Oct 04, 2021 City Council on 2021-10-04 11:30 AM (SPECIAL CALLED MEETING)

Good afternoon, and welcome to this meeting of the Denton City Council. It is 1134. We do have a quorum at the day, so we will call the meeting to order. And again, October 4th, 2021, just in case I didn't mention that. And then, so let me get oriented. Just for the council to know, our first item is a placeholder, as you're seeing that, the closed session, in case we need that, but we'll get to that. Councilmember Armitage will join us at 1150 when she's able. Once her schedule frees up. That will take us to our first item, which is items for individual consideration. And I'll call that item. It's AID 212181, consider adoption of the ordinance of the City of Denton, appointing a city attorney, authorizing the mayor to execute an employee agreement, setting the compensation terms for the city attorney, providing for expenditure funds and providing an effective date. Good morning, Mayor, City Council, Tiffany Thompson, Director of HR. There's no presentation with this item, but as the mayor had advised, if council has questions or further discussion on this item, we do have a closed session on the agenda. So at this time, just seeking direction if that closed session is needed or if council wants to move on the individual consideration item. Okay. So questions for staff or I'll take a motion. Councilmember Davis. Thank you, Mayor. I move approval of the draft ordinance as provided in the backup with the name Mack Rhinewand inserted in the appropriate blanks. Okay. Councilmember McGuire. I second. Okay. Discussion? I'll just say I appreciate the, well, let me back up our channel again. Mayor Watson say I trust the process. I appreciate the interim attorney very much and stepping up in a very challenging time and guiding us to this point. Look forward to Mr. Rhinewand serving in this capacity and working with this, the council to move the city's business forward. So any other discussion? Seeing none. Let me vote. Councilmember Beck, I'll say you. Aye. Councilmember McGuire. Aye. Councilmember Byrd. Aye. Councilmember Davis. Aye. Mayor Hutsbeth is aye as well. And just confirming there's no one online. No, sir. There are no callers for this. Thank you. And so that pass is five zero. Okay, that completes that. It takes us to item B, which is ID 212182. Consider a motion of reconsidering September 28, 2021 approval for ordinance of the city of Denton, Texas regarding change in zoning district and use classification for mixed use neighborhood MN and residential R four. Um, our residential for our four districts to mix use neighborhood district of approximately .326 acres. Mayor Tina Fergens, planning director. Have you answered any questions you may have on this item? Okay, um, I'll just, um, start off by saying my concern here is that the council did not discuss, um, uh, area plan. And so I'll ask staff. Do we have an area plan? Study or review in the works or planned for this for the southeast Denton area. So great question, Mayor. No, we do not. The city's comprehensive plan does recommend the Denton 2030 plan does recommend the southeast Denton neighborhood area as a possible, uh, project for a small area plan. And, um, but we do not have that currently in the works. Got it. And then the report we that we were provided by the consultants kind of a, um, uh, housing use focus. Did that touch on this area that, so that would have been the same day we heard this issue. We, the, the consultants reported back on kind of a overall housing need for the city. So mayor, I'll be honest with you. I'm not familiar with the inner workings of that particular plan and project, so I'm not prepared to address that question. My apologies for sure. Sure. Well, and I'll represent that it was part of their discussion with Southeast Denton in that neighborhood and how to best meet the housing needs. And so I think those two kind of getting that information is noteworthy to kind of explore that we got at the same day so we couldn't review it. Uh, and then the small area plan that allows us to kind of take a comprehensive look at how we want to zone, uh, our neighborhoods is, is important, uh, rises to the level to me to, um, take just a better look at it is, is, is my point. Any other questions for staff? Uh, yes, sir. Councilman Burke. Uh, in regards to, uh, what is listed here as, uh, as a mixed use neighborhood, can you explain to the public what exactly would a mixed use neighborhood look like and whether or not this property that, uh, was requested to be located, uh, updated or a facility that's put on there, if it is appropriate to be, you know, inside of an, what is called a mixed use neighborhood? Uh, also, uh, I'm thinking about the way that that street is set up at this particular point. There is a restaurant on that street along with homes and another building that's not in use right now that I can remember being a salon or a barbershop or some sort. So just tell us, uh, in, in general terms, what does a mixed use neighborhood look like? Okay. So to address your first question with respect to the zoning, so the mixed use neighborhood zoning allows for both the residential as well as some commercial uses within it, some non-residential uses. So it recognizes that, um, both types of uses are appropriate within that district. The, the uses that are allowed within the mixed neighborhood, my district is, my understanding is, are more neighborhood oriented to, to serve the, the greater community. You know, in terms, in general terms of what does a mixed use neighborhood look like, um, you know, it is possible to have neighborhood areas. That's right. I do that too. I'm sorry. There you go. I'm sorry. No, that's all right. I completely understand. Um, you know, in terms of a higher level, in terms of what a mixed use neighborhood can look like, um, it's not uncommon to have neighborhoods that have both, um, some neighborhood service, neighborhood serving commercial uses that meet the greater needs of a neighborhood. You know, the extent or the intensity of those commercial uses, I think is really going to be dependent upon the context of the neighborhood. Um, the roadways that the uses would be locating along, um, are they vertically integrated versus horizontally integrated within the neighborhood? But it's really understand the neighborhood context to determine what commercial uses, if any, would be successful and appropriate within the given area. You know, a lot of times, especially nowadays with commercial uses, there are several factors that go into them locating within an area. Um, the type of roadway that they're along, the type of, um, traffic counts that are on that particular roadway. Um, are there any businesses or needs in the market that are missing within a particular area? So, um, or, or, you know, just to name a few, that's where a special or a small area plan is helpful in that regard, because it allows us to one, determine and assess what are the existing land uses to, is there a need or a market for any other uses within the area? But then three, it also allows us to give it, uh, receive the community engagement and input that's needed to see what is the community wanting for that area? Uh, what do they feel is missing or needs to be added? Or maybe they're perfectly fine with the status quo. So, um, you're right. There are some commercial uses in the areas. My understanding, there's a restaurant near our subject property. I know it has the MN zoning and I believe a specific use permit may have been required for that, uh, used to be able to, uh, be able to operate within the building that has that mixed use or excuse me, that MN zoning district. Um, also with that include, uh, didn't ISD schools, I mean, are the schools associated with something called a mixed use area? In general, high level, if we're talking about a mixed use neighborhood, then yes, I mean, um, mixed use neighborhood concludes schools that conclude other governmental facilities, um, in addition to other non residential uses that are more appropriate for the neighborhood. Um, in terms of the, the, the, uh, the mixed use neighborhood, uh, zoning district, um, I don't know all the full nuances. As you all know, I'm, I'm, I think I've been on the job now a month. So, so, so learn in our zoning districts, right? But, um, because I know we also have a public facilities zoning district that is, um, utilized, I believe for a lot of governmental facilities and I would anticipate schools might be in that as well. I'm accustomed to schools typically being allowed, um, throughout, um, any neighborhoods or any zoning districts within the community. I just don't know the, the full inner workings of our DDC just yet. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Okay. Any council member? Thank you. I just have a procedural question for, um, city attorney. Um, since mayor pro tem Meltzer was the member who requested this reconsideration, um, does he need to be present for the revote? No, he requested to be on the agenda. But any council member that voted on the prevailing side could make the motion to reconsider. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Any other questions for staff? And then I will ask staff about, um, so looking at, do you have the uses chart by chance that you could pull up? Um, I, I do not have it with me. My apologies. I didn't realize we're going to get in that level. No worries, no worries. I just, um, yeah, I have it as well. Um, so anyway, I'll just see if there's, we'll get into that if there's at a later date, if there, if needed any other questions for this, this level of it of the discussion. Um, okay. I was gonna say mayor, I would just add that, um, if it is the will of the council to have this zoning case reconsidered, then we would do the appropriate public notification requirements and get this back on your agenda as early as we could, um, based upon our assessment, we've determined we could bring this back as early as your October 26th meeting date. If it's the desire of the council to have this item reconsidered. Got it. I appreciate that. Um, okay. So yeah, I think that's everything that jumps out at me before. Um, um, so I just, I'll have comments in a bit at the appropriate time, but I'll move, uh, that we do reconsider for the purposes of that small area plan to prevent, uh, just kind of the one off, um, approach we're on in this area. I think we just need a comprehensive approach. So that's my motion. Even when it's back. Right. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for the correction. Then I would withdraw that. Thank you. Council member Davis. Thank you. Councilman bet. Um, so then we're all looking for actual if there's nothing that dies for want of a motion or correct. If there's no motion, the item will die for lots of motion. Do you move on to the next agenda item? Got it. Okay. So I'll give it a moment. Councilman bet. Procedurally. Um, and forgive my, my, uh, my ignorance. Does this, does the motion have to come from someone who was on the I side? Correct. Okay. And, um, and so if no one from the I side makes a motion, then, uh, we, we do what you, you, you and the mayor said a second ago, it just dies for want of a motion. Is that correct? Correct. Okay. Thank you. All right. So I'll give it a minute. Uh, those, there's only a couple of us that were following that category. So, uh, we'll give it a minute. Okay. Well, then that item B dies for want of a motion. Um, I had a thought, but it's moved. Okay. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you. All right. That takes us to, um, our next item. Let me get there. It's in our work sessions. It's item a ID two, one, one, three, one nine receiver report, a discussion, give staff direction regarding a, regarding the fiscal year, 2021, 2022, annual internal audit plan. Hello, mayor and council, Madison Rorschach, the city auditor. I'll be presenting this item today. Um, so I just wanted to, this is our annual audit plan, which kind of sets our work for the rest of the fiscal year. Uh, so briefly, I just wanted to touch on, um, the future goals for the internal audit department. So in the short term, obviously we want to keep doing new audit projects, which we'll talk about which ones specifically, uh, in a little bit later. Um, in addition, our auditing standards require that we have an external peer review performed every three years. Um, and so that process is essentially an audit of how our department complied with the government auditing standards for the, for a certain time period. And so we want to pass that peer review. Um, and then once this review is complete, the results will be communicated directly to city council. Finally, I want to successfully launch an internal audit intern program, um, which will expand our services to include routine audit work. Uh, and I'd like to start trying to establish a community outreach program, um, which would be aimed at learning more about the community's experiences with the city to inform our future audit plans. Uh, and so kind of one of the first steps of establishing that program would be to create an internal audit advisory committee, um, which is approved by council will provide advice to the internal audit department on our future audit plans and the progress of those, um, on department procedures and processes and on auditing standards. So more detailed information about this was presented to council, um, in last week's Friday report. So I just want to stop here to see if you have any questions about these short term goals or that committee. Okay. Questions for staff. Councilmember Warren. Thank you. I was wondering if you could just tell us a little bit more about the external peer review process. Yes. So we would contract through the association of local government auditors for them to send other local government auditors from other municipalities to here to review our previous audit work and how those complied with government auditing standards. So they'd be here, um, at most about a week and they would just go through our documentation and make sure that we would comply with standards and, um, and then they would present that report, uh, either if we have the audit committee to them or to y'all, um, and there would be a physical report that we would post on our city website as well. That says if we passed or passed with deficiencies or failed. Okay. Any other questions for staff? Councilmember Burke. Just think, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, Madison, just to follow up from that, that's, that's pretty standard practice to have other municipalities, um, help us make sure that we're on straight and narrow. Yes. Thank you. Okay. This is in regards to the community outreach. Uh, had you all already have in mind how you're going to do that? Is that already kind of set in place? Cause what I'm thinking is that the city does a lot of outreach, uh, you know, through its website and Facebook and Instagram and you know, that kind of thing. How, how is yours going to be a bit different from what the city is already doing? Um, I think, I think we're still kind of working on kind of the next steps. I think the first part is kind of getting plugged into knowledgeable residents about audit so they can directly inform the audit plan and things like that. Um, and then we, we also want to tap into kind of some of the things that the city's already doing, but kind of, uh, narrow the focus on getting feedback on city services that is focused on, well, where can we do audits to improve those things? Does that help? It does help because, uh, when the, you know, a city, uh, I'm sorry, a, um, a citizen, uh, sends, uh, a voice of concern, uh, to, you know, a city council person and you start seeing patterns, uh, that that would be helpful to maybe include the city council members in, on that, you know, this is what I've been recognizing in my area overall. So just keep that in mind as well. I hope you would add that. Yeah, for sure. Okay. Councillor bet. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I apologize. I had a second question. Um, so for the fraud review that, that was one of your long-term goals, I applaud that greatly. I think we're all looking forward to, to, um, to having that revive those revisions, uh, able to support the city. Um, the given, I guess my concern is the, this two to five year timeframe to develop that, that framework. Um, are there milestones that you anticipate on shorter timeframes? Yeah. So the, we actually hit the first milestone by revising, having the revised fraud response policy get approved last week. Um, so that was kind of the first one so that we had that in place. The next would be having those, um, operating procedures, um, standard operating procedures formalized so that when we actually got a fraud complaint, complaint, we would have those in place. Obviously we would respond to a fraud complaint right now, um, in the process that we're using, but then they would be formalized. Also having the training go out is a milestone, um, because then we'll in theory get more fraud complaints right now. We don't get very many through the hotline. Um, so we're trying to increase engagement, engagement with that platform. Um, and then once those things were kind of in place, we would start doing those mini audits to try to be actively detecting fraud. Obviously we're doing that as part of any audit that we're doing, um, as well as responding to any complaints that we get. Uh, but this would be kind of a proactive looking at regular financial data to see if there was anything unusual. So would it, would it be fair to say that the two to five year time scale is for completion and, and not for execution? Correct. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Any other questions for staff? Seeing none. Uh, thank you very much. Oh, I have a lot. Oh yeah. That's right. That's right. Sorry. We stopped midway. I'm not used to that. Sorry about that. Um, yeah. So we, I, we, I do have some long-term goals on there, uh, kind of starting with the fraud response policy being approved, uh, going through the crea, the creation and distribution of the fraud training and having those procedures developed, uh, and then developing that fraud detection program, which as we went through it would, would expand more and more. Right. Um, and then the kind of last long-term goal is to, uh, establish a long-term audit schedule for several major areas of the city. Um, and this would essentially ensure that certain functions in the city, um, that are higher risk, uh, get audit coverage more regularly. Um, and so over the next few years, I want to kind of identify those high risk functions. We've only been around, the, uh, the department's only been around for three years, so we're still kind of identifying those pieces. Um, and then that would be presented to city council for approval and would help develop our internal audit plans in the future, in future years. So that's kind of the long-term goals. There we go. So, uh, this is kind of the proposed time budget for fiscal year 21-22. As you can see, we aim to spend about 85% of the department's time performing, uh, audit work, including five new audit projects, six follow-up reviews and one, uh, routine audit. And then this also includes, um, uh, time devoted to the board of ethics, which I serve as the staff liaison for, um, and including, and includes administrative work and projects like working on the fraud training and things like that. Uh, and then we also have some time budgeted if there are any, uh, fraud investigations that come up, um, or if we receive any analysis requests from city management or the city council. So, uh, now I have basically two pieces that I want direction on. First is the new audit project that council wishes to see performed. So for the new audit projects, I've developed the table of options that's presented on the slide based on, uh, the citywide risk assessment that we performed in 2021, um, as well as some discussions with the city manager's office and the city attorney, uh, well, the interim city attorney. Additional, uh, details about each proposed project was included in your backup. And so based on the time budget I presented, I'm recommending that council select five of these projects, uh, for us to perform during the next fiscal year. Um, and just for some detail, this table kind of ranks these projects based on a work weighted risk score on a scale from zero to 25, uh, and each risk category is weighted as shown in the top of the table. So while, while they're ranked this way from the way our assessment is least to most risky, uh, council can choose whichever projects they feel are most appropriate. So now I would like direction on this. Okay. Good. And could you frame and I may have missed it frame kind of how many, so you have eight listed, right? And do you have a, and forgive me again, if you missed it, but if I missed it, but how many are, do you want to rank them or just kind of give the, the preferences? I'd like about five. Okay. Yeah. Got it. Okay. Councilor Davis. Thank you mayor. Um, thank you for the presentation. And I appreciate the weighted risk score. Um, oftentimes we're looking at this list and we're like, oh yeah, that looks like something. Oh, that looks like something. But I appreciate the way that you've ranked it. And I, uh, I agree with the, uh, kind of the bracketing that you've done, the weight that you've given each of these categories, um, especially that you have kind of, uh, given higher weight to financial and operational risks. I mean, those are the things that we've got to be thinking about upfront. Um, I'm fine with taking the first five that you have as, as listed. Um, obviously we'd like to get to all of these things, but given the time budget that you've worked out and you have at the bottom of the slide about 80 hours available, I think taking those top five makes the most sense to me. Okay. Anyone else? Councilor Beck. Um, thank you Mr. Mayor. Yeah. I also love the fact that we've done weights, uh, and allows us to look at the risk and assess whether, uh, in our policy decisions, you know, we're, we're aligning with those, those coefficients or not. Um, I think those, I mean, for the most part, they're, they're fairly well balanced at, you know, between the third and the sixth based on the, the number of categories that you have. But I, I, I agree with those coefficients for the most part. And I, I agree with, uh, councilor Davis that we should just tackle the first five. Okay. So to the short of it, is there anyone that would have a different opinion other than the first five or kind of for direction? There's any, anyone you wouldn't slot either pay equity or so that lunch. So recreation facilities pay equity of fuel. If anyone would rank those higher. Okay. There you go. All right. And then there's one more thing. Um, this will be about the follow up reviews. So as y'all know, we, we do follow up reviews for each, um, audit that we have completed. There we go. So, uh, these are kind of all the follow up reviews that we have out there that are kind of scheduled. Um, as you can see, uh, there are a couple that need a second review. So we've already completed a follow up review. Not everything was implemented or a lot of things were in progress. So we need to go back and see how that's going. Um, so, and then there were seven that have been scheduled for this year. We only really have time to do six based on the amount of time in the year and doing new audit projects. Um, so the ones that are kind of highlighted in blue are the ones that I've recommended recommending we do next this year. Um, however, we can adjust that based on council direction. Okay. So is there anyone that would recommend the change councilman McGuire? Well, it just, I was just, I was just going to agree with the highlighted, uh, items. Great. Is there anyone that disagrees? Seeing none. All right. And that's actually the end. Awesome. Thank you very much. Thank you. Let's take a quick 10 minute break. We'll come back for the last parks presentation. So, uh, it's 1201. We'll be back 1210. Finish up one last work session item, uh, for this session. Thank you very much. And welcome back to this, uh, special call meeting of the Denton city council. It is, uh, 1211. We are back on the record for our last item. And I'll call, uh, that item. It is item B ID two one one nine one one. Receive report, hold discussion, give staff direction, uh, give staff input on parks, recreation and trails systems master plan. Mayor city council, Gary pack and director of parks and recreation. Uh, today here we're here to present, uh, give you an update in regards to the park, recreation, trail system master plan. We started this process in early 2019. At that time we were working on it as a department internally, um, and making, making good progress. Uh, and COVID hit, we did take a pause and really focused during that time on our trail system, uh, plan, which is a component of the overall plan. Uh, we are working towards hopeful adoption and presentation to park board, uh, and city council in December. So we are very much interested in any feedback that you have in regards to the direction we're heading to make sure we're heading in the right, right direction for you, make sure we're meeting all our goals. Over the past few years, we've had over 80 public meetings, uh, engagements, whether that's, you know, giveaways at, at events where we're trying to reach out to the public focus groups. Um, yeah, I'm, I'm not there yet. Um, just introducing this, um, and we've had a lot of engagement with the community really every day. Yeah, I got it. We're good. Every day we, we reach out to the public. We are engaging them and, and we listen to one person or we listen to 50 people, whether it's in a phone call, you know, we kind of put that into our tickler to make sure that we're reaching out to them. Uh, staff has worked very hard on this process and I want to thank them for that, for everything they've done. Uh, we have been to city council recently for our trails update land acquisition, some of our master plans that are all being feathered and fostered into this process. We did hire, um, half an associates to help us finish this, uh, about a year ago and they're going to go through the presentation on this, but just wanted to reiterate that this master plan is all focusing in cooperation with the mobility plan, the 20 40 plan as well as city council priorities. So we'll make sure that we're connecting all those dots for you. So at this point in time, I'll turn it over to half an associates. It's the wrong presentation. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name's Lenny Hughes, the regional director of landscape, architecture and planning of half associates. And with me also is a Kaylee saver. She's one of our planners at half. And so I like to give you guys a briefing on where we are on the parks, recreational and trails, open space, master plan, uh, for the city of Denton. And I'm sorry, give me your name one more time with Lenny Hughes. Got it. Thank you. So I just kind of walk you through our plan process. Um, there were six major items that the associated with that. We've, uh, concurrently finished the first three, which is community understanding. Uh, we kicked this project off in January of this year where we got a chance to, uh, ride around with city staff, uh, visit all your parks, uh, and look at your trail system here within the community. Uh, got a lot of, a lot of really good feedback and understanding what you guys have here as far as the overall park system. And so that starts to build the overall foundation for our plans. Uh, second, as Gary had mentioned before, how community confirming the community vision. There was, there was a tremendous amount of public input, uh, process that's happened prior to the plan, uh, since, uh, COVID is his hit. And so we want to make sure that we are, uh, have a good understanding of where people's minds are, uh, what their thoughts are for as parks and recreation and how this plan could start to meet the future needs of parks and recreation here, uh, within the community. Uh, step three is currently where right now is the, the needs assessment where we look at, uh, the parks conditions, uh, where we are with the level of service, uh, the amount of acreages, uh, for parks and trails and other, uh, recreational amenities here within the community. And so once we have that, uh, complete, then we'll look at the park, uh, system, uh, recommendations. Uh, we'll have a detailed list of park improvements, uh, land acquisition, trail development, uh, for, for the entire community. And so right now we're in a process of developing our parks plan. And so we've got the first three to four chapters already, uh, complete. Uh, and so right now we're in the review process of chapter four and, and also developing the remaining, uh, four to five, uh, three to four chapters here for the plan document. And we anticipate, uh, everything goes okay. Uh, that we'll have plan adoption. Uh, once we go back to park board, uh, have our, our last public meeting to get their final input and feedback. Um, hopefully have this, um, thing wrapped up here in December of, of this year. And so just kind of recapping, uh, you know, the, the number of engagements, uh, as Gary had mentioned before, there's a tremendous amount that's happened prior to a half associates working on the plan. Uh, there's a significant amount of public meetings, uh, other key stakeholder focus group meetings here within the community, as well as a community survey. Uh, since then, uh, we have, have had three mass plan focus group meetings, uh, for the plan plan. Uh, we've had several, uh, staff meetings, uh, providing the input and feedback from staff, as well as, um, meetings of park board in our presentation here, uh, this afternoon with city council to get your thoughts and input on the plan, this process. Uh, we are concluding, uh, with a virtual public meeting, uh, here, uh, in an upcoming future, as well as, uh, we've also completed, um, the community survey where we had over a thousand, uh, responses to the, uh, the plan, uh, as far as citizens provide additional comments and feedback for the plan process. And so some of those key takeaways from an outdoor amenities standpoint, uh, restrooms and facilities were, are high items as well as nature, uh, access and trails, uh, swimming and aquatic facilities was another key component, uh, for the outdoor amenities and then as well as looking at the indoor amenities, such as improving and incorporating cardio fitness rooms, uh, having a group exercise, uh, stations and studios within, uh, uh, recreational facilities, uh, weight lifting programs, uh, indoor tracks, as well as, uh, indoor place structures for, uh, for the young adolescents, uh, here within the community. So I'll look at the overall assessments. Uh, we had, uh, we, we started to look at the overall classification of your parts. So you have, uh, neighborhood parks, pocket parts, uh, linear parks, community parks. And so we want to make sure that we have a general understanding of the overall classifications of your parts, uh, here within the community. Also looking at the park land level of service. And we're going to share with you a little bit about that right a little bit later on, but understanding the acreages for a thousand, uh, for, uh, the people that live here within the city, but also that the future, as well as looking at, uh, the overall growth and development patterns up here for, for Denton. Uh, we also looked at the recreational level of service as well as trails. And one key thing that, you know, we, we're trying to, uh, make sure that we're addressing is that two minute walk or two minute access to parks. Uh, and that's, that's been one of our key focus areas for this plan. Uh, currently right now we're about 48%, uh, percent of residents live within 10 minute, uh, walk on for a public park facility here. Uh, the national average is run around, uh, 55%. And so we got a little ground, uh, grounds to make up here. And I think with this plan that we have, uh, that's in progress, we'll start to meet and, uh, fill in those gaps here for the park within the community. Uh, we also took a deep dive in 10 parks. And so the park audits, uh, where we looked at not only the, um, the, the, the access and level of service, but what are the amenities in there and what type of improvements I need to, to have here as well as, um, having kind of a detailed cost estimate and phasing for the next one to five, five to 10 and beyond for, for the parks. So currently the, um, the current level of service, you have about 8.15 acres per thousand. Uh, this does not include, include the, uh, Clear Creek preserve. Uh, and so, um, the national average is right under 10, about 9.9 acres per thousand. So again, uh, we've got a little bit of ground to catch up and make up within that, within that realm. But if you look at the system as a whole, we're about 71, almost 72%. And so that includes, um, the, the natural areas, preserve areas. And so there's quite a bit of, of park land that you have here with the community. But again, we still need to focus on, uh, meeting our, our future goals, but also, uh, look at the, on the, um, not only within the city limits, but also having parks within the ETJ, uh, as we, for, for development. So currently that's roughly about 252 acres, uh, that's in deficit just to meet our target level of service. And so look at the programming. And so, uh, our, our partner, and this is pros consulting. Uh, they recently, uh, have worked with the city on the, the aquatics side of, of the house. And so some of the key core programs and services that we've looked at includes afterschool programs, aquatics, athletics. Uh, how do we look at, um, you know, community events and what value that they're serving here within the community, as well as the outdoor and the environmental education. We heard a lot about that. How do we incorporate that into our parks? Um, would being able to educate the citizens and people here about some of the, the natural characteristics and things here within the community, uh, fitness and wellness, uh, programs. Uh, also, uh, there are other opportunities to enhance and increase the rentals and reservations for some of your, uh, amenities and facilities here within, within Denton. And so looking at the life cycle analysis, uh, you know, we've kind of looked at three different buckets here. Uh, the first stage is really that, which is in blue, there's a high percentage. And these are initially those, those first and new programs, uh, people are really excited about those. And so you see a lot of participation, uh, in that realm, but the areas that's in red and yellow, these are the red is more of the mature stage. Uh, these are areas that, um, that we can see some improvements or need to have some improvements as well as on the, in the goal there, which is the final stage. And so these are typically saturated decline. And so we need to look at ways to, to enhance or can maybe refresh, uh, some of those, uh, programs here within, within those, uh, uh, rec facilities and aquatic facilities there. So some of the key takeaways, uh, for the needs assessment, uh, you know, we need to address this deficit of 252 acres of parkland today, but also how do we look at this 10 minute walk and provide access to gaps, uh, within our, in our park system. Overall, uh, the community is, has, it has a good range of programs and services at different ages. Uh, but again, we need to look at refreshing those and providing, um, and look at some of the newer trends that are out there as far as recreation. Uh, if you look at needs facilities, uh, multi-port purpose courts, uh, basketball facilities, tennis courts, uh, cricket fields, skate parks, you know, we're a little bit low in those areas. And if we're going to meet the national, uh, park average, and so these are areas that we've, uh, identified as looking at and including, including some of these additional amenities here within the community. Also, um, the, the future of Master Plan communities, such as Hole, uh, Cutter, Hole Hunter and Coal Ranch, uh, there's been a lot of planning that's been going on with those new developments. Uh, and so we see there's parks and trails that would be part of their, their new development and make sure that we are, um, filling in those gaps within those service areas. And again, you know, making strategic improvements for this 10 minute walk to make sure that we have adequate coverage within our park service areas. So we have six goals for the overall parks, open space match plan. Uh, the first goal is to have a complete park system. And we think about complete as creating a complete, equitable, easy access, uh, for parks, recreational trails, for current and future, uh, residents, uh, within, within, within them. And again, we keep harping on this 10 minute walk. So we want to make sure that we are addressing that need here. Um, equitable distribution of parks, not only just access to those parks, but also having quality amenities within those, the park areas all across the, the system here within, within Denton. Um, providing parks and high growth areas, also making sure that we're taking care of those existing parks, enhancing those and make sure that they're also at that same level of service and that same level of quality here, uh, with the community. And, and looking at opportunities for partnerships, provide park and recreational opportunities such as the university and ISD. And then looking at having safe, secure, uh, trails and parks, as well as incorporating the character. And I can't stress how important one of my first vice, uh, first site visits here, uh, within Denton. Actually before we were, uh, working on a plan, I took my family out and got chance to see some of the parks and trails here, but just the character of the trees and that really has, this is uniquely Denton. So we want to make sure that we are, um, when we do make improvements to our parks and trails here within the community, that we're protecting, preserving those, those trees here within the, within the area. Uh, goal number two, park system amenities. Make sure that we incorporate quality and cost-effective park system amenities that are responsive to community needs and desires. This looks at all-inclusive play for all abilities, all ages, uh, splash pads, you know, those are some of the trends that are happening now across the nation to make sure that we're having, um, uh, water play for, uh, and parks here within, within, within the community. Uh, multi-generational, uh, recreational facilities. You know, we heard a lot about having, um, this multi-gen facility for not only the, the young, but also the old. And there's a lot of, um, things that we've, we've looked at in other studies that, that, that start to support, you know, some of that passing of, of knowledge from the older generation down to the younger youth. But there's also, we need to make sure that we are addressing the older seniors, as well as the, the young adolescents here within the community. Uh, trails is another key element, as well as having nature-themed play or playgrounds, as well as, um, again, uh, make sure that we're incorporating trees and having healthy tree planting program, but also preserving the trees, uh, for when we do make development improvements here within the park, park area. Uh, goal number three is programming, programming, and events. Enhancing the diverse program and event offerings to cater to all ages, abilities, and interests in the community. We heard a lot about performance venues, and so we want to build upon the previous performance venue study, uh, that's been, that has happened and occurred by, by city staff. Uh, look at ways to improve, uh, Quaker Town out here to provide better access and also enhancing some of those stages that are out there, uh, today. But, you know, we've, people don't really think about the economic benefits of parks, but they really provide a value. I mean, they, they're attracted, um, when people visit to other, other communities or looking for a new home or, uh, looking to relocate or have a new business here. Well, where are your parks? Where are your trails or what quality are they? Do they have easy access? And so they not only provide, uh, a value in that sense, but also they help increase the, the value of their homes, uh, within, within the neighborhood because they are close to access by parks, but also have close, uh, access to, to trails. Uh, incorporating technology into parks. You know, we're going to talk a little bit about that later, but having, um, you know, hotspots or, uh, Wi-Fi enabled areas or incorporating, um, you know, sustainable, uh, and smart infrastructure, uh, within, uh, within the park area itself. And then make sure that we're also, um, we're environmentally friendly. We're in stewards of, of our parks. Uh, again, providing that light footprint on, on the park system itself and, and making these, uh, sustainable, applying sustainable practices here for your park system. Uh, goal number four is system connectivity. Uh, make sure that we're connecting to key destinations throughout the community and having a comprehensive, comprehensive system of trails and bikeways. And so some of those key things is not only, uh, providing internal connectivity, uh, having access to, uh, parks, to trails, uh, to our schools, to the downtown areas, to the university. And so now we have a well-connected internal network of trails and bikeways and on-street facilities here. And so the second thing I noticed when, in coming to Nitton, there's a lot of construction with the roadways. And so you guys have been forward thinking and providing, um, and making some improvements with adding bike lanes, as well as a side pass or a wide sidewalks along your roadway networks. And so that is really, uh, it's going to help you reach that, that target goal for trail improvements and bikeway improvements here within the community. But also how do we connect externally? How do we connect to our neighbors? And you guys have done a great job with that, uh, with the DCTA trail and how that connects all of Nitton. But, you know, providing other access to your other surrounding neighbors here, uh, within, within the region. Uh, then looking at trail design and bikeway design guidelines, you know, what type of, um, uh, trails could wear. Uh, looking at nature trails or actually even, uh, a paddling trail, um, uh, having put-ins and access takeout points, uh, or even a question trail as long, as long as the core land facilities here within, uh, within the Dinton. And so you're uniquely positioned because you have Louisville and Lake Ray Robertson. So having that green belt system there, providing access, providing access to the Clear Creek Preserve and how that'll connect into downtown. And then, you know, lastly, you know, having, you know, opportunities to, uh, look at grant funding to help, um, provide, uh, design and construction for those, those trails and bikeway facilities here within the community. Uh, Goal No. 5 looks at sustainability. Uh, it says looking at integrating sustainable, uh, practices in acquiring, design, construction, maintaining, and operating facilities, amenities, and parks. Uh, we know we cannot stress again how important it is to preserve and protect these natural areas. Uh, look at tree preservation. You guys have a really, um, outstanding tree, tree preservation program here within the community. And so we want to make sure that the parks are following along with that, but also having, uh, looking at, you know, these connected spaces, wildlife corridors and crossings, where we're looking at roadway improvements or trails. Uh, we need to make sure that we're taking care of our, our other, um, friends out there in, in the environment. And then also, uh, you know, look, what is the total cost of ownership and integrating smart city initiatives. And that looks at, you know, you may have, um, solar panels on, on your picnic pavilions or having solar lights within parks, or again, we talked about the wifi and hotspots or maybe even some, uh, smart charging stations. It's key locations, uh, throughout the community. And lastly, uh, you know, look, focuses on maintenance and operations, you know, make sure that we have a, provide a systematic and maintenance and efficient operations to ensure quality and safety today, as well as the future. And so this looks at key design standards for parks and trails, you know, make sure we're planning these things smartly, uh, updating your maintenance standards. Um, you know, a lot of times when we do design guidelines, we'll also provide design guidelines and look at maintenance for, for trails and parks. And so making sure that we're meeting current standards, but also some of the regional standards that are here, um, within, within the DFLB area. Then looking at, you know, it's great to make these improvements, but having staff in place, giving them tools, the funding to help support, um, you know, some of their, their day-to-day operations here within, within the area. And so currently, how, like I said before, we've gone through our first three chapters. We're in chapter four right now. Uh, this is, this is chapter four, which is parks. Um, and this looks at, uh, you know, parks and then chapter five is the indoor rec and aquatics. Um, you know, we heard a lot about, you know, renovate, improve, repair, expand existing facilities, but also where these new facilities is going to be located, you know, such as the, those high growth areas in the Southwest and Southeast or even Northeast part of Denton. And it makes sure that we have a multi-gen, multi-gen, uh, racial facility, uh, approach to those. And then chapter six, those are the trails. Uh, again, we talk about expanding the trail network, making sure that we're connected internally as well as externally, uh, programs and services, as well as on chapter eight, which is a maintenance. And so, uh, our next steps is to refine those draft recommendations that we are, that's in progress right now. Uh, from those recommendations, we're going to look at an implementation plan. Uh, this looks at the one to five, five to 10 and 10 years beyond, but also looks at cost, cost, uh, land acquisition, uh, cost for development of parks and trails and where these, um, facilities should be located within the community. And then, uh, how that, that draft report finalized and then we have also have a scheduled, our, our third focus group meeting, uh, next week, I believe it's on the 13th. And so we'll, and so they'll have a much more broader expanded version of this presentation where we kind of get in the weeds and provide a little bit more detailed input. And this, that same presentation was presented to, uh, parks board. Then on November 10th, we'll have our virtual public meeting. And if you want to go to, uh, www dot discussed, didn't.com, uh, this kind of use you kind of an updated worry on a process as well as, uh, previous copies of prior presentations for the plan. So I know I covered a lot and so I like to open up for any questions or comments that you all may have. Okay. Uh, counter required. Thank you. Um, do you have any, um, uh, updates or, um, input that you've received regarding the senior center? Um, and, and what kind of the path forward is with that? Gary back and director parks and recreation. Um, we had a pre COVID meeting with our senior committee as well as the seniors specifically in regards to where they could kind of, we gave them dollars and a gold coin where they could prioritize how they wanted to spend their money as if it was tax dollars and allocate that to different things. The number one, uh, issue by far is parking. So that was a very hot button. Um, and so there's been a lot of discussion on possible new senior center at some point in time, um, possibly still trying to keep it in the downtown area. Um, Mac park was brought up on the property on the north side of the ball fields that we purchased a few years ago as an option connectivity to that, uh, with bus transit, uh, opportunities for seniors as well. Um, but definitely, you know, there's, there's a, there's a trend where some cities are moving towards intergenerational facilities and some still have dedicated seniors as the feedback that we've received as they want their own space. Um, and that, that, that could change over the years, but that was the feedback that we received that off the top of my head. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Mayor. So, uh, I got a couple of questions. Uh, so one of the things that I like is, is it's pretty comprehensive. Um, but a couple of statements, I guess I'll ask it in terms of a question. It seems like a lot of our focus is going into areas where we're getting, um, where we have the, the low hanging fruit ability to get land for various things, whether it's in Hunter Cole or, or the ETJ or whatever. Um, but I, I think sort of universally across the dais, there's also interest in making sure that some of our previously underserved communities may be in, you know, I hate to pick on Southeast Denton, but it is often underserved. Um, uh, although they have a number of parks there, uh, but are there specific guidelines and, and, and approaches y'all are using to make sure that previously neglected regions are, are caught up with the rest of the city? Again, Gary Pack and Director of Parks and Recreation. So a great question. Uh, yeah. So it's, it's a multi-sided dice, die, I guess, in regards to, uh, the low hanging fruit. Yes. We have community developments that are going on across the city that working with the developers, try to acquire land, um, today for tomorrow. Um, as part of the 10 minute walk, we are also looking at hotspots and those are the most dense areas of the community that are without park space within a 10 minute or a half mile walk of them. So we're looking at partnerships, whether it's, whether it's with DISD, a church, a nonprofit agency, another governmental entity that we could fill in those holes as well. So it's really a multi-pronged approach in regards to trying to do that. And then also acquiring land if we can, preferably before it gets too expensive. Um, so that's buying land again for 10, 20 years from now. It may not be developed anytime soon, but, um, kind of buying that and putting it aside. But then also it's very important that we look at the undeveloped land we have and develop that because that does not count towards our 10 minute walk. That's the easiest thing for us to do is take that active land and open it up so it could be used. So there's a number of approaches that we're looking at from that perspective. Oh, excellent. Your question is on target. I appreciate that. And then a couple other points that came out in, um, I have like, I guess three more questions. Uh, the, um, one of the things I loved is this, this categorization into different areas of, uh, you know, act, you know, actively developing, you know, sort of stable, mature, and then then declining. And so for the declining, uh, categories, is that, is that an issue of, you know, like, uh, I'll just, just to give a hypothetical, you know, fewer and fewer people are playing racquetball. So you need fewer racquetball courts. Um, I'm not even sure if we have any anymore. Uh, but, uh, in w and that would just sort of be a natural, uh, attrition process versus I think what you were trying to get across the presentation is areas that are maybe need some revitalization. And can you describe a little bit about how you distinguish between the two different types of decline? And this is not my area of expertise, but I will. Uh, and so there are certain areas, um, you, racquetball is a really good example. Uh, I grew up playing racquetball, um, you know, uh, but that, that trend has changed now. And so, uh, but there's areas that we can look at if we're there on a cusp of, of teetering as well, so that, that very, very mature decline, or can we, there's opportunities to enhance the program and get better, um, better, um, uh, uh, I guess announcing that this is here within this, this center, then that those things that we're looking at improvement, or maybe even just looking at improving the quality of the equipment or those areas, uh, there within, within those centers. I can add a little bit to that as well. Um, and with COVID, we've seen a lot of this with people migrating to outdoor activities, um, kayaking, mountain biking are all new programs that we'll be working into with our paddling trail. So working on the infrastructure right now, so then we can roll out, you know, mountain bike programs, special events, those types of things. We're going to have a soft opening October 15th for our mountain bike trail, and then a dedication scheduled for a November 20th, give or take. Um, so those are the ways that we're trying to look at our park system from a different perspective to bring in new programs as well. You know, what it, like softball, it's been struggling, you know, for years, kind of on a decline, but it still meets a large percentage of the community. What can we do to kind of twist that, to keep it fresh, keep it new, keep people engaged in it. And then at some point in time, some programs are going to become obsolete, i.e. maybe racquetball, where we could have new programs to go in place. You know, youth wrestling, youth volleyball, things that we've been working on, youth volleyball has been growing continuously. So that's one of those programs. So it's trying to come up with new, innovative programs to meet the new generation of kids that want something different, um, to try to meet those needs. Oh, that's really cool. I like that you're, you're keeping abreast of those. So I got two more quick questions, and I think they're sort of related to this idea of new areas, but also keeping track of old areas. And that is, I love the network approach and keeping, and the natural preservation, you know, that's a personal interest of mine. I wonder if, if you're paying specific attention to the actual waterways themselves, and not just the riparian on the side where it's easy to put a trail or, or bike, but, so I know some of the ponds are fishing ponds, and you've got the new paddle trails that are actually in the lakes, but do you have specific foci on like the waterways themselves, the stream beds themselves, in terms of both preservation and activities? We haven't really dived deep into that perspective in regards to the specific creeks themselves, but the, the bodies of water that we have, a lake forest is a good example that has, you know, years of silt have filled that in. We're taking out a significant amount of trucks worth of dirt in that area, as you can see them driving up and down the, down Ryan. Yeah, it's, it's, it's a lot, a lot of trucks, and reinstituting the wildlife in that area, because we had invasive species that were creeping over the total surface of that water, and then addressing some of the other ponds as part of our capital plan with, in the cooperation with some of the other departments in the city, to make sure that we have fishing opportunities, recreational opportunities, and preserving the wildlife as well. That's excellent. I appreciate that. And my last question is sort of this area of, you know, potentials for growth. One, one thing that I think there's an avenue for growth is sort of urban horticulture, and, and so it may be an opportunity for both beautification and to extend the sort of amenity features if, you know, we had like, I don't know, rooftop gardening, wall gardens, bus stop surface gardens for pollinators, other things that you can point to and say, you know, we're not isolated, this is part of your networking, and I was curious if you had any, any thoughts on sort of this sort of urban horticulture approach? Absolutely. Drew, Drew Huffman, our assistant director, is here as well. He's done a lot of research on that in regards to wildflowers, as well as instituting some gardens as part of our landscaping program. I'll let him share that. Thank you. Yes, sir. Speaking of that, so over the past probably 18 months, actually Mayor Hussbuth linked us up with a really good landscape architect. So we've been working with him, just going through the planning process right now for gardenscaping, if you will. So it's all those ideas you talked about. So how can we introduce more community gardens with, you know, minimal impact to the actual, you know, open space, play space that we have at the moment? So how can we put those into perspective? And then how can we do different types of agrescaping throughout the city to where it still looks good and it's beneficial to the community, to where, like you talked about, little bus stop gardens, whether it be, you know, watermelons, cantaloupe, pumpkins this time of year that are growing, and they're just growing there almost naturally where you can still enjoy, you know, the flowers up until, you know, a couple months ago, and now you see the the fruit starting to come out. So we are going through that planning process. Oh, that sounds awesome. I'm really excited. This is all in the front of your heads, and I really appreciate those efforts, and thank you, Mr. Mayor, for hooking them up with things like that. So it also goes into perspective of different types of native plants and native gardening that we have. So for instance, we're going to be planting dewberries at one of our rec centers, and dewberry is a Texas blackberry. So I grew up with it, you know, and so with that, to reintroduce that into some of our spaces and really be able to, and that goes back to that, you know, garden-to-table aspect to where you can show people how and go, you know, you go and you, you know, grow the crop, enjoy the crop, and turn it into, you know, a cobbler or a jam, things of that nature. Oh, that sounds awesome. Thank you. Councilmember Davis, and then Councilmember Burt. Thank you, Mayor. My question is about the implementation plan, and I'm curious kind of where in the timeline we'll get a peek at that, and obviously, I'm assuming before December, before it's, you know, on our desk and we're, but about when do we think we'll get a peek at the implementation plan and kind of what we'll be doing day one as soon as we approve this. Sure, so as soon as we get the, right now, the process of developing the overall recommendations for the plan, and so then we'll work with staff to look at prioritization for those improvements in the land acquisition development for parks, recreational facilities, trails, and aquatics, and then we'll look at, you know, having a presentation to parks more than, you know, probably a presentation to Council. So I know we've got a short time frame here in order to get all these things addressed, but, you know, we work with staff and you guys have the opportunity to review that before the final planning option. So over the, over the past year, we've been working on a CMP and CIP plan that has everything down from a new recreation center, a new park down to a pump replacement. So we can identify exactly what the financial needs are based on time frames of standard replacement repairs and anticipate improvements. So that is, that is something that they have access to, and they're going through that and evaluating that, and then we'll be presenting it to you guys for consideration and feedback, probably in an ISR to start the discussion ahead of time, and then a final proposal will be in the draft for Council consideration. Council Member Burke. Of course, I'm always going to go back to safety and security. What does that look like in these big overall plans in terms of your trails, along your trails and your parks? You have safety and security within parks and along trails. Tell me about that. And so, as far as safety goes in parks and trails, you know, we've looked at lighting for, especially at parking lot areas, pavilions is areas that we want to make sure they're lit. Traditionally, we have not made recommendations for lighting of trails. There's always that false sense of security if you think it's lit, especially having people may, I know it's hot, and some people will want to tend to maybe walk, jog, or ride their bike in the late evenings or nighttime, and so we kind of really try to stay away from that, and so we kind of also balance that with what's happening in and around the Metroplex area as well as what's going on nationally. Now, we're doing, we're working on a trails and bikeways match plan for Flower Mountain, so they've got an area that's in their, that they look at this highly developed, highly urbanized area, and so they're wanting to promote trails and safe access to visit their restaurants and some of the areas that they're dining, and so certain instances like that that we would, you know, make those recommendations for that, but traditionally those are things that we would not recommend there. So just a few items that we've already started working on from that perspective. Over the last, last year, we, or the actual course of this year, we've improved the lighting at Quikretown. We're also going to be installing some additional trail lighting in Quikretown and Carl Young. We had a specific Carl Young request for enhanced lighting, especially out there along the drainage area that's kind of in the far section of the park away from the street that does get dark, so we're looking at that, how we design our parks from a perspective that you could see into the park, it's clear, it's visible, so that way there's no places for, you know, people, even animals to hide from that perspective, and then we've also had comments of, you know, emergency call boxes that we need to look at strategically. Now, in the advent of cell phones, you know, a lot of people do have cell phones with them, but that's still some place, something that we could provide from a safety perspective and in strategic locations, and then even, I know the chief and I had some discussions a while back on this is, you know, volunteer people on bikes just kind of riding the bike, the trails, saying, hey, there's trash here, there's an issue here that needs to be addressed, and just being that voice out in the community getting feedback from people as well, so that's something that we could look at from a long-term perspective. I have no doubt that someone will call in and say that there's trash somewhere. I think that we do a really, really great job here in this city. It's just such a beautiful, clean city. Did you notice that? So I really appreciate that about our community. Yeah, I like the idea of the call boxes. I know that Texas Women's University and the other universities, the universities around here have those call boxes located in strategic areas as well. So restrooms, you know, the safety of restrooms, how is all of that? I'm sure it's going to be in the plan, but the idea of, you know, porta potties versus restrooms and all of that, I'm sure all of that's going to be worked out, but I know that we do have some issues with our public restrooms like that. Yeah, restrooms are a challenge for a park system. You know, we typically may get in there first thing in the morning and clean it, and it could be trashed, you know, an hour later, and it's there all day, and then peak use is in the evening. Availability is always a challenge. People always want a restroom. We cannot put restrooms everywhere in our park system just from a financial standpoint, so that makes it a little bit challenging based on usage and people's use of it and the duration that they use it. So that's why we kind of divert to some of the porta potties. That could be for temporary use and a little bit more affordable. It didn't steal the capital for those red buds. It didn't steal the red bud capital of Texas. It is. Are we still putting out red buds all over? Yeah, we've talked about that recently about, you know, what are we going to do to really continue to push that effort and planting more red buds and how we're going to celebrate that, so that's something that we have talked about internally with staff. I'm looking forward to that. I've always enjoyed those celebrations, and it looks like it had happened in a while. COVID kind of threw some curveballs to us. Yeah, that's true. Thank you. Okay, any other questions? Councilmember Armitage? Yes, first of all, apologies for my tardiness. As my fellow council members know, I teach until 11 50 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, so it takes me a little while to get from the classroom to my car. That's why you see a steering wheel here. Anyway, I've got four questions. First, I'll just thank our amazing park staff. And just to say, you know, it really can't be overstated how important parks are to individual and community assessments of quality of life in Denton. So much of quality of life comes from parks. And so I'm very conscious of that. So first question is from the and you don't have to go to this slide, but it is from the key takeaways slide, which is number six, and that has to do with this the deficit of 252 acres. I'm curious to know, you know, number one, kind of how that figure was arrived at, not that I'm skeptical about it at all. Just just curious. And also, I want to know if that 252 acres is going to account for a combination of, you know, developed and undeveloped land, or does that specifically refer applied to developed? And, you know, does it include acreage that could be, you know, potentially, you know, indoor facilities, or sports fields as well? So the 252 acres is based on the book, the level of service on the number, the total number of park acres has developed versus the overall population of the current city right now. And so, you know, that's kind of a, when we think about, you know, what areas are, I think there's roughly about 3900 acres of park land that's developed in the city. Total park acreage is roughly about 5000. And so those are the numbers that we've worked with as a baseline as far as the overall developed versus undeveloped park here, areas in the city. So just to add to your question, it's a, it's multiple ways to look at that in regards to the deficit. That deficit is based on population and how we're reaching the overall population throughout the city. But from a 10 minute walk perspective, we may have enough acres to meet one qualification or one measurement performance measurement for for the national standard, but from a 10 minute walk, they're not in the right spots. So there's more ways to look at this than just once and more than one perspective to provide. So it's a moving target as we continually grow in our population. If we're not keeping up with that, we're sliding as well. So that's why we're trying to find areas of land with partnerships with development, you know, other governmental institutions, educational opportunities as well. So we're kind of moving forward on all fronts. Thank you so much. And I'll just mention in response to that, is I'm sure you're aware, you know, we recently had the second phase of our affordable housing assessment, where they touched on the need to they recommended that the city both look at kind of reassess land that is already city property for affordable housing and also consider purchasing new land, vacant lots, especially for affordable housing. And you don't have to answer this now. But, you know, I do see that as an area where parks and community development can really get together and kind of meet both our parks deficits and our affordable housing deficits, not necessarily all of them, but some of them, you know, with the same move. So I just, you know, wanted to mention, make sure that's on your radar. Second question has to do, you know, also from that same slide, about the master plan communities and parks land that comes from that. I'm wondering, you know, are, you know, as we continue to kind of get more of these proposals for master plan communities and working out, you know, agreements with, you know, what portions can be or will be park public park land? Is the city assessing or planning on assessing, you know, the extent to which public park land in these master plan communities actually gets used by the public outside of people who reside in those master plan communities? Yes. So Hunter and Cole was a very good example of that. They are donating land to the city that will be owned by the city. But then there's a number of parks, specifically the pocket parks, the dog parks, in the trails that they are building that will be owned and maintained by the HOA. But we will have a public access easement over top of all of those. So the public can utilize those if they don't live in those specific neighborhoods. So that's something that we worked with them as we are negotiating through those contracts with those developments early on. Thanks. And I guess kind of what my question was, was, you know, are we going to keep track of, and I don't know exactly how to do that, but, you know, how do we know whether the public is actually using these areas, right? They're open to the public. But, you know, I wonder, you know, for instance, if we were to find, maybe we would just hear anecdotally that not enough people knew that, you know, these areas are for public use, so maybe we would need to kind of promote them, you know, to encourage members of the public to come to them. In other words, I would just, I would hate for these areas that are for public use to go under, used by the general public outside of these developments, just, you know, because people don't know, you know, that they're there and for open access and that they're not intruding on, you know, it can be very intimidating for people to go on, you know, especially if it's this really, you know, well-manicured, lovely master plan community. That'll be up to us to make sure that we're marketing and promoting our entire park system to the community as a whole, so they can go out and explore the different types of amenities and assets that we have across the entire city and that each one's unique, so they want to get out and explore different areas of the city for sure. Thank you. Then my third question and just one more, a brief one after this, has to do with goal five of sustainability. It's been a while since council has talked about the IPF and for those who are new, the, you know, integrated pest management, basically what, you know, pesticides we purchase and use, both the purchase and the practices. I would love to see our IPM go before the sustainability committee for them to review both in terms of, you know, how we can achieve greater sustainability but also greater fiscal responsibility as far as kind of making our kind of parks dollars stretch, you know, if there's certain, you know, products that we don't need that, you know, that we could use that money towards, you know, towards other priorities in parks. I was just wondering if there's any plan for this to come before sustainability committee. So the question is, as of right now, there is not a plan. We've been moving forward with the implementation of that, focusing on the test pilot at Dena and trying to get a second test pilot kicked off at Avondale starting later this fall and early next spring. So that's been our main focus. We're trying to finalize the parks master plan as well as the ADA transition plan. So that's been our major focus on from plan perspective and now we're at a point we're trying to get them approved so we can start implementation of our plans as a whole. But we have been moving forward on our IPM program and we do have a focus group that we meet with periodically to bounce ideas and staff continuously looks for ways to improve and enhance that as new products become available. Thank you. Well, I will be recommending at some, you know, future point that that specifically go before sustainability. Finally, just, you know, wanted to express, you know, in addition to in tandem with my appreciation for all the amazing things that parks is doing and all of the big goals ahead of us, as far as just meeting deficits, you know, I'm concerned about that the budget allotted parks might not take care of that deficit. And, you know, I'm seeing increasingly, you know, fundraising efforts. And again, nothing wrong with fundraising. But I'm just wondering, you know, kind of what's your sense of the deficit, the kind of financial deficit for parks? You don't have to put an exact number on it, but kind of what kind of what financial deficit are we looking at when we talk about meeting our our physical deficits and, you know, land and and facilities and programming, you know, in the in the near future, if you could kind of give a forecast on the budget. Yeah, I would hesitate to even throw a number out there, but it really depends on the goals that the city wants to set from a park perspective. If we want to be a leader in trails and a leader in open space, and tree canopy, we can identify what the approximate cost of that will be. So we could come back to city council and say, well, here's here's some of the goals that you've expressed that you would like the city to be at. And here's what the actual cost will be to get there. And then also replacing and updating our existing facilities, whether it's fencing, irrigation, athletic field lighting, our rec centers are all things that need to be updated or replaced. So that's what half associates is working on in regards to with our CIP and CMP plan. So we can share to you what that those goals and repairs and maintenance need and how that correlates into a dollar figure based on what will be needed annually to accomplish that. And then staff and council have to prioritize how we want to move forward. Thank you so much. All right. And then just lastly, my thoughts. I'd like to see in the report something that captures where we are with respect to shade and canopy, right? I think that's a goal that needs to be out there that we can then move forward with. So just an overview that says here's how much shade we have out of this percentage, you know, are this percentage of our facilities have shade or however you want to capture that. I just think it's something that we can continue to move forward or fund if we knew what it was, much like the tree canopy. So making sure we're expanding that annually. Yeah, we drew actually has set a standard in regards to our playground development that a certain percentage it has to be shade at least so we can get to it to that level and then continue to enhance it with whether it's complete coverage or at least we're meeting a basic standard. Yeah, because I think it works both ways. It's great for those using the facilities, but then also from a marketing standpoint, if we're saying, hey, the city has X amount of shaded parks infrastructure, I think that just looks great for the city. I'd love to see a report, just a quick spin up type report. So Gary, you and I talked about kayaks there at North Lakes Park, right? That's something that's quick and we can spin up and partner with a third party, get that up and running pretty quick. And so I'd love to get a report of just kind of things that are one-offs, that are easy. We have the infrastructure facilities already, we can just program it, right, with the right partnerships. In regards to right rentals? Yes, sir. Yeah, so I'd love to see, I mean, because I looked at that and I continue to look at it. I think it is enough space for kind of novice, but then there's a, you know, there's a legal component, there's a kind of depth component and what it would look like, but I think we can spin it up pretty quick. And so there may be other areas where we have segments where we could kind of program with just a little budget and partnership and that may be in addition to the other low-hanging fruit, an option. Then let's see, I would love to see in this plan, if we're going to, what our vision is, example, MLK I think was built in the 80s, right, and that's our most recent rec center, is that right? Am I close? I think so. So, for example, are we going to continue to smaller neighborhood community centers or are we going to go to mega centers like, like, is that Grand Prairie that has? Yeah, Grand Prairie. Yeah, and some others are doing that. So just an analysis, vision-wise, 10, 15 years, we think neighborhood rec centers are the way to go or we think we need to separate from that and go to more mega centers, you know, kind of focus. So I just don't want to throw good money after bad if we're going to transition or if it's the analysis of you, your staff, that we need to pivot, then let's start that process and start to communicate that and start budgeting for that. Then, let's see, you have, and let me make sure I get it right, Lenny mentioned the, you have the master plan on the 13th, right, and then you have, I guess it's that evening, and then you have ALH that morning, am I right? The 13th is a, it's a focus group meeting, okay, with a focus group, it's not a community meeting, that one is in November. Got it, okay, thank you. Then, okay, that answers that question, and then, Lenny, I really do appreciate your point on the security features and the false sense security when you're talking about lighting and giving people, that's a great thought, and so I appreciate you being on top of that, and I'm sure throughout the parks department that's kind of known, but I just think that's important to bring the light, so to speak, so that's important. Then, the last thing I'll talk to you about with respect to spinning up things, Gary, I'd love to see if we can do a kind of, a similar rink-type facility, or I'll take whatever insight you have, but that space where McKenna Park used to be, if we could maybe look at that as programming that, if there's, if we need to give you budget to do like a rink-type thing, like what's at Mack Park, that seems to get a lot of use, makes sense there so the balls don't roll down the hill and into the street, that sort of thing, but I don't know if you already have a plan to program that space? In regards to where the playground used to be? Yes, sir. So, we are looking at putting some outdoor fitness equipment in there. Okay. We just didn't have the funding yet, so we're trying to get the park done, and we have some other pavilions that still need to be installed there, and some benches, but the thought process was maybe some outdoor fitness equipment. Got it. So, I'd love to see what it would take to kind of capture those things, right? Maybe it's something we could, we could authorize as a budget item, just so, I mean, it's already there, it's partially done quote-unquote, so I think it would be a good thing to act on and move on, and do we have some sort of parking protections? I was a little nervous and I hadn't driven up there. Do we have parking protections there where people park looking kind of over the park there, that new parking lot? Is there like a bumper stopper or something? There's there's a curb, okay, curb around the perimeter of that parking lot. Got it. Okay. Just wanted to make sure, I wouldn't up there, it did make me nervous, but just, I'm sure, I just wanted to make sure we had something there. Great. Okay. Well, thank you very much. Great presentation. Appreciate you both. Oh, Councilman Byrd. Also, I didn't know we were kind of adding a little, you know, extra things for you to look at, but it's part of maybe the budget process, look into maybe adding a some type of bridge in between the senior citizen center and the civic center. I've spoken with some folks over there, I go over there and visit periodically, and they've always talked about being a little nervous out there and walking on bail, you know, to get for extra parking. So if they have a, and they also will use that civic center to walk, and then they go over to the senior citizen to do whatever it is that they're doing. But to add a little bridge, can you, you know, put that in your list of things? It's already in our CIP plan as a placeholder. We don't have a cost on it yet, but that is something that we realized traversing the park is a little difficult, especially if you want to do a loop, you have to go out on the edge of the street. If the senior center was relocated, obviously that could be more green space to the park. We have had the park board ask about, you know, expanding Quaker Town Park, and the easiest way to do that might be, you know, removing some of the rooftop facility in there and finding a new home for the senior centers. There's more parking. That's an option for consideration, not saying that that's, that is happening by any means, but that definitely needs to be addressed in regards to the flow of the park itself. Okay, that concludes, that takes us to concluding items. Thank you very much. Any concluding items? Seeing none, I think for me, I have a few. I want to, while you're here, and on top of mine, Chief Dixon, I want to thank you and the police department for keeping the citizens safe. I mean, there was a lot going on this weekend, but a lot of events, you know, obviously, Arts and Jazz was great, great weather, lots of people, and that brings lots of challenges. There was a protest there on the square, so there's lots going on in our little city. And for you, just thank you and your multiple hats and that other hat that you wear. Thank you for you and the officers keeping us safe throughout the community. I want to thank Council Member Beck for your notice, your reminder about the Don Hanna Band Competition. I was in band when he was a band director there at DHS, a great guy, won a couple of state championships in band, and so I was able to get out there and see those bands perform, so I thank you for that reminder. And then, I'll just say, I'll just work with, I'll reach out to staff and try to request the small area plan be expedited for Southeast Denton to protect it from the commercial creep that I think is going to continue until we have a comprehensive plan to protect those renters from the commercial uses in the neighborhood, and also just understanding the uniqueness of the neighborhood, and that it was established after the residents were removed from Quaker. So now, this area was established to protect that neighborhood, if you will, or replace that neighborhood, the original neighborhood. And so, it's important to me that it get a little additional kind of scrutiny or just kind of make sure we take a comprehensive look and make sure we're doing things on purpose in that area, because it's just, it's unique, it's unique in that how it's established, it's unique in the number of renters, I believe, and so we just have to be, I believe, as a elected body, and as we're governing, we need to govern holistically and try to work against the spot zoning. So, that's my thoughts there, any other concluding items. So, seeing none, we'll welcome Matt. Thank you very much for your service in that capacity. And at 11, 13 p.m., we will conclude today's meeting, and we'll be back next week. Thank you.