City Council Priorities

Improve Capital Project Planning and Communications (Council Priority - see above for more information)

Under new leadership and direction, Capital Projects will continue to work on improvements by implementing project management software and alternative delivery methods to ensure that the City is receiving best pricing, consistent quality, and that the projects are completed on schedule. The first Construction Manager At-Risk solicitation for a horizontal infrastructure project was advertised June 4 through July 8, 2021. This advertisement was for the second phase of the Southeast Denton Neighborhood Street Reconstruction Project, which is funded by the 2019 Street Reconstruction Bond Program. Project management software implementation and staff training is currently underway, with a formal “go-live” date scheduled for October 2021. An interdepartmental team (with representatives from Capital Projects/Engineering, Public Works, Utilities, Tech Services, and Public Affairs) is also working diligently to implement a comprehensive, interactive CIP map to provide residents with additional details on the location and timing of both upcoming and projects that are currently under construction. The draft map has been created and will be automated to feed in data from the new project management software in quarter three of calendar year 2021.

Finalize Mobility Plan Update (Council Priority - see above for more information)

The Mobility Plan is a study and strategy to address citywide transportation, including vehicles, transit, bicycles, and pedestrians, for years to come. Multiple departments are contributing to this plan update with data collection and analysis, coordination of multiple public meetings, and development of the plan. The Capital Projects/Engineering and Development Services Departments are developing a revised strategy to finalize the 2021 Mobility Plan. Staff will provide details on this revised strategy in an upcoming Friday Report along with additional conversations to the Traffic Safety Commission, Mobility Committee, Planning & Zoning Commission, and City Council.

Develop City Hall West Plan

In July 2017, the City engaged the historical architectural firm, Architexas to assist with the proposed renovation of the 1927 City Hall known as City Hall West. The firm was charged with completing an assessment of the facility and to develop three preliminary conceptual designs with a cost analysis of each concept. The report produced detailed the building’s current condition and originally presented these options for the scope of work. Video of consultant's recommendations can be found here.
 
 City Hall West sustained significant water damage during Winter Storm Uri. Freezing temperatures caused a fire sprinkler line to leak and flood the entire building. Staff is coordinating water damage remediation with both Risk Management and Safety.
 
 Since that time, the windows in the building have been replaced, but no other construction has occurred. Staff will develop a full plan to renovate the building for Council consideration.
 
 Unfortunately, progress on City Hall West was delayed because of the winter storm damage to the building. Mitigation is expected to be completed in the in Fall 2021. Because of the current conditions, and potential design team members are unable to enter the building, which makes it more difficult to develop a submittal package. Staff expects to be able to advertise a request for information (RFI) once the mitigation is complete.

Manage City Facility Construction Projects

There are a number of facility construction projects underway or starting in 2021 requiring substantial coordination:

• Development Services Building – Staff moved into the new Development Services Building, located at the corner of Parkway and Elm, on schedule in January of 2021. The parking lot for the building was also renovated, and completed in June of 2021. 
• American Legion Hall Senior Center – The American Legion Hall Senior Center, located at 629 Lakey Street, is a busy recreational facility used for active senior adult programing such as sewing, educational seminars, exercise, table games, fellowship, and monthly socials. The project scope includes demolition of the south building, renovation of the 2,600 square foot north building as well as the construction of a 5,000 square foot addition. Project is estimated to conclude in October of 2021 – delays are due to an unforeseeable number of constructability issues from the original architect, Eikon, and supply chain issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 
• North Lakes Tennis Center – The new Tennis Center Project will be completed in two phases. In Phase I, the Pro Shop is substantially complete. The new Pro Shop includes new showers and restroom amenities, lounge area, office space, retail, meeting rooms, and storage. Phase II will include multiple new tennis courts and improvements to the grounds.
• Remodel of Police Department Headquarters - Renovation of the existing Police Headquarters at City Hall East to add and reconfigure workspaces for police operations, public safety dispatch operations, add dedicated locker rooms, restrooms, and parking. Construction on this remodel began January of 2021. Project is estimated to reach substantial completion summer of 2022.
• New Police Substation and Firing Range - Construction of New Police Substation adjacent to the existing Fire Station 7 on Vintage Boulevard to house patrol, neighborhood services, traffic enforcement, criminal investigation and other operations, staff, and administrative support. This same location will house an indoor firing range with 15-lanes for the use of police training and include indoor classroom space. The new facility would replace the current outdoor range located on Airport Road. Construction began January 2021 and is estimated to reach substantial completion summer of 2022.

Manage Bond Program Capital Projects

Staff is actively completing design and construction of the remaining segments from the 2012 and 2014 Street Reconstruction Bonds. Current projections are for substantial completion for remaining street reconstruction segments from the 2012 and 2014 Bond to be completed by quarter 4 of calendar year 2022. Staff continues to move forward on the implementation of projects funded by the 2019 Bond Program, with $154,000,000 approved for street improvements. Construction for the first two bid packages of the Street Reconstruction Bond began in July 2021. On June 22, 2021, the City Council approved a design amendment with Freese and Nichols, Inc. (FNI) to complete the design of the first phase of the Southeast Denton Street Reconstruction Project, which will reconstruct 22 street segments approved as part of the 2019 Street Reconstruction Bond. Staff anticipates the first phase of the Southeast Denton Street Reconstruction Project will begin construction in quarter 2 of calendar year 2022. The design amendment approved on June 22 with FNI also authorized eighteen months of Program Management services for the 2019 Street Reconstruction Bond. Program Management services provided by FNI include development of a comprehensive sequencing plan for all 2019 Street Reconstruction Bond segments, the development of dashboards and other key reporting features that can be shared internally and with the public regarding the status of project construction, preparation of cash flow models and individual project estimates, project execution process tracking, and providing general project implementation oversight. Staff will continue to keep the community updated on the status of the bond program and projects through the City’s website, Resident Update, bi-annual Construction Update mailer, quarterly CIP updates to the City Council and Bond Committee, and through social media.

Conduct Parks Planning

Parks staff will continue work on a number of Parks initiatives to plan for future anticipated growth. In 2021, Parks plans to finalize and adopt the Parks, Recreation & Trails System Master Plan as well as plans for Southwest Park, Bowling Green Park, Village of Carmel property, outdoor performance venues and the ADA Transition Plan. The department continues to implement a playground replacement plan, and replaced the playgrounds at Joe Skiles Park, Mack Park and McKenna Park.  Quakertown Park playground Phase II will begin in the fall.  PARD hopes to begin planning for an inclusive playground in the near future.  A number of parcels are being considered for acquisition through purchase, donation and via the parkland dedication and development process.

Enhance Focus on Traffic and Speed Safety

City staff is undertaking a citywide speed study as part of the Mobility Plan update to be consistent with the City's Vision Zero goals. A citywide speed study project entails review of existing speed limits and conducting engineering studies to maintain existing or recommend new speed limits along arterial and collector streets throughout the City. staff secured the funding for a study, but efforts were put on hold in 2020 due to altered traffic patterns caused by pandemic-related remote work and travel restrictions. Options for a citywide speed study were presented to the Traffic Safety Commission and City council during September and October of 2020. Currently, speed studies are conducted on an as-requested basis. As traffic patterns begin to normalize, staff plans to reinitiate efforts as part of the comprehensive strategy to finalize the update to the Mobility Plan. Staff will report results to the Mobility committee, Traffic Safety Commission along with providing information to the City Council via work sessions and the Friday Report. Potential results of the study could result in revisions to recommended speed limits for certain classifications of roadways in the community.

Update the City's Comprehensive Plan (Council Priority - see above for more information)

The City’s Comp Plan is the long-range plan for the City’s growth, development, and redevelopment. Because it is based on local conditions and trends, it is intended to be updated periodically to coordinate the efforts of many different aspects of a community, such as land use, transportation, community facilities, and natural resources. The City has hosted The City continues to make progress toward this comprehensive plan, and plans to present a draft plan during fall/winter 2021.

Develop an Affordable Housing Strategy (Council Priority - see above for more information)

Throughout 2020, the City engaged with consultants to perform an Affordable Housing Assessment to analyze the state of affordable housing in Denton. A presentation was given to the City Council on February 2, 2021 to present the findings, and included:

1. Project Overview
2. Key Findings
3. Affordable Housing Needs
4. Market Value Analysis
5. Looking Forward: Affordable Housing Tools
6. Initiated Phase 2 (expected FY 2020-21) to Develop an Affordable Housing Strategy and Toolkit. 

The project is underway and staff is engaging with key stakeholders and the community. Staff is also working with the consultant to undergo a private market analysis, and identifying priority strategy and tools. Staff is scheduled to present options to the City Council in September 2021.

Continue Implementing Economic Development Strategic Plan

The Economic Development Strategic Plan was adopted by City Council in February 2021. The plan is a roadmap for the next five years of economic development activities and building a sustainable economic future for Denton. Staff have initiated many activities and objectives identified in the plan and provide quarterly reports on status and outcomes. A key component of the plan was a proposed Economic Development Catalyst Fund. Staff presented an update to City Council in June and presented an additional update in July 2021. Staff have already initiated the research and development phase for the new policy and programs.

Implement Historic Preservation Plan

The creation of the Historic Preservation Plan included significant stakeholder input, including public meetings and online surveys, to create a shared vision related to the City’s historic resources. There are numerous short-, medium-, and long-term recommendations that staff will be working to implement. The City recently hired a new Historic Preservation Officer whose primary focus is to implement these recommendations. Periodic updates on the progress of these goals will be provided to City Council.

Review and Develop Denton Development Code (DDC) Amendments

Staff will continue to review and bring forward any necessary amendments to the 2019 DDC, making minor improvements following implementation. The Development Code Review Committee (DCRC) has been reinstated, which is made up of members of the City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission.  They will be reviewing and providing initial direction addressing ongoing improvements in the DDC. Staff has prepared a list of Code amendments that addresses nonconformities, aligns provisions with state law, codifies process improvements, and considers input from the general public, P&Z and City Council.  The Code amendments are grouped into the following types:

• Non-Substantive – (correcting typos and references, providing additional language to clarify intent, and deleting duplications)
• Criteria Manual – (transferring certain procedures from Criteria Manuals to the DDC)
• Substantive Changes – (necessary, substantive code amendments)
• Policy Direction – (necessary code amendments that require immediate consideration from the City Council)

Continue to Strengthen Homelessness Initiatives and Housing Crisis Response System (Council Priority - see above for more information)

The City is providing ongoing investment of City resources in Homelessness initiatives toward the community’s shared goal to Make Homelessness Rare, Brief & Nonrecurring. The ongoing work of staff in partnerships with others is to deploy those resources that sustain existing efforts and to identify strategies to further strengthen the Housing Crisis Response System. Current strategies fall into three core focus areas Funding, Data, and Partnerships and Collaborations.

Develop 909 N. Loop 288 Building for 24/7 Center

In 2020, the City purchased a facility to provide a co-located center for day and overnight services for people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. An architect was hired in fall 2020 and a final conceptual design with proposed next steps and timeline for construction was presented to Council in April 2021. Staff also negotiated an agreement with Our Daily Bread, a non-profit agency, to provide services at the facility and the agreement was approved by City Council in June 2021. In April 2021, the City opened the bidding process with an RFQ for Construction Manager at Risk for the Loop 288 Project. That process is wrapping up with a contract expected before Council in August 2021. Construction is expected to begin in Fall 2021 and continue through Fall 2022.

This project will be a major focus in 2021 and will require substantial staff resources for implementation and coordination. 

Manage and Coordinate COVID-19 Federal & State Funds and Programs

The City has been able to apply and leverage additional federal and state funding sources to help residents with eviction prevention and support housing stability in the community, provide for continued alternative emergency shelter arrangement, and assist non-profit agencies providing critical services. This will be a major focus area for staff in 2021 as there are numerous requirements for the implementation and reporting of these federal and state grants and requires close coordination with the awarded agencies.

Consider a Non-Discrimination Ordinance