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Council to vote on budget at Sept. 11 meeting
By Tasha Hayton, Staff Writer
The Coppell City Council will vote Sept. 11 on the proposed budget and tax rate that was presented to them Tuesday night.
There were five work sessions leading up to the presentation of the proposed budget for 2007-2008, said Jennifer Miller, director of finance for the city of Coppell.
The tax rate of .64146 is remaining the same as last year.
The general fund consists of 45 percent for public safety, 20 percent for general government, 19 percent culture and recreation and 16 percent for public works.
The breakdown of services paid for by the general fund shows about 66 percent of the money going for salaries, 4 percent for supplies, 4 percent for maintenance, 21 percent for services and 4 percent for capital, she said.
There are five new employee positions being added including a new code enforcement officer, administrative technician for animal services, a police dispatcher, a junior financial accountant and an additional senior center coordinator, Miller said.
An estimated 70 percent of the debt service will be paid in 10 years and 95 percent will be paid in 15 years, she said.
The water/sewer fund consists of $14.8 million in revenue. The rate has stayed the same for 13 years, she said.
Of the water/sewer revenue, 63 percent comes from water sales, 30 percent from sewer services and 4 percent from interest income.
The expenses for water/sewer primarily goes to the cost of water. Coppell buys 17 million gallons a day and there is an estimated increase of 18 million gallons for next year in case there is a need during the summer, Miller said.
The response to city finances has improved significantly throughout the past 14 years, said City Manager Jim Witt.
Narcotics and alcohol report
Coppell Police Chief Roy Osborne presented the council with mid-year narcotics and alcohol arrests from January to Aug. 22.
There were a total of 41 arrests for possession of drug paraphernalia, of which 13 were minors and none were felonies.
There were 66 arrests for possession of marijuana, of which nine were minors and 13 were felonies.
There were 15 arrests of adults for delivery of marijuana and a total of nine arrests for possession of dangerous drugs, of which three were minors.
There were 20 arrests of possession of a controlled substance, of which four were minors and 13 were felonies.
There were 29 arrests for manufacturing and delivering a controlled substance, all of which were felonies.
For possession of alcohol by a minor, there were 27 arrests made. There were 129 arrests for consumption of alcohol by a minor, of which 107 were misdemeanors.
There were 19 arrests for driving under the influence, all of which were minors and misdemeanors.
There were 94 arrests for driving while intoxicated, of which nine were minors, six were felonies and 88 were misdemeanors.
The arrest reports are tracked by age and not by where the people arrested reside, Osborne said.
The organized crime unit in the Coppell Police Department was involved in 164 cases and made 48 arrests, he said.
The unit recovered 58 guns, 180 pounds of marijuana, 95 grams of Cocaine, 1,132 grams of GHB, about 10 grams of methamphetamines (ICE), 208 grams of ecstasy, 4,062 grams of steroids and 275 grams of prescription drugs.
During convenience store checks, there were four sales of tobacco to a minor out of 16 checks and no sales of alcohol to a minor out of 10 checks, Osborne said.
The checks are made “often enough that we’re comfortable,” he said.
The seizures made by the organized crime unit consist of $24,000 cash, 12 vehicles, one trailer, $5,000 stolen property and $54,200 of miscellaneous property including stereos, TVs and iPods, he said.
Many of the leads start in Coppell but lead to other cities including Carrollton and Dallas, Osborne said.
Library board
During the month of June, 60,000 books were checked out of circulation, said Doug Johnson, chair of the library board.
About 1,200 children signed up to read and were all given reading sheets and 700 were turned in which means at least 14,000 books were read by the children.
There were 33 book club meetings throughout the summer, he said.
The highlight of the summer program was by far the Harry Potter party where 80 invitations were sent out for those who signed up to check out the seventh book in the series.
There were 73 “volunteens” who performed 700 hours of community service, Johnson said.
The homework center will open next month with Coppell High School student volunteers, he said.
The library board wants to be a part of the 2030 vision process as the library is nearly maxed out on what it can do for the community.
“Space dictates what we can do,” Johnson said.
Mayor Doug Stover said the library would be, in no way, excluded from the planning process.
Starting in October, there will be a fee for library cards for people in cities that do not offer comparable services as the William T. Cozby Public Library or which do not offer free library cards to Coppell residents.
The fee will be $40.
The cities most affected by the change will be those in Lewisville or Flower Mound.
Special election
Council members approved an ordinance ordering a special election on Nov. 6 to consider the adoption of one-fourth of one cent sales and use tax to provide revenue for maintenance and repair of municipal streets and to create a Crime Control and Prevention District.
The sales tax rate will not change. The use will transfer from the current half cent for the schools to one-fourth cent to streets and one-fourth cent to the crime district.
It will go into effect April 1 if it receives voter approval. Approximately $1.5 million will go to each category in the first year.
There will be a forum Oct. 9 providing more details.
Sale of alcoholic beverages
The council approved a 300-foot variance for Cool Bamboo on Denton Tap Road to sell alcoholic beverages.
The council also approved a 90-foot variance for Café Portobello to sell alcoholic beverages. It currently sells alcohol as a private club.
Alexander Court
Council approved a variance with stipulations for an interim permit to allow fill dirt to be brought into the construction site of Alexander Court subdivision at the northwest corner of Denton Tap Road and Bethel Road.
Council members Tim Brancheau, Brianna Hinojosa-Flores and Billy Faught voted against allowing the variance before receiving full approval from FEMA.
City Engineer Ken Griffin said the variance would help expedite the construction process as he could give permission to fill the flood plain area as soon as FEMA approved without having to bring it to council again.
Breaking the tie, Stover voted in favor of the variance.
Following the approval, the owner of the subdivision presented an appeal through his attorney regarding impact fees on the property.
The lawyer said his client, John Hawkins, should not have to pay tree mitigation for the right-of-way, change slopes on the property or construct a sidewalk that “won’t go anywhere or connect to anything.”
After the council adjourned into executive session, the city refunded $3,200 in cash to Hawkins and gave him an $18,000 credit for right-of-way dedication based on the price of the land.
The other appeals were rejected.
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