2026-04-21 Denton County Commissioners Court

FALCONER

Falconer County Commissioner. I am filling in for Judge Eads. Judge Eads is in another courtroom residing, or another courtroom here in Denton County on legal matters for us. But I'm honored to lead the meeting today and thank you all for coming out in the rainy weather. We need the rain. But it's just today, it's just me and the girls. And so we're excited to have our quorum here. And we're going to start off with our invocation. And David Clements is one of our chaplains in the sheriff's office is going to give us our invocation.

Please stand if you can.

CLEMENTS

Let’s pray. Lord, I thank you for giving us this day. Thank you for your great mercy that has caused us to have a living hope.

May your mercy and grace be extended to the residents of Denton County. Be their refuge and strength. The ever present help in the time of trouble.

I pray for all those from Denton County who are in the Middle East or have family there in danger zones around the world. Be their fortress and their shield. Protect them and bring them home safely.

Watch over our faith communities and gathering places and keep them safe from all harm. We pray for our government leaders locally, nationally, as they make important decisions for our community and our nation. May truth, justice, and mercy prevail in every decision.

Bless them, Lord, and watch over them. Guide their steps according to your word. Empower them to do justice, to love mercy, and walk humbly with their God.

We lift up this meeting today. Give wisdom and guidance at every decision point. We pray for our soldiers from Denton County to pour it across this land and around the world.

We bless Denton County, bless the great state of Texas, and God bless America. In Christ's name we pray, amen.

FALCONER

Amen. Thank you so much. And today we have our pledges led by Melinda Preston.

PRESTON

Good morning, and that was an awesome prayer. So we are so blessed to get to pledge allegiance to the best country in the world. It's a country that brings freedom to the world.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, I'm going to say the pledge, but I usually end in a yee-haw. And I was told I can't end in a yee-haw, so I'm going to use self-control.

Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible. Yee-haw!

Okay, I got permission from Diane.

FALCONER

Thank you, Melinda. Thank you, David. Appreciate that.

So we will start our meeting. Sorry, I have to put the specs on. With our public input we have this time as our public comment time for any items not on our agenda. And we have two cards. If you want to speak, we just need to have you fill out a card. And I have two.

And the first of those is Turid Horgan. So, Turid. Oh, I'm sorry.

Well, we're happy to do that. We'll do that. It'll be Crispin Miller.

And just so you know, Crispin, we have a three-minute time limit, so.

MILLER

I shouldn't have trouble with that.

FALCONER

Well, we appreciate you coming out in the rain to talk to us today.

MILLER

I'm Crispin Miller. I'm a half-owner of the remaining family-owned portion of Red Bird Ridge Development, which is in the ETJ just east of the Argyle Line.

Oh, thank you.

Crispin Miller from Red Bird Ridge Development just east of the Argyle Line. About 15 months ago, 14, we sold the residential portion of this development due to difficulty getting funding for the road it requires. And our design, including construction drawings, was fully approved by the PNZ and recorded in February of last year.

And the developers to whom we sold it assured us that they would follow our construction drawings. That promise has not been kept. And this deviation has ended up raising some serious concerns about the effect of the redesigned drainage, both for impact on property, property value through flooding and washout damage, and on safety.

I'm here to open those subjects and then to introduce the original designer of the project, the designer of the design which was approved February a year ago, who will go into more detail about that. Her name is Ms. Turid Horgan. She's an architect and environmental designer of 60 years experience.

And she was central in the creation of the first interdisciplinary environmental planning curriculum in Northern Europe, which has been widely copied. So the trouble is on this side of the ocean, she gets regarded as female and therefore it wasn't designed here. I will leave you with Turid Horgan.

FALCONER

All right, thank you so much.

MILLER

Oh, since, chronic problem with this new purchase. Oh, since English is not her first language, if she might be allowed an extra two or three minutes to pronounce all of the script.

FALCONER

We'll do what we can. And just so everyone-

HORGAN

I'm not a native English speaker, but I will be fast as I can.

FALCONER

That we, yes-

HORGAN

I've been in front of the Commissioner court before, talked about this problem.

FALCONER

Yes.

HORGAN

But as rain increase, and I'm documenting every rain, hydrology is not something that developers in Texas care about. They think everything is flat, everything is prairie. We are dealing with cross timbers ecology and water fall down.

It doesn't go up. I'm even asked to redesign this, to channel the water up and out. That doesn't make sense.

So, part of this development drainage system was recently redesigned, as Crispin Miller commented, to route storm water through a culvert placed on my family's private property by way of road easement, changing the direction of watershed runoff, which is not proper design practice. You don't flood your neighbor's property with water, especially if the contour lines actually go towards their own property and not to us. This new culvert channels unbuffered runoff from the development across other land with no drainage easement to discharge is there, making a significant portion of three acre area unusable.

This area, together with a stock pond and a meadow, has long been planned for preservation in perpetuity, which was well-known by Denton County and Tucana, the developer, when they undertook to develop the property they have drained there. It requires pure water, not lawn and driveway runoff. Their parcels, contours, allow them to handle the same drainage easily on their own land.

And Bufferit and earlier design of theirs actually did that. They did, yet they had an engineer shift the drainage to our land, and this design has been approved by the county. The water then continues onto neighbor's property, creating flooding during and after heavy rain.

