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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/17/1997 City Council MINUTES OF THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON NOVEMBER 17, 1997 The Regular Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 600p.m. on the 17th day of November, 1997, at City Hall with the following Council roll call: Mary Blair Watts, Mayor Present Bill Lon8o, Councilmemher Present Bernetta Henville-Shannon, Councilmember Present David Stanwick, Councilmember Present Wilma Avey, Councilmember Absent (Personal) John Dillard~ Councilmember Absent (Illness) Dave Kovatch, Councilmember Absent (Arrived at 7:05 p.m.) and with four present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 6:05 p.m. 7.0 EXECUTIVE SESSION AS AUTHORIZED BY SECTION 551.071 AND SECTION 551.074 OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE RELATING TO LITIGATION AND PERSONNEL, TO-WIT: A. JWV v City of The Colony, et al B. Goody-Goody v City of The Colony, et al C. Office Creek Corporation v City of TheColony, et al D. Interview for Board Appointments NOTE: Councilman Kovatch arrived during the executive session. 7:45 p.m. Reconvene in open session 7.1 CONSIDERATION OF ANY APPROPRIATE ACTION TO BE TAKEN AS A RESULT OF THE EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion to appoint Bill Cunningham to serve on the Telecommunications Board - Longo; second - Henville-Shannon carried with all members voting Aye. 1.0 Invocation - JR Warden Paul Koenig, St. Peter's by the Lake Episcopal Presentation of the Colors - Boy Scout Troop 281 Pledge of Allegiance 1.1 MAYORAL COMMENTS The judge in the Eastvale litigation case has struck the section in the plaintiff's request that has stopped the city from borrowing money. Late today we received a Facsimile transmission that is asking the judge to reconsider his decision. John Hill, City Attorney said there is no way to know when the judge will make a ruling on that request. Mayor Watts said it is the intent of Council to direct staff to prepare to issue bonds to construct lines in the Eastvale area. If they (plaintiffs) get this stopped, then they are stopping progress in their Southwestern Bell is mailing ballots to customers for their vote on whether to implement Emended Area Service. The ballots have to be returned by December 12, 1997. There is an item on this agenda to allow the sale of the city's sludge truck. We have received a letter from the Corps of Engineers recognizing the efforts of our police officers in making Lewisville Lake safer. Two anonymous letters have been received; one concerning roads. A task force has been formed to encourage the State to move up the improvement schedule for F.M 423. Citizens were asked to please leave their name and contact number so follow up can be made. Applicants are needed to serve on various boards and commissions in the city. A date for interviews will be set soon. 1.2 MAYORAL PROCLAMATIONS Declaring November 23 - 30, 1997 as BIBLE WEEK. The proclamation was read in its entirety. The original was mailed to the Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland earlier for presentation at the Bible Week Interfaith Inaugural luncheon in New York City on November 21, 1997. Proclaiming November 21, 1997 as FAMILY OF THE YEAR day in The Colony. The proclamation will be presented at the ceremony to be held November 21, 1997. 1.3 RECOGNITION OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS - This item has been postponed. 6.1 RECEIVE REPORT FROM THE QUALITY OF LIFE COMMITTEE Dr. Richard Seidler gave a very informative presentation to the council and audience regarding the proposed sales tax election. The slogan for the campaign is "Penny for Progress". The group has held a leadership breakfast, ice cream social and had speakers at several organizations to educate and inform the public regarding the issues surrounding this proposed election. 4A sales tax revenue can be used for economic development, promoting new businesses, creating jobs and infrastructure, etc. 4B sales tax revenue can be used for sports facility, entertainment facilities, libraries, etc. There will be two separate corporations to handle the fiduciary responsibility of each of these issues. Jim McCormick, President of The Colony Chamber of Commerce also gave a presentation to the council and audience, encouraging support of this sales tax issue and read a Chamber resolution as follows: Whereas, The Colony Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization representing 320 member businesses that provide good jobs for our citizens, positive economic growth and a solid economic foundation for the future of our community, Whereas, The Colony Chamber of Commerce is a proamive partner in the success and future of our community, Whereas, The Colony Chamber of commerce strongly supports economic development policies and programs that moderate the ad valorem tax base and provide residential property tax relief for the citizens of our community, Whereas, The Colony Chamber of' Commerce believes that all economic development policies and programs must be readily available to existing businesses for expansion, relocation within community, and retention at a greater rate than the effort to recruit new businesses. Whereas, The Colony Chamber of Commerce supports economic development policies and programs which are designed to recruit additional quality businesses that are interested in expanding and/or relocating to our community; Therefore, let it be known that the Colony Chamber of Commerce proclaims its support for the Economic Development Sales Tax Initiative currently underway and urges its member organizations and citizens in the community to cast a positive vote on lanuary 17, I998. John Hill, City Attorney said the wording for the ballot has been submitted to the Attorney General for approval, reiterating that the 4A corporation can design a development area and then after public hearings, expend funds for community purposes. Mr. Hill went on to explain that the 4B corporation is broader and provides funding for municipal purposes, new or expanded business enterprises. 3.5 CONSIDERATION OF APPOENTMENTS TO TFrE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARDS; 4A AND 4B AND CONSIDERATIONOF ACCEPTANCE OF RESIGNATIONS FROM SAME Motion to accept the resignations of the following persons from the 4B Economic Development Board: Mary Blair Watts, David Kovatch, Ronnie Fischer - Kovatch; second - Longo carried with all members voting Aye. The floor was opened for nominations to serve on the 4A and 4B Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors. Motion to appoint Richard Seidler, Randy Robinson, Jorge Diaz, Kate Jarvella and John Gordon to the 4A EDC Board - Kovatch; second - Stanwick carried with all members voting aye. Motion to appoint Don Goebel, Morris Seay, Susan King, Wayne Bullard and Rick Manser to the 4B EDC Board - Kovatch; second - Stanwick carried with all members voting Aye. Other members to serve on the 4B Board are Sue Walden and Gary McClure. Citizens were encouraged to contact City Hall regarding openings on boards. 1.4 CITY MANAGER AND STAFF REPORTS Police Chief, Joe Clark - recognized Officer Mark Phillips, and Block captains Teresa Sidwell and Belinda Ressler for their work on making this year's National Night Out such a success. The Colony was recognized nationally and Officer Phillips presented a plaque to Mayor Watts for the City of The Colony. Pam Nelson, Parks & Recreation Director announced the Christmas Parade at 2:00 p.m. on December 7, 1997 and the Christmas Tree Lighting on December 7, 1997 at 7:00 p.m. Pat Dunlap, Public Services Director, praised the Public Works Department for their installation of the signal light at Paige and S. Colony, which was done for under $20,000, saving the city from $40,000 to $60,000. Ken Leverich, Public Works Superintendent, reported that the City Clean up on November 15 went well. IESE sponsored the event, provided the equipment and stayed all day to hdp. There were 693 yards of trash disposed of and 98 loads of brush. Pat Dunlap announced that CWD has placed 4 recycling dumpsters at the Public Works Building on N. Colony for cardboard, sof~ drink bottles and phone books. Tony Johnston, Finance Director asked for clarification an established procedure. The charter allows the City Manager to transfer funds from one account to another within departments. Previously the City Manager had given Mr. Johnston the authority for those transfers and asked the council if he should continue that practice or bring transfers to them each time. After brief discussion the consensus was the transfers will continue to be handled by the Finance Director, unless it's unusually large amount. Mr. Johnston also reported on FCC changes, which will affect our franchise with TCI. Mr. Johnston will take this to the Telecommunications Board for review and recommendation and will ask for an extension for that purpose. Lanny Lambert, City Manager gave the council a list of capital items, noting that some of them have been on hold for some time. He advised that he will be coming to the council on Dec, ember 1 for approval of Certificates of Obligations for some of these projects. Council briefly discussed the proposed projects and suggested other projects. Councilman Stanwick reminded council that only direction would be given on December and that the bond process will take several weeks to complete. Mr. Lambert said he has 90 days to secure financing to purchase the Food Lion building. Mr. Lambert advised the council that staffhas tried for four months to give the council their agenda packet almost two weeks prior to the meeting and that the process is not working well. He asked permission to return to the previous process; preparing the packet on the Thursday prior to the council meeting. He said he would suggest requiring that all zoning ordinances be read twice because they seem to cause more questions than other items. Councilman Longo said the new process was a trial only and that it was very confusing. He agreed with going back to the old way. Mayor Watts agreed with going back to the old way and said the new process was worth a try. Councilman Kovatch and Couneilmember Henville-Shannon did not agree with going back to the old process. Councilman Stanwick said he was happy the way things were and would like to go back to the previous procedure. He did suggest preparing two binders; one for regular items and one for planning and zoning items. Mr. Lambert said we will go back to preparing the packet on the Thursday prior to the meeting. Mr. Lambert asked input from the council on whether to purchase a cut tree for City Hall at a cost of $150.00 or a live tree at a cost of $1500.00. The general consensus was to purchase a cut tree, rather than spend $1500.00 for a tree to be planted, since City Hall location may be moved. 1.5 CITIZEN INPUT Rev. Bruce Scofield invited everyone to attend a community Thanksgiving Service on Sunday November 23 at 7:00 p.m. at Calvary Christian Center. Rev. Scofield then read a resolution passed by the First Baptist Church in a business meeting boycotting two businesses in the SH 121 corridor; the Shell Station and Convenience Store and the Texaco Station to be built in conjunction with the Centennial Convenience Store. This action was taken in support of the council's statement regarding zero liquor stores along the SH 121 Corridor. 9:30 p.m. Recess 9:45 p.m. Reconvene 2.0 DISPOSmON OF MINUTES 2.1 Approval ot the minutes of the council meetings held 10/20/97, 11/3/97, and 11/17/97 Motion to approve as written - Longo, second - llenville-Shannon; carried with all members voting aye. 3.0 REGULAR AGENDA 3.1 Public Heating regarding a request for a change of zoning on property zoned Business Park (BP) to General Retail (GR) located at the northwest comer of FM 423 and SH 121 and consideration of an ordinance granting the zoning request (Ord. 97-1002) Motion to open public hearing - Longo, second - Henville-Shannon, carried with all members voting aye. Harry Persaud, Planning Director, reported that notifications of the requested zoning change had been sent to owners within 200 feet of the subject tract. All responses were favorable to the zoning change. Councilman Longo asked if the change would open the door for additional liquor stores. Mr. Persaud explained that a Specific Use Permit would still have to be obtained for that purpose. Tom Galbraith, represeming Wal-Mart, explained that extra tracts would be purchased then sold after completion of construction as needed. Mr. Galbraith continued by saying restrictions would be in place for potential buyers of the extra tracts. Motion to close public hearing - Kovatch, second - Henville-Shannon, carried with ali members voting aye. Motion to approve ordinance - Kovatch, second - Stanwick, carried with all members voting aye. 3.2 Consideration of approval of the pre 'lanim~ plat for the Wal-Mart Addition, Lots 1-4, Block 1, situated at the northwest comer of FM 423 and SH 121 Councilman Henville,-Shannon expressed her concern for the traffic issues at the intersection where Wal-Mart will be located. Mr. Persaud explained that the problem had already been identified and a solution would be worked on prior to issuing a building permit. Councilman Stanwick asked that the engineer employed by Wal-Mart consider future plans for FM 423 when considering solution. Councilman Kovatch asked what the parking lot would be made of?. Mr. Persaud replied that it would be asphalt according to city standards. Councilman Kovatch said he would prefer concrete. Mr. Galbraith responded that engineers would bore the site prior to making the determination of what materials to use. Motion to approve preliminary plat - Stanwick, second - Kovatch, carried with all members voting aye. 3.3 Consideration of approval of the final plat for the Wal-Mart Addition, Lots 1-4, Block 1, situated at the northwest corner of FM 423 and SH 121 Motion to approve final plat subject to P&Z stipulations - Kovatch, second - Stanwick, carried with ali members voting aye. 3.4 Consideration of approval of the site plan for the proposed Wal-Mart Super Center located on the northwest corner of FM 423 and SH 121 Councilman Longo asked Mr. Galbraith if the words "Discount City" were still used on Wal- Mart's signage. Mr. Galbraith said they no longer use that distinction. Hal Jones, City Engineer, informed the council that engineering studies were pending and subject to approval prior to a building permit being issued. Motion to approve subject to pending engineering studies and P&Z stipulations Kovatch, second - Henville-Shannon, carried with all members voting aye. 3.8 Considerati°n &authorizing staffto go out for bids for the materials to construct and install the water and sewer lines for the Wal-Mart Supercenter Pat Dunlap, Public Services Director, briefed council on proposed bid. The amount will be approximately $250,000 - $300,000. Motion to authorize bids - Kovatch, second - Henville-Shannon, carried with all members voting aye. 3.6 Consideration of approval of a developer's agreement with Crow-Billingsley, Inc. regarding the Austin Ranch Development Motion to table - Longo, second - Kovatch, carried with all members voting aye. 3.7 Consideration of renewal ora lease with Denton Coumy for the Senior Center facility John Hill, City Attorney, informed Council that a request for changes to the lease had been made, however, time did not permit his preparing a new lease for this meeting. Councilman Kovatch asked why the lease needed to be changed since we've operated with no problems for the last two years. Mr. Hill specified one change was notification to either party if termination was desired. Current lease specified 10 days, which may not be possible for council to take action on such short notice. Motion to table - Longo, second - Henville-Shannon, carried with all members voting aye except Councilman Kovatch who voted no. 3.9 Consideration of authorizing staff to go out for bids for the construction and installation of a signal light at the intersection of Cougar Alley and FM 423 (Main Street) Pat Dunlap gave a brief overview of proposed bid. The engineering design has to be submitted to TxDOT by December 15. Motion to authorize bids - Stanwick, second - Longo, carried with all members voting aye. 3.10 Consideration of an ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances relating to impact fees (Ord. #97-1000) Lanny Lambert, City Manager explained that after many meetings and discussions, percentages had been decided upon. The impact fees will be set using a percentage of 50°/6 for single- family, 60°/6 for multi-family, and 85% for commercial. Motion to amend impact fees as detailed in Schedule A and set thoroughfare fees at zero - Stanwiek, second - Henville-Shannon, carried with all members voting aye. 3.11 Consideration of an ordinance requiring a franchise fee for commercial solid waste services Councilman Stanwick noted that a correction is needed on page 2 referring the ten percent (10%) asked that the amount of the maximum fine be changed to $2,000 per day per violation. Motion to approve with corrections - Longo, second - ltenville-Shannon, carried with all members voting aye. 3.12 Consideration of an ordinance establishing a Special Events Board (Ord. #97-1004) Councilman Stanwick asked if the Board could authorize expenditures. John Hill responded that recommendations could be made to council but no expenditures authorized by Special Events Board. Motion to approve - ltenville-Shannon, second - Longo, carried with all members voting aye. 3.13 Consideration of authorizing the sale of a 1996 Peterbilt truck to the City of Richardson for an amount of $75,000 Motion to authorize sale in the amount of $75,000, with no warranty, since the truck is considered surplus and is of no use to the City - Longo, second - Henville-Shannon carried with all member~ voting aye. 5.1 OLD BUSUq-ESS STATUS REPORT Motion to table - Kovatch, second - Henville-Shannon, carried with all members voting aye 6.2 Discussion of the water sources and water system in the City Motion to table - Stanwick, second - Kovatch, carried with all members voting aye. With no further business to address, the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 p.m. APPROVED: · .. ,_.~/ .~ 1~ BII~ Watts, Mayor - Patti A. Hie, ks, TRMC, City Secretary