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Minutes February 09, 1999CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES February 9, 1999 After determining that a quorum was present and convening in an open meeting, the City Council convened in a closed meeting on Tuesday, February 9, 1999 at 5:15 p.m. in the Council Work Session Room. PRESENT: Mayor Miller; Mayor Pro Tem Beasley; Council Members Burroughs, Cochran, Durrance, Kristoferson and Young. ABSENT: None 1. The following was considered in Closed Meeting: A. Deliberations regarding Personnel Matters – Under Tex. Gov’t. Code Sec. 551.074 (a) (1) 1. Considered and discussed the duties and conditions of employment regarding the Director of Denton Municipal Electric, an employee of the City of Denton, Texas. B. Conference with Employees – Under TEX. GOV’T. CODE Sec. 551.075. The Council received information from employees during a staff conference or briefing, but did not deliberate during the conference. The Council convened into a Special Called Meeting on Tuesday, February 9, 1999 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. PRESENT: Mayor Miller; Mayor Pro Tem Beasley; Council Members Burroughs, Cochran, Durrance, Kristoferson and Young. ABSENT: None 1. The Council held a public hearing and considered adoption of an ordinance annexing a 114.76 acre tract located on the north side of Hickory Creek Road, northwest of McNair Elementary School and establishing a Planned Development (PD-169) zoning district classification and use designation through approval of a detailed plan; and providing an effective date. (First Reading, A-078) Dave Hill, Director of Planning and Development, stated the proposed annexation and planned development application was set for a public hearing at this meeting. Since the preparation of the staff report several developments had taken place regarding the proposal. A letter had been received from the applicant asking for a split of the annexation request from the zoning request to make them two separate actions. A simple majority vote would be required to approve splitting the annexation and zoning. A second development since the staff report was a notification from the applicant that a revised detail plan would be submitted. If Council decided to not split the two issues, the planned development application in the backup materials would be the plan the Council would be considering. One major difference in the detailed plan was that the number of total lots would be reduced to 284 lots. All 6,000 square foot lots would be eliminated with the average size of the lots being 7,500 and 8,000 square foot lots. They had reached a tentative agreement with the Parks Department to sell 10 acres on the east side of the property that abutted the Oaks City of Denton City Council Minutes February 9, 1999 Page 2 of Montecito for a city park. That would result in forty-three acres of park land and open space. There would also be a strenuous tree preservation program encouraged with specific deed restrictions that included a 75% masonry requirement, a pitch roof requirement and the encouragement of rear and side entry garages. Staff had received a letter of protest from an individual who felt that the proposal had been improperly noticed. After examination of that protest, it was discovered that staff had made a mistake in preparing the 200-foot notice. The fact that the notice was improper for the legal notice requirement meant that the calculations for the 20% rule were invalid. That would have to be recalculated and returned to the Planning and Zoning Commission for renoticing and a new recommendation. That new recommendation would be returned to Council for consideration. Staff was proposing the following solution for the process: (1) allow the annexation to proceed on schedule - if Council did not split the annexation and zoning vote, the annexation process would be invalid; (2) the Planning and Zoning thnd Commission would consider the zoning at its February 24 regular meeting; (3) March 2 would rd be the public hearing for the zoning issue at Council: and (4) March 23 Council would vote, in sequence, on the second reading of the annexation and then vote on the planned development application at the same meeting. Council Member Kristoferson stated that even with the two persons incorrectly noticed, the percent of opposition would not be over 20%. Hill stated that even if all of the adjacent residents opposed the proposal, the opposition would not reach 20%. Mayor Miller asked that if Council needed to first vote on whether to split the annexation and zoning request before holding the public hearing on the annexation. City Attorney Prouty stated that the Council should hold the public hearing and then consider a vote on the annexation. He suggested Council consider a vote to amend the annexation ordinance by removing the zoning proposal out of the application. Hill stated that staff was recommending two actions to Council. One was to split the annexation from the zoning request and the second was to take a vote on the annexation request that required a super majority vote of Council. The Mayor opened the public hearing. Tari Arterburn stated that the developers had had two meetings with the neighborhood regarding the proposal. They were requesting that Council consider a split of the proposal and not consider the zoning request as they were making changes to the detailed planned development plan. The split would allow the developers to finalize that change of plans and resubmit them to staff. Some of the changes to the plan included a change in lot size, an increase in park land dedication and possible sale of land for additional park land, a recommendation for tree preservation and a