November 05, 2012 Miinutes
CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
November 5, 2012
After determining that a quorum was present, the City Council convened in a Work Session on
Monday, November 5, 2012 at 11:30 a.m. in the City Work Session Room.
PRESENT: Council Member Watts, Council Member Gregory, Council Member Engelbrecht,
Council Member King, Council Member Roden, Mayor Pro Tem Kamp, Mayor
Burroughs
ABSENT: None
1. Receive a report, hold a discussion, and give staff direction regarding the addition of
natural gas as an alternative transportation fuel for a portion of the Solid Waste and
Recycling Services collection fleet and other interested City departments.
Vance Kemler, General Manager-Solid Waste, presented information concerning the addition of
natural gas as an alternative transportation fuel for Solid Waste.
Key issues included (1) national, state and local policy, (2) background on the gas industry and
grants, (3) fuel processing, (4) truck performance and maintenance, (5) safety and emissions, (6)
project goals, and (7) overview and recommendation. He noted that CNG meant compressed
natural gas and LNG meant liquid natural gas.
National, State and Local Policy – in April 2012 governors from 13 states signed a letter to
automakers asking for help in converting state fleets from gasoline to CNG. The Department of
Energy had announced projects to advance innovative natural gas vehicle technologies. The US
Council of Mayors supported the Natural Gas Act. The City’s policy was to promote Clean Fleet
Initiatives since 2005. The proposal also corresponded to the City’s Strategic Plan regarding
sustainable economic development and environmental stewardship for improved local and
regional air quality and the management of natural resources. A listing of CNG/LNG vehicles in
the U.S. was presented. Alternative fueling stations in the U. S. were also presented.
TCEQ Clean Transportation Triangle Grant - Fueling Stations - Denton was awarded a grant in
the amount of $400,000 for establishing a CNG/LNG fueling station. The Station was to be
open to the public and was a reimbursement grant. Council must accept the grant after which
Purchasing would issue an RFP to develop a public/private partnership to develop and operate a
fueling station.
The TCEQ Texas Clean Fleet Program Grant was an additional grant that was available for
vehicles. This grant was limited to replacement trucks and the amount received was a percentage
of the truck cost, based on the age of the vehicle engine.
Kemler presented information on fuel price comparisons in terms of unit of measurement and
fuel cost per diesel gallon equivalent.
Council Member Watts asked what the easiest way was to correlate the price of natural gas and
diesel raw pricing at the pump prices.
Kemler stated that right now the gallon equivalent to raw gas was 40-45 cents per gallon which
was more than diesel at the pump.
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November 5, 2012
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Council Member Gregory asked if the diesel gallon was the same as miles per gallon or volume.
Kemler stated that the economy compared compressed gas to diesel was equal to or slightly less
than diesel fuel. The equivalency was to look at BTU energy value and compare energy value of
diesel grade. Natural gas had a minimum amount of BTU per national regulations.
The Solid Waste annual fuel budget impact was reviewed. Cost savings would be approximately
$550,000 when half of the fleet was converted. The increased vehicle cost for CNG was $40,000
per truck which the grants would help reduce this increased truck cost. The CGN investment
payback period was 2.9-3.2 years and the collection truck replacement cycle was 7 years.
Council discussed the provisions of the grant in terms of replacement vehicles and what would
be done to the fleet with the new vehicles.
Kemler continued with the CNG truck performance versus diesel, safety, and emissions.
Project Goals - the Solid Waste Department would like to promote environmental sustainability
by improving local and regional air quality through the addition of CNG fueled vehicles. It also
wanted to improve the operations sustainability by using local natural gas as a vehicle fuel
thereby reducing the purchase of diesel fuel and desired to reduce and better control fuel costs in
providing collection services.
Project Overview – the proposed project would transition a portion of the Solid Waste Collection
fleet to CNG fuel with at least 8 trucks converted in the first year. The project would also
establish the first CNG and/or LNG fueling stations to support the community’s current and
future natural gas fueling needs. This would require a request for proposal for a public/private
partnership to construct/operate a public access fueling station.
The Public Utilities Board and staff recommended (1) the acceptance of the $400,000 Clean
Transportation Triangle Grant, (2) the City partner with a private entity to construct and operate
the natural gas fueling facility, and (3) the Solid Waste department transition a portion of the
Solid Waste fleet to CNG fueling.
Mayor Pro Tem Kamp asked if there were private companies in the area that built these types of
facilities.
Kemler stated that he had spoken to more than six in the area. Some of those companies had
experience in the solid waste area.
