Denton City Council Meeting - March 24, 2026
Denton City Council Meeting – March 24, 2026
The Denton City Council held a work session, closed session, and regular meeting on March 24, 2026, beginning at 2:02 PM. The work session included audit reports on the FY 2024-25 annual financial report, solid waste operations, and fire prevention. Council also heard a two-minute pitch on reviewing the city's newspaper of record. The closed session at 2:49 PM covered personnel matters (internal auditor, municipal judge, city attorney) with no action taken. The regular meeting reconvened at 5:26 PM, approved a consent agenda, and acted on several contracts and annexations.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the consent agenda (7-0) with no items pulled.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No citizen comments were made during the citizen comments period at the start of the meeting.
Discussion Items
- FY 2024-25 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report & Audit (Item 3A, ID 252325): Finance Director Matt Hamilton introduced audit partner Sarah Dempsey of Weaver and Tidwell. She reported unmodified (clean) opinions on financial statements and single audits, no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies, and thanked city staff for their cooperation. Council asked no questions.
- Solid Waste Operations Audit Follow-up (Item 3B, ID 262456): City Auditor Madison Rorshaw presented the follow-up, finding 19 of 20 recommendations implemented, one in progress. Improvements included a scale house procedures manual, training checklists, a centralized safety manual, and a SCADA system to reduce handwritten data. Councilmembers praised the department's progress. Councilmember Beck asked about average transaction time at scale house and requested future reporting; staff deferred to the department. Councilmember Baines inquired about safety training completion – one recommendation on supervisor guidance for equipment-specific training remains in progress.
- Fire Prevention Audit Follow-up (Item 3C, ID 262457): Madison Rorshaw reported 9 of 12 recommendations implemented, three in progress. Not all high-risk buildings received annual inspections in FY 2024 and 2025 (12 of 14 in 2024, 11 of 14 in 2025). Written guidance on inspections and a compliance reporting system were implemented. Outstanding items include moving case files to CJIS-compliant storage and finalizing documentation procedures. Councilmember Beck asked about measuring risk reduction from public education; the audit did not assess that. Councilmember Dickson asked about inspection frequency and violation procedures.
- Two-Minute Pitch: Newspaper of Record (Item 3D, ID 260278): Mayor Hudsmith requested staff review the city's newspaper of record options, noting new delivery services. Council consensus was to authorize review at low priority (5 supportive votes).
- Closed Session: No action taken on personnel items (internal auditor mid-year review, municipal judge, city attorney).
Key Outcomes
- HVAC Services Contract (Item 3A, ID 260348): Approved a one-year contract with four one-year extensions to CMS Mechanical Services for up to $9,075,437 for HVAC maintenance, repair, and replacement. Motion carried 7-0.
- Turbo Replacement Parts & Services (Item 3B, ID 260352): Approved a five-year contract with Acceleron US Inc. for turbocharger maintenance at the Denton Energy Center, totaling up to $9.52 million (cash-funded $2.5 million, remainder via bonds). Motion carried 6-1.
- Hot Mix Asphalt Supply & Installation (Item 3C, ID 260394): Approved a one-year contract with four one-year extensions to Jago Public Company (primary) and Sunmount Paving (secondary) for up to $20 million. Motion carried 7-0.
- Annexation Service Plan – Swisher Road (Item 3D, A25004D): Approved the service plan for 1.09 acres. Motion carried 7-0.
- Annexation – Swisher Road Second Reading (Item 3E, A25004C): Approved the annexation ordinance by supermajority vote, 7-0.
- Annexation – Mills Road (Item 3F, A250003C): Staff recommended denial after the property owner signed a non-annexation agreement. A motion to approve failed 5-2 (annexation denied).
- Annexation – Mills Road (Item 3G, A25005C): Same situation – staff recommended denial. Motion to approve failed 5-2 (annexation denied).
- Denton Central Appraisal District Board Nomination (Item 3H, ID 26026): Council nominated Lisa McIntyre to fill the unexpired term on the DCAD board. Motion carried 5-2.
Concluding Remarks
- Councilmembers thanked city staff for responsive service, announced community events, and delivered farewell remarks to City Manager Sarah Hensley, who is leaving after 30+ years of public service. Mayor Hudsmith praised her leadership through crises. Hensley expressed gratitude to staff and council.
Meeting Transcript
And good afternoon, welcome to this meeting of Denton City Council. Today, March 24th, 2026. It is 2.02 p.m. So we'll call the meeting to order and then citizen comments. Any citizen comments? Thank you. Takes us to request for clarification on agenda items. Any requests for clarification? Seeing none, uh, that'll take us to a uh taking chair's discretion. We have a video we'd like to play and turn it over to staff for any comments to to set up the video. We just wanted to um send off our city manager with a little video to say thank you. Umday Monday on I I am gonna spend more time with my family. I've got I'm just gonna come hang out here more often. A big thank you to those who worked hard to make sure that this would come to fruition. All the other staff who tirelessly work to make this happen, and a city manager rarely sits still. Whether it's using your own funds that you have for contingency, you have an idea of where priority base is and what's a must-have, and then what are the things we're doing that are not necessarily valuable? Well, you've always given us everything we need to operate, so we appreciate it. I really really appreciate what you all do and how you do it and how you keep a smile on your face. If it wasn't for you all and the staff, I don't think I'd stayed as long as I have. Thank you. They read a proclamation, uh, the judge did at the county this morning, and I wanted to say, geez, I I did all that. Uh but I didn't, and I did make sure to thank that it wasn't me, that it was the people behind me that have um certainly done all the work and made me look good. So um thank you all. This has been a crazy ride, but it's time for me to step away and let someone else step in. And I look back on on uh my efforts here. Um fond memories, great staff, uh great accomplishments, and I have a letter for all of you and for the new city council. It's all good stuff, it's just things to think about for the future. Excellent. Christy. So the cookies just for you. These are all for you. Oh, we're gonna share with everybody else. No, mayor. Sure, thank you. Uh shouldn't but you will. Yeah. There you go. Oh, thank you. Right. Okay. Um, well, again, yeah, thank you very much. Great job on the video and and captures a lot uh and a lot more uh behind the scenes there, but thank you very much. Uh that takes us to our um work session. We'll dive right in for those tracking along uh the closed session. Item A and B are not needed, right? And is there another one? Just A and B. We're just placeholders, so we'll dive right into C D and E once we get to that point, and then we'll close, we'll we'll manage closed sessions, and then we'll go, we'll stay and close, go into chambers straight away and get started with uh our regular meeting. We'll come out of closed at chambers and then uh get started with our the regular portion of our meeting. We'll go straight through.
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