Denton City Council Meeting Summary – February 3, 2026
Denton City Council Meeting Summary – February 3, 2026
The Denton City Council met on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, in a combined work session and regular meeting. The session began at an unspecified afternoon time with a quorum present. The council discussed a new fire station in the southwest, an update to the backflow prevention ordinance, the transition of Discover Denton to an independent organization, and a building lease with the Denton City Federation of Women's Clubs (followed by a closed session). The regular session included public comments, a consent agenda with two pulled items, public hearings, and individual consideration items. Multiple votes were taken.
Consent Calendar
- The consent agenda (minus items E and F) was approved unanimously (motion by Councilmember Beck, second by Councilmember McGee, vote 6–0).
- Item E (noise exception for Balfour Beatty at 2525 Yellowstone Place) was pulled. Approved 5–1 (Councilmember Beck dissenting).
- Item F (wastewater easement at Sagebrook Park) was pulled. Approved 5–1 (Councilmember Beck dissenting).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Mary Wright – Representing residents near Cooper Creek. Requested the council revisit the reclassification of Cooper Creek as a wildflower zone, citing flood risks and reduced maintenance. Showed before/after photos of vegetation overgrowth.
- Grace Hansen – Urged the council to restrict ICE cooperation, including requiring Denton PD to not share immigration status, not allow ICE in the city jail, and not run joint operations. Cited incidents of harassment in Texas.
- June Cook – Called for transparency and limits on Flock camera surveillance data, including public mapping, enforced deletion, and a binding prohibition on immigration enforcement use. Noted a petition "Deflock Denton."
- Mark Redding – Local business owner disputed $2,866.83 in back utility charges and late fees accumulated over 22 months without prior notice. Requested a clear process and fair resolution.
- Dana Zoltner – Urged the council to amend the ADU ordinance to include design requirements (color, roof pitch, materials, architectural detail) to prevent warehouse-like structures in neighborhoods. Referenced specific properties.
Discussion Items
- Fire Station 10 (Southwest Station) – Fire Chief Kenneth Hedges presented current coverage (ILA with ESD #1 expiring September 2028), response times (4-minute goal per NFPA 1710), and ISO rating implications. Two options: temporary station ($1.2M one-time) or permanent station ($800k design now, ~$12.2M total, financed with bonds ~$950k/year debt service). Developer Hillwood will convey 3 acres and reimburse $5M. Council members debated timing and fiscal impact. Direction: option two (permanent station) was supported by a majority (Councilmember Jester asked to be recorded for option one). Staff directed to proceed with design, with future budget discussions on net neutrality.
- Cross-Connection Control & Backflow Prevention Ordinance – Stephen Gay (Water Utilities GM) presented updates to the 1997 ordinance to modernize enforcement, eliminate atmospheric vacuum breakers, and clarify inspection/emergency procedures. No residential impact. Ordinance to be placed on individual consideration next month.
- Discover Denton Bylaws – Christy Franz (Executive Director) presented the transition to an independent DMMO (destination management and marketing organization) with a 11-member board. Council discussed city representation (one voting seat, one ex officio) and suggested tweaks (e.g., chair as ex officio on nominating committee, records open to city manager). Council provided consensus to move forward with the bylaws as modified by Councilmember Jester.
- Building Lease with Denton City Federation of Women's Clubs – Christine Taylor (Asst. City Manager) provided background: 99-year lease expiring August 2026, building in Quakertown Park (historic Freedmanstown). 2022 work session and Downtown Denton Master Plan (adopted 2024) included memorials but no changes to the building. Council directed staff to proceed with due diligence and negotiation. Closed session followed to discuss terms.
Key Outcomes
- Fire Station 10: Council directed staff to proceed with a permanent station (option two), with $800k design funding shifted from the Service Center project. Future council discussions required on funding and debt neutrality.
- Cross-Connection Ordinance: No vote; staff to bring ordinance for consideration at the next meeting.
- Discover Denton Bylaws: Council consensus to approve the bylaws with Councilmember Jester's tweaks (chair as ex-officio on nominating committee; records inspection by city manager). Staff to prepare articles of formation.
- Women's Club Lease: Council took no action; closed session held. Further discussion anticipated.
- Public Hearings:
- Design Criteria Manual update: Adopted 6–0.
- Palladium Denton West housing tax credit resolution: Adopted 6–0. (Projected $60k annual resident benefit; 120 units, 34% affordable for Denton.)
- Hickory Grove rezoning (RR/R2 to MR): Adopted 5–1 (Councilmember Beck dissenting).
- Individual Consideration:
- Rename Civic Center to Quakertown Civic Center: Adopted 6–0.
- Name Day Labor Site to Popo Gonzalez Day Labor Site: Adopted 6–0.
- Veterinary services contract with RSVP Services LLC: Adopted 6–0 (1-year with four 1-year renewals, not to exceed $9M).
- Concluding Items: Councilmember Byrd recognized Black History Month; Councilmember McGee commented on police violence; Councilmember Byrd thanked Quakertown ancestors and staff; Mayor Pro Tem praised staff and community response to winter weather.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon. Welcome to this meeting of the Denton City Council today, Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026. We do have a quorum, so I'll call the meeting to order and in person or regular consent. Agenda let's see. So citizen comment on the consent agenda items. Any citizen comments? Thank you. Uh takes us to request for clarification on agenda items listed on the agenda for public hearing and individual consideration. So agenda items listed on the agenda or public hearing questions. Any questions? Representative from district two. Yeah, I've requested earlier uh items ENF for an individual vote. Earlier as in Monday. As in today. Okay. Uh chair's discretion. We we have an agreement amongst the council. I'm I'm not going to acknowledge that. The council can take that up this evening if they choose to take us to our first work session. Uh 3A ID 252195. Receive report hold discussion, give staff direction regarding a future fire station in the southwest portion of the city. Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council, Kenneth Hedges Fire Chief. Uh today we're gonna have a brief presentation about uh fire station in the southwest portion of the city. Well, start off kind of is what it is as of today, as far as the current coverage for fire and EMS. We are currently operating underneath the ILA within County Emergency Services District Number One. You see that commence October 1 to 2018, and really the end of life of that expires in September 28. We've been planning for this for some time, and today's kind of just an opportunity to have a discussion about facts, and then I actually give you some uh direction at the end to choose an option that you feel is best for the fire department moving forwards. So this ILA actually uses a shared cost funding strategy. Um we actually pay a certain percentage of the fire station in the harvest area that the ESD actually um operates out of part of the fire truck, and then three personnel with this cost sharing strategy, it actually responds one engine and it's just the blue area, which is just Robson Ranch as well. So for reference, that is the southwest portion of the city. You see 35W on your right, Robson Ranch Road, and like I said, the blue area is the Rubson Ranch. With this, it is only engine crew. So on fire calls, they're first in EMS calls. We stood still respond with Medic 7 if they're available from station seven up there in the upper right corner. And just for reference, that is 5.4 miles away. On average response time, because that is something how we measure the effectiveness of the fire department, that equates to about a nine-minute response time from station seven to the front gate at Robson Ranch. Moving on for last year's fiscal year's cost for service, kind of how we measure our workload is cost for service, which is a 911 generated call and it goes into dispatch centers dispatched to the nearest fire station as well. You see to the left is all the calls for service in Robson Ranch, and then to the right of 35W is Ashley Country Lakes and a few other subdivisions as well. So you see we're averaging two calls per day or a little bit over that for last fiscal year, with obviously the majority in Robson Ranch. So fire department operates under best practices, which is NFPA 1710. That is kind of a very um lofty goal and aspiration that fire departments across the U.S. try to actually manage and hit. It is considered the gold standard in the fire service. What we use as far as response time is there to the left. Um the ultimate goal is to receive the first arriving unit within four minutes of travel time from the time that is actually alarmed at the station. Second component also is actually an eight-minute travel time with the full units for a one-alarm structure fire. And for the denton fire department, that equates to seven units and nineteen personnel. So these are our very lofty goals to hit that four-minute travel time. I would say across the city, we managed to do that mostly in the court. There's still some areas that we still are not able to achieve that just due to road conditions, weather, traffic stack as well.
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