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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. City of Denton City Council Minutes 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 City of Denton City Council Minutes 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