No preview available
 /
     
1999-08-31 REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING 667 NORTH CARROLL AVENUE SOUTHLAKE, TEXAS AUGUST 31, 1999 MINUTES COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Rick Stacy; Mayor Pro Tem Gary Fawks; Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Ronnie Kendall. Members: Debra Edmondson, Patsy DuPre, Rex Potter. COUNCILMEMBERS ABSENT: Wayne Moffat. CITY STAFF PRESENT: City Manager Billy Campbell; Director of Public Safety Garland Wilson; Director of Economic Development Greg Last; Director of Public Works Ron Harper; Director of Finance Sharen Elam; Assistanct Finance Director Lynn Martinson; Deputy Director of Public Works Charlie Thomas; Interim Director of Planning and Zoning Administrator Karen Gandy; Director of Human Resource Lauren Safranek; Deputy Director Police Services Gary Gregg; Deputy Director Fire Services Ricky Black; Administrative Operations Coordinator Malcolm Jackson; Public Information Officer James Kunke; Public Works Manager Michael Patterson; City Attorney Wayne K. Olson; and, City Secretary Sandra L. LeGrand. Agenda Item #1 -A, Call to Order Mayor Rick Stacy called the Regular City Council meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. The City Council meeting was video taped and tape recorded for future reference and are hereby made a part of the record. Agenda Item #2 -A, Executive Session Mayor Rick Stacy advised the audience that the City Council would be going into executive session pursuant to the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code, Sections 551.071, 551.072, 551.073, 551.074, 551.075, 551.076, to seek consultation with the City Attorney regarding pending and contemplated litigations, to deliberate the purchase, exchange, lease or sale of real property, a negotiated contract for a prospective gift or donation to the City, to deliberate the appointments and evaluation of public officials, to confer with one or more employees to receive information from or to question the employees, and to deliberate the deployment of specific occasions for implementation of security personnel or devices. Council adjourned into executive session at 6:30 p.m. Council returned to open session at 7:35 p.m. Agenda Item #2 -B, Action Necessary /Executive Session Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of August 31, 1999 Page 1 of 6 No action was necessary as a result of the Executive Session. Agenda Item #3, Invocation The invocation was given by Chaplain of the Month Reverend Jesse Smith, who was substituting for Father Reeves from the St. Martin -in -The Fields Episcopal Church. Agenda Item #4 -A, Reports No reports this meeting. Agenda Item #5, Consent Agenda 5 -A Resolution No. 99 -67, Moratorium on the construction of non - residential carports and covered parking. Motion was made by Councilmember Ronnie Kendall to approve Resolution No. 99 -67. Councilmember Kendall added to the motion that it not include any carports already in the process of being approved. Motion: Kendall Second: Potter The length of the moratorium (90 days versus 120 days) was discussed by members. The moratorium for one hundred twenty (120) days will stand as presented. Ayes: DuPre, Edmondson, Potter, Fawks, Kendall, and Stacy Nays: None Approved: 6 -0 vote ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS 5 -A. Resolution No. 99 -67, Establishing a moratorium on the construction of non- residential carports and covered parking. City Council had requested a moratorium on the construction of non - residential carports and covered parking as a result of several recent requests for covered parking in development projects. As there are presently no specific development regulations regarding carports and covered parking in Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance No. 480, as amended, the purpose of the moratorium is to allow sufficient time for the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council to have a reasonable opportunity to study, discuss, review and take appropriate action on this matter. The resolution requests a one hundred twenty (120) day moratorium. Agenda Item #6 -A, Public Forum No comments were made during the Public Forum. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of August 31, 1999 Page 2 of 6 Agenda Item #7, Ordinances, second readings, public hearings, and related items No items this agenda. Agenda Item #8 -A, FIRST PUBLIC HEARING, Ordinance No. 756, 1 Reading, Annual Budget for Fiscal Year 1999 -2000 and Revisions to the FY 98 -99 Budget FIRST PUBLIC HEARING, Ordinance No. 756, 1 Reading, Adopting and approving the Annual Budget for Fiscal Year 1999 -00 and approving the revised budget figures for the Fiscal Year 1998 -99. This budget summarizes the plan of municipal operations for the fiscal year that begins October 1, 1999. The summary budget information presented and attached to Ordinance No. 756 reflects the detail included in the budget workbook presented to Council August 10, 1999. The summary incorporates a Capital Projects Budget for FY1999 -00 year, plus anticipated Capital Projects through 2004. The Capital Projects are major water, sewer, street and drainage infrastructure items that are funded through a variety of sources such as impact fees, operating fund transfers, developer fees, bonds, and certificate of obligation proceeds. The 1999 -2000 Budget maintains the current tax rate of $0.422 with total revenues of $32,535,306 and total expenditures of $33,426,991. The SECOND PUBLIC HEARING and the 2 " Reading of Ordinance No. 756 is scheduled for September 7, 1999. PUBLIC HEARING. Brian Stebbins, Town