May 15, 2018 City Council on 2018-05-15 5:30 PM

[ Silence ] >> Everyone to this meeting of the Dent City Council on May 15th, 2018. We do have a quorum. If you would join with me and pledge allegiance to the U.S. and Texas flag and stand if you're able. [ Silence ] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [ Silence ] >> Okay. Our first item on the agenda is agenda item 2A, which is items for individual consideration. Consider adoption of an ordinance canvassing the returns and declaring the results of the regular municipal election to elect two council members to place five and six and a mayor to place seven held in the city of Denton on May 5th, 2018. Declaring that no candidate received the majority of votes cast for place five and that a runoff election is ordered to be held on Saturday, June 16th, 2018, authorizing runoff election day polling locations and providing an effective date. Thank you, Mayor and Council. This evening you have an ordinance before you to, as the mayor has stated, canvassing the returns of your general election, calling a runoff election, and authorizing polling locations for election day. At your seats you have a revised ordinance from the one that was in the agenda backup, materials that a revised ordinance reflects the provisional and overseas ballots that the county qualified and has provided to me. So we will start with the canvassing and I will read the vote totals and the accompanying statements after that. So at the election we had 8,458 ballots were cast, which is about 11% of the registered voters. Total votes cast, I'll start with place five, fuzzy Aaron Newquist 3568, Jody's Vickers Nance 350, excuse me, 838, a little dyslexic here, Deb Armentor 2885, Bernard J Volcom 3 32. Place six, Brian Milenas 425, Paul Meltzer 4218, Frank Dud owitz 3043. For mayor place seven, Chris Watts 5668, Neil Durantz 2297. Based on these results, each candidate listed on this ordinance received a majority of the votes cast and will be declared elected once you approve this ordinance. For place six, Paul Meltzer, and for mayor place seven, Chris Watts. And these candidates will assume their duties after they have taken their oath of office. You will also be with this ordinance declaring that no candidate received a majority of the votes cast for place five. And that a runoff election will be ordered to be held on Saturday, June 16th at 2018. Candidates in the runoff election for place five will be Aaron Fuzzy Newquist and Deb Armentor. And then you'll also note that on this ordinance you have polling locations for the runoff election day voting. And I'll stop and be available for questions if you have any regarding the polling locations or any of the information I've already provided. Councilmember Hudspeth. Thank you, Mayor. If you could just kind of touch on how the early voting and day of voting regarding the polling places, how does that work for people on the runoff election? Are both places open the entire time? For early voting, any registered voter in Denton County can go to any early voting location. In the city of Denton, there will be the Denton County elections office on Kimberly Drive off loop 288. And we'll also have a location at the Denton Civic Center. And then on election day, depending on what you all choose, you can either go to the eight locations that we had for the general election. You can have just the four main locations that we generally use or you can do a combination. Is that what you're needing? Yes. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. So any questions on the polling? We've got that resolved. So Councilmember Gregory. Thank you, Mayor. I move approval of the ordinance as presented. Councilmember Ryan. I second. Let's vote on the board, please. Oh, yes. Come on, Jennifer. Motion carries six to zero. Moving on to agenda item to be office of oath administered to newly elected council members. Mr. Meltzer, if you could come forward. I'm here to stand for all of you. I invite anyone here to please come stand with me. I'll take that one. Right about here. Okay. And I'm going to be here and the mayor has something to give you first. Paul, this is your certificate of election and also your city of Denton. Ken. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. You bet. Welcome. We got everybody. Okay. All right. So after you finish, you can go and shake everyone's hand. Gotcha. Okay. Take your seat. Yes. And I'm going to say I and then you can give me your name and then repeat after me. Okay. Okay. All right. If you'll raise your right hand and repeat after me. I Paul Meltzer. I Paul Meltzer. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That I will faithfully execute the duties. That I will faithfully execute the duties. Of the office of council member place six. Of the office of council member place six. Of the city of Denton, Texas. Of the city of Denton, Texas. And will to the best of my ability. And will to the best of my ability. Preserve, protect and defend. Preserve, protect and defend. The constitution and laws of the United States. The constitution and laws of the United States. And of this state. And of this state. And the charter and ordinances of this city. And the charter and ordinances of this city. So help me God. So help me God. Fantastic. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] >> This is Robin and Casey. Casey is going to Texas Tech. So don't held that against her. So I guess I have to present this certificate of election to myself. So I'm receiving this certificate of election. I'm not going to remember this. So one sentence at a time. >> I have it all broken up for you. >> Okay, good. >> So if you raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, Chris Watts. >> I, Chris Watts. >> Do solemnly swear. >> Do solemnly swear. >> That I will faithfully execute. >> That I will faithfully execute. >> The duties of the office of mayor. >> The duties of the office of mayor. >> Of the city of Denton, Texas. >> Of the city of Denton, Texas. >> And will to the best of my ability. >> And will to the best of my ability. >> Preserve, protect and defend. >> Preserve, protect and defend. >> The constitution and laws of the United States. >> The constitution and laws of the United States. >> And of this state. >> And of this state. >> And the charter and ordinances of this city. >> And the charter and ordinances of this city. >> So help me God. >> So help me God. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. [ Applause ] >> Okay. Okay. Our next item on -- let me look. Next item on the agenda is election of a mayor pro tem, agenda item 2C. Councilmember Ryan. Why is it -- or something -- y'all read. Okay. Okay. Yeah, you were -- okay. We'll go with councilmember Duff. >> I want to nominate John Ryan for mayor pro tem. >> Councilmember Ryan. >> Thank you, mayor. I brought this to the attention of us -- to the council last year that we are not fully seated as a council. And therefore I would like to nominate Dalton Gregory to serve as mayor pro tem for the remainder of his term until we are fully seated. >> Second. >> Oh, yeah. I think we've got to -- we've got to take a nomination at a time. So councilmember Duff's nomination is the one that's currently on the floor to nominate councilmember Ryan as the mayor pro tem. So councilmember Hudspeth. >> Yeah, I'll second councilmember Duff's motion and base that on our actions this time last year, same approach as we just kind of understanding there was a runoff. Similar circumstances, we still move forward to select a pro tem. So I second. >> Okay. So we now -- we have a motion to second so we can now have discussion. Councilmember Briggs. >> I was just going to say that last year we waited for a full new council before we did nominate mayor pro tem just to correct councilmember Hudspeth there. I thought that that's what we did. >> Okay. I see the city secretary shaking her head. Do you have some additional facts that you could bring to this discussion? >> Just memory facts. I believe that that is correct that we did wait -- you did wait until there was a full council. >> Okay. So -- well -- >> That's not what I remember now. >> Well, we do have a motion. So we are up for discussion so we have the comments that you would prefer the -- either temporary mayor pro tem or to elect the permanent mayor pro tem when the full council is set after the runoff election. If anybody else is wishing to speak, if you want to weigh in with a request to speak, you'll push your button there just -- go ahead. Go ahead. >> I believe -- correct me if I'm wrong -- that a motion to table would take precedence then over the motion to nominate. >> I will ask my esteemed city attorney to weigh in on that . >> Motion to postpone to a date certain over the pending motion that is correct. That's in essence what you're saying. It's a motion to postpone or to table to a date certain. >> So I move in accordance with council member Ryan's comments, I move that we table that vote until the full council is seated after the runoff. >> Okay. So we -- council member Briggs? >> I will second that. >> Okay. So let me make sure I understand where we are and sort of track with me, Mr. City Attorney. So we have a motion to continue or postpone until date certain. >> Yes. >> To elect a mayor pro tem. Which if -- let's just walk through this. If this motion passes, does that mean we will then be without a mayor pro tem until that time? Because we will not -- we will have -- we will have postponed that election. And I don't have a preference, I'm just wanting to make sure we all understand what the facts are. >> That is correct, the motion to table or postpone to a date certain will basically leave the main motion on the table which will then expire at the conclusion of the meeting. That's exactly what will happen. >> Okay. All right. Okay. Any other comments, questions? We have a -- council member Duff? >> I was here when Sarah Begarry was nominated and elected. And I was not on the council at the time. I had not won the election. So that's what I remember. I was sitting out here. And I don't know why we're going through all of this now. >> Well, I think it's the process. I mean, obviously, a motion was made and seconded -- motion made by you and seconded by council member Hussbuth. Parliamentary procedure requires or dictates that if a motion is made to postpone to a date certain that that is a precedent motion. So following Robert's rule of orders, that means we take that motion up first. Is that correct? >> That is correct. >> All right. So I guess I'll put this out here for discussion if there's any. Council member Ryan's -- first of all, the motion was to nominate council member Ryan. Council member Ryan, upon that motion, when you were allowed to weigh in, you had said that you were asking that we maybe elect a temporary mayor pro tem until the new full council gets seated and at that point elect the permanent pro tem. >> Correct. >> I recall from last year I had asked that council member Wasney be a temporary and that was turned down because we had already nominated and someone had seconded council member Bagheri at that point in time. >> So your recollection was that we -- >> That we did not follow those rules. I thought that that would be a better way to go about it is to have the council that is going to have that pro tem or that person serve as pro tem to be fully seated and to put the person who will be leaving council in as a temporary or as an interim. >> So then -- so we have a couple of options. We can go ahead and postpone, take a vote to postpone, which that's the motion currently on the table or which will leave us without a mayor pro tem for a few weeks. Council member Ryan who was motioned and seconded as the mayor pro tem has asked that we have a temporary mayor pro tem. So what I would ask and if I'm out of line, let me know if you don't mind, is that to council member Duff and Hussbeth, if we were to -- if somehow the motion to postpone was withdrawn and y'all's motion was withdrawn and then a motion was made for a temporary mayor pro tem, is that something that would be acceptable? If not, that's okay. I'm just trying to understand some alternatives. Okay. Yes, council member Hussbeth, I'm sorry. I'm shaking my head. Sorry. I'm sorry. I need verbal -- sorry about that. I think, again, John's recollection is correct. I think my recollection is correct. So based on what we did last year, understanding the new course, a motion has been seconded, made, seconded. I would just presume go forward with the vote. Okay. So either we would go -- I mean, that motion to table would leave us without for six weeks or we can vote on the other one. I think that's fine. I appreciate that. Thank you. All right. Well, we have a motion to postpone to a date certain and that date certain will be what date? What date is the -- are we swearing in the new council? One way that we can do it is to an event certain until the full council is sworn in and seated, which would be sometime after the runoff election. There's another way possible to go forward, I think, which would be if council member Ryan were not to accept being nominated, then we could do -- we could move forward on a temporary one and then we'd have a whole round -- a whole fresh round then when the temporary one presumably Dalton goes off. Well, and I think, though, his refusal to accept the nomination would take place during the consideration or discussion of that pending motion, which right now we have a motion that is superior to that. So, yes, he could maybe informally say, well, I wouldn't accept it, but I don't know if he would or not and I'm not going to -- I mean, if he wants to weigh in as a -- Council Member Ryan, you have a request to speak? Well, I had a question for legal. If we are without a mayor pro tem, does our charter have any provisions as to who would step in in the absence of the mayor? At the moment, I cannot answer that question, but I can quickly look it up. Okay. I didn't answer it. Okay. Council Member Gregory. Yes. This doesn't increase your prairie. Anyway. Council has rules in case there's not a mayor pro tem that the city secretary calls a meeting to order and there is an election of a temporary chair. Okay. All right. Okay, if I see no more discussion pop up, we're going to go ahead and vote on the motion to postpone to an event certain. Seeing none, and this will need to be a vote, a hand vote, I believe. Yes. So all in favor of the motion to postpone for an event certain signified by raising your right hand, please. All opposed by like sign. So it carries four to three. All right. We'll move on to resolution of appreciation for mayor, the outgoing mayor pro tem, Sarah Begarry. And Sarah's not here. Her last day was last council meeting and we had some nice parting words and parting shots for her. No, just kidding. But we were able to really share with her our thoughts about her contribution here on the council, which she will be missed. She contributed a tremendous amount to our deliberations, to fact finding and asked wonderful questions to really spur discussion that I think really drilled down into the issues of the agenda items at hand. So I'm going to read this resolution of appreciation and we 'll then ask council for a vote. Whereas Sarah Begarry has served as a member of the Dent City Council from May 2016 to May 2018 as mayor pro tem from May 2017 to May 2018. And whereas the city of Denton has been extremely fortunate in having enjoyed the dedicated and outstanding contributions of Sarah Begarry and her efforts to make Denton a better city. Whereas Sarah Begarry among her many contributions to the community has served on here comes the list served on the council agenda committee, the audit finance committee, the council mobility to committee, the downtown TIF reinvestment zone number one board convention and visitor bureau city representative, regional transportation council , development code review committee, council committee community event center committee and the council employee benefits committee. And whereas Sarah Begarry always served above and beyond the efficient discharge of her duties and promoting the welfare and prosperity of the city and has earned the full respect of her fellow council members, colleagues and citizens of Denton and the loss of her services will be keenly felt. Now therefore the city council of the city of Denton hereby resolves that the sincere and warm appreciation for Sarah Begarry felt by the citizens and staff of the city of Denton be formally conveyed to her in a permanent manner by reading this resolution into the official minutes of the city of Denton and forward to her a true copy thereof and be it further resolved that the city of Denton does hereby officially and sincerely extend its thanks to the honorable Sarah Begarry for her successful career as a council member of the city of Denton past and well not necessarily past this 15th day of May 2018. Councilmember Briggs. I make a motion to approve and wish her well on her new journey into motherhood. Councilmember Gregory. Second. We have a motion and second any discussion. All right. Please signify all those in a favor please signify by raising your right hand. That's unanimous decision passes unanimously. Concluding items this is concluding items. Councilmember Meltzer. Meltzer I'm sorry excuse me. This is not just a ceremony we're actually working here. Yes that's correct. So in the interest of helping continue to make Denton better not just bigger I'll start with four requests this week. I'm seeking support from other council members to having these items addressed. So first I request a work session on the plan not just to catch up on roads and disrepair but on how we will manage to a steady state where most roads are kept in good repair most of the time. I would like us to see metrics costs and financing options to be addressed in the plan as well as a review of the best road repair planning practices of cities in similar climates. Second I would like us to receive an update in work session on the PEC4 project and any other projects to reduce the floodplain area around downtown. And I'd like to understand the feasibility of adding bike and walking paths in city drainage easements in combination with these plans. Third I request a review of options to address the acute shortfall specifically in emergency housing before freezing temperatures hit this coming winter on parallel path with the efforts to develop a long term affordable housing plan. Other approaches to addressing emergency shelter capacity by winter time are adopted whether public or private or a combination whether city led or county led. I suggest we establish numerical goals with timing targets with frequent progress updates to council until the matter is better in hand. And fourthly I would like a work session specifically on the proposed permitting processes for new businesses under the new DDC with estimated turnaround time for typical cases benchmarked against turnaround time in neighboring north Texas cities that also have older infrastructure such as Carrollton and McKinney. Councilmember Briggs. I'd like for council to receive a staff report on the special training that SROs receive if any. SROs are? For the police. What's that acronym stand for? School Resource Officer. School Resource Officer. Okay I'm sorry. Yeah it's it has double meaning up here. It does. And within that a detailed report of the recent classroom situation for council that recently made the news please. Thank you. Anyone else? Councilmember Hudspeth. Thank you mayor. I would like to ask staff to possibly reach out to UNT understanding the news that they're going to name a dorm after Mingeo Green. I'd like to see what the city arts committee or something could could kind of partner with them in that. I think that could be a great destination type draw if we will and so maybe there's opportunity for us to partner and and enhance that naming or you know create a larger draw to get people tourist wise to our city. I think there's a there's a huge opportunity there despite the fact that maybe some Pittsburgh Steelers fans will take them. Thank you. Anyone else? I have one Mr. City Manager if you could if we could have a work session on the zoning map and the processes and procedures for exactly what our plan is on either labeling or being consistent with the zoning or actually changing up zoning or down zoning. I think we need some clarification and clarity on that exactly how we're moving forward with developing that draft zoning map. Anybody else? Okay, then we will stand adjourned at about seven o'clock.