with the refilling of dumpsters while the sanitation truck was waiting. The second was requests for extra pickups. In the general course of business, each customer had only one extra pickup per month or one refill per month and this was built into the base service charge. Over the last year some customers had taken advantage of this situation and were requesting extra pickups on a frequent basis or refills on frequent basis. The Public Utilities Board had discussed the situation and had agreed to establish a fee for these extra services. One free refill or additional pickup per month would still be allowed. The fees were based on a time motion study done on the average amount of time to refill the dumpster or to go to a point to do an extra pickup. The third issue dealt with unsecured loads into the landfill. Under existing State regulations, the City was required to exercise some control on unsecured loads coming into the landfill. The City had the option to send those vehicles away or allow them into the landfill with an extra fee or could take the responsibility for litter cleanup within a two mile radius of the landfill. It was not good to turn away the unsecured loads as they scattered litter when they left. The minimum fee would meet the State's requirement. Council Member Miller asked for a percentage of commercial users who refilled their dumpsters. Angelo replied that approximately 20-30 customers would refill on a frequent basis. Council Member Miller asked for the percentage of users who required more than one extra pickup. Angelo replied that approximately 5 customers per month on a frequent basis. Council Member Miller asked for the percentage of individuals who came to the landfill without a tarp on their loads. Angelo replied approximately 3.5 per day. indicating that loads had to be tarped. Signs were posted The following ordinance was considered: NO. 93-234 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DENTON AMENDING SOLID WASTE RATES FOR COMMERCIAL SANITATION COLLECTION SERVICES AS AUTHORIZED BY CHAPTER 24 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF DENTON BY 466 City of Denton City Council Minutes December 21, 1993 Page 10 ESTABLISHING CHARGES FOR DUMPSTER REFILL AND EXTRA DUMPSTER PICKUP SERVICE; ESTABLISHING CHARGES FOR UNSECURED LANDFILL LOADS; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Cott motioned, Brock seconded to adopt the ordinance. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Cott, "aye", Miller "aye", Smith "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried unanimously. 8. The Council considered a nomination to the Airport Advisory Board. Mayor Castleberry indicated that this was a nomination from Council Member Cott. Council Member Cott nominated James Jamieson to the Airport Advisory Board. 9. The Council received and discussed an update on the Visioning Project. Council Member Miller stated that since the last Council meeting, Council Member Brock had provided materials to Council Member Cott and Council Member Perry. It was his understanding that those three individuals would get together and discuss that information. A letter had gone out from Dr. Bulls to individuals who were present at the kick-off meeting in October. There was a questionnaire listing the six focus groups and asking for each individual to select his first three choices. The Cabinet would begin assigning these impact groups and the groups would begin their work in late January. In mid-January a training session would be held for the impact group co-leaders. For individuals not at the meeting or who had not completed a form for the data base, the information would be in the newspapers. The recruiting effort was still underway. Council Member Cott stated that the visioning process was projection into the future for the community. He questioned that parameters were not given to the groups regarding money. People would be permitted to think and expand without a concept of how much money was available to spend. He expressed concern that no organization, for the most part, normally thought that way. He felt that the bond rating individuals would take a careful look at Denton if Denton had a future concept of Denton without considering the cost of what was going to happen. He requested that the Visioning Cabinet look at the approach of putting on a certain number of dollars over a time period for the project. The City Manager would manage that amount. It was not important as to what was the amount but the fact that there was a definite amount to use. 467 City of Denton City Council Minutes December 21, 1993 Page 11 Council Member Brock stated that the Visioning Cabinet was made up of two representatives each from the seven sponsoring agencies. The Cabinet had no legal authority or ability to commit any public funds. There was no way the Cabinet would say that there was a certain amount of money which was going to be spent in the long term. Council would have to approve the use of any funds especially bond funds. Any vision would have to have the support of the community in order to succeed. Building a vision on how Denton should be in 20 years was important to do without the bounds of money. If parameters were set, the Cabinet would be telling the groups what to do and the thrust of the message was to have citizens come up with a vision of Denton. The Cabinet had no authority to spend any public money beyond the amount the City Council voted for the original process. Council Member Miller stated that this was not a Denton City government project. It was a community wide program with 6 other sponsoring groups. Limiting a dollar amount would limit what the process was trying to do. The process was not committing any expenditure of funds. Funds would be spent only if the total community agreed with the recommendations of the subgroups. This was not a budgeting project and was not managed by any one group or any one person. An example of a visioning project was the revitalization of the downtown area through private donations and the committee of individuals who worked on that revitalization. The process should not be encumbered with a dollar amount. Council Member Brock stated that another example was the Harlingen clean-up project which started out only as a month long project and expanded into other areas and a longer period of time. Council Member Cott stated that fiscal responsibility rested with the Council and not with Visioning. In that, the responsibility of the Council was to see that the visioning process did not turn the City into a fiscal disaster. Council Member Brock responded that only the City Council could ruin the city fiscal state. 10. The Council received an update and held a discussion on the Teasley Lane project. Jerry Clark, City Engineer, stated that this was a Texas Department of Highway project from 1-35 and ended two miles south and included rebuilding the I35 bridge. Public contact would include sending notices through utility bills, cable television and the newspaper. Churches, businesses and schools could help with public contact. The bids would be let in February by the Highway Commission and 468 City of Denton City Council Minutes December 21, 1993 Page 12 awarded at that time. After that the City would hold one or two public meetings regarding the project at churches or schools in the community to encourage attendance. Staff proposed bi-weekly meetings with the Highway Department regarding the project in order to be up-to-date on project. Council Member Miller asked for the length of the project. Clark replied the project would take approximately 18 months to 2 years. Council Member Cott asked about the bridge both under and over. Clark replied that the State would do all the construction activity. They would start with the inside portions and transition to the outside portions. Council Member Cott asked how many lanes would be on top. Clark replied that I35 would be eight lanes with four lanes in each direction. Those would not be used currently but would be made so that they could be expanded. 11. Miscellaneous matters from the City Manager. City Manager Harrell presented the following items: A. KNTU Radio was hosting an informative discussion/ educational meeting regarding the 1/2 cent sales tax on January 4th at 1:30 p.m. at the Senior Center. B. The outside auditors had almost completed the closing of the books for the 1992-93 budget year. It appeared that over and above this year's budget, the final figures would show approximately $1 million more coming in in revenue as a result of the Peterbilt settlement, the excellent sales tax performance that continued after budget projections, a $70,000 increase in building permits and major increases in miscellaneous revenue category. On the exDenditure side, the budget would be $400,000 less than projections. This meant that the City would not have to draw down on the fund balance and would be able to add $1 million to the fund balance. 13. New Business There were no items of New Business suggested by Council Members for future agendas. 469 City of Denton City Council Minutes December 21, 1993 Page 13 14. The following was formal action taken on Executive Session items considered during the Work Session: Brock motioned, Perry seconded to raise the salaries of the three employees hired directly by the city Council in the following amounts: the Municipal Judge would receive a basic salary of $51,450; the City Attorney would receive a basic salary of $75,620; and the City Manager would receive a basic salary of $98,384. These recommendations followed the guidelines of the Mercer plan based on the high evaluations of these employees. On roll vote, Brock "aye", Cott, "aye", Miller "aye", Smith "aye", Perry "aye", and Mayor Castleberry "aye". Motion carried unanimously. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m. J~NIFE~WALTERS C~TY S ~CRETARY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS BOB CASTLEBERRY, EMA~~ CITY OF DENTON, T ACC0017F