January 7, 2008 Minutes
CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
January 7, 2008
After determining that a quorum was present, the City Council convened in a Council Follow-Up
Planning Session, on Monday, January 7, 2008, at 8:30 a.m. at the Denton Civic Center, 321 E.
McKinney.
PRESENT: Mayor McNeill; Mayor Pro Tem Kamp; Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Mulroy; Council
Members Heggins, Montgomery, Thomson, and Watts.
ABSENT: None
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION:
1.The Council received an update, discussed and gave direction concerning the long and
short term goals and objectives of the city, including without limitation, goals and objectives
related to city services, finances, budget, planning, zoning and development, operations,
environment, transportation, intergovernmental relations, boards, commissions and committees
and meetings.
City Manager Campbell stated that staff would be presenting the status on items Council had
discussed in September plus a few new issues. This would set the work program for the next 3-6
months.
Jon Fortune, Assistant City Manager, updated Council on the following items:
Bond election – Staff was in the process of gathering recommendations and preparing a list
of projects to recommend to an oversight committee. A preliminary time line had the
Council appointing a citizen bond committee in September 2008 to develop the proposed
capital program for a November 2009 election. At that time, Council would also develop a
charge for the committee. Staff was also looking at an April - May bond sale as approved in
the budget.
CAFR – It was expected to complete the year-end financials in February with a presentation
of the audit report to the Audit/Finance Committee in March followed by a presentation to
the full Council.
Tech Service Director search – Staff was in the process of developing a recruitment
brochure. A firm had been hired to assist with the search and a list of advertising tools had
been approved to solicit interest in position. Interviews were anticipated in late March.
TMRS – Staff was looking at the long term financing and programs for TMRS. There was
no concern that TMRS was having problems. The focus from TMRS was to look at current
policies and strategies to see if they needed to adapt to a more current market structure. That
change might have positive/negative impact on the city. Staff would provide Council with
an analysis in the near future.
Fixed Asset Module Implementation – There was a need to implement this type of module in
the financial system. Currently this information was in spread sheets with some
inconsistencies in depreciation. JDE had a module that would work well for the city.
City of Denton City Council Minutes
January 7, 2008
Page 2
Financial Forecast/Budgeting – this process would start in April with the Audit/Finance
Committee. The proposed budget would be presented to Council in July to begin budget
discussions.
Two key projects in facilities. First was the chill water line for the Emily Fowler Library,
the Civic Center and City Hall. Council had approved the replacement of those lines with
the project being completed before the Arts and Jazzfest. Second was the replacement of all
the windows in City Hall. There would be some minor changes in the look of the windows
but the O’Neill Ford look would be maintained.
Discussion -
Replacement of the windows would be expensive but over the years the cost would be made
up in energy savings. Fortune stated that $100,000 was approved in this budget for the
replacement.
Provide Council with an organizational chart with a breakdown of who was responsible for
which departments.
Was the City’s bond counsel in favor of issuing more city bonds? Fortune replied that First
Southwest would notify the City if they felt it was not an appropriate time to issue bonds.
Howard Martin, Assistant City Manager, reviewed the following items:
Special Events – Martin provided an update on special events and recycling at special
events. He indicated that staff was ready to bring an ordinance forward if Council agreed
with the basic premise of the ordinance. Events were broken down into various categories
with each event promoting recycling. It would allow event planners to elect to participate in
this program.
Council discussed whether to make recycling mandatory outside major park facilities such as at
smaller city parks. One option was that city sponsored events and all events held on city
property should have mandatory recycling.
Martin stated that the process could be done but the question was how it would be paid. Either
the City paid or the event planner. The City currently provided some services when sponsoring
an event but not in all cases.
Discussion -
At the prior retreat, Council had expressed a concern about overspending at city-sponsored
events. Council needed to look at different levels of events and determine appropriate levels
where the city would provide funding. Separate from that was the recycling issue. The
Council Committee on the Environment had recommended making recycling mandatory at
events in city facilities. Council should go forward with mandatory recycling for events on
city property.
What kind of implementation problems might be encountered? Martin replied that staff
would work on an educational process for people attending the events.
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January 7, 2008
Page 3
City Manager Campbell stated that it still left unanswered the question of funding. There needed
to be a point where enough money was budgeted for the City to provide service or look at levels
of where to not fund and understand that there would be concerns from the public. Staff could
develop options for Council to consider on which level to fund.
Put in options to consider whether to rent barricades for street closures.
Develop a history of the average amount of city money spent on events and how much
money those events generated.
The process should be user friendly for consistency in services that would be provided.
Airport developments – Staff was working on development concepts for the airport and the
framework for additional development. Martin provided an update on where they were in
the process and needed to know if Council felt they were on target for the plan. If on target,
staff would like to take the plan to the Airport Advisory Board.
Discussion-
$250,000 seemed a high cost for a business plan. Martin stated that staff would like to see
the business plan generated at the staff level with assistance from an outside individual rather
than totally developed from the outside.
Council discussed future financial issues associated with the airport including TxDOT funding,
gas well revenues, whether the City should be the developer of the airport with future developers
repaying the costs of the initial infrastructure.
Council discussed the use of gas well revenues with a consensus to use gas well money for
development of infrastructures such as water lines, etc. and recover the costs when the property
was developed.
Quiet zones – Martin provided additional information on quiet zones for the railroads.
Council Member Thomson felt this was important information and would like to see the
technology implemented.
Water system Infrastructure Modeling – staff was almost finished working on identifying the
infrastructures needed for service. 2008 would be the year to update impact fees.
Council Member Montgomery stated that the North Texas State Fair was considering moving to
the west side of I35 and Ganzer Road south of the truck stop. Water and sewer service would be
needed in that area. He requested the figures of what would be the cost to extend water/sewer in
sufficient volume for the area.
Council Member Thomson stated that recycling was not done with the construction of homes for
Habitat for Humanity. He suggested the City provide large blue carts for those sites to
encourage recycling during the construction.
City of Denton City Council Minutes
January 7, 2008
Page 4
Fred Greene, Assistant City Manager, provided the following updates:
Planning Services – With the arrival of Mark Cunningham, a reorganization of the Planning
Department was in progress. A flow chart of the planning process was being developed to
see what groups did what services and when. Staff would be designing a readable document
for developers to use during the planning process. A one-stop customer service area was
being designed. Proper statistics in the neighborhood services area along with productivity
statistics were also being developed.
Tech Services Review – This will be done in the future to discuss with customers of IT
services. A user committee would be established to determine services, true costs of IT
services and prepare a benchmark on where IT is now and long range hopes of future
projects.
Regional Public Safety Training Facility – The funding had been approved for the facility
and the architectural engineering of the project was ready to begin. A small city committee
made up of the Fire Chief, Police Chief, a member of Facilities Maintenance, a member of
the Planning Department, a representative each from NCTC, the Police Department and Fire
Department would be working on the design. It was anticipated that the design would be
completed in April and out for bid in May with completion of the facility by the fall of 2009.
Expansion of South Branch Library – The expansion had been delayed for a long time due to
the storm water drainage issue in the area. This project was ready to go out for bids in
February of this year with 12-13 months to complete.
Growth Management Study – This study was still on-going.
Senior Center Expansion – The expansion was underway with the bids let and a completion
date anticipated for May.
Police Department Expansion – This expansion would bring unity of command and would
take 4-5 months to complete.
Red Light Cameras – It was on TxDOT’s agenda for 5 additional cameras to be installed.
They would mostly be located on University Drive.
Animal Services Feral Cat Issue – The current practice was in violation with the current
ordinance. The ordinance would be changed to be in compliance with trap, neuter, and
release practice.
Discussion –
Was it possible to assist neighborhood groups financially when they were striving to
maintain current residential development standards? City Attorney Snyder indicated that
there probably would be legal concerns with that type of proposal. The city would have to
remain neutral in zoning cases and spending public funds for such a cause would be of a
concern.
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January 7, 2008
Page 5
Some of the Fry Street developers had contacted Council to discuss the type of development
appropriate for the area and for ideas on how to develop the area. City Attorney Snyder
stated that Council needed to be careful to meet with developers or to suggest how to develop
their property. Council could meet but not give opinions to the developers. Be there to
listen.
2.The Council received a report, held a discussion and gave staff direction regarding
development issues.
City Manager Campbell stated that Council Member Watts had requested this item for
discussion.
Council Member Watts stated that he receives calls from developers regarding different issues in
the development process. He was specifically interested in public infrastructure improvements
such as streets, sewer, utilities, etc. His specific concern was the policy if part of a public
infrastructure improvement was not indicated on a plan and was overlooked during the review
process. Would the City still require the developer to perform the improvements and/or was
there any provision to waive those improvements by the developer and the City do the
improvements? He felt that for the City to take responsibility, it would have to be something
very large. He questioned if some type of process needed to be in place for the City to take on
those costs as it would be the City’s fault not to require it in the first place.
City Attorney Snyder stated that the City could impose action at any phase of development.
However, once permits were issued additional regulation could not be imposed.
City Manager Campbell stated that he would be reluctant to get into a situation that once a
building permit was approved that would absolve a developer from following the code as
written. He didn’t want the mentality of if the City didn’t catch it then the City would pay for it
and let the developer out of it as that might encourage developers to not do a complete job.
City Attorney Snyder stated that if the City made a mistake, it did not prevent the City from
enforcing city ordinances. The public interest could not be taken away with a mistake. Staff had
the legal responsibility to enforce the code. The policy allowed developers to make a variance
request without a corresponding plat application. A policy could be developed that a plan
application must be made with a variance request.
Mayor McNeill felt that the problem needed to be handled in an equitable way. He suggested
tracking how many times this was happening and who made the problems regarding
developments.
Assistant City Manager Greene stated that staff was developing a unified method of keeping
notes of meetings so that everything was well documented.
Council discussed the proportionality model. Assistant City Manager Martin stated that there
was a limitation on the exaction model and that there were special circumstances in some
situations.
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January 7, 2008
Page 6
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Mulroy suggested a half day work session with the Planning and Zoning
Commission. Council had requested such a session earlier and now might be a good time to get
one scheduled.
3.The Council received a report, held a discussion and gave staff direction regarding the
quarterly financial report.
Bryan Langley, Director of Finance, presented the Quarterly Financial Report, September 30,
2007. He indicated that the report was prepared in a new format that should be easier to read.
Overview – The Finance Division was responsible for providing timely and relevant financial
information. The report should be forward looking, provide meaningful information on
developing economic and financial trends, and assist staff and council with assessing the City’s
financial capabilities. Staff had developed a financial dashboard of the major operating funds.
This was a one page snapshot of the major operating funds with key trends and graphical
information.
Electric fund - Operating revenues were 5% lower than the budgeted amount due to the lowered
ECA. Non-operating revenues exceeded the budget by 84% due to higher interest earnings.
Purchased power and operation and maintenance expenses were 8% and 9% lower than their
budgeted amounts respectively due to lower dues costs, unspent reserves, and lower ROI
payment.
Water fund - Water sales from both residential and commercial customers declined by 15% to
the budgeted amounts primarily due to a mild and wet year. Due to the mild and wet year,
overall water expenses were 16% below the FY 2006-07 budgeted level.
Wastewater fund - overall revenues were 3% higher than the budgeted amount primarily due to
increased interest earnings. Overall expenses were 13% lower than the budgeted amount
primarily due to $1.5 million in savings related to authorized but unspent reserves.
Solid waste - total revenues were 7% higher than the budgeted amount due to higher interest
earning and landfill fees.
The financial summary information provided more detailed information of all of the above
accounts.
City Manager Campbell indicated that staff would like to get this report to Council as quickly as
possible and as it was not a policy issue questioned if it needed to go to the Audit/Finance
Committee before going to Council.
Consensus of the Council was that it was not mandatory that the Audit/Finance Committee
review the report before it went to Council.
Assistant City Manager Fortune stated that the Audit/Finance Committee would either discuss
the previous quarter report or if the report were ready during the time the Committee would
meet, look at the report and then submit it to Council.
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January 7, 2008
Page 7
Langley reviewed the economic indicators. The unemployment rate for the past ten years was
looked at as that had an impact on what would happen to the housing market. They also looked
at the Texas leading indicators index. The last section of the report was the investment portfolio
composition. The Investment Committee met on a quarterly basis. Currently there was $312
million in the portfolios. He reviewed an investment yield summary from 2001-2007.
Mayor McNeill requested a drainage project report indicating when a project would start and the
amount of money involved in the actual project.
Council Member Montgomery asked about the status of the foreign trade zones. Mayor McNeill
stated that the Economic Development Partnership Board had completed the paperwork. The
city, county and school district had to approve the zones. The work was in progress.
Mayor McNeill suggested the next retreat be in the September time frame.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:35 a.m.
________________________________
PERRY MCNEILL
MAYOR
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
_________________________________
JENNIFER WALTERS
CITY SECRETARY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS