Minutes January 28, 2003CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL M1NUTES
January 28, 2003
After determining that a quorum was present, the City Council convened in a Planning Session
on Tuesday, January 28, 2003 at 4:00 p.m. in the City Council Work Session Room at City Hall.
PRESENT:
Mayor Brock; Mayor Pro Tern Burroughs; Council Members Fulton, McNeill,
Montgomery, and Phillips.
ABSENT: Council Member Redmon
1. The Council received a report, held a discussion, and gave staff direction regarding long
range planning issues and their prioritization including without limitation economic
development, transportation, planning and zoning, budgetary and financial issues.
Mike Conduff, City Manager, stated that the Council would look at the long range planning
issues discussed last year, would talk about issues for this year, and prioritize issues by date.
Council Member McNeill asked about "closing the loop" from session to session throughout the
year.
Conduff touched on the idea of opening each session with a review of the outcome statement
from the previous session.
Conduff introduced the idea of having a "planned" legacy. Each Council Member was given 20
minutes and asked to write what they would like their "political obituary" to say. Several
members shared what they wrote at the end of the writing time.
Based on what they wrote in their political obituary, Conduff asked each to write on post-it notes
things they would like to see accomplished, issues they felt Denton needed to be focused on.
All Council Members combined their post-it notes and grouped them into categories. Ten
categories were created as follows:
Sensitivity/Diversity
Education and Partnerships
Balanced and Sustainable Growth
Future Acquisition
Image
Economic Development
Transportation
Historical Emphasis
Convention Center
Utilities
Comments under each of the categories were as follows:
Sensitivity/Diversity: · High city workforce sensitivity to citizens (including, but not limited, to achieving the
perception of diversity a reality)
· Stay open to the folks!
· Be readyto lead
· Be willing to soldier
City of Denton City Council Minutes
January 28, 2003
Page 2
Economic Development · Get a major investor to take over Rayzor "Hill" and do a master plan (city partner for
infrastructure)
· Help UNT get grants for engineering school and research park
· Apply your knowledge to suitable problems
· Achieving high quality development
· Downtown improvements - streets, sidewalks, conference/arts/museum (bring investors
for multi-purpose buildings, townhouses...)
· Industrial Growth
· Enhance the recruitment of information-based business firms
Education and Partnerships
· City / Education partnerships-leveraging
Transportation · Airport - runway extension, re-configuring taxiway
· Continue to develop the airport
· Regional transit
· Continue with mass transit development effort
· Get 288 done
· Transit-enabling legislation for regional system through legislature
· High quality road maintenance
· Continue with a major emphasis on local transportation improvements
Balanced and Sustainable Growth · Alleviate sub-standard/unsightly housing areas
· Balanced growth (comprehensive plan implementation)
· Events for all citizens
· Build on the great working relationships that are developing among the many segments
of Denton's various populations
Historical Emphasis · Use history to guide to the future
· Get help when you are confused
· Forget the money-do the job
Future Acquisition · Current acquisition of future-oriented assets (e.g. open
expansion/sites)
· Northwest quadrant of Denton development TOTAL consideration
space/parks, landfill
Convention Center
· A multi-purpose convention/arena to make Denton a destination - more revenue for the
city
City of Denton City Council Minutes
January 28, 2003
Page 3
Image
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
Clean up the trash along city streets
Restaurants/shopping to make Denton a destination - more revenue for the city
Denton as "Third City" accepted in Metroplex
Encourage volunteers
Improve community spirit and pride
Be optimistic
Continue to work on Denton's image
Outside management study of City government processes
Utilities · A healthy, air, water, medical care available community
· Greater than minimum open space preservation/park space
· Long term water availability secured (50 years at least)
· Denton with moderate utility/tax costs to citizens
· Infrastructure and city services top rate
· Money-making recycling program
· Methane retrieval from landfill
Council Members were given 25,000 "Denton dollars" (25 - $1,000 bills) and they "put their
money where their mouth is" by anonymously voting on the importance of each of the ten
categories. The results were as follows:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
Image - $31,000
Economic Development - $21,000
Transportation - $19,000
Balanced and Sustainable Growth- $18,000
Convention Center - $17,000
Education and Partnerships - $13,000
Utilities- $12,000
Sensitivity/Diversity- $9,000
Historical Emphasis - $5,000
Future Acquisition - $4,000
There were seven dates outlined for planning sessions, April 2003 through January 2004. The
council decided to combine some topics to make the following the seven session topics, with
dollar value indicating priority:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Economic Development w/Convention Center - $38,000
Image and Historical Emphasis - $36,000
Balanced and Sustainable Growth w/Future Acquisition - $22,000
Transportation - $19,000
Education and Partnerships - $13,000
Utilities- $12,000
Sensitivity/Diversity- $9,000
City of Denton City Council Minutes
January 28, 2003
Page 4
The Council decided on the following changes to the planning sessions for 2003.
The Council requested that they get the white paper ten days in advance. They would like to ask
questions regarding the white paper in advance of their meeting. Any questions asked could be
shared with the entire group via the reading file, and then staff would only need to clarify, not
recover, the materials outlined in the white papers. Council complimented staff on the quality of
the white papers over the past year.
Council agreed they would like to try starting at 4:00 to have time for review of outcome
statements from the previous session, but were committed to wrapping up by 4:30 so they could
begin on the topic for that evening' s session.
It was discussed that the ability to dialogue with constituents, with all seven Council Members
present, was valuable. The community was frustrated when they could not converse with all
seven members at the same time and the synergy was lost when citizen input was only received
though separate individual dialogue with Council Members.
Council agreed that it would be appropriate to forewarn speakers of time constraints and use a
timer with presenters.
Following is the time schedule for the planning sessions for 2003:
Review of prior month's outcome statement
Staff clarification of white paper
Experts' presentations
Partners' presentations
Citizen/Community input
Short break
Council dialogue
4:00- 4:30
4:30- 4:45
4:45- 5:15
5:15- 5:45
5:45- 5:55
6:05- 6:30
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.
EUL1NEBROCK
MAYOR
CITY OFDENTON, TEXAS
JANE RICHARDSON
ASSISTANT CITY SECRETARY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS