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February 3, 2003
MINUTES OF REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL
HELD ON
FEBRUARY 3, 2003
The Regular Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at
7:07 p.m. on the 3rd day of February 2003, at City Hall with the following roll call:
Bemetta Henville-Shannon Mayor Present
John Gordon Councilmember Present
Lewis Jue Councilmember Present
Joe McCourry Councilmember Present
Lynda Bayliss Councilmember Present
Perry Schrag Councilmember Present
Joel Marks Councilmember Present
and with seven present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed:
I 1.0 I ROUTINE ANNOUNCEMENTS, RECOGNITIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS:
Call to Order
Invocation - Holy Cross Catholic Church - Scott Pearce
Mayor Henville-Shannon asked for a moment of silence to remember those lost
in the shuttle, Columbia tragedy and their families.
Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Flag
Salute to the Texas Flag
Citizen Input - None
[2.0 I CONSENT AGENDA
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Now we come to our Consent Agenda. Are there any items
that would like to be pulled from our Consent Agenda? Councilmember Gordon."Councilmember
Gordon "Agenda Item 2.8." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "O.K., any others? Councilman
McCourry." Councilmember McCourry, "2.4." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "O.K., and I'd like to
pull 2.3, 2.5, 2.6, and 2.7, and I'll go ahead and read the rest.
Item 2.1 Consideration of approval of the minutes of the council meeting held
January 20, 2003 (Wilson)
Item 2.2 Consideration of approval of a resolution encouraging adoption of
President's $3.5 Billion First Responder initiative during the 108ta session of
Congress (Morrison)
And with those two, I'll entertain a motion." Councilmember Gordon, "Motion to
approve." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "There is a motion, is there a second?" Councilmember
McCourry, "Second." Mayor Henville-Shannon, There is a motion and a second, council will you
please vote? (All voted aye) Thank you.
Item 2.3 Consideration of approval of an ordinance authorizing the city manager to
enter into an agreement with Kimley-Horn in an amount not to exceed $10,000 to
evaluate possible irrigation sources for Five Star Community Complex (Johnston)
And the reason that I pulled that one, after reading the material and what they were
proposing, the only thing that I would like to add to that proposal is an item number 6. And I
think that we need to also explore thc possibilities of a detention pond with a pump for irrigation.
That may be one our other ideas." At this time, Mr. Johnston responded to thc mayor's request,
stating that an item number 6 would be added. Mayor Henville-Shannon, "O.K., is there any other
discussion on that particular item? With that, I'll entertain a motion."
February 3, 2003
Councilmember McCourry, Motion to approve." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "With the
changes?" Councilmember McCourry, "With the addition number 6 for a water holding pond to
be used for irrigation." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "O.K., there is a motion, is there a second?"
Councilmember Marks, "Second."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "O.K., there is a motion and a second, council will you please
vote? Motion carries. (All voted aye)
Item 2.4 Consideration of approval of a change order to the engineering agreement
with Chiang, Patel & Yerby, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $48,830.16 to provide
construction management of Office Creek Pump Station 3.0 million gallon ground storage
tank (Scruggs)
And the reason I pulled that Mr. Scruggs is so the residents know why we have a change
order for $48.000. I just don't feel comfortable putting it on a consent agenda without some
explanation to the residents." Mr. Scruggs, "Typically, this would be a part of the original
agreement with the engineers. And the reason is, it is a special type of structure. What the
Engineering Inspections normally inspect are like the typical water lines, sewer lines, streets or
storm drains. Any type of a special structure like a water storage tank, anything to do with the
wastewater treatment plant, or a high service pump station requires really specialized inspections,
and with the engineer, we get that specialized inspection."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Um-Hmm, council is there any discussion on this item?
Councilman McCourry." Councilmember McCourry, "So because this is a special type of
inspection, and, was this not foreseen, didn't we just talk about all this in the proposal for the 3
'million gallon tank, and how did this get left out? I mean I'm just trying to figure out why this
didn't come in as part of the whole package." Mr. Scruggs, "It should have. I, normally, it would
have been included with the original contract. I'm not sure why it wasn't. And to be honest I
missed it when it came through and I didn't realize it until we were fixing to start the
construction." Councilmember McCourry, "O.K."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "One other question, if we did this inspection ourselves, would
it come out of our building inspections, is that where it would be. Do we have engineering
inspections?" Mr. Scruggs, "We do have engineering inspections, however, we don't inspect this
type of structure, I mean, this type of structure, how often do we construct one, so it requires
some really specialized type of inspections." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "O.K., council is there
any other discussion? Councilman Marks."
Councilmember Marks "Mr. City Manager, how are we on the funding for this additional
cost?" Mr. Cheatham, "Councilman Marks we came in under bid or what we had budgeted for the
original project, so we do have funds available for this project. And I might add in Gordon's
defense, when the original engineering contract was put together, it was not put together by Mr.
Scruggs. It was put together by the former city engineer. Not to point the finger, I just wanted to
let the council know, that was not his responsibility at that point in time."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Tony, do you have anything to add?" Mr. Johnston,
...... "what happened here and we immediately brought it in for approval with y'all." Mr.
Scruggs, "We will do a better job next time." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "O.K., I just wanted to
make sure the residents knew why we had such a large change order. Any more discussion on this
particular item? With that I'll entertain a motion."
Councilmember Gordon, "Motion to approve." Councilmember Jue, "Second." Mayor
Henville-Shannon, "There is a motion and a second. Council would you please vote? That motion
carries. (All voted aye) Thank you. Next item is
Item 2.5 Consideration of approval of a resolution authorizing the city manager to
enter into a settlement agreement with Cullum Construction for corrections to Windhaven
Parkway (Johnston)
And I just wanted to let the residents know exactly what we are doing on it here." Mr.
Johnston, "Mayor just to give you a little detail of what is taking place. This construction was
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February 3, 2003
done approximately about two years ago. At that point there were four construction companies
that were involved in putting the under surface, the easements or the utility easements in there
and the paving construction that went with it. About a little bit over a year ago, we noticed there
was infrastructure failure. At that point, we went ahead and consulted some of the construction
companies and we also went ahead and we also did the soil testing. With the soil testing and in
conjunction with our legal we went ahead and figured out where in the construction this failure
took place. At that point we identified one of the construction companies and started negotiating
with them. At that point, it was difficult to get them going. I came before you and said we cannot
wait anymore on Windhaven and made a proposal from Rodman Paving. They came forth with
approximately $92,000 to that construction.
Then confronted Cullum Construction with an offer of $75,000 and he came forward with
that and I am bringing that to you fight now." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "O.K. my only concern
is can we also attach this settlement agreement with his file in purchasing so we will be on notice
if they decided to re-bid on some of our other construction projects, then we will know exactly
what we are dealing with." Mr. Johnston, "We can." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Is there any
other discussion on this particular item? If not, I will entertain a motion."
Mr. Gordon Hikel, city attorney, "I just wanted to point out one thing to council. On page
2 of the settlement document. Did everyone find page 2? After I prepared the document, it was
sent to Mr. Cullum and on the second page, the third line has the words 'repairs to'. That has been
struck out and he has chosen to insert these words here, 'any work performed by contractor on
Windhaven Pkwy.' It doesn't change the substantive meaning of the agreement. Basically, it's the
same thing. I wanted to let him know that we will be releasing him of the liability as it pertains to
repairs to Windhaven Pkwy.' but he preferred instead of these two words, he preferred these four
words. And so, what you have there, the words repairs to will be taken out and we will insert
words any work performed by contractor on Windhaven Pkwy. The very next sentence it says,
'The parties agree that, there will be a comma inserted there in between the words that and by. In
the final sentence, line, it reads and settling all claims in this matter. There will be a comma
inserted there after the word matter and the word 'that' will be stricken.
So it would read, that final sentence will say, beginning with the word after. 'After the
Contractor has paid the sum of Seventy-Five Thousand ($57,000.00) Dollars, the City shall
release the Contractor from all present and future claims, causes of action and actions for
(comma) or relating to any work performed by Contractor on Windhaven Parkway. (period) The
parties agree that, (comma) by compromising and settling all claims in this matter, (comma) the
Contractor is not admitting to liability for any claims asserted by the City. (period)' I will
entertain any questions council may have."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "What's your opinion on that?" Mr. Hikel, "Well, mayor, what
he has chosen to insert there doesn't really change anything. The final sentence there that says by
settling, he's not admitting any liability. It's just standard language that we are saying look, when
we comprise and settle a case, it could be for a myriad of reasons. One could be to avoid
expensive litigation. I'm not saying I did something wrong, I'm not saying I didn't do something
wrong. But business purposes for example, I want to compromise and settle this. That's all the
last sentence means. The words he has chosen to insert there, 'any work performed by
contractor', basically he is asking that when I settle this matter here I want to be released for
anything that goes wrong in the future. I'll tell you this, I mean if anything else were to go wrong,
we'll be hard pressed to go after them because two years ago it expired anyway. So, for all
practical purposes, the words inserted by the contractor does not change in any manner the
substantive agreement we had before." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Just a matter of re-wording it,
the way it sounds. Interesting. Is there any discussion on council? With those additional changes
Councilman Marks."
Councilmember Marks, "Could you repeat the wording on that first.relating to." Mr.
Hikel, "In that first sentence after the word 'repairs to' will be changed to, 'any work performed
by contractor on Windhaven Parkway." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Is there any more
discussion? Then I'll entertain a motion."
Fcbruar~ 3, 2003
Councilmember McCounT, "Motion to approve." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "There's a
motion on the floor. Is there a second?" Councilmember Jue, "Second." Mayor Henville-
Shannon, "There is a motion and a second, council please vote. Motion c~xries"
(All voted Aye)
Item 2.6 Consideration of authorizing expenditures of approximately $3000.00 for
Councilmembers Marks and Schrag to attend International Council of Shopping
Centers Annual Conference (Schrag/Marks)
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "And I pulled that for Tom to give us an explanation, to give
the residents an explanation, if you don't mind." Tom Terrall (Economic Development Director),
"The International Council of Shopping Centers' annual conference is basically a coming
together of the who's who in retail. It is retail developers, retail organizations that sell, it's retail
brokers. And it is truly international. Last year we attended. Cindi Lane and I attended and there
was about 31,000 people registered by Noon on Monday, the first day. That did not include over
800 to 850 exhibitors in this enormous building. We were having a discussion with a member of
council, about in general trade shows we go to and the member of council asked if it would be
helpful if a member of council or somebody from council went with us to this trade show. And
my response to that was yes, that would be helpful for two reasons; one when you've got a trade
show that large, it always helps to have a few more extra bodies to cover exhibitors. And though
we try to set appointments and last year I think we did an admirable job of covering the exhibitors
we had given first priority to, there were still a lot of exhibitors we would like to have covered
before it was over. Secondly, when you are sitting in an appointment with a decision maker from
one of these companies, it always adds significance to the fact that you have a Councilmember
with you. At least one other city that I know of last year brought about seven people. And they
had quite a few members of council in that group to go with them to these appointments. This
trade show, unlike some others, has decision makers in the exhibits representing the companies.
They have four conference rooms set up. They are there to make deals and to make some
decisions. So I think it is helpful and I appreciate the fact that two Councilmembers have stepped
up and said they are willing to help us with this. As far as the amount is concerned, it is probably
overestimated a bit. But not knowing some of the costs that could change between now and then,
we came up with a figure of $1500.00 a person. I might add to that that last year that was our
estimate and we went and came back considerably under budget."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "How many years have we been participating in this particular
trade show?" Mr. Terrall, "This will be our second year. Last year was our first year." Mayor
Henville-Shannon, "Did we see any type of return out of our first year?" Mr. Terrall, "We did
make some good contacts and developed some good connections with Texas companies. Have we
got one coming to The Colony? The answer to that is no, but that was our first year there. And we
opened The Colony to a lot of those people who were not aware of us, were not aware of what we
had to offer in terms of properties and traffic counts and all the things they look at in order to
make a decision on where they want to do a development. Also, I think you have to look at the
economy that's existed since then. It has not been a good economy and a lot of them that I have
kept in touch with over this year have told me that basically they have been a lot of projects on
hold and they have been completing projects they had in process in other parts of Texas. You
know I might add to that Mayor if I may. As I said to one of the Councilman, there are no
guarantees when we got one of these trade shows. We go and hope to come back some good leads
and some good contacts, given the economy and so forth, it's just as possible you could go and
not cgrne back with as much information as you had hoped for. But we do know what happens if
you don't go." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Are any of your board members of the 4A board
atter~ling with you?" Mr. Terrall, "No they are not. We had not budgeted for that this year,
primarily because of the costs involved in going and that's the reason for that. I have made them
aw~e that council is looking at this item tonight and have made them aware that two
Councilmembers have stepped up and shown interest in going with us and helping us, and they
are very appreciative of that." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "And you guys can get time off from
work for that to occur?" O.K., Councilman Marks."
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February 3, 2003
Councilmember Marks, "I understand the importance of promoting our city. I think that's
my main job, for the future of our city. I got interested in this because it's my first opportunity to
go out and do it and try to bring developers in our city. We didn't have these kinds of
opportunities back when I was on council 12 years ago. We always just thought that we were here
and people were going to come see us because we were in the best development area. I think that
also, that if we do go and make a lot of different contacts, it'll have some bearing on the
negotiations and things that we talk to, things that go on within the state as for as, like the
highway department, other cities and other counties and things of that nature. And I think it's
very important. I for one thought the cost was awfully high and I talked to Tom about that and I
hope that this is strictly a high budgeted or you are budgeting real high and we are going to come
in completely under budget." Mr. Terrall, "I think that's a true statement. I looked at the numbers
today and they round off to about $1200 or so, but that does not take into account hotel fares that
might change or air fares that might change. That's just the numbers that we know today."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Councilman Schrag, do you have anything more to add to
that? O.K. Is there any more discussion on council? O.K. with that I'll entertain a motion."
Councilmember Gordon, "Motion to approve." Councilmember Jue, "Second." Mayor
Henville-Shannon, "There is a motion and a second, council would you please vote? Motion
carries. (All voted Aye) We wish you our best guys. Bring us back some business.
O.K. Item 2.7, we are going to table that item? O.K.
Item2.7 Consideration of approval of an ordinance amending the Code of
Ordinances by amending Chapter 12, section 105 relating to deposits for water;
section 107 relating to billing and section 110 relating to re-connect fees (Koo)
Ms. Koo." Ms. Rebecca Koo, "Mayor and Council. Staff would like to table this item and
bring it back to the council for consideration later because Councilman Perry has suggested there
may be a different recommendation that he wants us to bring back to the council.
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "O.K., Mr. Cheatham." Mr. Dale Cheatham, "Mayor and
council, if there any other members of council that have input on this particular item we would
certainly be appreciative of that prior to us bringing this back. Thank you." Ms. Koo, "Thank
you." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Thank you. And with that recommendation, the item, I'll
entertain a motion to table."
Councilmember Schrag, "I move we table item 2.7." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "O.K.
There is a motion, is there a second?" Councilmember McCourry, "Second." Mayor Henville-
Shannon, "There is a motion and a second, would you please vote? Motion carries. (All voted
Aye) Next item.
Item 2.8 Consideration of approval of an expenditure of $400 for Mayor's annual
membership to the Metropolitan Mayor's Association (Itenville-Shannon)
Councilman Gordon." Councilmember Gordon, "I guess just as a point of reference, if
my memory serves me correct last year, council voted no in regard to this. If we could have Ms.
Hicks pull that particular item from the meeting that it was on, but I'm sure Council voted no in
regard to this." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "You are absolutely right, the last year's council before
the new members came in voted no due to the fact that it was a expensive item. And so the
residents chose to pick up the annual membership for me to attend for further information with all
of the mayors in the metropolitan area that are attending this particular meeting. Yes, you are
correct and I've been attending them on our resident's behalf for the last year and a half."
Councilmember Gordon, "I guess I'm asking is why are we being billed at this point in time, if
city council voted no?" Mayor Henville-Shannon, "The last year's council voted no in that
particular budget." Councilmember Gordon, "Well, mayor I don't know when you started
attending these, but this is the second year of your term. It was brought to council approximately
a year ago as far as I know and it was voted no. I just want to know, I guess, why we are being
billed for this at this point in time, if council voted no to it." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Last year
residents picked up the tab for the membership because the council voted no." Councilmember
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February 3, 2003
Gordon, "What year? This note here says that we are being billed for 2002 and in March we are
going to be billed for 2003." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "That's incorrect. That is incorrect.
Because the residents picked up the tab for the year 2002 and this is a new year for 2003."
Councilmember Gordon, "Well I guess I'd like some verification on that and something we can
get in writing from this particular organization and last year, as I recall the reason I voted no for
it, was because there was no back-up as to what this organization is, what it does. If we could get
some back up I don't see any back up on this particular item again this evening." Mayor Henville-
Shannon, "You have the copies right there. Last year, when she pulls the records you will £md out
that last year when it was voted no is where you voted no, Jue voted no, Stanwick voted no and
Garcia voted no. And it was due to the fact that Stanwick wanted to see an agenda item for each
meeting and the agenda items did not come out at the time that we were talking about this
particular agenda. That was the reason that was on there." Councilmember Gordon, "Well, again I
hate to argue over something so trite, but I guess what concerns me is that if council voted no for
you to attend this particular organization. And you attended and now it's coming back and being
billed to the city. I have a problem with that. And the second thing is again, is we asked for some
back up information. It was presented to us last year as every mayor in the past had attended this
organization and upon further review, it was found out that we had not been a part of this
organization. So I would just like to have verification of those two items and then I can certainly
make a decision. But based on what is here tonight I have a problem thinking that we are being
billed. This is a note from the executive secretary of this particular association. And the note says,
'This is the invoice that wasn't paid for 2002 attendance. I will be invoicing for the 2003 fiscal
year again in March.' And a copy of this invoice that she faxed is dated March 5, 2002." Mayor
Henville-Shannon, "That invoice was paid. And for the residents' information, the last year's
council was the old council, and we have new council up here and so I would like to have them to
have the opportunity to know of a membership that I am affiliated with. And I will still be
attending because there is a lot of valuable information there. We have a lot of congressional
people that come there. There's a lot of speakers that come there that has to with major issues that
are facing all of our cities when it comes to water, wastewater, erosion control and a just a general
feel of The Colony not being isolated with all the surrounding mayors. You are right. We have
never participated in the past because our council chose not to participate in many things in the
past." Councilmember Gordon, "Could we just get the minutes of that meeting pulled, is there
some way to do that?"(Ms. Hicks, city secretary left the room to pull the minutes as requested)
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "And with that, is there any more discussion?
Councilman Gordon, are you completed?" Councilmember Gordon, "I'd like to see the minutes
of that meeting?" Mayor Henville-Shannon, "O.K. Is there any more discussion?"
Councilmember Gordon, "Not from me." Mayor Henville-Shannon, O.K., Councilman Jue."
Councilmember Jue, "Since there is a little discrepancy of whether this invoice was paid or not. I
would like to make a motion to table this item until further notice that we get verification that
2002 dues were actually paid. And we have a little bit of time, since apparently they won't be
billing for 2003 until March, so my motion is that we table this until we get further verification."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Is there any more discussion? O.K. Councilman Bayliss.
Councilmember Bayliss, "I just wanted to add that I do feel that it is important the mayor be
affiliated with other mayors and attend these types of things. I think that it is important. I don't
know if we have participated in the past, but it's probably do that we do maintain good
relationships. I think that they are very key." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Thank you, any more
discussion? Councilman Marks." Coun¢ilmember Marks, "I think it's a good idea that you are,
the mayor, whoever the mayor is be able to go to these associations, especially if it's going to
help us promote our city. However, we have an invoice that you are saying is paid and we can't
approve this tonight until we have the corrected invoice. Are we trying to approve this for fiscal
year 2003? You are saying this has been paid?" Mayor Henville-Shannon, "That is what I am
asking for the approval of 2003." Councilmember Marks, "Well I agree, I'd like to second Mr.
Jue's motion that we table this until we get a corrected invoice, because if this is the only
documentation we have I don't feel real good about making any kind of approval."
Mayor Henville-Shannon. "O.K. Is there any more discussion? Just a little FYI. The
packet that we just approved for $1500.00 each didn't have any back up material in it either, other
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February 3, 2003
than a e-mail from Tom. Just FYI for everybody else to know, there was no back up material.
But there is a motion, and is there a second?"
At this time, Councilmember Bayliss asked when the next meeting of the association
would be, however her voice was not loud enough to include a verbatim transcript of her
statements. Mayor Henville-Shannon responded, "Um, the next meeting will be the first week in
March. Um Hm monthly meetings on an annual basis. Councilman Marks."
Councilmember Marks, "With all due respects, you are asking us to pay an invoice that's
dated March 5, 2002. You said that it was paid. It's just as if you get your credit card bill at home
and you know you've paid the bill, you call up and talk to them about it so that you can get a
corrected statement. I can't, I don't think any of us would be in our right mind to approve
something that is incorrect. And as long as we have the right paperwork in front of us then we can
make an intelligent decision. And the fact that there's no back up in that 2.6 item. I certainly
apologize for that. I guess maybe we should have put something else together for you. This is the
first time we've done that and I guarantee when the paperwork comes back for 2.6, the invoices
will be correct if we are going to get approval for council expenditures."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "So we can go ahead, it's O.K. to have back up for certain
items but not all items, as we have proven tonight?" Councilmember Marks, "Well, I don't want
to get into an argument with you tonight." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "I'm not arguing, I'm just
pointing out a fact that item 2.6 that we have just discussed is just an e-mail, just an e-mail
between Patti and Dale and Tom." Councilmember Marks, "Well, in that particular case, that
particular item, that's all that it required because it's talking about a furore trip in May. You are
asking me to pay $400.00 on an invoice from March of 2002, which you said was already paid. If
it has been paid, then we need to get this straight with the Metroplex Mayor's Association, get the
right paperwork, and then we'll make approval of the payment of $400.00 for 2003."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "I understand completely, I'm sure I do. There is a motion and
a second on the floor. Council will you please vote? Motion passes. (vote as shown on the board:
Aye, Gordon, Jue, Bayliss, Schrag, Marks; No - Henville-Shannon; Abstain - McCourry)
And for the record, with Patti, when she, well it's on tape, so we don't have to worry about that,
but for the record, I'd like for that to be verbatim on the minutes. Is the tape running? Very good.
I just wanted to make a request that it needs to be, for the minutes put that in verbatim. Thank
you. Moving right along here.
I 3.0 I REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
Item 3.1 Consideration of approval of a site plan for Ray and Jay Car Care to be
located East of Main Street and North of East Lake Highlands Drive in The Colony
(Persaud)
Mr. Persaud." Mr. Harry Persaud, "Mayor and council, the subject site for this
development is located on the. There we go. This is the Main Street and the site is right here east
of Main Street. Sorry, right there. That is Lake Park Drive, and this is Overlake Drive and Lake
Highlands. Originally, this tract was three lots and the developer has re-platted that tract into one
development site. The tract is zoned light commercial and a lube and oil facility is a permitted
use. Here is an aerial shot of the same site. Main Street is right here. This is Sam Romo's
Caldwell Banker real estate office. That's the site right there, just about ½ of an acre. The
developer proposed to construct a lube and oil facility on the site. Just about 2000 square feet of
building area. The traffic will be accessed off of Main Street. I'd like to point out to council that
we are asking for 15 feet of right-of way dedication on the tract. The developer has consented to
give us that. That has been dedicated by plat to the city. We have also asked for 15 feet of utility
easement for relocation our 24" water line after the expansion of our Main Street, so totally about
30 feet of land that can't be built on and that is a requirement of our building regulations. There is
going to be a 5 feet sidewalk around the property right there. Because of the dedication of the
utility easement, the staff has requested the landscaping which would normally on the front end of
the property, based on the landscape ordinance, we have asked that the landscaping be located on
the side since we couldn't have any trees planted within that easement because in the future we'll
February 3, 2003
be digging up that easement for the installation of the 24" water line and so we've asked the
developer to relocate those trees.
We've got Dr. Layton Revel here, the developer and he's got an entourage of consultants
and engineers and designers. If you've got any questions of staff or the developer we'll be
pleased to respond."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "FYI, would you put that aerial photograph up please? And the
site we are talking about is right next to Caldwell Banker?" Mr. Persaud, "Right here, yes Mayor.
North of, this is the Caldwell Banker." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "O.K. so the other side is the
uh, the other side of that is." (Unidentified person stated, "Pawn Shop.") Mayor Henville-
Shannon, "No." Mr. Persaud, "Mayor, there is an existing use there, where they are storing heavy
machinery. We have visited with the developer on that. We have given him an opportunity to
come before council, he needs an SUP to do that, and so he's in the process of getting his plans
ready to bring before P&Z and council. He's had discussions with staff and initially our reaction
was that this was not something we should encourage, but he had asked that he be given some
time frame to do that and so we intend to bring those plans before you." Mayor Henville-
Shannon, "I guess my biggest concern is what are we trying to portray down in that particular
area and I guess I won't know until we actually see what the building elevation is going to look
like from 423. And from what I gather right now, the bay doors will be facing 423. That we are
going to put bay doors facing 423 which will be two establishments that have bay doors facing
423." Mr. Persaud, "Mayor, let me address that issue. That is correct. Now, when the developer
visited with staff we talked about the possibility of relocating that building so that the bay doors
don't face 423. Now, we don't have a standard on 423 requiring the bay doors not to face Main
Street. We do have it on State Hwy. 121. Now if it's council direction to tighten up those
standards on 423, we are ready to go in that direction, except for the fact that the tighter we make
those regulations, the harder it is for certain developers to come and develop the land along Main
Street. Right now, the way Eastvale is, we think that any development, which meets our masonry
standard, our landscaping standard is probably going to be better than what we have there today.
So, I'd like to get some direction from council if that is the way you want us to go. I was reluctant
to make those standards tighter because of the time it's taking, and you know we've lost a few
developments because of higher standards. Across the street for example, you will recall an office
building that came in and they didn't develop after we tightened those standards. Right across
there was an office building here with 2.1 acres, and we couldn't get them to go along with those
standards. They had their site plan approved, but after they did a cost estimate on the construction
they had to pull the plug on that project. And even so, you know Sam Romo's building right here
didn't comply with our new standards either. Because the new masonry standards were 75%
masonry and Sam couldn't meet that either. As a matter of fact, we granted a variance on that one
where the building, the exterior walls, not facing an arterial, were not masonry, they were hardi-
board. The point of the staff here is if you make those standards too tight, then we kind of make it
hard for development to take place. You know, I'd like to revitalize and make improvements in
Eastvale as we go on in this process." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "I couldn't agree with you more.
I like the revitalization of Eastvale and positive improvements. I have to agree with you there. My
biggest concern is that we have to make sure that we are equally fair to all developers who have
developed in the past as well as the future in our regulations and that's why I brought up the fact
that there's only one other place on 423 that has their bay doors facing 423. Even the new
Goodyear that just came in has their bay doors facing south, instead of west."
Mr. Persaud, "Yes, Mayor, that was a requirement, Goodyear had to do that because they
are in the overlay district." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Is there anymore discussion? Councilman
McCourry, "Is it possible for you to resituate that building on that land?" Dr. Revel, "I have folks
with Isbell Engineering here and folks with Windham Construction." Mayor Henville-Shannon,
"Please don't misunderstand me, I don't have a problem with your site, I'm just curious about
why we do one way and then not the other way." Dr. Revel, "I think one of the things that in
working with all of the staff members here at The Colony, our engineering firm and our
construction company felt very strongly that we met and exceeded all of the current city
requirements for the construction of this particular facility. We've got renditions for what the
different buildings look like that Windham Construction has built in the past. They've built 25-30
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February 3, 2003
of these operations that are similar to this. Lee Allison, with Isbell Engineering has worked with a
number of folks the city staff before here and we feel very strongly that we have a site plan in
place that will definitely add to the community." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Councilman
McCourry, did...would you answer his (McCourry) question please, thank you?"
Councilmember McCourry, "I was just curious if you can mm that building 90°, and still
have the frontage and still be able to have the drive through, basically by rotating it on the office
and presenting the office there as your front and thus putting the bay doors perpendicular there to
the, actually they would end up being then parallel instead of perpendicular to 423. I mean I'm
just curious in hearing your design people, I mean they are working with the owner you know, to
get all this built. I mean these are"
Mr. Good, "I'm Anthony Good with Isbell Engineering, and if we turn the building
sideways...the building is, I believe it is 68 feet in length, uh, what is that lot dimension on the
width?" Mr. Persaud, "147 feet. That includes the 15 feet of easement. Really the lot here, we are
taking out mayor, uh, council, we are taking out 30 feet of this lot because of the right of way
dedication for Main Street and the 15 feet of utility easement. And then there is a building line.
That is the new property line, there's a building line of 25 feet from there. So your building area
on the lot is very restricted because of the 30 feet of land that we are taking from the developer."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "You're saying there is a 25 foot building setback on that." Mr.
Persaud, "Yeah, from the new property line, which is here, there is a 25 feet setback." Mr. Good,
"I don't believe that it would be feasible." Mr. Persaud, "And staff did discuss this initially when
we had first contact with the developer about the bay doors facing Main Street and we tried to
encourage the developer to comply with some aesthetic standards. Now, the issue here, and this is
the big issue along Main Street, when we take out our dedication and utility easement, you don't
have a real large building lot."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Councilman Gordon, "Just a comment, then a quick question.
Harry, I think we have an excellent project that wants to come into the city, I think they have met
and exceeded our current requirements and I welcome them and hope they get the opportunity to
come into our city. Harry, would you go ahead and, I was under the impression that this building
exceeds our current standards from a construction standpoint. Can you just run through the
construction? Didn't I see an artist's rendition somewhere or am I just dreaming that up? Mr.
Persaud, "Yes, Councilman Gordon, let me walk you through some of those standards on the site
plan. Well first of all on the landscaping plan, I must point out, that you know the landscape
ordinance calls for landscaping within the front yard of the building and there's no requirement.
Now, let's look at the landscaping plan. There are all kinds of live oaks and Shumard oaks along
here within the site. The landscaping ordinance calls for landscaping within the front yard of the
building. Of course the front yard of the building the developer is dedicating 15 feet and also
giving the city a 15 feet of utility easement. Thirty feet, thirty feet of frontage land is being given
up for building development. I think that's quite a lot for a developer to give up on a small site.
And secondly, there are three lots there, that really, they could have three driveways, but by
combining those lots into one lot, you have one driveway off of Main Street. So the developer, in
a sense is helping the city to avoid all these curb cuts on Main Street. Secondly the building is
masonry all over." Mr. Good, "Split rock construction, so it's not a temporary building or a tin
building, it's a rock construction building." Mr. Persaud, Yeah, exceeding standards in terms of
masonry requirements. This is just an ordinary design, which they have given to the staff (an
example of the building was shown). That's the current design, but it exceeds standards in terms
of masonry construction. Met the fire standards, all the other requirements, access, parking and so
on. And so I think that besides the fact that the bay doors facing Main Street, if that's an issue.
They tried to meet that standard they couldn't meet it. Now, the part of the staff here is, if we
make the standards too stringent, you really eliminate a lot, a number of developments along
Main Street especially the Eastvale area, where the lots are small and we need the dedication. I
must say the developers have never questioned the dedication. That was good on the part of the
developer to do that."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Are you finished Councilman Gordon?" Councilmember
Gordon, "I am." Dr. Layton, "I would like to make one comment. I do share the mayor's concerns
for the City of The Colony. My wife and I have lived in the area for over twenty years now.
9
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February 3, 2003
When my son-in-law and I bought the property there we saw it as being able to be a part of The
Colony and be a very vital part of the strong economic growth here in The Colony. So we're just
as concerned with what gets built along Main Street as everyone else is, because we're property
owners and we're going to have a major piece of construction and a family business there. So we
welcome the opportunity to be a part of the business community here."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Like I reiterated, please don't misunderstand me. I'm just
concerned about how we go about doing business as far as what's facing 423 and the type of
image we are trying to portray and build. So please don't misunderstand me, I welcome you
also." Dr. Layton, "Thank you."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Councilman McCourry." Councilmember McCourry, "And
the same here, I mean I agree with Mr. Gordon. We are very glad that you're building here. And
I'm just looking at options and whether it had been considered, and obviously you know, you all
looked at could you reorient that building and all, and I just had to ask that question. And in
trying to do that, and no, Harry, I don't want to make the ordinances too stringent so that they, we
can't get builders in here and people to have the opportunity to have family businesses. So, in
answer to your questions, no, that wasn't the reason for the question at all." Mr. Persaud, "Thank
you." Dr. Layton, "We do appreciate input in that. I know our engineering company, construction
company, have had a lot of meetings with staff and we just want to be able to come in and on the
first go around to build the best building we can."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "And you have to understand our point of view, we are not in
the meetings with you and staff, so we don't even know if some of questions that we are
concerned with have addressed, so that's the reason I asked the questions so blatantly.
Councilman Marks."
Councilmember Marks, "On the, how much space is behind the building, from the back
wall?" Mr. Good, "I believe it's 42 from memory." Councilmember Marks, "From what I
understand, if you were to turn the building, you would lose the fire protection." Mr. Good, "Yes,
we couldn't have the drive around it, the circulation around the building, if we turned it." Dr.
Layton, Obviously one of the dilemmas with losing the 15 feet dedication, new property lines,
and that kept taking a real nice piece of property and shrinking it all the way along." Mayor
Henville-Shannon, "Is there any more discussion from council? Any more input?" Dr. Layton,
"No, thank you very much for your consideration."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Mr. Persaud." Mr. Persaud, "When we considered this at the
Planning and Zoning Commission, there were three stipulations placed on the site plan. Since
then the developers have worked with the staff, they've met the third stipulation, which was the
removal of landscaping from the 15 feet utility easement and relocate those on the side. They
have complied with that now. The plans you are approving don't need the third stipulation, so
there are only two other stipulations on the staff report."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Is there any more discussion council? Seeing there is none,
I'll entertain a motion." Councilmember Gordon, "Motion to approve per staff
recommendations." Councilmember Marks, Second." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "There is a
motion and a second, council would you please vote? Motion carries. (All voted aye) Welcome to
the city.
Moving right along here.
Item 3.2 Consideration of acceptance of bids for the annual contract for the purchase of chemicals and soil conditioners; and award of bids as follows
Items 1 & 3 B&G Chemicals
Items 2,5,9,12 & 13 BWI Companies
Items 6,7,8,10,11 & 14 Greensmith's
Item 4 - drawing of lots by the mayor will determine award of bid
And consideration of approval of an ordinance authorizing a contract for same
(Young/Sparkman)
Ms. Nelson, "Is that complicated or what? Well to further complicate things, we would
like to ask you to table this item for tonight. We would like a little bit more time to further
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February 3, 2003
evaluate the bids and we'll bring it back to you on March 3 if that's O.K." Mayor Henville-
Shannon, "O.K. do I hear a motion, I'll entertain a motion to table. Don't all jump out there."
Councilmember Bayliss, "Motion to table." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "There is a motion to
table, is there a second?" Councilmember McCourry, "Second." Mayor Henville-Shannon,
"There is a motion and a second, council would you please vote. Thank you. (All voted Aye)
We'll address that one at a later date. Thanks.
Item 3.3 Consideration of authorizing expenditure of funds for the re-location of
abandoned Denton County bridges to be used within the City of The Colony
(Nelson)
Ms. Nelson." Ms. Pam Nelson, "Mayor, members of council. A couple of months
ago, we received notification from Denton County that they were giving away bridges throughout
the county. These are historical iron bridges that are located on a bunch of the back roads
throughout the county. So we went and took a look at some of these bridges. We went and viewed
them and just kind of wanted to see what they were all about. And actually after viewing them,
we decided it would be a great benefit to try and re-locate one or more of these bridges to The
Colony. So we put our names on the list. The bridges were going fast as a matter of fact. So we
put our names on the list for a couple of them and we did tell the County also that if they have
others on the list that communities have spoken for but when they get the call to say O.K. you
need to come move your bridge in a couple of weeks, if they don't have the resources available or
if for whatever reason they are not able to do it, that we'd like to be notified for consideration for
some additional bridges. What we are asking for tonight is for consideration for you to allow us to
proceed with the acquisition and to be able to relocate these, one in particular at Duck Creek and
Belz Road up in Denton County. It would be just to the west of Sanger on the west side of 35.
And I put pictures in your packet of a couple of the bridges that we looked at. The first three
pictures are of the Duck Creek Bridge. We are first on the list for that bridge. This bridge has
about a 60-foot span and the side rails, you can kind of see Dennis and I standing at the end of the
bridge. This will kind of give you a perspective. The side rails are about 8 - 10 feet tall. Our idea
would be to take this bridge and place it at Greenway Park. For those of you who may not know
where Greenway Park is, it's at the intersection of Blair Oaks and S. Colony. We have three parks
there at that intersection. We have Perryman Park, which has the pavilion and the playground. We
have Historical Park, which is adjacent to the Fire Station. And then Greenway Park is across the
street. Greenway Park was acquired several years ago; I'm not exactly sure what year it was. I
believe it was back in the early 80's through the Land Conservation Act and at the time it was
developed, it was just kind of a scraped trail along the TXU easement. Over the years, obviously
that trail grew over. So we would like to come back in and through the development of trails and
put a permanent trail in there. In order to do that we would want to span the drainage channel
there. You see the sign there at the intersection. It's a little monument there identifying that it is
Greenway Park. And the drainage channel we talking about is the. We refer to it as the Hackney
Drainage Channel. At its widest point ! believe there is an 85-foot span there. We would want to
locate the bridge at a point where it would be at the least. At the most narrow part of the span.
I've included some cost estimates in your packets. And these are based on numbers that I've
gotten in discussions with a contractor who has moved several bridges over the years and in fact
is familiar with several of these bridges that Denton County has. And the information that he gave
me was that he felt pretty comfortable that he could move it and do some refurbishing to it for
about $15,000. We would like to add in some cost engineering and plan for that so that we can
get the structure that the bridge would sit on properly engineered and then also some costs for the
actual structure that the bridge would sit on. That would be concrete pilings basically that would
be anchored into the ground and driven down deep. So, that's what our intention is, that's what
we would like to proceed with. We also intend to go to CDC to ask them to assist with the
funding on this. They don't have another meeting until February 20. We've been told that when
the county gets ready to move on these bridges they're going to give us pretty short notice. You
know, 'We're going to start on yours in the next two or three weeks.' So we need to ready to
move on it. I don't know where this is slated. They haven't been able to give us a time line on
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February 3, 2003
when these bridges will be removed. We do know it will be over the next year or two. We could
get the call in the next two months. We could get the call a year from now. But what we wanted
to do was to be prepared to say yes; we are ready to do this we do want to move forward on it.
We want to bring a structure of historical significance to our young city."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Pam, I think that's a wonderful idea. Bring some history back
to The Colony. What I also envision is that we could also utilize one or two of those bridges to
connect your trails master plan throughout the city for those items that need a bridge or something
to cross over to connect our city interlinkly. I think that would be a great idea." Ms. Nelson,
"That's what our intention would be if we can get our hands on more of them. We would need to
put some sort of structure across some of those drainage crossings anyway. So, why not try to do
something with some historical significance to it." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "And just FYI,
wouldn't it be cheaper to relocate a bridge versus building a new one." Ms. Nelson, "In this
particular case, for the size of this bridge, yes. All indications are that that is the case. Now, we
may have some unexpected costs that come into play that we had not anticipated. For instance,
one of the things that was brought up was checking to make sure that there was no lead based
paint on the bridge. We saw absolutely no signs at all of any kind of paint on these bridges. They
were iron and rusted over. They had a great coat of rust on them. Our intention would be to keep
them in as natural a state as we could just to kind of maintain that historical significance. So we
would need to do a little bit more evaluation on it just to make sure that there weren't any other
problems. But, judging from the bridges that we saw that day, that we were looking at them. This
one in particular is in great condition. It's got a great bolt design on it on the I-beams and it has
some other really neat characteristics to it."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Council, is there any discussion on this particular item?
Councilman Marks." Councilmember Marks, "Is there any history attached to this particular
bridge that comes along with it?" Ms. Nelson, "You know, we haven't been able to identify
specifically the history for this one. There is a brochure that the Historical Society put out several
years ago and it lists all the historical bridges in Denton County. The bridge that we are looking
at, the picture in this particular brochure is not right bridge for this location, so we don't know if
the information that was listed below the bridge is correct or not. Most of the bridges what we can
we can see have some sort of identifying mark on them that said who manufactured it, when the
bridge was made. And all the ones that they do have listed here were made between 1900 and
1910. Some of them were done by the King Iron Bridge Co. There's another company called
Austin Bros. We haven't been able to ascertain if there's an identification plate on there to be able
to tell us that specifically, but we're going to do the research on that. Our idea would be to put
some sort of plaque on the bridge to give some history to it."
Councilmember Marks, "Have you talked to the CDC at all yet?" Ms. Nelson, "Have I
talked to CDC at all? I've talked to a couple of the members, but I have not talked to them in
mass yet, about this." Councilmember Marks, "You talk about hidden costs, I'm going to bring
something up that nobody really wants to hear though. You talk about hidden costs. What do you
think it will actually cost us if we did this?" Ms. Nelson, "What do I think it will actually cost us?
Well, I gave you my best "guesstimate" in your packets of the $30,000 amount and that's based
on information I've gotten on anticipated engineering costs, information that I've gotten from a
guy who moves bridges for a living and has moved bridges bigger than this and smaller than this
and has bridges sitting on his property up in Whitesboro that he has for sale in case anybody is
interested. So I have a feeling that we are in the ballpark there. And the amount of money that it
costs to put the footings in, to place a brand new bridge. I've been trying to put all those numbers
and I feel fairly comfortable with it but I don't want to be tied to it either."
Councilmember Marks, "We can probably put a new bridge in there for less than
$30,000." Ms. Nelson, "For the span that we have there, it's going to be close to that if not more
than that." Councilmember Marks, "For this particular size. My concern, and I know that this
happens every time when we try to spend monies. My concern is what effect is this going to have
on our ability to fix our streets and allies and sidewalks and things. You know, where do we get
the money, the $30,000, or more. And then what kind of monies is it going to take for the upkeep
of it? I'm all for bringing history to The Colony and doing things that are innovative such as this.
However you know we have our duty to..we have sidewalks that are falling apart, people can't
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February 3, 2003
walk on them. They could probably walk across a $30,000 bridge without any problem, but
getting to the bridge is the problem. So, and I know this isn't on your plate, however it is on our
plate. I just wanted to make that comment. I'm very concerned about spending this kind of
money. That's why I'm thinking maybe the CDC would like to step forward and be able to give
us $30,000 or give you $30,000 for a bridge." Ms. Nelson, "That's why I intend to ask the CDC
for that."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "One clarification, $30,000 is referencing for two bridges, am
I right?" Ms. Nelson, "No, ma'am, that would be for one." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Refurbish
for around $15,000." Ms. Nelson, "Refurbish, yes, but that actual setting it in place, and putting
the footings in and then the engineering costs those would all be additional. What I put in my
cover memo on that. I did outline the $15,000. That was based on the amount of money the
contractor told me it would cost to re-locate it and refurbish it. The actual cost of setting it in
place, putting the footings in, that's where I'm coming up with the extra. I just want to try to
make sure that we have enough built in there to cover the cost of this."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Councilman McCourry." Councilmember McCourry, "Ms.
Nelson, is this item 5 & 6 on this note from Mary Horn these two bridges that we have in the
pictures? Is that right? That these two bridges are slated for 2003 both? Am I reading the picture
versus the numbers correct?" Ms. Nelson, "Yes, that is correct." Councilmember McCourry,
"O.K., my next question is, are we going to call a double expense if they call us in two months
that we would have to store these somewhere?" Ms. Nelson, "No, our intention would be to go
ahead, for the Belz Rd. bridge, the Duck Creek Bridge, the one we are first on the list for, would
be to go ahead and set it in place." Councilmember McCourry, "O.K., in listening to you, you
say, they may call and say you've got to get that bridge out of there now. What does now mean, I
mean, so that I have a relative time frame, I'm thinking they're saying you got to move it off this
property or we're going to do something else here. But we may not be ready to put that bridge in
place. So what do we do with it or how flexible are they when they say get that bridge out of
here?" Ms. Nelson, "That's a good question. I really don't know what the time frame is. What
kind of allowance they are going to give us on time frame on that. It may be a 30-day notice; it
may be a 3-month notice. I really don't know for sure. And they haven't been able to give us an
answer to that question. We are all of course asking that question. What order are we going to do
these in and do you have a time line to give us the information on that? For that particular bridge,
for the Belz Road Bridge, we're putting it in Greenway Park. If it's necessary, it could be set
there at Greenway Park and then come back, you know, bring a crane back in, lift it up and set it
on the footings later on. It could take some time to get the footings constructed." Councilmember
McCourry, "There's that additional hidden cost you were talking about Mr. Marks." Ms. Nelson,
"And there's a potential that that would happen. I'm not telling you that for sure we can do this
for $30,000. I'm giving you, based on the information that I've gathered and talking to the people
who have done this, and you know, I've been picking people's brains to try to give you guys
some sort of a handle on what it could cost. If it looks like it is going to significantly higher than
that, of course, we would come back to you. We may scrap the whole idea. Because it may not be
worth it."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Explain to me where Greenway Park is again, Greenway
Park?" Ms. Nelson, "Greenway Park would be on the northeast comer of Blair Oaks and South
Colony. It's going to be catty-comer across from Perryman Park. It's going to be directly across
from the Historical Park, directly to the north of Historical Park. It's really not a park, so to speak.
It's not developed in any way. It was just identified as that many years ago when they went ahead
and put a little dirt trail down there." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "The reason I ask is because I
remember a number of letters and e-mails that we were all getting from the kids that were going
to Griffin Middle School that were having to cross that erosion drainage problem there and they
needed a bridge over there somewhat pretty bad for the kids crossing there, all the problems that
are associated with that particular drainage." Ms. Nelson, "Believe, that's the first place I thought
of, because I watch those kids every day. In fact they have worn a trail down through that
drainage ditch. The problem there is, that it is such a wide span that I'm not sure how we'll
address that. More than likely, what would have to happen is culverts would need to be put in
place and it would probably take some significant culverts to allow the proper flow through
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February 3, 2003
there." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Well, we're off the subject now, but that's the reason that I ask
that question because of the number of concerns I had about the children at Griffin Middle School
crossing. Councilman Jue, "What I'd like to see. I know that the CDC is not going to meet until
February 20 and we are already on February 3. That's only a couple of weeks away. Even if they
do make a decision to say we do want this bridge, you have to commit to us now with the next
two weeks. And if we had to we could always call a special session. But I don't feel comfortable
authorizing these funds with so many unknowns I guess as far as what the true cost would be. It's
kind of like, no matter how good the sale is, if you don't have the money to buy it, it's not saving
you any money. And, I would like to see it maybe go before CDD and if you get their O.K. and
they want to contribute to it. I would like to see that done first before we go ahead and authorize
any type of funding." Ms. Nelson, "I do plan, as I mentioned to go to CDC. Because of their laws
for approving funds for CDC projects. I can go to them on February 20. If they authorize us to
move forward on it, we'd have to pick a date for a public hearing, advertise for that public
hearing. And then once the public hearing was held and if they approved the funding, we'd have
to wait a 60-day comment period before we could proceed with the project. So my only concern
was that window of time between now and the end of that window, if we got the call. If council is
in support of this project enough for me to plan to try to proceed. As long as we don't find any
surprises along the way. I could get some harder costs; you know some firmer quotes on some
things prior to that. The guy who moved the bridges has not been able to meet with me until next
week. My plan is to get him up there and get him to give me some numbers if writing, as well as
getting an engineering firm lined out. I just haven't been able to get it all together. I just need to
know if council supports this. And if y'all don't, if CDC funding doesn't come through, or if it
doesn't come through in time, we could just push the project aside. That's the only concern for
right now."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Hold on, hold on, hold on, are you completed?"
Councilmember Jue, "No." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Then you still have the floor."
Councilmember Jue, "It's just the point, that if we get a good sense or feel that they are going to
support that, and even though you are not going to be able to get the money for some period of
time. We have a good feel that they are going to come back and reimburse the city for it. Then
I'll feel more comfortable with that. All I want to see is what their commitment would be."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Councilman Schrag, "I know the bridge has been used for vehicular
traffic so I would assume there would be no problem for foot traffic like we want to use it. You
said you haven't talked with the engineering firm yet. Are we reasonably certain that it will be
stable for foot traffic?" Ms. Nelson, "Yes, considering the vehicles that were going over it while
we were there, there won't be a problem with people walking across there." Councilmember
Schrag, "I would imagine if it's installed right, it would be no problem." Ms. Nelson, "Right, I'm
not as concerned about the structural integrity of the bridge itself. Of course, we would need to
make sure it's evaluated once it's moved also to make sure nothing's happened during the
relocation process. But, it's probably going to be more important how it's placed and what it's
placed on."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Councilman McCourry." Councilmember McCotm'y, "Do we
have a way to cover the money if CDC agreed, and they need the money prior to CDC being able
to given them the money?" Mr. Cheatham, "Councilman McCourry, it is our intention to use part
of the interest earnings on the debt issuance for this on the interim basis and hopefully, CDC will
decide to fund it, the answer is yes." Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Councilman Gordon."
Councilmember Gordon, "Just a couple of things Pam. I've got some concern as far as
basically agreeing to something without really knowing what that final price is going to be. I
don't have a problem with approving up to $15,000 per bridge, as far as the relocating of it or the
moving that bridge to The Colony. But my concern is, just how this time line is going to go as
well. I mean, if Denton calls us and says you need to have this bridge moved within two months.
At that point in time I don't want to be going out for a bid from the contractor and getting a cost
for moving that bridge. I guess what I'd like to have if at all possible is something from that
contractor in writing, stating to us that this bridge can be moved from X spot in Denton County to
The Colony for a price of. You know if that's $15,000 that's all well and good. But I'd like to
have that in writing from him if we can. Again, this evening, I mean we are giving him carte
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February 3, 2003
blanche if we do it. He's going to charge us $15,000 for that, but if we approve a limit of up to
$15,000 for the moving of that bridge, then the unknown still is what the cost of what the pillars
are and the installing of that bridge at a particular location. But I would like to have a better
handle on those numbers. Again, from my standpoint, I thought all council was being asked to do
tonight basically was to step in on a interim basis, more or less assuming CDC would want to
move on having these bridges re-located to The Colony. But I would still feel more comfortable if
we could get something from that contractor in writing. Because he moves bridges for a living.
He's is bound to know what the size of this bridge is, where it is relocated, basically how many
miles it is to The Colony and give us something in writing as what that cost will be. Again, I
don't have a problem in approving the sum tonight of up to $15,000 or up to $15,000 for two
bridges if we should get the two and have to move on them that quickly."
Ms. Nelson, "The only other thing I might ask then would be that there would be
consideration of allowing me to get an engineer to take a look at it. There may be some costs
involved with taking a look through the drainage channel and determining what it would take to
put the footings there in order to span that channel. That's going to be, that's probably more of an
unknown cost to me than the actual relocation of the bridge based on what this guy has told me.
He felt very comfortable with being able to get it moved and do some refurbishing to it for
$15,000. He may even be able to pour some footings for us and set it in place. I don't know at this
point in time. But in order to get a firm quote, from not just him, but maybe a couple of other
contractors I'm thinking that I will probably need to get some engineering done to determine
what kind of footings we need to place in that channel to set a bridge of that size on."
Councilmember Gordon, "Do you have any feel at all for when Denton County is going to start
asking for these bridges to be removed?" Ms. Nelson, "They've already started removing some."
Councilmember Gordon, "They've already started removing some of them? Do you think we
have 30 days or there's just no way of knowing?" Ms. Nelson, "You know, I would venture a
guess that we probably do have 30 days. Because I know that Denton County, the Commissioners
Court is actually still in the process of setting some criteria for some of the requests that have
come in for these bridges. I think there have been some requests that have come in from groups or
individuals or developers that aren't public agencies. So they are kind of going through some
decision making process on those types of things. So they may have put things on hold for right
now, which would probably give us a little bit more time. And we can do a little more research,
but like I said, the only thing I know right now that may cost some money today to really get you
some firm prices would be to go ahead and hire an engineer to come in and take a look at how we
need to place that thing. And again, I would ask CDC to reimburse the cost of that as well. I don't
anticipate it will be a tremendous cost." Councilmember Gordon, "I think I would feel a lot more
comfortable if we had a better feel for what the cost is going to be to move and install these
bridges. And again, I know you are just asking hopefully, for council to approve this on an
interim basis to do this. But if we could get some of that information, if you need to move on it
quicker than the next council meeting in 30 days approximately. I think all of us would come
back as Mr. Jue has already indicated a special session to address that need. But again, I would
just like to see something in writing if we can get that. Do you have any idea what the
engineering would be?" Ms. Nelson, "I've gotten estimates, just ballpark numbers that it would
run probably between $3,000 and $5,000." Councilmember Gordon, "Would that be on per
location basis, so $5,000?" Ms. Nelson, "Per location, would be a max." Councilmember Gordon,
"But for two bridges, two locations?" Ms. Nelson, "It would be $3,000 to $5,000 per."
Councilmember Gordon, "Per, I thought you said $2500." Ms. Nelson, "No, I'm sorry."
Councilmember Gordon, "So up to $10,000 in engineering?" Ms. Nelson, Yeah, I anticipate it
will be less than that though." I'm trying to project a little bit on the high side on some of these
things. Councilmember Gordon, "Well I'd certainly be in favor of making the recommendation
that we approve, up to $10,000 tonight for engineering on the bridges, as one member of council,
and see if we can get this rolling. And then with that understanding if we could get that back
within whatever time period it takes him, so we could move on this whole thing for you. And then
I just have one other question just curious. I see this letter from Mary Home it's dated December
9 and we didn't get a response back to her until January 21." Yes, were just unable to get a
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February 3, 2003
meeting scheduled to get up there and actually view the bridges. We weren't able to do that until
after the holidays."
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Are you finished? Are you done? Is there any more
discussion on council? With that I'll entertain a motion. Councilman Gordon"
Councilmember Gordon, "I'd like to make a motion that we approve up to $10,000 for
the engineering for the moving and relocating of these two bridges." Mayor Henville-Shannon,
"There is a motion on the floor. Is there a second?" Councilmember McCourry, "Second." Mayor
Henville-Shannon, "There is a motion and a second, council would you please vote? Motion
carries. (Vote as shown on the board: Aye - Gordon, McCourry, Bayliss, Schrag, Henville-
Shannon; No- Jue, Marks)
Item 3.4 Receive report regarding Capital Projects (Johnston) Mr. Johnston."
Mr. Johnston gave a very detailed report of various capital projects going on within the
city, which included:
Water projects - 24" water main from pump station to N. Colony, 24" water
main from Blair Oaks to Paige Rd., 24" water main from Bridge to Wynnwood Peninsula, water
tower at Wynnwood Peninsula, evaluation of pumps at Office Creek & overall water system; 20"
water main from pump station to Memorial Drive, 3 million gallon ground storage tank, 4th water
well and water for the 5-Star complex.
Street projects - Phase 1-B Bond Program Arbor Glen from Paige to Branch
Hollow To Paige Rd.; Phase 1-B Bon Program Blair Oaks from North Colony to South Colony;
Phase I-A Bon Program Paige Road from SH 121 to South Colony; South Colony from FM 423
(Main) to Paige Road; North Colony from Stewart Peninsula to Northpointe; Memorial Drive
from Blair Oaks to Paige Road; Paige Road from South Colony to North Colony; Repairs at
Plano Pkwy and Windhaven Pkwy; Eastvale Streets; Phase 1-A Street Bon Program, Phase III
Street, bond program, State Highway 121 Expansion, FM 423 (Main Street) expansion, alleys,
sidewalks and wheelchair ramps.
Wastewater projects - Main sewer line from Austin Ranch to Stewart Creek
West; Main sewer line from Wynnwood Peninsula to Stewart Creek West; Evaluation of our
current wastewater treatment plant; and Repairs and improvements to backwash pond.
Drainage projects - Office Creek drainage improvements Phase 1- Channels A,
B, C; Office Creek drainage improvements, Phase II - A & B; Sutton Drainage Channel
improvements - Phase 1 and Sutton Drainage Channel Improvements Phase II.
Mayor Henville-Shannon, "Any more discussion? The only other thing, Patti, would you
make sure that these minutes are verbatim please? Thank you. Any more discussion? With that,
council is adjourned.
(9:08 p.m.)
APPROVED:
Mayor Henville-Shannon
Patti A. Hicks, City Secretary
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