Carrollton City Council Regular Worksession and Meeting – March 7, 2023

On Tuesday, March 7, 2023, the Carrollton City Council held its regular worksession and meeting at City Hall, 1945 E. Jackson Road. The meeting opened with a 5:45 p.m. executive session under Texas Government Code Section 551.071 to consult with the City Attorney about pending and contemplated litigation, including City of Allen, Texas et al. v. Time Warner Cable Texas, LLC d/b/a Spectrum and Charter Communications. The council reconvened in open session with no action. The worksession included briefings on the Dudley Branch Trail, the multi-year budget and financial forecast, and ARPA project funding. The regular meeting began at 7:00 p.m. with an invocation by Councilmember Axberg and the pledge of allegiance led by Councilmember Sung, and adjourned at 7:33 p.m.

Consent Calendar

• Approved the February 21, 2023 regular meeting minutes.
• Approved purchase of one adult pre-hospital EMS patient training simulator from CAE Healthcare Inc. through a Savvik Buying Group cooperative agreement, not to exceed $53,000.
• Approved RFP #23-006 for water and sewer supplies from Ferguson Waterworks, not to exceed $276,286 annually. The agreement includes two one-year renewal options, for a possible three-year total of $828,858. Two other bids were deemed inadmissible due to incomplete paperwork.
• Approved payment to the School of EMS not to exceed $96,000 for twelve firefighters to obtain initial paramedic training, with $80,000 offset by a Texas Department of State Health Services grant and $16,000 from the FY23 Fire Department operating budget. The Fire Department currently has 25 firefighters who need paramedic certification.
• Approved a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with Public Consulting Group LLC for Ambulance Supplemental Payment Program cost allocation services, through a cooperative purchase with the City of Frisco, for an annual amount not to exceed $40,000 and aggregate not to exceed $200,000 over five years. In 2022, the program reimbursed the City $828,496.
• Approved a resolution authorizing the City Manager to take all necessary action to acquire public access trail easements along Dudley Branch Creek between Eisenhower Street and Rosemeade Parkway, including use of eminent domain if negotiations are unsuccessful.
• Approved a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a settlement agreement in City of Allen, Texas et al. v. Time Warner Cable Texas, LLC d/b/a Spectrum and Charter Communications.
• Approved a resolution ratifying Michelle Wiest to serve on the Civil Service Commission through October 2023.

The consent agenda (items 9–13 and 15–17) was approved unanimously on a motion by Councilmember Polter, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Palacios. Item 14 was pulled for separate consideration.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No citizens spoke during the public comment portion for regular agenda items.
• Four Ridgecrest Estates residents spoke during public forum about the upcoming Ridgecrest Estates Phase One utility and alley construction project. Martha Akers of 1804 Crestview Drive expressed concern that drainage problems have worsened since 2013 street work, causing loss of half of her front yard and ponding, and asked that drainage fixes be included in the project. Beth Barrett of 1800 South Crest described persistent potholes and a large standing-water puddle in her alley, and asked for an engineering solution such as a trench to drain it. Lori Foster of 1806 Crestview expressed concern that construction was scheduled to begin March 13 with little notice, said the alleys function as part of the drainage system, and asked the city to slow the project until planned work is proven not to worsen flooding. Susan Levine of 1807 Southcrest said she wants the alley kept at 15 feet wide, praised alley mailboxes, and expressed concern about notice and communication.
• Terence Vidovic, during public forum, expressed criticism of the city council and city leadership, said his prior remarks had been redacted from the video, and called for reopening a police investigation. His time was ended by the Mayor after he exceeded the allotted time.

Discussion Items

• Dudley Branch Trail Project Update: Jonathan Wheat, Director of Engineering, reported that the trail is included in the City's Trail Master Plan and is NCTCOG-funded. The project has $3 million in federal funding with a $1 million city match, about $620,000 spent on design, and a federal construction-start deadline of August 2024. The segment between Eisenhower Street and Rosemeade Parkway requires two public access trail easements totaling 54,744 square feet (39,100 sf and 15,644 sf), appraised at $0.19 per square foot, or $10,401 total. The property owner, San Chester Reality, is inactive per Secretary of State records, and the company owner has stated he will not reactivate it, making eminent domain the only route. The additional easement would allow the trail to meander and save about 21 trees compared with a straight alignment. Staff stated the design is modeled to have net-zero impact on 100-year flood elevations. Councilmembers discussed fence locations, gates, homeowner requests, and tree preservation. Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Cline expressed concern about reducing the existing 30-foot pedestrian and channel maintenance access easement and about long-term maintenance flexibility in the creek channel.
• Multi-Year Budget and Financial Forecast: Melissa Everett, Finance Director, presented the five-year forecast for the General Fund and Utility Fund, kicking off the FY24 budget process. Assumptions included a 3% employee compensation pool, 2% in later years, 5% health insurance costs, 2% sales tax growth, and 3.5% property tax growth for 2024–2026 with 1% thereafter. Staff said a state sales tax place-of-business rule change could reduce sales tax revenue by about $4 million annually, nearly 200 property and sales tax bills are being monitored in the legislative session, and inflation was about 6.4%. The utility fund forecast includes potential rate increases of 6.9% and 6.81% over the next two years and an 11% increase from Trinity River Authority; rate recommendations will come to council in November 2023. Council gave general direction to continue the conservative financial approach and asked for additional briefing on public safety recruiting and on how higher interest rates affect city borrowing and bond sales.
• ARPA Project Funding Briefing: The city received about $19.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding. Chris Cinconi, Chief Information Officer, reported the fiber network project has about $5.5 million in dedicated ARPA funding plus engineering dollars; an engineering services contract is expected to come to council in April. Underground fiber is about $35 per linear foot versus $7 per linear foot aerial, and staff will bring options. Jody Byerly, Director of Public Works, reported on infrastructure projects funded with one-time ARPA dollars: $4 million for collector street panel replacement, with Branch Hollow from Josie Lane to Arbor Creek completed; future collector streets include Ferno, Nimitz, Halley, and Bowwood; Marsh Lane and Keller Springs work is underway; an alley panel replacement program covering about 12–15 alleys is expected to start by the end of March; and an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) RFP was extended, with council award expected on April 4. Public Works has spent about $373,000 on collector streets, equaling 6,830 linear feet or 1.294 miles, and about $728,000 on trails, over one mile.
• Mayor and Council Reports: Councilmembers recognized TexFest as a successful community event, thanked staff and volunteers, congratulated Susan Thomas on the Rising Star Award, acknowledged Chief McCoy's retirement, highlighted participation in LISD career shadowing and the STEM Wonder Wagon, and noted an upcoming women's history month recognition at the next meeting. Staff reported that a briefing on DART and Silver Line issues may be scheduled in the coming meetings.

Key Outcomes

• Approved consent agenda items 9–13 and 15–17 unanimously.
• Approved item 14, authorizing a project-specific agreement with Dallas County Road and Bridge District #4 for a mill and asphalt overlay on streets in the Country Place neighborhood, not to exceed $573,634. The City will fund 100% of the cost from the Capital Dedicated Fund. The motion passed with no opposition; Councilmember Pendleton abstained because the project is in his neighborhood.
• No action was taken after the executive session.
• The council directed staff to continue conservative multi-year budget assumptions, bring public safety recruiting options, and provide a bond and interest-rate briefing at a future council meeting.
• Next steps include an April council briefing on the ARPA fiber engineering contract, an AMI award expected April 4, further real estate items for the Dudley Branch Trail, and the formal budget process with the proposed budget on July 31 and adoption scheduled September 5, 2023.