From the Dec. 16th  “Friday Staff Reports to City Council”

The Friday Staff Report to City Council is a weekly communication between staff and Council. South Lakes Park improvements. DME solar rebates are exhausted. Support for the HELPER Act. Upcoming street closures.

General Information

The City Manager’s Office will not distribute a Friday Staff Report on December 30th and will resume distribution the following week.

In support of the HELPER Act, staff sent letters to our congressional delegation on behalf of Mayor Hudspeth.

The Parks and Recreation Department is removing cattails from a pond at South Lakes Park to improve the health of the pond and its wildlife ecosystem.

Denton Municipal Electric has run out of money for solar rebates. Customers who submit a project after Dec. 16 will not be eligible for a rebate, and DME staff will notify customers via the City’s website as further installations are processed for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Council Member Requests

The Mayor Pro Tern asked for staff to provide a list of all proposed or in-progress developments in the Schultz attendance zone, along with dwelling unit counts and formula attendance estimates. The City’s website has a map of development projects.

• 2211 E University: likely approximately 290 multifamily dwellings, currently under review
• 1601 S Loop 288: 248 multifamily dwellings under construction
• A feasibility application was submitted for a mixed-density project at the east terminus of East Windsor, but thus far, staff has no information as to whether the development of this site will move forward.

Council Member Watts requested information on how much money the City has collected in roadway impact fees and how many service units have been associated with that revenue. The City has collected $22.1 million in roadway impact fees since the fee was adopted.

The Mayor Pro-Tern has requested an update on a traffic signal that is planned for installation on Sherman Drive at Kings Row. This intersection will be redesigned with construction expected in 2025 and the City of Denton will only have to pay for design costs.

The Mayor of Denton received an email from a local business employee about several accidents that have happened at the intersection of North Elm Street and West Congress. Staff retrieved traffic crash data from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Crash Records Information System (CRIS) to investigate the issue. The crash data at an intersection shows that there were no accidents in 2019 and 2020, but two accidents in 2021 and 2022. There is no action recommended at this time, but staff will continue to monitor the location.

Mayor Hudspeth requested what would be necessary to provide a connection between the Newton Rayzor Elementary School property and US 380. There is a new development on the south side of US 380 with a Starbucks, Brakes Plus, and an AutoZone. The Newton Rayzor Elementary School is scheduled to be relocated to the old Denton High School site. Denton Independent School District has advised city staff that the existing location of Newton Rayzor Elementary may be repurposed but future use is unknown. A potential location for a regional detention pond to control stormwater flow has been identified behind the new developments. A connection from US 380 to the property is not in the 2022 Mobility Plan and would require extensive research.

One University of North Texas student’s email alerted a city council member to the fact that appendices were missing from the city’s ADA Transition Plan document online. Staff then uploaded the appendices to the webpage and notified both the student and council member.

The standard practice for public safety staff when dealing with service animals is that the service animal rides with the patient if they are being transported by ambulance. Non-service animals are to stay on the scene until Animal Services arrive, and engine crews are to remain with the service animal until a handoff happens unless police officers offer to stay.

Upcoming Street Closures