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Minutes August 28, 2001CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 28, 2001 After determining that a quorum was present and convening in an Open Meeting, the City Council convened in a Special Called Session on Tuesday, August 28, 2001 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. PRESENT: Mayor Euline Brock; Mayor Pro Tem Roni Beasley; Council Members Burroughs, Fulton, McNeill, Phillips, and Redmon. ABSENT: None. I. The Council held a public hearing and received citizen input on the 2001-2002 proposed budget. The Mayor opened the public hearing. The following individuals spoke during the public hearing: Tom Harpool, 2222 Houston Place, regarding funding for Parks projects Suzanne Akins, 1216 Pin Oak Drive, regarding funding for REACH G. L. Seligmann, 916 Ridgecrest Circle, regarding funding for Parks projects David Williamson, 2007 Azalea, regarding funding for Denton Co. Children's Advocacy Center Jim Avera, 906 Lynhurst Lane, regarding funding for Parks projects Robert Deal, 272 Gardenview, regarding funding for Parks projects Janay Tieken, 2400 Natchez Trace, regarding funding for Parks projects Missy Dickenson, 419 Northridge, regarding funding for REACH Chip Oxendine, 613 Seville, regarding funding for Denton Co. Children's Advocacy Center Martha Len Nelson, 2603 Brookfield, regarding funding for Parks projects Lorraine Pat, regarding funding for REACH Geri Aschenbreuner, 3102 Broken Arrow, regarding funding for Parks projects Jackie Clanton, 22 Rogers Circle, Krum, regarding for funding for REACH The Mayor closed the public hearing. 2. The Council held a public hearing on a proposal to adopt a tax rate of $.54815 per $100 valuation, which exceeds the lower of the rollback rate or 103 percent of the effective tax rate. 2. The Mayor opened the public hearing. No one spoke during the public hearing. The Mayor closed the public hearing. 3. The Council considered approval of a resolution of the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas announcing that it will vote on a tax rate at its regularly scheduled meeting of September 4, 2001; providing for publication of notice of such vote on the tax rate; and providing an effective date. City of Denton City Council Minutes August 28, 2001 Page 2 37'7 The following resolution was considered: NO. R2001-046 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS PLACING A PROPOSAL ON THE SEPTEMBER 4, 2001 CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC MEETING AGENDA TO ADOPT A 2001 TAX RATE THAT WILL EXCEED THE LOWER OF THE ROLLBACK RATE OR 103 PERCENT OF THE EFFECTIVE TAX RATE; CALLING A PUBLIC HEARING ON A TAX INCREASE TO BE HELD ON AUGUST 28, 2001; REQUIRING PUBLICATION OF A NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON A TAX INCREASE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Beasley motioned, Burroughs seconded to approve the resolution. On roll vote, Beasley "aye", Burroughs "aye", Fulton "aye", McNeill "aye", Phillips "aye", Redmon "aye", and Mayor Brock "aye". Motion carried unanimously. Following the completion of the Special Called Session, the Council convened into a Work Session in the Work Session Room. 1. The Council received a staff report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction regarding vehicles on parking lots with "For Sale" signs. Lt. Scott Langford, Police Department, stated that at the April 10, 2001 work session, the Council advised staff to continue the current methods of removing vehicles from lots. He stated that staff surveyed ten cities throughout the state and none of the cities had a specific ordinance established to address this issue. Mayor Pro Tem Beasley recommended that staff investigate how to regulate the cars parked around the City with "for sale" signs through zoning regulations (either land use or licensing). Council Member Redmon requested that staff explore the impact on the budget. He also wanted to know who would do the enforcement and where the revenue would go. Mayor Brock requested further investigation in the development code and as part of the zoning. Council Member McNeill requested more information on what was required of car dealers in order to nm a used car dealership. David Hill, Assistant City Manager of Development Services, stated that staff could look at these issues and bring them back to the Council. Consensus of the Council was for staff to get more information and bring back some options. 2. The Council received a report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction regarding the 2001-2002 proposed budget. 3 7' 8 City of Denton City Council Minutes August 28, 2001 Page 3 Herb Prouty, City Attomey, stated that the Council would have to act on the budget by September 11. Kathy DuBose, Assistant City Manager of Fiscal and Municipal Services stated that the proposed budget was based on a tax rate of $.54815 per $100 valuation, which would result in budgeted expenditures of $341,178,797 and estimated resources of $341,814,575. DuBose stated that the Council had asked for some options for reductions in the proposed budget. A tax rate of $.53815 would result in budgeted expenditures of $340,842,097. The one- cent tax rate reduction would result in $336,700 of expenditures being cut out of the proposed budget. DuBose presented two options for the one-cent tax rate reduction. The first option included cuts of the Teen Court, Sales Tax, Council Contingency, Personnel Recruitment, Jailer, Animal Control Truck, Delay Parks CIP to 2002-03, Delay Parks CIP to 2003-04, Delay Emily Fowler Renovation to 2003-04, and Imaging. The second option included cuts in Compensation, Janitorial Services, Imaging, Jail Expansion/Firearms Facility (CIP), Emily Fowler Renovation (CIP), Civic Center Upgrade (CIP), TxDOT and Delayed Projects (CIP). Council Member Fulton asked if there were any funds from the 95/96 Bond Issue that had not been spent. Ed Hodney, Director of Parks and Recreation, stated that some of the funds had not been spent. Those funds were obligated to design or cOnstruction of some projects. He stated that the funds could not be used for other projects. DuBose stated that Jefferson Commons would be coming off the tax roll because of their tax exempt status as a student housing corporation. This year would result in $51,000 coming off the ad valorum tax estimate and next year would be $111,000. Mayor Pro Tern Beasley asked what a student housing corporation was. Herb Prouty, City Attorney, stated that they were researching this. DuBose stated that the estimated revenue from ad valorum taxes was $18,457,811. Council Member Redmon recommended not cutting the council contingency fund from the budget. Council Member Phillips stated that he knew the staff had put their best foot forward in presenting the budget. He stated that he had a problem with the exploding number of employees. Mayor Brock stated that as the number of capital improvement projects increased, the number of employees needed to increase. Council Member Burroughs stated that a 3% increase in employees did not strike him as bad compared to the level of growth the city has experienced in the past years. He recommended the Council approve the budget as presented with the two cent increase. City of Denton City Council Minutes August 28, 2001 Page 4 3 791 The Mayor asked for a show of hands all that were in favor of Council Member Burrough's recommendation. Mayor Brock, Mayor Pro Tem Beasley, Council Member Burroughs and Council Member McNeill were in favor of the recommendation. Council Members Fulton, Phillips, and Redmon abstained. Council Member Phillips felt that the new council members had come into office in the middle of the budget process and could not make any recommendations based on that. He stated that next year he would be proposing that we cut the budget and offer the ACM's a bonus for finding cuts in the budget. 3. The Council received a report, held a discussion and gave staff direction on the development of a drainage fee. Jim Coulter, Director of Water and Wastewater, stated that the Wastewater Department was working on the development of a drainage fee that would be based on impervious cover (concrete, asphalt, and roof cover). He stated that the issue had been discussed with the Public Utilities Board and that since the City Council Work Session of July 24th, they had held six public meetings with the community. He stated that the residents did not relish the idea of having to pay more on their utility bill, but the majority agreed with the impervious coverage approach and that the proposed fees were equitably based. Coulter stated that they had estimated total impervious coverage by property type at 156,753,361 square feet, which included main structures, parking, and outbuildings. Based on the annual drainage budget of $3,500,000, the annual fee per square foot would be $0.02233. Coulter stated that staff had been developing a block structure for residential customers, which would fairly distribute the drainage costs and which would keep the administrative time for billing to a minimum. He reviewed the two options for residential block rates. Coulter requested direction from the Council how to proceed. He stated that if the Council directed staff to move forward with the drainage fee, two public hearings would be necessary. The first public hearing would discuss the proposed ordinance developing the drainage fee. The second public hearing would discuss the proposed rates that would be charged. Council Member Fulton stated that she would like to see the cost per month for large church facilities like First Baptist Church on Malone. Council Member Redmon asked if the fee would be to the utility user or to the property owner. Council Member Phillips asked about the fee for DISD and the Golden Triangle mall. Coulter stated that they could gather information regarding other cities and whether they exempt the school districts or other entities, what this would do to the rates of other residents, and what the legal impact would be of exempting the DISD and not the universities or all governmental agencies. Consensus of the Council was to gather more information based on Option 2. 4. The Council received a report, held a discussion and gave staff direction on the City of Krum's request to connect to the City of Denton Wastewater treatment system. 38 City of Denton City Council Minutes August 28, 2001 Page 5 P. S. Arora, Assistant Director of Wastewater, stated that Krum's wastewater treatment plant had a treatment capacity of 130,000 gallons per day and was located on a small parcel of land that limited future plant expansion capabilities. Any future development within Krmn would exceed the treatment capacity of the existing plant, as well as the expansion to a maximum treatment capacity of 250,000 gallons per day. Arora stated that staff had met with the City of Krum to discuss the option of routing all wastewater flows to the Denton collection system. The City of Krum would have to construct approximately 25,000 to 30,000 feet of sewer line depending on the sewer routing. Staff provided a copy of the Argyle wholesale wastewater services contract to the City Engineer of Krum. Arora stated that the City Engineer of Krum had notified staff that the Krum City Council had approved routing all wastewater flows to Denton, pending approval by the City of Denton. Arora stated that the benefits to the City of Denton would be that Denton would have the opportunity to oversize the sewer line. This would provide essential service to a substantial area of the northwest corridor along the airport. Denton had more stringent TNRCC wastewater treatment criteria. The flow from Knnn would go into the Hickory Creek watershed. The treated water would be available for reuse. Krum would pay impact fees to purchase an initial 110,00 gallons per day capacity. Impact fees would be paid to Denton for all furore development. The Public Utilities Board recommended continuing discussions on a wholesale wastewater agreement on August 20. Consensus of the Council was to continue discussions on a wholesale wastewater agreement with Krum. 5. The Council received a report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction regarding possible amendments to the Denton Mobility Plan - Roadway Component, connecting Scott Street to Morse Street, and connecting Sycamore Street to Woodrow Lane. Dave Hill, Assistant City Manager of Development Services, stated that the possible amendments would provide connections in the Southeast Denton area from Scott Street north to Morse Street and Sycamore Street east to Woodrow Lane. Lt. Lee Howell, Police Department, reported to the Council that the Scott Street area was attractive to individuals engaged in the illegal narcotics trade because of the combination of one way in and one way out of the neighborhood. If Scott Street were opened up to traffic from both ends, it would not completely solve the problem, however, it would allow for greater access and ease of patrol to the area. Council Member Burroughs recommended a proposal be taken back to the Small Area Plan and let residents impacted with the street improvements know, along with notifying Denton County and the Denton Housing Authority. Mayor Brock recommended that door hangers be put at the residences especially on Morse Street. City of Denton City Council Minutes August 28, 2001 Page 6 Consensus of the Council was to start with the Small Area Plan process and include excessive public contact. Council Member Redmon asked for any economic indicators that would give an idea of the impact if Sycamore was extended to Woodrow Lane. 6. There was no official action on Closed Meeting Item(s) under Sections 551.071-551.086 of the Texas Open Meetings Act. 38-:1' 7. New Business The following items of New Business were suggested by Council for future meetings: A. Council Member Burroughs stated that the legislature had passed SB 248 which was a property tax bill for continued tax on leased vehicles. He stated that this needed to be acted on by sometime in January 2002. B. Council Member McNeill asked about the process to re-install the stoplight at Acme and Fort Worth Drive. C. Council Member Redmon requested that staff provide a report on the crossing at E. Hickory Street at City Hall East where the stop sign was, particularly going east at the railroad. D. Council Member McNeill requested an announcement and discussion of the TMPA meeting on September 13 be placed on the next agenda. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:25 p.m. EULINE BROCK, MAYOR CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS JAI~E RICHARDSON ASSISTANT CITY SECRETARY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS