Council Meeting Preview – February 7, 2012
This council meeting is unofficially dedicated to my little boy Francis who turned one on Monday. Though he started intentionally throwing his pacifier over his crib in the middle of the night, only to immediately cry about it, thus waking up the entire house, he is still the future of our city…
Today’s city council meeting begins with a Work Session at 3pm, by a Regular Session at 6:30pm in City Council Chambers. Click here for the agenda of today’s meeting. Here are some things that might interest you:
GAS DRILLING MORATORIUM
Perhaps the most anticipated item on tonight’s agenda will be a proposed 120 day moratorium on new gas drilling and production permits. The goal is to give the Gas Well Task Force, city staff, and City Council the time to adequately re-work the current ordinance. Embarking on a new ordinance presupposes the realization for the need for new regulations in order to protect the health and safety of our citizens. Permits that have already been submitted will be allowed to continue. Submitted permits, however, that require Special Use Permits will be put on hold by this moratorium. The reason for this is that SUPs allow the council to add conditions that could be informed by requirements in the new ordinance. This moratorium is a good move and I will be supporting it.
HAVE YOU SEEN THE SUSTAINABILITY PLAN?
We will be hearing a final update on the Sustainability Plan during our Work Session. This is a great document with a lot of vision for the future of Denton. You can find out more information here or find the latest draft of the plan in the back-up materials to this week’s council agenda.
TWU NEIGHBORHOOD RESOLUTION
TWU has continued its pursuit of acquiring properties in the surrounding historic neighborhoods despite widespread neighborhood concern. As a result, and in line with their charge as a commission, the Historic Landmark Commission has drafted a resolution aimed at arguing for the preservation of this important neighborhood. The council has been asked to weigh in on the policy implications of this resolution. I’ve been clear on my position on this issue. For more background, check out this report I provided to the City Council this past summer.
QUAKERTOWN PARK SIDEWALKS AND TRAILS
I’ve long maintained that the amenities present in the general vicinity of Quakertown Town are among the best in town, and certainly the most friendly to families. Within walking distance, families can go to a great park, a city pool, a city library, city hall, the civic center, and the historic square. Despite all this, this area is rather inaccessible for pedestrians (especially pedestrians with strollers and tricycles). All this is about to change… One important item on the consent agenda is requesting an approval of a bid to put in sidewalks and walking paths in the park. Check out a concept drawing of the park trails here. This is great news for District 1.
As always, if you thoughts on any of this or other questions, feel free to contact me at kevin.roden@cityofdenton.com or 940-206-5239.
Council Meeting Preview – January 10, 2012
I am a bit of a political junky, so I am bummed about missing coverage of the New Hampshire Republican Primary on Tuesday night – but there is much city work to do at this first City Council meeting of 2012. We convene in a Work Session at 2:30pm before our Regular Meeting at 6:30pm in Council Chambers – both are open to the public. There is much that might interest you at this meeting. Check out the agenda here and see my highlights below…
NAMING POLICY FOR CITY BUILDINGS, FACILITIES, AND LAND
You might recall a proposal from the Denton LULAC chapter to add Roland Vela’s name to South Lakes Park – read the story here. In addition to being Denton’s first Hispanic City Council member, Dr. Vela is an internationally-acclaimed Biology academic. The proposal was denied by the Parks Board late last year, sparking much controversy. During the process, several city staff members and city council members pointed to the lack of clarity in the current policy of naming civic institutions and the need to draft a new one. We will be hearing more about a proposal to do just that. Whatever comes of that or this specific proposal, one thing is clear: we need to work together with the Hispanic community to find ways of honoring and promoting pride for this wonderful cultural heritage.
SMOKING BAN IN DENTON?
The City Council has been lobbied heavily as of late with requests to consider a smoking ban in Denton. At Tuesday’s meeting we will be receiving initial information on the background, history, and options associated with this request. As we move forward with investigating this policy, I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on the matter. What do you think?
MORE TRANSMISSION LINE CONVERSATIONS
The long discussion about the placement of the new high-power transmission lines just might be coming to and end after a long community discussion that began in the summer. Citizen involvement has been robust on this issue, causing DME and the council to consider many alternative options. To catch up on the latest, go here.
CONTROVERSIAL GAS WELL APPLICATIONS
Although the city is in the midst of a re-write of our Gas Well ordinances, requests for various types of natural gas activity continue to come before us. This puts the council in a difficult position of deciding on new applications for gas well activity prior to the advent of newer, hypothetically stronger, regulations. Several of you have advocated a moratorium on all new gas well applications until the new ordinance is in place. One of the applications is for a SUP for natural gas storage on a piece of land on East McKinney (a place to store gas underground that has been retrieved elsewhere, not for the drilling of new gas). Another application is for a SUP for two existing wells directly across the street from the new UNT Apogee Stadium. This is causing a flurry of controversy due to the fact that they wells were originally drilled several years ago and have been operating ever since without a city permit. There’s plenty of complexity to this request and this issue, but if you are interested in this topic, the discussion tomorrow night is a good place to receive an education.
PILOTING AN iPAD
The City is exploring the option of phasing out big, expensive laptops and replacing them with smaller, cheaper iPads for use by the City Council. Each meeting involves hundreds and hundreds of pages of materials – the goal is to find an efficient, technological solution that helps the city in its path toward greater sustainability practices. Toward that end, I’ll be piloting some of this new technology and helping work out the kinks before encouraging its use to some of my more Luddite colleagues 
As always, let me know what you think – kevin.roden@cityofdenton.com
Council Meeting Preview – December 6, 2011
Today’s meeting begins with a Work Session at 3pm in the Council Work Session Room, followed by the Regular Session in Council Chambers at 6:30pm. Click here for an agenda of the meeting.
What might interest you…
SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATE
The city has 8 official Facebook pages, 6 official Twitter accounts, and 1 YouTube Channel – click here to see a complete listing and follow! The Council will be briefed on the various ways city departments are utilizing this technology to better connect to the citizens of Denton. Do you have thoughts or suggestions on this? Please let me know.
DOWNTOWN INCENTIVE REIMBURSEMENT GRANT PROGRAM
We will be reviewing a long-standing grant program designed to encourage reinvestment in the downtown area. It seems clear that this goal is being achieved, so much of the discussion will likely center on the necessity or value of this program moving forward. The city typically commits $50,000 a year to such small grant programs. Go here to learn more about this program. Where do you think such money could best be spent in the downtown area, if at all?
MORE ON THE TRANSMISSION LINE PROJECT
The council opted to approve only part of the Northeast Denton Transmission Line proposal during our last city council meeting. You can click here for a general overview of the entire project. Still lingering is the “Yellow Route” proposal that seems to have significant impact on the nearby neighborhood. We have directed DME to develop alternate routes for this line and will begin a discussion on how to proceed today.
I-35 CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
It looks like it will cost over $5 billion to add lanes to less than 30 miles of one particular highway. Controversy is already brewing between state and local officials over the details of the plan – check out some of the latest news here. It seems increasingly clear that a continued commitment to a car-centric transportation system is unsustainable and a price tag like this should drive this home. Long term, our local, state, and national leaders will need to decide whether we hope to continue encouraging this system or make bold shifts in policy in order to pave a path toward a more sustainable, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly future. We’ll be discussing Denton’s position on this issue and will appoint a representative from Denton to sit as a voting member on the legislature-mandated 1420 committee.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR LABINAL, INC
Labinal, Inc. is hoping to set-up shop in Denton and has worked with Economic Development officials on a Chapter 380 agreement. Council will vote on this item this evening.
PUBLIC HEARING ON UNDERGROUND GAS STORAGE FACILITY
There will be two public hearings tonight, one of which involves the request for a Special Use Permit for an underground natural gas storage facility on a piece of property in a very rural part of Denton.
As always, please let me know your thoughts on any of these issues. Email me at kevin.roden@cityofdenton.com or connect with me on Twitter or Facebook.
Ring a Bell – Help Salvation Army!
Do you know that Denton is home to the only homeless shelter in all of Denton County? The Salvation Army shelter is located on E. McKinney Street and helps hundreds of individuals and families get back on their feet each year. Just like many other non-profit organizations that serve our most vulnerable populations, the Salvation Army has seen significant cuts as of late.
You know those bell ringers you see around Christmas time at stores around town? That provides a major source of funding for their annual budget and allows them to keep their doors open and the most needy in our community fed and off the streets. This year they are hoping to fill the bell ringer spots with volunteers. Imagine yourself, your church, your office, or even your friends joining together to adopt a day and a spot to collect money for the Salvation Army. What a great way to meet a local need and spread the holiday cheer in a meaningful way.
If this sounds like something you’d like to do, please read this info sheet from the Salvation Army and contact Amanda Ledhe at amandalehde@hotmail.com with the date(s) you are able to help.
Council Meeting Preview – November 1, 2011
You may have noticed a missed preview or postscript in the last couple of weeks. The truth is, I could not log in to my website for the past couple of weeks to update anything. But enough of this politician’s excuses… We begin with a work session today at 4:30pm, followed by our Regular Session at 6:30pm. Go here to find an agenda and download a copy of the council back-up material. What is on deck for tonight…
MULTI-FAMILY to SINGLE FAMILY RATIO
The Denton Plan, created in 1999, hoped to maintain a certain balance of single-family houses and multi-family dwellings. Here’s what the Plan states on page 39:
Accommodate 27,000 single-family homes and 18,000 multifamily units by
the year 2020 to bring the ratio of single to multifamily housing from 51:49 in 1998 to 59:41 in 2020.
Denton has moved closer to that ratio over the years. The housing crisis that began around 2008, combined with a rash of recent student apartment construction has served to make this ratio slide back a bit as of late. We will have a comprehensive discussion on this ratio to see how to best approach this issue moving forward.
RAYZOR RANCH MEDICAL BUILDINGS
If you’ve been following the course of this development, you know that it has several land-use components to it and is being approached in a number of phases. Most of the activity, as of late, as occurred on the North side of 380 where there is a new Walmart, Freebirds, and what not. What is before us tonight, however, is a small, 4 acre portion of land way down on the Southern end of the property and just along I-35. They are asking us to amend an Overlay District for that piece of property in order to provide design, landscaping, signage, and architectural standards.
Come on out!