December 02, 2013 Minutes
CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
December 2, 2013
Joint Meeting of the City of Denton City Council and the Denton Independent School District
Board of Trustees on Monday, December 2, 2013 at 11:30 a.m. in the DISD Central Services
Building, 1307 N. Locust St., Denton, Texas.
PRESENT: Mayor Burroughs; Council Member Engelbrecht, Council Member Gregory,
Council Member King, Council Member Roden, Council Member Hawkins
ABSENT: Mayor Pro Tem Kamp
1.Call to order; announce quorum, introductions.
Mayor Burroughs announced that a quorum of the Council was present and called the City
Council portion of the meeting to order.
2.Receive a report, hold a discussion, and give staff direction regarding a proposed Hotel
and Convention Center.
City Manager Campbell stated that the City was close to completing a developer’s agreement to
present to Council. There were a number of elements affected by the agreement as well as other
entities involved such as UNT and the Chamber of Commerce.
Jon Fortune, Assistant City Manager, presented an update on the project. The update included a
project overview, collaboration of entities, the site location and type of proposed hotel.
The proposed hotel was an Embassy Suites Hotel with a Houlihan’s restaurant. There was also
an educational opportunity through the UNT School of Hospitality. The City would fund and
own the convention center. However, the City was not funding the hotel. The goal was to have
the convention center be self-supporting. The City would sell Certificates of Obligation to fund
the site. To assist with the financing, a Tax Increment Finance District would be formed. This
would allow participation by the DISD and the County.
Next Steps – The next steps in the process included (1) approving the development agreements,
(2) begin design, (3) initiate the creation of a tax increment finance district, (4) solicit
construction proposals, (5) finalize the project budget, (6) close on the financing, finalize the
bonds, and (7) begin the design.
Mayor Burroughs asked if there were current facilities which looked like the proposed
convention center.
Fortune stated that the facilities in Frisco and San Marcus had a similar look to the proposed
facility in Denton. The Denton facility would have a different look as it would be built with
LEED certification.
Trustee Stafford asked about the architect.
Fortune stated that there would be an in-house architect but with outside construction help.
Trustee Smith asked about the history of the project in terms of why the prior hotel was torn
down.
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December 2, 2013
Page 2
Fortune stated that the former hotel needed significant refurbishing. UNT felt that it was in the
best interest to take it down.
Trustee Smith asked whether the current location would present any problems.
Fortune stated that two market studies had been done regarding a convention center. The studies
showed that there was a need and a demand for a convention center in this location.
Trustee Smith expressed a concern putting the proposed facility in this neighborhood due to
neighborhood opposition.
Fortune stated that a traffic circle had been approved by the neighborhood.
Mayor Burroughs stated that staff had been working with the neighborhood to do as little harm
as possible to the area.
3.Receive a report and hold a discussion regarding legislative programs of interest to the
City of Denton and Denton Independent School District including but not limited to
topics that might be recommended for interim study by the Texas Legislature.
Mayor Burroughs stated that Speaker Strauss had addressed a recent meeting of mayors and
indicated that interim committees were being formed. Strauss had asked for suggestions on
topics for discussion. Mayor Burroughs suggested that cities were under attack by the State in
terms of city authority and governance.
Trustee Stafford suggested a possible topic might be the use of the remainder of the City sales
tax for early childhood education. A collaborative effort among various governmental entities
could help further this idea. Another suggestion would be transportation for early childhood
programs.
Trustee Rodriguez suggested making the topic broader than just early childhood education.
Council Member Engelbrecht asked if there was a timeline to submit ideas.
Mayor Burroughs suggested the topic of limited sales tax issue for specific projects.
Council Member King left the meeting.
4.Discuss possible future meeting topics.
Suggested topics for future meetings included (1) partnerships, (2) updates on projects each
entity was working on and (3) Denton pre-kindergarten issue.
5.Under Section 551.042 of the Texas Open Meetings Act, respond to inquiries from the
City Council or the public with specific factual information or recitation of policy, or
accept a proposal to place the matter on the agenda for an upcoming meeting
AND
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December 2, 2013
Page 3
Under Section 551.0415 of the Texas Open Meetings Act, provide reports about items of
community interest regarding which no action will be taken, to include: expressions of
thanks, congratulations, or condolence; information regarding holiday schedules; an
honorary or salutary recognition of a public official, public employee, or other citizen; a
reminder about an upcoming event organized or sponsored by the governing body;
information regarding a social, ceremonial, or community event organized or sponsored
by an entity other than the governing body that was attended or is scheduled to be
attended by a member of the governing body or an official or employee of the
municipality; or an announcement involving an imminent threat to the public health and
safety of people in the municipality that has arisen after the posting of the agenda.
There was no new business suggested by Council Members.
6. Adjourn.
With no further business, the Mayor adjourned the City Council portion of the meeting at 1:15
p.m.
____________________________________
MARK A. BURROUGHS
MAYOR
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
____________________________________
JENNIFER WALTERS
CITY SECRETARY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS