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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/10/1994 City Council O0 4! t MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON OCTOBER 10, 1994 The Special Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 7:05 p.m. on the 10th day of October, 1994, at City Hall with the following Council roll call: William W. Manning, Mayor Present Mike Lynch, Mayor Pro-tem Present Toby Pollard, Councilman Present Kay Hardin, Councilman Present Rob Burchard, Councilman Absent John Dillard, Councilman Absent (arrived 7:15) Lynda Tare, Councilman Present and with five present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 2. PUBLIC HEARING OF THE CITY COUNCIL IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 43.052 OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE AND SECTION 1.03, OF CHAPTER 1 OF THE HOME RULE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS, FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERING THE INSTITUTION OF ANNEXATION PROCEEDINGS TO ANNEX ALL THAT LOT, TRACT, PARCEL OF LAND GENERAl J JY DESCRIBED BELOW APPROXIMATELY 1185 ACRES OF LAND GENERAIJJY LOCATED ALONG THE SHORELINE OF LAKE LEWISVILLE, WEST AND SOUTH OF THE EXISTING CITY L/MIT LINES OF THE COLONY Motion to open public hearing, Lynch; second, Tate. All ayes. Michgel Miller, 4520 Lake Ridge, asked for a better description of the property to be annexed. Tom Cravens, Director of Public Works, indicated on a large map the area in question stating it was shoreline and water. Mr. Miller was satisfied with the answer. Mayor Manning asked for further comments. None were forthcoming. Motion to close public hearing, Lynch; second, Hardin. Ail ayes. 3. CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION COMMITTING TO PROVIDE REQUIRED FUNDING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE NORTH COLONY BOULEVARD AND F.M.423 INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE A CONTRACT WITH THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 3 0054! Mr. Johnny Smith, City Manager, stated this was to allow him to enter into an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for improvements to be made at the intersection of FM 423 and North Colony Boulevard. The agreement requires the City to pay 20% of the cost of this improvement. The estimated total cost is $53,000 and the City's share will be $10,760.00. Mr. Smith indicated he has been in contact with Rusty Nichols of the Stewart Peninsula Development Parmership and they have agreed to pay this "match fund" to the City for the exclusive use of this improvement. Mr. Nichols explained his group was willing to pay this one time amount but under the terms of the agreement they hope to enter into with the City, they will not be obligated for improvements required by future development. Motion to approve Resolution as presented, Lynch; second, Hardin. Motion carried with unanimous roll call vote. 4. WORK SESSION REGARDING A PROPOSED MARINA WITHIN THE CITY OF THE COLONY AS PRESENTED BY THE COLONY BAY MARINA CORPORATION Mayor Manning said this item had been brought back to council at the request of Councilman Lynch and turned the floor over to him. Councilman Lynch introduced Mr. Norman Becker of Colony Bay and Mr. Michael Ensch of the Corps of Engineers. Mr. Becker read from a prepared statement outlining the steps and time frame which his development group had gone through to bring this proposal to the City. He stated that the initial contact had been from City staff and council members requesting his people look at The Colony as a possible site. His group had then initiated the required studies, reports and proforma statements necessary and worked diligently to provide this information to the City. After two and one half years of hard work, they have now been told "No Thanks". He does not understand what more the City wants from them. All of their reports and those from the Corps also, indicate the location chosen is the most viable. Areas of concern related to rental fees, access road and water traffic congestion are negotiable, but the location is not. Discussion followed concerning lake level studies and financial projections prepared by Colony Bay. Councilman Pollard questioned the revenue figures. He stated he had run the figures, identified sources of revenue, types of expenses based on the Geo-Marine study. This was not exactly the same as Colony Bay's but he wanted to show the difference between a standard marina as considered by the Corps and the development contemplated by Colony Bay to do a better analysis. Councilman Pollard handed out two packets of information noting one was a straight lease and the other was for 50% participation by the city. This would use Public Improvement District Bonds, a different kind of bond that will never be paid for by the citizens of The Colony through sales tax, property tax or any other kind of tax. This is a special type of animal which would only be funded by the operation of the facility itself. This is the exact same thing being considered for the golf course. Councilman Pollard then asked Mr. Becker how he arrived at the figures provided by Colony Bay. Mr. Becker said he did not have extra copies available this evening but he 4 would provide them. The projection of tax obligation the first year is based on actual construction activity, not any revenue derived from the operation. This would be the minimum tax obligation. The proforma projects expenses and revenues based on real estate projections of occupancy and lease revenues and other activities that may take place on the property. Those have all been identified over a five year projection. The only thing not reflected is the lease obligation as it has not been negotiated at this time. Councilman Pollard said he had tried to reconstruct and anticipate the expenses. He assumed a portion of the $175,000 shown as revenue to the city included building permits. Mr. Becker indicated it did not. That figure was the projected tax obligation only on $7 million of physical structures. Mr. Pollard asked if that was the total tax liability and Mr. Becker said that was only The Colony's portion. Councilman Pollard requested a copy of the proforma. Mr. Becker