November 03, 2014 Minutes
CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
November 3, 2014
After determining that a quorum was present, the City Council convened in a Work Session on
Monday, November 3, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. in the Council Work Session Room at City Hall.
PRESENT: Mayor Pro Tem Engelbrecht, Council Member Gregory, Council Member
Hawkins, Council Member Johnson, Council Member Roden, and Council
Member Ryan and Mayor Chris Watts.
ABSENT: None
1. Work Session Reports
ID 14-0734
A. Receive a report, hold a discussion, and consider enacting a resolution
concerning Risk Level 5 of the Mosquito Surveillance and Response Plan of the City of
Denton.
Kenneth Banks, Environmental Services and Utility Budget Director, reviewed the most recent
information related to the Mosquito Surveillance and Response Plan. He stated that on August
18, the first West Nile Virus positive mosquito sample was collected and the mosquito risk level
was raised to Risk Level 3 “Public Health Concern”. On September 4, a second WNV positive
mosquito sample was collected, resulting in a change to Risk Level 4 “Public Health Warning”.
A human WNV case was reported in Denton on September 12, which did not change the risk
level since Risk Level 4 was triggered by either multiple WNV positive mosquito traps or a
single human case of WNV.
Banks stated that on October 30, the City received notification from the Denton County Health
Department of a second human case of West Nile virus. The onset date for this patient was
approximately 6 weeks ago. This result placed Denton at Risk Level 5 based on the trigger
condition of multiple human cases and Risk Level 5 would be enacted the week of November 3.
The Mosquito Surveillance and Response Plan control measures for Risk Level 5 included
consideration of targeted adulticide applications using ground-based ultra-low volume
equipment. The decision to spray would be made by a resolution of the Council prior to the first
application for each mosquito season.
Banks stated that staff was providing this information to discuss a resolution authorizing ground-
based applications of mosquito adulticides with the City Council.
The Council discussed different weather conditions that could affect the current level of
mosquito activity and the need to spray.
General consensus of Council was to take no action on the resolution at this time.
ID 14-0709
B. Receive a report, hold a discussion, conduct a tour and provide staff direction
regarding solid waste and recycling services including but not limited to dumpster
locations, recycling and waste diversion goals, and expansion of the Municipal Solid
Waste (MSW) Facility.
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November 3, 2014
Page 2
David Dugger, Landfill Manager, took the Council on a tour of the Solid Waste facilities. The
Council visited the Pratt Recycling and Material Recovery Facility, the Recycling Drop-off
Center, Home Chemical Collection ReUse Store, Dyno Dirt Sales area, the Yard Trimmings
Drop-off area, the Appliances and Electronics Recycling area, the Asphalt and Concrete
Recycling area, DTE Gas-to-Energy Generator, and the Landfill Weigh Station.
Vance Kemler, General Manager of Solid Waste and Recycling Services, gave an update of
dumpsters in the Right-of-Way. He stated that in 2003 there were 2,297 dumpsters in service,
24,350 cubic yards serviced per week, and 490 dumpsters in the Right-of-Way. In 2014, there
were 2,836 dumpsters in service, 31,732 cubic yards serviced per week, and 322 dumpsters in
the Right-of-Way. Of the 322 dumpsters in the ROW, approximately 65-70% might potentially
be relocated. To relocate these might necessitate some involuntary requirement over a period of
time which would require City Council approval of such a plan.
The remaining customers with dumpsters in the Right-of-Way could be categorized as follows:
dumpsters that had the potential to be relocated onto the owner’s property, but the owners were
not receptive to voluntarily relocating their dumpster; dumpsters that appeared to have no
inexpensive relocation alternative, such as parking lot surface which was not strong enough to
support the collection truck without damaging the surface; dumpsters that were shared by more
than one customer with none of the property owners or tenants wanting to move the dumpster(s)
onto their property; dumpsters in the downtown area that appeared to have limited or no
relocation alternative on the customer’s property or in the proximity of their business; and
dumpsters with no apparent relocation alternative, due to inadequate clearance or unsafe
ingress/egress.
Kemler stated that another topic was the Solid Waste Service Options for the Downtown Square
District. Staff had conducted research on currently available collection systems for the
downtown area which included: hand-collected bagged service with all dumpsters removed,
cart-based services, side load dumpster service (on-street, with casters and enclosures to screen
the dumpsters), and front-load dumpster service (adding enclosures as part of “muse” street
redevelopment.
The addition of recycling and trash dumpster service in the Square District and implementing the
shared use of dumpsters by the merchants had allowed the Department to reduce the number of
trash dumpsters. This allowed the addition of recycling dumpsters for the district, while still
enabling the Department to reduce the total number of dumpsters. This option had provided the
most economical service option for those customers of the Square District. Addition of the
dumpster enclosures would be added as the “muse” streets undergo their scheduled
improvements.
Kemler stated that another topic was achieving sustainability and the City’s 40% and Beyond
Waste Diversion (Recycling) Goal. He stated that the Residential Collection Service through its
curbside recycling programs (electronics, yard waste and household chemical collection) had
achieved a 39% diversion rate. The landfill’s recycling programs (asphalt, concrete and building
materials recovery) had achieved a 33% waste diversion rate. The Commercial Collection
Service that provided trash and recycling service to the multi-family residential customers and to
the business, industrial and institutional customers were diverting less than 10% of their waste
from disposal. This sector of the community generated more than 50% of the waste and had the
greatest potential for diverting waste from landfill disposal. He stated that staff wanted to
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November 3, 2014
Page 3
develop a Sustainable Resource Management Plan over the next year that would offer a variety
of options to increase the diversion of recyclables and other resources from their current waste
streams.
Due to time limitations, no additional topics were covered and the meeting was adjourned at 1:30
p.m.
____________________________________
CHRIS WATTS
MAYOR
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
____________________________________
JANE RICHARDSON
ASSISTANT CITY SECRETARY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS