Denton County Commissioners Court Courthouse on the Square 110 West Hickory, Denton, Texas * * * * * Formal Agenda Minutes
Not Official Minutes.  For official minutes, please contact the County Clerk at 940-349-2012.

January 24, 2001

Be it remembered that Commissioners Court of Denton County, Texas met on this the 24th day of January, 2001, in a joint meeting with the City Council of Denton in the Council Work Session Room, 215 East McKinney, Denton, Texas, with a quorum present for both the City Council and Commissioners Court. No action was taken but the following topics were discussed:

1. Call to Order, Announce Quorum

2. Transportation

a. Mass transportation/commuter rail

Dave Hill, Assistant City Manager: The Rails to Trails is being reserved by the City not just for recreational/pedestrian purposes but for the long term for a mass transit connection to the Metroplex. Also, this program can be used to protect and balance the interest between corridor preservation and grade crossings.

b. I-35 Corridor

Mr. Hill: Preliminary schematic has been prepared by TxDOT to show optimum right-of-way between State Hwy 121 Bypass and 380. The University of North Texas has expressed concern about the benefits of I-35 with an increasing future enrollment's access to the university and potential negative impacts due to construction. Collaboration amongst all entities involved is vital to the process.

c. Thoroughfare Plan Update - See map

d. TxDOT

Mr. Hill: The City can learn from the county how to expedite projects by being proactive in the planning & design stages, fronting the money for engineering work, and initiating early ROW and Utility relocation. Projects fare better against the competition with funding alliances and regular meetings between city, county & state technical people. (Five major projects being coordinated with TxDOT are enumerated in the support material for this item.)

e. Joint City/County Projects

Mr. Hill: With the exception of Lakeview Blvd. and Brinker Road projects, many of these are still in the engineering/environmental assessment stages. Money has been allocated and there has been good collaboration between City/County.

f. Maintenance of jointly owned roads

Mr. Hill: Since the 1993 Interlocal Maintenance Agreement's adoption, there have been changes due to city limits and road configurations on the following roads: Trinity, Mayhill, Edwards, Swisher, Robinson & Hickory Creek Road. Annexations have caused some roads to fall under City maintenance only.

John Polster, President of Innovative Transportation Solutions, Inc. and transportation consultant for Denton County: The county's proposal for I-35 from 121 to 380 is to divide it into sections for environmental purposes. Money must be fronted for the environmental documents but the process of sectioning a project still saves time and money in the long run. Once the City of Denton has become certified and has a Letter of Authority to act on behalf of the Federal government, then all ROW acquisition is eligible for 20% reimbursement.

Comm. Jacobs: Problems with getting transportation projects accomplished lies in the legislature, not necessarily in TxDOT. Garvee Bonds (Guaranteed Anticipated Revenue Bonds) would alleviate a lot of problems and both the county and the city needs to push their local representatives to pass this legislation. She recommends that city/county be prepared should this legislation become effective. She was just appointed to NASCO and understands there are four or five bills related to NAFTA but only related to those roads along the border.

Mayor Euline Brock: The coordinated effort throughout the state to focus on solutions for transportation brings promise. More equitable allocation of NAFTA funding is vital at the Federal level.

Comm. Jacobs: Denton County Day should be called Garvee Bond Day - that is the level of importance that needs to be impressed upon our local representatives.

Councilman Burroughs: Garvee Bond has negative connotations to legislators. Name should be changed to reflect more positive aspects.

Comm. Jacobs: The city has come to recognize that transportation issues are a game of strategy. Coalitions are necessary but still not enough. A decade was knocked off of the 30-year 121 project through many meetings with many people. Elected officials cannot rely on staff alone to attend all these meetings and have the same impact as an elected official. Also, the coordinated efforts of people like John Polster to follow through on projects, is vital to their success.

Mr. Polster: What the state does now is put aside a total project's funding even though that project and monies may not be touched for years. City/County must be ready to move on projects so that when the money is let, the projects are ready to go.

(Discussion continued on about Mass Transportation /Commuter Rail)

Mr. Hill: The Interlocal Agreement that would cement the $1.6 million toward FM2181 will be finalized on February 6, 2001. There is a coalition forming to have US 281 added to the Texas Trunk System and is being touted as a potential regional bypass that would direct traffic from Oklahoma City down through Wichita Falls and through Stephenville to San Antonio as a four-lane road.

3. Economic Development

a. Joint Tax Abatement Committee

Linda Ratliff, City of Denton's Director of Economic Development, passed out copies of the City's Tax Abatement policy, process and application. She gave a short history of the Tax Abatement process. The Joint Tax Abatement Committee has two members from each entity - city, school & county. The County currently has a vacancy with the
position previously held by Jeff Krueger.

Ms. Ratliff: A major change recently made to the policy was a clause to address abandoned buildings. This clause was added due to the Texas Instruments Facility.

b. Texas Instruments Facility (please see handout)

Ms. Ratliff: Building has been shown to over 25 prospective buyers in the last year. Interest has increased but the value of the building has decreased significantly, and TI has considered leasing it if the user could use at least 130,000 sq. ft.

Judge Armey: The County's philosophy that has developed over the last several years has been to mirror and support city's initiatives; often this takes the manifestation of a tax abatement. The county's goal is to understand the city's vision and provide support in whatever form is needed. The Joint Tax Abatement Committee has worked well to bring the three taxing entities to the table.

Ms. Ratliff: The Denton Independent School District is to be recognized for being the only school district that is willing to participate in tax abatements, as far as she knows.

Comm. Jacobs: Commissioners Court compliments what the cities can do, even though all cities approach economic development differently. There are two legislative bills that the county/city should favor: one is to allow school districts more flexibility when passing tax abatements; the second one is to correct the problem with there being no tax incentives offered for research and development. That is the reason why Denton County lost Intel. Ken Brimer is working on an R&D bill that will have a major impact on buildings like TI.

Councilman Cochran: He understood Intel was also put off by the air quality issues.

Mayor Brock: High property taxes in Texas could also have discouraged Intel.

c. County Development Districts (CDD's)

Judge Armey distributed a list of the CDD's created since the legislation was passed. Nine of those have been approved and five are now active in the county. There is currently no new legislation concerning decreasing or increasing the population limit for counties to be entitled to use CDD's.

Mayor Pro-Temp Beasley: The City of Denton is not encouraging legislation which would raise the cap on CDD's. This legislation was created for the smaller, rural counties in the State and Denton County can no longer be considered a rural county.

4. Extra-territorial Jurisdiction

a. Development in the ETJ

Judge Armey: Communication is to be encouraged among the city/county staff. The city's requirements for roads are much higher than that for county roads. The county has a Development Support Committee and as issues come to the county, city staff will be invited to attend and help coordinate future plans.

Mayor Brock: Does the county have any legislative initiatives about giving counties more control over development standards in non-incorporated areas?

Judge Armey: There has been a lot of discussion and some bills introduced. The county wants to maintain a balance between property rights and regulation. There are some limited areas, such as right-of-way, where the county could use more control.

5. Downtown Square

a. Parking on the Square

Chief Matheson distributed support material outlining the ordinances concerning parking. The merchants in and around the square must be included in any meetings regarding the parking situation.

Judge Armey: The county placed this topic on the agenda due to the parking problems county staff and visitors to the courthouse have on Tuesday when Commissioners Court meets.

Mr. Jez, City Manager: There is not a parking problem on the square, rather there is a perception of a parking problem. There are adequate parking spaces in the area and proximity, the problem is people wanting to park within a few feet of their destination. Nonetheless, the City Council is willing to explore some possibilities of remedying the situation on Tuesday, such as pinpointing those employees who cannot get up and leave Commissioners Court meeting to move their car. It is not simply a matter of telling the police department not to issue citations on that day, the ordinance would first have to be revised. Someone should be designated from the county staff to meet with Chief Matheson and his staff to work toward a solution.

Councilman Cochran: One suggestion might be a Tuesday only sticker for some of the county staff.

Mr. Jez: But that does not address the issue of citizens.

Comm. Mitchell: A solution should be worked out, at least for the spaces adjacent to the courthouse.

b. Animal Control Ordinance (handout includes new city ordinances on this topic)

Captain Housewright: The city has established a "pooper scooper' law and the city recognizes the problems at the courthouse on the square. Another new ordinance prohibits people from tying up their pets and leaving them unattended while the owner goes inside a store or restaurant. To alert citizens to the new laws, signage is being created along with advertising and brochures.

Judge Armey: The courthouse lawn is used for so many activities in which children are involved. Danny Brumley, Director of Operations for Denton County, can coordinate with the city to place signs strategically warning people of these new laws.

Comm. Jacobs congratulated the City on their Main Street Award.

c. Events held on the square

Ms. Ratliff distributed a summary of Downtown Activities including the Capital Improvement Project taking place from January through October of 2001. Parking spaces will be reduced by seven parking places but crosswalks will be improved.

Mr. Jez: A staff person from the City will make a formal presentation to Commissioners Court concerning the various improvements to the square.

6. Library Funding

Eva Poole, Director of Library, distributed and explained statistical information from 1985 when the Denton County Library Advisory Board was first formed and when the library first entered into an interlocal cooperative agreement with Denton County for library funding. There were eleven libraries involved in 1985. Now, there are 14 member libraries, not including Roanoke. Possible methods of fund distribution are listed but the best method is per capita. Presently, that per capita is $1.25 with a $10,000.00 matching grant. This year the City of Denton will receive $134,971 total allocation. Total registered patrons as of January 22, 2001 was 56,953 including patrons from all the cities within Denton County. The majority of the users- 69.8% - live outside of the City of Denton with the City's appropriated per capita being $24.71, as compared to the county appropriated per capita of $6.21. Ms. Poole explained that the county per capita funding is too low. With the library continuing to provide services to all county residents, the county needs to increase library funding more in-line with the city per capita.

Comm. Jacobs: The City of Denton is providing a great attribute to the county by extending free use of the libraries to all Denton County residents. She suggested to Judge Armey that the county budget director study library funding for a more equitable distribution.

Judge Armey to Donna Stewart, Budget Director: What is the county's total amount distributed to libraries?

Donna Stewart: About $677,000.

Eva Poole: Total library budget is $2,065,000.00 for last year.

7. Greenbelt Corridor

Julie Smith, Environmental Compliance Manager for the City of Denton: The Greenbelt Corridor covers 16,000 acres, including 500 acres of conservation easements, and has been opened since June 5, 1999. It is a $9.2 million project between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the cities of Denton & Dallas. Since the opening, there have been over 300,000 visitors to the greenbelt. A joint project, including the county, UNT, DISD, and TWU has begun to restore areas that were ruined when Lewisville Lake was built. The Corps has agreed to set aside acreage above floodplain for building the Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center at the southeast intersection of Hartlee Field & Collins Road. The kick-off for this Center is Saturday, March 31, from 1-4. There will be a massive fund raising drive for this project.

Steve Rollins, Denton County Planning Manager: The county needs to support this worthwhile project. Besides the great benefit this project would be to children and future generations, I t is also a great way to maintain wetlands and floodplains. FEMA will love this kind of project.

Julie Smith: Mitchell Energy is their first corporate sponsor and more will be needed.

Comm. Jacobs: To advertise this center, utilize websites and the five cable stations within the county. Also, add up all the square footage of wetlands being mitigated because that can be offset in whatever property the city needs to be taken for right-of-way.

Comm. White: Does the City of Denton have plans to annex the Greenbelt Corridor?

Julie Smith: It was supposed to have been annexed originally but when the deal was cut,
the city gave away that ETJ to the cities of Pilot Point & Aubrey. In checking, those cities had not done the paperwork to annex the property Denton already owns in the corridor, so that is underway now.

10. Adjournment