Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 249, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 8, 2015 Page: 9 of 24
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LOCAL
9A
Denton Record-Chronicle
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
From Page 1A
IN OTHER ACTION
Council
$270,000 and a loader from Haul All Equip-
ment for $73,683.
■ Approved three-year contracts with Proper-
tyRoom.com for auction services for
$300,000, with Harvest Quest International for
organic catalyst for $150,000, with Techline
for electrical connectors for $150,000 and with
Hoyt Breathing Air Products for firefighters’
protective equipment for $555,500.
■ Amended a contract with ABC Professional
Tree Services to a total of $2.5 million.
risk retention fund and $1.4 million to the
general debt service fund.
■ Approved an interlocal agreement with the
North Central Texas Council of Governments
for regional traffic signal timing for $36,960.
■ Awarded a professional services contract to
Margaret Chalfant for a public art master plan
for $80,000.
■ Granted $550 to the University of North
Texas for the African Cultural Festival.
— Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe
■ Entered into an emergency response mutual
aid agreement with the city of Garland.
■ Authorized the purchase of about 17 acres
for $270,000, with 10 acres for electrical
substation expansion and the remainder for
tree preservation, and the purchase of a
half-acre in the 200 block of Mayhill Road for
street widening for $440,000.
■ Amended the 2014-15 budget as follows:
$494,078 to tree mitigation fund, $50,000 to
the police confiscation fund, $600,000 to the
During its regular meeting Tuesday, the Den-
ton City Council also:
■ Prohibited left turns from Russell Newman
Boulevard onto Loop 288 and parking on the
north side of Mulberry Street between Indus-
trial and Austin streets.
■ Adopted a resolution opposing Senate Bill
343 and any other legislation that would erode
the authority of home-rule cities.
■ Agreed to purchase an office building from
Sustainable Modular Management Inc. for
homeless population, Shaw said.
She estimated that the city has
about 465 of Denton County’s
1,340 homeless. One initiative
has helped the coalition deter-
mine who is most vulnerable
among Denton’s homeless.
About 10 percent of the cur-
rent homeless population is at
risk of dying on the streets, she
said.
housing. More than 45 percent
of the city’s homeless are em-
ployed, with 30 percent of them
working full-time.
While some people have
medical or other issues, the bot-
tom line for most is that housing
is unaffordable, Shaw said.
Minimum-wage
■ :
‘Making Happy Customers since 1938!
That survey, which focused
on the 119 most vulnerable peo-
ple in Denton, also allowed the
coalition to better understand
what homelessness costs local
institutions, she said.
More than 80 of those sur-
veyed reported having spent at
least one night in jail. The coali-
tion estimated the real cost to
the city for arrest and confine-
ment — typically for a misde-
meanor offense — is $9,499 per
person. Thus, the cost to the
city’s police department is more
than $800,000, Shaw said
In addition, the survey
counted 122 visits to the emer-
gency room and 71 in-patient
stays of at least one day in the
past three months. Shaw said,
conservatively, that costs area
hospitals nearly $350,000.
Many in the city’s homeless
population have significant
health problems, such as kidney
or liver disease, diabetes, asthma
or HIV/AIDS. About 24 have
suffered heat stroke, Shaw said.
Currently, an outreach team
goes out every other Wednesday
with medical services and infor-
mation on how to find other
help people might need.
Because Denton offers some
services, such as free lunches at
Our Daily Bread soup kitchen
and two emergency shelters
during weather extremes, peo-
ple who are homeless some-
times come from other cities to
Denton for help.
For example, the Lewisville
Salvation Army doesn’t have a
shelter. When the weather is ex-
pected to be dangerously hot or
cold, officials in Lewisville will
often help people get to shelter
in Denton.
“We have the most services,”
Shaw said. “It’s just a fact.”
With the coalition’s other ini-
tiative, local social service
groups are better coordinating
services they offer.
‘“Housing first’ is the most
successful option,” Shaw said,
rather than having people “earn
their way to housing.” The coali-
tion has found that people can
better work on their problems
when they have a roof over their
heads.
■V*' '*<*
m
*
earners
don’t make enough to pay rent.
In some cities, it takes the equiv-
alent of three minimum-wage
jobs to pay the rent, Shaw said.
She estimated it takes the equiv-
alent of two such jobs to pay rent
in Denton.
417 N. Hwy. 156
Justin, TX 76247
(940) 648-3145
www.shopadamsfurniture.com
■
$1,198 Scraped Top Table with 4 Napoleon
9 Side Chairs.
$598 Round Counter-Top Table with
14” Leaf & 4 Padded Side Chairs.
Open Mon. - Sat. 9 am ‘til 6 pm
late Thursday ‘til 7 pm
CH
Council members agreed to
appoint an ad hoc committee to
propose a plan to address the
shortage of affordable housing
as well as housing designed spe-
cifically to help people and fami-
lies who are homeless or at risk
of becoming homeless.
Mayor Chris Watts, who has
pressed to tackle the issue since
he was elected last year, said he
believed if the city came up with
specific goals and a plan, people
might be surprised how much
the community would respond
with help.
‘We need to strike while the
iron is hot — and it’s real hot
right now,” Watts said.
A
i
fA
on o
i
J
V
t
GREEN VS. WHITE
SATURDAY APRIL 18
1
.A
A
Smoking ban
Hundreds showed up for
Tuesday night’s public hearings
on expanding the city’s smoking
ban and making amendments
to the gas well drilling ordi-
nance.
The council began what was
expected to be about three hours
of testimony on the smoking
ban at about 9 p.m. Attendees
wore blue to signify their sup-
port for the smoking ban’s ex-
pansion, and red for opposition
to the change.
Bar owners told the council
that the current ordinance
works because it allows bars a
choice. Since an expanded ban
would still permit smoking on
patios, bars that don’t have pati-
os and couldn’t build one would
risk losing their business or be-
coming a nuisance.
Charlie Nolet, owner of The
Loophole, said he wouldn’t be
able to add a patio to his bar in a
historic building on the Square.
Instead, his customers would
likely step outside onto the side-
walk to smoke.
But others, including a for-
mer bartender and a performing
musician, urged the council to
protect them and workers like
them.
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APOGEE STADIUM - KICKOFF 2 PM
GAME AND PARKING ARE FREE TO THE PUBLIC
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mean green sports
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MEANGREENSPORTS.COM
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The agencies are setting up
“front doors” to services so that
people can get help faster. That
can better harness the help
available from area churches
and the general public, and re-
duce the risk of fraud, too, she
said.
r
r
PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE
can be reached at 940-566-
6881 and via Twitter at
@phwolfeDRC.
But, in the final analysis, the
coalition found that Denton
doesn’t have enough affordable
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 249, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 8, 2015, newspaper, April 8, 2015; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1124725/m1/9/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .