Good afternoon and welcome to this meeting of the Denton City Council.

Today's date, Tuesday, April 21st, 2026.

We do have a quorum call of meeting order.

First thing on before we get in, well, let me just make sure citizen comments or any sentence.

Great.

So that then I'll recognize the city manager to talk about the finance department.

Go ahead.

Um good afternoon, Mayor.

Council, thanks for letting me take a few minutes before our work session to recognize some staff members that do great work that you may not interact with on a daily basis.

I want to recognize Amy Caslick, our chief strategy officer, who is our department head of the Office of Strategy and Budget, and her team.

The city, well, Amy, can you bring your team up?

So the City of Denton has once again received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association, marking our 40th consecutive year of earning this honor.

So this year's recognition was especially meaningful because it highlighted the city's successful transition to a fully digital budget book.

So it hand enhanced our accessibility, usability, and transparency for both the council and the public.

So thank you, budget team.

I appreciate it.

So can we get a can we get a team picture?

Is that all right for me for them?

So y'all young slot, maybe over by the flag that way you're not lit up.

Shirley, you have to get it in front of the code here.

Okay, one, two, three, same money.

Yeah, I like it.

Awesome.

Thank you all very much.

Again, thank you.

That's good.

All right, that takes us to our first.

Well, first, let me see.

There's a request for clarification of agenda items listed on the agenda for public hearing or individual consideration request for clarification of agenda items listed on the agenda for public hearing or individual consideration.

Any questions?

Seeing none, that takes us to our works.

Oh, representative from district two.

Uh just being careful that I I this morning very early asked for the the work session or sorry, the um the closed session on item AM to be addressed.

And I'm bringing it up at this time so that we're all clear.

Okay.

So that takes us to our work session.

Um nothing was pulled.

First item is 3A, ID 260154, receive report, hold discussion, give staff direction on the city's financial policies.

And Mayor and Council, before Matt kicks off this item, I just wanted to um remind you that as we prepare for the upcoming budget season, it's vital that we align our long-term planning with several of the pillars that we're going to be discussing today.

So, transparency, connectivity, and resiliency.

The goal of this work session and discussion is to um talk about the practices that we currently have in place and how we strengthen those to ensure that we um remain financially stable.

Um, so just wanted to give you some context before Matt kicks off the discussion.

So I'll turn it over to Matt.

All right.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Mayor, members of council.

Matt Hamilton, Chief Financial Officer.

Uh, here this afternoon to talk about our financial policies and uh developing a comprehensive financial policy.

So, what we're looking to do is to start an initiative that would establish a comprehensive financial policy that will outline strategies in a couple different areas.

The first is long-term financial planning, reserve funds, capital and reinvestment, cost of service-based rates, linking specific revenues to expenses, uh, incremental rate adjustments to avoid spikes, and competitive rate benchmarking.

The goal of this is to enhance compliance with federal and state laws, accounting and financial standards, and to ensure alignment with various national associations such as the Government Finance Officers Association, GFOA, American Waterworks Association, AWWA, and the American Public Power Association, APPA best practices.

It will also enhance the financial position of the city and support high credit ratings, while also providing a centralized framework for financial policies within the city.

So currently within the city, we have a number of standalone financial policies, but what we lack is a comprehensive overarching financial policy.

So as I mentioned, one of the areas that we'll focus on is developing a long-term financial plan.

So establishing a long-term financial plan, which would be performance or financial statements out 10 years.

Currently, we only produce five-year forecasts with a focus really on that next budget year.

But GFOA recommends a financial plan greater than five years for all governments that utilize debt financing and/or utility rate setting, both of which the City of Denton does.

Within this, we would define specific forecast assumptions supported by available data, including population and customer growth, volume and demand growth, inflation, service levels, future staffing levels, rate changes, capital projects, and reserve balances.

And through this, our goal is to identify any structural imbalances early and develop strategies to address them proactively.

Looking at reserve funds, we currently do have a reserve fund policy.

GFOA recommends that governments establish a formal policy on the level of unrestricted fund balance that should be maintained in the general fund for gap and budgetary purposes.

Reserves should provide financial stability, protecting against revenue volatility and ensuring continuity of services during any economic downturns or emergencies.

So what we would do through this process would be to reserve review the reserve fund levels for all the major funds, including the general fund, electric, water, wastewater, and solid waste, to ensure that operating reserves are sufficient to meet our operating needs and also to industry standards.

Within this, we would also clearly delineate the role and use of working capital and operating reserves.

So working capital providing short-term support for fluctuations just in day-to-day operations and operating reserve being that longer-term support for rate stabilization and any emergencies.

Additionally, we would establish fund uh targets for internal service funds and the airport, which currently do not have a fund balance target.

Taking a look at capital and reinvestment policies, uh GFOA recommends a written policy addressing capital asset reserves for renewal and replacement.

The city currently doesn't have an adopted policy, although we do many of these things in practice and through our budgeting process.

So what we'd like to do is we'd like to document those best practices and incorporate them into a formal comprehensive policy.

So first, establishing a funding strategy based on the type of asset and lifecycle of the asset.

So documenting that cash funding is preferred for existing and recurring replacements and short-lived assets, and debt funding is reserved only for new capacity or longer-lived assets.

We would also establish a depreciation-based uh funding uh program where we would cash fund uh the replacement of assets based on their annual depreciation.

So this will ensure that a reserve is available to replace assets at the end of their useful life.

Proceeds from the sale of assets would be used to replace similar assets, and we would adjust uh the forecast to ensure to assume inflation.

That way we can uh have the true replacement cost uh rather than just uh the current forecasted cost.

And third, we would establish an integration with the long-term financial planning strategy, which will track the reinvestment ratio, our annual capital spending over our depreciation expense, and periodically evaluate deferred maintenance cost versus proactively uh reinvesting.

Looking at our revenue and expense policies, GFOA recommends adopting strong policies to maintain a structurally balanced budget.

We do have many of these uh established, however, we would like to uh add some documentation, outlining and documenting specific links between revenue and expenses and financial forecasting, so really identifying the specific revenue sources and linking them in the policies to specific expenses.

So really identifying the specific revenue sources and linking them in the policies to specific expenses.

So impact fee reserves as an example would be used to offset debt service for impact fee eligible projects.

The ECA or energy cost adjustment would be used to recover net power costs, and the treatment transmission cost recovery factor, TCRF would be used to recover transmission costs, which is currently occurring, but we would like to document it in a financial policy.

We will also identify which revenues are restricted, committed, or designated for specific expenses, how surpluses or deficits will be managed, how compliance will be monitored and reported, including language on excess funds.

So, for example, surplus ECA collections and how they're applied, in that example for rate stabilization.

And finally, to establish an integration with the long-term financial planning strategy, tracking alignment with state law, bond covenants, utility standards, and GASB accounting standards.

Incremental rate adjustments should be based on a multi-year financial forecast.

So again, going back to the longer term tenure forecast that will incorporate operating and capital needs, reserve targets, debt service obligations, and include inflation and growth assumptions.

And this is really important to our credit rating and the rating agencies.

They look very closely at this.

So this is something that's very important for us to document in our policies and then make sure that we're implementing that in our forecast to maintain those high credit ratings.

Gradual adjustments tied to long-term planning to provide predictable annual increases rather than infrequent large spikes.

Reviewing fee adjustments annually to ensure alignment with actual cost of service, and to target adjustments that maintain compliance with cost of service principles, debt service coverage ratios, and our reserve policies.

Looking at benchmarking, we would like to identify and document comparable utilities based on service type, so whether it's electric, water, wastewater, or solid waste, the size, including the customer base, units of infrastructure, so how large the utility is, and also their level of staffing, whether they operate in a regional or state context, and the ownership type, whether it's a municipal owned entity or investor-owned entity.

We'll identify and document comparable metrics based on average residential commercial and industrial rates, total provide total bill comparisons for typical usage levels, provide rate structure differences, whether they're fixed or variable, and then also provide affordability indicators such as the percent of median household income in those areas.

So some of the data sources we intend to use would be the industry associations, AWWA and APPA, state regulatory filings, consultant studies, and other publicly available rate schedules for each of these utilities.

So in terms of implementation, we've broken it down into four phases.

The first phase would be uh developing the framework and having council provide us the direction to move forward.

Um second would be the technical development, which we anticipate uh would take about six months, to build and validate the long-range forecasts through the budget process, develop reserve targets for all the major funds and internal service funds, or update the existing targets, uh, develop depreciation-based reinvestment strategies and capital funding frameworks, document the revenue and expense linkages as well as compile the benchmarking data sets.

Phase three would encompass uh presenting uh the draft policies to council and incorporating feedback that we receive, and then integrating the adopted policies into the fiscal year 27-28 budget development, and from there establishing compliance and monitoring dashboards to ensure that our reserves and reinvestment ratios and other metrics that we develop are adhered to moving forward.

And then phase four would be the ongoing monitoring.

So this is when we would implement our incremental rate adjustment strategy, perform an annual reserve adequacy review, evaluate reinvestment ratios and deferred maintenance, and conduct the annual benchmarking as part of the budget process.

So updates on the progress of this comprehensive financial policy initiative will be brought to council at key development milestones for feedback.

And today we're asking for direction on the establishment of a comprehensive financial policy, and then subsequently inclusion of the policy in future budgetary processes.

And with that, I'll stand for any questions.

Thank you.

Questions for staff representative from district six, then Mayor Proteum.

So I apologize, I do not have questions.

I do have direction.

That's all right, sir.

Yes.

All right, thank you.

And um I I also wanted to say how much I appreciate, and I even wrote down uh the strategies.

I've even you know made notes from this presentation.

I think that this is going to give uh this council, our city, as well as staff uh predictability for the future.

I think with the um sometimes temporary nature of the makeup of council, it's easy to say let's raise the rates, let's lower the rates, let's you know, year by year, but really looking and and you know, in the short term it might be painful at some points to cut to make sure that we are providing for reserves that we are being careful with uh again the variables that happen with sales tax or electricity rates, et cetera.

Uh, but that um everyone uh even coming into these seats can see a plan uh not just for the five years but but going out.

So, anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for the work.

I it makes it look easy.

I know it won't be easy, but uh everything in there I think is exactly what uh is being asked for.

So uh I just wanted to say kudos and in my direction is to uh move forward uh as presented, Mayor.

Thank you.

Okay.

Uh Mayor Protoon.

Thanks to all the staff that have been working on this.

I know it's been months in the making.

I've been asking for months, it keeps getting bumped.

So I know y'all have put a lot of work and time into it.

I know it's not just been you, it's been other staff who I don't know who all it was.

So shout out to everybody that's worked on this.

Um, just to clarify, right now, do we have departments kind of with their own financial policies, and we're trying to bring it all into a single sort of top level financial policy.

Is that accurate?

Well, there are some policies that um affect some departments, utilities more so than say the general government departments.

Um I I think that you know, we as I had mentioned, we have a number of really kind of standalone policies.

So, for example, we have a fund balance uh policy, and we have an investment policy, and we have a debt policy.

But what we don't have is really the strategy document that ties them together in order to you know put together a financial plan that identifies, you know, here's how much we can cash fund, here's where we should uh debt fund, here's where our reserves should be.

So they're all interrelated.

We're just I think missing that that documentation link that that kind of pulls it together.

Okay, thank you for that.

Um a couple things I'm really excited about.

I may have um happy yelled at my uh screen when I was reading that we're gonna do a 10-year pro forma so that we're not looking so short-sighted, that we're looking farther in advance so that we can plan and try to predict what we need to do now, how what we do now influences you know, 10 years from now, as best as we can guess it.

So I'm really excited about that.

Um, I'm really excited about the predictable graduate gradual rate increases rather than the spikes because those spikes are what hurt the most.

Um so if you know we're already planning for this, and we're gonna do what we can to you know reduce how many of those happen.

Um, I'm really excited for that more predictable um scaling.

Um for the fund balance policy or the reserve funds policy, um, just to clarify, um we were already in compliance and we're just making it more enforceable or so we are in compliance.

Okay.

Um I I think specifically what there's kind of two sides to this.

One is that we just wanted to review the major funds for the established targets that we currently have and make sure that those are in alignment with best practices and the operating needs of of the utilities and and the general fund.

The other side of it is establishing fund balance targets for the internal service funds as well as the airport, which currently don't have a fund balance target.

Um, the internal service funds at the end of the year currently um provide any excess funding back to the major funds.

And so looking at whether or not they should maintain a reserve because there are certain liabilities associated with the funds, there's personnel, and so there's you know long-term retirement benefits and other things associated with each of the funds.

So it's really just kind of taking a comprehensive look at where our reserve balances should be on a fund level throughout throughout the city.

Thank you.

And then what do we define as a long-lived asset?

So when we were talking about um, I think was it the depreciation funding, maybe I forget what slide that was, but we use the term long-lived asset to us, what how many years is that?

Yes, here number one bullet two.

On the debt funding?

Yes.

Yeah, so I you know, we would really be looking at assets that are 20 years or more.

Um you know, currently we finance um shorter assets such as uh vehicles, and so looking at ways and strategies to move away from some of those shorter lived assets and focusing more on the on the longer-term assets specific to the to debt funding.

Okay, thank you.

Um, and on the depreciation-based funding, um, do we currently account for our assets that are already fully depreciated?

Like I know we have a lot of streets, drainage that we maybe don't know the exact amount yet.

Um, do we currently account for those in our budget?

The ones that just need to be replaced.

So we do an assessment.

I mean, we're we're looking at all the assets, and we do do an assessment of what needs to be replaced and prioritizing those replacements.

I think what is not occurring currently is on the on the financing side, setting aside reserve funding in order to meet those future obligations.

Um and so we're essentially um you know, making that assessment every year, but I think with the longer range forecast, we'll be able to incorporate you know that long-term funding in so that when those assets do need to be replaced, we have some level of funding to uh to replace them.

And and that makes sense to me for for ones that haven't fully depreciated yet, or let's say we just replaced this one, now we start counting down basically.

So but I know there's like a we have the a chunk that's fully depreciated.

I'm trying to figure out how we're gonna.

I see what you're saying.

And that's something that we'll take a look at as well.

Look at it for this.

Uh last thing, um, I mean, I I want us to move forward with this, absolutely, so that's my you know, direction.

Um, I would like us to see as we move forward, and typically when um expenses are going up, typically what we do is we either propose uh tax increases or rate increases or fee increases, or we cut things that people really like.

Um I would like us to have another option to choose from, which um our land use and our um infrastructure design standards, both of those influence the cost to deliver infrastructure and services.

Um so I would like when costs are going up for us to have that option as well of are there land use or infrastructure design standards that we can change to make more cost effective so that we're still delivering all the services, but we're being a lot more cost effective about it.

Doesn't mean we do that, but just that we have that option in addition to let's increase costs on residents and businesses, or we'll cut services.

I'd like a middle option where we make our land use and our infrastructure costs more uh cost efficient and how we're doing it and how we're delivering it.

Um if there's a way to put that into all of this as well.

Yeah, okay.

That's it.

Thank y'all.

Okay.

Anyone else representative district one?

Um, thank you all for all the hard work.

Um I want to address just three things here, I think.

Um, but just put it out on the table.

I'm not really convinced at this particular point that the long-term forecast is something to, you know, and we're gonna go that route.

Because I'm gonna tell you know, to go ahead, but uh for just my um oral notification, I don't know what to put it.

Um I'm just thinking that because you know, our administrative administrations just are constantly changing and changing a lot of these things that we may budget in, depending on whether or not you know what the administrators administrations at the highest levels, and then we have to continue with our state level people um how that really does affect what this budget looks like, you know, almost year to year.

Um how that really does affect what this budget looks like, you know, almost from year to year.

And so I think that we've been doing a pretty decent job, you know, we've had to come back and make some adjustments when needed.

Um I'm just thinking that when you go way out there like that, um, because many people have changed over in 10 years, and you're having to adjust anyway.

Uh with that, I I'm just thinking that that five year would be a max, you know, opportunity for us to um you know forecast.

That's just me and my my thoughts.

Um then the other thing uh is deferred maintenance.

Um so right now, I know usually deferred maintenance is kind of like a low priority type situation.

And so I'm sure that we're you know, it's part of our conversation that we are um deferring many maintenance opportunities uh that we should be taking care of now because they have been deferred.

And at some point, a decision would have to be made as to buckle down and take care of those things.

My concern is where our lay people out here, our community, they can see our deferred maintenance very quickly because they're their um services, you know, are gotta be different.

Uh, you know, putting up a stop sign in a timely manner or you know, something different with a curb or whatever.

Um I I'm um that and that's another reason why I'm looking at five years um more so than long-term six years.

We just gotta do a better job in uh prioritizing, and at some point that uh deferred maintenance is gonna have to come up on the list at some point.

Uh but we have to determine how long that's gonna be.

That's where I'm going with the five years.

Uh and the other thing is I remember that we uh had this really big spike in our utilities, and we had to go back because we were really being um very concerned about our communities when we do have to make those adjustments.

And of course, no one likes their higher utility bill or anything like that, or we have higher taxes, uh, but to appease that mindset, and then having it come back and hit real hard like that.

That was hard on us, and we had to account for that with our constituents.

And so um I am appreciating that that is now being recognized.

I think that we can probably do a better job with the engagement and educating our community to expect if you want more, you're gonna have to pay for more.

And so uh I know that was plainly put, but it just does have to resonate that you know, we're we're here and we've got to pay to pay the price uh for what it is, uh, just like your own budget at home.

So thank you all for uh recognizing that, uh the gradual adjustments.

Um and the other thing I have 10-year um 10-year as well.

Okay, reserve funds.

So that goes back to reserve funds and the 10-year um, is it still enough?

I mean, we're still looking out down the way uh and we know the price is gonna increase anyway.

Um will we have support from a federal level, will we have support from a state level to go that far?

That's what uh I would certainly be uh concerned about, and our citizens, uh, if they're coming before us at the city council meetings and having issues with that, we're gonna have to face that.

So um those are the things that I just kind of want to put out there for us to I don't add to the conversation, and thank you all for uh opportunities that you're all given us to have just such a great city.

Love it.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Representative district four, then two.

Thank you.

This this was certainly an exhaustive uh comprehensive report.

Thank you for that.

I know it took a lot of time.

Uh in your industry, is there a is there a standard of reserve funds?

Is there a percent that that cities of about our size commonly commonly put back as reserve?

Yeah, I think there's um I there's certainly a general standard of about 20 percent for the general fund.

Now, there's a couple other areas that we would look at.

And and currently that's about 15 percent.

Uh and when I say percent, 15 percent of the budgeted expenditures in that in that fiscal year.

So you know there are um percentages that are established by the national associations like GFOA.

I think theirs is 20 to 25 percent.

So we're in alignment from a general fund perspective with that the association and above where the rating agencies kind of draw the line for the utility funds, those are going to vary by those specific industries, and they are different, and so we would look at um you know internally, what are our operational costs and make a determination?

You know, how much how many days of reserve do we actually need?

So currently all the utilities have 30 days of of uh working capital, but then the um operating reserves, those vary significantly by each department.

So solid waste is eight to ten percent, I believe, of expenditures, whereas DME is 48 to about 63 percent, I think is their range.

So very significant.

And so that's something that we're going to look at um through this process is you know, does solid waste and recycling have an adequate reserve to you know uh replace equipment um in the event of a uh a disaster um or a shutdown in operations of some type, some kind of emergency.

Um and then also you know, water, wastewater fall kind of in between those two, and but are different, and should they you know uh more closely align, or what should those target ranges be?

So um so we do have ranges established now through this process, we just want to make sure the those are in alignment with best practices from the national associations.

I presume those are liquid assets?

Yes.

And and do they are they uh is there any interest involved and if so is it significant enough to discuss?

So this do they are they interest bearing?

Yeah, the reserves, yes.

Uh-huh.

The city primarily um invests in U.S.

treasuries uh and agencies, so the state statutes through what's called the PFIA um set out parameters, and that's what we base our investment policy on.

And so our rate of return is about three point seven five percent.

It's not it's not a lot, but it's we certainly receive some interest income.

Yeah.

Good.

Uh staff recommendation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good report.

President of District 2.

Thank you.

Yeah, I'm gonna echo um uh my appreciation of I'm I'm really loving the the formalism, the intentionality that's being built into this.

Um I mean it doesn't preclude us from making changes to that intentionality, but having it documented is is really critical.

And to some this that's my leads me to my first question.

I know we're already doing many of these things, so um, and I guess I won't I won't ask for it here, but in some future way, could you indicate to council what where you're intending what what what's new?

Red, give me the red line version of this.

What's new versus what we're already doing?

I know we say we don't have an adopted policy, but I also know we've had these conversations where we're already doing a lot of this.

So it would be helpful to see the you know that incremental change beyond just what we're already doing.

Uh that and that's that's just a like a general future ask.

Yeah.

Um and then um okay, so um so on our on our fund balance, picking up from um counselor Holland, um, I really love the distinction you made between the the short term and the operating uh balances.

That's that's that's fabulous.

I think it was a real need for that.

Um is it our intent that we're gonna review all these two kinds of fund balance for every utility annually?

I think that's what you said, but I'm just confirming.

Yes.

Okay, great.

Um, and I I I really support the the stronger tenure plan on the on the um the outcome predictions.

It doesn't mean you can't adjust, it it just means that you you are making long-term consequential planning.

Um and then um since most of this was about utilities, uh I know that we had a sort of a 50,000 foot goal of cost recovery on the utilities, uh, but devil's always in the details on some of these things, and I know that for both um uh water, wastewater, um, and um we you know we have our master plans and and but particularly for the electrical, we have the IRP coming up, and so we have that whole sort of structuring of our utility.

How is that um interleaving with this financial planning?

I mean, I assume they have to go hand in glove, but could maybe you could provide a little color to how the the utility versus the finance financing of the utilities is gonna go, or how do you anticipate that interacting?

Yeah, so um uh as part of this in the initial process, you know, we pulled together all the financial policies that relate to the utilities and have um started looking at um you know different strategies, financial strategies associated with the utility uh in terms of you know what policies apply and how the utility could be funded in in different ways.

So I think that's I think there's more to come on that.

Um, just in terms of how this will directly you know correlate with that, but we'll we'll bring that back.

No, that okay.

Um so I I'm hearing that it that it would they'll be integrated and that these elements will be coming forward to future councils.

Yeah, um, but uh so I'm gonna encourage you uh uh or or I'll throw it out as in a question, uh but uh but then you know I guess I'll get the answer back in the future.

And because I know that we you know we'll we have a strategic policy of a regional water approach.

Uh we have our things like our climate action planned, and and those will not directly be utility, but they will affect our planning for utilities.

Um if we could work into as we develop these fund policies and and financial policies in general, if we could work in how we're gonna integrate some of our other strategic goals into that, um, as opposed to just saying, you know, we're we're gonna do cost recovery, and I know that's not what you're saying.

Um, but if if we could get that sort of fine grain level going forward, that would be great as well.

Um I think that's all my questions.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Oh, my direction is to do this.

Got it.

Okay.

Anyone else?

Any other questions for staff?

Okay, we you have everything you need, right?

There's a majority of great.

Okay, thank you very much.

Takes us to item 3B, ID 260033, receive report whole discussion on the Denton Police Department annual update and 2025 annual report.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

My name is Tony Salah, I'm actually the interim chief of police.

I'm here today to present the annual report for the police department for the 2025.

So let's start off with a couple of department highlights.

So in 2020 2025, we actually had a great year for the police department.

It was actually a record-breaking year for the police department, specifically in our recruiting area.

So last year we were able to recruit the largest number of people ever to sign up and take our civil service test.

This had an effect on our police academy where we also broke a record.

We're able to graduate 17 recruits from one single class.

That is the most ever that we've able to graduate at one time in the history of the police department.

So that was a great year for us.

So I want to take a moment to brag about our public safety communications as well, which is our dispatch.

Last year they received an accreditation for uh their training program.

Now let me reassure you, this is no easy task, as we're only one out of six departments in this in the entire state of Texas to receive this accreditation.

So these are just a couple examples of the great things going on at Dent PD.

Move on to technology.

You know, at DNPD, we're always looking for new ways and new initiatives on how do we can leverage technology to better serve our community.

One of the areas of technology I want to highlight is actually our public safety drone team.

So in collaboration with FIRE, we're able to grow our drone team last year.

It now consists of 13 pilots made up police and fire personnel.

So I want to emphasize adding the drones to our technology platform didn't just increase it.

It actually helped us look at what the possibilities are.

So one of the possibilities that we're looking at right now is actually drone as first responders, also known as DFR.

So DFR is aimed at getting eyes on the scene faster, so Helcum respond respond smarter, right?

It is meant to provide respond resources with accurate information so we can maximize the resources being deployed.

So with drones, there are multiple possibilities.

Some of the possibilities are actually highlighted in these pictures.

The first one is actually the uh the use of our infrared cameras that our drones are equipped with.

So infrared cameras are used to detect heat signature or search dark areas at night, which is reflected in the first picture.

The second picture is actually a spotlight that our drones are equipped with.

So from an area of perspective, we're able to illuminate a person, place, or an object from an area of perspective to highlight where it's actually located.

So in the so we collect the data for DFR.

So in the in the data that we collected, we discovered that the drone was able to respond to the scenes faster than the responding units 60% of the time.

So that's a huge amount.

So let me try to paint a picture on how our drone team actually used it, leverage the technology to actually save a life last year.

So on these particular incident, our drone team was actually out collecting data.

So what that means is that we had a drone team pilot stationed on top of a parking garage, and they were manually deploying drones out as calls are being dispatched.

So on this particular night, 911 received a call from a 9-1 caller stating that they almost struck a pedestrian as who was walking on the I-35 service road.

So luckily our drone team was out, they deployed the uh our drones out.

The location that the 9 1 caller gave was actually an incorrect location, so units were responding to the wrong area.

Our drone team was able to reach the dispatch location and identified hey, this is this is not the right area where this person is supposed to be walking.

They expanded their search and aerial perspective and were actually able to locate the individual as a picture in the picture number one here.

So this individual is actually a female.

She's suffering from mental health crisis, and she's not actually walking on the service road.

She is on I-35 northbound, walking in the lane of traffic.

So you can see in picture number one, excuse me, that an 18-wheeler comes within feature striking her as she's walking northbound in the lane of traffic.

So once our drone team located her, they were able to use a spotlight to illuminate her area and warn oncoming traffic, so to prevent her from getting hit.

They were also able to direct respond units to her exact location so she could provide with the help that she needed so they were able to connect to the resources and get her the help that she required.

So this is just a couple examples of how we leverage technology with our drone team.

I also want to take a moment to thank council for the initiatives they approved last year.

So thanks to City Council, City Manager's Office, and our community, all depart all police officers, then PD are now equipped with department issued weapons, okay, firearms specifically.

So we're still in the process of implementing our department issue rifles.

We're going to carry on that initiative throughout this physical year and the next.

So let's move on to our staffing.

This is our staffing as of the end of December 2025.

So we're authorized to have 220 uh sworn officers.

We ended up with 21 vacancies, nine who are currently in the academy, 18 in field training, and 172 uh fully trained officers that are deployable.

So 46 weeks in training upon hire, that is for a new officer.

So it uh new officers' training consists of 21 weeks in the academy, uh, five weeks in field training, which is in-service training, which we teach them how to do the DMPD way according to our policies and our and our procedures and stuff.

And within they take uh 20 weeks actually in FTO training where they're paired up with a field training officer and the respondent to calls for service.

So moving on to our chief advisory board.

So our chief advisory board met once last year and they had no recommendations.

Our next schedule meeting is set for for June, and we're excited to meet the new board members to discuss various items.

So we're gonna move on to our department data.

So the first slide here is actually our call for service.

So as you can see here, um officers responded to over 129,000 call for service.

That's just for police.

So call for service, we broke them up into two categories.

One is first one is officer initiated calls.

That means that officers out there being proactive, dealing with situations that come in front of them, and they're generating their own call for service.

The next category is dispatch call for service.

So dispatch call for service are calls received through 911 and then uh dispatchers to dispatch uh officers to incident locations.

But this hot what this slide also highlights is that 70% of the call for service are actually processed through our 911 center.

So I'll give you a moment to review the data on this slide.

Okay.

The next one's gonna be our top reported offense.

As you can see, last year, uh, the top reported offense was actually theft of property, over 100, under 750, followed by DWI, driving wild intolerator as number two.

I'll give you a moment to review the information on this slide as well.

All right.

So we'll move on to part one crimes.

Part one crimes are defined by the FBI.

They consist of both violent crimes and property crimes.

So in this this slide here, we broke them up into two categories so we can highlight the differences.

At the end of 2025, violent crime was decreased by over 15 percent.

Unfortunately, property crime actually increased by over 10%.

The driving factor behind the uh property crime increase was actually motor vehicle thefts.

So motor vehicle thefts increased over 24%.

And most of these, what we looked at the data, most of these offenses occurred at apartment complexes.

So we took a proactive approach on this, and we're actually working with apartment complex um managers and done doing site safety inspections to identify areas of opportunity for visibility or obstructions from public view or ensuring that their gates are working properly, try to uh lower these numbers.

Um during the review of the data as well, um we noticed that the uh we made large large number of arrests for these individuals, and the common theme was repeat offenders uh for for this category.

I'll give you a moment to finish reviewing the data on this slide as well.

Okay.

Next we'll move on to our strategic initiatives.

So last year was a great year for us.

We completed a lot of our initiatives, but we still have some work to do.

So the first one we're gonna continue to work on is actually our re-accreditation.

So we are due to re-accredit in August.

We're on schedule for that.

Our team's excited, and we're we're gonna meet we're gonna be able to accomplish that goal in August.

The next one is gonna be our department police community engagement.

So last year we hosted four town halls, received great feedback from those that particip uh that attended the town halls.

So um this year we've already hosted our first town hall, and we are scheduled to uh host our second to hall in in May, May 7th, I believe.

So in addition to the uh May Town Hall, we'll also be host working with the economic development and hosting a town hall specifically for our business owners to make sure that we're meeting their needs as well.

So the next one is gonna be um enhancing uh department leadership.

So last year we worked hard and we created a curriculum and we actually hosted our first leadership academy internally for our swarm personnel.

We received great feedback from all those that participated.

So it's good feedback that we're hosting our second leadership academy this uh in June of this year.

In addition to that, we're creating one and we'll be hosting uh leadership academy specifically for our professional staff.

So we're excited about the opportunity to pass on that knowledge to them as well.

So if you'd like some more information about our strategic plan, you can refer you over to the uh department strategic plan dashboard.

And I'll open up for any questions that you may have.

Thank you.

Questions for staff representative from District 4, then two.

Chief, welcome.

Always nice to see you.

Um I got well, I guess in the order that you that you laid these out.

From from time from the time you get a call to the time a drone is in the air, how long does that take?

It matter of minutes.

I mean, it's as long as as soon as we press the button, the drone is taking off and then is being deployed to the correct location, and we're able to enter it, the location actually into the GPS.

You said it's at a parking garage.

When we do manual deployments right now, we don't have a uh stationary dock to where the drone just comes out, which is that was dear that would that consist of DFR.

So right now the drones are either stationed um in uh our headquarters or a substation or in the in the back of uh the trunks of the vehicles.

So whenever we need to deploy a drone, the drone operator needs to remove the drone from the case, um make make it ready and then deploy it.

So there's a drone available for for all three shifts.

Yes, right now, yes.

Okay, good, good.

Um the chief of police advisory board uh met once in 2025, no recommendations.

Is that a board that that is really necessary?

I believe so.

You know, it's I think it's always important to give the community input on what the police department is doing.

Okay, but I mean you would you would take you would take comments from the public any any day of the year.

I know you would.

Yes, sir.

Yeah.

Okay.

Um motor vehicle theft.

Tell me why motor vehicles get stolen.

I mean, are is it are I used to hear about hot wiring cars?

I don't I don't know what that even means, but that that was always uh a term.

Are people leaving their keys in the car, leaving the windows unlocked?

A lot of the doors unlocked.

A lot of times just areas of opportunity, which are created by carelessness or just leaving their cars running while they run inside.

And so these motor vehicle thefts are more areas of opportunity.

Um there was a large group that was going around stealing vehicles for a while.

We were able to apprehend those individuals, which is part of the repeat offenders that we arrested.

So it all depends on what what the up what the situation is.

Generally speaking, is a locked vehicle in a reasonably secure area.

Is that a safe vehicle?

Generally speaking, yes, sir.

Okay, okay.

Uh you said the accreditation that you're gonna start that in August.

How long will that take?

Uh we should have it done probably in the same month.

So they come and visit sites and we'll be able to we we're ready.

We've been preparing for it for all year.

So I know you are.

I know you are.

I I'm uh I feel I feel great having having you guys uh men and women uh patrolling patrolling around.

It's it's it's great to have you here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Representative from District 2.

Thank you.

Um really great job on the recruitment.

I know that's that was one of the things we and that we've been trying to backfill some of those positions, and because I know it takes a year or more to get somebody uh out on the field and and some superb action on the accreditation uh and and I've gotten a lot of positive positive positive feedback on the town hall.

So all those really great job.

I appreciate that.

Um and I'm I'm gonna give you kudos also for the the violent crime, especially the sexual assault uh drop that that's especially in our town.

That's that's always really welcome news.

Um I'm gonna ask a different version of Councillor Holland's question.

Is are there any unusual patterns to the vehicle theft that that jump out at you, or these are all sort of standard things that happen to uptick this year?

So the only pattern that we're able to discover is actually the apartment complex link.

So that's why we're concentrating and working with those department complexes that had a high number of thefts and making sure that they're doing everything possible on their end, and we're providing support we need it to reduce those numbers.

Great.

No, I appreciate that.

Um and um I know that uh you and I had talked before uh a couple meetings about our our uh camera and data control policies and and and you know how that data is used.

And is are there any new updates to that?

Because one of the outstanding questions that I had for you was uh and it's germane because that was one of your your talking points in there in the slide.

Do do we have any clarity on unintended release of data that we didn't intend that the vendor um any any changes any anything new on that or or could you maybe let me ask it a different way?

Could you provide clarity on whether our data that we collect on our cameras can be released unintended by the vendor?

So no, the the way our contract is set up is that we control who our data was released to.

So even though somebody shares our data with us, doesn't mean that we're necessarily going to share our data with them.

So we have to authorize each agency access to our data.

Okay, and and we still have just the 10 cameras.

Is that yes for flock?

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Uh that's all my questions, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you.

Okay.

Uh any other questions for staff?

Mayor Platoon.

Um, seeing that traffic stops are the number one officer initiated call.

I just want to thank all the officers that have been responding.

Like I know my constituents all across District Three have um had uh speeding concerns and wanted somebody to come out and do some enforcement.

So I appreciate uh officers doing the best they can with the resources they have and the staffing that's available to try to respond to those calls.

Um and I also really appreciate the targeted enforcement on the on the really dangerous roads where we've seen um uh severe injury and fatal crashes.

So I really appreciate that as well.

Thank you.

Thanks for all the work yellow did.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Seeing none.

Uh just to to wrap up.

So speak with an officer.

What is that?

What is that bucket capture?

What what does that mean?

That could be from anything of somebody wants to just talk to an officer and probably get some information, or it could be that an officer stops by a store and just wants to visit with uh with the owner or the the clerk, that comes out and speak with officer.

Got it.

And do y'all track your the 311 calls?

I'd be curious to I don't and that may not be specific here, it may be for someone else to look up, but I'm curious how many people are getting routed to how many people are taking advantage of the 311 system and how many people are still just calling direct the non-emergency number.

I'd just be curious about that.

Uh and then I've I've talked to the judge about it.

I know y'all have talked and and we kind of have a game plan, but I just want to understand w we're charging people that somehow lose their clothes while they're walking around Denton differently, or are we addressing that so that they're not right back out on the street best we can?

I mean, uh following all the laws, certainly.

Yes, but but they're we're we're we're taking precautions as we can to because my concern is until I can get to a state rep and change some things.

I I just think you know, if if you have a nine-year-old, uh just yeah, there was one at Greenhouse just the other day, right?

That's just running around and forgot their clothes, and there's kids, you know what I mean?

It just it's a problem.

Um because as a parent, I don't want to I don't want to explain that uh until you have to, right?

Lord willing, you never have to.

So we you feel good about the direction we're going and how we manage people that just that happens that they're held appropriate amount of time, best based on the law.

Yes, sir.

We make sure we follow all the laws and treat each situation appropriately.

There's no cookie-cutter answer to how we're gonna treat every call.

It's just we have to treat it each independent each incident independently.

Certainly.

Okay.

Um and then do you have any stats on the indoor gun range usage and that sort of thing?

Does that fall on that falls on the year department?

Yeah, do you have a feel for that?

I mean, it seems like it's used pretty regular, but just a snapshot agencies, that sort of thing.

Yeah, I don't have the actual times that other agencies have used it.

I know we enjoy it tremendously.

Like we are only one out of two departments in Denton County that actually have an indoor range, so we're very grateful for it.

And other agencies want to take advantage of that that resource as well.

So we do partner with Series, but I can get you that information.

Yeah, and and maybe even in your report, I or just as a follow-up information, certainly, but when next time you do a report, I think that's it's eye-opening for those that don't know, right?

Because you have the bay doors, you can pull in a car.

And so when you talk about the importance of night training, truly night training and pitch black, you know, you're almost better off in the elements than in that room where you can't see a darn thing.

And so we're doing good work that way.

You can pull in a you can pull in a car, you can set up office scenarios, and so I think just a page that talks about all the value that brings and all the unique experiences, those those training, and we're training other agencies as well, so they're benefiting from that.

So thank y'all.

That that's good information.

Yeah, I think to share.

Uh, and then um I I try to track this along just in my head, watching and reading, but I I think we've only had one death that hadn't been charged, and that's the cyclist on University Drive by all the area, and they're somewhere.

There's uh hit and run.

But I think other than that, if there's a death in the city of Denton, we found we've arrested someone associated with that.

But is do you do you have that?

Do you have so you're talking about motor vehicle?

Just death generally, like you know, just a crime that resulted in death that were we able to solve it, where were we able to solve correct identify somebody, you know?

Correct.

The uh one on the pedestrian versus vehicle on university drive is the only one that we actually cleared uh as intentional just because we the evidence showed that it was actually possible a suicide.

Oh, I see.

Okay, all the other ones have been cleared.

Yes, okay.

Well that that I mean that's great work.

I mean, we're we're uh a good sized city, and that's that's a great track record again, just giving credit where credit's due.

And then and then lastly, um I was in a meeting with the um Senator Hagenbo Hagen Boo, and he mentioned he has a state uh he the state is looking at funding bulletproofing vehicles.

So that's where that question came from.

And I would encourage us to circle up with his office, make sure we're in touch with understanding where we are with that, uh, because he took notice of how many officers are uh injured or killed being shot through the windshield.

And so he wants to he and the state want to take action there.

So if you could uh the whoever the right person is that that communicates with his office, make sure we're up to speed and and we're in line for those uh if they can get that across the finish line, we're in line for that.

So that'd be really good to make sure we keep everyone safe.

But other than that, thank you very much.

Great presentation.

And I have a uh noteworthy that it's your first presentation.

Your first presentation, yes, sir.

Wow.

So we have uh have a gift for you to remember by, yes, sir.

So slide over here will be.

Outstanding.

Yeah, thank you, man.

Appreciate you.

Very well, thank you.

All right.

That takes us to item 3C ID 260030.

Receive report, whole discussion on the Denton Fire Department annual update and 2025 annual report.

Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council, members, Kenneth Hedges, Fire Chief.

So I'm here to actually present our 2025 annual report.

Uh kind of starting off with looking at some of our highlights from this past year.

These shouldn't be a surprise to you know when a few different times we end up in front of council and presentation.

So first thing is our ISO one classification.

Actually, in August, and we went before council and the state fire marshal's office came on side and presented us with this um upgrade in our classification as well.

You'll see there in the bottom right, that's the current classification ratings to the entire state.

So we are really technically in the one percent of all fire departments in the U.S.

on this classification.

Biggest feedback on this, it is advantageous for our homeowners and businesses in the community to actually get the best insurance premiums out there as well.

So big achievement we've been working on for quite some time.

Um previously, prior to 2017, we were we were at class three, and very strategically we moved from a class three to two.

And then really what kind of push us up to class one was the addition of station nine, bringing that online.

So once again, this has been in the works for over 10 years.

Next, uh, another accreditation as well that we worked on August 2025.

We were successful with the AMLS accreditation.

Uh there was 107 different standards that we had to meet.

Peer team came on side, and if you recall, also, I think I presented this before that they actually left and gave us a perfect score.

We actually got the results the very next week, which is very quick turnaround for accreditation as well.

Uh you'll see there.

So we're only one of 34 fire departments in the actual US and Canada that hold the CAS accreditation as well as far as fire-based EMS, and then just one of four in Texas.

And the chiefs are also like proud of this for us as far as fire departments.

So we kind of nicknamed this our triple crown.

So we're a dual-accredited ISO one classification.

So we're that really kind of puts us as far as the um ranking as well.

There's over 33,000 fire departments in the US and Canada.

There's only 20 that actually hold these certifications.

So we're at one of 20.

So if you want to uh try to understand whether the fire departments really kind of operating under best practices, this right here really kind of says we're doing the best we possibly can as well.

And there's really nothing else out there as far as accreditations.

We've looked as well, and this is ones that kind of really highlight the one thing I want to point out also is when you go through accreditations.

You really try to look, see do you change in your operational values, anything of that nature?

We did not change anything operational.

Everything we did was it was either SOP policy creation, amendments, just kind of clarifying and putting on paper and memorializing what we're already doing.

So I want to kind of get kudos out to all our fire department members on that.

Uh one more achievement.

I think Simi were present for our push in on April 11th last year of the first electric fire truck in the state of Texas.

So we just passed a year.

We are doing a very in-depth analysis and see hey, how well did this work?

We did have some challenges in the beginning, to be honest with this with the manufacturer.

Um, this unit was down probably 60 days out of the first four or five months that has been worked through, but we do have data from um DMEs provide our electrical usage.

We're looking calculating this in-house, and we should be able to share that report probably next 30, 45 days as well.

One thing I want to point out, and I know I talked about when we put this in service, is kind of the purpose behind this.

Obviously, sustainability, but the big thing also is, and I have statistics here, is just the reduction of the carcinogens.

So there was a study that was completed by Nash, and it was a study that ran from 1950 to 2009.

So the determination was firefighters have a nine percent higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer, and then a 14% higher risk of actually dying from cancer if contracted as well.

So anything we can do to actually protect our members, you know, most of the time it's worthwhile.

Moving on into actually what we call our workload.

So this is our total cost for service.

And I'll kind of use the example here on what is a call for service.

Anytime anyone calls 911 and it dispatches the fire station, that is one call for service.

Now there's different levels, still counts the same.

So if we get a call for somebody has honestly a broken finger, so we're sending amulets out now.

We have um tiered responses, so we're not sending fire truck and amulets every call anymore.

So we have actually moved to that, so trying to really reduce the amount of impact and usage of our vehicles.

That counts as one call for service.

In comparison, TWU fire last year, August at the new Health and Sciences building, three alarm structure fire that we had.

Let me read this also.

We had nine engines, two ladders, three medics, two battalion chiefs.

So we had 16 units on scene.

That counts for one call of first service, also.

So they're really the same thing when we kind of count as far as this.

Now there's different things we measure as far as unit responses.

So how many units actually responded all last year?

That was over 46,000 unit responses as well.

So we can kind of see the difference between those two.

But you'll see kind of our growth pattern there through COVID, it kind of flattened out.

But we are um kind of being you know overconsent, and so they're saying possibly an eight percent increase.

That's the red numbers as well.

We always plan for the worst.

We're hoping we don't increase that much over the next several years, but we need to at least be prepared for that.

This is something I started last year as far as benchmarking.

It's like, okay, we really feel like it's a busy system, but how do we quantify it that so I started reaching out to other fire chiefs just in Dent County trying to do an apples to apples comparison?

You see this from last year's numbers and this year's, and just doing a just an internet search on average population as well.

So the interesting thing is obviously Frisco with a significant higher population, but our calls volume is significantly higher than what they are.

And then I just noticed this year, just on the online also, Irving was posting theirs.

So I included that, and the reason why is so Irvine, which is a fire department that is a lot bigger than Denton, and it's bigger that it actually has four more stations and 200 more firefighters than what Denton Fire Department has as of today, and they only made 1,539 calls more than what Denton Fire Department did last year.

So when we actually go back and look, so is Denton Fire Department busy?

Absolutely.

Do we have options to address this?

We do have some that we'll be proposing in the future.

So this is just kind of preparing for the data for the next few slides.

So this is the fire districts that we have laid out across the city.

This is not used for our primary dispatches, this is only backup and for data collection.

So currently how uh when a call comes in 911, it's goes to the dispatch center and AVL, automated vehicle location will actually determine the closest fire unit that's appropriate for that call.

So if there's an ambulance, say from station seven, seven southwest portion of town, is for some reason or is downtown and a call is generated and they're the closest unit, it automatically pings them and sends them that call.

So we are actually using GPS to leverage the closest unit, which is the most beneficial for our community as well.

Only if AVL is not working, if cell signals are down or something of that nature, we fall back on this district response also as well.

But this kind of goes into the data next few slides.

I'm not gonna go through this um slide by slide.

But we have it broke down by five major call types here, and you see the districts one through nine.

There's our fire calls, station two, station eight, very busy.

Station eight.

One thing about station eight, we put that in service in two 2021.

Overnight that became one of our busiest fire stations.

So we knew we were kind of behind the curve on getting that one online as well.

Uh hazmat station three, that's kind of applicable to right next to interstate.

A lot of calls generated from MVAs with any type of fuel spills.

Rescues, uh, number one thing on this is MVAs, where it requires actually extrication.

Um, that's another district we've seen actually increases station five, which is in the razor ranch area, so significantly getting higher on calls for them for there.

This is a catch-all.

This is the last um really call type that catches false alarms, fire alarms, malfunctioning alarms, uh, public service assist.

Um, this one it has been growing as well.

And this is one where I think where we can probably do a better job at mitigating some alternative solutions as well, and we'll go over that here later in the presentation.

And then kind of just summarizing everything, comparing 2024 to 25.

So the top four categories did increase.

Um, hasmat, the biggest at 10, but still a low data set, and then our alarm service calls did go down just a little bit as well.

So, girls, what are we gonna try to achieve for this year?

Some of these we've actually already achieved.

Very first one is moving our employees and operations from a 2448 shift schedule to 4896.

Uh research out there shows that 96 hour recovery is actually better, even though they are working two days back to back.

So we did actually achieve that January 3rd.

And then the next thing is something we are actually proud of.

We just completed is collaboration with East Texas AM.

Um, we completed a 180-day heart variability rate study in which uh several doctors at East Texas.

We used Whoop devices for 60 different members in operations and three months on the 2448 work schedule, and then they transition to three months on the 4896 to see the variance as well.

This really be will be the gold standard out there for all fire departments to use across the U.S.

when it looks at hey, do we want to try to push for this 4896?

Now we actually have some research that backs up the move or not as well.

So we met with the um group the other day, they're actually doing final calculations.

We should have all these results probably in the next 30 days as well.

And then just several apparatus as well.

The reason why I include this is this is significant for the fire department now.

You've probably heard me talk about if we order a fire truck today, it takes four plus years to get it in.

So you have to be very proactive.

And I want to get obviously a good kudos to everyone, not just fire department members, um, city manager's office, city council for any time we have any type of apparatus come across is approved and move it on because we've got to stay in front of this.

There's departments out there that their vehicles are actually falling apart and they have no solutions for two to three years.

We're not in that boat.

We are very good on all our front lines and even our reserve units.

So we've taken delivery of the first two enforcer pumpers, the ladder truck, and then the four new medic units are actually scheduled to be here, I believe, the end of May.

Um next two things are just the fire station construction projects from the 2023 bond program.

Station six should actually open fall around October of this year, so they're making great progress there.

And then station five at Bonnie Brain Windsor, it is a little bit further behind, but that crew is in a temporary quarters beside it, and they have started doing foundation work there.

And then we did actually um reclassified, and we got our first EMS lieutenant in February 25.

That person spent a year in a 40-hour schedule building programs in February 26.

We transitioned this person to shift work and start functioning as a basic safety officer and actually starting to build a community paramedic program that I will have more to share in the future about that.

That is the plan we were actively working on.

We got three of those done, Ashley.

And then I was told that we're actually doing another one later in the fall.

Last thing also is we are um working and actually complete with our Denton Fire 2030 plan, next five year strategic plan.

So we have everything.

We're working with Mar and Column to actually put together and a final document, and we should get that out hopefully in the next two months.

So a lot more forthcoming.

Future future can be expensive, but so I want to just go ahead and kind of uh make sure Cassie was good with me showing this picture as well.

So you'll see the icons with the fire helmets or existing stations, station nine be our most recent, and then obviously we talked about in February down there to the northwest is station 10.

So stations 10 through 16.

That is what we have forthcoming planning in the future.

Um nothing past 10 right now.

It's really gonna be dependent on the growth and development as well.

But the big thing is land banking.

So we have station 10 property, station what number do we have?

That one there.

Station 13 is actually coal ranch.

So that it land is part in a developer's agreement as well.

Uh moving up on to 35.

We don't have anything on 35 north of university.

Station 5 is having covered all the way up to Clear Creek, which is a significant uh response time.

You know how busy it is up there on traffic as well.

Kind of moving over to the east.

We'll envision something up off missile base eventually.

Right now, we'll just kind of put a pen there, say somewhere in this area, we will need a future fire station.

And then in the Kraber Ranch, we have identified two sets that's gonna be required because the distance east to west on that development uh cannot accommodate just one station in the middle and still meet our four-minute response time goal.

And then to add to what Chief Solves is talking about, DFR, drones with first responders.

So to me, this is game changer.

Um as he explained, so several departments have gone to this, and the final product is when a 901 call comes in and a drone might be of assistant, the drone actually launches as the call is being processed.

Instead of units driving to the scene scene versus the streets, you have a drone that can actually go as a crow flies and provide immediate video from that.

So here's some of the actually um tasks that it can function as.

So we're looking at what we look at down there in the bottom right, firefighting operations.

Um with the thermal imagery we can identify hot spots, we can track fire spread, moving up to the right, disaster response.

That's more emergency management as far as any type of disaster in the area, search and rescue missions, um, big thing, clear creek up there.

We have so many times we've gone rescues at Clear Creek, and people tell us we don't know where we're at whatsoever.

Now we can fly drones up and down, night times even better on trying to find them on thermal thermal, and then even medical supply delivery.

Um this, if you need to take something to seen, they have drones big nesting actually drop life preservers.

So the functions are just unlimited.

So to me, this is kind of a force multiplier.

Instead of keep throwing FDEs, we can actually focus on this program and actually kind of reduce the amount of resources being sent in the beginning.

Let me give you a better example.

So this is our drone team.

Chief Kelson, his team was out there at our TW fire.

This was kind of later into the event as well.

You see this picture, it looks like oh, they're just really close.

That is on a three-story commercial building after the fact.

Normal picture on the left, thermal on the right.

They did actually get heat readings away from the fire that was at 150 degrees.

They get able to get ambient temperature air.

So we were wondering, we knew it was hot.

It was August, but we was wondering also why 20 plus people, our employees and some other mutual aid companies required IVs, and we had to transport to once again game changer.

So let me paint just a quick picture right now.

When our crews go on a structure fire call, they just get whatever the call notes say, whatever the dispatcher says, that's it.

Hey, houses on fire.

Okay, so your officer in the right seat, you're trying to process in your head, your first one scene.

I have no clues.

That one story, two story, daytime, nighttime, cars in front, people hang on the window.

I don't know.

Imagine getting a drone there, and now that captain he or she on iPad is actually seeing video feed of that house in front, and now can plan and prepare better.

To me, that's a game changer.

That is so exciting to be able to try to actually see that's the future that's coming.

Like I said, some departments are already using it.

So I want to just stand here and say I fully support the DFR.

I know you know we don't have a formal presentation right now, but when it comes back around, uh like for council members actually speak with police and fire and just really kind of talk about how important this program is forthcoming.

That's my pitch for today.

So, pretty picture, but really it's just a reminder.

So, when we go home today and we rest, our crews are out there day or night.

This is actually uh nighttime training, they're preparing at Lakery Roberts for our swift water team.

So around the clock, our members are here to keep us safe.

And that is it.

So our presentation and our annual update is actually in Arc GIS, so it's interactive on data.

Um, it doesn't print that well, so our recommend you actually that link and you also scan that QR as well.

And uh that is it.

Ready for questions.

Appreciate it.

Questions for staff?

Council member Beck.

Thank you, Mayor Pratem.

So let me start off with uh congratulations on the hat trick of the you said triple crown.

Uh we'll we're both using metaphors there.

Uh great job on that.

I mean, it it it's it's not just a good job that you're doing a good job, but it does have that direct financial implication that you were talking about.

So uh you you really are you know saving money there for the and and being super responsible.

Uh I love that you've already made uh inroads into the tiered response.

Uh I think that's really proactive at you, and the community um is is especially the science community is really big on the prescribed burns and and and really treating those uh those ecological resources in uh in a smarter way.

Um I know you you said you're gonna come back about the EMS lieutenant, but maybe maybe provide a little advanced color on the benefits you're seeing for the EMS lieutenant now.

Uh and then I have a couple other questions.

So the current EMS Lieutenant is actually on B shift, so he's working the 48 hours and his very first shift.

He actually responded to a working structure fire.

So the benefit is this person was predesignated safety officer before even arriving on scene.

So now the instant commander did not have to go around and pick hey, I need somebody from one crew to be now your dedicated safety officer, go walk, do a 360, report back to me.

This person from the very beginning, dispatched from his station, knows that's his job and his responsibility.

So we got on scene, he's able to give a full scene size up to our commander who actually sits out front away from everybody in a vehicle, so you don't have all the people kind of asking questions as well, and get a very good assessment and then just monitoring the um atmosphere as well as far as you know, fire spread, smoke spread, uh employees fully bunked out.

I mean, sometimes ever so often people go fast and you you check and make sure they have all their bunker gear on, no skins exposed whatsoever before they're going into a house fires.

Well, those kind of tasks.

I mean, again, it's very important to have that pre-planned on the front end.

So that's just one thing.

Numerous different types of um uh high QD EMS calls as well.

So um he carries the same equipment as his AMS, just doesn't have transport function, but just another set of hands on any type of significant stabbing, gunshot wounds, different things like that.

It's valuable to have more hands.

And then he's also kind of working on on the homeless side as well.

He's working with um the shelter at 909 on a daily basis when he's at work, has a regular contact.

So any type of calls we have there that may be reoccurring, he's the one that actually go in there and kind of do an investigation and see is any way we can mitigate those also.

And then eventually we will kind of morph into a community paramedic program.

That is where we have our high 910 users that are housed that call us because they're out of options, actually go and actually make a relationship with them.

Sometimes it's simple as they ran out of medication.

So if someone worth the course of his 40 hours, he can go to a pharmacy and pick a prescription and bring it back.

That just saved a nine-one call and the amount of resources that save.

So that's where we'll eventually get to.

No, I'm I'm really looking forward to having that available to all the shifts.

So I appreciate that that color.

And then let me ask a couple of questions.

Uh um, I noticed in in D2 and District 2 and District 8, uh, fire station two and eight, um, they were standouts on on fire and EMS calls.

And other than both being on the east side, is there any other patterns or anything that's well, you know, what why is the east side um heavy?

Uh for station eight, that's just more in the medical community as well.

I don't know, really can't.

We haven't dubbed down into exactly why, you know, we we gather the data as well.

Two, there is a significant width of shelter there close and you know, encampments and everything that generates obviously more fires as well, especially during the winter time for heating.

Uh so right now that'll probably be my just a stock response for you without doing a little bit deeper dive.

All right.

Well, when when you get to that point in your analysis, I'd I'd love for that to come back before council so we can do some some more uh proactive planning.

And then similar question, I think you answered this one already, but I'll just say it and you can confirm that the for D3 uh the hazmat calls were mostly due to I-35.

Or what's what's the source of all that extra hazmat call?

Yeah, the major the number one hazmat calls actually natural gas leaks.

So wherever you probably have the more street construction or any type of residential construction as well, you're gonna get more gas leaks, and then also um it is fuel spills on the interstates.

So D3 covers the split with all the construction going on as well.

So this just generates more costs for service there.

But nothing that's standing out that you wouldn't.

That's not there's no patterns or nothing.

No, that's not that's not alarming whatsoever as well.

You know, one thing on that I didn't really mention, but if you recall the last October, we brought forward a new fee in which we are actually billing uh natural gas leak standbies as well.

So if we're there for more than 60 minutes, we're actually billing the provider of that gas service because there's been a few standbys that we've set for 24 hours with the on-duty unit to provide safety for their members, which I understand that as well, but at certain certain point they're billing the person that made created the leak, so we're just actually billing the provider also.

So we have seen a small drop.

Uh-huh.

In extended responses, because it was a discussion with Atmos as well.

You know, if you don't need us there, that's that's okay.

We'll we'll go back to the station.

You can call us back versus just sitting there without, you know.

A lot of times we sit there and they wait for specialty to get there many hours away when we don't need to sit on the scene.

So it's a it's a dialogue we started with them also as well.

I appreciate that.

Uh that's all my questions, Mayor Pro Tim.

Councilmember Holland.

You welcome Chief.

Always always a pleasure to have you here.

Uh it your your analogy, the 16 units, one unit is one response.

That always troubled me with with baseball because uh a grounder for a single is the same batting average as a grand slam.

That's always troubled me.

So I I feel your pain.

I don't I can't help you with that, but but uh anyway.

Tell me what a forward door ambulance is.

That's just a new style out.

So right now there's a side door on the passenger side of ambulance that is about three feet back from the front of that actual box as well.

So a forward front is just now they move that to the very front.

It actually gives the patient compartment a little bit different configuration that allows our employee that's actually sitting at the cabin seat at the head of the patient, a little bit more privacy versus open side door, and they're doing something for the patient right around the head area, and whether it heater coat also coming in.

So it's just through design of our amusement manufacturer.

Uh it's one we tried, I think we've got two of these in right now.

It's really kind of a I put it out to the committees.

We have so many committees in fire departments like tell me what you want as well.

So gave this to committee, they researched it that they said we'd like to actually try this.

They um talked with those cities.

We've got two, and now this is kind of the the model we're moving towards as well.

Is the patient still loaded and unloaded on the back?

Correct, yes, so okay, sir.

Um do we have such an ambulance currently?

We have two right now.

Forward facing, yes, forward.

I said the feedback right now is overwhelming in support, and that's the reason why we actually ordered these four.

And it's not a cost difference, honestly.

And it's about the identity costs, it's just whether you have a door at the very front or three feet back.

Oh doors gonna be there no matter what.

I will pay more attention.

Thank you.

Uh, you mentioned something that that just blew my head off.

A life saver, a life preserver delivered by drone.

Holy cow.

You don't have to put a human being, literally, don't have to put a human being in the water to make a rescue.

I think that's astounding.

Uh I I look forward to hearing to hearing about that.

I hope it never happens.

But I but but when it happens, I want to hear all about it.

Um my favorite next to the green fire truck, um and the electric fire truck.

Um I like the Scorpion trucks.

I think those are I think those are genius, and I know that was your your idea, and uh I think that's a really really uh clever clever thing to do and and uh saving a lot of money.

Well, you know, I don't want to take full credit because actually fire chieftain urban came up with just using a blocker.

Uh he used the old fire truck, but that's when we came time to point after we had two major instants in one month that we almost lost some members.

It's like how can we affordably do this?

And it's like we don't have to have a fire truck, we just need something with bulk to be able to have uh, you know, provide safety.

And this is actually from the construction field.

You'll see these all over the floor place as well.

It's like why can't we do the same thing?

What's interesting now is our specs have been shared so much.

Um, I think Fort Worth fire just put in five or six in service exactly like ours, just a very little bit different.

Uh Lewisville put some in.

We had our accreditation hearing in 2023.

We just finished um sitting before the commission.

I had somebody come up from Colorado Fire Department and show me a picture.

He goes, Here, we reached out your department, we built one just like yours, except for on the front chassis that had a big scorpion over.

It's like, well, that's kind of cool.

We didn't think about that, but ours is just red.

But you know, so the best thing to do is get existing ideas, and if you can improve on it, and I think that's where we're calling me when you get a green one.

Thanks, thank you so much.

Any questions on this side?

Councilmember Tester.

Uh well, uh, first thank you for I mean uh running a really great group of people uh that are very dedicated.

Uh and the the police uh staff as well.

We are so very appreciative and very proud of of all of you.

Um my question, a lot of the questions got answered, which I appreciate, but you know, there's almost a difference of a hundred thousand from the calls that are placed versus the dispatched uh calls.

And I was just curious what what that is, the calls that you get.

I mean, obviously it's a lot, uh, because I think total calls handled 314,000 ton, and then dispatched for services was more 2,009 uh 439.

Is that in our full annual report and on this presentation?

Um Yeah, I actually print that off because that was a long document.

Do you know what page you're on?

You know what?

I don't, I'm sorry, these are some notes I took a ticket home.

Uh but and in the the details aren't important.

I was just uh I mean that's a that's so many calls.

I was just wondering what people call for that does not necessitate I think that was just the dispatch had a piece in our annual report.

I think that was just the dispatch had a piece in our annual report.

It wasn't just for fire, I think that was total overall at a PSAP as well.

Okay.

So I think that's probably where the number came from.

Well, then you'll see our annual report.

I mean, a lot more extensive than what I've gave you to here today.

This is kind of just touching on just a little bit of highlights as well.

Well, thank you.

And uh also very much appreciate the forward planning, uh, the land banking, uh, looking at drones, looking at how to use different kinds of vehicles to keep people safe.

Um, you know, it continues to change, and so uh very much appreciate you staying abreast of that and helping us uh stay on the cutting edge as well.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Any final questions?

Councilmember Byrd.

I'm keeping an eye on that uh new Teasley fire house.

That's gonna be so neat.

Um I don't go over there every day, but just you know, just passing through.

I can see the uh the progress really well.

So thank you all for bringing that to us, and I guess we're making a decision for it to go there.

Um the homeless shelter.

I know that there was uh conversations regarding uh the high number of um calls that were received there.

Uh, and I know that the homeless shelter people uh can organization uh was making some changes with how they're um working over in that area.

Did you with them making those changes here?

Maybe you know a better part of last year.

Uh, can you all see some progress in the types of calls that are coming from there?

I know that they were you know some calls that probably shouldn't have been necessarily made, but you still have to arrive.

Um can you talk a little bit about that, please?

Sure.

We did pull just the overall annual data, so we did dive into the further months, the October, November, December.

We did see a significant deep decrease when the shelter started making those changes.

We saw that.

But if just looking for the year as a whole, we did actually see an update, uh uptick, and this isn't just the shelter, we just kind of track it citywide.

Okay.

Um 2024, about 10% of our costs for service was related to homelessness.

And 2024 um five, 2024 was um 10 percent, 2025 was 11.42 percent, and then with district two being in that area of the shelter, yeah, 40.7 percent of all their calls is related to homelessness.

Okay.

So last for 2024, I know it was 33 percent.

So every third call they were going on.

So I think we went up, but I think it's dipping down now as well.

Um, we've looked just in the first few months of this year, and I think it's making a significant improvement.

Okay, all right.

Thank you very much for that.

Uh also this is just a uh a layperson's question.

I've been noticing that um whenever there's a a major collision on I-35 coming into Denton, or you could probably go out of Ditton, uh, near the Mayhill area.

And it just stands out to me because of course I district one, you know, we're rolling into district one, but it just seems like most of the time, whenever we have something that's significant, it's happening around in that area.

Am I am I just um imagining this or is this something that we can kind of put our hands on and see what's going on over there?

We can look, but I can assure you we're having just as many MVAs in the university 35 area with that split.

Um I hear them going there daily, multiple times a day as well.

So I think anywhere along 35 right now with the amount of construction projects.

Um all the way up north to our city limits.

I said station five covers all the way to Clear Creek to Sanger, and between station five and station three, they're they spend a significant time on the interstates on responses.

So yeah, it may feel like the area, but I'm pretty sure it's all of 35.

Yeah, yeah.

Thank you very much.

That's all I had.

Also, you appreciating all of your work.

Thanks.

Okay.

I just wanted to make one comment.

I was very impressed.

Uh and I appreciate the the context y'all gave on the the three the triple crown.

Uh very, very impressive.

I was very impressed.

Y'all are on fire, pun intended.

Uh doing great work.

And I know that's not easy to get all of these these recognitions that you all have gotten.

So uh kudos to everybody that's participated in that.

Thank you.

Appreciate that.

Thank you so much.

All right, next up, we have item D, receipt or ID 26-0619.

Receive a report, hold a discussion and give staff direction on pending council requests for environmental neighborhood toolkit for infrastructure response and enhancement.

Okay, good afternoon, Mayor Pro Tem and Council.

Christy Fogle, chief of staff, here to present today's two-minute pitch.

As a reminder, the work session process is there can be up to seven requests, one per each council member.

And then staff will respond to all requests where a consensus of at least four elected officials is established.

And with that, um councilmember Beck's two-minute pitch on the environmental neighborhood toolkit for infrastructure response and enhancement or entire.

Councilmember Beck.

All right.

And all I did for this pitch really was put together the coherent ideas coming out of this group from uh various uh commissioners and citizens.

Um that I'm I'm proposing uh something modeled after the neighborhood uh empowerment grants where you take ex existing funds and you synergize them and dovetail them together to focus on public-private partnerships where you can um uh take existing monies and try to create an opportunity where we're buy-in from the community, buy in from the private partner allows for um new I new things like uh converting detention ponds into things that are with bioswells, stabilizing creek edges, um turning problem spaces into green infrastructure, and and uh for that providing public access and a little public seed money to go along with the the um the private part and uh this uh allows us to address these crises that pop up uh in in over and over again in our city uh without really increasing our financial footprint in any way.

This is more about synergy, this is more about putting the pieces together in a different way, and it's absolutely uh a group effort.

Um I I'm encouraging us to to work with our regional partners at the university uh and uh submit this to the the SPAC, the sustainability framework advisory committee uh at a medium priority, and I hope to uh get your support on this direction.

Sure, um do you have your mic on?

Oh, yeah, it's on.

It's actually on.

Um I better watch that.

Um my question is uh financing is this gonna require a another line item.

I mean, in right now, we don't know how often we would have something like this to occur, but I guess my main question was line item that something like this.

Um yeah, I could support this.

I would hope that we would be able to look forward to it.

Do you have a low medium or high pardon me?

Would you say low medium or high?

I would say medium medium.

Yeah, all right.

I saw council member Holland.

Um I don't have enough information on this, quite frankly.

Um I don't know how much this is gonna cost.

I don't know who the who the property owner is.

I don't know what their responsibility is to this to this property.

Um I'm I'm um I'm hard pressed to make a to approve this at all, not knowing what I don't know.

Um so there.

All right.

Um council member Beck, this is to explore the idea, not to necessarily yes or no do it.

I I don't know if we can answer questions, but this is this is to submit it to committee to to develop a program, not for a specific program.

Not to explore.

Okay.

Councilmember Jester.

If you would like.

Um, well, and I don't know if we are we running the timing.

Uh I'm sorry, we check one minute.

Is that correct?

Oh, that is correct, yes.

Please keep that.

Okay.

Um, what I would say is um I'm I'm afraid I'm a bit where council member Holland is in that um the the idea of the city getting in between two private parties.

There is a mechanism for that kind of dispute.

Uh it seems to me that the the homeowners or those that belong or those that are affected should file suit to force uh whomever is uh responsible for that uh private property to take care of it adequately.

Um however, uh you know, it does seem to be something that's come up a couple of times uh recently uh that does affect a lot of people.

So uh I I think if it was somehow revised to say that if it was um some kind of toolkit as far as resources that they can utilize, that's something I think could be helpful.

But as far as the city taking on uh using taxpayer dollars to benefit a piece of private property, uh that I don't know that that seems in line with what we should be doing.

And I'm also afraid it's gonna open Pandora's box because I'm sure I'm not the only council member that gets a lot of requests to uh get in between private parties and and private citizens uh to solve problems, and unfortunately that's not something that we can uh force upon anyone.

We can certainly perhaps act as mediator.

So I guess I I hate to say I'm kind of a maybe, but um yeah, so I'm not really sure that that direction was helpful.

Um I I appreciate the idea behind it.

I just before I could say yes, I would need uh to know a little bit more about what we'd be signing up for.

All right, thank you.

All right, I think I'll hand it back over to the mayor.

Mayor, we have um and I can help you keep track as we go, but we've got two supports at medium level.

And we have, I guess Councilmember Jester would be a maybe and Holland is a no or a maybe as well.

A no today, lacking information.

So we're sort of at a tie in a way.

All right, cool.

Thank you.

Appreciate you.

All right.

Well, um, let me get the two to add a climate identity and that's okay.

Well, then yeah, go go right ahead, Mayor.

Uh Mayor Pro Tim.

Sure.

Um I'm okay with the idea of exploring this and just seeing what it looks like to kind of get that information, so then we will have more information to yes no.

Um I would not support it without more information, um, but I'm good with exploring it.

Um, and so I would put it at low priority just because that's like a time time sensitivity.

Thank you.

Got it.

Um, so I I wasn't gonna speak, I'll speak just for clarification.

No, I I don't support it as currently constituted because of it's a blank check to neighborhoods generally, or at least it's not disclosed or evident to me how much this would cost that we're committing to.

And it it the private property issue is real.

That's why we go into closed session to talk about property so that the price doesn't get out of whack and have negative effects and all those things.

And at the same time, too, yeah.

No, they that in this in the particular instance that the most recent instance, we have a HOA.

I'm still not it's I'm still not clear on how to they can't affect the HOA board and affect that decision versus come to the city to intervene.

I I think you have they the citizens have people on that body and they can influence that agenda easier than the city can spend money on private property, and so I think that's the fastest resolution in a matter of time.

So I think it's tied up.

Yeah, okay.

Thank you.

That takes us to that was item D.

Thank you very much, Mayor Pro Tem.

That takes us to uh the city.

Well, now at 340 p.m.

convene and close meeting to deliberate the closed meeting items set forth on the agenda, which include the following item A, ID 260542 deliberations regarding certain public power utility competitive matters under Texas Government Code Section 551.086 constitute consultation with attorneys under Texas Government Code Section 551.071.

Item B, ID 260642 deliberation regarding real property under Texas Government Code Section 551.072 cunt consulting with attorneys under Texas Government Code 551.071 and item C, ID 260660 deliberations regarding personnel matters under Texas Government Code Section 551.074.

We'll set the room.

We do have a quorum, so I'll call the meeting back to order.

It is 6 31.

First thing on the agenda of pledges to the United States and Texas flag.

Please stand with me if you're able.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God.

Individual liberty and justice for all.

One and individual.

Okay.

Thank you.

And then we have three proclamations this evening.

First of which is National Police Volunteer Week.

If you can meet me at the podium there.

Okay.

Okay, who wants to tell us what we're recognizing?

We'll turn around and face the millions of millions of people watching online.

All right, Chief.

And then we'll have everybody introduce themselves, but tell us what we're recognizing.

Sure.

So we're doing volunteer appreciation.

We have a bunch of volunteers here that help us the police department daily.

So they put more hours in sometimes than I do, and they're and I get paid for it, but they do great work, and we couldn't do it without them.

So we always appreciate their support.

Got it.

Thank you.

Yes.

And if somebody wanted to, somebody along the way tell us how others can join you and serve if they want.

But introduce yourselves, please.

My name is Francina Carroll, and I'm a proud member of the CPAA.

And we're doing great works.

We have a wonderful team.

And I'm excited to be here with the mayor and the rest of you.

And you all look beautiful.

God bless you.

I'm Carol Banks.

I'm Larry Key.

Where are you like?

Debbie is she.

Mary Beth Cottingham.

And there you go.

Derek Bradford interim assistant chief.

Carissa Richard, senior executive assistant to the chief of police.

And Brian Coast, Deputy Chief of Police.

All right.

So who can tell us how to if they want to volunteer?

Okay.

Yes, we would love to have everybody volunteer.

The first thing you have to do is take one of our citizen police academy classes.

We have one going on right now.

If you go to our website, uh DentonCPAA.org, you can get all the information you want for the CPA, the CPAA, and all of our volunteer opportunities, including applications.

So thank you.

What we gave about that voice appreciation day.

I think every year we um give our police department a police appreciation day, and we serve them breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

We're there all day long.

We have hamburger cookouts for them once a year, and we assist in uh a lot of the activities that the police have to um be there.

And so we're there as a support team.

All right, thank you very much.

And so I have a proclamation by the mayor of the city of Denton, Texas, to all whom these presents shall come greetings.

Whereas since 1974, National Volunteer Week has honored the impact of all those who do good in our communities and inspire others to make a difference in the world.

The Citizens Police Volunteers and Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association provide invaluable support, resources, and assistance to the Denton Police Department, allowing sworn officers to focus on critical public safety needs.

Whereas the city of Denton recognizes the safety and well-being of our community and enhance by the selfless dedication of our residents who volunteer their time and talents every year.

And whereas during National Volunteer Week, the Denton Police Department celebrates the partnership between the police and public, expressing a deep gratitude for their selfless service and profound contributions.

Now, therefore, our Gerard Hudson with mayor of the city of Denton, Texas, do hereby declare and proclaim this week the week of April 19th through the 25th, 2026, as National Police Volunteer Week in the City of Denton and encourage all citizens to recognize and honor these individuals.

If we can give them a hand we'll slide in for a picture, y'all gotta they gotta come closer.

Yes.

Thank you very much.

Yes, sir.

Uh-huh.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, for sure.

Great to see you.

Appreciate it.

Okay, next uh we're gonna recognize the lady Ryan Raiders.

If you are on the team, if you are coach, administrator, you're more than welcome.

Come down and uh we'll recognize you.

Hey, yes, sir.

Great to see you.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Yeah, appreciate y'all's hard work, man.

It's awesome.

So all the more things are called what's outstanding.

Okay, uh, so who who wants to uh tell us uh about the the playoff run or the team or anything like that?

Who wants who wants to speak?

One of the players wanna Kenny Lewis who is who thank you.

Oh I don't okay.

I didn't want to talk.

I could talk about it.

I think yes, you're good to go.

Um we had a we had a really good run.

I think we had some bumps or whatever, but it was a good run.

I had a lot of fun.

Y'all had fun.

Uh so how about we start down here and and introduce yourself and and and what position you play and and whatever else you want to say?

Go right ahead.

Uh I'm Anissa, and I'm a manager.

Uh Kenley Lewis, number 10 on Varsity.

Talesia Brown, number unique manager, uh Calvin Jackson.

Jaden Williams, number two, Atia Everett, number three.

Xavier Artemadison, number one.

Yeah.

Oh, I thought they would come back to us.

Monisha Allen, I'm the head coach.

Yes.

Joe Brodsky, her assistant.

Okay.

Here we go.

Um, the Destiny King, number five.

Jamala Anderson, number 13, Madeline Gibson, number 32.

Soraya Forman, number 23.

Kamani Smith, number 12.

King Lani Kal Tysman, number 24.

Gio Logan.

Number 15.

So we're nervous number 35.

Um, Damir Manager.

Linda Williams, the manager.

Uh coach assistant, Vice Assistant.

Shanice Reddy, assistant.

Excellent.

Thank you.

Give them a hand.

Yeah.

So, and and so this is this is we archive the videos they're streaming live and in the archive forever.

So, if you want to say something, or you know, you're more than welcome.

But coach, I want you to take us.

We were here last year, so take us through uh this year.

How do we get back?

And how was that the the second time, right?

There's expectations with all those things.

The expectations were definitely to come back and win it again.

Uh, and the first key is obviously to stay healthy.

It doesn't matter if uh if you're not healthy, you can't go win, right?

So the the team that we brought back was more or less uh the the exact same and the starting lineup was definitely the same.

So therefore, if we could keep those girls healthy and we were able to uh stay healthy and then just make that run.

We knew we had a target on our back at all times, and trust me, everybody gave us their best shot every night.

Um, and we were able to uh overcome all of obstacles, and here we are again.

What was our record?

36 and 47 37 and four.

When I tell you when it comes to numbers, all I want to do is win.

That doesn't matter.

I just wanted to win that last game.

Yes, yeah, that is outstanding.

Awesome, awesome.

Okay.

Well, I have a uh I gotta make the words bigger so I don't mess it up.

Hold on.

I was one, I know there's a piece of paper here somewhere.

There it is.

All right, okay.

Here we go.

Uh a proclamation by the mayor of the city of Denton, Texas, to all whom these presents shall come.

Greetings.

Whereas the Ryan High School girls' basketball team secured the UIL Classic 5A District 1 state championship on March 7th, 2026, earning their second consecutive state title in solidifying their place among the elite programs in Texas High School basketball.

And whereas the Lady Raiders defeated defeated Leander Glenn High School by a score of 45 to 34 at the Alamo Dome on San Antonio in San Antonio, showcasing a season defined by discipline, teamwork, and championship caliber defense.

And whereas this historic achievement builds upon the program's first state championship in 2025 and reflects a remarkable two-year run under the leadership of head coach Monisha Allen, whose commitment to excellence has established a lasting culture of success.

And whereas the city of Denton commends the Lady Raiders for their dedication, perseverance, and outstanding representation of their school and community inspiring future generations of student athletes.

Now, therefore, I Gerard Hudson with mayor of the city of Denton, Texas, do hereby declare and proclaim the seventh day of March 2026 as Ryan High School School, Ryan High School Lady Raiders Day in the City of Denton and encourage all citizens to join in celebrating this extraordinarily extraordinary accomplishment.

If we can give them a handsome coaching here and the teachers of your high school.

Can you introduce me to them?

Congratulations.

That is awesome.

Yeah, coach of the year and teacher of the year, man.

Outstanding.

Man, that is great.

Good on you.

Outstanding.

Okay.

Well, here we go.

We'll start pictures.

We may have to scoot up to make a few rolls.

So we got how about y'all find front there?

Can you hold it for me, please?

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you.

There we go.

All right, don't go wrong with you.

Get a bunch.

All right, no, three.

All right.

Is that anybody?

We all good?

Awesome.

Thank you all very much.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

No, no.

All right.

Yes.

All right.

Thank you so much.

One more those here for child abuse prevention month.

If you can come down.

Hey, how are you?

Hey, good to see you.

Thank you very much.

Very well.

Thank you.

Great to see you.

Appreciate you.

Hey, how are you, sir?

Well, love a hat.

Yeah, appreciate it.

Thank you.

Okay, so you want to tell us what we're recognizing?

Uh, we've got Luis here.

He's a resident of Denton, and so we'd like him to talk.

I love it.

Yeah, good evening.

Thank you for having us here.

We we appreciate the opportunity.

What a lovely day after such a miraculous championship for the for the Ryan Raiders.

My name is Luis Martinez.

I'm here with uh Denton County, Casa.

So I'm a court-appointed special advocate, and I've been entrusted with helping kids that may be going through the foster care system as a result of neglect or abuse.

It's a very important charge that's been given to me.

And I'm here to hopefully not only uh spread the word, but hopefully encourage some additional volunteers to come and help.

So for the county of Denton that we serve over 600 kids or things that we've advocated or people we've advocated for over this past year, over 200 here in the city of Denton.

So we would have kids in need that would get this place to occupancy.

Just to think about that.

And we're here to help out.

And that's one of those things that we were here to bring awareness as we talk about uh child abuse this month, but also to be here to service our community.

It's just a hop skip away from here.

The CASA office is right here on Bell, so it's right in front of the senior center.

If you've ever driven by, you know, just give it a go.

I used to take my daughter, who's here in attendance to the pool right across from it, and I would see the sign constantly.

See the sign there, and then one day, you know, I decided to go ahead and volunteer.

And it's been one of the best decisions ever made.

So if you guys are interested, you could definitely check it out.

You could go to CasaDenton.org and look at the opportunities that are available.

They have training sessions every once in a while.

So I highly recommend it.

Once again, thank you guys for having us here.

But it's uh it's a great day to be a member of the Denton community.

Thank you very much for sharing your experiences.

That's great.

Can give us your name and your role.

Yeah, Debbie Jensen, executive director.

Okay.

And Caroline Simmons, Baser Gordon Outstanding.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

Yeah, I can't say enough about the great work that they do.

Thank you for your service that way.

Uh and and I'm gonna be out of a job soon, and I'm hoping to volunteer uh more.

Yeah, yeah.

So uh I'll see you there.

Uh so here we go.

Let me find this.

Uh let's see.

Once again, I can find a piece of paper.

I know it.

It happens.

It's the craziest thing.

I don't know when it happened.

Uh it's a proclamation by the mayor of the city of Denton, Texas to all whom these presents shall come, greetings.

Whereas 642 children who were affected by abuse or neglect received critical advocacy and support from Casa of Denton County in 2025.

And whereas more than 202 dedicated volunteers from across Denton County give countless hours each year to ensure the safety of our community's children.

And whereas our youngest residents deserve loving, positive relationships and protection and guidance of caring adults to help them heal and thrive.

Now, therefore, I Gerard Hudson with Mayor of the City of Denton, Texas, do hereby declare and proclaim April 2026 as Child Abuse Prevention Month in the City of Denton and commend the work of CASA of Denton County volunteers and staff in advocating for children during this difficult time in championing the safety and well-being of the children they serve.

If we can give them a hand.

Yeah, okay.

Can you hold it in the there we go?

Oh, you're scrolls.

Awesome.

Thank you very much.

Uh-huh.

Thank you very much for seeing.

Thank you, so we should.

Y'all have a great evening.

Okay.

Okay, if we can play the video for addressing council.

The Denton City Council has adopted rules of procedure, including a code of conduct that applies to the public as well as council members.

These rules were enacted to promote an orderly process and to preserve decorum.

Speakers will have four minutes to give a scheduled report and four minutes to give an open mic report.

A bell will ring when time has expired.

If the remarks are not concluded by that time, the speaker will be asked to stop speaking.

If the speaker does not cease and a second request is made, the mayor may request to have the speaker removed from the chamber.

Speakers should not approach the dais.

If a speaker has materials for the council, please notify the city secretary in advance.

For scheduled reports, the council may initiate discussion or ask questions.

For non-scheduled open mic reports, the council may listen.

However, because no notice of the subject of the open mic report has been provided to the public in advance.

The Texas Open Meetings Act prohibits discussion or decision by the council on non-scheduled items.

As a result, the council may only proceed as follows on non-scheduled items.

Propose to place the item on a future agenda.

Make a statement of factual policy or a recitation of existing policy.

Speakers are asked to direct all remarks and questions to the council as a whole, and not to any individual member.

Please refrain from making abusive, personal, impertinent, profane, or slanderous remarks.

Anyone who violates the council rules of procedure may be immediately removed from the chamber.

Thank you in advance.

Copies of the rules of procedure are available from the city secretary.

Okay, thank you.

First speaker is Barbara Kuzma.

If you can come down and give your name, you'll have four minutes.

My name is Barbara Kuzma.

I'm a resident of South Denver.

Um thank you.

I'm speaking tonight about the gigantic mini storage building that's being built near the intersection of Country Club and Fort Worth Drive.

It's four stories with an eight to twelve foot higher facade, making it appear to be five stories.

It is an inappropriate size for our area.

There is nothing higher than two stories within miles of it.

It towers above even our mature trees.

I've talked to dozen a dozen of my neighbors, and they all agree it's horrifically oversized and diminishes our properties by its overbearing presence.

Oak trees of historic size and age were destroyed in this project, and I believe they could have been saved and incorporated into landscaping.

How it is situated did not include setbacks on the front and side for such a large building, and it interferes with the visibility of the two intersecting roads.

Turning from Hobson onto Country Club Road at this corner is already challenging, and now with visibility further reduced, it's even more so.

Another point is we didn't need another mini storage.

We already have yellow door mini storage less than a mile away.

What we really needed, according to my neighbors and I agree, is a grocery store or a restaurant.

Um we're kind of in a food desert.

It's three miles to the closest grocery store or restaurant for us.

Um there was a poster of it listing the meeting about from the planning commission, but it was posted on Hobson Road, which is 40 miles an hour and has no shoulder to pull off to find out what the meeting uh exact times and such were, so we just kind of uh let the planning commission take control of the on our behalf.

So we're not too happy about it, uh and what's done is done.

But at this point, we want to know what's going to happen to the intersection of Country Club Road and Hobbson.

Hobson tees into Country Club Road there.

It's already a dangerous, unregulated intersection.

To turn on to country club road, which I have to to go home, you have to wait till uh northbound traffic is clear, and the people climbing southbound who want to turn on to Hobson clears, and that can take some time.

Um it's also difficult to get over to um the turn lane to get on to Fort Worth Drive if I want to go in the back side of our neighborhood.

Um I know it's very close to that large intersection that has uh lots of lights and turn signals and all, but it really needs a light there.

I don't know what your regulations are on that, but it really needs to be looked at.

How are you going to deal with that traffic?

And one night my husband took me out to dinner right at rush hour, and we were going outbound on Hobson.

Hobson was backed up clear to South Lakes Park.

It must be over a half a mile with cars just stopped because that turn is so difficult to get out on.

So that really needs to be dealt with.

I hope you have a good plan.

I'm sorry the planning department did not consider the impact of such a uh gigantic building on our area for needs and our livability.

Thank you for your attention on this and your consideration.

We'll wait to see what happens.

Yes, sir.

We have I think we have one question.

Representative from District 2.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, Miss Uh Kuzma, did you by any chance have a uh chance to talk with development services or transportation services about any of this?

Um Ms.

City Manager, if you wouldn't mind having transportation services reach out to Miss Kuzman and talk about options that are available or any speed studies that might be warranted.

That would be awesome.

Okay, thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Could I say something off topic?

Uh no, no, no, it because uh that would that would interfere with me cutting the rest of the people off when they speak.

But I I but no, I've called you off.

Please do any time.

Okay, please do.

Thank you.

Sorry, I appreciate your flexibility.

All right, and then these.

Okay, got it.

Uh Adam Horwitz, if you can come down and give your name, you'll have four minutes.

Hi, um, my name is Adam Horowitz.

I reached out um to I think all of you folks, um, several times over the past uh seven months or so, most notably on um, let's see, July 28th, October 28th, and October 29th.

Uh, these complaints um were some serious allegations uh concerning um corruption in the Denton police department, which included a false arrest after calling 911 uh for my mother's health emergency, including uh what should I charge him with admission caught on body camera footage?

Excessive force, including a leg trip, multiple punches, and asphyxiation, all of which happened while I was restrained by multiple officers and not posing a threat to anybody.

Six instances of verifiable perjury in official documents supporting my false arrest, um, which I would like to run through today since um my emails have not been responded to.

Let's uh see what the perjury affidavit has to say.

Um page one here.

He refused and was in the way while paramedics were trying to evaluate her when body camera footage shows me standing with my back to the wall, and he was not even in the room at this time.

Um page three here.

Uh something that's strangely absent uh from the footage.

Um another one based on Adam's bizarre behavior showing indications he was going to be combative and or assaultive.

That was while I was um praying for my sick mom that he uh refused to let me see.

Um I don't see how anyone any any uh reasonable officer would think that praying during a family emergency is a sign you're going to be combative, unless he attended a police training uh with the Ku Klux Klan or something like that, because frankly, I was surrounded by a Jewish talisman at the time.

Um what about this?

During this time, Adam began to reach into his waistband.

I was concerned for my safety and the safety of others due to Adam not being searched for weapons.

Well, I wasn't reaching for my waistband, and um I asked to be frisked three uh times so I could call my sister during a family emergency, and each time he refused.

Um so that's uh a load of bull.

Um what about this?

Actively resisting our commands to place his hands behind his back.

I use a closed fist to administer two or three distraction blows.

My goal is to distract them.

Um, punching someone while saying stop it isn't a command.

I'm sorry, you can't just punch someone while saying stop it.

It's not very specific, is it?

It's not really good training, is it?

Or maybe it is because I haven't heard back again in seven months.

Um that that concludes that another issue.

Um annual uh uh Denton Police Department report opens with our recruitment team has made historic progress to bring the best to serve our community.

So why was the best the serve a community named in the in the federal lawsuit before he was hired uh by Denton uh police department?

And um another question.

How come after um those officers involved and Mac Raymond uh were involved in a federal lawsuit that I personally filed?

Why is the city attorney's office uh filing um on behalf of him and signing the city attorney's name on the right here?

Can someone explain that for me?

That sounds like a cover-up.

Yes.

Okay, well, thank you very much.

And our last speaker is Chance.

Is it Harrington?

Um okay you can come down and give your name, you'll have four minutes.

Good evening, city council.

My name is Chance Harrington, and I live in District 2.

Tonight I'm here representing my family, friends, and neighbors, and I am asking the council to take immediate structural action regarding deceptive immigration enforcement collaboration clauses hidden within our city departments of j Department of Justice and Homeland Security grant applications.

In February, I stood here and I asked you to reject the RTC grant because of its ties to federal immigration enforcement.

Despite that warning, city staff has still been applying for grants containing these exact same hidden clauses that mandate our city's collaboration with ICE.

In the last city council meeting, this council approved the city staff's recommended agenda and thus approved applying for anti-terrorism funds from the Department of Homeland Security.

And sure enough, that grant has these very same secretive clauses attached to it.

It needs to be clearly said publicly about the immediate danger these grants pose.

The RTIC, the anti-terrorism equipment, even a grant for police talent acquisition service.

All these things are not free money from the federal government.

They are a financial trap.

If you want to see the future of these grants, look right down I-35.

Just days ago, Governor Greg Abbott threatened to pull nearly 90 million dollars in public safety and world cup funding from the city of Dallas.

Why?

Because Dallas is trying to limit its cooperation with ICE, and the state is using signed grant certifications as a weapon to extort them.

Dallas is facing the loss of a massive amount of public security funds because of these grants.

And Denton is blindly walking into the exact same trap by approving these applications.

Accepting these grants strips Denton of its local control.

It robs our people of determining how we want to police ourselves, and frankly reduces that engagement in the first place.

When local law enforcement gets involved with federal immigration enforcement, the community's trust is eroded, and our neighbors avoid interactions with police at a high cost to the very fabric of our home.

We cannot just hope city staff will handle these issues going forward.

We cannot just hope they have not already made mistakes in agreeing to certain contracts like Dallas did.

That is why I have two demands for this council.

First, complete transparency.

There must be a public hearing on these grants held in public session, not hidden in internal memos.

The people of Denton deserve to know what strings are attached to our city's budget.

Second, a formal review protocol.

This council needs to direct its city manager and the city staff to implement a mandatory formalized review process for all incoming grants.

This protocol must specifically flag immigration or federal collaboration clauses before they ever reach this council for a vote.

To the council members whose terms are ending next month.

This is your chance to secure Denton's financial independence before you leave.

Do not hand a legal time bomb to the next council.

To the rest of the council, the public expects a new baseline.

This kind of insidious manipulation of our city government for the sake of national political initiatives is going to keep happening.

You cannot be negligent.

Please protect our budget, protect our autonomy, and protect our neighbors.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That takes us to the consent agenda.

There's nothing pulled.

I'll take a motion.

Representative from District 6.

I move approval of the consent agenda as uh presented and posted.

Representative district four.

Second that we have a motion and a second.

Any other discussion?

Seeing none, let's vote on the screen.

That passes 7-0 takes us to our public hearings.

First is 5A, which is HLC 26001B.

Hold a public hearing and consider adoption of ordinance of the city of Didden designating the property located at 1403 Kendall Drive, being part of an abstract number 9696, track 562, and 563 on the Eugene survey and historic landmark under the section 2.9.4, the Denton Development Code.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members, Kimber Robertson, Historic Preservation Officer.

As stated, this is for a historic landmark designation at 1403 Kendall Drive, which is just north of Whipperwill Lane.

The zoning is R3 zoning.

It's within that DENIA neighborhood.

It has had six owners since 1959 of when it was constructed and is currently used as a rental property.

The request is evaluated with our consistency with our 2019 Historic Preservation Plan, Denton Development Code, and then that 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

So looking at our 2019 Historic Preservation Plan Goal 1 Policy 1.3, which does talk about prioritizing and designate eligible buildings and areas for potential landmarks and historic districts.

It does meet that.

And then staff also looks at our goal community character 2, which talks about preserving and maintaining the unique unique character of Denton.

Staff also looks at section 2.9.4B of the Denton Development Code.

And within this, for the historic designation of this landmark would be criteria one, three, four, nine, eleven, and twelve.

So criteria one, three, and nine are very similar.

So it really focuses on the architectural style of that property.

So in the 1960s, in the late 1950s, Denton really embraced that national mid-century modern trend.

So it had a lot of innovative design, lots of long linear lines, cantilever roofs, also had a lot of suburban style development.

So we saw that in Southridge, Idiots Hill, as well as the DNA neighborhood.

And then a lot of integration of natural landscapes, especially as we see here with all the tree presence in Denia.

It also captures a lot of that distinguishing elements of mid-century modern design.

So it brings in a lot of natural light, a lot of windows, a lot of indoor-outdoor flow, has the overhanging flat roof, and then it shows a lot of those structural elements.

So we have that under that touch carport, which is under the cannon levered first floor.

It also, like I said, states kind of shows that strong mid-century modern architectural design that was in Denton at this time.

So it's right at that edge of modernism, right at the which switches right at 1960.

And here is an example of another neighboring property on Whipperwell that has that modernist architecture.

Approval criteria for it was designed by the Mount Miller's who formed their architecture firm in 1946.

I'm sure you all are familiar, including one of the previous designations that came forward in this neighborhood in 19 are in 2024, 1900 Westridge Drive.

And we also have some more notable examples throughout Denton, so that Denton Unitarian Universal Fellowship, 1226 Kendall Drive, and then we also have some other neighboring properties on Kendall Drive, which were designed by Mount Miller Architects at 1316 and 1426.

Looking at approval criteria 11, uh Dr.

Hiram Friedson, he um was the original property owner.

He worked with Mount Miller to design this home for him and his wife.

Um and he has a lot of uh significance not only locally but also um nationally.

Uh he served in the US Marine Corps during and after World War II.

Um he served almost 40 years at the UNT at UNT as a professor and administrator.

Um he was a delegate in 1961, 1971, and 1981 for the White House conferences on aging, and he also has an award um named after him for mentorship.

And then lastly, looking at approval criteria 12.

Um, this property specifically has really become a landmark within the Dean neighborhood just currently as right now.

Um it is also part of that cluster of Mount Miller homes that are currently on in within DENA, especially along Kendall Drive.

Um it's been featured in a lot of architectural tours, um, Denton Revealed for preservation month uh in 2023.

It was on our walking tour online.

Um and then in 2025 when we did a walking tour last May.

Um, you know, people got to see this up close and personal and got to um admire it from the strait um and people really in awe.

Um, and then also it's been just recognized in Denton promotions um for DENIA as a whole as kind of that haven of mid-century modern architecture.

Uh public outreach was done in April via newspaper and website.

Uh property sign was posted in late March.

Um, mail notices were completed, and staff did not receive any responses.

Staff is recommending approval of this request for historic landmark designation of the property at 1403 Kendall Drive.

Um, Historic Landmark Commission recommended approval 70, and then planning and zoning commission recommended approval 60.

And I can stand for any questions.

Thank you very much.

Questions for staff, and I'll open a public hearing.

It is a public hearing.

Anyone that wants to speak can come down and speak and fill out a card afterwards.

Uh any questions for staff.

Seeing none.

Public hearing, anyone care to speak.

See no sudden movements, I'll close the public hearing and recognize Mayor Pro Tim.

I have always loved this house, and I will gladly motion approval.

Representative from District 2.

Yeah, I was kind of surprised in the backup when I found out that it wasn't already designated as such.

It's it's an amazing house, so I happily second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

Any other discussion?

Let's vote on the screen.

And that passes 70.

Takes us to item B, which is Z260001A.

Hold a public hearing and consider adoption of an ordinance of the city of Denton, Texas, regarding a change in the zoning district and use classifications from rural residential district to light industrial district on approximately 1.67 acres of land, generally located on the east side of South Mayhill Road.

And I'll open a public hearing.

Good evening, City Council, Matt Budin, assistant planner.

I'm here to present the Mayo Road LI rezoning case.

So as stated by the mayor, this is a request for approximately 1.6 acres off of Mayhill Road to rezone from the RR Aurora Residential District to the light industrial LI district for the purpose of bringing the existing non-conforming land use on site into compliance with city code.

This request was reviewed against the general and zoning criteria for approval.

And to highlight a few of those.

Additionally, this district is more suitable over others.

Um, it does not meet the uh dimensional standards for the HI zoning district, and it also helps serve as a trend transition uh to the commercial uses on the west side of Mayhill Road.

Uh this request was notified to the public according to city and state law.

Staff did not receive any responses.

Um at Planning Zoning Commission on March 18th.

Uh, they recommended approval, and staff is also recommending approval of the request.

I'm here to answer any questions.

Thank you very much.

And it is a public hearing, so you can fill out a card after the if you would like to speak.

Uh representative from district two.

Thank you.

Uh, as far as I understand for the backup, and I'm just being clear that the use is going to stay the same as the uses now.

Is that correct?

Correct.

That was um, yes, I stayed in the back.

Okay, thank you.

Representative from district one.

Come on, approval.

Representative from district six.

Second, good job, thank you.

Okay, we have a motion and a second, and then it is a public hearing.

If anyone cares to speak, you can see none.

I'll close the public hearing and let's vote on the screen.

That passes seven to zero.

Takes us to items for consider individual consideration.

First of which is 6A in your agenda, and that's S260001.

Consider adoption of ordinance of the city of Denton extending the approval period for a special use permit for and equipment sales and rental use originally approved via ordinance S240001A for approximately 10 acres of land generally located on the south side of US 380, approximately 3,800 feet to the west of Moss Branch Road in the city of Denton, Denton County.

Good evening, Mayor, members of council.

Ashley Xtad Associate Planner.

This is S261 RDL equipment.

The request is to extend the approval period for one year for a specific use permit for an equipment sales and rental use on 10 acres of land.

The original SUP was improved of May in 2024.

The site is zoned light industrial as an and is approximately 10 acres.

It is located on the south side of University Drive and the surrounding uses are undeveloped land and gas wells.

The site plan approved with the SUP includes a 28,000 square foot building with a retail showroom product displays and sales offices for John Deere and similar equipment.

It also includes accessory warehousing and service to the rear of the building.

There will be an equipment display area along the right-of-way and equipment storage to the rear side and rear, and that will be screened by a six-foot wood fence.

SCPs do expire 24 months after approval unless the user construction is substantially underway.

The applicant has been making progress in all of their applications and they've submitted civil engineering plans, a final plat, and a building permit.

The original approving body can grant an extension of the approval period for up to one year for good cause.

And the applicant is currently working through additional engineering to obtain encroachment agreements from the easement holders on the site, and they expect to be done within one to three months.

Staff does recommend approval and if approved, the extension would be valid until May of 2027.

And I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much.

Questions for staff.

Representative from District 2.

Uh yeah, thank you, Ashley.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Uh Ashley, um again, just confirming what I understood from the backup is that the applicant was making progress on this, but we ran into issues uh with utility uh essentially utility owners uh in the surrounding properties.

Is that correct?

Yes, one of the requirements of the SUP was to obtain encroachment agreements from the easement holders, and they have been working through that and doing additional engineering, but all of their plans are ready for approval as soon as we have that agreement from the easement holders.

All right, thank you.

Representative for district six.

Uh thank you for the context, the background, and all of the uh materials that helps us understand how we got here, that they've got one more chance.

This is the only time we can extend.

Uh so I'm happy to make the motion for approval as presented.

And again, thank you for all the backup to help us make these good decisions.

Hopefully.

Thanks.

Representative from district two.

Al second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

Any other discussion?

Seeing representative from district uh five.

Just a quick question.

Um, in the backup, it talked about being um, I believe the word was um construction being generally underway.

What does that mean?

The DC doesn't define that in each site is different, so we look at each site um individually to decide if it's substantially underway.

But in this case, they have not started.

Yes.

In this case, they have not started construction, so they do not meet that requirement.

Okay, all right.

Okay.

So we have a motion and a second.

Any other discussion?

Any other questions?

Seeing none, let's vote on the screen.

Yeah, you I have a question about hold on.

Let's vote on the screen.

You can y'all can talk, yeah.

Go ahead.

Let's vote on the screen.

Um, I don't know, but that passes uh 70.

So uh just uh point of clarification on the items for individual consideration.

If you've not signed up before we call the item, we don't we can't allow public comment or we don't allow the rules, don't uh allow for that at separate than an open uh meeting item or uh what is that open public hearing, thank you.

Public hearing, you can speak at any time.

Items for individual consideration, you have to fill out a blue card before the items called, and so that was the confusion.

So I needed to to complete that process.

Uh that takes us to item B, ID 260521.

Consider adoption of ordinance of the city of Denton, Texas, a home room municipal corporation authorizing the city manager to execute a contract with Badger Meter Inc.

for the advanced meter and infrastructure implementation program for the water metering department, providing for a expenditure of funds thereof.

Good evening.

I'm Kyle Pedigo, Planning and Engineering Division Manager for Water Utilities.

I'm here tonight to request approval of the water advanced metering infrastructure implementation program.

Advanced metering infrastructure, also referred to as AMI, is a two-way communication system used to collect uh detailed metering data throughout a utilities service area.

This infrastructure is an integrated system of smart meters, a data collection system, and management and reporting systems that include a customer portal.

This will enable the utility to more accurately measure our water usage, detect leaks throughout the system, improve customer service, all while uh ensuring that we meet our regulatory compliance obligations.

Customers can also take advantage of usage alerts and reports that help them to understand their water use and identify potential savings opportunities.

We'll be implementing this as a staged approach beginning with uh the proof of concept, which is a small rollout of meters that are used in testing.

We'll follow that up with systems access uh acceptance testing, and finally a mass meter replacement.

Full deployment of the system includes both residential and commercial meters.

The implementation of this program is estimated to span 24 months, and during that time, a project communication plan will be utilized for updates.

During implementation, residents will experience a short interruption of service, typically lasting less than one hour.

Um residents will also be notified four weeks in advance with door hangers uh before the crews arrive.

And when the crews do arrive, if a major if the interruption in service will cause a major inconvenience, they can request to reschedule.

Approximately 46,000 meters will be changed out with this program, 40,000 of which are residential.

An opt-out is available and is modeled on DME's system.

The initial RFP for this program resulted in six proposals that our evaluation committee scored and ranked.

Badger meter ranked uh best value and best in brand to meet the program's identified objectives.

This contract's full value is 26 million dollars, and as you can see in the chart, the majority of that cost will be incurred during the first few years of implementation.

The remaining uh following the initial deployment, funding will be spread through the remaining years to cover both software and cellular costs.

Staff recommends award of the contract to badger meter and an uh amount not to exceed 26 million dollars.

The contract will have a five-year term with five one-year renewals under the same terms and conditions.

Progress updates will be provided regularly via ISR.

Any questions?

Thank you very much.

Questions for staff.

Representative from District 4.

Good evening, Kyle.

Thank you.

Um 46,000 meters.

How many meters are there in City O'Denton?

That's uh so approximately 46,000.

Okay, that's the whole city.

Yeah, so that so the program is plan for the full meter replacement.

And this is gonna take five years to put put all these in, or the majority of the rollout we're they're estimating within two years because the it's a very short process to switch most meters up.

Will city crews make this installation or will this be a contract?

This will be contracted through Badger.

Very good, very good.

Thank you.

Yes.

Okay, representative from District 2.

Uh yes, thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, I can't tell you how excited I am to be moving into the 21st century on this one.