And the sad part of this, but something you can't help for, one of our neighbors has three months, more months to live, and he's seeing all this, coming over this property, no respect for his land. Second, elsewhere on the project, there is a serious public safety issue with a retention pond constructed at the entrance of the development. This pond is approximately 15 to 20 feet deep, with steep clay sidewalls, slippery when rained on, with no steps, no ledges, or other aids to escape.

We had a perfectly, beautifully designed retention pond, but the developer wanted to save on the concrete, which needed there. Despite his netting $5 million on one year of work, I said netting, it's not the total cost. And I have all the numbers, I know what every culvert cost, I've done this work for 60 years.

And I'm appalled, but why you don't, Commissioner Court doesn't give the county development services the tools to actually do a real review. They are told, or somebody told them, you can only say yes to a stamped and sealed engineer design. Well, then anyone can go to the engineer and say, I want this and not this.

And you can manipulate spreadsheets easily. I'll go over the spreadsheet to the neighbors and they don't add up.

FALCONER

Ms. Horgan, your three minutes is about up, I'm giving you just a little bit more, although it seems like you're doing really well with our language.

HORGAN

Okay, thank you, thank you.

FALCONER

But if you could wrap up, please.

HORGAN

Okay, so what I respectfully request, is the following action from the court, from this court. The neighbors seek, and it's not only us who's appalled by this. All the neighbors seek an independent review of the drainage in the Redbird Ridge addition and preparation of a full reconstruction of the drainage system, so that it complies with sound engineer's principles and public safety standards.

The problem is, the developer follow the rules, but it doesn't always mean that the rules apply. They apply to the priority, but not to, give me the words. Crosstimber psychology, all of a sudden, the English stop.

Thank you for listening to me, and please contact me. I think I'm the one in this room, who know more than, I taught hydrology for 10 years, and I know what I'm talking about. So please contact me.

FALCONER

Thank you so much. We appreciate this. Yes, thank you both so much.

I just, as a reminder, this is not on our agenda, so we're not allowed to comment or discuss that, but we will certainly get with staff and-

HORGAN

I'll make the major piece of our agenda sometime within this year.

FALCONER

Yes, thanks. Yes, thank you both for coming out on this rainy day.

And now we'll get into our rest of our agenda, and I'm gonna go to our resolutions and presentations, and we'll start with item 3A. And that is approval of a proclamation recognizing April 20th through the 24th, 2026 as Every Kid Healthy Week and any appropriate action. And this is with our Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

So if Shandani, oh, you're right here.

SHANDANI

I'm right here.

FALCONER

So welcome. I will, I've got the proclamation to read, but I'd love to hear from you all if you may, and then we'll read your proclamation, and I'm sure we'll probably get approval on this.

SHANDANI

Thank you. Thank you. I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude to the commissioners and Judge Eads, so please convey our gratitude to Judge Eads for allowing us this opportunity to present and sign the proclamation for Every Kid Healthy Week, and your support is truly appreciated and deeply meaningful.

Every Kid Healthy Week recognized on the calendar of national health observances and observed during the last full week of April each year, and this year it's from 20th of April through the 24th. It shines a spotlight on the important efforts that schools and families are making to improve the overall health and wellness of our children. Each day of the week highlights a specific area of well-being, emphasizing the strong connection between nutrition, physical activity, mental health, and academic success.

Simply put, healthy kids are better prepared to learn and thrive. I would also like to take this moment to extend all my heartfelt thanks to incredible community partners who are helping bring this week to life. We are honored to have with us today Emily Russell from Cook Children's Center for Community Health and Thriving Collaborative.

Thanks to their generosity, we were able to distribute more than 150 wellness bags, including activities and educational resources that support children's physical and mental well-being. These were shared with the parents and students at Anne Wendell School of Young Children this past Friday during a fantastic car show parade that they had put together. In addition, we'll also be sharing some valuable resources and educational activities through our social media pages and Instagram to help ensure that the messages of health, wellness, and support reaches as many families as possible.

So together we are building stronger, healthier futures for every child. Thank you once again for your time, your support, and your continued commitment to the well-being of the children in our community. Thank you.

FALCONER

Thank you so much. And would you like to speak as well?

RUSSELL

Emily Russell, Cook Children's Center for Community Health. I just wanted to add my thanks and for all your support of all these activities and all the other things we have going on in Denton County. And thank you very much for acknowledging this, which helps our families gain more education and have more awareness of these health issues.

So thank you very much.

FALCONER

Well, we thank you both so much for what you do and for this whole effort because nutrition really is so much an important part of what we are as our human bodies. And our kids need to have that as they're growing and thriving. And so thank you for what you're doing.

I think it's a great partnership. So I'm gonna read the proclamation and then we'll take a motion and then we'll see if my fellow commissioners there would like to say anything. But the proclamation is for recognizing Every Kid Healthy Week, April 20th through the 24th, 2026.

Whereas Every Kid Healthy Week is an annual observance created in 2013 to celebrate school health and wellness achievements, encourages schools and families to focus on promoting healthy habits, good nutrition, emotional health, and physical activity. And whereas it is very important to keep family members and students healthy during this time which includes all health. And whereas there is a need for continuing education and wide scale effort to enhance healthy practices so that healthy kids are better prepared to learn and thrive.

And whereas Texas A&M AgriLife Extension and Cook Children's Center for Community Health through their unique partnership and prevention-based approaches are effectively addressing the healthy lifestyle needs of children, youth, and families in our community. Now therefore be it resolved that the Denton County Commissioners Court of Denton County, Texas does hereby recognize the week of April 20th through the 24th, 2026 as Every Kid Healthy Week in Denton County and encourage all citizens to join the campaign and encourage families to continue this week with scheduled activities to complete and have fun while safely promoting overall health for everyone. And that's done in open court this day. And with that, do we have a motion?

We have a motion to approve by Commissioner Edmondson and a second by Commissioner Mitchell. And ladies, would you like to say anything?

MITCHELL

I just wanna thank you for the work you do. And it's so important that we get this message out to everyone. We get busy in life when we're mothers and fathers raising children.

And sometimes we give them food, just food, but it's important that we give them healthy food for a healthy brain, for a healthy child. And so I'm especially proud of the fact that you all are working to make sure that all of our kids know and their parents know that there is a better way to feed your children. You're still giving them the nutritional food that they need and give them some snacks every once in a while also.

I'm bad about that, I believe in giving snacks. Thank you for being here and thank you for the work you do.

EDMONDSON

Well, I second everything that Commissioner Mitchell said. It's interesting to me that you have chosen day by day to emphasize certain things. I think that's really an excellent marketing idea.

And I congratulate you on that, looking forward to seeing that on a day by day basis. Thanks for being here. Thank you, thank you.

FALCONER

All right, we do thank you. And with that, we have a motion and a second.

And do we have all in favor, say aye. Aye. And none are opposed. So that passes unanimously.

So thank you all so much.

FALCONER

All right, and that takes us to item 3B. This is approval of a proclamation recognizing the Denton County AgriLife Horticulture Program volunteers and any appropriate action. And I have Erin. Hello, Erin. Hi. We're glad to have you all. You guys do such a great job. Would you like to give us a little information about this?

ERIN

Thank you. It's a joy to be here today with you to share some of the contributions that the master gardeners and master naturalists of Denton County provide with the residents of Denton County. They are an outstanding group.

And I am amazed at what they get done. Our main goals in the horticulture program are to provide education, to do community service, to provide inspiration in the garden and beyond, and to promote conservation. In 2025, we had 330 master gardener volunteers and 274 master naturalist volunteers, which totals over 600.

We also have a group that is part, a subgroup of those two groups named SWAT, Science with Attitude. And that's master gardeners, master naturalists, and 4-H volunteers that speak to youth programming and they saw over 7,000 children last year. As a group, the master gardeners' hours for 2025 were 44,975, and the master naturalists served 34,278 hours for nearly 80,000 hours of service.

And if you take the independent sector volunteer value and multiply that, we're talking $2.8 million. So they did a lot.

FALCONER

That is a lot.

ERIN

We are currently, that's part of the reason we don't have all our volunteers here today. We are currently serving in many, many places this week. This is a huge week for us.

Today is intern class. We have 45 people in the master gardener intern class this year, and they are all well on target to graduate. We provide 84 hours of training in that class, and we expect 70 hours of volunteer service their first year.

After that, master gardeners do 20 hours volunteer service and 10 hours of continuing education each year. They can do more than that. We encourage that they do more than that, but their minimum is 20.

Master naturalists, we provide 40 hours of extensive training in their intern class, and they are expected to do 40 hours of volunteer service in the first year, and after that, they do 40 hours of service a year and eight hours of continuing education. So they are a well-educated group, and they are always happy to learn something new and share it with residents. The two groups together have about 95 projects.

Some of those are physical projects, some of those are subject interest groups. They include our speakers bureau on both sides, and they speak to thousands of people. They do so many things I couldn't do by myself.

They go to libraries, civic groups, garden clubs. They speak at anything that they call us about. We try to work it out and do something.

We do ask a master gardener booth at different stores. This year, we have a partnership with the Ace Hardware stores in Denton County, and they do a ladies' night, and those ladies line up. We have hundreds that get in line, and they have all kinds of questions, and we are so happy to answer their questions and give them information.

We have the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area, and they do so much hands-on with kids. They get the seventh graders out there to help restore the prairie, and they just love it. And so many other projects going out there about owls and birds, and it's really neat.

We also have the EarthKind Design Workshops twice a year, where we teach residents how to use EarthKind principles in their home landscape, and that promotes native plants and the use of how we protect runoff, as the lady was speaking about, and control that water and make sure that it gets used and not wasted. We have DISD Days at Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center, and that is great fun. That's second graders and fourth graders.

We get to show them all sorts of things about birds and animals and amphibians and plants, and they are so excited to come out there each year, and we hope we get to continue that. We have the Master Gardener website and the Master Naturalist website. The Master Gardener website is a flagship to the other associations.

They all want to grow up to be it. We have Roots for Wings Workshops in Lewisville, where we have Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists get together and teach about how to build a pollinator garden in their yard, in a landscaped yard, and how they can support pollinators from Texas. The city works really well with us to do that.

Let's see. Oh, the Plant Propagation Team. I have to talk about them.

