Dec 13, 2017 Economic Development Partnership Board on 2017-12-13 11:00 AM

that people recognize when it is that they make application to the community, that the community is responding to them to say that yes, we have this, hi, this is who I am and this is how I'm going to provide service to you and set expectations very early in the model rather than just a submittal that ends into a void that they may hear from somebody in 30 days or two weeks. We're going to respond in very short order. And again, as I indicated, problem solving is a big piece in this that we have a current development code that has existed for a number of years. We've modified as time has gone on. But it really is a prescriptive code that attempts to make all items fit into the same square peg and not all development, especially as we evolve, doesn't fit into that same box. So we're in the development world. Overall, our responsibility is sustainability. So how it is that we partner that sustainability with life safety. We know that we have to have a vibrant community. Development services, code enforcement really is that best tool for economic development. And we know that if we provide an environment that is business friendly, that is safe and that is built for long term, that we have a community that people desire to move to, live in and develop in. And that's where we go. And that's through proper planning, ensuring that the infrastructure is adequate, that we plan infrastructure for where it is that development is seeking to go so that we partner with that long term plan, our Denton 2030 plan, along with what the development needs are to make sure that we're putting infrastructure appropriately in planning that. That our zoning is really looking at those development trends. How our community developments, how it is that we maintain some of those portions of the city, whether it's historic or just our community flavor in each of the different parts of our community and overall in the character that we wish to portray. Managing the construction, how it is that whether we have aesthetic provisions within the code, how our community looks, how it looks from the interstate, what makes it desirable, our gateways and making sure that we're maintaining what we have. So regulatory strategies that are aligned with the 2030 plan and regulatory strategies that really focus on the future of Denton and how we develop Denton. And throughout that we have to manage our resources. And whether it's our tree code or historic preservation, you know, the environmentally sensitive areas, all of the pieces and components that make our community what it is have to be managed. So we're going to make sure the resources that we have here including the people in our universities to make sure that long term that Denton is the place that people choose to be and choose to develop. The purpose in development services and the concept of a one stop shop is really to expedite and have safe responsible development within our city limits and even in some of those areas of our ETJ as the city grows. We have to do that first by listening to our customers. We have to understand our customers' needs. We have to understand their perspective and try to balance that with what the code or what our obligations and responsibilities are as local government. We're in the process of transforming how we conduct business. We're in the middle of a development code update which I'll speak to in just a little bit. But really we're transforming a culture, a culture of how we do business, the best way to do business and how to partner with those doing business in the city of Denton and balancing that with our citizens and the desires of our community to grow overall. We are focused on best practices. I think in many areas we're looking to get to contemporary practices. So some of the processes that we have today truly can be called outdated, antiquated. So we're looking to get to contemporary practices. And if we can get to a place of contemporary practices all the while we're looking at best practices in any area that we can to provide the best or a world class service here in Denton. We want to be that place that people are looking at us to develop in. And part of that is that, you know, we started by re thinking and I just have an example and you can't see too many of the boxes and that's less important as much as it is looking at a customer perspective. What we have today is we have a very bureaucratic hierarch ical or what we've had is a hierarchical organizational chart which really silos our business units. So each of our business units would operate independently. They'd have to go up through a process of talking to their supervisor, talking to a different person in a leadership role which stifled the ability to get business done promptly. And so we're flattening the organization more, flattening development services so that we have the teams that are working more closely together and more across lines instead of up through channels. And that's been very useful thus far and we're going to continue to improve on doing that to promote that excellence of service delivery. You know, our number one goal is to make life easier for our customers and our customers as I explained a very diverse group really is anybody that we interact with and we interact with just about anybody possible. It is those that live, work, play, visit Denton is impacted by development services and so we want to make life easier for all of our customers. We are taking radical steps in training staff. We're building a foundation and taking just the basic premise of having that foundation like you build a building, having a stable foundation to build staff upon and then focusing on areas of expertise. So those subject matter experts whether it's in planning or engineering or building inspection, fire inspection, that they've got the technical competencies to do their job but really starting with the very basics of customer service and a practical approach to why we are civil servants and why it is that we're here to do the work that we do. And so we've taken a number of steps. We continue to do that. We're launching some internal online training that supports our staff and some succession planning and growing leaders, individual leaders and collectively across the department and other departments. We're working very hard to eliminate barriers citywide. So where it is that departments may have operated in the past, our city manager has made a significant number of changes in departmental structures and as those changes happen, I'm reinforcing the fact that we all wear the same badge which indicates that we work for the city of Denton. My badge doesn't necessarily delineate that I work in a particular department. It may have my title on there but it does say that I work for the city of Denton and so if we have a philosophy that we all are employees of the city of Denton, we have a common mission and a goal rather than it's my job is just this, our job is to serve our citizens, our constituents and those customers. We're simplifying processes. We're making them much more simple, much more clear, eliminating the bureaucratic components to that where it is that somebody should be able to see and understand what steps need to be taken and then also be able to see and understand the steps are being taken behind the scenes. So again, making things more predictable and consistent as a big piece of this is within the development code, rewriting the development code and making certain that that's clear and concise rather than having to go to multiple different sections or different standards that reference-- are referenced within the code. We've taken steps and continue to take steps and we'll continue to be on a path of continuous improvement with communication that, you know, the number one problem in just about any organization whether it's public or private is communication. So communicating internally across our teams, communicating to our customers, A, what we're trying to do, B, what we're doing and C, the mission or where we're trying to go, the vision of the city of Denton. And within that is improving response times. So where we make this more predictable is people can anticipate what's supposed to happen when which ties into an accountability component for staff that staff is ultimately being held accountable for their actions, that their timelines are being held true . And we're also broaching into the community that our developers, our contractors are also accountable for their timelines and we're going to make certain that that's transparent. We've typically communicated with the applicant or we're dealing with a contractor or developer and then the owner is upset because the process is taking so long and, you know, their applicant or their contractors indicating, well, we're waiting on the city. We don't have a defense to that because we're not communicating with them. So to the future, we're going to communicate with the applicant, the contractor and the owner. We're going to communicate with all parties so that they can see and understand what the process is, that they know that we've received the application, that they expect to get a response within a week. They get that response within a week. They're going to get copied on the response. And then we're waiting on the applicant or that contractor to provide those responses. And many times there's a gap there, not to say that city is not responsible but the contractor has equal responsibility but the city is always taking the brunt of that. That's that piece, that part to transparency to where it is that we can be more effective in communicating what we're doing, how we're doing it and holding all people accountable within this process. And again, the development code is the place that we start to refine and improve service delivery. This has been a cultural change and it continues to be a cultural change. And that cultural change comes from the city manager's office, council direction. They've provided us with very clear guidance on what needs to happen and where we need to go. And I'm merely a tool in that. That vision has been laid out. The expectations are very clear and now we're delivering that. We have the support to do the work that we need to do. We've got staff that are very capable of doing it. They've not been empowered to do the work. And we're empowering staff, training staff and encouraging them to go out and do the work that we need done. We're working to build trust and trust both internally and externally. I think that with a lack of communication, a lack of transparency, you have distrust. And when you have that distrust, then it's very hard for people to take risks or to get out there or to communicate as effectively as they could. And so we're working very hard to stand behind what it is that we're saying and do the things that we're promising to do. And so we're working to do that and that's a huge part of this cultural change is to make certain-- all of our constituents and our customers have, you know, a very good understanding of why we're doing what we're doing. And again, it's reinforcing the fact. Again, if we empower our staff to be able to make those decisions, we empower them at the lowest level possible that rather than it going up to that bureaucratic channel that staff are trained, they feel comfortable, they have trust to be able to make a decision that their leadership is going to stand behind them, that they're confident to do that, that will expedite the service delivery, expedite our ability to be able to develop Denton and make Denton the community that people choose to develop in. And then we're in turn more selective on what developments we're doing and how we're doing those developments. We've done some things in short order where it is that we've required plans and I won't get into too much detail on how we do the plats, replats, site plans, submittals. But the bottom line is that typically to the past we've required somebody to resubmit when it is that drawings didn't necessarily meet our specifications. And we're focused more on now redlining those plans, meaning that we can mark on the plans where it is that there's a problem, an area we can give the plans back with a conditional approval. So if in fact you understand you can't drain water onto an adjacent property, if all of the provisions are there, except for there's an area that may not be clear, we just clearly indicate you may not drain water at that particular point. We give the plans back. They've been told we go out, we perform inspections as long as they have complied with that. We'll get an as-built set of plans in the very end. And of course the intent of the code is met. We've not violated any law and we've expedited that service delivery. We're certainly attempting to provide all the resources we can that promotes responsible development. And that is the tools and the vehicles that-- where it is that we can make the code work in favor of those attempting to do. So it's clear, concise. It ultimately gets the vision of what it is that city management and council is achieving without creating extra steps or burdensome steps. So those resources are in play and will be a part of the development code as that comes to be. The actions that we've taken so far, I've touched on some of that already. We've reorganized the processes, whether it's a pre-develop ment, a site plan, construction plans, rather than asking for specifications on drawings that, you know, we're getting an indication that the specifications meet our criteria manuals. If in fact they do, then we'll prove that up at point of inspection and if it doesn't, then again, that accountability goes back to the contractor that, you know, he made that statement that it does comply with our development standards. They have the development standards and let's get it right. I'm a big advocate of challenging why we're doing the things that we're doing. And so the first thing that I say is when you can't answer the question why we're doing it, then we shouldn't be doing it. If you can't prove to me that we should be doing it, then we shouldn't be doing it. So it's got to be founded in the basis of something. We can't do it because I was taught that's how we do it. We can't do it because we think it's good. We make a lot of recommendations and a lot of suggestions and that's not our role. That's for the policy makers. For us, we have guidance. It's very clear. It's concise. It either complies with the code or it does not. So we need to be doing what the requirements of the code are. We need to clearly understand the intent of the code and that's what we have to communicate to our customers. As indicated, you know, the staff training is a huge piece in that empowering them to be able to make those decisions and to clearly communicate and articulate the intent of why we have these provisions within our rules. Oh, this is unusual. I had to do it with an Adobe document and I apologize. So some of the other actions is we've moved the city engineer into development services as a-- just a partner. The city engineer is housed over in development services two days a week so he can be more actively involved with his staff, train his staff and make sure that we can, again, make those decisions when we have the decision makers at the table rather than having someone that can ask a question but can't provide an answer. So when we have engineering staff that's not empowered to make a decision, we've then lengthened the process. So I just left a meeting that I came to this meeting and in that meeting then we were able to make the decisions at the table and that's the model that we're looking to do is do that and that's through partnerships of another department being at the same table at the same time. That's eliminating those silos. It's ending that bureaucratic process that we all work for the city of Denton and that we're working to make sure that we have responsible development. As I indicated earlier, we are contacting all applicants within 48 hours of submittal to say, you know, hi, I'm Scott. I'm your project manager on this. I'll be your primary point of contact. Here's my email, here's my phone number. If you have any questions, let me know. It's anticipated we'll have a completeness review performed within three days. We'll have the site plan review conducted within seven, you know, so on and so forth. And so then we've set the expectation for the customer. They know what's anticipated. We're also going to provide such information as, you know, we understand how many cases are coming before us. We've been busy clearing out a backlog but we're to the future going to schedule very clearly how many items are going to go to P and Z, how many items are going to go to council and we're going to balance that and we're going to indicate to the customer this is where we're at, this is where the timeframe is so that we're not inundating council with a barrage of requests all at the same time because of lack of planning or lack of proper preparation. You know, again, we've eliminated the requirement for specifications on the plans. We don't need to know what color a valve is. We don't need to know what brand the valve is. We need to know if it meets our criteria manual. So if it meets our criteria manual, we're going to approve the plan without seeing what color it is or what brand it is. The inspector's responsibility is to go out there and verify that the type of valve they use does comply with the criteria manual, just that simple. We're utilizing-- in the process of utilizing email for our submittals, we use a couple of different software solutions currently. We've gotten a lot of feedback that that software is problematic for a first-time user or those not familiar with the process. So we're just going to simplify the fact that we're going to have a PDF version of their plan submitted to us. We can look at all of the concepts, where the plans are at and what we need from those plans. And by virtue of that, then provide comments in Adobe and then return it to the customer. And then when we get to a point where we have more detailed or more comprehensive drawings, then we can have those submitted formally through a software solution. We have sent a comprehensive operational survey to 27 other municipalities. We've received that feedback. We're in the process of mining that data to see, you know, what our sister communities are doing. So we can, again, borrow those best practices, find ways to enhance the service deliver we have without recreating the wheel. Those that are doing it and doing it well, we want to replicate that work where we can. So our next steps, along with the development code, is that once we refine all of our processes, we have a new development code in place. We're going to make improvements to our software solution, our technology, and we'll put an RFP out to say, you know, here's what we're looking at. We may stay with the same software provider that we have today. We may look at another software provider. What we want to do is create that ease and convenience for our customers to be able to access information, make application, and, you know, seek to get what it is that they need any time that they can get it. We're in the midst of the development of our mission, vision, and values, including staff in this, that, you know , how we tie into Denton's mission, vision, and values, how each of them individually roll up into a much broader piece rather than the individual technical skills that they have and where they feel that they fit in their organization. We want to make sure that they understand that we, as the city of Denton, have one mission, one vision, one set of values that we're all going to strive for. I mentioned accountability. We are holding people accountable. We will continue to hold people accountable. And that's both inside and outside of the organization. We're working very hard to garner community input. We have a consultant that we're working with on the development code update. They had hosted a number of public meetings and some one on ones to garner input from our stakeholders, citizens, our community leaders, developers, business owners, and we're going to continue to do that. We expect to have that first public draft in mid-December, or excuse me, January, late January, mid-February, that we're going to roll out in a very comprehensive way so we can get feedback from our entire community on those pieces that will drive the future of Denton and where we go. I mentioned to you continuous improvement is a core value for the department. We cannot go through a process and say we're now the best and we'll just stay here. We're going to look to be the best and we're going to continue to try to maintain that status by virtue of just continually improving everything in every way we can, all in little bites, all in little bites. We're working to expand our collaboration with our local stakeholders, our citizens, and making certain that the things that we're doing align with what it's important to our community and to our developers that are looking at our community. And ultimately, our communication and education, internally and externally. We want to make sure that our constituents are informed and knowledgeable and that we partner with some of our community organizations to be, you know, just more in front of the community, out in the community, and participating at community events where we can show the benefits of development services, not as that barrier to what we do, but how it is that we help to make Denton a better place to live. We've started. We're there. We've been working at it. We're going to continue to refine those pieces, just as I say, continuous improvement as we see change needs to be made. We're not making it for the sake of change. We want stability. We want stability in the department. We want stability for staff and we want stability for our customers to know that we're not in a constant state of evolution. But we ultimately have to make changes in order to implement the best practices. We've done a lot of that thus far. I think we'll still have some as we refine the processes and seek to enhance the service delivery. We've taken care of training and training is ongoing. But we can't stop training. We won't stop training. We're improving our review times and there's a continuous effort on the fact of how it is that we can continue to refine that. Our site plan application, we've ultimately reduced that already to a simple one page document that gives us a good concept of where things are at, not those construction drawings. The construction drawings then provide us the details when we're a little further down the line. But we want our developers to be able to go out and say, this site plan is approved. I can get my financing. I can move forward. All of those next steps rather than having to design all of the infrastructure components that they know are required. We're telling them are required. They have all of the specifications of what they need to do. They can figure out that math for themselves. We don't need to approve those drawings yet. We just need to make sure that the character of the project that they're looking to develop meets A, our zoning, B, what our community is looking for and ultimately the development code. We're still in the process of refining our applications. Simplifying those, we're very close to a single application for all building permits. We have a new application for all of our planning events. And again, as we talk about the communication component that we're going to be notifying the applicant, the developer and the property owner that's on the application. We're gathering the data for email, phone and physical mail so that we can communicate in all three of those vehicles. The development code, I spoke briefly on the fact that that is in play. We have taken that fresh approach. We have module one which is the zoning districts. That work is mostly done. We've got some other areas that we're working within that with some small area plans and some overlays that we're going to make sure that we're accounting for our historic districts and how it is that we look at that planning, making sure that it aligns with our mobility plan. And-- But the bulk of that work is completed. The next couple of modules that we're focused on today is the administration and procedures. And that's going to be that fresh perspective that you'll see end of January, beginning of February. That will be an online document as well as email to a large group that we've been working with as far as our development, engineering, design professional community and I'm certain in a number of boards and commissions. Within that, we will have those processes mapped out. It will be a clear concise way to see the steps that are necessary for development within the community. And it gets rid of, again, where the requirements for specifications and particulars that typically have bogged down or slowed down a project unnecessarily. We anticipate that we're going to have the development code completed, building season of 2018. So it means hopefully May, we will have that development code before our governing body looking for that approval so that we can turn the page in the development code and start to really, you know, make the changes that are necessary in other areas of the organization. Again, our focus is being business friendly. We're going to balance common sense with code sense, that intent behind why it is that we have a set of codes, how those codes play into development, how it is that it works to protect the health, welfare and safety of our citizens and those that, you know, visit or choose to develop here in our community. We want that ease of access for all, all those customers that I spoke to earlier, that they're able to get to the information that they want when they want to get to it. I think we can continue to improve accessibility and transparency within that. And we'll do that through the use of technology and, you know, ultimately just through someone's phone. Questions of me? >> All right, anybody have any questions or comments? Katie? >> I don't really have a question. I just wanted to say that it's no secret that this is the department that needed a lot of work. And I appreciate all that you've done. And I've already seen progress in the way that you have responded to the citizens who have reached out to me with issues or questions. And so I wanted to thank you for that. >> Thank you. It's my pleasure, truly. >> The part that I focused on was the common sense part that's in there. It seems like we've been missing that. And I know, I would assume people are skeptical because we've heard all this for years. And it does seem like we're making some progress. I ran into somebody in the hall earlier that said they're seeing the results. So it doesn't always mean that developers get the answer they want. Sometimes it's how you deliver that and how you can offer a solution that maybe works for both sides is all that matters. And if we can have a reputation that we're here to help folks, that's important to economic development because those of these projects that come through there go through this department. And it looks like we're on the right track. >> Mark. >> Yes, sir. Jim. >> Scott, right after Todd got to town, he engaged a consultant to come in and talk to stakeholders about the development and the permitting process. How much of that consultant report have you been able to integrate into the changes? >> A great deal. Actually, there were two different consultant reports, really three that were a basis for a number of the things that I've done. And yeah, it was really Todd's work that set the tone as I indicated earlier. I was provided very clear direction and expectations. And off that would be the three consulting firms that looked at different parts of the development services. And I would say that we're probably better than 80% of what those recommendations were that were in the process of if not fully adhering to. So a lot of-- >> There were a ton of great ideas. >> There were a ton of great ideas. And again, when you employ specialists to look at and evaluate, you'd be a fool not to take that advice. And I think it's just merely tempering that with the uniqueness of a community and making sure that it's not too much too fast. >> Change is hard in any organization. How has the folks down at development services taken this change because they were pretty-- some of them were pretty ingrained in the old way of doing things? >> I was very apprehensive about that. I was very concerned with that. And I just had a conversation with staff this morning. And I couldn't be happier with the willingness, the openness, the desire to implement change. I think the difference in the ingrained is been the silos. I think the city manager has done a fabulous job of helping to eliminate or lose those barriers. And there's a lot of talented staff at the city. And the staff have always, I think, just been put into a position, this is your job and continue to do your job, they've done it well. I think it's been the lack of empowerment for them to be able to spread their wings a little bit and try to look a little broader. So to answer that specifically, staff has been very cooperative, even energized by the fact of the change, I've met little to no resistance in any area in the organization. So we are making so many changes that are very small that most people wouldn't recognize. But for staff, it's been very enlightening for them and again, empowering, they appreciate it. >> John? >> John Baines. Thank you for your presentation. >> Thank you. >> I wanted to ask a question. Now that you've rolled out this plan of action, what is the timetable for evaluating yourself? >> We're our own worst critics. So I evaluate myself, I think probably daily. When I leave work, what did I accomplish today? And there are so many days that I feel like I didn't do anything because I had an agenda that I set first thing in the morning and I didn't follow that because there are so many different squirrels that kind of run across my paths. That's really I think my boss's responsibility to evaluate me. I'm very hard on myself and I have high expectations of what it is that I'm attempting to deliver. I think with the support of staff, I've actually accomplished more than I intended and I'm incredibly aggressive in the things that I attempt to accomplish. So for me to evaluate myself or win, I haven't completed a business plan. My role has been pretty unique since I've been here. And I started with a business plan so I understood my short, mid and long term goals. Today I've probably for the past 90 days been in really in a crisis management role. And just to be honest, it's just really where I've been. And I think over the course of the next 90 days, I'll be very busy with the development code. But it will be more of a framework where I can really evaluate what those changes look like. Right now they're very small successes that I'm very happy with and probably more small successes than I anticipated having. And that may not have answered. >> Having been involved in the business arena for over 30 years and having had a lot of feedback on activities from contractors and developers, there is a perception there about the city of Denton and doing business with the city. And now that we've rolled out these changes, I would think you'd probably want to take a hard look maybe at four months, six months after you've had a chance to really-- I mean because a lot of these things are ingrained in the culture and are not removed that easily. I think the plan is great. I would just like to hear from those that are directly affected and perhaps you can kind of give us some feedback and even ask for it from, you know, folks and so that we could have some record of their perception of how things have gone. >> And I may have misunderstood your question. Let me step back a little bit. We have-- we've already conducted an internal survey so of our staff so we can establish benchmarks. >> Yes. >> And so we've done that with staff. We're in the process of developing an external. And it's very challenging to do because again, where we've had a number of changes over the course of the past couple of years is trying to establish that place or that benchmark. It was challenging enough to do with staff but we did that two and a half months ago. So in the next couple of weeks, we're going to roll out another one and we're going to stay on that path so we understand those benchmarks internally. How are we doing-- how are we doing in our service delivery ? Like I say, we're in the process of developing an external and then that's going to be tied to all of our employees' email so that external component when they're delivering something that it's asking for that survey to be filled out so we can constantly monitor. Second piece to that is with each building permit is attaching with that certificate of occupancy just a very brief survey to say how did we do, who do you interact with, how was the service delivery. So we have some of that but along those lines, we are looking at making sure that we're getting feedback from those customers to understand how we're doing. >> Thank you. >> I think Gerard had some questions. >> Yes sir. >> Thank you Scott. My question would be on the reporting back, so the 48 hour mark and then the-- I think you said seven day follow up or contact. Are those industry standard or can you just kind of walk me through those expectations, are they consistent? I'm just curious how you arrived at those and are they-- will your customers experience similar or used to similar experience response times just trying to understand that the kind of the supporting I guess math if you will or just kind of how you arrived at those benchmarks or opportunities to follow up or commitments, that sort of thing? >> Multifaceted. So I'll start with the 48 hours. The 48 hours is a little more liberal than what I want. I want a 24 hour response but again with change is trying to evolve into that. So the expectation of having a first contact made from the city to the applicant rather than the applicant submitting and not hearing anything until they get comments, that's that first step. So within 48 hours that we make contact to say I'm the person that you need to contact if you have any questions, I'm assigned this project and then the expectations are based on the type of application that's being made and that's really set through in many instances state statute. So we have some limitations on some of the components of where it is that we have to have comments back. In other areas it is what is that time that is really required to perform whatever the review might be. There's a lot of difference between a completeness review and an actual review of a site plan versus construction drawings. And so each of those dates are driven truly from-- each of the dates short of the 48 are driven from a standpoint of a statute or truly a practical-- the practical ability to perform the work. The first step is just that of attempting to be more proactive in making contact and making sure that our customers know who it is that they can contact if they have a question and setting the expectations. So some of those will be windows. So you can anticipate there are five projects in front of you. We should begin the review within seven days. We may take, you know, 15 days and then the review will take this much time. So again, giving them some windows of opportunity to better understand rather than today or to the past, the model has been that you make application and you'll hear from somebody when you hear from them, if that answers that for you. >> Yes, thank you. >> Martin. >> Yes, Jim. >> Scott, have you been in contact with [inaudible] and the development community alliance? >> I met with that group week one or week two since I was here and I just left a meeting with him. >> Okay. Because you could probably get some really good feedback on how you're doing from that group because they are key in development. >> And he's provided positive feedback thus far so I feel good about it. If I were to quote or attempt to quote Lee today, he can already hear or feel the diminishing of that organization. >> One other question. Historically, the practice has been that within the first 10 days to get comments back, sometimes you get comments that aren't applicable to the project itself, have no bearing on it whatsoever, which is a clear indication some of our minds is that somebody didn't look at it. They just sent something out to get it off their desk and meet the 10-day commitment. And then the other thing that happens historically is once you do your resubmittal and answer all of those comments, then you get comments back from a section that had already been reviewed that now somebody's coming back with additional comments and puts it out another 10 days. Have you heard that? >> I can't count how many times. >> Okay. Nevermind. >> I will say, well, and so that's -- but that's another one of those changes that really is challenging to measure or to evaluate. But I will say, really, we're giving everyone that one bite at the apple. You've got your opportunity. Make your comments. We are not accepting suggestions, recommendations I would like to see. It's going to be on the basis of code. You best have a code section to support what it is that you're indicating on that comment. Then when it is that if it is a second submittal, when we get that resubmittal, you're looking at from the comment standpoint. You're not looking at the rest of the plan. If you miss something, shame on you as the reviewer. If it isn't going to cause a health safety issue, if it isn't catastrophic to our infrastructure, we're not going to go back after that. And we're certainly not doing that on a third review. And so we're minimizing the number of reviews and holding people accountable to ensure that the quality of the review is conducted right the first time. And again, no more editorials either. >> Okay. Good luck. >> Thank you. >> You'll get feedback. >> Hi. Jill Jester. First of all, thank you. I thought it was a great presentation and it's very refreshing. I think just kudos all the way around is what I'm hearing. And thank you for tackling what has been going on here for decades and decades, at least the reputation. So thank you so much. I wanted to know who is leading the development code rewrite and do you know anything about the -- I don't know if it's you or someone else, but their background with development codes. Who is it that's kind of the lead on the right? >> Us. So it's a group. I'm responsible and accountable for the development code rewrite. We have contracted with Clarion and Associates. They are out of Colorado. That's what they specialize in. We've been working with them for a number of years. They came forward a couple of months ago with a partial rewrite. We've asked them to go back to the table and to clean it up . So we're taking a fresh approach and so again, I'm responsible but I'm only one piece of a much larger pie. And so our planning director, our utilities director, our city engineer, our capital, all of us will have an integral part and a critical part to this. City manager is -- reinforced the fact that all of the departments will look at this very closely. It's a priority for the city and so it's no one person. >> Got one more quick question. You talked about some of the like radical steps you're taking and different training. Specifically, are we talking about customer service or operational or the technical aspects? What kind of training are you implementing or planning to implement? >> Everything. So I guess in simplest, so we have some new employees that have started. We've launched an element -- a learning management system which is an online solution. They're taking government 101, customer service, ethics, diversity, the city offers those programs but we're augmenting that. We're working with our library and we're teaching Microsoft basic Excel outlook. So employees have the very basic tools to be able to do their job more effectively and again, communicate with our outside constituents. And so we're creating that foundation for all employees and then we're looking at each of the technical or subject matter expert areas and then we're giving them specific training for those components. We've brought in a couple different trainers on technical components. We are working with CGA to do training on planning. We've had the Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors Association come in for plumbing inspectors. We're using SGR as a component of this. So we have -- it's multifaceted and we're doing it on every front in small bite-sized pieces. >> That sounds great and amazing in the timeframe that you've had to put all this together. Thank you again. >> Thank you. >> Chuck? >> Chuck Parkender, Dent Chamber of Commerce. Thank you for doing this. Marty and I hosted 18 months worth of Development Code Review meetings in 1999, which may be the problem with what you're doing. But I remember there were multiple meetings where the discussion would say is this ordinance or is this policy? And so you mentioned two things that you're probably now hearing in terms of examples in dealing with Lee. And by the way, Lee's on our board and we will be hosting Fire Marshal Brad Layhart right after the first of the week -- a month. And he mentioned how he's working with you. So thank you very much. But the multiple contacts you talked about, applicant, contractor, owner, and then the red line plan release, is that procedure or policy or is that ordinance? In other words, are you doing that unencumbered as an administrative decision or is that something that's had to be decided by -- >> That's the administration. So that's policy. And we're going to -- a couple of things that we're doing. We provide informal staff reports to council. And then we're memorializing those internally. We're turning them into an interpretation, if you will. And so then that way we have a policy document or some guidance when it is that staff may have the same question. They've got a guide or a reference to go to. When we talk about the code is going to provide those administrative provisions where -- what authority the planning director has or whatever body it is, what steps they're able to take to clearly define this is the role. This is where it is that it's going to go to a governing body where someone else is going to make the decision or where staff is going to make the decision. We're going to attempt to put everything into the code from a performance standpoint rather than a prescriptive standpoint. Here's where we're trying to go. And then within that, then we'll have some administrative guidance or policy documents and some of that might be similar to a criteria manual for storm water or for streets. That here's the criteria manual for planning and how we work. Another example of that would maybe better be our zoning code is very prescriptive -- or excuse me, our landscape code is very prescriptive. So we're in the process of crafting a points-based landscape code. Because not every part of town can we landscape the same way, but our code is very prescriptive. Within that, the point system then is going to be evaluated by staff where it's going to be a policy decision that this actually meets the intent of the code. The code has specified this is what you must do and here's how you can meet that. And then somebody ultimately has to interpret that data. Does that help? >> Yes, sir. Thank you. >> Any more questions or comments? Some good questions and comments and great discussions. Scott, I appreciate you being here today and good luck with your endeavors. >> Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. Glad to be here and again, if anybody has any questions ever, don't hesitate to contact me. >> All right. We do not have a closed session today, so we will move into our regular meeting portion. And our first item is to review item 17-067, the minutes of our November 13, 2017 meeting which were distributed in advance. I'll take a motion or discussion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> We have a motion by Mr. Baines and a second by Mrs. Jester for approval of the minutes. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. >> Aye. >> Any opposed? Motion is approved unanimously. And we will move next to staff reports. Our first staff report is the chamber activity report. Adam? >> Thank you. Hello everyone. Staff report reporting on activity for the month of November. We had four new projects for the month bringing us to seven total for this fiscal year starting October 1st. Project Kansas is a headquarters and manufacturing operation looking for a 50-acre rail service site. Project Golan is looking for 60 to 100 acres to construct a 200 to 300,000 square foot facility with future expansion into multiple buildings. Project Conrad looking for 6 to 10 acres to build a 20 to 40,000 square foot warehouse. And then Project Kilwin is looking for a 12 to 1500 square foot small retail shop to go right on the square. We had two site visits for the month. Project Brentwood is a manufacturing project. They are out of the Kansas City area looking for a 20 to 35-acre rail site to construct a 100,000 square foot facility. Project will be 50 new jobs. The site visit was conducted on November 6th and we are still in follow-up process with that project. The other one was Project Kansas. That one is, as mentioned above, the headquarters and manufacturing distribution project. Looking for 20 to 35-acre rail site -- oh, I'm sorry, the 50-acre rail service site to construct a 265,000 square foot facility. It will be 100 new jobs. The site visit was conducted on November 6th. And we are also still in follow-up process with that one. The consulting firm who brought in that company is bringing in another company this Friday as well. This consulting firm has, I guess, taken a liking to our industrial areas and some of our industrial sites, especially the rail service sites. They work with a lot of manufacturing and distribution food grade related projects. So we're seeing a lot of activity from that particular group. Other activities, met with the Office of the Governor's Office of Economic Development and Tourism here in Denton. They were on their way into Dallas and had never been to Denton and I've had a good relationship with one of the guys from their office for about 10 years now. So hosted them here in Denton. Met with and presented an overview on Denton to the European American Investment Council or EAIC for short and a German delegation of aviation companies. They all met in Fort Worth and they allowed about 10 of us, 10 DFW communities to come in and present our locations to these companies that have expansion plans into the DFW market. And we're also making plans to meet them again at a maintenance, repair, and overhaul conference that's coming up in March. Also that same group, the European American Investment Council had their annual conference in Frisco which Team Texas was a sponsor and we attended with them as well. I personally hosted a broker from the Trans Westerns Dallas office which is a global site selection firm. Hosted them in Denton for an industrial tour and overview. He was also interested in the industrial park and the rail service sites. We're having a lot of interest right now on the rail service sites out there. I don't know if that's mainly due to the product rail load that's coming in and creating a lot of buzz and things like that, but it's great for Denton. Hosted another company representative from FCL Builders in Denton for another industrial tour and overview. Met with Paladin Partners, their industrial team which is a Dallas based site selection firm and presented our industrial sites for their client. They are the ones who have presented us with the project Conrad that I mentioned up above on that report looking for the six to 10 acres to build a 20 to 40,000 square foot warehouse. Next, also attended a DFW marketing team fam tour where five global site selection firms were in attendance. So we had the ability to go and meet with them and had lunch. We got to present our communities to these five site selectors. They were from all over the place. One was from Chicago, one from Atlanta, I think two from LA and one from New York. Next, we hosted a private investors reception at First State Bank. So thank you Marty and his group for hosting us. And I saw most of you there. So thank you all for attending. And then the other smaller items, met with a small business development director for some products that they're working on as well. Met with private economic development investors. This is our fundraising time of the year. Now that the city budget was approved, now we have to go and raise our private funding from the private investors. So far we have had only one that has elected to not renew and that's only because of a relocation which I can get into at the next meeting once we have more details on that. But other than that, it's looking good. The funding is going to be well over our $70,000 mark that we have to raise from the -- for the city contract. Met with the marketing firm that's redoing the -- or redesigning the didn'tedp.com website. Once again, that's not a full redesign. It is a facelift. So just refreshing things, new modules, new components, upgraded building and site features and things along those lines. And last, attended a ribbon cutting and open house for one of our private investors and chamber members. Yes. >> Carol. >> Adam, when do you expect the refresh of the website to be finished? >> We are looking at the end of January. >> Okay, great. >> Okay. We're still working on that and going back there, refreshing pictures and things like that. It may be the first couple weeks of February, but around that time frame. >> Okay, thank you. >> Sure. >> Jim. >> Adam, what about project railroad? What are we at on that one? >> Project railroad is still in the works. The Razor Company has gone back and forth. They have a contract in place. It just has not been formally executed yet and signed off on. But the contract is there. The Razor Company has reviewed their revisions and now they're going back and forth. So it could be, it's my understanding that it could be any day now or a few more weeks. >> Okay. Good. >> Quick question. >> Jill. >> Jill Jester. >> Yes, ma'am. >> As far as having contacts with the Office of the Governor of Economic Development and Tourism in Denton, I'm kind of new. So tell me how they help us and how, I mean, it sounds like an amazing contact. Can you tell me a little bit about what they can do to help us, what we can do to help them and how that-- >> Sure. A lot of larger companies and along with global site selection firms will go to the state first with their projects. And so they'll issue an RFI or RFP to the state of Texas in the governor's office out of Austin where they will in turn, send that out to all the communities of interest. So they'll send it out to either the whole state or just DF W or just Houston or wherever that falls. But they issue that RFI, then we respond. The city handles the lead with the governor's office now as of the new contract. It's still good for us to market to them regardless of who 's from Denton is marketing to them. I've had a great relationship with them for 10 years now in previous locations that I've worked in. So it's great to have them here in Denton. They had not been here before so they were passing through. >> And did they make the decision as far as they get in, you know, the contact or the questionnaire about, you know, what in Texas would be appropriate for us and the price and then the office of the governor's-- the governor's office at that point makes their recommendations and so is that kind of how it works? >> Not exactly. They-- when the company will come to them and say either we want to do a full statewide search and they might be looking at other states too. It could be, you know, five to 10 states. But they want-- they come to Texas, they want to do a statewide search. So they'll issue that out to every single economic development agency. We respond with what we have available in terms of real estate incentives and things like that. So not all communities are going to be a good fit every time. Sometimes they just target the DFW Metroplex, sometimes they'll target two or three areas. We send those back-- they assemble a packet and send all of those to the company. So they're not biased towards one location. >> They're more organizational versus recommending-- >> Correct. >> -- the good fit for what they think would be-- >> They're all-- >> -- the future, et cetera, that-- >> They're more of a one-stop shop. >> OK. >> The state is so-- rather than a company having to come to Denton, Frisco, Round Rock, Georgetown, and Midland, you know, they go to the state and the state can issue that RFI to all of us and then we respond with what are available sites and incentives and things like that. >> I appreciate your knowledge in this area. >> No problem. >> Thank you very much. >> Sure. >> Thank you. >> John? >> Adam, this is something for maybe perhaps a future meeting. >> Sure. >> The secrets of closing the deal, to me it's still kind of a black box. I've been doing this committee for a couple of years now, but maybe in a future presentation, you could maybe bring us back, you know, the one, two, threes of closing the deal. I see these, but I'd like to kind of make sure it's more than a black box to me. I just kind of see a black box right now. >> So-- >> Kind of the whole process from start to finish. >> Sure, yeah, we can do that. No problem. >> Thank you. >> Sure. >> Anybody else have any questions or comments for Adam? >> Thank you, Adam. >> Thanks, Adam. >> All right, thanks. >> We have a stand report that's in the back, which is our statistics for our city. If you haven't, if you're not paying attention, that is a lot of really great information on sales tax and what's happening with development. So take a look at that if you're not doing that. Other than that, we're ready to come to our concluding items. Does anybody have anything to-- >> I have a question. >> Yeah, Jim. >> Caroline, what kind of activity have we had from the Dallas Regional Chamber and from the governor's office as far as interest in Danton coming into the city for responses? >> So thanks for the question, Jim. We're going to be adding an additional staff report starting in January so that you guys can see the monthly activity that we're getting from the governor's office of economic development in the Dallas Regional Chamber to quickly answer your question. The leads from the Dallas Regional Chamber and the governor's office have decreased. There's a little bit of a seasonal aspect to some of that. And so around the holidays, those-- the RFPs that are issued tend to decrease. But we'll be glad to include an annual review of what we've taken in and respond to or not for the next meeting. And then we'll start with monthly reports. So you'll be able to have that information. >> So you're going back to last October? >> Yes, sir. >> Are these standard reports updated monthly or is this quarterly? >> No, they're updated monthly. And the economic development staff works really hard. We've been working with a lot of different departments in the city to pull that together. And it's a fantastic tool that we actually share a lot with developers, folks who are interested in locating in the community. So it often answers every question that they might have and more. So it's great and it's available on the EDP website and you can download it as a PDF. So I do encourage people to use it if it would be a handy tool for you. >> I like it. >> Thank you. >> Mm-hmm. >> Anything else to discuss? >> I did want to make sure to mention for everybody to hold the morning of January 11th for the Mayor Council breakfast. There'll be some invitations going out for that this week. Is that correct? Okay. So everybody will see one of those invitations and it's actually going to be at the new convention center. So it'll be good to get inside there and get a tour, see how it's looking. >> Great. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Exciting. Anything else? All right. Seeing that there's no other business, we'll call our meeting adjourned at 12, 13 p.m. Thanks for being here. [ Silence ]