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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/20/1977 City Council 000047 MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING THE CITY OF THE 00LONY DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS JUNE 20, 1977 THE STATE OF TEXAS ) ) COUNTY OF DENTON ) The City Council of the City of The Colony, Denton County, Texas, convened in regular session, open to the public, at the north end of the First Baptist Church in the City of The Colony, Denton County, Texas, at 7,30 P.M., Monday, June 20, 1977, and the roll was called of the members of the Council, to wit, Luis Guerrero Mayor Linda Adams Alderman Dave Dall Alderman Joe Gaulden Alderman Sandra Shearer Alderman Dick Weaver Alderman and all members were present, thus constituting a quorum. Also present were Bill Davis, attorney; Janice Carroll, acting secretary to the City Council~ and members of the public. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Luis Guerrero who welcomed all residents and visitors. At this time Mayor Guerrero reminded all present of the new rules and procedures relative to open discussion. A newspaper had commented on the value of this procedure due to the size of The Colony. Mayor Guerrero stated that many cities have adopted this procedur, e, including Frisco, which limits comments only to that meeting's agenda with a time limit of three minutes. The Colony does not limit comments to the agenda only and allows each person to have the floor for five minutes. At this time Mayor Guerrero asked that due to the impor- tance of item #4, the Budget, that it be shifted to the last item on the agenda to allow adequate discussion. The Aldermen agreed to this change. 000048 The first item considered by the City Council was approval of the minutes submitted for the meeting of May 26 and the minutes for the regular meeting of June 6. Alderman Dall called attention to page two of the June 6 minutes in that the Rules of Procedure, Paragraph 3.4B was corrected to read all citizens rather than all male citizens shall refrain from wearing a hat in the meeting. Alderman Adams moved to accept both minutes as written. Alderman Dall seconded the motion. The motion was carried by the following vote, Ayes, Ail members present voted aye Noes, None The second item on the agenda related to the nomination and acceptance of the members of the Planning and Zoning Commis- sion. Alderman Adams explained that each alderman had recommended a person for this commission who has had previous experience in this area and showed a desire and willingness to work. Those nominated were Art Welty, Mike Mansfield, Harry Hunsicker, Kathy Bock, and Bob Brown. At this time Alderman Adams moved that the nominees be accepted as the members of the Plamuing and Zoning Commission. Alderman Weaver seconded the motion. The motion was carried by the following vote, Ayes: Ail members present voted aye Noes, None Alderman Dick Weaver was then given the floor to discuss item three, the enactment of a Park and Recreation Committee. Alderman Weaver stated that at this time he was ngt in a posi- tion to discuss locations and financing. The committee will be a planning committee to handle this. Alderman Weaver then asked for names to be submitted of persons that would be interested in serving on this committee. Agenda item four regarding the'~,leas~ law was then con- sidered. Mayor Luis Guerrero asked Alderman Sandra Shearer to read the leash law for the second time. Mayor Guerrero stated that a study of this ordinance in relation to cats was being 0,00049 conducted and that a definite proposal would be ready for the next meeting prior to the third and final reading of this ordinance. Mayor Guerrero asked the aldermen if they had any comments at this time. Alderman Adams stated that Section 1.15 related to vicious dogs and asked if any consideration was due vicious cats. Bill Davis, attorney, recommended that a section be included on rabies to give the City authority to pick up animals if suspected of rabies. Mayor Guerrero stated that Alderman Shearer was lining up a veterinarian for shots and registration in The Colony. Alderman Weaver made the point that if the animals were registered, they must also be inoculated against rabies. At this time, Alderman Adams made the motion to table the leash law until the next meeting. Alderman Dall seconded the motion. The motion was carried by the followi~ vote, Ayes, Ail members present voted aye Noes, None Mayor Guerrero presented item five, the consideration of "Minimum Fines" in regards to traffic violations. Mayor ~uerrero stated he has procured from the City of Lewisville a list of their minimum fines to use as a reference and study guide and planned that The Colony ordinances be ready by the next meeting. The sixth item to be considered was the renting of office space to be used by the City. Mayor Guerrero stated that he had been in contact with Ron Walden of Fox & Jacobs and had received a fair rental price on the office space located in the building with the "Stop & Go". He said he had also spoken with Rick Chadwick, Manager of the Colony Municipal Utility District #1, and it is possible they would help defray costs by having one employee there to handle collections of water payments and the sale of garbage bags. Alderman Dall stated that there is an immediate need for a central facility and a central phone to aid in communication. Alderman Gaulden OO0O50 asked if all commissions wouldhave the use of the building. Mayor Guerrero said that they, of course, would and that there is also a possibility that M.U.D. would have their meetings in this location. Alderman Dall commented that the Sheriff's departn~ent would also have the use of this facility. The M.U.D. copy machine would still be available for the City's use Mayor Guerrero informed Alderman Gaulden. Bill Davis, attorney, thought that it should be made clear that the office space would be rented on a month to month basis until September 30, 1977, when a new yearly budget would go into effect. At this time Alderman Adams made a motion that Mayor Guerrero negotiate with Fox & Jacobs to secure office space on a month to month basis. Alderman Weaver seconded the motion. The motion was carried by the following vote, Ayes, Ail members voted aye Noes~ None Mayor Guerrero recognized Fire Chief Chuck Kimberling to discuss item seven on the agenda, the adoption of the Uniform Fire Code, 1976, as amended. Chief Kimberling did recommend the adoption of this particular code, as it is presently being used in many of the major Texas cities and appears to be effective. Chief Kimberling stated that the code could be amended in the future as needed. Mayor Guerrero stated that the ordinance would be prepared and read at the July 11 meeting. As Mayor Guerrero requested, item four of the announced agenda, the budget, was the final item discussed at the meeting. Mayor Guerrero opened by mentioning that we have a fixed income from the Franchise Fee paid by the electrical company in the amount of $20,625.00. He generally reviewed the different areas of the budget explaining the format used. At this time Bill Davis, attorney, asked that Mayor Guerrero explain for those present the short time period of the budget. Mayor Guerrero stated that September 30 is the end of the fiscal year for the city government for tax collection purposes~ 0000,51 therefore, the five month budget. A member of the audience asked approximately what balance amount this budget showed. Mayor Guerrero answered that the City would have a balance of approxi- mately $5,000. Mayor Guerrero then called for a brief adjourn- ment to allow members of the audience an opportunity to read the budget. After reconvening, Mayor Guerrero asked for comments on the budgetl there were none. Mayor Guerrero ex- plained that the budget must be filed with the City Secretary, the State Comptroller, and, he thought, the county Clerk. Fifteen (15) days after filing, it would be formally approved. To comply with the laws of the State of Texas, a Certified Public Accountant must audit the books on/or before September 15, and a complete financial statement must be made public. Bill Davis pointed out that this is made available to the public so that they can see exactly how their City's money is being spent. Mayor Guerrero interjected at this point that the only deviation from the formal budget would be an emergency situation, and it would have to be brought before the Council before a change could be made. Mayor Guerrero said that the budget is being filed tonight, and copies of the budget will be available to the public as soon as possible. Following the new rules and procedures, Mayor Guerrero opened the meeting to the floor. Mayor Guerrero recognized Linda Doughty, who asked who was responsible for the road from Branch Hollow to the "Stop & Go." Mayor Guerrero said he felt sure Fox & Jacobs is responsible for this roadway and suggested that she contact Dean Graves at the Flair Models. George Morgan was then recognized. Mr. Morgan was con- cerned with youths riding motorcycles on the Texas Power & Light easement and the problems this causes -- noise, dust, and possible danger. Mayor Guerrero said several actions were being considered, (1) making riding a motorcycle on the eastment a violation and violators fined accordinglyl (2) con- tacting Dean Graves of Fox & Jacobs to see if a new area · : 00005 coUld be designated for the motorcycleSl (3) again alerting the Sheriff's Department to watch this situationl and (4) putting this as one of the top priority items of our new police chief. An item to also consider for future enactment is a curfew time, which would give the City some authority over this and other problems. At this point, Bob Clair was recognized, and he again emphasized the seriousness of the motorcycle problem and felt that a city ordinance was the only effective method of control. He mentioned youthful vandalism thatis also becoming a problem. Again, Mayor Guerrero mentioned the pos- sibility of a curfew to control this problem. As a city ordi- nance, possibly the child could be responsible for his actions on the first offensel the parent responsible for thelsecond offense and a fine levied to compensate for damages. Relating to the above mentioned problems, Joe Forish was recognized and asked what future activities were possibly being planned for the teens. Mayor Guerrero said that he had checked into thelpossibility of getting a YMCA in The Colony, but we do not have enough people yet to warrant the need nor do we have any available land to donate to the YMCA. From the floor Bill Longo said that the Colony Jaycees were working on a work/study plan for teenagers. Martha Kimberling was recog- nized and reminded those present the "C" Company was not limited to boys, and all teenagers were eligible after they completed the eighth grade. Bob Clair was again recognized and asked if there was any way to control the upkeep of our neighborhoods. Alderman Dall said that at this time there were deed restrictions~ but to enforce them a person must file with the county and bring a suit against his neighbor. The Council does plan to incor- porate these restrictions into the city ordinances. At this time, Alderman Dall made mention of possibly another line of action that could be taken on the motorcycle problem -- putting a request for control to the parents in our local newspaper. 000053 Alderman Gaulden stated that a Law Enforcement Commission is being planned to handle many of the aforementioned problems and asked the members of the audience for the submission of resumes and statements from anyone interested in serving on this committee. He further stated that this commission will serve as a guideline for out future police chief, in that he will have immediate knowledge of our most pressing problems. Bill Longo was again recognized and asked if fines could be levied against those that do not yield to an emergency vehicle or obstruct fire lanes. Mayor Guerrero answered that this will be included in the city ordinances. The Texas Office of Traffic Safety has agreed to do a traffic survey of The Colony. Gary Green was recognized and asked about crosswalks and appropriate traffic laws for school areas. He was told that Fox & Jacobs will paint crosswalks~ and Alderman Shearer is in charge of procuring volunteers to aid the children in crossing the streets on the way to and from school. There being no further action to be taken by the Council, Mayor Guerrero called for a motion to adjourn. Alderman Dall moved that the meeting be adjourned and the motion was seconded by Alderman Gaulden. The motion was carried by the following vote, Ayes, Ail members present voted aye Noes, None