They have grown leaps and bounds with their new project managers. They have an over-the-hands working camera so that our people in the audience can see exactly how they're dividing up different plants and how they're sowing seeds, and that's been a big hit. We're able to open that to the public and let the public learn about propagation.

And then last year in November, we hosted a statewide advanced training in vegetables for the Texas Master Gardener Association. We were so lucky to have the very professional 2020 room to host in, and we had 49 participants. Those are from 22 counties across the state of Texas.

We gave them 19 and a half hours of training, and that made them be able to go back to their county and provide over each a minimum of 20 hours training in their county for residents. We have five community gardens that are going strong. Last year, we donated over 55,000 pounds of fresh produce and 4,900 dozen eggs.

We have, it covers the county. We have one at Shiloh Farms, which is here in Denton. We have a strong community garden or farm in Sanger.

We have the Flower Mound First Baptist Community Garden in Flower Mound. We have The Grove at the Sandy Jacobs Center in Carrollton. And we have a new one now called Shepherd's Field in Double Oak.

We are so excited to be able to take that produce in. Our volunteers beam as much as the people that receive it.

FALCONER

Yeah.

ERIN

It's wonderful. So overall, the impact last year with these two groups, they reached over a million residents. And in closing, I would like to say it is an honor to be an agent in the Denton County AgriLife Extension Program and to lead these exceptional volunteers as we inspire Denton County residents through horticulture and environmental resource education.

FALCONER

Well, thank you so much, Erin. It's the Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists are such great. I'm amazed at them, the amount of work that they put in as you've talked about, but just the dedication and hard work. I mean, this isn't like, it's a lot of hard work.

ERIN

It is.

FALCONER

And I get the honor of getting to see it all at The Grove and Sandy Jacobs where in Carrollton. And then for years, I've, while I was mayor of Carrollton, worked with Master Naturalists on our drainage trail areas, and they do such a great job on all that. So that's just a couple of 95, I think you said, projects that are going on in the county.

It's absolutely incredible. And we just are so excited by all that. But let me go ahead and read the proclamation and then we'll get everybody up here and we'll get a vote on this.

So this is a court proclamation recognizing AgriLife Horticultural Program volunteers in Denton County. Whereas volunteerism stands as a pillar of strength and the foundation of compassionate community, promoting goodwill, cooperation, and selflessness. And whereas the Denton County Horticulture Agent provides leadership to more than 600 Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Master Gardeners and Master Naturalists whose nonprofit efforts play a vital role in enhancing the quality and accessibility of horticulture and environmental education for the residents of Denton County.

And whereas these dedicated volunteers contributed nearly 80,000 hours of service in 2025, reaching citizens through educational programs, public outreach, and community engagement across 95 projects throughout Denton County, extending their impact into the fabric of our communities and fostering environmental stewardship among individuals, youth, and families. And whereas through the youth program, Science with Attitude, SWAT, volunteers educated over 8,000 youth and adults during 1,057 educational sessions, contributing 4,977 volunteer hours to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards and lifelong learners. And whereas their efforts support five community gardens that collectively produced more than 55,000 pounds of fresh produce and 4,900 dozen eggs in 2025, directly benefiting county residents and reinforcing food sustainability initiatives.

And whereas it is essential to recognize and honor the selfless contributions of these volunteers nurturing a culture of gratitude, appreciation, and continued community engagement. And whereas National Volunteer Week, observed April 19th through April 25th, 2026, provides an opportunity to express our sincere appreciation for those who generously give their time, talents, and passion to enrich the lives of Denton County residents through gardening, conservation, and outdoor education.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Commissioner's Court of Denton County does hereby proclaim the week of April 19th to April 25th, 2026 as National Volunteer Week in Denton County, and be it further resolved that we will call upon all residents and businesses and community organizations to join us in recognizing and celebrating the extraordinary contributions of horticulture and environmental volunteers and to be inspired by their example of service for the betterment of our community. That's done in open court this 21st day of April, 2026 by a motion made by Commissioner Edmondson and seconded by Commissioner Mitchell. And ladies, would you like to say?

EDMONDSON

I have a question. Yes, ma'am. This is for me, but also for all the people watching.

What's the difference between a master gardener and a master naturalist? They both dig in the ground and do plants.

ERIN

Well, I have a master gardener and a master naturalist that are married, and they define it this way. The master gardener plays inside the fence and the master naturalist plays outside the fence.

FALCONER

That's a good way to put it.

EDMONDSON

Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

MITCHELL

I just want to thank you for the job you all do. I'm amazed at the amount of food that you're providing. Do you provide some of that to the food banks?

ERIN

Yes, all of it.

MITCHELL

All of it. That is great. And thank you for all you do. Thank the volunteers because this county, any county would not run without our volunteers. We appreciate all that you do.

ERIN

Thank you so much.

MITCHELL

I've never been one to get my fingers in the dirt except when I was a little kid. Made mud cakes.

But still, I like the fact of all that fresh fruit that's going out. And I remember during COVID, when we was buying baskets of fruit for our citizens and people asking for fresh fruit because a lot of times at the food banks, you get all the boxed and canned food, but you don't really get the fresh fruit that we're talking about, the nutritional fruit that we need for our children to give to our children. Thank you all for providing that.

I appreciate it.

FALCONER

And I think we have a tour coming up next month, I think. And so May 9th, is that right?

ERIN

Yes.

FALCONER

Yeah.

ERIN

Yes, our garden tour.

FALCONER

That's going to be great.

ERIN

And it's based in Carrollton this year.

FALCONER

Yep, it is. And so we're excited about that.

ERIN

And we have two free locations, the Grove and Josey Ranch Pocket Prairie.

FALCONER

That is great.

ERIN

And those are no charge.

FALCONER

Very good. Well, so we have a motion and a second.

And all in favor? Aye. And that passes unanimously.

And thank you so much. So we will get together and bring everybody up for a picture. So thank you all so much.

FALCONER

We just lost them. But if you'd like to come up on that item, if you'd like to say something.

MILLER

I would just like to point out the service they offer, not only to the community, but as service opportunity to their members. My sister has been a certified Master Naturalist for more than 20 years, I believe. And has served as a volunteer docent at both Ile du Bois Nature Center on Lake Ray Roberts and at Leela in Lewisville, on Lake Lewisville, I believe.

And in addition, either part of Master Naturalist or affiliated is a website called iNaturalist where you can post recognition pictures of plants and animals that you photographed. And if they're good enough, they'll certify them as research grade. My sister has been severely disabled since 2010.

She now walks about half a mile an hour. She's bought herself a big flatbed green garden center pushcart. And she uses that as an all-terrain walker.

And she heaves a little stool on top and goes out through the fields. And when she sees something interesting, she unloads, sets up the stool and sits on it and take a picture and sends it to iNaturalist. She's now got about 4,000 of which I believe the majority are certified as research grade so that you can look it up and say, yes, that's what I saw.

FALCONER

That's great. Thank you so much, Chris. I really appreciate it.

MILLER

Thank you to the Master Naturalists.

FALCONER

It's a great organization. Yes, thank you so much. This is a great organization.

Thank you. All right. And that is going to take us to item 3C.

This is approval of a proclamation honoring the Golden Jubilee of Mayor William D. Tate and the appropriate action. This is honoring Mayor William Tate of Grapevine.

And golden is 50 years. And that is absolutely amazing. I had the honor, well, a lot of people have had the honor of serving alongside him because he's been doing it for 50 years.

But I had the honor of getting to stomp grapes in the Mayor's Challenge at Grapefest several times with Susan and I did. And it was always great to get to talk to Mayor Tate. But I don't believe Mayor Tate is here.

He's, but we have a proclamation. So I'm going to read that into the record and then we'll look for a motion. So this is a court proclamation honoring the Golden Jubilee of Mayor William D.

Tate. Whereas William D. Tate has demonstrated unparalleled dedication to public service serving as city attorney 1969 to 1972, council member 1972 to 1973, and mayor of Grapevine, Texas from 1973 to 85 and 1988 to the present.

And whereas this historic 50-year tenure makes him the longest serving mayor in Texas history and one of the most enduring civic leaders in the United States. And whereas under his visionary leadership, Grapevine transitioned from a rural farming community into a premier international destination for hospitality and tourism driven by the strategic development of Grapevine Mills, Bass Pro Shops and the landmark Gaylord Texan Resort. And whereas he has masterfully balanced modern growth with historic integrity, championing the preservation of the original commercial and residential districts, the advancement of commuter rail and the integration of public art to celebrate the city's heritage.

And whereas a steadfast champion of education and global engagement, he wholeheartedly embraced partnerships with sister cities and spearheaded international exchange programs, recognizing the vital importance of global educational opportunities for the youth of our community. And whereas mayor Tate has fostered a culture of inclusivity through a profound land acknowledgement, reaffirming Grapevine's friendship and relationship with the 10 nations who met on the Grape Vine Prairie with Sam Houston in 1843. I don't think the mayor Tate was there for that though.

Now therefore be it resolved that the Denton County Commissioner's Court does hereby celebrate the golden jubilee of mayor William D. Tate and express our deepest gratitude for his lifetime of service, leadership and unwavering commitment to the city of Grapevine and Denton County. And that's done in open court this 21st day of April, 2026 upon a motion made by?

MITCHELL

So moved

EDMONDSON

Second.

FALCONER

Made by Commissioner Mitchell and seconded by Commissioner Edmondson

and all in favor? And I that's that passage unanimously.

So thank you all and thank you Mayor Tate for all you do. And ladies, I didn't give you the opportunity. Would you like to say anything?

MITCHELL

I just want to congratulate him being from Grapevine a long time ago and still going to church in Grapevine get to see Mayor Tate and I just want to appreciate him and congratulate him for his excellent service to the citizens of Grapevine.

FALCONER

That is exactly right. My grandfather was from Grapevine and it was very different when he was out there as a kid than it is today and a lot of that is due to Mayor Tate's leadership. And so it's great that he's been able to do that for 50 years.

EDMONDSON

Commissioner, my husband and I were in Grapevine years ago. We wanted to explore. It was a cute little town and then came a blue norther and that was our first experience with a blue norther here in Texas and there was no place for us to hide or shelter.

We had to run to our cars in the rain and get home but I always associate Mayor Tate with blue northers.

FALCONER

There you go. Well good. Well congratulations to Mayor Tate.

And that takes us to 3D. This is a special resolution that I'm honored to present. This is approval of resolutions honoring the legacy of Fred J. Mitchell Memorial Scholarship recipients and any appropriate action on behalf of Commissioner Mitchell and Precinct 3. So this is, like I said, very special because we have these students who are getting these scholarships on the Fred Mitchell Memorial Scholarship Fund. This is a bittersweet day though because it is an anniversary that we have to remember but it is such a great honor that we had such a great friend and such a great man in Fred Mitchell and I think that this is such a special opportunity to recognize his legacy.

And you know, there's always that saying that I think all of us in public office is that really I believe in many instances the real kudos go to our spouses and the people behind us and Commissioner Mitchell has had a very long legacy but I think she'd be the first to say that that was due in much in part to Fred. Just like if I didn't have Susan I wouldn't be doing this. And so this is very special.

I'm going to read this and then obviously bring you an opportunity for you all to say something. So this is a resolution honoring the legacy of Fred J. Mitchell Memorial Scholarship recipients Elliot Boone, Hannah Chung, Venkatesan Giridhar, Maria Saucedo, and Za'veon Wilson.

Whereas the Denton County Commissioner's Court recognizes the importance of investing in the future of our community by supporting and celebrating the achievements of outstanding students and whereas the Fred J. Mitchell Memorial Scholarship was established to honor the life, legacy, and enduring impact of Fred J. Mitchell whose commitment to community, integrity, and service continues to inspire others and whereas this scholarship seeks to recognize students who exemplify excellence in academics, dedication to community service, and strong personal character and

whereas after careful consideration in a blind review process conducted by the Lewisville ISD Education Foundation Elliot Boone, a student at Hebron High School Hannah Chung, a student at Flower Mound High School Venkatesan Giridhar, a student at Marcus High School Maria Saucedo, a student at Lewisville High School and Za'veon Wilson, a student at The Colony High School have been selected as recipients of the Fred J. Mitchell Memorial Scholarship and whereas all of these students have demonstrated exceptional commitment to academic achievement leadership and service to others serving as a shining example of the values and character that this scholarship was created to honor and whereas the Denton County Commissioners Court is proud to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of these students whose efforts reflect the very best of our community and provide hope for a bright future

now therefore be it resolved that the Denton County Commissioners Court does hereby congratulate Elliot Boone, Hannah Chung, Venkatesan Giridhar, Maria Saucedo, and Za'veon Wilson on being selected as recipients of the Fred J. Mitchell Memorial Scholarship and commend them for their outstanding achievements extending our best wishes for their continued success in all future endeavors and that's done in open court this 21st day of April upon a motion made by Commissioner Mitchell and seconded by Commissioner Edmondson and I am going to open this up to Commissioner Mitchell or Edmondson

EDMONDSON

for those of us who knew Fred we miss him I know Bobby misses him and those of us who were not as close as she to him we miss him a lot and this is wonderful that there are scholarships being given in his name to people that exemplify the same values that Bobby and Fred had so thank you Commissioner for making this happen and I know you'll be presenting those later tonight

MITCHELL

so I'm not going to say too much but I just want to thank the Denton County community I want to thank everyone for the love and kindness that you showed I think showing our family it was a tough time but God is tougher

FALCONER

amen

MITCHELL

I thank you all the employees the citizens my very own sheriff department and my constables everyone here had a part in playing and helping our lives during this difficult time and we got we had people donate money instead of flowers and I thought it would be appropriate for in honor of Fred to give these scholarships to the five high schools in LISD and also later on for some of the non-profits to give them money also Fred was a sometimes everybody thought he was quiet but he wasn't but he was a man behind the scene that kept the lights on for me when I got home and during many lunches and galas and all that he was just a wonderful man and I'm cutting it off now I love y'all thank you for all you've done for me

FALCONER

Thank you Bobby I too miss Fred deeply and I miss his smile and I miss his his words but and I grieve obviously in that but I also grieve for my my sister and and I think this is such a great way to honor his legacy and I and I'm not one bit surprised that that that's what you came up with Bobby not one bit but it is a great way to do it and we just yeah we look forward to that tonight and we're so happy that we're able to do that thank you so much and so we'll do the pictures will happen tonight so but this is great and with all that we'll I think we need to vote still so let's

all in favor aye and that passes unanimously

and thank you all so much and it's a great great honor I'm going to stand up and and clap for you all right okay now we're going to go back to item two is our consent agenda and members do we have a motion to approve as submitted or okay we have a motion by Commissioner Edmondson and second by Commissioner Mitchell to approve the consent agenda

and any comments on that all in favor aye that passes unanimously

so the consent agenda is the following this is item 2a approval of order making appointments and inappropriate action and item 2b is approval of payroll and item 2c is approval of the March 2026 road superintendent report that's report presented for recording purposes only and any appropriate action and that's from the Department of Transportation and Engineering and that is our consent agenda now we will move to item 4a this is a public hearing and so this is a public hearing on April 21st 2026 for approval of the Springer Acres replat it's Lots 12R-1R1 and 12R-1R2, Block A - 62.033 Acres it's located in Commissioner Precinct 1 and any appropriate action and commissioners do we have a motion to open the public hearing we have a motion and a second by Commissioner Mitchell and Edmondson

to open all in favor aye and that passes

so we are in a public hearing so anyone that would like to speak on the on this Springer Acres replat in favor of or opposed please come forward now anyone that'd like to speak okay looks like we don't have any so commissioners a motion to close we have a motion to close by Commissioner Mitchell and a second by Commissioner Edmondson

and then we need a and so we are closed the public hearing oh we need to vote on that so all in favor aye so the public hearing is closed

and then we need a motion to approve okay we have a motion to approve by Commissioner Mitchell and second by Commissioner Edmondson

and any discussion on that all in favor aye that passes unanimously

as well so that takes us to item 5a this is the approval of the bill report it's payments from the CSCD and community corrections TAIP sheriff's training sheriff's forfeiture VIT interest and DA forfeiture funds which are presented for recording purposes only and Miss Sandy Tabor would you like to give us some comments okay okay we have a recommendation by for approval commissioners we have a motion by Commissioner Mitchell and a second by Commissioner Edmondson to approve

any discussion all in favor aye that passes unanimously

thank you for that that takes us to item 6a and purchasing this is approval of a renewal of ITB 24-2801 employee appreciation event to Circle R Ranch and any appropriate action we have a motion by Commissioner Mitchell and a second by Commissioner Edmondson

any comment any comments all in favor aye that passes unanimously

item 6b is approval of award for

MITCHELL

excuse me I have one question sure Scott did we get that back on on Saturday

SCOTT

yes ma'am

MITCHELL

okay thank you

FALCONER

very good thank you so much that takes us item 6b this is approval of award for ITB number 26-2903 printer supplies for election supply carriers to The Tree House, LLC as primary vendor and Bob Brooks computer sales as secondary vendor and any appropriate action I have a motion by Commissioner Edmondson and a second by Commissioner Mitchell

any discussion all in favor aye that passes unanimously

and then 6c we have approval of acknowledgement of a notification of acquisition and vendor name change of TranSystems Corporation to GFT Infrastructure Inc. and any appropriate action we have a motion by Commissioner Edmondson and a second by Commissioner Mitchell for approval

and any discussion and all in favor aye that passes unanimously

item 6d is approval of award of RFP number 25-2891 owners representative services Denton County Civil and Courts Buildings to AGCM and any appropriate action commissioners this is our owners representative that we talked about that we through our purchasing department have gone out and are recommending this contract with AGCM to work through the construction of the civil courts building as well as the remodel of our current courts building and so we're we appreciate purchasing and Jodi for shepherding this through but I think it's going to be a real benefit to our team to have that and assisting Dale's team through that process so I would move approval and okay so we have a motion by chair and a second by Commissioner Edmondson for approval

any other discussion all in favor aye that passes unanimously

then we move to budget and so item 7a is report for miscellaneous equipment software services and appropriate action that is presented for recording purposes only 7b approval of budget amendment request number 2026-204 for the county jail to transfer $220,722 from Salary-Assistants to Overtime-Cash Option outside of the budget amendment and human resources policy as recommended by the budget office these funds are needed to cover overtime for two pay periods in the month of March and any appropriate action we have a motion by Commissioner Edmondson and second by Commissioner Mitchell

any discussion on that all right all in favor aye that passes unanimously

then we have go to human resources item 8a and this is a report from human resources regarding our hiring actions of elected officials presenting for presented for recording purposes only Gustavo

GUSTAVO

commissioners good morning we have one promotion in CSCD one new hire in juvenile probation two promotions in juvenile probation eight new hires in the sheriff's office five of those are detention officer ones and that is it for this week

FALCONER

thank you we have a motion to oh no this is for sorry recording purposes only thank you Gustavo and that takes us to item 12 the sheriff's department 12a this is approval of the 2026 affiliation agreement between the University of Houston downtown and Denton County Texas and any appropriate action

MITCHELL

I move approval

FALCONER

I have a motion by Commissioner Mitchell and a second by Commissioner Edmondson

any discussion all in favor aye that passes unanimously

item 12b this is approval of the 2026-2027 law enforcement agency application for participation by the Denton County Sheriff's Office and the Department of Defense Law Enforcement Support Office and any appropriate action I have a motion by Commissioner Edmondson and a second by Commissioner Mitchell and I would just say I really appreciate the sheriff for doing this cooperative agreement I think it's great

any other discussion ladies okay all in favor aye passes unanimously

as well item 12c this is approval of amendment number two to the master license and services agreement between HomeWAV, LLC and Denton County and any appropriate action motion by Commissioner Mitchell and a second by Commissioner Edmondson

any discussion all in favor aye and that passes unanimously

as well 12d this is formal acknowledgment and approval of the FCC regulatory transition update customer acknowledgment and an election between smart communications and Denton County and any appropriate action I have a motion by Commissioner Edmondson second by Commissioner Mitchell

any discussion all in favor aye and that passes unanimously

and then on 13a we will get back to that after executive session so then that takes us to item 14a this is approval of the interlocal cooperation agreement between Denton County, Texas and Wise County, Texas for the purpose of agreeing that Wise County is the venue to review approve, inspect, and maintain infrastructure improvements located in the Wilson Park addition subdivision as recommended by Stephen Belknap director of development services and any appropriate action and we have a motion by Commissioner Edmondson second by Commissioner Mitchell this is just so if anybody's wondering this part goes across the county line the the bigger portion is in Wise County but this really is a nice way of making work in that area much easier by this ICA

and any discussion about that all in favor aye that passes unanimously

and with that ladies we go to item 17 which is community updates Commissioner Mitchell

