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03.22.2005 Town Council MinutesPISPER OWN OF 1. Call to Order 1 Roll Call. Meeting was called to order at 6:10 p.m. Roll call was taken by the Town Secretary Minutes (approved) Regular Meeting of the Prosper Town Council 601 South Church Street Prosper First Baptist Church Children's Building (S. Wing) Tuesday, March 22, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. Council present included: Mayor Charles Niswanger, Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler, Ane Casady, Kevin Drown, Mike Wadsworth and David Bristol. Staff present included: Town Administrator, Doug Mousel; Director of Planning, Mitch Humble; Fire Chief, Ronnie Tucker, Police Chief, Kirk McFarlin; and Town Secretary, Shanae Jennings. 2. Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance Invocation was given by Councilperson Mike Wadsworth; there was no flag so there was no pledge tonight. 3. Announcements of dates and times of upcoming community events Meet the candidate forum sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce will be held at the elementary school on Thursday, April 14, 2005, h)ginning at 6:00 p.m. CONSENT AGENDA (Items placed on the Consent Agenda are considered routine in nature and are considered non -controversial. The Consent Agenda can be acted upon in one motion. A majority vote of the Council is required to remove any item for discussion and separate action. Council members may vote nay on any single item without comment and may submlt written comments as part of the official record.) 4. Consent Agenda MINUTES a. Consider and act upon minutes from the following Council meetings: (SJ) • March 8, 2005 Regular Meeting AGREEMENTS b. Consider and act upon approval of the form of a typical agreement between the Town and a sign applicant regarding the location of a sign within a public utility easement and authorize the Town Administrator to enter into these agreements as necessary. (MH) ORDINANCES/RESOLUTIONS c. Consider and act upon on an Ordinance for the voluntary annexation of a tract of land located in the Collin County School Land Survey, Abstract No. 147, Collin County, Texas, containing 77.6972 acres of land, and being more generally located at the northeast corner of Coleman Street and Prosper Trail. (A 2004.28, Axxium Land Development, LLC) (SJ) Motioned by Kevin Drown, seconded by Ane Casady to approve the consent agenda. M90pn gp,prpved 5-0. Pad® I Af 7 PUBLIC COMMENTS (The public is invited to address the Council on any topic. However, the Council is unable to discuss or take action on any topic not listed on this agenda. Please complete a 'Public Comments Form" and present it to the Town Secretary prior to the meeting.) Comments by the Public There were no comments by the public tonight. REGULAR AGENDA (If you wish to address the Council during the regular agenda portion of the meeting, please fill out a "Speaker Request Form" and present it to the Town Secretary prior to the meeting. Citizens wishing to address the Council for items listed as public hearings will be recognized by the mayor. Those wishing to speak on a non-public hearing related item will be recognized on a case-by-case basis, at the discretion of the Mayor and Town Council.) PUBLIC HEARINGS /ASSOCIATED ORDINANCES/PLATS 6. A public hearing to consider and act upon the adoption of a proposed new Zoning Ordinance. (MH) Motioned by Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler, seconded by David Bristol to move to items 7-10 then return to item 6 since the discussion on item 6 will be a lengthy one. Motion approved 5-0. Council moved to item 7 at this time. Council returned to item 6 at approximately 8:01 p.m. after they completed discussions on items 7-11. Motioned by Mike Wadsworth, seconded by Kevin Drown to open the public hearing. Motion approved 5-0. Mayor Charles Niswanger opened the public hearing at 8:05 p.m. Phil Jobe, 201 North Preston Rd, Prosper, TX — He has concerns about the timing of which landscaping plans are being requested to be submitted to council for approval. He said most of the time these are not done during the time of platting. He requested that construction begin and that landscaping plans then be required for submittal prior to the approval of final acceptance of the plat. He said that trees are worth money to the developer and they do everything possible to dance around the trees; he feels it is onerous to request that a developer replace trees that are cut down or destroyed. ^dike Wadsworth suggested in the essence of saving time to have Mitch Humble compile all the comments sent to him by council members garding the zoning ordinance, provide those comments to all of council, allow council to decide if they are in agreement or disagreement on the comments, and narrow the topics for discussion from there. Comments from the council should be provided to Mitch by Monday, March 28, 2005. Topics council focused on tonight are as follows: a) Expiration of preliminary site plan — Two (2) years with the ability for staff to extend the plan for one (1) year is being suggested. Council varies on the number of years they believe the preliminary site plans should be allowed to exist without expiration. Mike Wadsworth believes the preliminary site plan expiration should be extended beyond two (2) years. Scott Norris, 4265 Kellway, Addison, TX — He said that there could be some very large tracts of land coming Prosper's way, and the financing and engineering to set that up could take a very long time. He indicated that a developer could hit an expiration date before the construction even begins if preliminary site plans do not have an adequate amount of time to exist before expiration. Kevin Drown asked if projects based on size, for example, a hundred acre tract versus a small lot could have differing expiration times or extension times. Mitch said he believes the expirations should stay the same, but that a possibility for a longer extension could be considered. Doug Mousel suggested that Mitch Humble get with the new EDC Executive Director and get feedback from her on this issue as well, and then re -address the issue with council. b) Remove Section 5, Chapter 1 — It was suggested by legal that this section is unenforceable, and should be removed. Council agreed to the removal. The section stated, "The Town Council of the Town of Prosper shall not approve any plat of any subdivision within the Town Limits of the Town of Prosper until the area covered by the proposed plat shall have been permanently zoned by the Town Council of the Town of Prosper..." The entire section may be reviewed at the Planning Director's office. c) Landscape plan submittal time — As indicated above, developers would like to be able to submit landscape plans prior to approval of "nal plat acceptance. Doug Mousel suggested that not all developers are as good as others in finishing out the landscaping, and the .dinance is written this way to address that concern. Council would also like some input on this item from the EDC Executive Director as well. Page 2 of 7 d) Tree mitigation — The question is whether or not tree mitigation should be required. The provision is in the ordinance because otherwise some developers will come in and put a road straight down a tree line, and cut down all of the trees. Mitch Humble stated this is the exception, not the rule; however, it is the reason tree mitigation provisions exist. This would require a developer to plant a tree for each tree that is destroyed by the developer. It encourages the developer to be more mindful of how they build and how many trees are left during at construction. Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler stated that the master plan was written as a guide to how the Town should be constructed, and in that plan tree preservation was one of the number one priorities. d) Lot sizes and density — This has likely been the major source of disagreement between council. There is a varying of opinions between allowing the market to drive the size of a lot versus the ordinance establishing the minimum lot size for a development. Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler said that she does not believe the residents of Prosper want to see minimum lot sizes of 8,000 square feet, and that residents of Prosper moved here because they wanted big lot sizes. She believes that the way the lot sizes are being proposed right now makes Prosper look just like Frisco, and though she intends no offense to Frisco, she doesn't want to look like Frisco. She does not believe it is the responsible step to allow the market to drive the lot size. Kevin Drown expressed agreement with Lisa Dritschler, and he believes that 10,000 square foot lots should be the minimum consideration for lot size. David Bristol said that 10,000 square feet is not a written number, but it is what has always been the norm for Prosper. He said that it appears council is focusing on the minimum numbers, instead of the overall development and idea of the density zoning concept. Mike Wadsworth also agrees that 8,000 square foot lots across the board were too small and he can't agree with approving that; however, he thinks there has to be a compromise out there to incorporate some form of the density zoning concept, which incorporates some smaller lots, with some larger lots. Ane Casady said the only comment she has is that people want space, and she wants there to be large lot sizes and no cookie cutter homes. Mitch Humble will compile some numbers for density options and development and bring them back to council. Motioned by Mike Wadsworth, seconded by David Bristol to close the public hearing. Motion approved 5-0. Mayor Charles Niswanger closed the public hearing at 9:53 p.m. Motioned by Mike Wadsworth, seconded by David Bristol to table this item to April 12, 2005. Motion approved 5-0. DEPARTMENT ITEMS 7. Discuss and provide direction to staff regarding the preparation of a contract between the Town and a contractor to design -pd install emergency warning sirens for the Town. (RT) Ronnie provided background to the Council on the four bids that were received by the Fire Department for the warning sirens. Bids were received by American Communications, ATI Systems, Federal Signal Corporation and Gifford Electric Inc. Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler asked if any of the companies would warranty the work, and Ronnie indicated that Gifford Electric was the only company willing to warrant the work for five years. The Mayor asked if the bidder which Ronnie thinks would best represent the Town could fall within our budget for five sirens. Ronnie indicated that though Griffin Electric gave a bid priced on 12 sirens, which is above the allotted amount proposed in the budged to spend on this project, he believes Griffin Electric would be able to place five sirens throughout the town within the budgeted amount. Council directed Ronnie to negotiate into a contract with Griffin Electric for the design and installation of emergency warning sirens for the Town, and bring the contract back before council. 8. Consider and act upon adding the Town's Finance/Business Manager as an individual authorized to sign on the Town's financial accounts. (DM) Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler and Mike Wadsworth indicated that there was some concern about allowing the same person who writes the town's checks to also sign them. For now, Council would like to have the new Business Manager get his feet wet and acquire some understanding of the current budget before he is authorized to sign on the Town's accounts. Motioned by Mike Wadsworth, seconded by Ane Casady to table this item for the next 90 days and then re -address the issue. Motion approved 5-0. Consider and act upon 1) an agreement between the Town and DJBT-57, Ltd. and 2) the resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute the agreement regarding improvements to a drainage easement within the Trails of Prosper subdivision. (DM) Page 3 of 7 This item was on the agenda on 3/8/05 and was approved with several stipulations; therefore, staff believes it is in the best interest of the Town and the developer to approve the revised agreement with the stipulations addressed before proceeding. h4ayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler stated that the Town Council, be it past councils or present councils, have approved everything this ;veloper has done, and has also asked the developer to go back and do other things, in which he has freely done, some out of his own pocket. It is her feeling that the drainage easement at the Trails of Prosper is the responsibility of the Town and not solely the property owner since the Town Engineer is the one who created these plans, and the Council approved these plans. Mike Wadsworth is not in favor of putting $50,000 towards the building of retaining walls when the residents who live in that area were aware when they bought the homes that they were responsible for maintaining the easements on their own property. Mark Webb, 6324 Bandera Ave., Dallas, TX. He represents the individual who owns the property adjacent to this tract and they are going to have the same problems and concerns that exist on this item when they plat their property. He would like to have some resolve on this prior to the same thing occurring during their development. Doug Mousel suggested that the Town will make some changes before the time Mr. Webb's development begins. Motioned by Mike Wadsworth, seconded by Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler to approve 1) an agreement between the Town and DJBT-57, Ltd. and 2) the resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute the agreement regarding improvements to a drainage easement within the Trails of Prosper subdivision subject to the following modifications: a) The Town's financial commitment be capped at $20,000; b) Specific responsibilities include reshaping, cleaning and hydro mulching the channel and constructing the access driveway from Prosper Trail to the channel, and; c) Three bids will be secured by the developer for each improvement and bids will be reviewed by Town Staff or the Town Engineer for accuracy. Motion approved 5-0. Motioned by David Bristol, seconded by Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler to move to item 11 at this time since a large crowd is present who want to speak on this item. Addressing the item now will allow those in the crowd who would like to leave before the discussion on the )ning ordinance to do so. Motion approved 5-0. Council moved to item 11 at this time. They will re -address item 10 proceeding discussion of item 11. 10. Review the monthly activity reports from the following departments, committees and projects: • Administration • Police Department • Fire Department • Planning Department • Public Works • Inspections • Communications • Parks and Recreation Committee • Prosper E.D.0 Council moved to item 10 upon completion of item 11. The Mayor introduced the new EDC Executive Director Karen Gandy to the rest of the council and the public. It was reported that the new Police Department (PD) is complete and the police have moved into the facility. Court is also now being held at the new PD. Most all modifications made to the building were done so by the officers themselves, so there was very little construction or labor cost associated with the move. David Bristol stated that he has finished a review of the personnel manual and would like to meet with Doug Mousel or the Town Attorney to discuss his suggestions and thoughts. The council moved back to item 6 at this time. XECUTtVE SESSION 11. Recess into closed session in compliance with Section 551.074 et. Seq. Texas Government Code, to hear a complaint or charge against the mayor and police chief and to possibly deliberate the discipline, duties and/or evaluation of the mayor and Page 4 of 7 police chief. (Per Section 551.074, the hearing of the complaint and the deliberation will be conducted as a public hearing if it is requested by the mayor and/or police chief.) 4ayor Charles Niswanger stated that because the complaint is alleged against him he is going to step down and sit within the audience. s also requested that Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler preside over the executive session. Doug Mousel and Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler explained that a complaint has been filed by a resident against the Mayor and Police Chief Kirk McFarlin, questioning whether either or both of them utilized a Town owned vehicle for personal use at a hunting lease. Both the Mayor and the Police Chief Kirk McFarlin requested this item be heard in a public hearing format instead of discussed in a private executive session, which would be closed to the public. Doug Mousel indicated that on March 12, 2005 a complaint via email was filed by resident Sally Holmburg requesting that the Town Administrator investigate whether or not the Mayor and the Police Chief Kirk McFarlin took a town owned vehicle to or from a personal hunting lease outside the area of Prosper, Texas. Motioned by Mike Wadsworth, seconded by David Bristol to open the public hearing. Motion approved 4-0. Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler opened the public hearing at 7:07 p.m. Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler opened the floor to discussion from the public. The Mayor got up and spoke first, indicating that he has never utilized anything to drive to or from personal events and professional town related events for that matter other than his own vehicle. Additionally, he wanted to point out that he has never requested reimbursement for his travels pertaining to town business. He did indicate that he is a good friend with the Police Chief, but that he also is good friends with the Fire Chief and other staff members. He feels that it is ironic that since it is election time that a candidate, his opposing candidate for the office of Mayor, chooses to file a complaint against him for something such as this - which is not true. The Mayor feels that Ms. Holmburg should have charges pressed against her for false accusations. Mike Wadsworth asked the Mayor directly if he or the Police Chief drove the car to a hunting lease, and the Mayor responded that no, he had never driven a town owned car to any hunting lease or any other event which was of a personal nature. David Griffin, 1091 Harvest Hill Drive, Prosper, TX — He said he has known the Mayor for several years and believes him to be a very aical man who has the primary interest of Prosper at hand, and does not believe he has done anything to wrong the community of Prosper. Police Chief Kirk McFarlin said he does expect that there will be complaints against him now and in the future simply because he is the Police Chief, but he does not want to be used as a political springboard during election season. He said that he does not consider this a complaint because there are no facts, witnesses, written statements, or any other supporting material to allege there is substance for a complaint. Police Chief Kirk McFarlin said that it is a blatant lie to say that his police vehicle was ever driven to his personal hunting lease or any other lease. He said there are logs of where gas is filled up, what the mileage of the car is at that time, and where vehicles are driven that belong to the Police and Fire Departments. The chief would like to see a suit for slander or libel brought against the person who has made these complaints, and does not want to be used in a political election for campaign purposes. Jeff Burandt, 1540 Gentle Way, Prosper, TX — He said that he has lived in Prosper for years and he has lived next to and worked with many of the people in the room. He feels that the individual who has made the allegations has exuded demented behavior now and in the past, and is not surprised at the allegations being made at this time. He feels it is destructive behavior to make such allegations, and it seeks to demean and destroy the good will of others. Mr. Burandt was asked by Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler to speak only to the issue at hand. Gina McFarlin, 780 Bridgeport, Prosper, TX — Chief McFarlin is her husband and she wants to express that she feels it is a shame that Council has to waste their time on allegations such as this. She said that she could provide any bills, statements, and any sort of material to validate the fact that their own personal possessions and vehicles have been used for hunting trips. She said that a lot of time is spent between her, her husband, and her children in helping the Town, and they do this because they love the people in it. The last thing her husband would do is something not in the best interest of the Town. Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler asked if anyone else would like to speak before she closed the public hearing. dayor Charles Niswanger asked to say one more thing. Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler again asked that he speak only to the issue at hand. He asked that Sally Holmburg come to the pulpit and speak and apologize to him and to the Police Chief for making such allegations Page 5 of 7 Sally Holmburg, 1506 River Hill, Prosper, TX - she said she asked a yes or no question, and now the town of Prosper wants to sue her for libel and slander. She said that based on her legal training she is inclined to say nothing, and has no comment because she feels there -has been a legal threat to sue her made by the Town of Prosper through the Mayor and Police Chief. Motioned by Mike Wadsworth, seconded by Kevin Drown to close the public hearing. Motion approved 4-0. Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler closed the public hearing at 7:33 p.m. Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler asked the council if they had any comments concerning the complaint and opened the floor for council to discuss the issue. David Bristol indicated that not just one or two people speak for the Council, and the word slander resides with those who speak that word, and not the council itself — as the word slander is a very strong word. David Bristol believes that tonight is a great example of democracy at work, and people have the right to both make complaints as well as others have the right to defend themselves. He has spoken to the complainant himself, and based on the complaint, as well as what he has been able to derive, he would come to the conclusion that there is no further reason to investigate such allegations that have been made. Kevin Drown stated that based on what he has heard and seen he sees no reason to further investigate this complaint. Mike Wadsworth stated that based on everything he has heard, he too sees no reason for further action on this complaint, and concurs with his fellow council members that it should no longer be investigated. Ane Casady stated that out of this she would like to see the complaint process improved, and she hopes that no other complaints will be alleged in the future. She sees no further reason to pursue the complaint because she does not see much substance to or behind the complaint. Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler stated that she believes the Mayor and Police Chief serve our Town well, and that in the future if there is a r,jmplaint alleged, she would like to see a process in place that formally outlines that process and how it will be addressed. Rudy Gerrero, 2C Rhea Mills, Prosper, TX — He feels the Council is doing a good job in their positions and that finding things to improve on is nothing to be ashamed of, because it will make the Town better in the long run. At this time the Mayor asked that the Council exonerate him and the Police Chief for any wrongdoing, and David Bristol said that he believed they just had by dismissing the complaint. At the conclusion of the public hearing, Mayor Charles Niswanger again joined the council and resided over the council meeting. Motioned by David Bristol, seconded by Mike Wadsworth to briefly recess. Motion approved 5-0. Council recessed at 7:40 p.m. Motioned by Mayor Pro -Tem Lisa Dritschler, seconded by Ane Casady to reconvene. Motion approved 5-0. Council reconvened at 7:58 p.m. Council moved back to item 10 at this time. 12. Reconvene into regular session and take any action necessary as a result of the closed session. Council never convened into an executive session. Instead, those who received complaints requested that the complaints be heard in a public forum; therefore, a public hearing was conducted in lieu of the executive session. 13. Possibly direct Town Staff to schedule topic(s) for discussion at a future meeting. • Define complaint process against Town Staff and elected employees in accordance with the Tx. Govt. Code. (4. Adjourn Page 6 of 7 Motioned by Ane Casady, seconded by Kevin Drown to adjourn the Town Council meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 p.m. Motion approved 5-0. �ttest: ansa Jennings, n ecretary thia-res Nis anger, May Page 7 of 7