Um I correct that we'll we're gonna be able to do some degree of of live leak detection and live monitoring with this kind of system uh to avoid some of these customer service issues that have plagued us over the years.

That is correct.

This will uh allow us to be more proactive with leak detection.

I I it it I'm very excited, I'm very supportive.

Uh the one thing I'll ask is um if we could do as much push notification and advanced notification to our vendor to make sure that you know any given house or any given block is well aware uh and we avoid some of the disruptions we've had in other utilities in the past, that that'd be great.

But I'm very excited by this.

Thank you.

Mayor Proteum.

Thank you, Kyle.

Um, just for the sake of our viewers and our audience, can you briefly describe some of the benefits that customers will see?

So, Councilmember Beck kind of hit on one of them, but what are some of the benefits that uh our utility customers are going to see when these are changed?

So, more we'll be able to more accurately track water usage uh so that that we don't have any overages uh if a meter isn't reading correctly.

Uh customers will be able to access the customer portal, which will give live up uh almost live updates of their water use.

So that will allow them to track heavy use times versus low use times, identify savings opportunities, and as well as potentially identify leaks on the customer side of the meter.

Uh, if no water's flowing but the meters running, uh it could identify a subsurface leak or uh running toilet.

So you could catch it before your bill shows up and you're oh no.

Correct.

No, that'll be really great.

Thank you so much.

Okay, thank you.

Any other questions for staff?

I I just have do you have a projection on because currently we go read we drive and read the meters.

Do you have a projection forward looking on savings from not having to do that?

And and uh how many dog bites is that the subtract.

I believe according to the 2021 Jacobs uh feasibility study, the savings would be 18 million dollars over the course of implementation in labor and meter reading.

Got it.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Um representative from District 2.

I I think especially with that point that the mayor brought up about how this 50% pays for itself in those kinds of savings.

I couldn't be more excited to move approval.

Second that you have a motion and a second.

Any other discussion?

Seeing none, let's vote on a screen.

Pass the 70.

Thank you very much.

Takes us to item C 6C, ID 260525.

Consider adoption of an ordinance of the city of Denton, Texas, a home rule municipal corporation authorizing the city manager to execute a contract with XY LEM View Inc.

through the source well cooperative purchasing network contract number 091724 for the water utility monitoring and analytics project for the water utilities department.

Good evening, Kyle Pedigo again.

Pleasure to meet you.

Planning and engineering division manager for water utilities.

So today I'm requesting approval for the water utility monitoring and data analytics project.

This project represents a major leap forward in how we manage our water and wastewater water infrastructure by providing the data-driven uh insights and visibility needed to keep our services safe, reliable, and fiscally responsible.

Our current monitoring and analytic system existed silo siloed environments.

So the accuracy of the data depends on periodic updates.

This slows our response time and limits our predictive capability.

The system provided by Xylem View adds inline monitoring and consolidates existing systems to provide a unified structure for real-time data monitoring.

This will allow us to compare hydraulic models, real-time sensored data, and GIS data throughout the water and wastewater systems.

A core component of this uh of the this project is the wastewater system monitoring, which provides several critical benefits.

First, it helps us in identify areas of inflow and infiltration, which is where stormwater and groundwater enter the sanitary sewer system.

This will help us to prevent overloading the treatment plants.

Second, it gives us early detection capability for flow surges.

So that enables uh operational responses to prevent sanitary sewer overflows, and third, it highlights underperforming or overcapacity areas of the system so that we can prioritize our maintenance and repairs.

The system also provides real-time data capabilities.

So staff will have access to interactive views of both the wastewater and water distribution networks.

Live visualizations of current flow and sensor data provide immediate situational awareness to support a rapid response.

The system prioritizes alarms based on criticality and sends automated notifications for critical events.

Ultimately, this allows us to monitor leaks in pressure deviations to provide early warnings for potential main breaks and proactively reduce water leaks.

Beyond daily operations, this project plays an important role in long-term planning.

Real-time flow and pressure data allow us to calibrate hydraulic models accurately, ensuring they reflect true system behavior.

Continuous monitoring reveals bottlenecks for peak flow conditions, helping us to identify where improvements are needed.

And these features strengthen our fiscal accountability to ensure we uh maximize the impact of every improvement that we do.

Staff recommends entering into a five-year contract with xylem view incorporated and the not-to-exceed amount of six million four hundred and ninety-six thousand ninety dollars for a five-year contract term.

Any questions?

Yes, sir.

Uh representative from district two.

Thank you.

Um, I I I gathered from the backup that these are primarily f flow monitor systems for the monitors.

Are you gonna be able to um and without without being too detailed here?

Um, considering the material, are we going to be able to look at solids and sedimentation and and and sort of silting out kind of phenomena with this?

Are we going to be able to look at solids and sedimentation and and and sort of silting out kind of phenomena with this?

Correct.

So the so this is flow monitoring.

Uh the majority of the system is in the in the wastewater system, but there will be water components as well.

And in the wastewater system, we can uh identify areas of slow flow, like you said that involves silting or fill-in of pipe so that we can prioritize those for repair.

Excellent.

Thank you so much.

It's again, it's I'm I'm very excited by this system.

Okay, any other questions for Sarah?

I I just um I'm trying to track along where where's this connection in the wastewater system along the system.

So you have the treatment plant, you have what feeds into the treatment plant.

Where what is this what's a what's attached and where?

So this provides more flow data than what we can currently connect.

We can currently or collect.

Currently, we can only take it really from lift stations where where we're pumping and from where we're receiving it at the plants.

This provides inline flow data throughout the throughout the main portions of the system so that we can get a better view of how much the system is handling, what rate or any slowdown areas.

And do we have enough extra quote unquote ordered to account for what do we have?

Two or three new wastewater treatment plants coming online.

So do we we factor that in?

Yeah, so the system consists of both fixed sensors and uh uh portable sensors.

So this will have some sensors that we can move in different areas to uh detect issues.

So it's not a purely fixed system.

Okay, thank you for that.

Representative from District 6.

Thank you.

As the uh City of Denton Water Utilities Department says water is life, uh, but also water can be very dangerous.

And so I I'm uh with Councillor Beck, and uh as we continue to move into the new century.

Um, I'm I'm grateful to have this opportunity uh and I move approval.

And representative from district two.

I second the approval.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

Any other discussion, any other questions?

Seeing none, let's vote on the screen.

That passes 7-0.

Takes us to item 6D, and that is ID 260509.

Consider adoption of ordinance of the city of Denton approving and economic development agreement under Chapter 380 of the local government code to promote economic development and to stimulate business activity and economic growth of the city of Denton between the city of Denton and Cratosky LLC regarding the expansion of operations and increase in the number of jobs in the city of Denton.

Good evening, Mayor Council for Nisotella Economic Development Director.

I'm here to present an overview of Creteo Sky's incentive application.

The objective for today's presentation is to approve a chapter 380 economic development and senior agreement and the economic development partnership board recommended approval of this project on April 15th, 10 to 0.

Background on the company.

We first started working with the company back in September of 2025 when they reached out to inquire about sites.

When we submitted sites, we did not hear back from them until December or January of this year, and we hosted them for a site tour in February.

The company is founded in 2025, and they're undergoing rapid growth.

They would are seeking to assemble a large-scale manufacturing facility that will enable the company to establish itself as a dual-use producer of autonomous aerial robotics.

The manufacturing facility will design, produce, test, and refine the company's autonomous aerial robotics product offerings, and they will serve the defense and security, agriculture, law enforcement, search rescue, inspections, logistics, and construction industries.

The company is in the final stages of acquiring multiple operating UAS assets.

UAS stands for unmanned aerial systems.

They're strongly capitalized with initial funding, raised through existing partners, and additional funding commitments from outside investors.

Cortale Sky is also evaluating options for their future global headquarters, providing a central hub for ongoing corporate acquisitions.

Project overview.

Their current CEO is Scott Wine.

He is a former CEO of Polaris, which is a recreational vehicle manufacturer, during which he transformed a company from a $1.9 billion company to a nearly $7 billion global power sports leader.

He led the company through significant growth, including major acquisitions, portfolio diversification, and expansion into international markets.

The team also has experience in scaling industrial platforms and executing mergers and acquisitions.

They also have experience in AI autonomy and advanced manufacturing.

We've been primarily working with Ellen McCartney, McCarthy, I'm sorry.

She's a senior vice president of global government affairs.

And throughout her career, she's secured over 200 million dollars in congressional funding and tax programs.

She has also served as a former Senate Finance Committee Advisor, and she's a retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel.

The company is seeking to lease a facility at 3411 Mingo Road, building number two.

The building is a little over 167,000 square feet at the 288380 logistics park.

And the company plans to make several improvements to the property, including adding a manufacturing floor and an office space buildup, facility modifications, climate control systems, and power distribution upgrades.

They also plan on adding various manufacturing equipment, including tooling and assembly fixtures, testing equipment, and other personal property.

Within the company's incentive application, they project to create 23.5 million dollars in capital investment, 12.6 million dollars in improvements, 10.9 million in business personal property, and 258 new jobs.

Currently on the tax rolls, the building is valuated at 16.4 million dollars.

With the estimated added business personal property and improvements to the property, we estimate that will be $18.8 million in valuation for a total of $35.2 million in new valuation.

Current annual city revenue that we're collecting from the building is $98,000.

With the estimated improvements in business personal property, we estimate additional $112,000 for a total of $210,000.

On the economic impact report, the model estimates that the city will receive a net benefit less incentives of $950,755.

The county will receive $411,000, and the school district over a million dollars over a 10-year period.

The rate of return is 20.6, and the payback period is 4.6 years.

A sales tax rebate at 50% on construction materials with a cap of $94,500, a job-based grant and residency bonus with a cap of $227,000, and a headquarters grant with a cap of $50,000.

With the headquarters grant, we're giving them up to two years to choose DIDN as a location if they choose to do so.

And then they would, after they receive their CO, they'll be required to wait at least a year to receive that funding.

So all of our performance, I'm sorry, all of our incentives are performance-based.

That means that the company does have to perform in order to receive incentives.

That's about $14,000 over the Denton County average salary of $64,100.

And the company will also provide a health dental vision and 401k match.

On the right bottom chart, we estimate that the company will create at least, well, we're incentivizing at least 98 jobs.

That's not within the requirement.

The job-based grant is capped at 227,000, but we estimate that they will create 98 jobs ranging from 65,000 to over 100,000 with the DIN resident residency bonus of 25.

A cap of 12,500 with 25 eligible jobs.

Community impact.

Didn't as it is in a pivotal place in time where we can uh shape our future by recruiting the industries that we want to the city.

And so we've actively trying, we're actively trying to become a mobility hub.

We just hosted a mobility summit a few weeks ago where we focus on logistics and supply chain and UAS.

So this will serve as a catalyst for additional UAS opportunities in Denton.

This also creates additional research partnerships with UNT and TWU.

And we know that this will add another um job and industry to uh Denton residents.

We also expect that the the company will um potentially test their technology at the Denton Airport or at UNT's UAS test center.

Within our economic development evaluation matrix score, um they scored an 84, which is an acceptable range, and that's just because they're fairly new, so some of the information wasn't um complete.

Uh but it does meet several measures within our strategic plan, including the connectivity um strategic growth area.

We have four strategic growth areas in our 2020 economic development strategic plan.

So this falls under connectivity transportation and logistics.

So today our staff recommendation is a chapter 380 grant with a cap of 870,000 at 64 dollars.

I'm available for questions as well as Ellen McCarthy, who flew down today to be here for the meeting.

Um she's a senior vice president of global government affairs.

Okay, thank you very much.

Questions for staff representative from district four.

Thank you.

Thanks, Brittany.

Um what is on the incentive uh slide, it's in a proposal job-based grant and residency bonus.

What does that mean?

Sure.

So we are providing a grant for the company to hire local jobs, and so this will be for the Denton plant only.

Um, and we have a cap of 227,000.

However, we do how we estimate the projections.

We estimate that'll be 98 jobs ranging from 65,000 to over 100,000 with the Denton residency bonus.

That means we're trying to incentivize the company to make sure that they're hiring Denton residents, which we will verify every year.

Um so that's 500 per Denton residents up to 12,500.

Higher Denton residents.

Yeah.

I like the way that sounds.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Mayor Pro Tim.

Thank you.

Can you explain the eight-year ad valorem 65% credit?

Um, like what which year is the base year that I haven't figured that out.

Sure.

So we give them up to two years to initiate the agreement, and so that would be 2028 when they have um their limit to initiate.

So is it after the initial improvements are made or before?

Specifically after they receive their CO.

Um so we're giving them to 2028 to get their CO and ensure that the evaluation of a minimum 18.8 million dollars is created.

Okay, so some improvements up to 18 million.

CO is in hand, and then we would begin the base year, basically.

Correct, yes.

Or or any uh increases in in value after that is subject to the 65 percent.

Sure.

So the base year value is 2025.

Um so whenever we put the projections on here, let me go back here.

We're using the 2025 base year value.

Okay, but when we initiate it, that'll be in 2028.

Okay.

So any improvements between 2025 and 2028 is subject to the 65 percent?

Yes.

Okay, okay, gotcha now.

Umbe this will be a question for you.

So the the company's not even a year old yet, and that does give me some concern.

Um, so I don't know if you want to speak a little bit, Mayor, if that's okay.

By all means uh about the company and um kind of what y'all have been doing, where you've been going.

I tried to look up stuff outside of our agenda about the company, and I didn't see a whole, I couldn't find anything really.

I found your website, and that was about it.

So that's right.

Um last week.

We gotta speak up to the to the mic so our millions of fans can hear you.

Thank you for asking that question, actually.

Um the Corteo Sky business model is a little bit different from what you've seen in the UAS um ecosystem.

We are acquiring um six different UAS assets in the next two to three months.

These are existing UAS companies uh manufacturing um these products and selling them.

Um the issue with many UAS um companies today is it's a fragmented market, and the funding isn't there for scale production.

So what we bring to these companies is the build ability to scale the manufacturing, and since they're existing companies with um revenue, we will jump into that ecosystem immediately and be profitable.

Um, what the country needs now is a sovereign um manufacturing base for UAS systems.

So I think that answers your question.

I think so, yes.

I think I'm okay.

I think I'm done.

Thank you.

Yeah.

And I think if you want to correct me if I'm wrong, but I'll try to truncate it.

And that's that's what I heard you say, you can fix that, but that's what I heard.

Like it's it's a focus on it being manufactured in the United States is new-ish, and I think that's the new-ish component.

Uh or at least that's been a higher focus.

Is that how long has that been ongoing to so it's it's not just onshoring, but it's production at scale, significant volumes.

A lot of these smaller UAS businesses don't make significant volumes.

The largest UAS competitor is a Chinese company called DJI.

Um, and it's a national security risk.

So you are right, uh, Mayor, we need more onshoring, more domestic manufacturing for national security.

Got it.

Okay.

Any other questions?

A Western supply chain as well.

Got it.

Any other questions for staff or uh the representative?

Representative from district six.

Thank you.

And this is for Brittany, sorry.

And thank you very much for uh coming in just to answer questions for us, et cetera.

Um I correct that the projections at this point, we believe that we're going to make back any incentives within was it four years?

Yes, ma'am, 4.6 years.

Okay.

And just for those watching, can you uh speak to how it is that the city of Denton tracks annually uh that they are meeting their targets in order to continue these incentives?

It's not one lump sum, it's it's a break on what they're paying for a certain amount of time, and that is verified by our staff.

Is that correct?

It is right.

So, for example, I think the Avalorum rebates are great example.

Every year we check the valuation based off the Denton County appraisal district to ensure that they're meeting the right measures, um, which was it which is listed in the incentive agreement, and they have to meet that measure in order to receive the grant.

And so at any point, if they don't meet those measures for the Avalorum grant, um, for example, the Avalon grant requires uh the company to create 123 jobs by year four, and so don't they don't do that, then they won't get the funding, um, or they'll have to pay the funding back.

Okay.

Uh thank you.

Um just want to say that it we've been looking for knowledge-based jobs that our university graduates would be a good fit for.

Um, I believe that the because of the economic development partnership board presentation that they've already met with UNT, the students there are very excited.

Uh the salaries are well above our average having a possible headquarters here.

Uh, I mean, I I think um I sh I understand the concerns as far as a new company, but with the bench they have and the um what they've been able to accomplish already, it seems like we're in good hands.

And of course, if not, then uh the uh incentives will fall off.

So um thank you very much for bringing this to us.

Appreciate it.

Representative District Five.

Uh first off, um Lieutenant Colonel, thank you for your service.

Thanks for coming down here today.

Um, I appreciate you responding to Mayor Pro Tim's question.

I too had that concern, being that you're new, but I appreciate the um the incentive package and the way that it's kind of more performance-based in terms of getting you know additional knowledge for the years.

Um my question, uh if I may, ma'am, my question is simply um responding to an article that came out in our paper last week.

What's the percentage of what you're gonna be doing commercial versus military?

We estimate initially it was more heavily weighted towards commercial, but we're looking at government contracts in the range of 60 percent and 40 percent commercial.

Now it could go closer to 50-50.

This is an estimate.

As a company, will you all be able to have desires to put controls on how government uses your technology I don't know exactly what examples you're referring to?

I know the FAA and their government controls on the technology today.

Can as a company, could you say, hey government, I don't want you to do XYZ with our technology.

Um we could decide to sell and develop certain technology that that the government uses.

I don't think we're in the position to tell the government what they can and can't do.

Fair enough.

I appreciate that answer.

Um is there I'm looking for some some assurances today that your technology won't be used to prey upon American citizens, as we've seen the past couple of years.

That gives me great pause.

Well, I think what's interesting.

I I certainly understand your concern.

Somebody could, for example, take an Apple computer that is used for schoolwork and do something nefarious with it.

I I can't predict in all the life scenarios, how a product's going to be used, right?

Like a product shoe could be used for some bad use.

I don't know.

It's certainly not our intention to promote um illegal activities.

Sure.

And I'm not talking about legal versus illegal, because legal doesn't necessarily mean ethical.

And I appreciate your analogy having said that Apple's not standing in front of us asking for Denton tax dollars.

Okay.

Okay.

Next question.

I appreciate that.

I'm gonna continue asking.

Um if you don't receive this tax incentive from us, um, are we are you considered you're considering other places if you don't receive this tax incentive from us?

Can you say how heavily that might weigh in your decision of whether or not to come to this community?

I think it's important that if we come to Denton, we're wanted here.

And the incentive package is part of that.

We're looking to be a partner in this community.

So the Denton incentive package is an important part of that and an indicator that we're wanted here.

Um as late as Sunday night, another municipality in Texas called me.

Their economic development lead called me to see if we can sit consider going there.

They'd read about what we're doing in Denton.

So Denton is my first choice, but we haven't signed a lease.

We haven't made commitments yet.

I appreciate that.

I'm I'm thankful that uh that Denton is your first choice.

Um, Brittany, your team, Christine, I want to thank you guys for the job you did on this.

Very very well done.

Um because I can't, I don't have any assurance that quite frankly they're not gonna sell drones to certain nefarious government agencies.

I'm a hard no.

Thank you very much, ma'am.

Representative from District 2.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, we we spoke earlier, Brittany.

Did we did we get any clarity about the location and and the the bypass that's that's going in and how that might affect the business?

Sure.

So we did look into the loop 288 extension around Mingo Road, and Ellen did agree that it wasn't going to cause a uh issue.

Um they do would like to test technology outside of the facility.

There's two acres around the facility.

Um, but that but there are also other locations where they mess they may test technology too, so it's not going to be issue.

Um yeah, no, I I think the rest of my questions were answered uh asked by other counselors.

Thank you.

Representative district one.

I have one question.

Um for the audience.

Can you give us a just about an estimate estimated time when you suspect that you all will be up and running if this is passed tonight and you have everything you need to be, you know, entrenched in the community.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

Either one.

So they do have a estimated timeline to at least be operational by 2028, but as Ellen said earlier, they're in the process of acquiring uh multiple companies, and so it shouldn't up it shouldn't take that long, a few months, she said.

And Ellen, if you want to comment as well.

So we'd like to get a certificate certificate of occupancy right away and begin assembling as soon as we can, even during construction.

So what maybe isn't obvious from the picture, the building that we're looking to lease is basically a logistics building.

It does not have the manufacturing um capacity inside of it.

We would be building 30,000 square foot of office space for the people that are working there for the engineers, the software um developers and whatnot.

Um this building would either be used for logistics or it could be used for high-paying jobs.

The goal is to get into this building as soon as we can and begin initial assembly to have full production up and ready by late fall this year.

I do want to add we are focused on creating jobs.

Um because of the 258 job estimate, I wanted to share that we hosted a Denton Jaw Fair uh last week, actually.

Um there was a total of 694 people that registered and 475 people that showed up.

So what does that tell us?

Is that either those people don't have a job or they're looking for a different industry?

And so what I've heard in Denton since I've moved here is that they residents want job diversification.

Um they want to be able to get into an industry that they can um enjoy other than the other industries that maybe they're in and would make a higher wage, right?

So um I think that's important to note is that there's there are people looking for jobs and they've stated that they're excited about this.

Okay, and we have one blue card that wanted to speak.

Jeremy Gingrich, you can come down and give your name.

You have three minutes.

Uh hello, uh, my name's Jeremy Gingrich.

Uh I sent an email to you all uh earlier today.

Sorry, I'm a little anxious and a little nervous.

This is my first time doing this.

Um yeah, so I'm a graduate student in physics at the University of North Texas, and I've been a resident of Denton for the past six years.

Um I want to state first that uh crit uh Creteo Sky was founded last year.

They have no production history, no verified revenue, and no track record in this community.

And yet this council is being asked to commit nearly $900,000 in real immediate public dollars in tax rebates, grants, subsidies on the basis of estimates, not assurances, not guarantees, estimates.

The 258 jobs, an estimate, the 23.5 million dollars in capital investment is an estimate, property value increase, an estimate.

Every single uh number justifying this deal is a projection from a company that has not yet proven can deliver at any scale.

Some of you might think clawback provisions protect the city.

They do not.

Clawbacks only work if a company has assets to seize or revenue to garnish.

A company with no production history and no revenue can simply dissolve.

The city would spend years in court and likely recover nothing.

The incentives are concrete while the returns are hypothetical.

There's a well furthermore, there is a well uh there's a long, well-documented history of companies arriving before local local governments with exactly these kinds of numbers and then under delivering.

Uh you can look in the email, I I provided more exhaust uh not necessarily exhaustive lists list, but there's instances in North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin.

There's a scandal called Foxconn.

Also, Boeing, which is a well-established company is also underdelivered in these same kind of scenarios.

Um the pattern is the same.

The incentives go out to the door, the jobs never arrive.

And um, yeah.

And so, furthermore, uh while I provided the fiscal argument because that's probably what a lot of you would deal with.

A lot of this is also a moral argument.

Um morally, I'm strictly opposed to autonomous drones in general.

I believe that machines that make lethal decisions should have uh without human accountability, should not exist, period.

I recognize though that not everyone in this uh council would share my position, and that you all can't solve a global problem tonight.

So I would ask that there is a compromise, even if you set aside the moral question entirely, this lease is still a bad deer deal.

It's an unproven company with no revenue, no track record, and nearly $900,000 of public money on estimates and no transparency about what these drones actually do or where they will be used.

So here is my compromise position.

Reject this lease, not because you agree with it.

My absolute opposition in autonomous drones, but because this special specific deal is fiscally irresponsible and lacks basic transparency.

If Creteo Scal wants to come back with a proven track record, binding end use restrictions and full public disclosure of the products, then the council can have a different conversation.

But not this deal, not tonight.

Denton is a university town.

We have artists, scientists, educators, and students who choose this place because of what it stands for.

I'm asking that this council.

That's your that's your time.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Uh any other uh Mayor Protoon.

Brittany, can you come up one more time?

Can you uh explain what happens if the company doesn't deliver on the various promises or um you know things that we're estimating?

Sure.

So um at year five, if they haven't met the measures, then they have to pay 100% of the funding back per the agreement.

If they make it after five, then the um percentage goes down a little bit.

I think it starts at 50%.

Um but if they've made it at year five, they're more than likely going to be successful at that point, right?

So are there some I I think I saw that there were some that were tied to uh some incentives that were tied to once you do this, you get this.

It's not like you don't get it up front, but once you like you hire a Denton resident, then that's that five is it five hundred dollars per Denton resident up to what was it, 12?

We don't have a other competitive incentives like other cities, um, Frisco and and McKinney.

Um they have 20 million dollars to play with, and so they're a little bit more competitive incentivizing companies.

For us, we have to be a little bit more creative and stricter with our incentives.

Um, and so they're they are performance-based.

So the other um I talked about Avalorum rebate earlier, but the other one is a sales tax rebate, for example.

That's a one-time grant up to 94,500.

And so, in order to receive that, they must have a certificate of occupancy first.

They also must be able to obtain a Texas direct pay permit.

That means that they have to at least purchase $800,000 in sales tax um item items, construction items, right?

And spend $800,000 to in order to receive that rebate.

So that's already a challenge in itself.

But if they're doing it and they're going to be successful, we expect that Kritao Sky will do that.

Okay, thank you.

Representative from District One.

I heard something about you all.

Possibly some additional land for testing, you know, these products.

And where you all are located right now, my concern is that there are many residences around you all.

Like it's hundreds of feet.

Apartment complexes, maybe.

Um how does that look?

How's that gonna look for us?

I mean, are we going to look up in the sky and see something that's terrifying?

Or you know, is it gonna be huge?

I mean, just give me a scenario of what my uh what my area is gonna look like.

I'm concerned about that in many many uh homeowners, uh businesses.

What is testing look like?

What do you want to?

I know Ellen's going to comment, but it will take um a few months to get a lease signed.

And so that's uh it's uh it's flexible right now.

They're also looking at uh using the UNT test center too.

So if anyone hasn't toured that facility, I recommend you go out there.

It's a huge facility that is a uh will contain the drones, and so that's probably gonna be their first option.

And then Ellen, do you have any other comments for the additional acreage?

So important to note, you you where your manufacturing's not the testing site.

I think that's most important to note.

There is some land adjacent to it, but we haven't even looked in any kind of detail whether it's feasible to use that.

We will have testing inside the building because it's almost 170,000 square feet.

I met with the municipal airport last week to look at having testing at the airport there.

We don't want to be disruptive to any of the community or the people that live near the facility.

That's the last thing we want to do.

Absolutely, thank you very much.

Okay, any other questions for Seth?

Seeing none, I I just um well, I want to move approval and representative district six.

Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second discussion.

I I want to point out we just had a presentation from Denton PD that touched on the value of drones in their in their usage.

We then it's been talked about in this conversation.

We have a drone testing facility at Unit UNT Discovery Center, and that hadn't been an issue.

Um then you you talked about the performance and the and the ties to that.

Um, and then I I think it's important just to read into the record because it's not obvious to those that are tracking along.

Uh this is as I see it on the website.

It may not be accurate, maybe may not be updated, but this is the gist of the uh economic development partnership board.

Uh and it's uh and it was 10-0, mind you, with these these people tasked with evaluating these and giving us uh their feedback.

And it's uh Leo Morales, Lucy Hendry, Jill Jester, Lee Ramsey, Jeremy Fikes, Vicky Bird, Amy Bissett, Rick Wolf, Brian Danhoff, Carrie Gorey, uh Suzanne O'Bara, Aaron Carney, Jason Tomlinson, Tominson, uh, then uh there's um I had a right for it, so Kimberly Garza Turner, and uh then the the city staff.

And so I mean, these are significant people in the community, and and we task them with evaluating and giving us their recommendation and digging in just like every committee digs into the the weeds on an item, then we do our own due diligence.

Um and I I don't see and and if we're talking about financial risk, we have financial risk uh more so in our utilities because we get it, we get a down payment.

But if someone runs up a bill and leaves, they don't have anything to go after.

And and we we weather those storms every day of every moment, and and and you know, so we have challenges uh being run in the city that that is undeniable, but the then it's just wrong to hold uh this business accountable for some thing that might happen, and or some if so people do bad things with knives regularly.

You know, we hear I read about it all the time in the police reports, and so should we ban selling knives or buying knives or you know, it's just like where does that end?

I I don't understand that that that approach to it.

It's a product, any product can be misused.

Um, and and that is a problem.

We have to wind that that's not an excuse, but that is a real reality of what we freedom, right?

The people have a freedom to operate a business, and and so for me, I think they have the right precautions in place.

Their size of their drones are limited to only certain use cases.

The city of Denton's using drones currently, UNT using drones currently.

Uh, so it uh it's consistent with uh a technology that's out there that we're leveraging currently, and why wouldn't we want it here?

Uh and then lastly, the jobs, uh $70,000 a year jobs in Denton with the opportunity to try to earn a corporate headquarters, uh, and again have people graduate from UNT, graduate from TWU, and get corporate jobs here in Denton.

That that is something that people have been regularly asking for, and I think it's good and right to support it.

Uh so we have a motion in a second.

Representative from district two.

Thank you.

I I think the real distinction between um what we're talking about here or what you said, Mr.

Mayor, and and some of the concerns that you've heard voiced tonight is um a little bit the the the targeting of the sectors.

I I think drones are well aligned with our Senate Center for Drone Technology, they're there are our verteport that we're putting in at the airport, uh a 21st century approach.

I I don't uh our logistics um issues, those are those are all well aligned with our city.

I I think it's something that that council mcgee uh addressed, and that is um sort of the the intent to move out of the commercial sector into a sector that frankly our community finds problematic.

So um I think uh I'm I'm I I would love to have a drone facility in this town, but I I don't think this is the right one with them targeting 60, 65 percent military applications.

I I think that that's the wrong uh approach, especially with um the the sort of issues with uh it's a brand new company and and and the changes in technology that we heard about earlier.

So um I'm I'm I'm not gonna be supporting this.

Representative from District Five Mayor, since I uh I think you were uh alluding to me, let me respond directly.

Uh I I try to be consistent.

This isn't at all about the company, this isn't about the jobs.

Um I've been among the most pro-economic incentive package person up here.

I've supported almost every single thing.

Um the math works out.

I appreciate staff doing the due diligence.

The problem is what could happen with this technology.

And to your analogy, people can do bad things with anything.

Um our dis our decision is what we want to do with our tax dollars.

As an LTC holder, as a gun holder, I wouldn't give City of Denton tax dollars to have a gun manufacturing facility in the city either, as an LTC holder, as a gun owner.

For me, this is simply a values question.

Councilmember Beck is right.

Yes, drone technology is a big part of where we're going.

Um having said that, I asked Lieutenant Colonel, I couldn't get any assurances.

If she had said we're only gonna sell our drones to Department of Energy, we're only gonna sell them to Department of the Interior, we're only gonna sell them to other cities.

Yes, City of Denton uses drones, but I have reasonable confidence that the city of Denton police department isn't gonna be preying on people.

I don't have that confidence in our federal or state government.

Having said that, that's why I'm a no.

It is I I cast no aspersions on the company.

Best of luck to you all, make them make your money how you can make your money.

Having said that, the people you listed, with the exception of Councilmember Byrd and Councilmember Jess and my colleagues, those are not elected members of the community.

I am and since I am, I get to make the decision.

And I'm a no man.

Okay, that's great.

So we have a motion and a second.

I do want to read into the record that uh just so that everyone knows.

M1 support services is a um we get here.

Because they've been based in Denton for a very long time, just two blocks down the road, and they actually function in that space as far as uh aircraft.

And uh let's see here.

An industry leader in aviation services since 2003, M1 partners in the UN United States government allied partners or nations enhance mission effectiveness, and they are a number one, they're like the the C.

So they are ranked in 2025, it was listed as defense news in the 94th largest defense company in the world.

And if you drive right by there, you'll see it says M1, no issues in Denton.

That's very interesting.

Let's vote on the screen.

Passes 5-2.

Takes us to concluding items.

Any concluding items.

I don't know what to do about that.

Representative from district Mac, help me out.

Representative from from uh well, let me just wait.

Mac, I need your help.

What to do?

Yeah, you you could on in your discretion, Mayor.

You could have a revote.

Otherwise, you'd have to move for a there'd have to be a motion to reconsider from someone that was on the winning prevailing side.

So no no process, no discussion.

I can just unilaterally do it all over again.

Within your discretion, if the because there's a basis for a vote, one of the council members saying that they did not correctly record their vote.

You have the discretion to have the vote again.

Okay, if you could reload it, it's it's I am the um movement.

Was it councilmember just was a second?

Thank you.

Uh no, yeah.

So if you could reload that, please.

Yep.

And then uh Councilmember Jester's the second.

Passes 4-3.

Uh that representative district four.

We're doing concluding items.

Yes, sir.

Very good.

Uh mayor, today is the 21st of April.

San Jacinto Day.

Thursday, April 23rd.

Does anybody know whose birthday, who Dentonite birthdays, April 23rd?

No, you don't.

Ray Peterson, born April 23rd, 1935.

Denton, Texas, Denton Bronco.

Uh Ray Peterson recorded hits like The Wonder of You in 1959.

Uh Karina Karina, produced by Phil Spector before he became a murderer.

And uh Tell Laura, I love her in 1960.

Uh, if you Google Ray Peterson, Denton, Texas, Google will show 32 songs, most of which made the top 10.

Tell Laura, I love her, and Karina Karina made the top five.

Um he was his family lived at 1224 Panhandle Street, right around the corner from the old Denton High School on uh on Fulton Street.

Native son Ray Peterson birthday this Thursday.

Happy birthday, Ray.

A legitimate competitor with Elvis Presley for a short time.

Representative from District 2.

Thank you.

Uh tomorrow is Earth Day.

Um, and so I encourage everyone to uh engage in the various activities that have been going on this week.

Uh one of the largest environmental conferences um in the nation is going on in Dallas uh over the next few days.

Um if you want something more local, there's there's uh there's a conference on Friday at TW.

Uh and so in addition to to celebrating the environment, I will remind folks that early voting started this week, so get out there and vote.

Representative from District Five.

Um I'm sure Mayor and Councilmember Byrd, I'm sure you all are members, but um to the rest of you all, I want to acknowledge the tragic passing of the vice mayor of Coral Springs, Florida, um Nancy Bowen.

Um yeah, she was um she was a good member.

Um obviously it was a very tragic thing that happened in their community.

So just want to say publicly, um, my thoughts and and prayers are are with her her family, and God bless those folks down in uh Coral Springs.

Okay, anyone else?

Uh then I I'll just say just one thing.

So uh former mayor Robert Cluck in Arlington passed away and did not know him, but heard great things, and and obviously have a lot of friends in Arlington currently.

So uh wanna my condolences to his family.

Uh, and then uh just all in all that is uh everything I have.

And and uh so at 816, that'll conclude tonight's meeting.

Thank you.