MITCHELL

I have a paper shredding day in Copper Canyon on April 25th 8 a.m to 11 30 in Corinth the greatest American cleanup April 25th 8 a.m to 1 p.m and that's Saturday in Lake Dallas I have kids and cops April 25th 11 a.m to 2 p.m it's on Main Street at Lake Dallas City Hall also in Lake Dallas is the American Legion Family Day Festival uh it's on Saturday 11 a.m to 4 p 4 p.m in Lewisville I have a child safety seat inspection and installations April 27th 8 8 30 a.m free vision screening April 27 10 a.m to 12 p.m we'll have a community shout out congratulations to Flower Mound Jalen Childers who has been awarded a $40,000 scholarship to Abilene Christian University by the Sumner's Foundation this honor is only given to approximately 36 students nationwide that's all I have

FALCONER

okay and Commissioner Edmondson

EDMONDSON

well first I want to congratulate Gustavo Rubio Jr who was named the 2025 Denton County ESD1 firefighter of the year he's continuing a tradition apparently because he was named rookie of the year last year so we're so pleased and happy for him I also want to congratulate Crum FFA for advancing to the state contest in the livestock and palm fruit divisions so there's more than just football in Texas and I'm so glad to see that in Justin we're going to have fun day on the 25th from noon to 6 p.m and in Crum we'll have a community cleanup on the 25th from 8 to 3 p.m in Roanoke we're going to have evenings on Oak Street concert series on the 23rd from 6 30 to 8 and in Trophy Club they have their spring garage sale on the 25th from 8 to 12 and last in Westlake there's a spring concert there as well on the 23rd from 6 to 7 30 so there's a lot of good things going on across precinct 4

FALCONER

there is well thank you so I've got a couple things in in precinct 2 and then some county things as well a couple of congratulations shout outs the city of Carrollton chief information officer Christian Cone he received the 2026 Dallas CIO corporate Orby award for his leadership he is he actually transitioned Carrollton from outsourced it to in-house back when I was mayor and he is an outstanding CIO and a great leader so congratulations to Chris and then Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD was recently awarded the cream of the crop award that's from the Texas Department of Agriculture and Commissioner Miller Sid Miller presented that award and that demonstrates their leadership in serving local foods in school meals and making sure it's farm fresh and then just a couple of things going on in precinct 2 we have in Corinth the greatest American cleanup and that's a cleanup day on April 25th from 8 to 1 and that'll be throughout parks in Corinth and then Shady Shores has got their 2026 Arbor Day and spring clean event it's it's cleanup time spring cleaning so that's April 25th 9 to noon at 101 Shady Shores there also will be some more paper shredding at that point and in the colony we have cinema lights the Lorax that's going to be at the Galaxy Theater Grandscape on April 24th at 6 30 and bring the family that will be on the big screen there and then there's an Arbor Day celebration in the colony April 25th from 10 to 1 in Hawaiian Waters parking lot and then just some county announcements if you haven't noticed we are in early voting for the May um join elections and that they're open this week except for today um today is um we're closed for um San Jacinto day and that's a state holiday so but they are they are open from Wednesday through Saturday 8 to 5 and then Sunday will be from 11 to 5 and then starting Monday the 27th through and Tuesday the 28th they will be open from 7 to 7 and I always recommend get out there on early voting to avoid the rush and make sure that you don't have something come up on election day where you miss an election then we have emergency prepare emergency preparation supplies sales tax holiday this coming weekend it's April 25th and 27th you stock up on emergency supplies and those qualifying items will be tax-free you can find out what items that includes on the website for the Texas state comptroller's office and that's all I have

so that will take us to our executive session and we have a couple of items here item 15a in executive session is Texas government code 551.087 deliberation regarding economic development negotiations closed meeting deliberate the offer of a financial other incentive to a business prospect regarding commercial or financial information that the governmental body has received from a business prospect that the government body seeks to have locate stay or expand in or near the territory of the governmental body located in Denton County Commissioner Precinct 4 and with which the governmental body is conducting economic development negotiations and any appropriate action item 15 15b will be polling and then item 15c is Texas Government Code 551.0745(a)(1) personnel matters affecting the county advisory body closed meeting to deliberate the appointment employment evaluation assignment duties discipline or dismissal of a member of the advisory body with the little elm tax increment reinvestment zone TIRZ number three and any appropriate action and with that we will recess to executive session at 10 15

after executive session so on item 15a there will be no action we pulled item 15b and then on 15c I will make a motion to appoint Neil Blah to replace David Hillock on the little elm TIRZ number three board and do we have a second okay we have a second by Commissioner Edmondson

any discussion about that all in favor aye so that is approved

that was the approval of the board appointment to the little elm tax increment reinvestment zone TIRZ number three and any appropriate action item 13a and with that that concludes our meeting so we are adjourned at 10 57 thank you