Minutes August 23, 1994CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
August 23, 1994
The Council convened into the Work Session on Tuesday, August 23,
1994 at 5:15 p.m. in the Council' Chambers.
PRESENT: Mayor Castleberry; Mayor Pro Tem Brock; Council Members
Cott, Perry, Miller and Smith.
ABSENT: Council Member Chew
1. The Council received reports and held discussions regarding
the following budget hearings:
Public Safety Services
Fire
Police
Transportation
Engineering and Transportation
Streets
Airport
John Cook, Fire chief, stated that his budget had four proposed
packages which consisted of the replacement of the SCBA compressor;
the refurbishing of an ambulance; SCBA equipment; and rescue tools.
Council Member Miller asked for the preparation of scenarios
regarding the addition of firefighters on an incremental basis.
Mike Jez, Chief of Police, stated that his proposed packages
included 40 lapel microphones for radios; B-pads for police which
were devices for entry level testing for potential police
candidates; neighborhood funding for the COPS program; civilian
jailers which would add three jailers to the staff and enable the
jail to be staffed 24 hours a day 7 days per week; and 2 police
officers to be added in January after the status of the crime bill
was known.
City Manager Harrell stated that if the crime bill passed, the City
could ~ire approximately 4-5 officers instead.of only two if the
bill did not pass. The City had been using civilian jailers for at
least 4 years and this year the funding would be available to take
the final step to have full time jailers 24 hours a day 7 days a
week.
Council Member Perry asked about the new automation in conjunction
with the move of the Department.
Jez replied that they were making adequate progress. The request
for proposal would be finalized in the coming weeks and the
contract awarded in November or December.
Council Member Cott sUggested that the Lillian Miller/Teasley Lane
corridor needed two'o~ficers by itself.
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August 23, 1994
Page 2
Council Member Chew joined the meeting.
Council Member Miller stated that last year new communications
equipment was purchased for officers in the field. He asked if the
Department still needed that type of equipment.
Jez replied that with the money approved last year by the Council,
the Department was able to purchased a substantial number more than
originally thought. He felt it would be better to hold off on the
purchase of any additional radios until the completion of the
computer package.
Jerry Clark, City Engineer, presented the transportation budget
which was essentially the same as last year. Proposed packages
included an upgrade of a 486 computer, an Engineering Tech
II/Design position, a print machine, a replacement street roller,
a replacement vehicle 1150, and a laser jet printer. The two
vehicles would be replaced at a lower cost due to the motor pool
system.
City Manager Harrell stated that as management positions in the
City became vacant, there was an attempt to incorporate that
position with a current position. In this area, two positions were
being incorporated into one position.
Mayor Castleberry asked how much was budgeted for street repairs
and rebuilding.
Clark replied that it was approximately $700,000 with $300,000 for
street patching and $400,000 with a solid waste transfer.
City Manager Harrell stated that the budget had proposed $810,000
for repaving, maintaining, and reconstructing streets. Council had
had a leadership role in adding dollars to the street
maintenance/repair budget over the past several years.
Rick Svehla, Deputy City Manager, presented the Airport budget.
The two proposed packages incluCed a personal computer and the
refurbishing of the beacon at the Airport.
Mayor Castleberry asked about the new system at the Airport.
Svehla replied that the global positioning system used satellite
technology to determine the position of an airplane. The global
positioning system could ~give directions for landing from the south
to the north.
city of Denton City Council Minutes
August 23, 1994
Page 3
Council Member Miller asked about the grant for the extension of
the runway.
Svehla replied that there was Still a good chance for the grant to
be awarded before the October 1 deadline. Congress had not passed
the bill to date but he felt that it would be passed soon.
2. The Council received a report and held a discussion regarding
proposed utility rates.
Bob Nelson, Executive Director for Utilities, stated that the
proposed rates would be: electric - a 1% increase in the base rate
and a 1% increase in the ECA rate to be effective January 1995; a
water increase of 2%; a wastewater increase of 8%; a solid waste
residential increase of 7.67% from $11.15 to $12.00; a commercial
solid waste increase of approximately 8%; a landfill solid waste
increase from $5.00 to $6.00 per cubic yard for non-city trucks.
The R1 electric customer would experience a decrease of $1.42 per
month. Commercial volumes were up from the original projections so
that an 8% increase would be needed instead of a 9% increase. The
rates varied from 6% - 15% on the commercial rates.
Earl Crews, Budget/Rate Administrator, reviewed the landfill
proposed rates. He presented an overhead which indicated monthly
rate comparisons with area cities. These indicated that while
Denton did not have the lowest rates, it was competitive with area
cities.
Council Member Cott suggested that staff discuss the rate changes
with those affected as soon as possible so that they were informed
about the changes.
City Manager Harrell asked Nelson to review the Public Utility
Board's philosophy regarding rate increases especially in the water
and wastewater areas.
Nelson stated that the water increase was being recommended at a 2%
~rate increase. In 1999 the City would have another $2 million per
year payment to the Corps of Engineers for the Ray Roberts
Reservoir. As that was a fairly large increase for one year, the
Board recommended incremental increases and hold some of that
revenue into a fund to be used in 1999 for that increase. The
wastewater increase was due to the construction cost of the new
treatment plant which was just completed. It was felt that within
another year another small increase would be needed and then the
rate should level out. 'The solid waste increase was due to the
expanding of the landfill.
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city of Denton City Council Minutes
August 23, 1994
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Council Member Miller asked what was the cost of the expansion of
the wastewater treatment plant in order to be in compliance with
the EPA regulations.
Nelson replied that $6 million was required just to meet the higher
EPA standards and the remaining was for the additional capacity for
the plant.
The Council convened into a Special Called Session on Tuesday,
August 23, 1994 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
PRESENT: Mayor Castleberry; Mayor Pro Tem Brock; Council Members
Chew, Cott, Perry, Miller and Smith.
ABSENT: None
1. The Council held a public hearing regarding the adoption of
the proposed 1994-95 City of Denton Annual Program of Services.
The Mayor opened the public hearing.
George Seely, Jr. stated that he wanted to address his concerns
regarding the Denton Fire Department. He presented an idea to help
fund more firefighter/paramedic positions for the City of Denton.
There had not been an increase in firefighter personnel for the
last 14 years while the population had grown by over 20,000 people.
His proposal included that the Fire Department would assume
exclusive non-emergency ambulance service for the City in addition
to the current ambulance services provided. He felt that this
service would provide sufficient funds to employ 18 new positions.
The service would benefit the citizens by (1) providing a city-
controlled, non-emergency ambulance service and generate revenue to
be reinvested in the fire department; ~2) providing more
firefighter/paramedic positions which were needed at little or no
cost for the citizens; (3) bringing the City closer to the
standards for key rate f~re insurance; (4) allowing some of the
positions to be filled l.y minority citizens of Denton; and (5)
possiHly reopening Central Fire Station until a new station was
built at Eagle/Carroll. He had been told by Chie£ Cook that
Central would be.a good location for this non-emergency ambulance
service. He asked for consideration of this request.
L.T. Hensley stated that he had talked with firefighters from
Dallas and Forth Worth ~ho had the radar controls on their trucks
and they indicated that~it only worked about 40% of ~the time. He
understood that Denton's fire trucks would be equipped with this
same kind of radar equipment to change the traffic signals. He had
City of Denton City Council Minutes
August 23, 1994
Page 5
talked with the firefightersin Denton who indicated that there was
no way a five minute response time could be made to the Square. He
would like to see the fire station and ambulance remain at. Central.
Arleen Morrison stated that she was disturbed when the fire station
was closed. As a member of the Board of Trustees of the First
united Methodist Church, she represented their concern regarding
the loss of the fire station stating this was a step in the
devitalization of the downtown of Denton.
Eddie Woodruff stated that the City was short of firefighters 15
years ago when he started working for the city and in that time
period only 9 firefighters had been added. He urged Council to add
some additional firefighters. He was responsible for the
recruitment of new firefighters and it was difficult as there were
no positions available. He encouraged Council to add more
personnel in the next budget year.
Mayor Castleberry .indicated that the following were speaker cards
received regarding the fire station issue from those in attendance
who did not wish to address the Council: Chris Cowan, John Shrader,
Jr., Arthur Seely, Sr., Norma Seely, Dow Huggins, Mrs. Dow Huggins,
Paul Beadle, Frank Blake, Mike Gregory, Bill Thomas, Euless Tonn,
Will and Opal Logan.
Steve Pickett indicated that he wished to speak on a property tax
credit for persons with disabilities. He stated that some disabled
persons were faced with a choice of paying property taxes or
delaying, medical treatment or taking care of their property. He
was proposing some form of tax credit so that all citizens could
benefit from maintaining property values. If an individual could
show that he was of limited income due to early retirement or a
medical benefit and could show that he could pay for the upgrading
of his home, then these costs would be given some latitude toward
the payment of individual property taxes.
Don Harper stated that he had minor repairs done to his home last
week which he had to have a professional do while others could have
done the repairs themselves. He supported the proposed tax credit.
Irene Tribble was in support of the proposal.
Ed Bonk stated that he spoke on behalf of the Seniors at the Senior
Center. The Americans with Disabilities Act suggested easy opening
doors for the Center. T~e present doors were hard to open for the
Seniors and often clo~ed too quickly hitting the person entering
the building. He recq~u~_ended automatic doors be installed in order
to assist those using the Center. This item had been cut from the
City of Denton City Council Minutes
August 23, 1994
Page 6
1993-94 budget requests and he asked that it be placed in this
budget.
City Manager Harrell stated that the budget package was for $7000
and staff would provide a report for Council at the next meeting
regarding the proposal.
Tom Harpool, Sales Tax Advisory Committee, reviewed the history of
the work of the Committee. The Council had asked if the Committee
would monitor the results of the election. The Committee had a
recent meeting which congratulated the City on a proposal to reduce
the Property tax rate by approximately 25%. There had been a
concern expressed of what this higher sales tax would do to lower
income citizens in the City. The Council asked the Utility
Department to look. at a way to help the lower income group offset
the sales tax increase. There was a recommendation for a reduction
of the R1 electric rate which would offset the increase in sales
tax.
Billy Hubbard stated that she had a clogged drainage ditch behind
her home and had 18 inches of water in her storage building from
the last rain. She had asked for a clearance of the ditch and
urged that extra money for clearing out problem ditches be included
in the budget and a fund to assist with unplanned problems.
Don White stated that budgets were developed to guide spending in
the coming year. From 1984 - 1994 Denton's population increased
13,000 people. The total number of employees for the City of
Denton had increased 50% faster than the population of Denton. The
total payroll 1984 was at $15 million and in 1993-94 was $35
million. The consumer price index during that period of time
increased 34%. When there were increases in'utility rates and
increases in taxes, what was seen as a nominal increase of 7-8%
really doubled the amount of money extracted from the community.
He took issue with the principle of annual increases in utility
rates. It took money from Denton business and Denton residents.
For a business, this was called a tax increase in utility rates.
For residents, this was called a utility increase. When there were
increases every year and the amount of expenditures extracted from
the community were doubled, it had to be called a tax increase on
business. He did not believe that the increases were needed for
the utilities.
Kay Williams stated that on August 3 he had a need for an
ambulance. If the Centra.~.. Station had been closed or no ambulance
available, he would be dead.
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
August 23, 1994
Page 7
Jimmie McMakin indicated that he was in support, of 'keeping the
Central Station open.
Marie Landers indicated that she was in favor of the Fire
Department.
Bill Miller encouraged the Council to look further down the road
toward federal mandates for environmental protection which the City
would have to fund. Before the City reached an impasse, it would
be good to be in a position ahead of the mandate. If the City put
funds aside now, it would be able to fund those projects in the
future.
Thomas Webb indicated support for Council Member Miller's
suggestion of a citizen task' force to study the fire protection
issue.
The Mayor closed the public hearing.
2. The Council held a discussion and gave staff direction
regarding the 1994-95 fiscal year budget.
City Manager Harrell reviewed the budget procedure for the
remaining budget sessions. This meeting would review prior
questions from the Council regarding the budget. The August 30th
meeting would begin with an executive session and at 6:00 p.m.
staff would begin a review of additional Council questions. The
Council would be provided a list of all major budget issues for
which a decision was needed in order to balance the budget.
Council would also have an opportunity to place additional items on
the budget list for final discussions. September 6th would be the
final budget balancing session and Council would work through any
major issues still remaining. The September 13th agenda would
contain all the ordinances necessary to implement the budget
including adopting the budget, establishing the tax rate and the
ordinances implementing various fee increases.
Jon Fortune, Management Services Administrator, reviewed the
Council's budget questions and responses which were presented in
the agenda backup materials.
(1) Tax roll and effective tax rate. The overall growth of the
City was up from 1993 with a current effective rate of $.5689 per
$100 evaluation. The proposed budget tax rate of $.5645 was well
under that effective ta~rate.
(2) Citizen complaint survey - a survey reviewed the various
policies of other ~i~fes to determine how they handled citizen
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city of Denton City Council Minutes
August 23, 1994
Page 8
complaints. Several options were listed in the agenda backup
materials.
(3) Vision Project - a question had been asked regarding the
number of staff members involved in the Vision project and the time
involved. The memo indicated that most employees were exempt and
no compensation was given for extra time on the project.
(4) North Central Texas Council of Governments - a response was
provided indicating a summary of services provided.
(5) Cable Television - the response indicated the estimated
television audience the Council had during its broadcast of the
Council meetings.
(6) Incentive pay program - the response was included in the City
Attorney's status report.
Council Member Perry felt that the answer regarding
radio/television was not accurate information and he wanted it
reworked. He felt it did not mirror the situation as to the
existence of radios in homes in the City. He felt perhaps 99% or
even 100% of the homes in the City had radios.
Richard Foster, Public Information Officer, stated that the
response was an attempt to distinguish among the citizens who had
cable from the people who had radio. The assumption was made that
everyone had a radio. The 35% figure represented those individuals
without cable television but who did have radio. The 35% was for
those only confined to radio information.
(7) Juvenile Diversion Task Force Committee - the memo addressed
the first offenders counseling proposals submitted to the
Committee.
City Manager Harrell stated that Harlan Jefferson was making a
presentation to the DISD and next week would have a report on the
reaction from the DISD.
Council Member Miller asked if next week the Council would discuss
the services offered and compare the alternatives for counseling.
City Manager Harrell stated that Jefferson had taken all the
proposals to the Juvenile Diversion Task Force and the Task Force
would be recommending that a combination of the University of North
Texas/Texas woman s unlv~rslty programs be used.
City of Denton City Council Minutes
August 23, 1994
Page 9
(8) Number of contract landfill customers - response indicated the
number of customers and the volume of those customers.
(9) Disabled Tax Exemption - several factors were involved
regarding a disabled exemption. It must be adopted before May in
order to be applicable for the coming fiscal year. Council could
adopt an exemption this year and make it effective for the 1995-96
fiscal year.
Council Member Cott asked if there was a committee set up to deal
with the disability issue.
City Manager Harrell stated that Bruce Hennington, Facilities
Management Director, was responsible for implementing ADA
compliance programs for the City.
Mayor Castleberry stated that the minimum exemption was $3000 which
would result in a loss of revenue of $2235.
Fortune stated that that estimate was based on the total number of
current exemptions given by the DISD.
(10) Health insurance providers - an updated list of providers on
the health plan was provided.
(il) Municipal charges survey - a survey done by the City of
Richardson indicated that Denton was in the middle of the list for
municipal charges but with the proposed change in tax rate for
Denton, it would be near the lowest rates.
Mayor Castleberry asked, that Lewisville, Gainsvilleand McKinney be
added to the survey list.
(12) Visual Arts Center air conditioning
Council Member Miller stated that one suggestion for this item was
to perform an engineering study to deal with the air conditioning
situation in the building. He suggested the idea of ceiling fans
in the building.
Betty McKean, Executive Director for Municipal Services/Economic
Development, stated that was not included in the report but staff
would research that for Council.
Council Member smith suggested covering the windows in some fashion
which might help cut the heat in the building and assist the air
conditioner '
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City of Denton City Council Minutes
August 23, 1994
Page 10
Mayor Pro Tem Brock asked if the windows were double pane.
McKean replied that they were not.
Mayor Pro Tem Brock suggested that another consideration might be
to replace the current windows with double pane windows.
City Manager Harrell stated that the building was not initially
constructed by the City and there were some inherited problems. He
felt that the Council was looking at some minimal costs to help
with the building.
Council Member Miller proposed that the City help fund the TTRIPS
Program which provided at-risk high school mothers with day care
services while they attended school. The program was $12,000 short
of funding. He proposed that the DISD provide $6,000 and the city
provide $6,000 out of general funds. He also suggested looking at
the possibility of using a reserve fund or set up a reserve fund
for an additional fire station near the downtown area.
3. New Business
The following items of New Business were suggested by Council
Members for future agendas:
A. Council Member Smith presented a report from the
Municipal Court Committee. They had studied the applicants for the
part-time permanent judge position and now needed a date to
interview the applicants.
Mayor Castleberry suggested that the Agenda Committee work out a
time for the interviews.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
ACC00206 ' ~- ~
BOB CASTLEBERRY, M~YO]~--.....
CITY OF DENTON, T~XAS ~