Today’s Denton City Council meeting begins with a Work Session at 2pm followed by our Regular Session at 6:30pm – both at City Hall at 215 E. McKinney Street in downtown Denton, Texas. Click here for a full agenda of Tuesday’s meeting with backup material.
I am traveling on business in Florida and will be absent for the Work Session portion of our meeting. However, recent changes in state law allow me to participate remotely during the Regular Session and I plan to do so. What that means is that I’ll be sitting in a hotel room in Orlando connected to the meeting via Skype. I’ll be staring at an iPad and anyone watching will see a big monitor sitting in my place in the council chambers. It will likely be a little awkward for me and the rest of the council as we work out the uniqueness of chiming in to speak and voting with this new arrangement. But those who were culture consumers in the 90s will certainly appreciate the Max Headroom comparisons on Tuesday night.
Here’s what you will see the council discussing on Tuesday:
LANDFILL MINING
We were set to discuss this a few weeks back, but the item was postponed due to lack of time. I find this entire concept fascinating. Technology now allows us to go back in to portions of our landfill in order to recover recyclable materials that have been preserved, remove them, and make more room for additional solid waste. The Denton Landfill is one of many examples of world-class sustainability initiatives underway at the City of Denton.
Here’s the presentation the council will see on this topic on Tuesday.
GAS INSULATED SUBSTATIONS
During the last council discussion on DME substations, the suggestion was made to pursue a different technology for the city’s substation which would radically transform the visual aesthetics of these electrical necessities. Council indicated their interest in looking into the possibility of such a substation at the site for the new Eagle Substation near UNT and South of Eagle Drive. We’ll be hearing a follow-up report to that request and giving direction on moving forward.
BUC-EE’S IN DENTON?
By now, you’ve heard the reports of a possible Bucee’s store in Denton on a vacant piece of land of I35 and between the Wind River neighborhood. Though this land is already zoned for this sort of business (after all it fronts one of the busiest highways in the nation), because Buc-ee’s is requesting an economic development incentives, this business’ entrance into Denton will be discussed by the City Council. Two neighborhood meetings have already been held with city council member Joey Hawkins and relevant city staff members to allow the developer the chance to hear the concerns of the neighborhood and adjust accordingly. As I understand it, the owner of Bucee’s is willing to create a significant buffer between the neighborhood and his project as well as preserve a well loved large pond that is adjacent to the neighborhood.
So why consider incentivizing this project? In order for this project to be successful, significant infrastructure improvements must be in place. Chief among them is a Brinker Road connection across the highway into this parcel of land. If you’ve ever tried to access the 35 North access road from Brinker coming from the Loop 288 area, you know how dangerous and busy that intersection is. Discussion of this project has been had with TxDOT and staff from Regional Transportation Council to come up with a plan that would create a solution for this intersection during the Phase I build out of the I35 expansion. That means that Phase I would see significant mobility improvements all along this corridor, including Mayhilll Road, Brinker Road, and the Loop 288/35 intersection. The plan to bring Brinker along in this scenario requires an estimated $2 million local match. It appears that Bucee’s is willing to front that money in addition to funding many other public infrastructure improvements (to the tune of over $6 million) in order to make this project happen. The incentives would be structured to help pay for this investment in public infrastructure.
I look forward to hearing this discussion, but am increasingly impressed with the way this business owner is working with the community to create a project that is good for Denton.
SEVERAL ZONING CASES
There are several zoning cases before the council during our regular session. Please consult our full agenda for the details of each of them to see if you are concerned by any of the proposed projects.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns about the topics on our agenda, feel free to contact me at kevin.roden@cityofdenton.com or 940-206-5239.