commitment on deed restrictions. Two tracts along the creek would be offered to the City for purchase of additional park land. If the City did not purchase that property within four years, the property would revert to 10,000 square foot lots. Again they were requesting a split vote on annexation and zoning. City of Denton City Council Minutes February 9, 1999 Page 3 Christine Rohwl stated that she was representing the neighborhood group. Their meetings with the developers were very profitable and the developers were very willing to work with them. The neighbors would like to encourage the developer to use side or rear entry garages. Smaller density was very important to them as it resulted in approximately 50 less homes. They were in support of having the City purchase Tract 3C and 3D as park property and were willing to help the City in that endeavor. Brenda Phillips stated that the neighbors had worked very hard with the developer and thanked them for their efforts. She and the other neighbors were committed on following through in helping purchase the property for the extra park land. Steve Klutz stated that there were a few issues he still felt needed revision. He felt staff should sit with the neighbors and not the developers during neighborhood meetings. He suggested preparing an agenda on how to proceed with neighborhood meetings. The Mayor closed the pubic hearing. Cochran motioned, Beasley seconded to separate the annexation from the zoning request and postpone consideration of zoning until proper notification had been completed. On roll vote, Beasley “aye”, Burroughs “aye”, Cochran “aye”, Durrance “aye”,Kristoferson “aye”, Young “aye”, and Mayor Miller “aye”. Motion carried unanimously. The following ordinance was considered: (FIRST READING) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, ANNEXING A TRACT COMPRISING 114.76 ACRES, LOCATED ON THE NORTH SIDE OF HICKORY CREEK ROAD, NORTHWEST OF MCNAIR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; CLASSIFYING THE ANNEXED PROPERTY AS PLANNED DEVELOPMENT (PD- 169) ZONING CLASSIFICATION AND USE DESIGNATION; PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY IN THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF $2,000.00 FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF; AND DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Beasley motioned, Burroughs seconded to proceed with the annexation. On roll vote, Beasley “aye”, Burroughs “aye”, Cochran “aye”, Durrance “aye”,Kristoferson “aye”, Young “aye”, and Mayor Miller “aye”. Motion carried unanimously. Following the completion of the Special Called Meeting, the Council convened into a Work Session. 1. The Council received a report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction regarding a final report from Diversified Utility Consultants regarding Lone Star Gas Company’s request to increase rates in the City of Denton service area. City Attorney Prouty reviewed the rate request from Lone Star Gas. In addition to the proposed rate increases, Lone Star was also requesting certain automatic adjustment charges be included. City of Denton City Council Minutes February 9, 1999 Page 4 Those annual increases were based on their functions. One of those increases, a weather normalization adjustment clause, was being recommended by the consultants as proposed by Lone Star. There were some major differences between what Lone Star was requesting and the consultant’s findings such as rate of return and which Railroad Commission ruling applied to the proposal. There was also a question of adequacy of the 1997 test year as to whether it reflected savings of the merger and the merge itself. Staff was recommending Council not approve the COSA or PICA clauses. If Council decided to approve the COSA, staff was recommending that Council not agree that it would automatically take place but allow the Council to have an opportunity to look at the COSA and to approve or disapprove it each year. Staff was also recommending that Lone Star not pass through the cost of the consultant to the consumers although that was allowed under the law. If Council granted all or a portion of the request, it was suggested that the cost be spread out over a period of at least one year. Council Member Young questioned if the Railroad Commission had acted on the COSA. City Attorney Prouty stated that COSA had been adopted by a number of cities but had not been approved by the Railroad Commission. The consultants from Diversified Utility Consultants, Inc. reviewed the agenda materials detailing the findings of their study. Kirk King, Lone Star Gas, presented a rebuttal regarding the consultant’s findings. His comments were outlined in a handout to Council and were added to the agenda back-up materials. He requested that the Council carefully consider the consultant’s report and use it as a guideline and also use the company’s history in Denton as a guideline. City Attorney Prouty stated that Council needed to take action on this request at the next regular Council meeting or hold a special call meeting as the rates were suspended only until February th 25. Council Member Young stated that the City had always had a good working relationship with Lone Star Gas. The Council did not have to abide by the consultant’s findings. He felt the Council should approve 75% of Lone Star’s request. Council Member Durrance stated that he was concerned with some of the facts they had received. He would like to see the additional information requested by Council before making any rd decisions. A special meeting could be considered, if necessary, on February 23 to make a proper decision. Council Member Cochran stated that he had some concerns regarding COSA and PICA. He felt that there might be some possible benefits but had many questions regarding those items. He was not in favor of those two alternatives. Council Member Burroughs stated that he was in favor of COSA and the weather adjustment rate. He was also in favor of the work session next week and special call session the following week to complete this process. City of Denton City Council Minutes February 9, 1999 Page 5 Mayor Pro Tem Beasley felt that the rate increase should be denied. A better test year should be used and better data received. The consultant’s report indicated that the numbers were not there to support a rate increase. Council Member Kristoferson stated that she agreed with not allowing the PICA but might consider COSA. She had a problem with one class of rates going down and the burden placed on the residential customers. She also felt that 17 years of no rate increases was a factor to consider. She was willing to follow the schedule but would not be in favor of supporting a decrease in the commercial rate and an increase in the residential rate. Mayor Miller stated that the Council had to do what was right for both the rate payers and for the City’s corporate citizens. He had a concern that no increase was requested for 17 years and this year there was a request for a large increase. He felt there was compelling data on both sides of the question. The rate increase was a regressive increase in that the smaller user would pay the most increase. He felt that some adjustments needed to be made in the rate structure in order to be fair across the board. He felt a 75% increase was too much and that perhaps a 50% increase was warranted. He would not support COSA or PICA. He agreed with the proposed schedule for consideration. Council considered Item #4. 4. Presentation of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the year ended September 30, 1998. Kathy DuBose, Assistant City Manager for Finance, stated that Council had received several documents associated with the comprehensive financial report. Julie Pettie, Deloitte and Touche, stated that the opinion on the financial statement on the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report was qualified this year for a specific item in the financial statement. There was a footnote disclosure required for the year 2000 readiness of the City. All governments would have that qualification this year and was not specific to the City of Denton. Single audit reports were required because the City received federal and state funding. No instances of non-compliance that were material or materials weaknesses were found. The Report to Management had three comments: (1) the inventory system had significant differences from the accounting report and suggested to change or replace; (2) closing procedures took longer than usual and the suggestion was to improve those procedures for a more timely closure; and (3) a revisit of the year 2000 with a recommendation that it continue to be a priority. A required communication to the Audit Committee outlined the procedures used during the audit. Kristin Newman reviewed the response to Management Letter. The first two comments centered on weaknesses to the financial system that was going to be replaced later in the year. The third comment was regarding the Y2K planning. The auditors commended the City in its efforts and recommended continuation of such. She reviewed the major categories noted in the financial report. The Council returned to the regular agenda order. City of Denton City Council Minutes February 9, 1999 Page 6 2. The Council received a preliminary assessment, held a discussion, and considered approval of a schedule of public hearings with regard to the proposed annexation of a 52.49 acre tract located on the south side of Ryan Road, approximately one hundred and fifty (150) feet east of Forestridge Drive in the City of Denton’s Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ). (A-79, Thistle Hill) Dave Hill, Director of Planning and Development, stated that the petitioner requested the property be annexed and zoned with a permanent land use classification of Single-Family-10 and Single-Family-16 zoning districts. The property owners desired to subdivide the tract into 129 residential lots developed in two phases. The first phase would cover the northern 21.49 acres adjacent to Ryan Road and contained 36 lots. The remaining 31 acres would be subdivided into th 93 lots. The first public hearing would be February 16 with the process ending in April. Consensus of the Council was to continue with the schedule as presented. 3. The Council received a report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction regarding a proposed Denton Fire Department Five-Year Strategic Plan. This item was postponed for a future work session. 4. The Council received a report and held a discussion regarding the economic development program. Linda Ratliff, Economic Development Director, stated that Council had requested additional information from a prior work session regarding economic development activities. The second phase of the report would be completed in March. Council Member Kristoferson questioned why a municipal management district had to go to TNRCC. Ratliff stated that this was a new piece of legislation. She did not know of any city that had used this option. She assumed that it dealt with water and wastewater issues. It probably applied to one specific city with one issue. She continued with a summary of the agenda materials. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:15 p.m. ___________________________ JACK MILLER, MAYOR CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS ________________________ JENNIFER WALTERS CITY SECRETARY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS