April 10, 2012 Minutes
CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
April 10, 2012
After determining that a quorum was present, the City Council of the City of Denton, Texas
nd
.
convened in a 2 Tuesday Session on Tuesday, April 10, 2012 at 4:00 p.m in the City Council
Work Session Room at City Hall.
PRESENT: Mayor Burroughs, Council Member Engelbrecht, Council Member Gregory,
Mayor Pro Tem Kamp, Council Member King, Council Member Roden, and
Council Member Watts.
ABSENT: None.
1.Receive a report, hold a discussion, and give staff direction regarding alternate plans for
the Joint Public Safety Training Facility.
Police Chief Lee Howell stated that they would be presenting a proposal for an alternative, more
affordable option for the Joint Public Safety Training Facility. This proposal would not
accommodate all the needs of the original concept of the Vintage training facility. This facility
was not intended to be a permanent solution or a substitution for the Vintage training facility but
this would fill a gap between today’s immediate needs and the timeframe to complete the
Vintage facility which realistically could be ten years out. He stated that staff had identified an
area on the east side of the current City Hall East for use as a training facility. The City already
owned the space and it would provide just over 20,000 square feet for a training facility.
Lieutenant Mike Beutner reviewed details of the original Joint Public Safety Training Facility.
The total cost was $14,281,485. The original design included a 21,000 sq. ft. administration
building, which included eight staff offices, four classrooms, a 100 seat lecture hall, a defensive
tactics room, and a physical fitness room. The facility would also include a firing range complex
and several multi-floor burn tower structures. Future plans included a swift water rescue training
area, an emergency vehicle operations course, and other similar hands-on training structures.
Beutner reviewed details of the alternative option. Staff had identified an area on the east side of
City Hall East to use as a training facility. He stated it would provide just over 20,000 square
feet that would include four classrooms, five offices, a meeting area, a break room, a law library,
a room for driving simulators, a defensive tactics room, a cardio/fitness room, a weight room, a
locker room with restrooms and shower facilities, and adequate storage space. Staff estimated
that approximately $1.6 million dollars would be required to design and finish out the unused
space. Staff had identified $500,000 from currently available CIP funding, and $1.0 million
dollars could be acquired through the issuance of Certificates of Obligation after October 1.
Beutner stated that prior to the decision to delay construction on the new training facility, the
Police Department had applied for and received three federal grants. The first grant was for
computers and audio/visual equipment in the amount of $344,960. The second grant was for
furniture and driving simulators in the amount of $500,000. The third grant was for a use of
force simulator, moveable wall system, and various training equipment in the amount of
$1,000,000. These grants were limited to the purchase or lease of law enforcement training
equipment. Each of these grants had a specific deadline and they could meet the specifications
of the grants with this facility.
Mayor Burroughs asked if this space was designated for any other use.
City Manager Campbell stated it was not.
City of Denton City Council Minutes
April 10, 2012
Page 2
Beutner stated that they had contacted the grant coordinators in Washington to find out if they
could still use the grants if nothing had changed except the site. The grant coordinators did not
think this would be a problem.
Beutner said that the Denton County Sheriff’s Office was about to undertake a renovation of
their pre-trial intake facility this summer. The renovation of the facility would result in the loss
of a large training room. While the Sheriff’s Office has long term plans to replace the lost
training space in the next several years, they would need a classroom and office space for their
training staff in the interim. The Sheriff’s Office had verbally committed to provide Texas Law
Enforcement Officer Standards and Education funds allocated to the Sheriff’s Office. Staff
would work out the details of the partnership with the Sheriff’s Office.
Council Member Roden asked if there were other partnerships that were worth pursuing, such as
the TWU police department or UNT police department or other cities where there might be a
potential revenue source from rental of the facility.
Chief Howell stated that revenue was always a possibility depending on the use of it. There
might be potential revenue through the training consortium which included Denton County,
Lewisville, UNT, The Colony, Coppell, Farmers Branch, Carrollton, Frisco, and Flower Mound.
They currently traded and rotated on instructors, classes and where the classes would be held.
Council Member Gregory asked if any of this funding was from the last bond election.
Chief Howell stated it was not.
Council Member Engelbrecht questioned whether there was enough parking to accommodate
100 plus vehicles.
Chief Howell stated that the parking lot at Hickory and Railroad had 70 parking spaces. There
were other spaces around the Police Department that were not dedicated parking spots. There
were additional spaces on the north side of the building.
General consensus of the Council was that it was a good plan and to move forward with this
alternative option.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:40 p.m.
____________________________________
MARK A. BURROUGHS
MAYOR
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
____________________________________
JANE RICHARDSON
ASST. CITY SECRETARY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS