City Council Preview – August 14, 2012
It is the second Tuesday of the month, so most of our meeting today consists of a Work Session of various items (meaning we discuss them, but no official action/voting will take place). Today is a bit different. In addition to our Work Session, which begins at 2:30pm at City Hall, we are convening in a Special Called Session in order to vote on the placement of a $20.4 million bond package for street improvements on the November 2012 ballot. Click here for a full agenda of today’s meeting. Here are some items that might interest you…
STREET BOND PROGRAM
We will vote today on whether or not to send this to the November ballot. If you’ve been reading my posts, you know that we are hoping to use these funds (should they be approved by the voters) to perform some much needed road infrastructure improvement projects. Here is an earlier post outlining the various street projects recommended for inclusion in this bond program. Part of the bond program involves up to $400,000 in street-related public art projects in order to remain true to a 2006 City Council Resolution calling for 2-4% of all future bond program money to go toward public art projects. Because the I35 highway expansion project is in the works, there is a need to identify and fund various intersections and major sections of the highway through Denton that could be enhanced with aesthetic treatments. These sort of street-related projects would be funded with that $400K.
CODES, CODES, and more CODES
Just what every builder and contractor wants, more codes! That is what we will be looking at today as the city is interested in amending the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code, adopting the 2009 International Building Code, the 2011 National Electrical Code, and the 2009 International Fire Code. Council members have the joy of looking through all this and providing direction of possible changes before officially adopting these new regulations.
HOW IS THAT BIKE PLAN COMING?
We will get an update to the bike plan today. It wasn’t until late February when we officially voted on the plan. Go here to see the plan online. The plan had $100,000 devoted to project for the 2011-2012 fiscal year and $100,000 in matching funds from the Denton County Commissioners (thanks Hugh Coleman and Andy Eads). This year, the council is considering adding another $100,000 in yearly funding for the plan, bringing the total to $200,000 per year.
We will discuss the possibility of switching a priority project from Pennsylvania to Windsor (from Old North to Bonnie Brae). After several meetings with the Pennsylvania neighborhoods, it seemed that it is not the right time for bike lanes in that area. With Windsor connecting several amenities of interest to surrounding neighborhoods, it seems like a great place to start – at least 2 elementary schools and 1 middle school, at least 3 city parks, a library, etc. We will also discuss projects to connect the DCTA Downtown Transit Center with UNT and TWU as well as the possibility of creating lanes on Oak and Hickory Street.
DOWNTOWN HICKORY STREET IMPROVEMENTS
You may have already noticed progress on new sidewalks and streetscape elements on the North side of Hickory Street just West of the DCTA station (leading to Bell). The ultimate goal is to overhaul the entire street from the station to the square in order to make it more pedestrian-friendly and aesthetically pleasing. We will be discussing the plans to fund this project and to bring on a team to help design the project.
MORE BUDGET DISCUSSION
We will continue to discuss issues related to the 2012-2013 budget, with a session designed to answer many of the questions raised during our budget workshop a couple of weeks ago. Go here for more info on the budget.