BY JONATHAN CANNON

HERALD DEMOCRAT

DENISON -- The City Council will tackle a 20-item agenda at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Council Chamgers, 500 W. Chestnut. Discussion will include budgets, various bids, issues related to utility providers and one significant retirement.

The meeting is open to the public, and individuals will be given the opportunity to speak on the city's budget and the proposed annexation during the items public hearings.

City Manager Larry Cruise will retire from the position at the end of February. In a phone interview Friday, Cruise praised the city staff and said he and his wife plan to stay in Denison.

On Tuesday, it will be up to the council to decide how to go about recruiting a replacement.

The council will consider an agreement with Atmos Energy regarding a rate increase. According to meeting documents, the company requested a $70.2 million rate increase, but after review by the Atmos Cities Steering Committee's Executive Committee and attorneys an increase of $27 million was agreed upon.

Also part of the settlement is a $3.4 million increase in revenue for the company through a separate fee. The settlement will mean an $1.40 monthly increase for the average residential customers, the staff's report states.

Denison High School alumnus Brett Donowho will request permission to use some of the city's emergency equipment and volunteers for a feature film.

The council will also consider a special request from Denison High School's Building Trades Teacher Tom Longo. He is asking permission have students build Adirondack chairs for downtown, but to place them in the right-of-way, the council must give the project a thumbs up. Meeting documents also point to issues with the chairs' security.

In less unusual business, councilors will consider the budget of three city entities, the Denison Development Alliance, Denison Chamber of Commerce and Denison Public Library. All three budgets held little change over last year. But this will be the first year the library is included in the city budget, Finance Director Susan Way said. The library board voted to bring it under the city as a department recently.

The council also will conduct a public hearing on the city budget. It will be the first of two hearings before approval. The council will hold a second hearing regarding the voluntary annexation of the Denison High School Addition.

Public Works Director David Howerton will ask the council for its blessing of a project to extend the water main along West Stafford Drive. The project will serve five properties and cost $4,400 from water and sewer reserves.

Councilors will consider bids for water and wastewater chemicals, refuse bags and demolition of properties at 227 West Murray, 405 West Johnson, 408 West Johnson, 508 West Crawford, 624 West Shepherd, 716 North Fannin, 724 West Gandy, 911 West Morton and 1929 South Lamar.

Staff members are recommending the lowest bid for all the items except one treatment chemical. In a note on the bid sheet, Howerton says the low bidder, who is only 3 percent lower than the recommended bidder, "quit on a previous contract mid-year."

Councilors will end the meeting with a closed, executive session regarding the acquisition of right-of-way for an overpass at State Highway 91. However, before that, they will discuss several other items including:

* a report from the Texoma Housing Finance Corp.;

* a variance to add an antenna to an existing tower in the city;

* requesting signage on U.S. Highway 75 regarding Eisenhower Veterans Monument and Memorial and the Eisenhower birthplace;

* casting a ballot for the Texas Municipal League Intergovernmental Risk Pool's board; and

* participating in an audit of Oncor's franchise fees at a cost of a little more than $2,000 for Denison.