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Minutes August 10, 2004CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 10, 2004 After determining that a quorum was present, the City Council convened on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 at 4:00 p.m. in the City Council Work Session Room at City Hall. PRESENT: Mayor Brock; Mayor Pro Tem McNeill; Council Members Kamp, Montgomery, Mulroy, Redmon and Thomson. ABSENT: None The City Council convened in a Special Called Meeting to consider the following: 1. The Council considered approval of a resolution of the City Council of Denton Texas placing a proposal on the September 7, 2004, City Council Public Meeting Agenda to adopt a 2003 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 24, 2004, requiring publication of a Notice of Public Hearing on a tax increase in accordance with the law; and providing an effective date. Discussion by Council amended the wording in several "whereas" sections changing the wording fi.om "desires" to "considering". The following resolution was considered: NO. R2004-039 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF DENTON TEXAS PLACING A PROPOSAL ON THE SEPTEMBER 7, 2004, CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC MEETING AGENDA TO ADOPT A 2003 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 24, 2004, REQUIRING PUBLICATION OF A NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON A TAX INCREASE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. McNeill motioned, Montgomery seconded to approve the resolution as amended. On roll vote, Kamp "aye", McNeill "aye", Montgomery "aye", Mulroy "aye", Redmon "aye", Thomson "aye" and Mayor Brock "aye". Motion carded unanimously. Following the completion of the Special Called Meeting, the City Council convened in a Planning Work Session. 1. The Council received outcome statements and held a discussion regarding Neighborhoods. Mike Conduff, City Manager, stated that there were no new outcome statements from the prior neighborhood discussion. Council did not have any new outcome statements to present with the neighborhood discussion. City of Denton City Council Minutes August 10, 2004 Page 2 2. The Council received a report and held a discussion regarding Environment. Ken Banks, Water Resources Program Manager, discussed environmental issues facing the City of Denton. Elements of that discussion included the fact that this was a wide-ranging topic, citizen involvement was needed, and conflicts would arise on how to best manage the environment. The purpose of the discussion was to discuss the process of shaping a vision for environmental management in Denton. Good municipal environmental management was based on a sound socio-economic framework and was people-centered with public health and environmental protection as mutually reinforcing goals. It needed to address people's quality of life, allow for equal access to open space and recreational opportunities, integrate economic development and environmental sustainability, be an efficient use of energy resources and allow for public participation in environmental governance with public participation. Banks presented a history of water based environmental management. Traditional regulations focused on controlling well defined point sources and the fact that as those sources became more regulated, the quantities of pollution entering the environment decreased. Regulators began to realize that cleaning up point sources was not enough and non-point sources became a more important issue. Current environmental work centered on more than just point sources. Past problems with permit failures, more stringent wastewater and stormwater permits and a focus on anticipation of problems prompted this focus plus. Future issues included air quality, storm water, watarshed/wastewater and environmentally sensitive areas. There was a theory on the three major types of environmental management: federal and state level issues; quality of life issues; and a new environmental management paradigm that dealt with federal and state regulatory issues with increased local issues. Banks reviewed regulatory compliance issues. Quality of life local non-regulatory issues were driven by citizen groups. local organizations and businesses. This was an unfunded mandate driven by local concerns. Implementation was difficult and resource intensive, needed to be a flexible process with opportunities for participation. A new environmental management paradigm combined both of these issues. It was an overlap between quality of life and regulation. This was an unfunded mandate driven by both regulation and by local concerns. Currently regulatory compliance for water/wastewater/stormwater was generally maintained. Environmental issues were an economic and social reality. Citizens expected a municipality to have an active role in environmental protection and there may be a need for the city to develop a more comprehensive environmental management approach. Jim Coulter, Director of Water/Wastewater, discussed organizational steps necessary to establish an environmental department. A matrix approach would be considered that would coordinate many facets of environmental management within the city and would require clear policy direction, at all levels within the organization, for successful implementation. Such a re- organization would help unify many of the current environmental activities. The proposed environmental department would consist of a manager, a policy specialist, a special projects coordinator- municipal lab, watershed protection, and industrial pretreatment divisions. Council discussed the addition of air quality testing to report to other agencies. Coulter stated that a crucial issue regarding regulatory concerns was to not harm the established regulatory requirements by spreading current resources over too many areas of responsibility. There was also a need to have enough resources to be able to perform anticipatory research and City of Denton City Council Minutes August 10, 2004 Page 3 other work to ensure that adequate resources were in place to meet current and near-future regulatory challenges. Council discussion included: The Council Environmental Committee needed to meet soon to formulate an overall city policy for environmental compliance. Consider inspection techniques for small outside engines such as weed trimmers, lawnmowers, etc. City wide clean up days were needed for hazardous wastes. More publication of city efforts in these areas was needed for public information. Add to the city website information on programs provided/efforts. 3. Suggestions for Agenda Committee on future agenda items and/or placement of items for upcoming agendas. City Manager Conduit stated that Council had indicated additional topics for discussion. He suggested that Council might want to prioritize these topics along with the planning session issues. He suggested Council bring back high priority issues and reschedule planning session topics or use one of the planning sessions to reprioritize. Feedback on the issues would be reviewed by the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem at the Agenda Committee meeting and then presented to the Council. These topics could also be included on Monday's breakfast meeting. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m. EULINE BROCK MAYOR CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS JENNIFER WALTERS CITY SECRETARY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS