Carrollton City Council Work Session & Regular Meeting – April 18, 2023

The Carrollton City Council held its regular worksession at 5:45 p.m. and regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at Carrollton City Hall, 1945 E. Jackson Road; the meeting adjourned at 7:56 p.m. Mayor Steve Babick presided, with Mayor Pro Tem Andrew Palacios, Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Nancy S. Cline, and Councilmembers Christopher Axberg, Adam Polter, Richard Fleming, Young Sung, and H.A. “Rusty” Pendleton present. The Council authorized a settlement in pending litigation, heard worksession briefings on schools, the CFB ISD bond election, legislative matters, and emergency communications, approved the consent agenda and two non-consent items, and heard public forum comments.

Worksession Briefings

• Weir Brothers litigation / Executive Session: After reconvening from executive session, Council authorized the City Manager to negotiate or accept a settlement in Weir Brothers Contracting, LLC v. City of Carrollton (Cause No. DC-19-02648), with approximately $405,000 as the city’s responsibility.
• CFB ISD Superintendent: Dr. Wendy Eldredge introduced herself on her 17th day as superintendent. She described 30 years in education, previous service in Crandall ISD and Garland ISD, and said she wanted to strengthen district-community partnership.
• CFB ISD bond briefing: Mary Lovell of the VoteFORCFB PAC briefed Council on the May 2023 Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD bond proposition. She said a 60-member committee studied 33-plus facilities and recommended roughly $351 million in projects across safety/security, student support services, replacement of aging schools, and renovations. She emphasized the bond would not increase the 20-cent bond-related tax rate and said PAC advocacy was needed because state ballot language labels the measure a property tax increase.
• Legislative update: Robert Howden of Waterloo Capitol Public Affairs reported on the 88th Legislature. He said HB 2127, the “preemption bill,” was on the House floor with more than 50 amendments and was likely to pass along party lines. HB 5089, Morgan Meyer’s “destination sales tax” bill, could affect Carrollton finances and was being opposed in the Calendars Committee. He noted a record 9,000-plus bills filed, discussed the roughly $32 billion budget surplus and possible property tax relief, including raising the homestead exemption from $40,000 to $70,000 and a House-passed appraisal cap reduction from 10% to 5%. City Attorney Meredith Ladd said the pending preemption bill currently would affect only two city code areas: private well drilling report deadlines and hotel rate-posting locations.
• NTECC update: Terry Gulf, executive director of the North Texas Emergency Communications Center, said NTECC processed over 390,000 calls in the past calendar year, 75,000 from Carrollton. NTECC exceeded national answer-speed standards: 99.5% of 911 calls answered within 15 seconds in 2021 and 99.6% in the last calendar year; 99.7% and 99.8% within 20 seconds, respectively. Fire calls for service totaled 14,646 with an average processing time of 43.67 seconds versus the 60-second national benchmark; police calls for service totaled 50,200. NTECC received $1.181 million in grants, including $593,000 in offset for Carrollton. He highlighted Star 247, all-digital 911 with 100% uptime, mental health screening, a 29–36% CPR recognition improvement, an 18% quality improvement, and Prepared 911 video capability at zero city cost.
• Mayor and Council reports: Councilmembers reported on community events, including CFB ISD’s equity and inclusion task force, Parks and Recreation volunteer events, SEMPAC food packing, the planned April 29 Woodlake cleanup, and DART station safety upgrades. Mayor Babick said he was appointed to an I-35 corridor safety committee after noting 21 deaths on a two-mile strip since 2019. CFO Diana Vaughn reported Carrollton maintained its AAA bond rating with a stable outlook, sold 2023 bonds at a $3.9 million premium, with a true interest cost of 3.078% and an all-in cost below 3.15%.

Presentations & Recognitions

• National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week: Council presented a proclamation recognizing the second week of April as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week. NTEC’s Kia Lampkin and team accepted and thanked Council, noting NTEC serves Carrollton and three other cities.
• Child Abuse Prevention Month: Council presented a proclamation to Denton County CASA recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. The proclamation noted more than 240 CASA volunteers served 589 children affected by abuse and neglect in 2022. CASA volunteer Sharon Mathis accepted and provided blue awareness pins.
• Lone Star Recreation Programming Achievement Award: Council recognized the Carrollton Parks and Recreation Department for receiving the 2023 Lone Star Recreation Programming Achievement Award from the Texas Recreation and Parks Society. The award recognized the 2022 Adaptive Spring Bash at Josey Ranch Sports Complex; staff members Heather Smith and Shelby Carradine attended, and a congratulatory resolution from State Representative Kronda Thimesch was read.

Consent Calendar

All consent agenda items 13–22 were approved unanimously.

• Authorized the City Manager to buy a three-year annual support and preventive maintenance plan for microwave and Radwin base station equipment from Alpha Omega Wireless ($41,000 per year; $123,000 total).
• Authorized network cable pulls, fiber connections, and electrical work from CTG-Connect Technology Group LLC ($100,000).
• Approved Rapid7 Managed Detection and Response service from Solid Border, Inc. through DIR ($160,000 per year; $480,000 over three years); the briefing said the move reduced costs from roughly $260,000 by about $115,000 per year.
• Approved replacing one Ferrara fire ladder truck with a Pierce Enforcer ladder truck from Siddons Martin Emergency Group via HGAC ($1,610,462; 28- to 29-month lead time).
• Approved purchase and installation of six emergency generators from McKinstry Essention for the Police Department, Central Service Center, Animal Shelter, and Fire Stations 3, 4, and 7 ($2,723,273, including contingency).
• Approved four Husqvarna autonomous mowers with charging and reference stations through Omnia ($67,987.76).
• Approved one Chevrolet Silverado 2500 from Lake Country Chevrolet for Public Works ($51,897.45).
• Approved two John Deere 2030A Gators and one HD200 Select Spray attachment from United Ag and Turf for Indian Creek Golf Course ($98,699.33 as stated on the agenda; the supporting memo lists $98,699.83).
• Awarded RFP #23-008 for risk management consultant services to Charlesworth Consulting, LLC ($49,500 per year; $99,000 over the two-year contract period); the city received four responses and this was not the lowest bid.
• Approved a resolution authorizing a demolition grant and rehabilitation incentive agreement for 1708 East Belt Line Road with Shaan Rahi (up to $25,000 inside a Neighborhood Empowerment Zone; planned $799,000, 4,300-square-foot new home).

Public Comments & Testimony

• During public comment on agenda items, a citizen asked from the audience whether the million-dollar fire truck purchase had received three bids; the Mayor noted the item was on the consent agenda and not a discussion item.
• CFB ISD bond support: Diane Etheridge, Catherine Carlin, and Mary Lovell spoke in favor of the CFB ISD 2023 bond. Etheridge described the bond committee’s nine meetings over six months, its 75% consensus threshold, and its facility tours. Carlin urged voters to use the district’s bond webpage and cited her service on the 2018 bond oversight committee, which met bi-monthly for three years and found projects met citizen committee intentions. Lovell repeated VoteFORCFB’s argument that the bond would not raise the tax rate and asked voters to support the projects.
• Ammunition disposal concern: Tony Pennington said a Carrollton police desk told him the department would not accept ammunition and suggested another police department; he said he had a recorded official telling him to throw live ammunition in the trash, stated he would not vote for officials, and said he would take the matter to the news.
• Police grievance: A speaker referred to as Mr. Vitovich complained that he had not received a body-camera video requested after a June 30 incident, said his case had not been dropped, and made critical remarks about city officials before the Mayor ended his time.
• Korean Exchange Program support: A speaker, DeAndre Murphy, asked Council to work with the school district and Councilmember Sung to reinstate the CFB ISD Korean Exchange Program at Newman Smith, describing his own positive experience and its cultural and language benefits.

Discussion Items

• Committee appointment (Item 23): Council considered the annual appointment to the Trinity River Authority Central Regional Wastewater System Advisory Committee. Councilmember Nancy Cline was appointed representative and Melissa Everett, Director of Finance, was appointed alternate.
• Reconsideration of failed zoning motion (Item 24): Council considered whether to reconsider the failed motion on Case PLZPD 2022-196 (“The Enclave,” 2400 Briardale Drive). Councilmember Young Sung, who had voted with the prevailing denial on April 4, made the reconsideration motion. The City Attorney explained that reconsideration would not change the prior vote but would allow the case to be re-noticed for a future public hearing.

Key Outcomes

• Council authorized settlement negotiations in the Weir Brothers litigation with approximately $405,000 as the city’s responsibility.
• Consent agenda items 13–22 passed unanimously.
• Item 23 passed, appointing Councilmember Cline and Melissa Everett to the TRA CRWS Advisory Committee; the transcript indicates Councilmember Fleming voted against the motion.
• Item 24 passed unanimously, approving reconsideration of The Enclave zoning denial; the item will be re-noticed and return for Council consideration on June 6, 2023.
• Mayor Babick announced that the June 27, 2023 Council meeting would be moved to June 20, 2023 because the June 10 runoff election placed the canvassing deadline on June 20.