Agenda

AGENDA

CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
City of Garland

REMOTE MEETING

Monday, June 7, 2021
6:00 p.m.

DEFINITIONS:

Written Briefing: Items that generally do not require a presentation or discussion by the staff or Council. On these items the staff is seeking direction from the Council or providing information in a written format.

Verbal Briefing: These items do not require written background information or are an update on items previously discussed by the Council.

NOTICE: Due to the COVID-19 emergency, and pursuant to Section 551.125 of the Texas Government Code and the executive orders of Governor Greg Abbott suspending provisions of the Texas Government Code and other applicable laws of the State regarding normal open meetings, the City Council will hold this meeting by internet/telephonic remote means.

The meeting will be broadcast by webinar or telephone at the following URL:

https://garlandtx.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Sf7XeseYQLmFBPAn0YeHrg

Registration for the online meeting is required. The meeting will be recorded and will be available for viewing the next day at www.garlandtx.gov.

For those without internet access to the meeting, a dial-in option is available. The numbers are:

346-248-7799
470-250-9358
470-381-2552

The Meeting ID is: 979 1552 8600

For participants (online and by phone) who wish to speak, a public comments period is provided as the first item on the agenda. If you desire to address the City Council on a matter that is posted on this agenda, please be prepared to do so at the beginning of the meeting. After the City Council has begun its discussion of the agenda, you will not be recognized to speak. The public comments portion of the meeting is provided for citizen comments. You are invited to offer a comment or make a statement on any item on the agenda. However, please bear in mind that offering comments should not be done in the form of posing questions. Generally, due to legal restrictions, the City Council is not able to answer questions during the public comments portion of the agenda. Your comments must relate to an item on this agenda - non-germane comments are not in order.

If an Executive Session is included as part of the agenda for this meeting, the Executive Session will be conducted by teleconference between and among the members of the City Council and relevant City staff. Public access to that call is prohibited by State law.

COUNCIL HOUSE RULES

1. Decisions based on issues, goals and vision.	9. Follow goals, principles and action agenda.
2. Do not take things personal.	10. Decide, vote and move on.
3. Project a positive attitude.	11. Avoid ambushes - Council or staff.
4. Focus on issues, not on the person.	12. Talk to staff before meetings.
5. Be prepared to discuss issues.	13. Vote our convictions, but be willing to compromise "What is best for Garland."
6. Maintain decorum.	14. Follow Roberts Rules of Order consistently.
7. Keep your sense of humor.	15. Agree to disagree.
8. Honor and respect each other; accept each other as individuals.	16. Be open and honest.

NOTICE: The City Council may recess from the open session and convene in a closed executive session if the discussion of any of the listed agenda items concerns one or more of the following matters:

(1) Pending/contemplated litigation, settlement offer(s), and matters concerning privileged and unprivileged client information deemed confidential by Rule 1.05 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. Sec. 551.071, Tex. Gov't Code.

(2) The purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property, if the deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the City in negotiations with a third person. Sec. 551.072, Tex. Gov't Code.

(3) A contract for a prospective gift or donation to the City, if the deliberation in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the position of the City in negotiations with a third person. Sec. 551.073, Tex. Gov't Code.

(4) Personnel matters involving the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline or dismissal of a public officer or employee or to hear a complaint against an officer or employee. Sec. 551.074, Tex. Gov't Code.

(5) The deployment, or specific occasions for implementation of security personnel or devices. Sec. 551.076, Tex. Gov't Code.

(6) Discussions or deliberations regarding commercial or financial information that the City has received from a business prospect that the City seeks to have locate, stay, or expand in or near the territory of the City and with which the City is conducting economic development negotiations; or to deliberate the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect of the sort described in this provision. Sec. 551.087, Tex. Gov't Code.

(7) Discussions, deliberations, votes, or other final action on matters related to the City’s competitive activity, including information that would, if disclosed, give advantage to competitors or prospective competitors and is reasonably related to one or more of the following categories of information:

generation unit specific and portfolio fixed and variable costs, including forecasts of those costs, capital improvement plans for generation units, and generation unit operating characteristics and outage scheduling;
bidding and pricing information for purchased power, generation and fuel, and Electric Reliability Council of Texas bids, prices, offers, and related services and strategies;
effective fuel and purchased power agreements and fuel transportation arrangements and contracts;
risk management information, contracts, and strategies, including fuel hedging and storage;
plans, studies, proposals, and analyses for system improvements, additions, or sales, other than transmission and distribution system improvements inside the service area for which the public power utility is the sole certificated retail provider; and
customer billing, contract, and usage information, electric power pricing information, system load characteristics, and electric power marketing analyses and strategies. Sec. 551.086; Tex. Gov't Code; Sec. 552.133, Tex. Gov’t Code]


1.		Public Comments on Work Session Items Persons who desire to address the City Council on any item on the Work Session agenda are allowed three minutes to speak. Speakers are taken only at the beginning of the meeting, other than invited testimony. Speakers are grouped by Work Session item and will be taken in the order of the Work Session agenda. Speakers must submit to the City Secretary a completed speaker’s card before the beginning of the meeting. Speaker cards will not be accepted after the Mayor calls the meeting to order. Speaker cards are available in the lobby, at the visitor’s side of the Work Session Room, and from members of staff. Speakers are limited to addressing items on the Work Session agenda – any item relating to a Regular Session agenda item should be addressed at the Regular Session and any item not on an agenda may be addressed during the open microphone at the end of the Regular Session.

2.		Consider the Consent Agenda A member of the City Council may ask for discussion or further information on an item posted as a consent agenda item on the next Regular Meeting of the City Council. The Council Member may also ask that an item on the posted consent agenda be pulled from the consent agenda and considered for a vote separate from consent agenda items on the regular agenda. All discussions or deliberations on this portion of the work session agenda are limited to posted agenda items and may not include a new or unposted subject matter.

3.		Written Briefings:

	a.	COVID-19 Response Update and Further Actions Staff will provide an update to Council and ask for Council direction, if needed, on various matters related to COVID-19 and actions being taken by the City.

	b.	Colonel Parking Restriction Modifications Council is requested to consider an ordinance modifying the parking restrictions on Colonel Drive to match the school times. Unless otherwise directed by Council, this item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the June 22, 2021 Regular Meeting.

	c.	Consider Authorizing a Lawsuit Against Various Video Service Providers to Recover Unpaid Franchise Fees Council is requested to consider whether to pursue litigation against the video service providers for unpaid franchise fees.

	d.	Sale of Property - 111 McKinley Council is requested to approve the sale of 111 McKinley Street to Jose G. Lopez and provide an executed deed without warranty. Unless otherwise directed by Council, this item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the June 22, 2021 Regular Meeting.

	e.	Sale of Property - 905 Trellis Circle Council is requested to approve the sale of 905 Trellis Circle to JMR Construction and provide an executed deed without warranty. Unless otherwise directed by Council, this item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the June 22, 2022 Regular Meeting.

	f.	Sale of Property - 610 Parker Circle Council is requested to approve the sale of 610 Parker Circle to Jose G. Lopez & Erika Ontiveros and provide an executed deed without warranty. Unless otherwise directed by Council, this item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the June 22, 2021 Regular Meeting.

4.		Verbal Briefings:

	a.	TxDOT Update on LBJ East Project At the request of Council Member BJ Williams and former Council Member Ricky McNeal, TxDOT will provide an update on the current status of the LBJ East project.

	b.	Interview for Appointment to the North Texas Municipal Water District Board The North Texas Municipal Water District Board notified the City that Don Gordon's term of office as a North Texas Municipal Water District Board Member expires May 31, 2021. Information regarding the qualifications of the NTMWD Board Member position was posted for at least 21 days prior to the close of the application period in order to provide the opportunity for citizens to apply for the position. An application was received from Don Gordon. Council is scheduled to formally appoint a representative to the NTMWD Board of Directors at the June 8, 2021 Regular Meeting.

	c.	Development Services Committee Report Council Member Dylan Hedrick, Chairman of the Development Services Committee, and Planning Director Will Guerin, will provide a committee report on the following items assigned to the committee: Consider a Historic or Iconic Signs Ordinance Review GDC regulations regarding carport pole cladding.

	d.	Transportation, Infrastructure and Mobility Committee Report Council Member Rich Aubin, Chair of the Transportation, Infrastructure and Mobility Committee, will provide a committee report on the following items: Sidewalk Participation Ordinance Revisions Street Hump Policy Revisions.

5.		Announce Future Agenda Items A member of the City Council, with a second by another member, or the Mayor alone, may ask that an item be placed on a future agenda of the City Council or a committee of the City Council. No substantive discussion of that item will take place at this time.

6.		Council will move into Executive Session

		EXECUTIVE SESSION AGENDA NOTICE: The City Council may recess from the open session and convene in a closed executive session if the discussion of any of the listed agenda items concerns one or more of the following matters:



		The City Council will adjourn into executive session pursuant to Sections 551.087, 551.072 and 551.071 of the Texas Government Code to deliberate or discuss: Economic development matters related to an incentive to a business prospect (551.087); the purchase, exchange, lease or value of a tract of real property and improvements located in the downtown area (551.072); and attorney/client matters concerning privileged and unprivileged client information (551.071).

		The City Council will also adjourn into executive session pursuant to Sections 551.071 and 551.087 of the Texas Government Code to deliberate or discuss: Economic development matters related to an incentive to a business prospect (551.087) and the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property and improvements (551.072) located generally at the intersection of W. Walnut Street and N. Shiloh Road.

7.		Adjourn

GARLAND
CITY COUNCIL ITEM SUMMARY SHEET


City Council Work Session Agenda		Work Session Item 3.c.
Meeting Date:	06/07/2021
Item Title:	Consider Authorizing a Lawsuit Against Various Video Service Providers to Recover Unpaid Franchise Fees
Submitted By:	Brad Neighbor, City Attorney

Summary of Request/Problem
Under the traditional model of cable franchises, the cable operator is required to pay a franchise fee to cities in which it operates. Historically that obligation was enforced through a bilateral contract between the city and the operator. The law has changed over the years as well as the means of providing video entertainment services to the home. State law (rather than a bilateral contract) now requires the payment of what used to be called "franchise fees" and cable operators are not the exclusive providers of video entertainment services. Subscription video entertainment services like Netflix, Disney, and Hulu provide multi-channel entertainment in a manner that looks very much like what the cable company provides by way of cable subscription. However, those service providers do not pay the state-mandated fees to the City, their argument being that they are not cable operators. We believe the Texas Utilities Code requires video entertainment services to pay state service fees ("franchise fees") to cities in which they provide such services, including Garland. Other cities have already joined together as a group to press the matter through litigation inasmuch as there seems to be little chance of getting the video service providers to voluntarily pay the required fees short of litigation.
Recommendation/Action Requested and Justification
The threshold request to be considered by the Council is whether it desires to pursue litigation against the video service providers for unpaid franchise fees. By initial calculations, it appears that there is approximately $2.8 million in unpaid fees to be recovered. If the Council is willing to authorize litigation to collect the fees, the Office of the City Attorney recommends that the City retain the litigation group counsel being used by other cities that are pursuing these fees. Litigation counsel would be retained on a contingency basis so that the City would incur no out-of-pocket costs to engage in the litigation. Counsel will be paid from the recovery, if there is a recovery, from the video service providers. Under State law, a city must go through several steps before it may engage outside counsel on a contingency basis. If the Council concurs in pursuing the unpaid fees, we must provide certain required notices, pass a resolution that contains certain findings, and obtain permission from the Texas Attorney General. With Council approval, the City Attorney will commence the process of posting the required notice and preparing an appropriate authorizing resolution for Council approval to be considered on the next available regular session agenda.