Mayor Burroughs asked what the match would be for the $400,000 grant.
Kemler stated that this was not a matching grant but rather a reimbursement grant. The final cost
of the station would be more than $400,000.
Mayor Burroughs asked about the cost for a station.
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November 5, 2012
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Kemler stated that the City would be requesting both CNG and LNG fueling capacity in the RFP.
The possible range of cost would be $2-$4 million to put in the station depending on the
alternatives used. There were three possible sites near the landfill.
Mayor Burroughs asked what the City would have to provide with this arrangement.
Kemler stated that there were many possible components. One would be to guarantee a certain
amount of fuel purchased which would be based on the number of trucks purchased. As the
facility would be on city property, there would be a ground lease which would provide revenue
to the City. The rate structure for fuel would be less than the current retail pump rate. The
capital costs for the building of the facility would be recouped from the rate charged to the City
and to customers.
Council Member Gregory stated that the DISD had a number of buses that operated on propane.
He asked if that was different from CNG.
Kemler stated that propane was different from CNG. Staff would be approaching the County
and DISD to see if they might want to transition their fleet to CNG over time.
Council Member Watts stated if the City moved forward to buy eight trucks that the grant money
would help offset the cost and if there were some funds remaining, it would be very important
what was done with the savings. He suggested not placing it in the General Fund but rather put it
in a fund to help finance the facility or help fund future trucks not subject to the grant. If the
project was going to go forward, he suggested providing the location as a convenience for other
municipalities and others to come to Denton to use the facility. The public component was very
important.
Kemler agreed that the public component was very important.
Council Member Watts felt that there was a need to look for the correct placement for the facility
as an incentive for future development. Look for convenience for the outside customers and how
to use the facility for economic development purposes.
Kemler stated that part of the grant involved the proximity of the facility to the Interstate. Ease
of access was a key component.
Council Member Roden asked who benefited from the use of the facility.
Council discussed the different types of stations and the different volumes to produce from those
stations, the time to fuel the trucks as opposed to diesel fueling, what would happen if that
station went down, and who would be involved in the pricing of the gas.
Mayor Burroughs noted that after the proposals were in Council would have another discussion
on the project.
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November 5, 2012
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2. Receive a report, hold a discussion, and give staff direction regarding an ordinance of the
City of Denton, Texas amending Chapter 13 (Food and Food Service Establishments) of
the City of Denton Code of Ordinances by deleting Articles I, II, III, IV, V and VI in
their entirety; adopting the Texas Food Establishment Rules promulgated by the Texas
Department of State Health Services and making related deletions and amendments.
Kurt Hansen, Building Official, presented the information on the proposed ordinance for Food
and Food Service Establishments. He reviewed the public meetings history of the proposal. The
current version of the ordinance was adopted in 2004. The Texas Food Establishment Rules set
the minimum standard for the ordinance. He noted that the City now had over 600 food
establishments.
The following were changes in the proposed ordinance from the August 2012 version:
(1) Definition of commercially manufactured – the change revised the wording to “a person”
showing a high degree of skill or competence rather than the previous wording of “a
professional”.
(2) Definition of community market – the change provided a separate definition of community
market as opposed to the definition of a farmers market.
Council Member Roden asked if the proposal would allow for more temporary permits.
Hansen stated that the community market would be a subset of the farmers market.
Council Member Gregory asked if the definition for “homegrown” would preclude farm grown
produce rather than produce from a backyard.
Hansen stated if a person was producing food for the public a manufacturer’s license would be
required.
Laurie Pearson, Health Inspector, stated that both types of produce would be allowed at a
community market. The word “primarily” allowed for the flexibility in where the food was
produced.
Council Member Gregory stated that larger operations would be allowed.
Pearson stated yes and an application would be required.
Council Member Roden stated that there was a definition for community market but there was no
reference to it in the ordinance. He questioned how a community market and farmers market
would be administered. He suggested including something in the ordinance.
(3) Class III Mobile Food Establishments – this was an added section to the ordinance. The
Class I Mobile Food Establishment was a hot/cold truck with pre-packaged food. Class II was a
mobile food establishment that would prepare the food on site. A Class III unit was one that
operated only at one location for the life of a permit and only served a limited menu as approved
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November 5, 2012
Page 5
by the Consumer Health Division. It was similar to the large push carts located at Home Depot
or Lowes. A Class IV unit would be a limited service pushcart which was one which was pushed
from place to place.
Mayor Burroughs expressed concern about listing such a defined list of food. A specific
definition would be difficult in enforcing the ordinance.
Hansen stated that the items on the list were easy foods to keep warm and safe for the public.
Other items were harder to keep warm and safe such as corn dogs. If a vendor wanted something
different, they could get approval from the Health Inspector.
Mayor Burroughs was concerned about the implementation of foods not listed. He suggested
working on internal rules on how to enforce different foods. If staff kept finding foods to add to
the list, then the ordinance could be changed to accommodate those types of foods.
City Manager Campbell stated that if the wording was too vague, a vendor could get around the
inspection process. The process would be to bring items not on list to the Health Inspector for
approval.
Mayor Burroughs stated that when the internal rules on what to look for were established, staff
would be establishing patterns on equipment. The Health Department would look at this to
determine if other non-listed foods could be incorporated.
Hansen stated that could be added to the permit package that was provided a possible vendor.
Mayor Pro Tem Kamp stated that the health inspectors saw this everyday and liked the
suggestion to bring that forward in the future.
Council Member Gregory stated that flexibility for food items was in the statement “unless
authorized by the Health Inspector”.
Mayor Burroughs suggested including the food items listed in Class IV in the list of food items
for Class III.
(4) Clarify section of definition of push carts – this section was eliminated and replaced with a
definition for Class IV Mobile Food Establishments.
Hansen presented information on push cart requirements in a comparison with Denton, Dallas,
Fort Worth and Austin.
(5) Temporary Food Permits – staff was proposing increasing the number of temporary food
permits from 3 permits per year to 6 permits per year per establishment with no time period
between the permits.
Council Member Roden questioned the limiting of the number of temporary permits per year.
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November 5, 2012
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Hansen stated the limiting of the number permits was to keep vendors from opening a food
establishment every weekend.
Council Member Gregory stated that he would like "community based" wording put back into
the language.
Hansen stated that “community based” was taken out as it was a very broad definition; however,
if Council desired, that wording could be put back into the ordinance.
Council Member Watts stated that a community based event was an event where people were
invited to attend as opposed to just setting up in a location with nothing happening.
Council Member Roden felt that if the definition of community based was placed in the
ordinance, he would not be as concerned about the number of permits.
(6) Air curtain requirement – this requirement was deleted from the proposed ordinance as the
regulations were already covered in the TEFER.
(7) Clarify "one location" – the wording was changed to define one location as “one parcel of
land”.
(8) Mobile Food Establishments & Special Events – the wording change would allow mobile
food establishments that had a current permit to be permitted at Special Events with permission
from the Event Coordinator.
(9) Eliminate setback requirement – the Legal Department felt that the setback regulations
should stay in the ordinance.
(10) Comments and Suggestions – a comment/suggestion section was added to the Consumer
Health webpage for suggestions.
(11) Daily servicing at commissary – this section would tell where the mobile food truck was
going for food, where it was going to wash out the vehicle, where the used grease would be
dumped. The proposed ordinance was changed from only being able to use one location to being
able to use multiple locations.
Council discussed the definition of commissary and procedures for operating at temporary
events.
Hansen stated that wording could be added that during a temporary event, as long as the truck
was clean, it would not have to move every day get to a commissary.
Mayor Burroughs stated that the Event Coordinator could make certain the trucks were clean to
get the desired outcome.
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November 5, 2012
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(12) Using an existing food establishment as a commissary – this would be allowed in the
proposed ordinance only if the existing food establishment was approved by the health officer.
There were requirements which the location would have to meet in order to be approved.
(13) Neighborhood Associations – the revised ordinance indicated that a mobile unit could not
sell food in a residential district without written permission from the homeowners association or
neighborhood association. The units would not be allowed in a residential zone that did not have
an active homeowners or neighborhood association.
The Health and Building Standards Commission recommended a six month trial run period and
then a re-evaluation of the ordinance.
Council Member Watts suggested that a six month trial period might be too long and suggested
having the flexibility to bring the ordinance back for review sooner if needed.
Council Member Roden felt it was good timing to move forward with ordinance and not delay it
any longer. He noted that the requirements for the fire code might also present problems with
the goal of the policy.
Hansen stated that they had always enforced the fire department regulations for many years. He
did not foresee any other surprises.
Mayor Burroughs suggested looking at the fire suppression issue at a later date as changes had
happened over the years. At that time there could be a general discussion on the differences in
new technology.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:06 p.m.
____________________________________
MARK A. BURROUGHS
MAYOR
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
____________________________________
JENNIFER WALTERS
CITY SECRETARY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS