Denton City Council Meeting - September 16, 2025

The Denton City Council held a work session and regular meeting on September 16, 2025. The work session began at 2:00 PM, followed by a closed meeting, and the regular meeting at 6:30 PM. Key topics included the FY 2025-26 budget and tax rate adoption, public hearings on zoning and mobility plan amendments, and work session reports on the Water Master Plan, a Pride Month resolution, and Hotel Occupancy Tax expenditures. The agenda listed numerous consent items, public hearings, and individual consideration items. However, no minutes or transcript were provided, so specific outcomes, votes, and public comments cannot be reported.

Consent Calendar

• The consent agenda included 10 items: repealing barricading policy; noise exception for Fall Twilight Tunes Series (Denton Main Street Association, recommended by Parks Board 4-0); facility use agreement with SPAN Inc. for Meals on Wheels; cooperative agreement with Texas Parks and Wildlife for Range Creek public hunting area (Park Board recommended 5-0); agreement with Children's Advocacy Center for North Texas ($215,520); interlocal agreement with Denton County for Loop 288 East-US 380 Connector redesign costs (not to exceed $75,000); traffic signal equipment agreement with TxDOT; contract with Preferred Technologies for security system services ($2.5 million over 5 years); contract with Ray McCain Services for overhead door and gate services ($1.5 million over 5 years); and contract with Techline for electric utility distribution hardware ($600,000 over 3 years). All items were recommended by staff or boards.

Public Comments & Testimony

• No transcript or minutes were provided. The agenda scheduled the following speakers for the regular meeting: Tracy Duckworth (homelessness), Vianca Anthony (electric bill payments), Chris Watts (Atomic Bingo Bash by Serve Denton), Nathan Goldsmith (bad actors and contractors after disasters), Nick Stevens (John B. Denton Neighborhood Association), and Richard Gladden (city policy transparency). Additionally, public hearings were held on the budget, an Alternative Environmentally Sensitive Area Plan, a mobility plan amendment, and a zoning change. Without transcript, no actual comments can be summarized.

Discussion Items

• Work Session Reports:
  • Water Master Plan: Received a report and discussion on the city's Water Master Plan.
  • Pride Month Resolution: Discussed a resolution declaring June as Pride Month.
  • Hotel Occupancy Tax: Discussed proposed expenditures of the Tourist and Convention Fund for FY 2025-26.
• Public Hearings (Regular Meeting):
  • FY 2025-26 Proposed Budget: Public hearing held. Taxpayer impact statement showed a proposed tax rate of $0.595420 per $100 valuation, with a median homestead tax bill increase of $78.84 compared to FY 2025.
  • Alternative Environmentally Sensitive Area Plan (AESA25-0001c): To offset removal of 0.23 acre of ESA on 53.89 acres near Spencer Road and Loop 288. Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval (5-0).
  • Comprehensive Plan Amendment (MPA24-0003): Modify Thoroughfare Map of 2022 Mobility Plan, reclassifying Eagle Drive, Welch Street, and Avenue A from Secondary Arterial to Collector. P&Z recommended approval (5-0).
  • Zoning Change (Z25-0008a): Rezone 68 acres near I-35, Loop 288, and Elm Street from Planned Development 142 to Planned Development – General Office. P&Z recommended approval (4-0).
• Items for Individual Consideration:
  • Extension of Specific Use Permit for multifamily dwelling (Olivo Apartments) on Duchess Drive.
  • Gas franchise to Universal Natural Gas, LLC (three readings).
  • Adoption of FY 2025-26 budget, tax rate of $0.595420, approval of tax rolls, and ratification of budget raising more property tax revenue than previous year.
  • Adoption of new rates for water, wastewater, solid waste, library fees, police fees, fire fees, and parks and recreation fees.

Key Outcomes

• No official decisions or votes can be reported due to the absence of minutes and transcript. The agenda indicates that the council was scheduled to vote on the budget, tax rate, and various ordinances. The consent agenda was likely approved as recommended. Public hearings were conducted. Work session items were for discussion and staff direction only.