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Minutes April 10, 2001112 CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES April 10, 2001 Work Session of the City of Denton City Council on Tuesday, April 10, 2001 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Work Session Room in City Hall. PRESENT: Mayor Brock; Mayor Pro Tem Beasley; Council Members Burroughs, Cochran, Durrance, Kristoferson and Young. ABSENT: None 1. The Council received a report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction regarding a funding recommendations report from the Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) and the Human Services Advisory Committee (HSAC) and the proposed City of Denton 2001 Action Plan for Housing and Community Development. (Barbara Stinnet, CDAC Chair and Wallace Duvall, HSC Chair were scheduled to provide briefings.) Barbara Stirmett, Chair-Community Development Advisory Committee, reviewed the funding recommendations by the Human Services Advisory Committee. These recommendations were included in the agenda back-up materials. Wallace Duvall, Chair-Human Services Advisory Committee, presented the funding recommendations by the Committee. These recommendations were included in the agenda back- up materials. Barbara Ross, Community Development, Administrator, stated that there would be a public hearing at the next Council meeting regarding the 2001 Action Plan. 2. The Council received a report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction regarding homeowners associations. Ed Hodney, Director of Parks and Recreation, stated that a number of questions and concerns regarding homeowner associations and how to maintain open space and other amenities in new residential developments had surfaced. Council had previously discussed this topic at its January 11, 2000 and April 25, 2000 meetings. There were three main concerns dealing with homeowner associations that included HOA structure, the need for the creation of an HOA and the HOA's ability to perform. Dottie Palumbo, Assistant City Attorney, reviewed the proposed mandatory HOA requirement for new residential development. It would provide for the creation and recordation of documents subject to the review and approval of the City Attorney and Council prior to the filing of plats. Once established, the HOA would have to provide a perfommnce bond or escrow of funds for maintenance. Hodney reviewed the difference between an HOA and a public improvement district. The advantage of a PID over direct maintenance by the City or through an HOA was a predictable and sustainable revenue stream that was dedicated to a particular project. Elizabeth Reynolds, representing the Wind River Homeowners Association, stated that her experience with this association was very different from others she had participated in. She felt that the developers had established the association only to assist in the development of the project. Resident participation on the Board was not adequate. City of Denton City Council Minutes April 10, 2001 Page 2 1,13 John Duffy, representing the Oaks of Montecito, expressed his concerns regarding the lack of a homeowner association in his subdivision and the discrepancies in what had been promised by the developer and what was actually delivered. He reviewed a survey that had been sent out to the residents of the Oaks of Montecito. A representative of Sundown Ranch stated the residents in the area were experiencing similar problems as residents in other developments. He suggested implementing some type of standards that would go in effect at the beginning of a development and not after development had been started. Bob Shelton, developer, reviewed some of the circumstances surrounding problems at the Sundown Ranch development. Consensus of the Council was to further explore the establishment of standards for homeowner associations, looking at programs already established and draft provisions for such a program. The Council also wanted to look further at public improvement districts. 3. The Council received a report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction regarding the use of pesticides in the parks. Janet Simpson, Assistant, Director of Parks and Recreation, stated that the use of pesticides on public property was governed by Federal and State law and all Park Department employees who applied pesticides were licensed by the Texas Department of Agriculture or the Texas Structural Pest Control Board and were subject to inspection and audits of practices and record keeping. Emerson Vorel, Superintendent of Parks and Recreation, reviewed the policy of the use of herbicides and pesticides in city parks and the scheduled use of chemicals in the city parks. Simpson reviewed the list of potential options for staff to pursue at the direction of Council. These options included continue the current response with additional research on alternative approaches and a focus group that would include a cross section of park users and citizens; extend the temporary moratorium to future applications of pesticides; permanent Cessation of pesticide applications in specific parks or classes of parks; continue maintenance operations based on current maintenance standards without change. Council discussion included using the University of North Texas for a study of the issue and using a test location on alternative procedures to determine the feasibility of such an approach. Ed Soph stated that he appreciated the way in which the staff worked with him regarding the situation. Consensus of Council was to proceed with Option 1 plus use the University resources to assist with alternatives. There would be no increase in mowing due to the potential of increased air pollution. 4City of Denton City Council Minutes April 10, 2001 Page 3 4. The Council received a report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction regarding the process to select an architect to design the new Central Fire Station. Ross Chadwick, Fire Chief, stated that staff was directed by Council at the January 23, 2001 work session to re-interview the four architectural firms for the design of Central Fire Station in the old power plant at Hickory and Bell. The Council added four members to the interview committee. The Committee re-interviewed the four finalists and selected the firm of James Kirkpatrick Architect as the most highly qualified architect. Staff was requesting Council authorize negotiations with the firm for a contract agreement. If an agreement could not be reached with the # 1 firm, then negotiations would begin with the #2 firm, etc. until a firm could be proposed to the Council. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the staff recommendation. 5. The Council received a report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction regarding the State School Road Connector as an amendment to the City of Denton Mobility Plan Roadway Component. David Salmon, Interim Director of Engineering, stated that an amendment to the Roadway Component of the Denton Mobility Plan was under consideration, adding a collector street connection between State School Road and Wind River Lane, with a possible connection to the east side of Sundown Ranch Subdivision. At the December 12, 2000 work session, Council decided to postpone action due to several unanswered concerns. Since that time, staff commissioned a study of the proposed connector system. Salmon reviewed the three possible routes for the connector and evaluated each route based on relative traffic benefits, construction cost, and impact on environmentally sensitive areas. Staff was recommending Option #3 that was a combination of alignments 1 and 2 and crossed the Unicom Lake flood plain area twice. Consensus of Council was to proceed with Option #1, identifying Option #3 alignment with a neighborhood meeting of area residents. 6. The Council received a report, held a discussion and gave staff direction regarding the selection of a Sister City for Denton through the Sister Cities International program. Michelle Cunningham, Community Relations Coordinator, stated that the Denton Sister Cities International steering committee had looked at 78 cities for consideration of Sister City status. Two cities were selected to visit in order to complete the criteria information worksheets. Many of the cities were dropped from consideration because they did not have a university or already had U.S. Sister Cities. The committee was recommending approval of San Nicolas de los Garza, Nuevo Leon, Mexico as Denton's first official Sister City based on the selection criteria results. Consensus of Council was to proceed with San Nicolas de los Garza as Denton's Sister City. 7. The Council received a report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction regarding proposed Mobility Plan 2025 Rail System changes as drafted by the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), and regarding proposed state legislation related to commuter rail. City of Denton City Council Minutes April 10, 2001 Page 4 11'5 Dave Hill, Assistant City Manager for Development Services, stated that there were three policy issues that required Council's attention. Those three items included the rail system, freeway and tollway system, and proposed state legislation. The rail system had an additional corridor added showing the Atchison, Topeka, Santa Fe Railroad as a connector between Denton and Lewisville. The draft freeway and tollway system map contained two proposals that differed from the approved Plan. Proposed state legislation dealt with HB 682 that would require the preservation of rail facilities by the Texas Department of Transportation. HB 3323 proposed the creation of a county transportation authority for public transportation and transportation related services in counties adjacent to a county with a population of one million or more. Staff was concerned that one route might be selected without any feasibility studies or other analyses to support such a decision. Staff felt that the changes in the freeway and tollway system reflected changes needed to expand system capacity for roadways based on population and employment growth and should be supported by the City. HB 682 was intended to prevent the dismantling of rail corridor rights-of-way and should be supported. Staff did not have a recommendation relative to HB 3323. Consensus of Council was to proceed with staff recommendations and present a resolution for Council consideration. 8. The Council received a staff report, held a discussion and provided staff direction regarding the regulation of vehicles parked on residential lawns. Scott Langford, Police Department Support Operations Lieutenant, stated that the City had no ordinance that specifically prohibited the parking of vehicles on residential lawns. A proposed ordinance presented to Council in 1985 prohibited the parking or storage of any motor vehicle, boat, travel trailer or trailer on an unimproved area of the front yard of any one-family, two- family or multi-family dwelling. A clause grandfathered the dwelling if it was constructed prior to the adoption of the ordinance and there was no asphalt or concrete space on the lot. Council did not adopt the ordinance at that time. Options included preparing an ordinance that would prohibit the parking of any vehicle on an unimproved area of the front' yard of a residence; prepare an ordinance that would restrict the parking of specific vehicles on an unimproved area of the front yard of a residence; direct staff to conduct further research and consider this issue at an later date; or direct staff to take no further action on the issue. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the drafting of an ordinance with particular attention to contacting neighborhood groups regarding the proposal and allowing the citizens to help develop a citizen friendly ordinance. 9. The Council received a staff report, held a discussion and provided staff direction regarding vehicles on parking lots with "For Sale" signs. Scott Langford, Police Department Support Operations Lieutenant, stated that the City did not have an ordinance restricting vehicles on parking lots with "For Sale" signs. He reviewed the current enforcement procedures that if the owner of a lot had given permission for vehicles to be parked there and the vehicles did not qualify as junk vehicles, then there was no violation. Consensus of the Council was to not proceed with the drafting of an ordinance. l, 1 6City of Denton April 10, 2001 Page 5 City Council Minutes 10. The Council received a preliminary assessment, held a discussion, and gave direction to staff with regard to the proposed voluntary annexation of an approximately 120.4 acre tract on the north side of Loop 288 between Stuart Road and Sherman Drive. (A-01-0001) Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the annexation. 11. The Council received a report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction on the appointment of a task force to study racial profiling in Denton. Gary Matheson, Chief of Police, presented an approach to the appointment of a racial profiling task force. Those recommendations included the appointment of a committee with no more than 10 members including 2 police department representatives; Council should designate a chairperson for the task force; the committee would meet weekly for the first two months; minutes should be taken for documentation/referral; adherence would be required to the written agenda; the adoption of an attendance standard, adoption of a decorum standard such as the prohibition of negative behavior and verbal attacks; formally define racial profiling; identify relevant data to be collected for valid study; determine the best method to collect the data; provide input on department racial profiling policy; determine pertinent department training needs; identify/implement public education and information needs; collect the data for a minimum of one year; and suggest a third party conduct statistical analysis at UNT or TWU. Consensus of the Council was to proceed with the staff recommendation. 12. New Business The following items of New Business were suggested by Council Members for future agendas: A. Council Member Kfistoferson asked for a review and possible alteration to the development code schedule. B. Council Member Cochran asked for a discussion on the dissolution of CDD #1. C. Council Member Young asked for discussion regarding the children playground equipment at Fred Moore Park. 13. There was no official action on Closed Meeting Item(s) under Sections 551.071-551.086 of the Texas Open Meetings Act. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:15 p.m. CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS EUI,INE BROCK, MAYOR CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS