Thursday, June 5, 2008

Frisco City Council notes — 6/3/08

By Jeff Cheney of Blogging Frisco

FRISCO — Tuesday’s meeting was newly elected Mayor Maher Maso’s first full Council Meeting. One of the Mayor’s goals is to get us to start our meeting at 6:30. We start at 5:30 but then immediately exit for our Executive Session where we discuss items such as legal or property acquisitions/negotiations, etc. Our goal has always been to come back into regular session by 6:30 to start the regular meeting but more often than not we take more time discussing items in executive session. This can certainly be frustrating for patiently waiting citizens. The Mayor’s new policy is for us to come back into regular session at 6:30 and then come back into Executive Session after the regular meeting if more time is needed. This is exactly what we did this meeting and it worked well.

City Council is gearing up for our busy time of year. In a few weeks we will leave for our annual summer work session that last 3.5 days. This is where we set our priorities for the year and discuss other important topics. This is serious work where we start early in the morning and continue through the night. Following this meeting we will move into our budget process. Squeezed in between these are all of our Board and Commission interviews and then subsequent appointments.

The meeting itself was fairly quick this evening. Here are some highlights to the meeting:

The first order of business was a proclamation given to the Frisco Garden Club in honor of National Gardening Week. The Garden Club is the oldest civic organization in Frisco, going on their 76th year! They asked that Frisco residents plant drought resistant plants in honor of National Gardening Week. Here is some more information about the Garden Club.

The Frisco Library gave their report and reminded us that summer reading programs start next month. If you want to know more about the reading programs you can visit the Library website. In addition, some new online programs will be available later this summer. First, citizens will be able to register for the library online. Second, members will be able to download books and other materials through our Overdrive Program. Look for that later this summer. The Library also manages the Heritage Museum which opened last month. We have had over 500 visitors in the first month and they have purchased over 500 items in the store. Groups and organizations are now starting to book tours. Click here for more information on the Heritage Association.

In news from our Parks & Rec Department, the outdoor aquatics at the Rec Center have been a huge success. Close to 3,000 guests attended the opening weekend of the facility, including my family. We had a great time and the kids cannot wait to go back! Daily operation will begin Saturday, June 7th and continue through Sunday, August 24th. The 3rd annual Frisco Grooves concert series begins in June, hosted at Warren Sports Complex. The live performances are every Friday in June beginning at 7:30. This popular concert series provides a great venue for individuals and families to sit and enjoy all of the great entertainment each Friday night. See you out there!

A few other items:

- Council approved an agreement to assist with the relocation of Kurt Thomas Gymnastics. They are currently operating in the Dr Pepper StarCenter. Due to the site expansion, it is not safe for them to continue business operation during the construction. The agreement assists them with a permanent move to a facility that will actually help their business expand.

- Council approved our Freedom Fest budget. This is a great event each year in Frisco with one of the largest firework shows in the state. The Temptations will be playing this year. Look for more information coming soon.

- Council approved a measure to expand the maximum lot coverage of SF4 homes from 40 to 45%. This is consistent with our other residential zoning classes. The significance of this vote is that it will allow homeowners, among other things, more options in their building choices. One primary concern is the inability to build large one-story homes which this will help alleviate.

- Council voted to ratify a contract that would allow us to investigate the opportunity to expand Bicentennial Park and connect it to Warren Sports Complex.

I hope everyone is having a great start to their summer!

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