Plano City Council Preview - September 14, 2020

Council chambers aren’t quite open to the public for Monday's meeting, but folks can come on a limited basis to make public comments on the Tax Rate Public Hearings. The meeting will be livestreamed on both PlanoTV.org and on the City of Plano Facebook page.

If you wish to speak in person on the tax rate, or virtually at about any other matter, you may register here by 4:00 PM Monday. Please register ONLY if you wish to speak. You may alternatively share your thoughts by emailing councilcomments@plano.gov by 4:00 PM Monday.

Executive Session

• City of Plano v. Edukid

• Petition of Plano, et al (Latin legalese for "a bunch of others" or "bu ot") appealing North Texas Municipal Water District rates

• Economic Development consideration (the Tesla ship has sailed... or has it? With the slashed Austin PD budget, will Elon Musk reconsider how safe all those shiny new Teslas will be when they roll off the line? ZERO cuts to the Plano PD budget)

• Real Estate offer: Park and K Avenue

• Personnel evaluation of the City Manager

• Deliberation of Council Appointee Evaluations

Preliminary Open Meeting

(Review agenda here)

• Live consideration and action on the Petition of Plano, bu ot, appealing North Texas Municipal Water District rates

• Appointment of Council Liaisons to the Tax Increment Financing Reinvestment Zone No. 4 Board

• 2020 Census Complete Count Committee Report

• Legislative Program Update

• Council items for future agendas: I'll be bringing one up, but shhhhh... it's a secret!

Regular Meeting

(Review agenda here).

Proclamations and Special Recognition

• Certificate of Commendation: the graduating class for the Plano Citizens Academy

• Certificate of Commendation: 2020 Census Complete Count Committee

Comments of Public Interest: every meeting, anyone can speak about anything for up to three minutes, with 30 total minutes allotted for this segment.

Notable Consent Agenda Items

(Total of $6,120,243 of your money in proposed expenses)

• Item (b): $603,210 over three years to three contractors for maintenance and repairs of the city's 46 generators.

• Item (c): $321,201 for expansion and renovation of the Plano Event Center kitchen to enable a greater volume of food service at events when the hotel is built

• Item (d): $4,369,662 for Westgate Subdivision for full pavement reconstruction and replacement of water lines for six residential streets just west of I-75, between Parker and Spring Creek

• Item (e): $104,870 for food service equipment for the Plano Event Center

• Item (f): $403,200 increase to an existing contract for repair of arterial concrete pavement at multiple city locations, for a new total contract amount of $2,080,933

• Item (g): $98,023 for Special Inspections and Construction Material Testing Services for the High Point North Maintenance Facility

• Item (h): $127,606 for construction materials testing services for the Westgate Subdivision pavement and water line reconstruction in Item (d) above

• Item (k): Adoption of a resolution to accept an FY 20/21 Texas Highway Traffic Safety Program grant of $129,865 in federal funds, requiring a match of $32,471 on our part, for salaries and benefits for added speed and intersection enforcement at various high crash locations throughout the city

• Item (l): To approve a settlement with Atmos Cities Steering Committee and Atmos Energy Corp. for an effective rate increase of $80.8 million across Atmos Cities Steering Committee's 171 member cities

Items for Individual Consideration

• Item (1): Reconsideration of Kathryn Independent Living Community at Hwy-121 and Kathryn Lane; last time it was remanded back to Planning & Zoning

• Item (2): Modify the Specific Use Permit (SUP) for the Salvation Army Cold Weather Homeless Shelter near 14th Street and Shiloh Road to expand to any time of year when the weather is anticipated to fall to 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below, and when a point-in-time homeless survey is chosen to be conducted by HUD

• Item (3): $12,958,671 for construction services for the new Fire Training Facility

• Item (4): Approval of the FY 2020-21 Operating Budget of $605.1 million

• Item (5): Approval of the FY 2020-21 Community Investment Program (CIP) of $298.6 million

• Item (6): Fun with confusing numbers: public hearing for the new proposed tax rate, which will be the same as last year, but which under the new tax law calculations is said to be a 2.97% increase over the No New Revenue Tax Rate, yet is estimated to be a net $16 (1.2%) tax decrease due to the slight decline in average home value from $379,629 to $375,000. Bring popcorn and an ice pack for your head

• Item (7): Approval of the new tax rate, assuming we all make it out of Item (6) alive

• Item (8): Ratification of property tax revenues in the FY 2020-21 budget

Review City Council agendas and minutes here.