Square developer, 904 Independence Parkway, Southlake. Mr. Stebbins referred to a "Public/Private Partnership Strategic Event Planning" strategy paper (attached to the minutes of this meeting) submitted to the City relating to the proposed budget and the City's contributions for events planned at Southlake Town Square this year and next year. Mr. Stebbins summarized the strategic plan for the Town Square was to create a community gathering place for Southlake and neighboring communities through such activities as concerts, Fourth of July Celebration, and assorted events throughout the week. Mr. Stebbins said Southlake Town Square will spend more than $125,000 in organizing, promoting, and staging events for the nine months ending December 1999. The City will receive tax revenues in excess of $700,000 (annualized in excess of $1,000,000 in sales tax and property tax revenues) for the same period as a direct benefit from the success of Town Square. In regards to the events planned, Mr. Stebbins requested that since the City will benefit directly from the success of Town Square, that the City share its part of the burden of having such community events and asked that during the upcoming Christmas season, the City decorate and pay for the decorations for the Town Square, the pavilion and the Christmas tree. Mr. Stebbins commented that they believe the amount currently bugeted for these expenses is insufficient to decorate the public domain area properly, which consist of the Town Square, pavilion, streets and Christmas Tree). Last minute proposals for Christmas decorations were submitted to Kevin Hugman (Director of Community Services). Councilmembers did not receive the proposals prior to the meeting and had not had and opportunity to review them. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of August 31, 1999 Page 3 of 6 Councilmembers questioned Mr. Stebbins about the proposals and the amount of expenses for the Christmas decorations. Councilmember Potter asked what amount Stebbins suggested would be adequate to cover the proposed decorations? Mr. Stebbins responded that he was aware that the City had a $10,000 line item for the year for Town Square decorations, events and banners. Councilmember DuPre said there was a $10,000 line item for the banners and the four seasons. Councilmember Edmondson added there is also $10,000 for Fourth of July fireworks. Councilmember Fawks said he assumed there were also funds for Christmas decorations in the Parks [budget] because the city does Holiday In the Park and decorates the Christmas Tree. The Parks budget shows $3,000 for holiday expenses. Councilmember Potter asked City Manager Billy Campbell about the process the city has for organizations requesting funding or contributions. Request for funding would be discussed individually when entering into agreements. Mr. Potter asked if this request would be handled in the same manner with an agreement executed, or would the City be doing it on their own? City Manager Campbell responded "it would be a method." Mayor Stacy stated this request is different since it is a request for the City's property. The council talked about which decorations each entity would be responsible for and how they would determine what type of decorations will be used. The proposal is for Cooper and Stebbins to handle the decorations for the buildings and the City to handle city property. Councilmember Potter asked how the "common vision of what the decorations should be" will be agreed upon. Regarding the request submitted to Council for participation in sharing the cost of decorations for Town Square this Christmas, Mr. Stebbins stated he was not seeking a decision from Council at this meeting, but would like to go on the record, from a partnership point of view, state that the land does belong to the City and he feels it is an opportunity, that citizens have embraced the Town Square and all they want to do is create an environment that people would expect to see at Christmas at Town Square. He said that the cost amounts to approximately $35,000 for the decoration of all the trees on the streets, for the pavilion, for the Christmas Tree and Town Square. Councilmember Ronnie Kendall commented she personally likes Christmas decorations, but acknowledges there are tax - payers in Southlake that do not celebrate Christmas and questions the City spending large amounts of money, if any at all, on a non - secular holiday. Mr. Stebbins agreed that all religions need to be respected, but asked to consider this as a business investment when considering the creation of the holiday environment. Stebbins said, "As a business you must invest in Christmas decorations in terms of seasonal to capture that forty percent of sales and that investment will be returned in sales tax revenues." Councilmember Rex Potter asked if the $35,000 was over and above the amount already budgeted? Community Services Director Kevin Hugman addressed the existing budget amount and said the $10,000 allocated for Town Square was originally based on banners Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of August 31, 1999 Page 4 of 6 -- four seasonal banners @ $70 each, twenty -six light poles and about $2,300 for the lower banner arms. Mr. Hugman said they recognized that there was not money included in the line item for Christmas lighting. He said it was their intent and desire to have the Christmas In the Park moved from Bicentennial Park to Town Square. To do this, they considered reducing the amount of banners to about three banners, three seasonal banners which would free up about $2,000 out of the $10,000 then for Christmas tree lighting. The bases for that expense is to light the one evergreen Christmas tree and perhaps some garland on the pavilion, but nothing more than that. Mr. Hugman said the costs Mr. Stebbins is presenting is more extension and it does include the lighting of the tree (about $1,800). Councilmember DuPre told Councilmember Kendall that she appreciated her comments about it being a secular holiday, but that her feelings on the matter are that "this is our downtown now, and that we own the park and we will have Town Hall there and that the City has an obligation to put some of our monies into some kind of holiday decoration for downtown." DuPre said she feels it benefits the city because it will draw people to Town Square which generates sales tax dollars. Ms. DuPre said she would like to see the City light the bandstand, if not the Christmas tree, and do some generic white lights on some of the trees. She said that everything can not be done in one year, but this is the time to consider doing some portion. Councilmember Gary Fawks suggested not changing the amount of money in the budget tonight to fund this request, but that there may be some discretionary funds that could be moved around. Fawks said he did not want to see the numbers being changed on the budget - -- he wants Christmas to look nice, but believes this is not the forum to make the final decision on how much it's going to be. Councilmember Potter said he thinks there needs to be some commitment. Mr. Stebbins asked to go on the record stating, "I don't think the City wants to be, or has been an innocent bystander, to what is now called "downtown." I also think in the context of Christmas, just the in context of a business proposition, it will suit the royal suit, us and you, which is the taxpayers, and that basically you will get more back in spades for what you spend in Christmas decorations if we can make it a regional destination. The architect and environment is already in place. What we are doing is decorating that environment to make it feel like, for all the people that are transplants, that this is their small town from all across America. That's what we designed it as and that's what we'd like to decorate it as." Mayor Stacy suggested that Council move forward with the budget and that "we look for monies and have Kevin get with your [Stebbins'] people right away and return to Council to see if Council needs find additional monies to address this particular year. We will find a way to do that." Mr. Stacy said the City may want to store our own equipment rather than having the other company do that, which could be a savings. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of August 31, 1999 Page 5 of 6 Mr. Stebbins commented on the timing of the project and the City having a recommendation on the decorations to be used. Public Hearing closed. Mayor Stacy announced there would be a Second Public Hearing on the Budget September 7, 1999. City Manager Billy Campbell commented on the first reading of the budget and said he wanted to recap to make sure that staff had done their due - diligence in the process. He said the City has a total taxable value that exceeds two billion dollars with a rate of .0422 per $100. He mentioned the transfer of the library, the TIF and capital items, the judges salary, the General Fund, the executive pay plan "either /or" five percent issue, revisions in Community Services, procedural policy for Council approval, and the Fund Balance. Councilmember Potter commended Mr. Campbell and his staff for their professionalism and expressed his appreciation. There were no further comments or questions. Councilmember Patsy DuPre made a motion to approve Ordinance 756, 1 Reading, approving and adopting the Annual Budget for the Fiscal Year 1999 -2000 and approving the revised budget figures for the Fiscal Year 1998 -1999. Motion: DuPre Second: Rex Potter Ayes: Edmondson, Potter, Fawks, Kendall, DuPre and Stacy Agenda Item #12, Adjournment Mayor Rick Stacy adjourned the Regular City Council meeting at 8:15 p.m. , ' t t t t t u t t t �, , 0j�� OUTH O \ � o �o ,............iii 1 �L 3 ®'..• �� ' ay. Rick StacyW 73 k e • se co : • * 6 11ti andra L. LeGrand City Secretary Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of August 31, 1999 Page 6 of 6 _ _ - - _ s O U T H L A K E TOWNS CUJARE ilk PUBLIC /PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP STRATEGIC EVENT PLANNING Summary > The vision for Southlake Town Square has always been to create a downtown for Southlake residents as well as its neighboring communities. The first phase of the project opened successfully to the public on March 20, 1999 and forms the urban cornerstone to all future development within the 130 acre master plan. The Town Square environment has been designed to authenticate a vibrant community gathering place. There are two key components to legitimizing this feeling, both of which are vital to the environment's long term success. The first is to combine master planning and architecture to allow the "three- dimensionalization" of such an environment. The second, and perhaps more important aspect of the environment's long term success, centers upon drawing residents to visit their downtown on a regular basis. This can only be accomplished by strategically planning a series of seasonal and annual events designed (and decorated where appropriate) to bring the community together. These events and their decoration cost money. The return on investment for such expenditure is direct and in most cases fairly immediate ... increased sales due to more regular visits. Southlake Town Square will spend more than $125,000 in organizing, promoting, and staging events for the nine months ending December 1999. The City will receive tax revenues in excess of $700,000 (annualized in excess of $1,000,000) for the same period. The City plays a vital role in the Town Square's viability. Like the owners and merchants, the City will also be a direct benefactor as a result of the project's ongoing success. The risk in large measure has now been underwritten. It then seems only fair, based upon the City's realized return(s), that the City should also be prepared to share its part of the burden of having such community events. Page 1 of 3 Background > Southlake Town Square is an approximately 130 acre development located within the City's defined central business district. This district comprises the City's economic "core" and, as such, is a key economic driver in generating a significant share of sales and property tax revenues for the City. > Phase I of Southlake Town Square opened on March 20, 1999. This first phase of the project comprises approximately 260,000 square feet, split equally between office and retail. The first phase has become one of the major generators of the City's tax revenues. Actual 1999 sales and property tax revenues to the City will likely exceed $700,000 which when annualized, equates to more than $1,000,000. > Phase I represents roughly 10% of the total development potential for the project. > Phases 2 and 3 are currently in planning and are expected to open in the 4 quarter next year. These phases will add over 125,000 square feet of retail and 30,000 square feet of office space in addition to the new Town Hall and Post Office. Leasing discussions underway and expected to convert in the year 2001 would provide an additional 200,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, entertainment and hotel uses with 40,000 square feet of office use. > Strong Phase I sales will not only support the existing environment; such sales will provide an essential catalyst for future growth. Numerous additional retailers are closely watching Southlake Town Square sales to determine the depth and strength of the market. Their conclusions will affect both location and timing decisions, which will have a direct impact on Town Square's future growth. Retail Observations > Phase I of Southlake Town Square includes a 125,000 square feet "specialty retail" component, with average annualized sales for 1999 projected to be in the order of $350 per square foot. > Based on a review of other "specialty" retail environments, and in keeping with national retail shopping patterns, the 4 quarter (i.e. the Christmas season) will generate the largest quarterly share of sales for the project. As quoted by numerous retailers, Christmas "makes or breaks" a store's sales for the year. As a range, stores can be expected to generate anywhere from 30% to 70% of their annual sales in the last quarter. Page2of3 > Strength of 4 quarter sales is driven in part by the strength of the environment. Town Square retailers are already observing shopping trends that will affect their Christmas sales. By way of example, Harold's sales indicate that their Town Square store is an "event" and holiday" store; strongest sales have coincided with special events such as the Fourth of July, sales tax holiday, sidewalk sales, "midnight madness" and the summer evening concert series. A successful Christmas may add up to 20% additional sales to their annual total. > Eddie Bauer has seen a "normal" Friday and Saturday night's sales (6 p.m. to 9 p.m.) jump from 10% of the daily total to 25% of the daily total, on the strength of the summer concert series alone. Nationally, Eddie Bauer stores may do from 35% to 65% of annual sales in the 4 quarter, depending on the strength of the Christmas draw. Southlake should prove to be no exception; the store expects up to 50% of annual sales from the 4th quarter. > Talbot's has seen a shift in customer loyalty to Town Square from customers who previously shopped at their Fort Worth (University Park Village), Arlington and Galleria stores. Factors cited in support of the shift are both customer convenience (for those in the immediate trade area) and the environmental amenity. If Town Square fails to deliver the Christmas environment that many of their customers expect, Talbot's expects weaker 4th quarter sales, as customers with a choice will go to more festive environments. The City's 2% share of 4th quarter sales tax revenues may be expected to exceed $300,000 from phase I. > A successful Christmas is expected to boost annual retail sales across the entire Town Square environment by a minimum of 10 %. Based on initial sales projections, the City's 2% share of sales taxes from this increase alone is expected to add over $80,000 in additional tax revenues for 1999. > The City of Denver has learned the power of Christmas on retails sales. The 16 Street Mall is a mixed use retail, restaurant, office and residential environment, in which buildings are privately owned and streets and sidewalks are publicly owned and maintained. In the past, Christmas decorations were minimal and were largely confined to the buildings. By 1998, the DDP Board recognized that the district was not effectively competing for its share of retail sales that it was losing customers to other newer, more competitive retail environments. In 1998, the District invested in a street decoration and lighting program. The results were immediate, with sales tax revenues increasing by $115,000 from the apparel category alone for the months of November and December, 1998. Page3of3