Carrollton City Council Regular Worksession & Meeting – July 25, 2023

The Carrollton City Council met on Tuesday, July 25, 2023, at City Hall, 1945 E. Jackson Road, Carrollton, TX. The pre-meeting/executive session was scheduled for 5:45 PM, followed by a worksession and the regular meeting at 7:00 PM. Council reviewed infrastructure accomplishments and FY 2024 budget requests, selected two Leadership Metrocrest scholarship recipients, approved a 13-item consent agenda, and separately approved the pulled CareATC contract. The regular meeting adjourned at 7:21 PM, after which council reconvened in executive session.

Consent Calendar

• Approved RFP #23-022 for the Nolan Drive Alley Reconstruction Project to Candor Builders, LLC, not to exceed $274,500. Funding is primarily from the Community Development Block Grant program; six vendors responded.
• Authorized purchase of fire alarm equipment and services from Firetrol Protection Systems Inc. through a Texas SmartBuy cooperative, not to exceed $110,698.89, for Fire Stations 1 and 2, Oak Creek Tennis Center, and H&J Library repairs.
• Approved the desktop/laptop/tablet refresh from Unique Digital through a DIR cooperative contract, not to exceed $2,225,732.69. The refresh covers 816 endpoints with an estimated $90,000 in buy-back credits and a 3-year refresh cycle; staff noted a nearly 50% discount from the state contract.
• Approved RFP #23-025 for brick screening wall and retaining wall façade repairs, awarding Gomez Floor Covering, Inc. as primary vendor and Brick Experts, Inc. as secondary vendor, with annual spending not to exceed $200,000 and a total three-year contract not to exceed $600,000.
• Awarded the bid to D&H United for replacement of two underground fuel storage tanks, fuel pumps, and the fuel management system, not to exceed $1,803,780, including a 10% contingency. The project replaces 12,000-gallon gasoline and diesel tanks with 10,000-gallon aboveground tanks and adds a 500-gallon diesel exhaust fluid tank.
• Amended the plumbing services contract for city facilities from $90,000 to $112,500 through the end of FY 2023, with TD Industries as primary vendor and Concord Plumbing Services as secondary.
• Authorized a construction contract with McDonald Municipal and Industrial, Inc. for the Bobby Ballard and Marsh North Pump Station Emergency Generator Project, not to exceed $961,523, to comply with Senate Bill 3 backup-power requirements.
• Authorized rejection of all bids for the McInnish and R.E. Good Sports Complex Improvements; the single bid was $2,133,800 against a $1,200,000 construction budget, and the project will be re-scoped and re-advertised.
• Approved an ordinance revising school speed zone hours to 7:25–8:25 AM and 3:10–4:10 PM to align with CFBISD middle school schedule changes.
• Approved an ordinance repealing Section 130.19 (curfew hours for minors), effective September 1, 2023, because HB 1819 prohibits local curfew regulations.
• Approved a resolution authorizing a contract with CareATC for the Employee Health & Wellness Center: first-year amount not to exceed $1,113,180 and total five-year amount not to exceed $6,166,779. This item was pulled from the consent agenda and voted on separately after Councilmember Axberg recused himself.
• Accepted the Investment Officer’s Quarterly Report for the third quarter ended June 30, 2023.
• Authorized a professional services contract with HDR Engineering, Inc. for Phase 1 of the Localized Flooding Program, not to exceed $982,442.
• Authorized an amendment with Focus Merchant Services, LLC for credit card processing and merchant services, increasing annual expenditure to not exceed $520,000 and total contract amount to not exceed $2,600,000 for the remaining term.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No speaker cards were submitted during the agenda-item public comment period before the consent vote.
• In the Public Forum, Pat Cochran, former councilmember and director of Carrollton Art (CART), urged council to create and fund an arts and culture commission and an art matching grant program, stating Carrollton is not rich in art.
• Susanna Dooling, a Leadership Metrocrest applicant, said infrastructure should be the current priority over TC RISE, specifically alleys, street lighting, sidewalks, and roads.
• Kate Huey, a Leadership Metrocrest applicant, urged council to recognize arts as a mental health resource and noted the retreat exercise placed only two of 30 dots in the multicultural bucket.
• Adam Poulter, former councilmember, asked council to dedicate a portion of hotel occupancy tax revenue to arts and culture and to create an arts and culture commission, arguing Carrollton should not be the “hole in the center of the donut” among surrounding cities.

Discussion Items

• Public Works and Engineering Infrastructure Accomplishments and Budget Requests: Staff presented infrastructure conditions, ARPA funding status, and proposed FY 2024 budget additions. The city maintains roughly 1,106 lane miles of roadways. Since 2017, substandard arterial lane miles improved from 116 to 113 and collector lane miles from 94 to 86. Over the past decade, the city completed 135 lane miles of streets, 35 lane miles of alleys, 80 miles of sidewalks, 15 miles of water lines, and 31 miles of sewer lines. Staff reported about $4 million in ARPA-funded spending through June 1, 2023, with AMI spending still pending utility billing software implementation. They also explained that $1 million funds roughly 1.7 lane miles of arterial work, 1.9 lane miles of collector work, 1.7 lane miles of residential work, 1.3 lane miles of alley work, 3.6 lane miles of asphalt overlay, or about 1,500 5/8-inch meters / 294 1-inch meters. Engineering projects typically take 18–42 months, while in-house panel work can be done in 4–6 weeks. Budget requests discussed included a stormwater underground system analysis and design funding for Wood Lake phases 2 and 3, with Phase 1 expected to be bid in August and brought back for construction award in September.
• Leadership Metrocrest Scholarship: Council discussed three Carrollton applicants. The program costs $1,200 for Chamber members and $1,400 for non-members; council traditionally funds two scholarships. There was no consensus to fund a third or to partially fund all three. Council selected Susanna Dooling and Jason Hanlan for the two scholarships.
• Mayor and Council Reports: Councilmembers shared updates on the recent strategic retreat, DART Silver Line progress, fire department promotions, community events, and thanked staff for preparing meeting materials.

Key Outcomes

• The 13-item consent agenda (items 8–17 and 19–21) passed unanimously on a motion by Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Pendleton, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Cline.
• Item 18 (CareATC health and wellness clinic contract) passed unanimously by the remaining members after Councilmember Axberg recused himself.
• Leadership Metrocrest scholarships were awarded to Susanna Dooling and Jason Hanlan; the third applicant was not selected.
• Work-session ATBs were discussion items only and were not voted on; they are expected to inform FY 2024 budget deliberations.
• The regular meeting adjourned at 7:21 PM, and council convened in executive session under Texas Government Code Sections 551.071 and 551.087; no action on executive session matters was reported in the transcript.