Agenda

AGENDA

CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
City of Garland
Work Session Room, City Hall
William E. Dollar Municipal Building
200 North Fifth Street
Garland, Texas
July 17, 2017
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.

Regular Item: These items generally require discussion between the Council and staff, boards, commissions, or consultants. These items are often accompanied by a formal presentation followed by discussion.

[Public comment will not be accepted during Work Session
unless Council determines otherwise.]

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.		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.

2.		Written Briefings:

	a.	Escrow Agreement with Pulte Homes of Texas, L.P. for the Gramercy Park Residential Development Council is requested to approve an Escrow Agreement with Pulte Homes of Texas, L.P. for the Gramercy Park Residential Development. Unless otherwise directed by Council, this item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the July 18, 2017 Regular Meeting.

	b.	School Related Traffic Control The Transportation Department periodically reviews school-related traffic control. A recent review reveals that changes are needed on both Buckingham Road and Sam Houston Drive for North Garland High School. Unless otherwise directed by Council, this item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the August 1, 2017 Regular Meeting.

	c.	Sale of Property - 5706 Marina Drive The City of Garland has received an unsolicited offer from Mr. Manuel Ignacio related to the purchase of City owned property which was obtained through a Sheriff's Sale. This property is located at 5706 Marina Drive, Building "A" Unit #3. Mr. Ignacio has offered $41,451.95 for the property which exceeds the 2009 judgment of $28,276.23. The net proceeds from the offer to the City of Garland would be $1,500 for post-judgment maintenance and $9,294.19 for City property taxes. In addition to the offer Mr. Ignacio will pay post-judgment taxes of approximately $4,448.05 of which the City of Garland will receive approximately $1,247.64. Unless otherwise directed by Council, this item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the August 1, 2017 Regular Meeting.

	d.	Oncor Rate Case Denial Council is requested to consider a resolution denying the rate application and consolidation proposed by Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC ("Oncor" or "Company"). Unless otherwise directed by Council, this item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the August 1, 2017 Regular Meeting.

3.		Verbal Briefings:

	a.	Neighborhood Resident Opinion Survey Results Staff will provide a historical overview of the Neighborhood Resident Opinion Survey, as well as present results of the 2016 annual suvey.

	b.	Transportation Update The Transportation Director will provide an update on major strategic transportation initiatives in Garland.

	c.	Internal Audit Committee Report Council Member David Gibbons, Chair of the Internal Audit Committee, will provide a committee report on the following items: Alcoholic Beverage Permits Audit Garland Cultural Arts Commission, Inc. Audit IT Procurement and Contract Management Audit Environmental Waste Services Revenue Audit Follow-up Animal Services Audit Follow-up

	d.	IH-30 Corridor Catalyst Area Plan Staff will brief the Council on a final draft of the IH-30 Corridor Catalyst Area Plan. A resolution to formally adopt the plan is listed on the July 18, 2017 Regular City Council agenda.

	e.	Process for Reporting Damaged Telephone Pedestals and Other Utility Concerns At the request of Mayor Pro Tem Scott LeMay and Council Member B.J. Williams, staff will make a presentation concerning the process for citizens to report damaged utility facilities in need of repair.

	f.	Network Nodes in Public Rights-of-Way Staff will provide an update regarding an ordinance adopting design regulations for network nodes ("small cells") in public right-of-way, in accordance with SB 1004.

	g.	Report on Street and Alley Conditions and PCI Trends The Street Department will present the City Council a report for its discussion regarding the current status of streets and alleys in the City along with cost information relating to repairs and replacements.

4.		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.

5.		Adjourn

GARLAND POLICY REPORT

City Council Work Session Agenda		Work Session Item 2.a.
Meeting Date:	07/17/2017
Item Title:	Escrow Agreement with Pulte Homes of Texas, L.P. for the Gramercy Park Residential Development
Submitted By:	Michael Polocek, Engineering Director
Council Goal:	Sustainable Quality Development and Redevelopment Financially Stable Government with Tax Base that Supports Community Needs Safe, Family-Friendly Neighborhoods

ISSUE
Consider approving an Escrow Agreement with Pulte Homes of Texas, L.P. for the Gramercy Park Residential Development. The proposed agreement would offset future roadway construction costs for Holford Road.
OPTIONS
1. Approve the Escrow Agreement. 2. Take no action.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve Option 1. Unless otherwise directed by Council, this item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the July 18, 2017 Regular Meeting.
BACKGROUND
The Garland Development Code (GDC) requires the dedication and construction of improvements in rights-of-way and easements for capital improvements to support new development. Gramercy Park is a proposed 112 lot residential subdivision currently being constructed at the southwest corner of Campbell Road and Holford Road. See attached map. The City’s Major Thoroughfare Plan designates both Campbell and Holford Roads as arterials. Campbell Road is currently constructed as a 4 lane divided concrete road while Holford Road is an unimproved two lane asphalt road and is not built to the ultimate cross section width as shown on the Major Thoroughfare Plan. Per the Plan, Holford Road is to consist of 4 lanes of concrete paving with a grassed median and a 12-foot wide trail. City Ordinance has a long-standing provision that requires a developer to improve adjacent substandard streets, and up to one-half of a standard arterial street. In addition, City Code and state law require a development project to contribute no more than its proportional share of roadway improvement costs. The Garland Development Code (GDC), Section 3.47 (B) stipulates that the developer’s share of improvements to a perimeter road is at minimum the equivalent of one-half of any adjacent street, along the entire front footage of the subdivision, depending upon the type of the abutting street as shown on the City’s Major Thoroughfare Plan. The Engineering Department has analyzed the developer’s proportional share attributed to the development and has determined the roadway improvements required by the City are justified. In many cases, it is not practical to construct a portion of a street, in particular when other portions of the street or its accompanying utilities will not be constructed at the same time. For these cases, the GDC has a provision that allow the developer to contribute funding to the City to be held in escrow until such time as the roadway is improved. This arrangement allows the developer to contribute their obligation for road construction, and allows the City to use those funds to offset future roadway costs. In this case, the developer has expressed a desire to enter into such an agreement for future improvements to Holford Road. They have submitted an engineer’s opinion of probable cost for their half of Holford Road totaling $511,868.78 including paving, surveying, design, materials testing and the required inflation factor adjustment. The Engineering Department has reviewed and agrees with the quantities and unit prices shown in the engineer’s estimate of probable cost. The developer has chosen to construct the 12-wide trail element with the subdivision development project. The attached Development Agreement allows for the collection of the developer’s cost for Holford Road in lieu of construction of the roadway and waives impact fee collection up to $511,868.78. Impact fees are collected at the time of Building Permit and are calculated to be $203,330.40.
CONSIDERATION
1. Council action is required to authorize the City Manager to sign the Escrow Agreement with Pulte Homes of Texas, LP. 2. The agreement has been reviewed by the City Attorney’s Office.

Attachments
Escrow Agreement
Engineer's Opinion of Probable Cost
Location Map

GARLAND POLICY REPORT

City Council Work Session Agenda		Work Session Item 2.b.
Meeting Date:	07/17/2017
Item Title:	School Related Traffic Control
Submitted By:	Paul Luedtke, Transportation Director
Council Goal:	Safe, Family-Friendly Neighborhoods

ISSUE
The Transportation Department periodically reviews school-related traffic control. A recent review reveals that changes are needed on both Buckingham Road and Sam Houston Drive for North Garland High School.
RECOMMENDATION
Lengthen the existing school speed zone on Buckingham Road such that it will begin 150 feet east of Sam Houston Drive (rather than just west of Sam Houston); also, establish a new school speed zone on Sam Houston Drive from 800 feet north of Buckingham to 400 feet south of Buckingham (Attachment A). Unless otherwise directed by Council, this item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the August 1, 2017 Regular Meeting.
BACKGROUND
In response to a request from the school, the Transportation Department conducted observations at North Garland High School and found high pedestrian crossing activity during school arrival and dismissal at the Buckingham Road & Sam Houston Drive intersection, as well as on Sam Houston Drive both north and south of Buckingham Road. Daily vehicular volume on Buckingham Road is 31,000; daily volume on Sam Houston Drive is 4,400 north of Buckingham Road and 2,200 south of Buckingham Road. Pedestrian crossings at the intersection of Buckingham Road & Sam Houston Drive exceed 80 per hour. The Transportation Department staff has determined that the pedestrian/vehicle conflicts are sufficient to warrant the extension of the school speed zone on Buckingham Road and the creation of a school speed zone on Sam Houston Drive.
CONSIDERATION
Adopting the proposed school traffic control changes will enhance the safety of school children, parents, and motorists in the vicinity of North Garland High School. Motorists will encounter a slight increase in delay due to the lower speed limit.

Attachments
NGHS SSZ Exhibit

GARLAND POLICY REPORT

City Council Work Session Agenda		Work Session Item 2.c.
Meeting Date:	07/17/2017
Item Title:	Sale of Property - 5706 Marina Drive
Submitted By:	Corey Worsham, Tax Administrator
Council Goal:	Financially Stable Government with Tax Base that Supports Community Needs Safe, Family-Friendly Neighborhoods

ISSUE
The City of Garland has received an unsolicited offer from Mr. Manuel Ignacio related to the purchase of City owned property which was obtained through a Sheriff's Sale. This property is located at 5706 Marina Drive, Building "A" Unit #3. Mr. Ignacio has offered $41,451.95 for the property which exceeds the 2009 judgment of $28,276.23. The net proceeds from the offer to the City of Garland would be $1,500 for post-judgment maintenance and $9,294.19 for City property taxes. In addition to the offer Mr. Ignacio will pay post-judgment taxes of approximately $4,448.05 of which the City of Garland will receive approximately $1,247.64.
OPTIONS
The City Council May: 1. Approve the 5706 Marina Drive, Building "A" Unit #3 property sale to Mr. Ignacio and provide an executed deed without warranty, or 2. Deny the offer presented by Mr. Ignacio.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council accept the offer and sell the property to Mr. Ignacio. Unless otherwise directed by Council, this item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the August 1, 2017 Regular Meeting.
BACKGROUND
The property was struck off to the City of Garland at a Sheriff's Sale on April 6, 2010. Section 34.05(h) of the Texas Property Tax Code grants consents of sale for all taxing entities owning interest in the real property. The City of Garland will accept payment on behalf of all entities and disperse all sale proceeds.
CONSIDERATION
This property has been held by the City of Garland since 2010 and pursuant to Section 34.05 of the Texas Property Tax Code may be resold to a private entity with the approval of the governing body.

Attachments
5706 Marina Dr. - Offer to Purchase
5706 Marina Dr. - Picture and Map
5706 Marina Dr. - Resolution
Exhibit A - 5706 Marina Dr. Deed

GARLAND POLICY REPORT

City Council Work Session Agenda		Work Session Item 2.d.
Meeting Date:	07/17/2017
Item Title:	Oncor Rate Case Denial
Submitted By:	Matt Watson, Finance Director
Council Goal:	Defends Rightful Powers of Municipalities

ISSUE
Council is requested to consider a resolution denying the rate application and consolidation proposed by Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC ("Oncor" or "Company").
OPTIONS
1. Approve the resolution denying the rate application and consolidation proposed by Oncor. 2. Do not approve the resolution denying the rate application and consolidation proposed by Oncor.
RECOMMENDATION
Unless otherwise directed by Council, this item will be scheduled for formal consideration at the August 1, 2017 Council Meeting.
BACKGROUND
The City, along with 158 other cities served by Oncor, participates in the Steering Committee of Cities Served by Oncor (“Steering Committee”). The Steering Committee has been in existence since the late 1980s. It took on a formal structure in the early 1990s when cities served by the former TXU gave up their statutory right to rate case expense reimbursement in exchange for higher franchise fee payments. Empowered by city resolutions, the Steering Committee has been the primary public interest advocate before the Public Utility Commission, the Courts, and the Legislature on electric utility regulation matters for the last 30 years. On March 17, 2017, Oncor filed an application to change rates with cities retaining original jurisdiction. In the filing, the Company seeks to increase system-wide transmission and distribution rates by $317 million or approximately 7.5% over present revenues. The Company asks the City to approve an 11.8% increase in residential rates and a 0.5% increase in street lighting rates. If approved, a residential customer using 1000 kWh per month would see a bill increase of about $6.68 per month. On April 18, 2017 the City Council adopted a resolution suspending the Oncor rate application and authorized the steering committee to review the proposed rate changes. The Steering Committee engaged the services of three consultants, Mr. Lane Kollen, Mr. Richard Baudino, and Mr. Karl Nalepa, to review the Company’s filing. The consultants identified numerous unreasonable expenses and propose significant reductions to the Company’s request. Accordingly, the Steering Committee’s attorneys recommend that all cities adopt the Resolution denying the rate change. Once the Resolution is adopted, Oncor will have 30 days to appeal the decision to the Public Utility Commission of Texas where the appeal will be consolidated with Oncor’s filing (i.e. PUC Docket No. 46957) currently pending at the Commission.
CONSIDERATION
Oncor is the transmission and distribution electric utility for approximately 15% of Garland and City Council has original jurisdiction over this matter. Under the law, cities with original jurisdiction have 125 days from the initial filing to take final action on the application. However, this deadline was suspended until August 19, 2017. As such, all cities with original jurisdiction will need to adopt the resolution no later than August 19.

Attachments
Resolution