[1. Open Meeting.]
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TODAY IS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST, 2024, AND THE TIME IS 5:31 PM AND THIS IS THE BRIEFING WORKSHOP OF THE LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL, CITY
[2. Roll Call.]
SECRETARY CRABTREE.WILL YOU PLEASE CALL ROLE COUNCIL MEMBER CATHERINE BATTALION.
COUNCIL MEMBER MICHAEL HERRERA.
COUNCIL MEMBER DAVID MCDONALD.
PRESENT COUNCIL MEMBER CHRIS ORNICK.
PRESENT, UH, QUORUM IS PRESENT AND THE CITY COUNCIL IS ELIGIBLE TO DO BUSINESS.
[3. Discussion regarding communicating performance metrics.]
ITEM NUMBER THREE, DISCUSSION REGARDING COMMUNICATING PERFORMANCE METRICS AS A REMINDER TO EVERYBODY, UM, WE ARE ON THE PORTABLE MICROPHONES TODAY, WHICH MEANS WE HAVE TO PUSH THE BUTTON, MAKE SURE IT TURNS GREEN OR ELSE EVERYBODY CAN'T HEAR US.FOR THE RECORD, UM, I'M NOT SURE ON THIS ITEM WHO IS INTRODUCING THIS IS COUNCIL MEMBER HERRERA'S ITEM, OR IS ARE YOU DOING THE PRESENTATION? I'M SEEING NODS.
YES, I AM DOING THE PRESENTATION.
UM, SO I ASKED FOR THIS WORKSHOP BECAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WANT THAT, THAT I HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT AND I FEEL THAT WE NEED TO DEAL WITH IS WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE TO THE COMMUNITY MORE ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING AND WHAT WE'RE ACCOMPLISHING FOR THEM AND IN SPECIFIC AREAS THAT WE WANT TO EMPHASIZE AND THAT WE'RE SHOWING PROGRESS ON 'EM.
AND ALSO IN AREAS THAT WE HAVE CONCERNS.
YOU KNOW, FOR INSTANCE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH CAP METRO AND HOW MUCH RIDERSHIP DO WE HAVE AND HOW MUCH THINGS LIKE THAT.
WE HAVE WATER THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO PROCESS, AND HOW MUCH CAN WE PROCESS AND HOW MUCH WE'RE USING ON THAT.
HOW MUCH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ARE WE HAVING, UM, IN AREAS? WHAT ARE WE APPROVING AND HOW ARE WE MOVING THINGS FORWARD? I KNOW THAT WE, WE HAVE A LOT OF INTERNAL METRICS THAT WE SHARE TO US AND WE SEE PROGRESS AND WE HAVE CONCERNS ON, ON, ON THE FUTURE OF WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT AS COUNCIL PEOPLE, AND YOU ARE LOOKING AT 'EM AS, AS CITY PERSONNEL, BUT I'D LIKE US TO HAVE SOME KIND OF COMMUNICATION PLAN WITH METRICS THAT WE COMMUNICATE TO THE COMMUNITY THAT COULD BE SAFETY TIMES AND WE COULD ROTATE WHAT IT IS.
I THINK IT SHOULD BE SOME KIND OF PAID THING, MAYBE IN COMMUNITY IMPACT THAT IS SOMETHING EVERY CITIZEN GETS.
AND WE TAKE OUT A FULL PAGE AD ONCE A QUARTER AND WE TELL OUR STORY.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE HEAR THAT WE'RE NOT DOING THINGS.
THERE'S JUST A LOT OF GOING ON AND, AND I THINK THAT WE NEED TO PRESENT WHAT WE'RE DOING TO THE COMMUNITY AND PUT IT IN A, IN A WAY THAT THEY CAN LOOK AT AND DIGEST.
UM, SO THAT'S WHY I ASKED FOR THIS.
UM, THOSE ARE SOME IDEAS I HAVE ABOUT METRICS.
I'M, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS I DID AS I'VE BEEN REVIEWING THE COM, THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, AND, UM, AND IN LOOKING AT IT, THERE'S A LOT OF GREAT THINGS IN THERE AND, UH, AND I SEE PROGRESS ON THEM, I BELIEVE, AND OTHER THINGS I GO, WOW, THAT'S PRETTY COOL, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF I'VE EVER HEARD OF IT.
YOU KNOW, I'M A I'M A NEW COUNCIL PERSON.
I KNOW A LOT OF YOU SAT ON CREATING THE LAST COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, BUT IS THAT BEING COMMUNICATED? DO THE PEOPLE KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING AND WHAT WE'RE GOING TO, WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH? UM, SO THAT'S KIND OF WHY I ASKED FOR THIS WORKSHOP.
SO, UM, WHAT WERE SOME OF THE SPECIFICS? BECAUSE EVERYBODY WANTS TO KNOW DIFFERENT THINGS, UM, SOME THINGS IMPORTANT TO ONE PERSON AND NOT IMPORTANT TO ANOTHER.
SO WHAT DID YOU FEEL WERE SOME OF THE SPECIFICS THAT WE ARE NOT SHARING? SO I WOULD SAY, I WOULD SAY FOR ONE THING THAT, YOU KNOW, I, I BELIEVE THAT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A PRO A WATER PROCESSING PROBLEM IN THE FUTURE.
AND THAT WE NEED TO START COMMUNICATING WHAT OUR USAGE IS, HOW WE APPROVE THINGS IN ORDER TO TIE THAT TO THAT SO THAT WE DON'T END UP DOWN THE ROAD HERE IN A YEAR AND A HALF HAVING TO DO SOMETHING BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T BROUGHT ON THE OTHER FACILITIES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
I THINK THAT'S ONE THING WE NEED TO GET AHEAD OF.
I ALSO THINK WE NEED TO COMMUNICATE WHAT TAX REVENUE WE BRING IN FROM SALES TAX, AND WE ALSO NEED TO COMMUNICATE HOW MUCH THAT GOES TO CAP METRO, AND WE ALSO NEED TO COMMUNICATE THE RIDERSHIP ON IT.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, I THINK IN TWO AND A HALF YEARS THAT WILL COME UP FOR A VOTE.
I THINK IF WE BRING LIGHT TO THAT, WE NEED THAT, THAT WE WILL GET MORE PERFORMANCE OUTTA CAP METRO BECAUSE WE'RE NOT GETTING IT TODAY.
I MEAN, WE'RE GETTING, THEY'RE DOING STUFF, BUT THEY'LL DO MORE.
AND, UM, I BELIEVE THAT'S, THOSE ARE TWO THINGS.
ANOTHER ONE WOULD BE, UM, I SHOULD HAVE READ UP A WHOLE DOCUMENT ON THIS.
I DIDN'T REALIZE I WAS GONNA ACTUALLY PRESENT EVERYTHING.
SO, UM, THE, THE OTHER THING IS, IS THAT, SO BACK TO THE WATER THING WAS THAT, YOU KNOW, EVERY TIME WE APPROVE SOMETHING, WE HAVE A WATER USAGE THAT WE'RE ASSIGNING TO THAT.
AND THEN HOW ARE WE GONNA MEET THAT CAPACITY FOR THAT? UM, WHAT ARE THE, I SCREWED UP HERE.
I SHOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER PREPARED.
UM, SO YOU NEED A BREAK IN THERE.
LIKE MAYBE STAFF CAN SAY HOW WE ARE, IF THERE ARE, IF
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WE DO COMMUNICATE ANY OF THOSE THINGS, HOW ARE WE? OR I THINK TODD WAS GONNA TURN ON HIS MIC THERE TOO, AND MAYBE I, I SAW YOU ABOUT TO ANSWER BEFORE AND MAYOR, UM, SUGGESTED MAYBE, UM, SPECIFICS, BUT ARE WE, ARE WE COMMUNICATING ANY OF THIS STUFF ALREADY? UM, AND MAYBE THIS IS EVEN FOR, FOR TY'S OFFICE AND CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, UM, HOW ARE WE, ARE WE, ARE WE COMMUNICATING ANY OF THIS STUFF? AND IS THERE A WAY TO, UM, TO SHARE PROGRESS WITH CITIZENS IN CERTAIN AREAS? I THINK WE HAVE DIFFERENT TOOLS.UM, YEAH, I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN SAY THAT WE HAVE NECESSARILY A ROBUST PROACTIVE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY THAT WOULD SAY, HERE ARE THE TYPE TOP 10 OR 15 THINGS OF INTEREST THAT WE WANT TO, UH, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE INFORMATION ON.
I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, YOU KNOW, IN, UH, WE HAD, UM, MR HAD PRESENTED FOUR QUESTIONS, I THINK TO HELP GUIDE CONVERSATION TONIGHT.
SO IF IT'S OKAY, I THOUGHT WE'D JUST KIND OF GO THROUGH AND READ THESE FOUR QUESTIONS.
UM, SO THE FIRST ONE IS, WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE THE KEY SLASH HIGH PRIORITY PROJECTS, PROCESSES, RELATIONSHIPS, AND PROGRAMS THAT ARE USED TO DETERMINE CITY PROGRESS OR SUCCESS? QUESTION TWO, WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE IMPORTANT FACTORS THAT SHOULD BE MEASURED OR TRACKED FOR EACH OF THESE PROJECTS OR PROGRAMS? THREE, HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE SUCCESS FOR EACH OF THE IDENTIFIED PROJECTS OR PROGRAMS? AND THEN FOUR, HOW MIGHT THE CITY EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE? SO THO THOSE WERE THE, THE FOUR QUESTIONS KIND OF SUBMITTED TO KIND OF HELP MAYBE FOSTER SOME CONVERSATION TONIGHT.
BUT, UM, BUT I THINK FOR US, IF, IF THERE ARE CORE COMPONENTS OR CORE THINGS THAT Y'ALL THINK ARE IMPORTANT THAT WE, WE TRY TO ADDRESS WITH THE COMMUNITY, UM, IF WE CAN CAN BEGIN TO IDENTIFY THOSE, WE CAN TRY TO DEVELOP SOME PROGRAMMING AND BRING THAT BACK TO YOU.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING, UM, TO DO THROUGH AN RP THIS YEAR IS A BRANDING AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGY PIECE.
AND SO THAT COMMUNICATION STRATEGY CAN TRY TO FOLD IN, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE, THOSE KIND OF PRIORITY THINGS THAT YOU THINK WE NEED TO COMMUNICATE AND WHAT ARE THE RIGHT TOOLS AND THE RIGHT WAYS TO COMMUNICATE ON WHAT THOSE ITEMS MAY BE.
UM, I HAD A COUPLE OF THOUGHTS WITH THIS, AND THEY'RE NOT ALL NECESSARILY CONNECTED.
I WAS ALSO THINKING ABOUT THE, UM, THE COMMUNICATION PLAN THAT'S FORTHCOMING THIS NEXT YEAR, WHICH WILL DEFINITELY HELP.
AND I'M SURE COUNCIL WILL HAVE A LOT OF INPUT ON THAT.
UM, ALSO, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE A COMMUNICATION PROBLEM SO MUCH AS WE HAVE A STAFFING PROBLEM THAT WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH HEADCOUNT TO KEEP UP BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS TO COMMUNICATE.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER HERRERA, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT PUTTING AN AD IN COMMUNITY IMPACT.
I DON'T READ COMMUNITY IMPACT.
I GET THE, UM, THE ALERTS FOR LEANDER.
AND SO FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME, THAT'S NEVER GOING TO REACH US, BUT MAYBE ANOTHER CHANNEL DOES.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE FACE EVERY TIME THAT WE ARE DEALING WITH A WATER ISSUE OR SOMETHING THAT IS BIG TO EVERYBODY, WE WILL ON THE WATER.
I'M SURE YOU'RE AWARE OF THIS 'CAUSE YOU COME TO A LOT OF THE BREAKFAST, BUT WE WILL PUT OUT INFORMATION TO THE NEWS, WE'LL PUT IT IN ALL OF THE PAPERS, THE NEWS CHANNELS, WE'LL PUT UP BIG GLOWING BOARDS, UM, OUT ON THE STREETS.
WE PUT THE LITTLE SIGNS IN FRONT OF EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD.
UM, WE PUT IT ON THE WEBSITE, WE PUT IT ON FACEBOOK, WE PUT IT ON TWITTER, WE PUT IT ON ALL THESE DIFFERENT WAYS AND PEOPLE STILL CALL AND COMPLAIN, I DIDN'T KNOW THAT WE WERE HAVING THIS ISSUE.
AND IT'S LIKE, OTHER THAN HAVING THE SWAT TEAM JUMP THROUGH YOUR WINDOW AND INFORM YOU, HOW ELSE ARE WE GOING TO GET THIS TO YOU? UM, WE DO ALL OF THE THINGS THAT WE CAN, AND PEOPLE STILL FIND A WAY TO SAY, IT'S NOT REACHING ME.
UM, AND I THINK WHEN WE GET THAT THIRD PERSON IN COMMUNICATIONS, I THINK IT'S GOING TO HELP WITH A LOT OF THAT AND HAVING THAT PLAN IS GOING TO HELP.
UM, I FEEL LIKE I HAD SOMETHING ELSE, BUT IT'LL COME BACK TO ME.
I THINK THAT WE'RE ON A GOOD TRACK.
OH, UM, I THINK A LOT OF THIS REALLY, UM, CAN BE FROM OUR, UM, OUR AGENDA ITEM LATER TONIGHT ABOUT OUR MISSION AND VISION BECAUSE IT HAS ALL OF THOSE BULLET POINTS THROUGHOUT OF THE THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO US.
AND SO OBVIOUSLY THE THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO US ARE GOING TO GO INTO WHAT WE COMMUNICATE AND WE CAN SAY, HERE'S THIS THING THAT WE ARE DOING AND WE'RE DOING IT BECAUSE WE ARE COMMITTED TO X, Y, Z THINGS THAT ARE LISTED.
UM, SO I THINK, I THINK YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK.
I THINK THESE THINGS WILL PROBABLY COALESCE HERE SOON.
ANYBODY ELSE? I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, UM, IF YOU THINK BACK TO OUR WATER, UM, ISSUES THAT WE HAD AND THE WAY THAT IT WAS COMMUNICATED WAS REALLY EFFECTIVE, UM, FROM THE FEEDBACK THAT I PERSONALLY GOT FROM FOLKS, UM, WE WERE PUTTING IT ON ALL OF OUR SOCIAL MEDIA AND UPDATING THE WEBSITE DAILY AND IT JUST LISTED, HERE'S OUR USAGE FOR TODAY.
UM, WE'RE STAYING UNDER A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF USAGE, HERE'S OUR GOAL.
AND THAT HELPED REALLY COMMUNICATE TO PEOPLE.
SO I GET WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, IF, IF THAT'S A WAY TO
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DO THAT FOR OTHER ITEMS, MAYBE TRAFFIC OR TRANSPORTATION OR WHATEVER IT IS.BUT WE'VE DONE IT, UM, BEFORE, SPECIFICALLY AS IT RELATES TO WATER.
AND I DO BELIEVE IT WAS RECEIVED WELL.
I ACTUALLY DIDN'T GET ANY FEEDBACK THAT PEOPLE FELT LIKE THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON.
THE PEOPLE THAT WERE WERE PLUGGED IN, KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON AND FELT LIKE THEY WERE GETTING ALL THE INFORMATION.
SO I FEEL LIKE OUR COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT, WE'VE DONE THAT BEFORE AND COMMUNICATED THAT REALLY WELL.
AND IT WAS A VISUAL GRAPHIC, SO IT WAS REALLY EASY TO DIGEST AND COMPREHEND THE INFORMATION THAT WAS BEING PRESENTED.
IT'S VERY DIFFERENT TO GO AND TELL SOMEBODY TO READ THE WEBSITE AND READ THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
I MEAN, WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING MANY, MANY PAGES OF INFORMATION.
SO IF WE CAN MAKE GRAPHICS THAT ARE SIMPLE AND EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO DIGEST SOME OF THAT COMPLICATED INFORMATION, IT HELPS.
BUT WE'VE DONE IT BEFORE, SO THANK YOU.
YEAH, AND I THINK WITH THAT THIRD PERSON COMING TO COMMUNICATIONS, THEY'RE FOCUSED ON GRAPHICS, PHOTO, WEBSITE AND VIDEO.
AND I THINK THAT WILL HELP AS WELL BECAUSE WHEN THE AVERAGE PERSON DIGS THROUGH THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, THERE'S A LOT IN THERE AND, AND IT CAN BE HARD TO DIGEST.
UM, ESPECIALLY IF YOU DON'T KNOW ARTERIALS AND YOU KNOW, THE VARIOUS TYPES OF ROADWAYS, IT DOESN'T MEAN A WHOLE LOT.
UM, AND SO I THINK HAVING SOMEBODY BREAK THAT DOWN INTO EASY TO DIGEST PIECES IS GOING TO BE TREMENDOUSLY HELPFUL.
I WOULD JUST SAY, I WOULD SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS IS THAT THE REASON YOU COME UP WITH, IN ESSENCE A DASHBOARD OF WHAT YOU'RE DOING, SO THAT YOU LOOK AT IT AND THEN YOU MEASURE YOURSELF AGAINST WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BENCHMARK, THEN YOU'RE JUST DOING THINGS.
AND SO THE THING IS, IS AS A COUNCIL AND AS A CITY, WE'RE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR WHAT WE DO.
AND SO I THINK THAT WHEN WE SAY, WHEN, YOU KNOW, WE, WE GO AND WE MAKE ORDINANCE CHANGES, WE GO AND DO THIS, WE GO AND DO THAT, BUT THEY GO OFF INTO PAPER LAND AND WE NEVER GET ANY FEE.
WE GET SOME FEEDBACK AND ALL THAT, BUT WE DON'T REALLY GO AND POINT OUT TO PEOPLE, HEY, WE APPROVE THIS AND THIS IS WHAT'S HAPPENING BECAUSE WE DID THIS.
AND I JUST, I JUST DON'T FEEL THAT THAT'S WHERE WE'RE AT AS A, AS AN ORGANIZATION.
AND I THINK THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE TO COME UP WITH WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS WE MEASURE WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO US, AND THAT, AND THAT'S WHAT WE FOLLOW.
YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU GO LOOK AT, UH, THE POLICE AND FIRE, THEY HAVE VERY STRONG GOALS AND THINGS THEY TRACK AND THEY'RE ON TOP OF IT.
AND THEY'RE, THEY BUILT THEIR ORGANIZATIONS THAT WAY.
AND THAT'S PART OF THE, PART OF THE THING IS BECAUSE OF THE WAY THEY'RE SET UP AND, AND, AND HOW THEY GO ABOUT IT, THERE SHOULD BE THE SAME WAY ON THE DEVELOPMENT SIDE, ON PUBLIC SERVICES AND ALL THAT.
YOU KNOW, WE PASSED, WE, WE WERE LOOKING AT, UM, CHANGING OUR DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES AND IMPROVING IT.
AND SO THAT SHOULD BE SOMETHING WHERE WE SHOULD KNOW WHERE WE WERE AT AND WE SHOULD KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING.
AND THAT SHOULD BE SOMETHING WE COME BACK AND SAY, HEY, WE MADE CHANGES AND WE DID THIS AND THAT.
AND, AND WE CAN GO BACK TO THE COMMUNITY, THE BUILDERS AND ALL THE DIFFERENT PEOPLE AND SAY, NO, WE'RE NOT HARD TO DEV, DEVOTE.
WE'RE ACTUALLY EASY TO WORK WITH AND THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH YOU AND DOING THAT.
I THINK THAT'S, THOSE ARE THE KIND OF THINGS WE NEED TO OVERCOME.
AND, AND THERE'S OTHER AREAS THAT ARE LIKE THAT.
EACH DEPARTMENT HAS ITS OWN METRICS THAT IT USES TO DEFINE THINGS.
WHEN, WHEN I, WHEN I GO TO WORK, I GO AND I LOOK AT CERTAIN THINGS, THESE THINGS AREN'T GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
I KNOW MY COMPANY'S NOT GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, AND I THINK THE CITY SHOULD BE THE SAME WAY.
AND THESE SHOULD BE THE THINGS THAT WE'RE REPORTING BACK TO, TO, TO THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY.
IS THAT TO THE RESIDENTS? THAT'S, AND THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING.
I, I KNOW WE NEED PEOPLE, BUT I ALSO THINK IT COMES DOWN TO, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE MY GUYS ALWAYS WANNA HIRE A MARKETING PERSON AND THEY THINK A MARKETING PERSON IS GONNA SOLVE OUR PROBLEM.
YOU HIRE A MARKETING PERSON, YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO THEM WHAT YOU DO.
YOU HAVE TO HELP THEM WRITE THE STUFF SO THEY GET IT CORRECT.
AND SO THE PEOPLE THAT, THAT RUN THESE DEPARTMENTS, THEY HAVE OWNERSHIP OVER THIS AND THEY SHOULD HAVE OWNERSHIP OVER IT, BUT THEY SHOULD HAVE KEY THINGS.
AND THE CITY MANAGER SHOULD BE SOMEBODY WHO'S OVERSEEING AND PUSHING THAT FORWARD.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING AND THAT'S WHAT I'M ASKING FOR.
UM, HOW WAS DELIVERED? I DON'T KNOW.
NO, I WAS GONNA SAY WHEN I DIDN'T REALIZE I THOUGHT YOU WERE DONE.
SO I'M HEARING A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT THINGS.
I'M LOOKING FOR SOME CLARITY HERE BECAUSE YOU'RE RIGHT, DEPARTMENTS NEED METRICS AND ALL THAT SORT OF STUFF.
UM, BUT WE HAVE A, AN INTERNAL PIECE, AND NOT THAT IT'S ALL NOT PUBLIC INFORMATION, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF WE WANNA SPEND OUR TIME COMMUNICATING ALL THE WIDGETS, RIGHT? IT'S MORE ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE ITEMS. AND YOU KNOW, IN MY EXPERIENCE THE LAST FEW YEARS, EVERYBODY'S LOOKING FOR A DIFFERENT PIECE OF INFORMATION.
SO IN AN EFFORT FOR, UM, CONSISTENCY AND NOT BOGGING DOWN THE LIMITED STAFF WE DO HAVE OF COMMUNICATING ALL THE WIDGETS.
UM, AND SOMETHING THAT I HAD ADVOCATED FOR WHEN I GOT ON COUNCIL, AND IT'S KIND OF BEEN DONE, AND I THINK WE'RE MOVING ON TO THE NEXT STEP OF THAT TO MAKE IT REALLY HAPPEN IS A MORE ROBUST WEBSITE AND NEWSLETTER AND THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
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SO WHEN SOMEBODY SAYS, I DIDN'T KNOW, WE GO, HEY, ARE YOU SIGNED UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER? UM, AND AS A CITY COUNCILMAN FOR THE, UM, THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN THE CITY THAT I FIND IMPORTANT, THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT I WILL POST ON PUBLIC, UH, SOCIAL MEDIA OR CALL SOMEBODY ABOUT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.UM, BECAUSE THAT WAY I CAN SAY ON AN AGENDA ITEM, IF I WANTED TO, HEY, 'CAUSE THE, THE SOME ORDINANCE WAS IMPORTANT TO ME, THEN I CAN SAY THAT ON MY SOCIAL MEDIA BECAUSE PROBABLY THE PEOPLE I TALK TO ARE ALSO INTERESTED IN THAT BECAUSE THEY'RE FOLLOWING MY PAGE.
UM, AND SO I THINK AS CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, WE CAN DO THAT.
UM, BUT I GUESS I JUST WANNA BE CLEAR BECAUSE I'M NOT NECESSARILY IN FAVOR.
YOU CAN GO BACK AND LOOK AT MY RECORD, BUT I'M ALSO NOT IN FAVOR OF TYING UP A LOT OF STAFF TIME TO COMMUNICATE WIDGETS THAT AREN'T REALLY GONNA MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS.
I, I JUST, I THINK THAT, 'CAUSE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HIGH LEVEL NUMBERS OR NUMBERS THAT WE HAVE, THEY JUST HAVE TO HAVE A COMMUNICATION PLAN OF WHEN YOU'RE GONNA SHARE 'EM, HOW YOU'RE GONNA COLLECT THEM AND DO 'EM.
IT'S NOT, IT'S, I'M NOT SAYING WE'RE GONNA GO AND TRACK EVERYTHING.
IT SHOULD BE STUFF WE'RE TRACKING THAT'S ALREADY DRIVING PERFORMANCE.
IT SHOULD BE NUMBERS THEY ALREADY HAVE.
SO I THINK SOMETIMES TO, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ROSS'S POINT, UM, DIFFERENT PEOPLE WANT DIFFERENT THINGS.
AND SO SOME OF THOSE THINGS I THINK MAYBE THEY'RE NOT COMMUNICATED PUBLICLY TO THE MASSES BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW THAT IT MAKES SENSE OR THAT ANYBODY CARES AND WE DON'T WANT TO BOGGED DOWN LIKE OUR SOCIAL FEEDS, THE NEWSLETTERS, ALL OF THAT.
BUT, UM, I KNOW THAT, THAT MS. GRIFFIN HAS, UM, MEETINGS WITH DEVELOPERS, UM, WHERE WE HAVE, UM, WHAT DO Y'ALL CALL IT, THE DEVELOPER.
IT'S NOT A ROUND TABLE ANYMORE.
THE DEVELOPER FORUM WHERE WE ARE COMMUNICATING THOSE THINGS THAT ARE CHANGING TO BE MORE DEVELOPMENT FRIENDLY, UM, BECAUSE WE NEED THE, THE STAKEHOLDERS TO KNOW THAT WE DON'T NECESSARILY NEED, UM, YOU KNOW, EVERY RESIDENT TO KNOW, BECAUSE MOST RESIDENTS AREN'T GONNA CARE.
THEY'RE GONNA CARE, ARE THEY SAFE AND WHAT'S COMING HERE? AND THAT'S IT.
SO I, I JUST, BEFORE I GET TOO FAR INTO WHAT I WANNA SAY, UM, I WILL SAY I'M NOT IN FAVOR OF SPENDING TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO TAKE OUT AN AD IN ANY NEWSPAPER TO GIVE INFORMATION THAT IS FREE.
UM, I THINK IF THERE'S ANYTHING WORTH KNOWING AND IS NEWSWORTHY, THE COMMUNITY IMPACT OR HILL COUNTRY NEWS IS GOING TO WRITE ABOUT IT FOR US FOR FREE.
AND IF IT'S, IF WE'RE TAKING OUT AN AD, IT'S BECAUSE WE ARE TRYING TO PUSH A MESSAGE AND SPOONFEED INFORMATION THAT WE WANT THEM TO KNOW, UH, AS OPPOSED TO WHAT SOMEONE WANTS TO KNOW.
AND AS THEY'VE ALL SAID, UH, DIFFERENT PEOPLE WANNA KNOW DIFFERENT THINGS THEY, THEY'RE INTERESTED IN IN DIFFERENT THINGS.
AN EMAIL THAT WE GOT TODAY IS A, IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WE'RE NOT SPENDING TAXPAYERS MONEY, WE'RE NOT DOING THIS, WE'RE NOT DOING THAT BECAUSE WE, WELL, CLEARLY THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT WE DO, BUT WHERE WOULD THEY READ THAT? THEY'RE NOT READING WHAT WE'VE ALREADY PUT OUT THERE? HOW DO WE DO IT? I MEAN, AS MAYOR SAID, I MEAN, OTHER THAN KNOCKING ON EVERY DOOR AND SAYING, HERE'S A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF ALL THE THINGS WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR, AND THIS IS A LIST OF EVERYTHING WE HAVE PLANNED.
AND I THINK IT'S, IT JUST COMES DOWN TO A VERY SIMPLE 30,000 SQUARE FOOT OR, UM, OVERHEAD VIEW, NOT SQUARE FOOT, A 30,000 OVERHEAD VIEW.
WHAT AM I, AM I TRYING, WHAT'S THAT TERM? IS THAT IT? UM, I KNOW WHAT I, NOT SQUARE FOOT.
UM, OF JUST THE GENERAL OVERVIEW OF WHAT WE'RE DOING AND, AND, AND A FEEL GOOD MESSAGE OF EVERYTHING THAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT GETTING TOO MUCH INTO THE DETAIL, BECAUSE IT IS AVAILABLE FOR EVERYONE TO SEE.
AND UNLESS YOU GO TO IT, UM, PEOPLE JUST DON'T KNOW TO LOOK, AND EVERYONE IS FINE UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPENS IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD, THEY DON'T KNOW, THEY'RE NOT INTERESTED, THEY DON'T WANNA KNOW UNTIL THEY STILL SEE A SIGN AND THEN THEY'RE INTERESTED.
SO, UM, I THINK EVERYTHING THAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE THERE, EVERYTHING THAT YOU'RE WANTING TO CONVEY, THE MESSAGE YOU WANT TO CONVEY ARE VERY IMPORTANT.
AND PEOPLE SHOULD WANT TO KNOW THESE THINGS.
I JUST DON'T THINK THAT THEY DO.
THEY'RE BUSY RAISING THEIR FAMILIES OR, YOU KNOW, MAKING A LIVING OR TAKING CARE OF, YOU KNOW, ISSUES THAT THEY HAVE WITH HEALTH OR WHATEVER IT MAY BE.
AND YET EVERY ONE OF THEM IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW AND CRUCIAL TO OUR CITY, TO JUST DAILY FUNCTIONS OF OUR CITY.
SO THAT'S WHERE OUR STAFF DOES A REALLY GOOD JOB OF KNOWING THESE THINGS AND CONVEYING IT TO US.
AND THEN WHEN SOMEONE WANTS TO KNOW, WE HAVE IT AVAILABLE, AND, AND AGAIN, THAT THIRD PERSON WILL BE BETTER AT, YOU KNOW, GETTING THAT MESSAGE OUT IN A TIMELY MANNER TO, TO
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EVERYONE.UM, SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE I AM ON THAT.
BUT ALL OF THESE ARE IMPORTANT.
I, I DON'T WANNA DISCOUNT THAT AT ALL.
UM, AND IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE MISSING IN YOUR MESSAGE, UM, I WANNA KNOW, BECAUSE YOU, YOU MENTIONED CAP METRO.
THAT CAME TO A BIG SURPRISE FOR PEOPLE TO, TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE, THE TAXES.
UM, THE PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE GOING ON THE LIST ARE EXHAUSTIVE.
UM, SO TO HAVE SOMEONE LOOK AT THOSE LISTS AND, AND SEE, I I DON'T KNOW HOW, MAYBE YOU COULD, MAYBE YOU COULD DO A LITTLE EXAMPLE OF WHAT YOU WOULD THINK THIS WOULD LOOK LIKE AND WHAT IT WOULD BE WOULD BE, WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SOMEBODY ELSE AND WE COULD GET FEEDBACK.
LIKE, UH, SO I'M THINKING OF THE PREPARATION THAT THE MAYOR AND THE, UH, INFORMATION, UH, TEAM PUTS TOGETHER, UM, TO GO THROUGH LIKE THE STATE OF THE CITY, RIGHT? THE STATE OF THE CITY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR IS LIKE A HIGH LEVEL.
HERE ARE THE THINGS THAT THIS IS WHAT THE LAST YEAR LOOKED LIKE.
HERE'S WHERE WE'RE GOING, THIS IS WHAT IT IS.
SO I MEAN, HOW OFTEN DO SOMEBODY NEED TO GET THAT THERE'S INFORMATION THAT WENT INTO IT? COULD THAT BE PUT INTO A DOCUMENT, JUST PUT ON THE WEBSITE OR WHATEVER THAT IT, IT SOUNDS LIKE THOSE ARE THE HIGH LEVEL THINGS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR.
IS THERE MORE TIMES PER YEAR THAT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL FOR SOMEBODY TO HEAR THOSE THINGS? UM, BUT I THINK IT'S THE SAME PROCESS IS WHATEVER GOES, WHATEVER THE PREPARATION LOOKS LIKE FOR LIKE A STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS, WHICH IS COMING UP IN JANUARY-ISH, WE DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT WELL.
SO THAT PREPARATION IS EXHAUSTING BECAUSE A LOT OF IT IS TAKING IN THE ENTIRE YEAR'S WORTH OF METRICS FOR EVERY DEPARTMENT AND THEN FILTERING IT DOWN TO JUST THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES.
UM, I THINK A LOT OF THOSE THINGS ARE COMMUNICATED IN THE NEWSLETTER.
UM, BUT, BUT DEFINITELY NOT ALL.
I MEAN, I THINK, I THINK MOST RESIDENTS DON'T KNOW THE THINGS LIKE, LIKE WE LIKE TO DO A LOT OF NUMBERS IN THAT, RIGHT? SO LIKE THE ATTENDANCE AT EVENTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, I THINK THIS IS WHERE IT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL TO KNOW SORT OF SPECIFICS OF, OF WHAT IT IS YOU FEEL LIKE ISN'T BEING COMMUNICATED AND, AND HOW IT CAN BE COMMUNICATED.
BECAUSE I HEAR YOU, I THINK WE'RE ALL IN FAVOR OF MORE ROBUST COMMUNICATION.
UM, I'M SURE WE'RE ALL EXCITED FOR THE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN THIS NEXT YEAR, BUT IT'S, IT'S THAT MATTER OF FIGURING OUT WHAT NEEDS TO BE CONVEYED AND HOW, AND HOW OFTEN WITHOUT THROWING SO MUCH INFORMATION CONTINUOUSLY AT PEOPLE THAT THEY JUST TUNE US OUT.
UM, SO YEAH, HAVING THAT IDEA WOULD BE GOOD.
CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION? IS THERE A CITY THAT YOU'VE LOOKED AT OR A MUNICIPALITY THAT YOU'VE LOOKED AT AND, AND NOTICED THAT IT'S A REALLY GOOD COMMUNICATION PLAN THAT THEY HAVE THAT YOU FEEL LIKE WE SHOULD MIMIC OR LOOK AT TO JUST DRAW OUR OWN CONCLUSIONS FROM THAT OF COURSE MATTER TO OUR COMMUNITY, BUT IS THERE SOMEBODY THAT HAS A REALLY GOOD PLAN THAT YOU'VE RESEARCHED OR LOOKED AT? NOT AT THIS TIME.
I JUST KNOW THAT WHEN I WAS RUNNING FOR OFFICE, I SAID ONE, THE THING I WANTED TO DO IS TO HAVE THE CITY COMMUNICATE BETTER.
THAT WAS PART OF WHAT I RAN ON.
AND THAT'S ONE OF THE PROMISES I WANNA KEEP.
AND I FEEL THAT WE NEED, WE CAN DO A BETTER JOB.
I DON'T FEEL LIKE WE ARE COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY TO THE CITIZENS OF THE CITY.
AND IF YOU WANT ME TO COME BACK AND WRITE UP A, A PLAN AND THE KEY METRICS AND A SCHEDULE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, I CAN DO THAT.
IT'S NOT THAT I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT A BUNCH OF NUMBERS.
I'M TALKING ABOUT MAYBE 12 DIFFERENT THINGS THAT YOU TRACK OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
IT SHOULD BE THE SAME THINGS THAT YOU'RE TRACK THAT YOU'RE HOLDING THE CITY MANAGER RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLETING AND GETTING DONE.
THAT SHOULD, THAT SHOULD NOT BE THIS HARD THAT ARE TO CREATE OR DEVELOP.
SO HAVE YOU SAT DOWN WITH OUR COMMUNICATION STAFF AND ASKED ABOUT THAT? NO, I HAVEN'T.
I THINK THAT COULD BE HELPFUL.
UM, DO YOU SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER? I'M GONNA DO A SIGN UP, MA'AM.
UH, SO LET'S, LET'S CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION.
UM, IN THE FUTURE, I THINK, I THINK THIS'LL BE A VERY EASY PROMISE FOR YOU TO KEEP, BECAUSE I THINK WE'RE ALREADY ON THAT PAGE, UM, AND WE'RE ALREADY HEADED THAT WAY.
BUT, UM, I LIKE, UH, PRO TE'S IDEA OF SEE WHO'S DOING IT EFFECTIVELY AND GIVE US SOMETHING TO MODEL THAT IS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING.
AND YEAH, COME UP WITH YOUR IDEAS AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT IT SOME MORE.
ANDREW, DO YOU HAVE ANY FINAL THOUGHTS BEFORE WE TAKE A QUICK BREAK? I, I DO.
AND, UH, TY, WE CAN HAVE TY AND HIS TEAM PULL TOGETHER ALL THE COMMUNICATION PIECES THAT ARE CURRENTLY, UH, UNDERWAY.
AND SO WE'LL GET THAT INFORMATION PUSHED OUT TO YOU GUYS.
SO WE'LL, WE'LL KIND OF INVENTORY THAT AND WE'LL PUT LINKAGES SO Y'ALL CAN GO BACK AND LOOK AT THOSE DIFFERENT THINGS.
AND THEN IF YOU'D LIKE, WE CAN KIND OF BRAINSTORM AS A STAFF TEAM AND KIND OF TALK ABOUT WHAT ARE SOME OF THE KEY THINGS THAT WE THINK OR WE HEAR ABOUT IN THE COMMUNITY THAT MAYBE ARE THINGS THAT, THAT WE WANNA THINK ABOUT, INCLUDING INTO THAT REPERTOIRE OF THINGS.
THE OTHER THING TOO, LAST COMMENT I PROMISE YOU OKAY, IS THAT WE ARE WORKING TO PULL TOGETHER THE SCOPE OF WORK FOR THE COMMUNITY-WIDE SURVEY THAT WE HAVE BUDGETED FOR THIS YEAR.