stated this was prepared for close scrutiny by investors and is a confidential document. He will be happy to provide departmental summaries. Councilman Tate addressed some of the overall concerns as follows. Everybody is interested in the accessibility of entertainment and there's a lot of concerns about where that entertainment is going to be depending upon where you live. Money is also a consideration that everybody wants us to look at. Safety in that cove has been addressed many times and there is another philosophical thing that we have to look at and it has to do with the master plan and the desire of the residents for the city as far as our master plan for the city. What do we ultimately want to end up with? I have had a number of calls since our last discussion of the marina emphasizing the desire for the marina, and I have also continued to have a lot of concerns expressed to me about a marina in that particular location. It had nothing to do with the "Lake Shore Boulevard" people. It had to do with the concept of the city itself. A lot of our residents came out here because of the environment that they found out here. As an example Councilman Tate stated, "At age 13 1/2 1 came to Dallas and then I went to Richardson and at one point during that growing up period, Richardson seemed to be a very remote area. By the time I got there it was still under construction and Piano was under construction. That too was, at one time, considered an extremely remote area. And from Plano, after I got my kids grown, I've come out to The Colony. I'm not going any farther because I don't want to end up in Oklahoma". I've experienced construction and development of cities and one of the things that a lot of the residents have expressed to me is the fact that their reason for coming out here was the small town atmosphere, less traffic, less congestion, a little more feel of the rural community without being too far removed from the niceties of the metropolitan area. They are concerned about what will happen to our general community feeling (the very reasons they moved out here), when we talk about economic development and bringing in these various businesses. One sense that I have gotten, of course some people feel like this will just make things a lot more exciting, create a big hub of activity for the existing businesses that are already out here, will provide entertainment, not only for the adults but our youth, since that has been a big concern out here and they're hopeful it will help to address them. (youth) There are those who are concerned about it's location being right smack dab in the middle of us, which seems to interfere with the very reasons that we came out here in the first place. "Would we be better off if we try to, yes, bring economic development, yes, bring all these entertainment centers and in fact, a lot of people really want to go hog wild, if you will, with the entertainment end of it. But they want to try to remove it a little bit, not have it fight down --~ in the middle of town, but very close by, very intimate with the city but not right in the middle where it interferes with why they moved out here in the first place. I felt like that would be something that I would try to share with you". Mr. Becker said he appreciated the concerns expressed and felt that the marina could be a community focal point and provide amenities at no or low costs to residents in a facility in harmony with the environment. Mr. Smith introduced Michael Ensch of the Corps of Engineers. Mr. Ensch said that while the Corps is looking at a five year moratorium, they will look at any proposals submitted. He is still in favor of the moratorium mostly due to 1) safety - water traffic congestion on the lake, 2) the Lake Master Plan - there is no designated marina site in this area at this time, and 3) responsibility to existing facilities - they must consider the impact on these businesses. These factors did not exclude the development of a marina in this area but would be considered heavily in the decision making. Discussion followed concerning areas which might be developed in this manner and Mr. Ensch agreed, alternate locations would be more expensive to develop as they have few improvements at this time. Lake levels were also discussed as he indicated Lake Lewisville is not a constant level lake and while we had sufficient rainfall in recent years to maintain lake levels, if there was a drought like 1988, the lake level would fall significantly. Mr. Ensch was asked about the encroachment of Pier 121 which extends too close to Stewart Creek Park for safety. He indicated this would be looked into. Other items discussed included the use of revenues generated by any marina or development on Corps -- land. He restated that the money must be used for improvements of the park lands. Based on our current lease, funds generated at Stewart Creek Park may also be used for Wynnewood Park and this would be true of a marina also. All funds do not necessarily have to be used on the marina property, but would have to be used on park improvements and/or operating expenses. Council members also asked Mr. Ensch for lake level charts for Lake Lewisville and Lake Ray Roberts for review. Mayor Manning asked if council was now prepared to enter into negotiations with Colony Bay since the item had been brought back. He felt it was time to let them know one way or the other. Councilman Dillard said we need to pursue this development with Colony Bay. Councilman Lynch asked if it was possible to consider alternate locations if the City became a partner and could help provide financing. He went on to say that if this is the only location Colony Bay will consider, drop it now. Councilman Pollard indicated he would like to see the information from Colony Bay and the Corps before making a decision. Mayor Manning said several citizens had requested to speak at this time but as it is a work session, he would like the council's decision. Councilman Lynch said no. If the item comes back, citizen input would be heard at that time. With no further business to discuss, Mayor Manning adjourned the meeting at 9:20 p.m. 6 005415 APPROVED: il~iam W. Manning,~Vlayor ATYEST: Sandie Chance, Deputy City Secretary [SEAL] 7