And we're off.  Mr. King is reviewing that there have been a lot of changes in waste pickup over the past 20 years and we have a few new options available.  This is the first step in reviewing our solid waste services.  Mayor Ueckert has brought this before council because he's getting LOTS of letters about trash versus recycling and that we should incentivise recycling.  People are telling him they'd prefer twice a week recycling with once a week trash pickup.  (Interestingly enough we might also save money if we change to twice a week recycling and once a week trash).

Mr. Baccus states that this is primarily residential but might impact commercial (apartments are commercial).  Our current agreement ends 12-31-13.  Renewal contracts are 10 years long or until the end of the landfill.  We are allowed to modify our contract up until the end of this year.  Landfill has approximately 14 to 16 years left at current volume.  Mr. Baccus is now reviewing our current waste programs including household hazardous waste, landfill drop off, etc.  The city does lose recycling carts and has to replace them at $50 each.  We lost about 200 carts last year- many from people who move and take the cart with them. 

Apartments and commercial property are treated equally.  Waste Management bills the commercial entity directly.  Council sets the rates.  Tenants have access to recycling, landfill, and the household hazardous waste facility at no charge.  Mayor asks if we could require recycling at apartments.  We would have to change the waste ordinance and change our basic operating ordinance regarding waste.  There are a handfull of facilities that offer free recycling.  The city believes it would run between 50 and 60 cents per apartment per month to run a recycling program (150-160K total).  Trash rates would come down a bit to compensate.  The city is around 9-10% on recycling participation, some cities are as high as 20%, most in the metroplex are 12-15%.  UPDATE:  Per the city information officer I misunderstood the preceeding statistic.  It should read:  That the Percentage of our waste stream that is recycled is around 9-10%.  Recycling Participation in Lewisville is 50%, not counting Councilman Gorena's neighbors who use their recycling cart for garbage.

Basic residential services run from 12.84 for twice a week with trash carts and once a week recycling, to 11.34 for what we currently do all the way down to 7.30 for once a week garbage and no recycling.  Trash carts are the same as recycling carts that we currently have, residents would have to purchase any additional carts. 

There doesn't seem to be a yard waste program listed here which there should be.

There's also a review of the household hazardous waste facility which costs the city $127,000 per year and there is $0 charged to the community.  If the city were to charge the 19,145 homeowners for this it would be $0.56 per month.  There are another 19,000 apartment units which would further reduce this cost.  We could also go with a curbside collection program with a hazardous bag at each home that are then collected.  This would run $1 per month per customer.  The slide mentions that this would be a police nightmare what with pharmaceuticals, paint and other chemicals.

A yard waste program would run $1.70 per month to be collected weekly.  There would be no return of the mulch to the citizens and clippings would have to be either loose in a trashbag or in a paper container bag.  We could negotiate the mulch side according to Mr. Baccus.

Dumpster in a Bag program is next up.  Debris collection for home improvement projects.  It's basically a 3 cubic yard disposable bag that you could purchase at Home Depot.  You wouldn't need to rent a 20 yard dumpster for a small home project.  This would run $153 per 3 yard bag picked up.  The bag itself would be $30. 

Staff likes garbage staying at 2 collections per week and increases recycling to once a week.  The #2 option would be once a week garbage and once a week recycling.  We do increase our revenue from recycling (the city earns about $60,000 per year on recycling) with either program.  The experts believe that you will increase your recycling if you reduce garbage pickup per Mr. Baccus.  In the metroplex about 75% of trash is recyclable.  FYI a second recycling cart costs you $1.97 per month plus the cost of the cart.  Gorena notices that in his neighborhood they use the recycler for regular trash.  He wants to know about the numbers on that.  He also wants to see if we could start some type of apartment recycling program since it's 1/2 our household total.  Waste Management does report recycling containers not being used for recycling.  Gorena states that they're collected in his neighborhood and not left as Mr. Baccus states. 

The council is interested in exploring a different program.  We'll post the options later this week.  Tierney likes the twice a week trash, once a week recycling.  Durham states that this isn't the first time the city has discussed this and states that if you really want recycling crank up the trash pick up rate. 

Call your council if you want to give input since they're going to be reviewing the pickup options over the next couple of weeks.

Now we're reviewing the rest of the agenda.  Gorena has questions on item 2 and didn't realize it was a change order.  No comments on items 3-10.

Council meeting in 15 minutes.  Chesapeake is here to speak on the oil and gas suspension.

Proclamations:  July is "Recreation and Parks" month. 

Presentations:   Xtreme Response Camp recieves an Innovation in Programming Award.  New board and commission members are receiving their oaths and certificates  and outgoing board members are receiving plaques of appreciation.

Item E:  Moving funds in CDBG to align with Housing and Urban Development rules (This author's committee).  Moved Seconded Approved Unanimously (MSAU).

Item F:   Visitors Forum, no public comment.

Item G:  Consent Agenda  MSAU.

Item H 7:  Sign Variances for a new lit monument sign for the Medical Center.  This would be a 13 ft tall sign along the I-35 frontage.  MSAU.

Item H 8:  Temporary alcohol consumption for the Texas Firefighters Olympics in LL Woods, Lakeside, and Railroad parks.  No sales, but BYOB.  Thornhill asks if we had alcohol at the last olympics and the answer is yes.  MSAU.

Item H 9:  Brownfields program for 102 S. Mill.  This would allow city staff to research spending grant moneys to remediate 102 S. Mill as part of the EPA program.  MSAU.

Item H 10:  Temporary suspension of oil and gas permitting in Lewisville.  I've signed up to speak in favor of this since I believe our ordinances on emissions are currently weak.  This has been brought up by Tierney and Thornhill.  This would give the city 120 days to review the current ordinances and strengthen them or leave them.  First up to speak is Mercedes Bolin from Chesapeake as well as John Satterfield (director of regulatory and environmental affairs) with a presentation on oil and gas.

He begins with the responsibility to provide clean energy for the country.  He is now addressing the emissions headlines across the region regarding emissions.  He states that Benzene is already here and ubiquitous (but at increased volumes is it still ok?  Emissions of many other types of VOC's happen, not just Benzene.  -ed)  He states that there have been emissions issues and that the EPA, TCEQ and Chesapeake are all looking at the issues. 

He now reviews some monitoring and TCEQ reviews, stating the quantities and that at the majority of the sites emissions were below 'immediate concern'.  He's now mentioning that there is plenty of evaluation going on.  He now shows how Benzene levels are down and gas production is up.  He has now exceeded his 5 minutes.  Ms. Bolin now gives her 5 minutes to him.  Mr. Satterfield now reveiws background benzene levels of major cities and how we're on the low side.  He mentions that most emissions of benzene are from traffic. 

There are elevated levels around the metroplex but they're minute according to Mr. Satterfield and that there is no cause for immediate concern.  (why do people have to add 'immediate' to these statements? -ed).  There as been a permanent air monitoring station slated for Flower Mound.  He now states that since Chesapeake is a tax payer they have equal voice in this discussion.  He now shows a slide of the value of wells.  $159 Million for 12 wells in total economic impact.  (Sure seems like they could pay more to property owners if that's the case.  -ed)

Next up Debra Medina from the Williams Corporation.  She is now talking about William's safety record and that they utilize the latest technology to go above and beyond the necessary rules from the TCEQ for monitoring.  Williams hopes to begin drilling this year.  They emailed a letter to the council earlier today (which wasn't read during workshop).  Williams believes the suspension is supurfuluous. 

Lucas Smith is also here from Williams as their environmental specialists.  He states that their greenhouse gas reduction program helps provide safer air for employees.  They also work with Flower Mound to ensure they're drilling responsibly.  They check urban wells for emissions more than rural since they have more risk in urban centers.  These initiatives are so Williams can work safely with cities.

Tierney asks what Williams is doing that's above and beyond.  They mention they want to do these increased capture technologies so they can make more money and make things safer.  Tierney asks if those things should be done for other drillers?  Lucas states that this would make it better and safer.

Gorena mentions scare tactics from Flower Mound and wants to know the reason for the scare tactics and concern in Flower Mound.  Was there any evidence for problems in Flower Mound?  Lucas states that his specific sites are just fine. 

Ueckert wants to know if your ordinances require IR cameras.  Staff doesn't believe so.

Mr Cobb is now speaking in opposition.  He has leased to Williams and has worked in oil and gas and believes they will be safe and go above and beyond. 

I spoke first.... blah blah. 

Mr. Ferguson in favor of the moratorium from Holly Lane.  The gas will be there months and years from now.  There's no reason to rush anything.  The city doesn't lose anything.  Mr Ferguson enjoys the quality of life provided here and wants to make sure we don't sell it out on short notice.  Mr. Ferguson states that a restaurant wouldn't go next to his home, but a gas well can be placed there.  If you want to put it in an industrial area that's great but not in the middle of the city.

Mr. Southwell in favor of the moratorium.  He wants state that he's glad the industry is here and that not all operators are as conscientious as the two companies here tonight.  This isn't about politics, it's about making sure this is done right.  Facts:  natural gas is not oil.  We don't have a natural gas problem like we have an oil problem.  95% of our gas comes from N. America 85% from the US.  Increasing gas supply doesn't change oil demand.  Prices now aren't very compelling either.  He states that if we do have a problem, it's going to most likely be slow contamination and property value erosion.  The benefits- not many.  He believes caution and planning ahead are the order of the day.  He believes we can do this right with a clean conscience.

Ms Cora Bell in favor.  She has a drill 600 ft from her house in Corinth.  She states that things changed and that there is now a moratorium in Corinth.  Do our ordinances have all of the proper restrictions?  These companies have the money to drill right and they should.  The Barnett has been here for a long time, it will still be here.  We need to make these gas companies accountable and it is the council's duty to make sure it's done right.

Mr. Tim Hillary in opposition. experts have stated that there haven't been any increases in benzene.  He's signed contracts and wants to know what 120 days is going to buy the city.  Why wait?

Mr. Steve Hill  in opposition, he compares this to the federal moratorium and we need to support local drilling.

<Return after running out of batteries on the new laptop>

To summarize about 40 minutes of discussion- all of our councilmen see no issues with reviewing the current ordinance.  It comes down to whether there was enough to warrant a moratorium.  Tierney, Thornhill and non-voting Ueckert were for, Gorena, Watts and Durham against the moratorium.  There will be some ideas pitched to the council over the next few weeks to strengthen the ordinance, it will be interesting to see what follow through comes of it.

Now that the gas companies see that Lewisville is interested in reviewing the rules, we'll see if there is an influx of permit requests under the current ordinance.

Thanks for reading! 

Tonight's liveblog brought to you by a mad dash after scarfing down day old pizza.  Workshop starts at 6:30pm.

Here we go! All our councilmen are here tonight and we're moving through the agenda.

Items 1-3 no comment.  Item 4 has been pulled by Gorena and he mentions that every Sunday he calls for warrants to help the judge.  He states that over 1/2 the people he talks with are just 'down on their luck' and to stop them from registering is going to create a domino effect on their lives.  With the poor economy this could be a huge thing for people.  Durham asks if this counts on the payment plans that the judge creates to pay outstanding fees.  If people are on the payment plan it will hold up their registration.  This will be part of a mandatory program that we will have to implement when Lewisville crosses 100,000 residents.  Gorena mentions how expensive things are getting (amazing how raising fees and penalties creates a burden on the average citizen).   This penalty would only apply to moving violations.  Tierney asks if they're 'making an effort' would the court show leniency, the judge says yes but their registration would be cleared and they could then go back to being in arrears on their outstanding traffic fees.  Gorena thinks it's a bad law and will vote against it.  They're going to drive regardless.  Tierney asks if it's ok that they don't fulfill their responsibilities.  Gorena states it's not fair to those down on their luck.  Chief Kerbow is for the new program.

Mayor Ueckert says you can't discriminate on how or why a person is down on their luck. The judge can discriminate on the payment.  Gorena states that they have to pay their bills.  He asks what triggers.  The process begins when there's a warrant.   The mayor is asking why do people have a warrant.  Typically they get a warrant because they fail to pay or not show up at court when getting a ticket.  If they've shown up and done what's required then this new law doesn't apply to them according to the judge.

Item 5-7 no comment.   Item 8- Watts asks about teen court TV and asks the judge if it's going to impact the teen court, the judge says no.

Item 9-13 no comment.  Item 14 Gorena asks where Sycamore park is and wants to know why it didn't get an upgrade- King explains the census track and that the improvement didn't qualify with the Federal income standard.

Item 15 Gorena mentions a couple months ago that he brought Parker House to the table to get agreement with the neighbors and the business.  Gorena states that Parker house profits go to a bunch of non profits and that's the reason Gorena liked it.  He wants to know if there are any code violations.  Staff states that by using it as storage is a violation of the current code.  The agreement was to dismantle the haunted house after the season.  Gorena was contacted after the ordinance and codes were violated and asked to help out the Parker House.  King mentions that there are several violations.   If the council lets him continue it will mean they'll run the event through December.

Item 16 Gorena asks if the glass repair is done out of his truck.  Gorena states that this competes with the brick and mortar and he has a problem with it.  King mentions that the city has never done a year long permit like this.

Item 17 no comment.  Item 18- Gorena asks about the original limit of 2 years.  King responds that the 2 years was because there wasn't any development planned and that was what was requested.  Ueckert states that there was an understanding that if development were to come (as it is now) the city would ask to pave the lot.  King mentions that we've required others to do this.

Item 19- Gorena asks if we're replacing all the school signs.  King states that it would be 118 signs replaced at $3,000 total for the changed school times.

Item 20-  Boards and commissions.  Everyone is being reappointed.  Angela Garcia(sp) will fill the vacant spot on Parks, Jennine Golden(sp) will fill Library, P&Z everyone reappointed.  Zoning Board Debbie Engladu(sp) will move up.  CDBG Barbara Carey- but Gorena prefers someone else while he doesn't dislike Ms. Carey he just felt another applicant would be better.  Gorena is happy with whatever since they're all very good.  That's all the boards updated.

And we'll break for the meeting.  

Here we go-  No public comment.  Consent agenda item 4 is pulled.  Moved, Seconded, Approved Unanimously (MSAU).

Item 4-  Contract for collection of outstanding fines.  This keeps people from re-registering their cars if the owner has failed to appear in court of pay a fine.  In order to remove the registry block the individual must pay up.  Similar programs have been successful in collecting past due fines.  The Judge is now explaining the program as he did in workshop.  The Mayor points out that people don't get in trouble with this program if they attend their court date and pay their fines.  A warrant must be issued before registration gets blocked.  Durham states that it would be cheaper to pay cash than go to jail.  Gorena asks the Judge- can people pay their fines when paying for license.  The judge says no, they have to pay their fine, then they can get registered.  Gorena states that he thinks its a bad law and talks about his warrant calls and that a lot of people simply forgot and over 1/2 those folks don't need another domino to fall on them.  

Editor's note: This is really interesting from a councilman who constantly states that we must uphold and enforce all the laws.

King mentions that as long as someone has agreed to pay they won't get this penalty, this includes payment plans to the court.  They only get hit if there's a warrant.  Watts mentions that it doesn't make sense to delay a program we're going to have to do when we crack 100,000.  Watts mentions that everyone has a hard luck story once they get a warrant.  Thornhill makes a motion to approve.  Tierney is in favor, you break the law you pay the consequences.  4-1 Gorena against.  Passes. 

Item 15-  Parker House Variance.  What this boils down to is that Parker House has failed to clean up according to their agreed variance from last year.  They would like to extend the variance and allow the event to go on at the end of September and then remove the haunted house material in December. Since there was no long term storage variance and zoning violations and the original agreement stated that the Parker House would remove the materials by April 14th.  This is two fold.  The special event window is asked to be extended beyond the 20 day Special Events Permit to a full month.  The neighbors are upset about the noise but many neighbors are not put out by the event.  The Parker House has also asked if they can build a fence.  Making this haunted house a year round event would require landscaping, bricking the facility, and other rules to match our General Development Ordinance.

We have several folks here to speak in support of the Parker House.  Ms Janell Nailing(sp) wants to let council know how much her kids love to work at the haunted house and that it's good for them and their grades.  Mr Ken Jones is in support and mentions how greatly the kids support the event and it brings a lot of people into Lewisville.  Mr Preston East (owner of the event) has brought some surveys he did with the neighbors (he distributed something similar last time he spoke with the Council) to show who he's spoken with.  There is now a video and they're showing where an 8ft tall by 60ft long fence will go.  The Parker House is also reducing and removing exterior music.  The extended permit is because the permits have changed a bit.  They used to do two permits.  Now Mr East speaks about the High School involvement as well as their support of non profits.  He's now discussing how storage is done with the truck trailers.  Mr East asks for this to go for just one more year because so much of this past year's event was rained out (16 of 19 days received rain).  Mr. East thinks if they're told to move it will be devastating since they don't have many volunteers now.  

Mayor Ueckert states that everything will have to be removed by December 1 if the variance is approved. Mr East states that he's clear.  Ms Sonya Fletcher(sp) speaks that she barely heard any noise in her neighborhood and that this is a wonderful thing. Ms Jill Salas (sp) is totally in favor of the Parker House. Ms Christy Dunstill(sp) mentions her son's involvement and how Parker House has helped fund ROTC trips. There are also cards in support from 10 other residents.

Gorena mentions that he thought this was a good thing and the promise of December 1 removal works for him.  Gorena states that he's seeing a lot of effort.  Watts asks about policies and procedures at Parker House to prevent illicit activity.  East mentions that they have 5-8 parents present at all times during the construction phase.  During the season about 35 volunteers are adults, the remainder are kids.  The event also has police officers who enforce a zero alcohol policy and a security staff of 12.  There are also folks in the parking lot as well as 36 infrared cameras in the house to keep things safe.  They also run volunteers against the sex offenders registry. Watts doesn't see much point in making them move now.  He mentions that this isn't intended to make this a permanent, year round event.  If this doesn't happen by December 1 he mentions that there will be repercussions.  Thornhill mentions that the reason we have the new ordinances on special events because of events in the past.  For the Council to approve the current ordinance and then circumvent it he feels is not a good precedent.  Tierney moves to approve.  4-1 Thornhill dissents.

Item 16-  365 day permit for Texas Chips and Cracks.  Watts understands that we've never granted a variance of this type for this long.  He asks what the Mall stated when they called to support this business. The current permit is 120 days on, 120 days off, etc... the request is to fill in the 120 days off.  There is a small tent and the windshield repair happens within a 6 parking spot space.  Watts asks if there are other properties that would allow similar visibility for his 120 days off.  Staff state that they can easily move locations in the city and that there are many businesses that do the same.  Watts would hope that if this is so successful the owner would find a permanent location and he's right now not inclined to support the variance.  Ueckert asks about the temporary car wash that operated the same way in the parking lot.  Staff confirms that there are other businesses that operate within the current ordinances.  Tierney wants to see a permanent business.  Durham is mixed.  If the mall is in support he feels he will support.  Gorena agrees with Watts and mentions that there are other crack and chip businesses who pay taxes.  Watts clarifies that this isn't a deal about buildings with crack repair versus the temporary location.  He brought it up because he wants to keep the ordinance.  3-2 Tierney and Gorena voted no. 

Item 17-  Variance for a temporary leasing office at The Evergreen development on 455 Highland Dr.  MSAU.

Item 18-   Porter Tire variance for gravel parking lot.  Mr Bill Ratinger(sp) is here to speak in support as the owner.  He is happy to allow the city to continue using this as overflow parking and since there is no development around the facility he'd like to postpone paving the lot depending on surrounding development.  MSAU.

Item 19-  Changing school zone signs for new ISD times. Adding a couple new school zones.  MSAU.

Item 20-  Appointments, confirmed the workshop discussion.  MSAU.

Reports:  Lake is still in good shape.  Thank you for reading, we're done tonight.