Richardson City Council Meeting February 27th, 2023
All councilmembers are present as well as City Manager Don Magner and City Secretary Aimee Nemer.
Councilman Shamsul leads a prayer and the pledges.
Minutes of previous meetings are passed unanimously.
Communications Director Greg Sowell presents the communications plan for the city hall bond election. The city will have a webpage dedicated to information about this bond election. There will be a designated phone number and email address that citizens can use to ask questions. Links to relevant city council meetings will also be on the webpage. Open houses will be conducted at the Richardson IQHQ and the Heights Recreation Center in April.
Next is a public hearing on ZF 22-14, a request to rezone an office building at 1140 W. Campbell to allow a private Montessori preschool. The proposed maximum enrollment for this school is 163 children. Councilman Corcoran, citing a public comment received about the potential impact on public education funding, asks about the target age group for this school. The applicant answers that the plan is only to have children ages infant to 6 years old. If future demand changes, they may explore options for higher grade level education but that is unlikely. (JN: I wrote the public comment referenced by Councilman Corcoran. I’ve since educated myself and learned that the TEA offers a different allotment for students in 3rd grade and below. That allotment is 10% of the basic allotment, or 20% if the student is educationally disadvantaged and is of limited English proficiency. At 163 students, the potential impact is closer to $100k - $200k if all those students came out of the public preschool system. Bottom line, we should push for expanded preschool and Montessori education in public schools. There is an obvious demand for it, and state funding exists.) One speaker, the president of the neighboring bank, opposes the development citing concerns about noise and traffic. A second speaker is in favor of the proposal and emphasizes that there is a great need for this in the community. Council agrees that this helps fill a community need and they express general support for the proposal. Councilman Dubey expresses concern over some of the projected classroom student-teacher ratios but admits there is a need. Council approves the zoning request unanimously.
The second public hearing of the night is ZF 22-18, a request to rezone an undeveloped lot at Arapaho & West Shore to allow 31 single family residential lots. This proposal is also discussed in the report from the Feb. 7th CPC meeting. This proposal is for a denser development than current development standards allow, comparable to a townhome community’s density. Part of this property is in a floodplain, so that will need to be addressed by a city engineer and FEMA before work can begin. Council discusses details with the applicant such as fencing, parking, dimensions, materials, and environmental impact mitigation. Mayor Voelker clarifies that the creek would be under the new HOA’s responsibility. Staff confirms that the HOA would be responsible for maintaining the creek within the boundaries of the property. This includes the area of Cottonwood Creek from the north end of the Arapaho culvert up until the creek resumes a straight path alongside West Shore Dr. Five public comment cards were received for this hearing, one in favor and four opposed. In addition to these cards, a local environmental sciences teacher expresses concern over the impact on Cottonwood Creek. He states that there is already debris in the creek and that the culverts are too small for the waterflow. He also expresses concern over the erosion of the creek’s banks as the volume and speed of water is ever increasing. He speaks to a bigger citywide issue of increasing volume causing more erosion in Richardson’s creeks. He urges the city to be mindful of the vegetation that is planted around creeks and the type of dirt being used for infill. (JN: I see an area of opportunity here. The city is currently updating the Stormwater Master Plan. A lot of this input should be considered in this plan. Perhaps there is an opportunity to partner with local environmentalists to conduct studies and cleanups of our creeks.) Another speaker raises the same concerns over the additional waterflow affecting her property’s future viability. Councilman Shamsul asks how much the proposed development will raise the FEMA floodplain for surrounding properties. The applicant answers that it is under 1/10th of a foot as required by FEMA. All drainage will be pointed towards the creek. Councilman Corcoran comments that, while concerns about flooding should be taken seriously, perpetually denying development doesn’t solve the problem since the property is currently zoned for office space. He states that it is the city’s responsibility to address the community’s concerns about increased waterflow causing erosion. He urges residents to invest in cleaning the creek. (JN: Let’s get a group together and figure out how to do it right. Let’s heed that call!) Council approves the request unanimously.
The consent agenda includes two ordinances reflecting approval of recent zoning requests. Also included are resolutions adopting the Active Transportation Plan and Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Master Plan. Another resolution included is an advanced funding agreement to implement an autonomous vehicle ride service program. The city is expected to be reimbursed entirely by federal and state funding for this program. Two resolutions authorize the posting of the notice of intention to issue series 2023 and 2023A (taxable) COs. A final resolution covers terms & conditions for utilizing funding from the state’s Bullet Resistant Shield grant. This program intends to provide increased safety in schools by providing school resource officers with bullet resistant shields. The consent agenda also includes authorizing the city manager to grant access to the North Texas Municipal Water District to three pieces of land to conduct water system improvements. NTMWD will compensate the city approx. $600k for this access. Eleven bid awards are also included. Finally, a guaranteed maximum price amendment is authorized for water system improvements. Archer Western is the company for this project. The total cost of the project is now expected to be 15%-20% higher than initial estimates. The consent agenda passes unanimously.
Council highlights various events they attended over the week including the RPD Awards Banquet, HOA Presidents’ Meeting, IANT Health Fair, and Canyon Creek Coffee with the Council, and the meeting adjourns.