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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/02/2000 City Council10/2/00 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL HELD ON OCTOBER 2, 2000 The REGULAR SESSION of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on the 2nd day of October 2000 at City Hall, with the following council roll call: William W. Manning, Mayor Present John Gordon, Councilmember Present Lewis Jue, Councilmember Present David Stanwick, Councilmember Present A1 Garcia, Councilmember Present John Dillard, Councilmember Present Dave Kovatch, Councilmember Present and with seven present a quorum was established, the following items were addressed: I 1.0 I ROUTINE ANNOUNCEMENTS, RECOGNITIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS: I Call to Order Invocation - Rev. David Freehling, Trinity Presbyterian Church Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Flag Salute to the Texas Flag 1.1 Citizen Input - Susan Gatta, 5400 Slay Drive, asked the council to help keep the Boys & Girls Club open. Mayor Manning advised the council is in favor of keeping the club open and that the city has talked to them and offered assistance. 12.0 I CONSENT AGENDA 2.1 Consideration of approval of the minutes of the council meetings held September 13, 18, 21, and 25, 2000 (Hicks/Devlin) Councilmember Dillard clarified his vote on item 3.4 of the September 18, 2000 minutes. He advised that he was sitting in the Mayor's place for this item and when it came time for the vote, he attempted to vote No, however, the switch on the electronic voting system at the Mayor's seat had been inadvertently turned off. Councilmember Dillard further explained that the switch at his seat in Place 5 had been left on and, therefore, it appeared that he abstained on this item. He did in fact vote No. (This problem had been noted immediately following the meeting and the minutes of the meeting reflected the correct vote.) Page 3 of the September 18 minutes was corrected by changing the maximum height from 800 to 200 ft. Corrections to the September 13, 2000 minutes were made as follows: Page 3, the tax rate was corrected to reflect the change from $76.5, $74.5 and $73.5. Motion to approve the minutes as amended o Kovatch; second - Dillard, carried with all ayes. 2.2 Consideration of acceptance and award of bids to Red River Construction Co. in the amount of $21,000 for six actuators for the Wastewater Treatment Plant and approval of an ordinance authorizing contract for same (Sparkman/Chutchian) Motion to approve as recommended - Kovatch; second - Dillard, carried with all ayes. 2.3 Consideration of a resolution authorizing a Cooperative Purchasing Agreement with Denton County (Sparkman) Motion to approve as recommended - Kovatch; second - Dillard, carried with all ayes. 10/2/00 2.4 Consideration of acceptance and award of bid for the purchase of fitness equipment for the Recreation Center and approval of ordinance authorizing contract for same (Sparkman/Nelson) Motion to approve as recommended- Kovatch; second- Dillard carried with all ayes. 2.5 Consideration of acceptance and award of bids for the construction of Ridgepointe Park to Dean Construction in the amount of $198,800 and approval of an ordinance authorizing contract for same (Sparkman/Nelson) Motion to approve as recommended- Kovatch; second- Dillard, carried with all ayes. [3.0 [REGULAR AGENDA: 3.1 Public Hearing on application of The Colony Gymnastics and Dance Academy requesting approval of a Specific Use Permit to allow a dance studio in the shopping Center "SC" zoning district classification located in Colony Square Shopping Center at 5201 South Colony Boulevard, Suite 200, and consideration of an ordinance granting the Specific Use Permit (Persaud) Mayor Manning opened thc public hearing. Mr. Pcrsaud advised the owner is required to get a Specific Usc Permit (SUP) because of his plans for a dance studio in thc facility. He explained that thc dance studio will comprise 2500 square feet of the whole area and is strictly for usc as a studio and not for open dancing. Mr. Pcrsaud said the SUP is for thc 2500 square foot area. Council discussed the usc of thc building and agreed the SUP should be expanded to cover thc entire floor space so the owner would have more flexibility in locating the dance studio. David Lewis, 618 Duncan, Coppell, Texas, owner of thc site, said hc would appreciate the expansion of the SUP. He said he might want to open this to youth dances within the city's guidelines. Jim Wright, 5124 Runyon Drive, spoke in favor of the SUP. Mayor Manning closed the public hearing. Motion to approve the ordinance with expansion of the SUP to include the entire floor space of the facility- Stanwick; second- Kovatch, carried with all ayes. 3.3 First reading of an ordinance providing for the annexation of a 24.06 acre tract being the right-of-way of State Highway 121 and extending from Standridge Drive to the abandoned Kenepac Road (Persaud) Mr. Persaud explained that this is the first reading of an annexation ordinance and that the City of Lewisville is acting tonight on their ordinance relating to this annexation. The final adoption of the annexation will be on the October 16, 2000 agenda. 3.4 Consideration of alternatives for right-of-way acquisition along South Colony Blvd. east of Paige Road to Legend Trails 1 and consideration of authority to proceed (Saldafla) Mr. Saldafia presented 3 alternatives for acquiring the right-of-way for the expansion of South Colony Blvd. east of Paige Rd. to the Legends. He advised we couldn't meet the right-of- way requirements for the 6-lane roadway, which is on our existing thoroughfare plan without decreasing the parking areas for existing restaurants, Herrara's and Larry's. He advised the alternates presented show only 4 lanes noting that currently 6 lanes are not necessary. Mr. Saldafia explained the process by which these alternatives were reached and the effect each would have on the existing businesses. Mr. Saldafia advised that Alternative "A" is estimated to cost over $150,000. Mr. Saldafia said staff recommends Alternative "B" which requires no right-of- 10/2/00 way acquisition, however, it does require the paving of South Colony Blvd., to be constructed in phases to keep traffic uninterrupted to and from the businesses. Mayor Manning asked if the right-of-way could be obtained from the property south of the existing roadway. Mr. Saldafia said he would look into that, noting the alignment has been in place several years. Mayor Manning said he believes that traffic on South Colony Blvd. may increase to a point where the 6 lanes are necessary. David Simmons, 3743 St. Andrews, (property owner of Nick's) said he is agreeable to sharing a driveway with Herrara's as has been presented. Joe Agnew, 5301 Nash Drive, said it is hard to address problems when long-standing businesses are affected. He suggested a continuous mm lane, which would help the businesses survive. Mr. Saldafia said that is a good suggestion and noted it is working on FM 423 satisfactorily. After further discussion, Mayor Manning suggested this item be brought back for discussion in a work session on October 9, 2000. He asked Mr. Saldafia to contact the property owners and work out an agreement to present to the council. Motion to postpone until October 9, 2000 - Garcia; second - Stanwick, carried with all ayes. 3.5 Consideration of an ordinance authorizing participation in the cause of action styled The City of Denton, Texas vs Texas Utilities company and Lone Star Gas Company (Lambert/Johnston) Mr. Lambert advised the maximum cost would be $2000. Councilmember Stanwick said based on information in the packet, the minimum cost would be $15,000 ($.50 per capita). Cheryl McKinnis with TXU requested the council allow them to make a presentation in a work session before taking action on this matter. Motion to postpone to October 9, 2000 work session o Kovatch; second - Dillard, carried with all ayes. 3.6 Consideration of acceptance and award of proposals to conduct an audit of existing franchise agreements (Lambert) Mr. Lambert said two proposals had been received to conduct an audit of the city's existing franchise agreements and recommended the council award the contract to Diversified Utility Consultants, Inc. for an audit of TXU electric and gas franchises. He advised the other proposal from Competitive Communications Group (CCG) was for $25,000 and would include an audit of every franchise agreement. Mr. Lambert further recommended to have the TXU franchise agreements audited before we audit the other franchises. The council discussed this matter and thought it would be prudent to have all our franchises audited this year and noted that this should probably be done on a regular basis every few years. Motion to award the contract to Competitive Communications Group for audits of all city franchises and to direct staff to bring a budget amendment to the council for approval on the October 16, 2000 agenda - Kovatch; second - Garcia, carried with all ayes. 8:35 p.m. Mayor Manning left the meeting. Mayor Pro-tem Dillard presided. 3.2 First reading of an ordinance providing for the annexation of approximately 604 acres on Wynnwood Peninsula and included in the Denton County Development District #5 (Persaud) Mr. Lambert advised the city now needs to negotiate a tax abatement agreement by November 6, 2000. Mayor Pro-tern Dillard appointed the following persons to serve on the 10/2/00 negotiation team: Harry Persaud, Dave Kovatch, Lewis Jue and Tom Terrall. Mr. Persaud advised the final reading of this annexation ordinance would be on November 6, 2000. I 4.0 DISCUSSION ITEMS 4.1 Building Height Restrictions (Kovatch) Councilmember Kovatch said he asked for this item because he wants to know Council direction on this matter. Mike Lynch, 4921 Roberts, The Colony, said the city should require a maintenance bond from the developer if they come back. Councilmember Stanwick said he is not opposed to making the maximum 200' without FAA approval. He said Planned Developments (PD) are overlays on existing zoning and he is not concerned with PD's. Mr. Persaud advised that our zoning ordinance limits building heights to 200' without FAA approval and stated the council needs to look at long term development along the SH 121 corridor. He said we should be flexible and leave the door open for development. Mr. Persaud said we are small and said we should not limit ourselves. Councilmember Stanwick said he thinks we need to make developers aware of guidelines up front. Councilmember Kovatch said he agrees that 200' is too restrictive and suggested 325'. Mayor Pro-tem Dillard said he thinks if the city tells developers they cannot build anything over 200' they (developers) will go away. He said we need to leave it as it is and deal with these matters on a case by case basis. Mr. Persaud agreed, stating we should not react to (just) one case and change our whole policy. He further stated that he has the numbers from the FAA on what heights they will allow in particular zones. He said the city has estimated the maximum height of any building to be constructed on the Maharishi Global Development fund site to be 800' and again reminded the council that per our ordinance, anything over 200' requires FAA approval. 9:10 p.m. - Mayor Manning returned to the meeting. 4.2 Paving Options for Eastvale Subdivision Streets (Lambert) Mr. Lambert reminded council of options, which had been presented at the September 8, 2000 meeting. He recommended that the council proceed with Option 1 which is to apply a 1½" hot mix asphalt overlay to the streets as they are now. This surface should last 3 - 5 years and allow the city some time to decide how to address permanent street construction in the area. The estimated cost for this process is $50,000 - $60,000. Councilmember Stanwick agreed with that recommendation and suggested adding Lake Highlands Drive and Horseshoe Drive to the bond program list for consideration as soon as possible. Mayor Manning said we need to begin with the next budget year to allocate funds every year to re-build and pave the roads in Eastvale. Council agreed to place an item on the October 16, 2000 agenda authorizing staff to seek bids for Option #1 as presented. Mayor Manning said the council would have a work session to decide whether Lake Highlands and Horseshoe should be added to the bond program list. 4.3 Discussion item: 1999 Thoroughfare Bond Program Update (Saldafia) Mr. Saldafia gave the council a brief report on the status of the street repairs under the 1999 thoroughfare bond program. Mayor Manning said the next report should include estimated completion dates on the streets which are currently underway and the estimated time for 10/2/00 beginning the next phase. Councilmember Gordon stated there needs to be better communication with the citizens regarding this program. 9:21 p.m. 15.0 I EXECUTIVE SESSION I 5.1 Executive Session as authorized by Section 551.074 of the Government Code regarding personnel matters, to-wit: A. City Manager Position B. Appointment of Interim City Manager 9:52 p.m. 5.2 Consideration of any appropriate action to be taken as a result of the Executive Session A. Mr. Lambert read the following letter: "With reluctance and some amount of regret, I submit my resignation as City Manager of the City of The Colony. I have accepted a similar position with the City of Brownsville, and ask to be relieved of my duties here to pursue that position. The Colony people have been wonderful to my family and I and we only leave because of the promise of a better opportunity. This is a great place to live and raise children and I can say without resignation, the greatest place for families and children that we have ever lived. Please accept this resignation effective October 15, 2000". Mike Lynch, 4921 Roberts, thanked Mr. Lambert for his service to the city. Motion to accept the resignation effective October 15, 2000 and to enter into a consultant agreement with Mr. Lambert for a minimum of 90 days - Kovatch; second - Dillard carried with all ayes. B. Motion to appoint Patti Hicks as interim city manager effective October 16, 2000 - Stanwick; second- Gordon, carried with all ayes. With no further business to address, Mayor Manning adjourned the meeting at 9:55 p.m. William W. Manning, Mayor ~ ATTEST: Patti A. Hicks, TRMC,CMC/AAE City Secretary