City Council - workshop

Bienvenue à tous à la séance d'études du conseil municipal de Farmers Branch pour le mardi 15 septembre. Notre premier point à l'heure du jour sera les commentaires du public. Vous n'avez personne inscrit pour prendre la parole pour le moment. Nous allons donc passer directement au point de la séance d'études. Point C1, examen et discussion des points de l'ordre du jour ordinaire soumis au consentement. Conseil municipal Gonzales.

Rien pour moi, monsieur le maire.

Conseil municipal Bénet.

Conseil municipal Bénet.

Rien pour moi, Monsieur le Maire. Conseillère Municipale, Villa Franca. Rien merci, Monsieur le Maire. Conseiller Municipal, Nile. Oui, j'aimerais demander que le point D.2 de la séance à huis clos soit inscrit à l'ordre du jour ordinaire pour discussion publique. Or, un de ces points serait alors D2 and would become the point L3. If you allow me, yes. The point D2 is not an order of the day submitted. It is a point of the session at huis clos, specifically registered at the time of the day at the end of legal counsel.

It is not something like a consent point. A member of the council can insist that it be made public.

To be honest with you, because this implies legal counsel and would necessarily imply the A. Public disclosure of what would otherwise be information protected by the professional secret of the lawyer. I think this is something on which the council must vote. I don't think it can be done unilaterally. So, do you suggest that I have to make a motion to move this to a regular point? So, I propose that we move point D2 to the order of the game. I press. Very well, we have a motion and a support. Are there any other discussions? As there are none, if you would like to indicate your vote, the point D2 will be moved to the order of the day, regular, and will become L3. That's all I have, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you. The next point is point C2, to receive an update on the projects of the Squire and Mercer parks.

Hello.

Mr. Mayor of the Council, Robert Diaz, Director of Parks and Loisirs.

I have Marc Moffet, Director of the park, who will present a kind of update for the Mercer and Squire parks. So just to give everyone a brief history, and this was included in your staff report. We have reviewed it. This project has been in progress since 2021. I believe that SquireX Squire has started in 2022. Mercer Park has also been in some way discussed and in fact earlier this spring. In April, we had an update for Squire and in May, we made an update for Mercer. So also along the way, we had comments from the Park Administration Council on project 1. I believe they had a few meetings on both projects. So, for everyone to know where we are, the two projects are quite aligned, one on top of the other, and they are in time as far as design is concerned. They are more or less aligned. They are almost parallel at this stage. So first of all, we are going to examine the Square Park project. I don't know if you remember, we had a budget of 1.3 million dollars. Our current salary is 1.43 billion. The basic budget, which I talked about at previous meetings, is estimated at about 1.12 billion. And as you can see, here is the site plan. We have essentially a connection to the path, a renovated playground, a basketball court. And then we have a security lighting. And in addition, we will probably have security cameras. So, a few additional elements to take into account would be a shade vent above the playground. If you remember well, at Dutch Village, we have a vent that covers the structure of the playground. This is generally what we would like to do in most game areas now, is to be able to offer it. We discussed a lawn area. So, currently the sports field will be covered with a concrete slab on the entire area. One side will be reserved for basketball, as you indicated, where the letter A is on the plan. The other side could be reserved for pickleball, which we had initially discussed. It could be a lawn. What we could do with this funding would be to put some lawn on this concrete. In addition, we would consider another element, a larger pavilion. So the current plan would simply be to connect the road network, as you can see, the letter C is the area indicated for the current pavilion. It's a smaller pavilion. And then we would probably consider a slightly larger pavilion, which would be about where the letter D is located in the upper left corner. And that represents about 125,000 dollars. Then we would like, and as you can see, the current part, the poles on the Rowide path. We have solar lighting, which has really considerably improved this park. We would therefore like to install this path lighting along this part of the path through the park as well. This would represent about 120,000 dollars extra. This gives you an idea of ​​our situation compared to Squire. Let's now move on to Mercer. As you may remember, this project currently represents about 2.1 million dollars. The current balance is 1.67 million dollars. This basic project is estimated at about 106 million dollars. It includes the new playing area, which includes swingers and shelters. We have three pickleball courts, a security lighting and a basketball court in the southern part adjacent to the playing area. We also have a pavilion near the playground of about 20 times 20. So in reality, Mercer's financing allowed us to obtain most of the important elements that we discussed throughout the process. We obtained additional funding thanks to the funding of the fund, which helped us enormously and allowed us to obtain all the equipment included. What we included here and which we talked a little about during the last update in May was the tennis court. And tennis. And we have, you know, it's an active area, the north side and the pickleball courts will be put into service. So we have a plan for a tennis court. We have a price for the tennis court and the lighting. So if it's something that the council wants to make progress, we have a cost for that and that would add up to the total cost of the project.

So just to

And here are a few different elements, these are the fun things. That's what I like, that's what I like to show you all. The numbers and everything. I imagine we get lost in all this, but that's really why we're here. That's what we're here to do. These are the fun things. So we have a few different concepts. We always have our nautical theme for Merchère. I love blue. We will probably have something similar for the shade that covers the game area. And then, because it's Squire, we want to make a sort of theme of a castle, of a knight. And so that's where the theme comes from. You can see all the different colors and the different elements, the flags at the top of each of the towers. So I think it's going to be a really nice playground for this area. So just to bring everything back to a sort of starting point. We would really like to finish the final design of these two projects and put them up for auction before the end of the year. What we hope is that since we have them, we want to put them up for auction together, not as a separate lot, but as a separate lot. But I have the impression that we will have very good prices because if the two projects are not big, they are not huge. I mean, if you put things in perspective, Hawaii was there for 4 and a half minutes and 5 and a half minutes and 5 and a half minutes.

In reality, Hawaii was as good as these two projects together.

So I think that a supplier could eventually get these two projects and offer us good prices. We will therefore propose them together. At the same time, we will do them separately when we never know. A supplier could simply say that he wants to make one and we will still get good prices. This gives us a little flexibility in both cases. But I think that because of the location of the parks, You certainly have services that could allow the entrepreneur to make savings in terms of flat work and some of the things that have to be done for the park. So just to keep in mind, we have the reserve fund that was indicated in your file. We have 1.8 million dollars available and we can manage it in several ways. We could submit for projects such as the basic offers. We could add everything you have in addition to the funding you have, or we could do both. And we could come back when we assign the contract, if for any reason there are costs, there are things you want to add later before assigning the contracts. And that gives us flexibility, we can come back and add this other funding at that time. I would like us to be a little more oriented this afternoon. So if we have to adjust this budget to add one of these equipment, I would like it to be part of the final package in the future. Squire, it's the same. I mean, I'm sorry, Mercer, it's the same, but Mercer's elements are not as essential as they should be for Squire. But it's up to the council to decide what you want to move forward. And I'm going to take that into account and we'll start from there. So I'm going to leave the floor to the questions at this stage.

Thank you very much. Since Square Park is located in District 1, we will start with the District 1 representative. Thank you.

It's really exciting. It looks like a fantastic playground. I would really like to say that I think football would be better than trying to make a pickleball. Or to leave a space available for the pickleball. A lot of kids in this neighborhood, especially after school, always go to the field to play football. So I think the football field is really important to have there. And then, if ever, there is an ovation for the playground too. But yes, I would like to see everyone's life. But I'm really excited. The design is fantastic. It's really cute. I would also just like to say quickly, if you... Otherwise, it's good. Just because I know there have been concerns like these projects take so much time. What do we do? Can you give me a brief overview from the beginning to the end? I know the park is not finished, but how long did it take you to get there?

Well, I think it took a long time. When I look at some notes, some discussions took place. If you remember, a community survey was carried out in 2021, I think, when it was mentioned for the first time. Of course, I must not go back and look at my notes, but I want to say that it was put in the budget. You know, it's first an era of water games. I think there were only 800 and 1000 dollars and there were different iterations along the way to add funding by examining different options. We made a huge part of the commitment where we really wanted to examine what the community wanted. There were really concepts at the beginning and I don't think they really corresponded to the community. Very well, I don't think it was something that the community wanted at the time. So we took a step back, we made the advantage of awareness and engagement with the community. We were able to really focus on what was important. And I think that's what we're offering you now. I'm as impatient as the rest of the council to advance these projects. Et comme je l'ai dit, comme ils sont en parallèle, je pense que nous allons être plus occupés à essayer de mener à bien les deux projets. Mais je pense que nous avons fait aussi vite que possible, en particulier pour certaines choses que nous avons dû faire, en quelque sorte reculer. Mais à ce stade, nous avançons et j'espère que nous les réaliserons aussi vite que possible. Comme je l'ai dit, ce n'est pas forcément compliqué, les mises à jour que nous envisageons, mais ça va prendre un peu de temps. J'espère que ce sera fait le plus tôt possible. Dans le courant de l'année prochaine, pour que tout soit terminé, nous avons parlé de la ligne avec l'école alimentaire Farmers Branch. Je pense vraiment que nous pouvons le faire dans ce délai, ce qui serait formidable, car vous avez tous qu'il y a de nouveau aux deux extrémités de Richland. Vous aurez un nouveau parc et une nouvelle école. Donc je pense que nous sommes définitivement sur la bonne voie.

And my question was mainly because I trust you. I know you know what you're doing. You go back to the community and you listen to everyone. So I just want you to know that I really appreciate you. I just want our residents to know that it's not because we're talking about it that it's going to be done in a few months. It takes time and you work really hard to make sure that you offer residents the best part they deserve. Thank you.

I'm going to move on to District 3 for Marc. Do you all want to talk about Squire first? Hello.

Thank you for the presentation. I agree. I think that several times, when we had the presentation, the resistance was in place of the sports field. We absolutely want to keep basketball. But I mean, they massively declared that they wanted the football field. I really have the impression that we have to lean on it. Fortunately, there is a little canopy over there with trees. So if we can't have a shadow canopy above the playground, the football field is for sure. But it's children and you can do it up to 110 degrees in Texas. So, yes. Thank you.

Yeah, me too, I agree with the football field in opposition to the pickleball field, because you always have the choice. And I've already done it in other places. If you have a portable pickleball net, you can install it on a basketball court. You know, we could think of it as a scotch or something like that. So it's versatile. So having a football field, it looks great. And then, if we can afford the pavilion or the wind, that would be great. One of the things that this park has and that Mercer doesn't have, are the mature trees. So there is already a lot of shade. So I personally think that it would be less priority than... Thank you. Municipal Council of the Francos.

Thank you, Robert. Thank you. Thank you very much. It looks really, really good. I don't know if there is a margin of manoeuvre or if there is money to be found somewhere, Mr. Financial Director. But I think that the lighting of the paths is really important and that it will be for the safety of more than one title. For example, people who walk will not trip. And it seems that the football field is also a priority for children. Thank you.

Thank you, Robert. I'm just trying to make some calculations here. Okay. This is the total cost of all this if we had to choose all four additional elements below. I believe that our current budget is 1.3 million, and if we add the others, it represents about 500 more zeros, which brings the total of the city to about 1.8 million. Is that about it? And the question I had about the security clearing and the clearing of the paths. Is there a way to integrate them together to obtain a better added value? Is the security lighting completely different from the path lighting?

There is already electricity down there. We have a certain security. So for the security lighting, we are going to use the infrastructure we already have, which would allow us to increase our savings. If we don't do the path lighting, but if the path lighting is still up-to-date, then we could probably make a certain integration, right? You can help me with that. Thank you for that.

Everything I had to say, sir. Very well.

Robert, if I remember correctly, we've been talking about this for about four years. I would just like to see something done. And so we can move on to something else. So very good. Mercer Park, Councilor Ryd.

Yes, it looks fantastic. As we discussed earlier, Robert, if you remember, when I first arrived, Mercer Park was just a big pile of dirt. And you did an incredible job to get it from there to what it is today with the green grass, the green spaces, the paths, the trees put in place. It's fantastic. And if we basically consider another year to put all this in place. Let me tell you that it would be great. So it seems that with the current budget of 2.1, we could afford to install all the additional equipment. That's right. So I don't see why we wouldn't do it. Let's go ahead. This one looks really cool too. I just like that the boat goes with the lake and all that's there.

I would like to see the lighting of the tennis court. But the tennis courts are not next to the residence, are they?

Well, they are actually the pickleball and the tennis court. If you look to the right, you have land. These houses actually give both on the tennis and the pickleball. And then you have the houses that are on the other side of the street on Brunswick. They give everything directly on the pickleball as well.

I'll think about it.

If I may, first of all, we will have a 22-hour curfew, like in the rest of the parks. So the lighting would be directed downwards rather than outward. So that shouldn't bother the residents around.

And in fact, we were able to get, if I can get, there is a slide that, if you could display it, it is part of the presentation. we were able to obtain the supplier, which gives us, if you see below, slide 5. They were able to give us a kind of plan of what the lighting would look like. And if you see the pickleball, it is in a way the lighting of overflow, because we also consider solar energy for this type of lighting. And so, as you can see, it gives you an idea of what lighting would be like in the neighborhood and its impact. We would cut the time to 10 o'clock, but tennis would have a little more overflow in these nearby areas because there is a path that divides where these houses are located on the right of the tennis court when you look at it. But I mean, if you see that it's good, I loved seeing that. And I wanted to show it to you, but I wanted to make sure it was something we needed. I had it right here, just in case. But I think it gives you an idea of ​​the impact on the neighborhood. The sunlight, I think, is a little more subtle than some. lighting that we have in some of our other parks. I'm not saying that it won't please some people, but I think it doesn't seem as efficient as simple street lamps in the neighborhood. So you are also close to this main floor because a Chartwell Crest is right there. So there will also be public lighting. More light means more security. And as I said, they are not always on. There will be a fire cover and we will extinguish them. And then there will be trees to stamp. Is that right? We were going to examine and see how we can integrate trees to create a little bit of a stamp between this sidewalk and the two courts. What worries me most is the area on the right where these houses give directly on it. So, okay. Sorry, I took your time.

No, you're welcome, everything is fine. The mayor was going to say something, so I wondered what he had to say about it. If you have a comment on this subject? Go ahead. Well, I was just a little curious now on the subject of lighting, but especially if it goes out, then I would agree with lighting.

Counselor Bennett.

Okay, I like lighting.

Great.

Counselor Hervia Francken.

Thank you. So, if I understood the slide 3 correctly, the budget is 2.1 and we have spent 1.63. And so it would seem that we have enough to get the three additional equipment and we would have about 62,000 dollars, assuming that we respect the budget. Could these 62,000 dollars be used if there is an excess to supply additional equipment to Squire?

Well, yes, where we could get it if we examined it. I mean, we get to a point where we would have a certain consensus here, but if we did all the elements of square, we would consider about half a million. If all this is added, if you do the signaling, the shading and then the tennis court for Mercer, you consider about a million or more. We have 1.98 million in the reserve. We can therefore do all the elements numbered and have a little more money in the reserve. So when the offers arrive, if for some reason they are exceeded or if something happens and we need a little reaffecting of other funds, we have these funds available. Otherwise, they can go to other projects or anything that the council wants to do.

And then, can you, in a way, submit two for two, as you ask companies to submit, to get a better price? We will have two distinct offer calls. And so, when we publish them, the contracts will be submitted for one or the other, or for both.

And so I hope they will want to do more of both. In this way, they will in a way get the... In this way, we should, I hope, make savings by submitting offers for both.

Thank you very much.

Mr. Hénil? So just to continue, if we had to do everything for both, it would be 2.1 million for Mercer and about 1.8 million for Squire. The total would be about 3.9 million to do everything. And if my calculations are pretty close,

Just on the Mercer, it would be necessary to add, if we added, it would seem that the consensus was to add the tennis court, the shadow and the idea of the park. That's it.

I think it's 400 plus 2.1.

But you still have 1.48 in reserve. So this 1.4, you have a lot of it. I don't worry about the reserve.

I'm trying to get to the numbers that cost us the construction of the Mercer park. So you would have... Or is it more than that?

It's more than 2.1. You have to add if you put additional commodities, which, I think, has been discussed. Okay. So that's it.

That brings us to... 2.5. 2.5. 2.5, that's it. About 2.5 million, that's it. And the 1.34 million of Square had understood everything, right? So it's 4.3 million for both. Do you have an idea of the numbers that you could communicate to us concerning the current maintenance costs throughout the year for something like this that we are building?

Currently, we cannot provide them to you. I don't have them because we are not yet sure of all the equipment. Now that we have an idea of ​​what we are going to do, I can communicate these maintenance costs to you.

That would be great. Thank you, sir. No problem.

Yes, I'm sorry.

I guess I misunderstood. I thought the base budget was 1.6. The current budget is 1.1.6. We have a total budget of 2. So if we add the 400,000, we would add the 400,000 to the current budget or to the base budget. That's it.

So the other additional equipment should be added to your total, what the advisor Neil just said. You would add them to the total of 2.1. He wants to get the total if you spend all our expenses. So, but if you only add it at the base, then yeah, you agree. Now, you made me mess up my calculations, but since we have already had costs, so the 2.1 includes some of the costs that we have already committed, such as design costs and things like that. This is where we have a current 1.6. So you add an additional for the tennis court, the park ID and the pickleball. You should add it to 2.1. It is not added to 1.6.

It is added to 2.1. I misunderstood.

So your Mercer would reach 2.5 in total and Squire at about 1.8.

Well, since we need more things for Squire, I think we're going forward without the tennis court or the lighting to stay within budget limits. Because this 360 is a big problem. But that's what the council wants to do. Yes, we can do it. I agree.

I understood exactly the same thing as the councilor Reed. I thought we were going to work with the 1.6. I thought we were going to stay within the budget limits, but I agree with him.

Thank you, David, for following my example. That's exactly what I was going to say. Si vous pensez vraiment avoir besoin des cours de tennis, qu'il en soit ainsi, je ne connais pas la demande du public concernant les cours de tennis ou les espaces verts ouverts. Je ne sais pas si c'est votre district donc.

Eh bien, les espaces verts ouverts sont toujours appréciés. Et si jamais nous obtenons une sorte de mène financière, c'est quelque chose que nous pourrions toujours ajouter par la suite.

Are tennis courts and lighting reserved for tennis courts? Will pickleballs be lit?

It's... Pickleballs are already lit. So yes, it's only the costs of the tennis court and the lighting of the tennis courts. Ah.

Okay.

Anything else? Can I do, can I get a consensus? So for Mercer, we're going to take care of the pickleball. We're not just doing the tennis court, we're taking care of the pickleball, the shade and the identification of the park, which allows us to respect the budget. And then for Squire, we add the list of four elements which is, oops, otherwise. The shade for the playground, the lawn for football, the pavilion and the lighting of the paths. All these elements. That's right.

That's what I understood. So with that, we discovered last week or during the last meeting that we had an excess. 350 dollars compared to the budget. So this could be something to affect Squire so that we already have the funds in place to pay for these additional equipment.

I think it's a discussion for another day because I really think we should focus on Palm Terrace.

It's already in the budget, isn't it? It's already there. We have funds. They don't need, she doesn't need to stay there anymore.

Yes, 1.4 million.

It's not on the slide. It was in your file. You have a reserve of 1.4 million. You have the funding to cover all this. So it's good.

I think I understand. Thank you. The point is the point C3. Receive an update from the mayor and members of the council concerning the information of the liaison of the board of directors of external organizations and other external unions and other unions to which the council agrees to assist.

J'ai assisté au défilé de retour de RL Turner et j'ai assisté à quelques matchs de football pour Turner. Je suis également allée au dîner de la région 13 de TML, alors merci Tina de m'avoir permis d'y participer. Nous avons également fait une visite du WIOC, c'était vraiment intéressant à voir. J'ai également rejoint Farmers Branch Cares, Mel Loretta a livré son uniforme au collège Ted Polk.

Conseillère municipale Bénin. Conseillère municipale Bénin.

J'ai eu une réunion avec Second Chance Ministries. C'est un groupe formidable. Vous devriez vraiment vous pencher sur la question. J'ai rencontré trois résidents. J'ai assisté à deux réunions de NMCU, Local Solutions, pour mettre fin au sans-abrisme. J'ai rencontré notre conseiller municipal et j'ai fait le point sur la course de cinq kilomètres au parc historique.

Conseiller municipal Arid.

J'ai également assisté à la réunion régionale de TML à Coppel. Une partie de celle-ci comprenait une visite du Coppel Arts Center, ce qui était extrêmement impressionnant avec ce qu'ils ont là-bas. Et je pense que cela devrait être un sujet de discussion lorsque nous y arriverons. Et moi aussi, j'ai rencontré le conseiller municipal without looking back, but looking towards the future. The municipal councillor, Gonzales, and I will participate in the plowing of the grapes at the Grapefest in Grapevine. There will be a lot of grapes next Saturday at 11h00. It's a competition to see who can, who has the most juice. Basically, if you attend the event, Come and encourage the members of your council. The municipal council ends.

We had a lot of fun at the return to home parade for Turner. We attended the meeting of the subcommittee to examine the events. We attended Turner's football match, the return match at home in Standridge. And I had the wonderful opportunity that once a month, on the first Saturday of each month, the I-58 ministry organizes a food distribution in Valley View and Webb Chapel. And everyone is welcome. You just have to fill out a request. I had a lot of fun filling out boxes and talking to neighbors. I attended two courses of the National City Line on local solutions to put an end to the homeless. I attended a book festival in East Los Angeles, California, and I think I would really like us to examine how we can bring local authors into the community and create an event. And I also met Randy Pennington, the animator, who was affected by the Council. Thank you.

Thank you, members of the Niel Council. Just two or three things. I also visited the Kappel Art Center. It is a point in the order of the day of our future strategy. I hope we can really devote time and effort to it. I know it's a long-term goal, but it could be really useful for our community. And then, of course, I also met our municipal councillor. I think that's it. That's all. Very good.

The next point is point C4. Examine and discuss future points of order of the day. Municipal councillor Gonzales.

Nothing for me, ma'am.

Municipal councillor Bénet. Municipal councillor Rive.

Yes, I would like us to have a discussion about the Kapell Art Center and if it is something that would be feasible here at Farmer's Brunch. It includes a lot of things that we would already like to have here and takes some of the things that we already have and houses them in a large building. Secondly, I would like to have a conversation, it could be an event like God Cares. I was talking to a colleague of Soto's during the TML event and they have a thing where they bring Home Depot, Lowe's or another organization of this kind that offers free courses for people on home maintenance. So this could be something for you. In relation to Cote-Carrs, you know, things that people can learn to repair themselves or any resident does not need to be a resident of Cote-Carrs. Any resident who wants to come and learn to push a nail, to repair a portal or a creaking lock or anything else. What is Municipal Villa Franca?

Yes, thank you. I would like to receive news of the location of 1842. I know that we are considering to modify the management structure and I would really like to know where we are, where we are going and how we are getting out with the rents and simply receive general news.

I have nothing else to add but the comment of the municipal councillor Ryd concerning a centre of the arts of the show. This is already a future point of order of the day. I think I asked him in June, but I would invite you to join me in this effort. It would be very appreciated.

I have a point that I would like to ask in the order of the future day to examine the possibilities of improving the Passerelle Farmers Branch at Marche-Leyne and 635. Before the Council examines it, I ask that a committee of arts and culture examine the area and provide comments on the potential improvements, including landscaping, public art, wall painting concepts and other improvements to the Passerelle. The staff must also coordinate with the TxDOT to evaluate the legal requirements, feasibility and the necessary approvals. After this examination, send the point back to the municipal council with recommendations, potential concepts, estimated costs and the applicable requirements of the tax law for examination and orientation. So... On this, I will read to us. In executive session for point D111, the municipal council will meet in executive session at 8 o'clock according to article 551 074 of the Texas government code to deliberate on the nomination, the employment, the evaluation and the functions of a public agent, of a city prosecutor, including the expectations regarding the role, the responsibilities and the coordination of the city prosecutor within the municipal council and managed within the management of the municipal council. So with that, we will suspend the session of the municipal council in the conference room of the municipal director and we will be back here at the municipal auditorium.