Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/26/1982 City Council O0110G MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON MARCH 26, 1982 A SPECIAL SESSION of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 6 p.m. with the following members present: Scott North Acting Mayor Larry Sample Councilman Norman Adeler Councilman Charlie Parker Councilman Charles Dodds Councilman and with no members absent; thus, a quorum was established. 1. CONSIDERATION OF ORDINANCE ABANDONING PORTIONS OF STEWART'S CREEK ROAD IN FAVOR OF THE ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER, FOX & JACOBS, INC. Acting Mayor North introduced Dan Savage, City Manager, who reported on action he had taken since Monday, March 22. He explained that at their regular meeting March 22, the Council did request a second appraisal and, at that time, Mr. Savage advised them this would be difficult to obtain by March 26. Mr. Savage advised further that he had discussed this situation with Mr. Randy Denton, who is qualified to do this appraisal work, and Mr. Denton stated that he would need 30 days to do this work adequately. The Council was supplied copies of Mr. Denton's resume. Mr. Denton had also advised Mr. Savage that he did not feel that he would have any difficulty in doing this appraisal work in The Colony. Mr. Savage advised that he received the information concerning Mr. Denton from a staff member in the City of Carrollton, and he suggested at this time that he felt Mr. Denton would be capable of doing the work, if the Council was interested in seeking this second appraisal. During the week Mr. Savage and Mr. Ron Walden of Fox & Jacobs had met with several members of the Council to discuss this abandonment and reappraisal process, as well as concern about Section 27. The consensus of. the Council was to concentrate on the reappraisal of Section 27 tonight and Mr. Savage outlined this procedure for them from the information which was supplied to them prior to the meeting in a proposed Escrow Agreement. At this time, Acting Mayor North stated that he would read the ordinance aloud and then open the floor for discussion. Acting Mayor North then read the following captioned ordinance: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS, ABANDONING A PORTION OF STEWART'S CREEK ROAD IN FAVOR OF THE ABUTTING PROPERTY OWNER, FOX & JACOBS, INC., FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION OF THE SUM OF $15,000.00; PROVIDING THAT SUCH ABANDONMENT SHALL BE ALL THE INTEREST WHICH THE CITY MAY LEGALLY AND LAWFULLY ABANDON; PROVIDING THAT SAID ORDINANCE SHALL CONSTI- TUTE A QUITCLAIM DEED THAT MAY BE RECORDED WITH THE COUNTY CLERK OF DENTON COUNTY, TEXAS; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Councilman Parker moved to accept this ordinance. Seconded by Councilman Adeler, the motion was passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None At this time, Councilman Sample asked if this was the 1.4777-acre tract in Section 27 and Mr. Savage stated that it was. Councilman Sample also wished to know if there were any houses in this Tract A, and Mr. Savage answered that there were none. Councilman Adeler further clarified that there are only 15 lots in this tract. Councilman Sample then asked how this situation occurred, and Mr. Savage outlined the history as follows: -1- 001107 The property was platted in 1979 with the understanding that a portion of this road would have to be abandoned. The practice at that time in this type of situation was to transfer the old road to the developer in return for new roadway and improvements. The old Stewart's Creek Road provided property owners on the west side of The Colony with access, therefore, before the road could be abandoned, Fox & Jacobs had to construct a new road; they did this by extending North Colony Boulevard and constructing Keys Drive and this work was completed in late October or early November. The abandonment procedure could have been ini- tiated at this time. In early 1982, Fox & Jacobs requested that we swap the old right of way for the new roads they had built, and at this time, Mr. Savage asked City Attorney Rob Dillard to write an opinion on whether or not this would be proper. It was Mr. Dillard's opinion that the road had to be abandoned, and that the city should receive fair market value; it was also his opinion tht subdivision roads could not be substituted. This opinion was available in early February and the first part of March, the City asked for an appraisal which was available on Friday, March 19 before the City Council meeting on March 22, 1982. At this point, Councilman Sample asked if in the past this had been a "freebie", and Mr. Savage answered that he was not sure but that he assumed that this was the case. Councilman Adeler asked if there had been a delay on the part of the attorney in this procedure, and Mr. Savage answered that this was not the case. Councilman Sample asked if the developer was required to put in streets and improvements and Mr. Savage answered that this was correct. Councilman Sample then asked why houses were buklt on land where there was no clear title in hand. Mr. Ron Walden of Fox & Jacobs responded that under certain circumstances when in the developer's opinion obtaining the title will cause no serious problems, this is sometimes done. Councilman Parker asked if Fox & Jacobs could request a third appraisal if they wished. Mr. Savage answered yes, that he added this statement to the proposed Escrow Agreement in order to give Fox & Jacobs the opportunity to gather additional information. Councilman North stated that this would give us the opportunity to have two appraisals. Councilman Sample then stated that he wished to have some discussion regarding the value of this land. Councilman Adeler pointed out that this could only be determined at the time of the second appraisal. Acting Mayor North stated that we could use the property where Office Creek Park is located as an example only; it had been valued at $8,500 per acre at the time it ~vas appraised. Councilman Sample had checked on some commercial property recently sold in the Town of Eastvale and, in comparing the sale prices of this Eastvale property with the Section 27 appraisal, he felt that the Section 27 appraisal was too low. At this point, Acting Mayor North showed the Council and members of the audience a drawing of the 34-foot wide strip of land involved and stated that this is 1.4777 acres, but it is a long narrow strip of land and, therefore, not of much use by itself and of no value to the City of The Colony or anyone else except the adjoining property owners. Acting Mayor North also brought up that these property owners with land touching this ease- ment were waiting for a decision in order to close on their homes and, because of this, he felt that this was the prope~, way to go. At this time, Councilman Sample stated that fair market vlaue is determined by land sales in the area not by the length and width of the property in question. Mr. Savage then advised that one of the dilemmas that an appraiser faces is determining how to value a piece of property and suggested that in our instructions to an appraiser, the exact circumstances should be brought out. Councilman Sample stated that he was concerned that the Council was told there were no land sales in the area, and this was evidently not true, and he wondered whether the appraiser's fee should be paid. Councilman Parker stated that perhaps we needed someone who is comfortable doing this type of an appraisal (abandonment), as this is a very different situation. Councilman Adeler felt that the city should be able to feel secure with another appraisal being made. Councilman Dodds then stated that he was disgusted with the way in which the entire matter was handled; regarding the timing, he thought we should have seen appraisals a month ago. Councilman Dodds also stated that he did not like deadlines and having to make a decision on the spot. Councilman Dodds then called for the question, and this was seconded by Councilman Parker. The question carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None 001108 At this point, Mr. Ron Walden of Fox & Jacobs stated that he regretted the timing as much as anyone, and he also explained regarding the previous practice of swapping of rights of way that usually in this situation there would be a splitting of the cost of the new roads. In the case of The Colony, there was never any city participation in this cost, and Fox & Jacobs has borne this cost before making the exchange in rights of way. Councilman Dodds suggested that staff be directed to hire Mr. Denton to do this appraisal, and this was the consensus of the Council. 2. CLOSED DOOR SESSION DEALING WITH PERSONNEL/NOMINATION TO DENTON COUNTY TAX APPRAISAL DISTRICT BOARD OF REVIEW Acting Mayor North announced at this time that the Council would go into a closed-door session as authorized by Article 6252-17 of Vernon's Ann. Civil Statutes as amended. 3. CONSIDERATION OF NOMINATION TO DENTON COUNTY TAX APPRAISAL DISTRICT BOARD OF REVIEW Upon reconvening in open session, Councilman Dodds made the motion that Roosevelt Johnson be nominated to the Denton County Tax Appraisal District Board of Review. Seconded by Councilman Adeler, the motion was passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None There being no further business to be considered by the Council at this time, Councilman Dodds moved that the meeting be adjourned. Seconded by Councilman Sample, the motion was passed by the following vote: Ayes: All members present voted aye Noes: None Acting Mayor North adjourned the meeting at 7:46 p.m. SC N~ORTHiz/ ~'C~T N ~~M ~YOR ATTEST: JAN'I~y~RROLL, CIT~ SECRETARY -3-