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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/12/2004 City CouncilJuly 12, 2004 MINUTES OF REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL HELD ON JULY 12, 2004 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 12th day o£ July 2004, at City Hall, 6800 Main Street, The Colony, Texas, with the following roll call: John Dillard Mayor Present Allen Harris Councilmember Present Scott Ward Councilmember Present Joe McCourry Mayor Pro-tern 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: 1.0 PROCLAMATIONS ROUTINE ANNOUNCEMENTS,: RECOGNITIONS AND Call to Order Invocation - Mayor Dillard Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Flag Salute to the Texas Flag Proclamations- none Report from Transportation Authority Representative Femando Villarreal- Mayor Dillard aimounced that Mr. Villarreal was unable to attend and will give this report at the next council meeting. Citizen Input- Joyce Fulco asked Council for an update about the parking issues on Arbor Glen. Mayor Dillard responded by saying the issues with high school students parking on Arbor Glen was being worked on, but changes in parking regulations on the street were not desired by the residents. Announcement of upcoming civic events and activities 1Mayor Dillard commended P&R staff and Police Department for the success of the July 4th events. 12.0 l CONSENT AGENDA 2.1 Consider approval of the minutes of the council meeting held June 21, 2004 (Wilson) 2.2 Consider approval of a resolution authorizing the city manager to sign a professional services contract with RJ Solutions to provide temporary IT Department assistance (Koo) ~ These items are strictly public service announcements. No action will be taken and no direction will be given regarding these items. OO8O20 2.3 Consider approval of an ordinance amending the 2003-2004 municipal budget reallocating funds from the General Fund fund balance to the IT Department of the General Fund for temporary IT Department assistance (Koo) Motion to approve the above consent agenda items-Schrag; seconded by Marks; motion passed with all ayes. Item 2.4 was pulled from the consent agenda for discussion by Councilmember Harris. 2.4 Consider approval of a resolution supporting the Denton County Appraisal District's purchase of a building (Council) Mr. Joe Rogers, Chief Appraiser for the Denton County Appraisal District, briefly reviewed the cost of the building, including renovations, and stated this project will be funded through the Appraisal District's budget with a twenty-year note. Councilmember Harris stated no one from the City of The Colony ever serves on this board and wants all cities represented. Mr. Rogers explained that the larger entities, such as the cities of Denton and Lewisville and their ISD's fill the board positions with individuals who are elected. Motion to approve- McCourry; seconded by Bayliss; motion passed with all ayes except for Harris who voted no. I 3.0 I REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS 3.1 Public Hearing regarding Storm Water Utility Fund, and discuss and consider approval of a proposed ordinance establishing fees for this fund(Scruggs) City Engineer Gordon Scruggs reviewed this item stating two community meetings had previously been conducted with thirty citizens attending the first meeting and ten attending the second. He reminded Council this is a Federally mandated program and that any fees collected can only be spent for storm water projects, including some personnel. He told Council that if property taxes were to be used to fund this project then it is estimated that approximately eighty percent of the cost would fall on the residents and twenty percent on the businesses. With the proposed utility fee, the percentages change to seventy for residents and thirty for businesses. Gordon introduced Trey Shanks from Freese and Nichols who gave a brief overview of the purposes of this project, which include management of storm water run-off, minimizing erosion, and protecting water quality. During his presentation he identified the services and gave a breakdown of the proposed budget, which totals $428,500 for the first year. Some of the cost for storm water services will come from the General Fund where possible. Mr. Shanks explained to Council the formula used for assessing a flat fee on residential and a graduated fee for non-residential properties (which will include apartment buildings.) It was noted that approval of this ordinance would mean the proposed fee of $2.50 per residence would be assessed on utility bills beginning October 1, 2004. Gordon noted that the actual budget would be presented to Council for formal approval in September. 2 July 12, 2004 Councilmember Schrag asked Gordon if the plan as presented is meeting only the minimum criteria as set out by the mandate. Gordon replied that he believes this is the minimum necessary to accomplish the mandates. Councilmember Harris stated that businesses could potentially create more mn-off and asked if there are incentives for businesses to reduce their burden. Gordon stated that State law' is very specific about how to charge for this but that perhaps there may be changes in the future regarding credit to businesses, and possibly look for ways residents can reduce their costs. Councilmember McCourry made a statement that this is a mandated project and that staff has done all they can to meet those guidelines. Councilmember Marks questioned the item from the list of services that referred to hazardous household waste collection. Gordon replied that this year is the first time the City has done a collection of this type and the cost is coming from the general fund/environmental budget. [The storm water utility budget will cover the cost in the future.] Councilmember Marks asked if the homeowners associations were going to be responsible for the run-off created by the watering systems in the medians. Gordon advised that is a conservation issue. Councilmember Marks questioned the rational behind charging all citizens the same, based on an average square footage of impervious area. [All homes are different sizes.] Gordon said they took an average of one hundred random homes and calculated the square feet of the roofs, included the hard surfaced areas such as driveways, and came up with the average of 3,400 square feet [which results in a flat rate of $2.50 per residence when calculated into the proposed budget]. Gordon added that he believes this rate should stay the same for an estimated five years. Councilmember Bayliss advised that though she is not in favor of adding more fees for the residents, she supports the flat fee rather than trying to calculate a fee per home based on size. Councilmember Schrag stated he does not support this mandated project and believes the Legislature should be pressured into paying a portion of the cities' cost. Mayor Dillard opened the public hearing at 8:02 p.m. Citizen Cindy Deprater suggested to Council that they not vote on this tonight, that she believes the fee too high. She stated she would like to know how The Colony is polluting, and stated the City should look at the list of six mandated items and do only those. Councilmember Harris asked what the potential fines might be if the city doesn't comply. Trey Shanks said non-compliance is $27,500 per day. He said the common way for cities to pay for the six minimum requirements is through a storm water utility fee rather than a tax. Public Heating closed at 8:09 p.m. Tony Johnston advised the Council that the list of needed improvements included in the proposed budget are not being taken care of now but will need to be in the future, and that the general fund is trying to absorb some of the costs. Motion to table this item until the August 2, 2004 meeting and have staff do revisions in the budget to try and reduce the fee- Ward; seconded by Marks; motion passed with all ayes except for McCourry and $chrag who voted no. 008022. July 12, 2004 3.2 Public Hearing and discuss and consider approval of an ordinance amending PD10 zoning district, east of the Pizza Inn Headquarters, to allow for office/warehouse development (Persaud) Planning Director Harry Persaud explained to Council this item is to amend the zoning to allow an office warehouse development on the site. He stated the P&Z commission recommends approval with stipulations, including an additional stipulation added today that the developer has been made aware of. The stipulation is to provide an additional eighteen feet of building setback easement along the east property line. Mayor Dillard opened the public heating at 8:34 p.m. and closed it at 8:34 p.m. with no one wishing to speak. Motion to approve- Marks; seconded by Harris; motion passed with all ayes. 3.3 Report to Council on recruitment of a business relocation to The Colony (Terrall) Economic Development Director Tom Ten'all announced the Edward Don Company relocating to The Colony. (Item 3.2 approved the zoning change to allow a commercial warehouse for Edward Don.) He added this business will result in an increase in The Colony's commercial tax base as well as day-time population. He thanked the Council for their pro-active approach, which resulted in this relocation. The Mayor welcomed the Edward Don Company -- representatives who were in attendance. (Mayor Dillard moved item 3.4 to follow 3.5.) 3.5 Report regarding Ridgepointe Traffic Committee information and possible consideration of various traffic control devices and related issues (Scruggs) Gordon Scruggs introduced Alan Ladd, chair of the Ridgepointe committee. Mr. Ladd explained to Council that the amount of traffic (speeding) has tremendously increased recently and that the neighborhood wants the city to put some control devices in place to help alleviate the problems (signed petition presented). He said the committee has already reviewed the traffic issues with Gordon and the police chief. He reviewed the committee's requests which include installing additional stop signs, possibly some school zones at bus stops, increased police presence, speed humps and a No U-Turn on Hwy. 423 at Daily. Councilmember Harris advised there is a procedure in place for neighborhoods to install speed humps. Councilmember McCurry asked Mr. Ladd if the people who signed the petition were fully aware of the possible effects of "no tolerance" of speed limits on the residents of the neighborhood and Mr. Ladd replied that they were. Councilmember Schrag said he his comfortable that the majority of residents agree with this approach. Councilmember Marks said he thinks the stop signs are a good idea. __ Citizen Cindy Deprater spoke saying there is a problem and that speed humps would help. She added that cars parking on both side of the streets are contributing to the problems. 4 00 023 July 12, 2004 The Mayor advised that staff will review the various issues. 3.4 Report to Council regarding the annual audit and Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (Koo) Tony Johnston told Council he met with the outside auditors today then introduced Shawn Parker of Weaver and Tidwell who conducted the audit for the City. Mr. Parker reviewed the audit and noted the impact that new legislation had on the audit process. He said that capital assets, such as streets, resulted in considerably more work to complete the audit. He said the City did well for the year and complimented Gwen Mansfield and the Finance Department staff, and Ken Leverich, for their work on this project. 3.6 Discuss and consider approval of a resolution authorizing the city manager to sign an Engineering Services Contract to evaluate a vacuum wastewater system compared to conventional lift station (Johnston) Tony Johnston explained to Council that a citizen had requested the City investigate the vacuum system for possible installation at Wynnwood Peninsula. He introduced Ray Longoria of Freese and Nichols who, after a brief presentation on how the system works and potential uses of this type system, told the Council that Wyrmwood Peninsula does not fit the profile. Councilmember McCourry said he spoke with the AirVac representatives who agreed that this is not the proper system for Wynnwood Peninsula. Motion to reject this item- Harris; seconded by Bayliss; motion carried with all ayes. 3.7 Discuss and consider approval of a city-wide Trail Master Plan (Nelson) Sam Fitzgerald, Assistant Parks Director, introduced Dennis Sims of Dunkin, Sims, and Stoffels who gave an overview of the study conducted and the trail plan being proposed. He reviewed the top five trails on the priority list. He added that the State should honor the trail proposed for Hwy. 423 if the plan is already in place. He also mentioned that TxDot offers some grants for trail systems. The trails proposed total fifty-two miles and total cost is approximately eleven million dollars, however, this is a very long-term project and should be done in stages. Sam Fitzgerald stated that funding for the trail system will come from the CDC at $175,000 per year. Citizen Cindy DePrater asked if issues such as security, maintenance, utilities, preservation of natural habitats, and the city's liability have been considered. Citizen Christi Martin said she likes the plan and asked if certain areas could be blocked off at times for special uses. Dennis Sims said that the Corp of Engineers will oversee any trail installations (must be non-cement) along the lake. He said at this point no lighting has been included and he reviewed the proposed widths of the trails. 008024 July 12, 2004 Councilmember Harris said he supports the plan but would like the City to check with other cities regarding what types of security issues they've had. Councilmember Bayliss said she is supportive of the plan but would like to see the shoreline phased in due to the total cost. Councilmember Schrag added this plan will become part of the City's comprehensive plan. Motion to approve- Bayliss; seconded by ~Fard; motion passed with all ayes. 3.8 Discuss and take action to set a date for a special meeting to discuss and take action on GroupBaronet presentation and other marketing issues (McCourry) Councilmember McCourry said GroupBaronet recently made their presentation to the CVB and that it took about two hours. In light of that, he suggested a work session be scheduled for the Council to hear the presentation. Motion to schedule a special session on July 26th at 6:30p. m.- McCourry; seconded by Schrag; motion passed with all ayes. 14.0 I EXECUTIVE SESSION 4.1 A. City Council shall convene into a closed executive session pursuant to Section 551.071 of the Local Government Code to consult with the city attorney regarding contract between the City of Frisco, North Texas Municipal Water District and the City of The Colony. B. City Council shall convene into a closed Executive Session as authorized by Section 551.074 of the Local Government Code regarding personnel, to wit: City Manager annual evaluation. Reconvene to open session 4.2 Consideration of any appropriate action to be taken as a result of the Executive Session. A. Contract between the City of Frisco, North Texas Municipal Water District and the City of The Colony. This item was not addressed. B. City Manager annual evaluation. Motion to approve a merit increase of three percent effective the next pay cycle Harris; seconded by McCourry; motion passed with all ayes. And with no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 11:58 p.m. APPROVED~: _ Jq~ Dillard, May~r 6 July 12, 2004 ATTEST: 'EhlS~tie Wilson, TRMC, City Secretary