ONE OF THE KEY COMPONENTS OF THAT DOCUMENT WILL ALSO BE A QUESTION OR A COUPLE QUESTIONS ON
[00:25:01]
HOW PEOPLE ARE CONSUMING INFORMATION, WHERE ARE THEY GETTING INFORMATION FROM THE CITY? SO THEN WE CAN BEGIN TO ALSO TAILOR WHERE WE TRY TO GET INFORMATION OUT.UM, THIS MIGHT HAVE ENDED BEFORE YOU JOINED US COUNCIL MEMBER HERRERA, BUT WE WERE GETTING, FOR A WHILE WE USED TO HAVE THESE WEEKLY REPORTS WHERE ALL THE DEPARTMENTS WOULD HAVE A QUICK UPDATE OF WHAT THEY HAD DONE, AND COMMUNICATIONS WAS A PART OF THAT.
AND IT WAS REALLY HELPFUL BECAUSE WE HAD KIND OF HAD THIS TALK AT SOME POINT OF WHAT DO THEY DO? AND, UM, AND SO WE WERE GETTING A REPORT EVERY WEEK OF ALL OF THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT THEY WERE PUTTING OUT IN DIFFERENT PLACES, YOU KNOW, WHAT WAS BEING TALKED ABOUT AND WHERE, AND IT WAS HELPFUL TO KIND OF SEE WHAT THOSE EFFORTS WERE.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S SOMETHING WE WANT TO REVISIT MR. CITY MANAGER, UM, JUST TO GIVE SOME SOME CONTEXT AND, AND A JUMPING OFF POINT, BUT THAT, I THINK THAT COULD BE HELPFUL IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THOSE.
I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH BEING COMMUNICATED TO ME BY THE CITY.
I'M TALKING ABOUT COMMUNICATING AS CITIZENS.
I'M SAYING THIS WAS A REPORT OF HOW THE CITIZENS WERE BEING COMMUNICATED WITH AND WHERE, SO YOU COULD SEE ALL OF THE EFFORTS.
UM, LET'S TAKE A QUICK RECESS UNTIL 6 0 1.
WE'LL HAVE OUR MEETING WITH P AND Z.
[4. Joint workshop with Planning and Zoning Commission to discuss Future Land Use Map.]
ALL RIGHT.WE ARE BACK IN SESSION AT 6:02 PM FOR A JOINT WORKSHOP WITH PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP.
UM, THIS IS NOT A QUORUM OF PNZ, SO YOU DO NOT HAVE TO OPEN THE MEETING.
UM, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, GRIFFIN, YOU ARE UP TONIGHT.
UM, SO THIS IS, UH, A WORKSHOP TO GIVE THE GROUP A CHANCE TO TALK ABOUT SOME POTENTIAL CHANGES, UH, TO ONE OF THE EMPLOYMENT CENTERS IN THE CITY.
UM, OVER, OVER TIME, WE'VE MADE SOME CHANGES TO THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
I THOUGHT YOU WERE POINTING TO THE SKY TO ME.
UM, SO MOST RECENTLY WE MADE A CHANGE, UM, TO THE CODE THAT, OR TO THE FUTURE LAND USE, I'M SORRY, TO THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, TO, TO STATE THAT YOU CANNOT HAVE, UM, MULTIFAMILY IN AN EMPLOYMENT CENTER UNLESS IT'S A, A VERTICAL MIXED USE.
AND WE'VE RECEIVED GUIDANCE THAT IF YOU HAVE, UM, A UNIQUE SPECIAL PROJECT, IT'S SOMETHING THAT, UM, COULD BE CONSIDERED.
AND WE'RE GETTING A LOT OF FEEDBACK FROM THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY THAT THE VERTICAL MIXED USE IS A BIG CHALLENGE AND THE TYPE OF DEVELOPMENT THAT THEY'RE WANTING TO PROPOSE JUST DOESN'T FIT IN THAT BOX.
SO WE THOUGHT WE WOULD TAKE A MINUTE, UM, TO SIT DOWN WITH THE COMMISSION AND COUNCIL AND TALK ABOUT WHAT YOUR GOALS ARE AND MAYBE IMPROVEMENTS WE COULD MAKE TO THE CODE TO KIND OF HELP, UM, ENCOURAGE THE TYPE OF DEVELOPMENT WE WANNA SEE IN THAT AREA.
SO TODAY WE'RE LOOKING, UM, TO TALK ABOUT GOALS IN THE AREA.
WHAT WOULD BE THE APPROPRIATE LAND USE MIX, UM, CONNECTIVITY IN THE AREA, AS WELL AS POTENTIAL EMPLOYMENT.
SO THE AREA WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS ON THE SCREEN.
UM, MY RED BOX ISN'T AS DARK AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE THIS MORNING.
UM, SO THAT'S RONALD REAGAN ON THE RIGHT, AND HERE AWAY ON THE TOP.
AND ON THE LEFT IS 180 3 A AND THE BOTTOM IS RM 2243.
THE, UM, MA ROOM COLOR, THE CIRCLE, THAT'S AN ACTIVITY CENTER THAT TRANSITIONS INTO AN EMPLOYMENT CENTER, WHICH IS THE KIND OF BRIGHT PINK COLOR.
SO THIS EXHIBIT, UM, SHOWS COMPLETED DEVELOPMENT IN THE AREA.
SO THE DARK BLUE, UM, IS ACTUAL DEVELOPMENTS OR POTENTIAL, I GUESS THE, THE ONE ON THE CORNER OF 2243.
AND HERO WAY IS A SITE DEVELOPMENT THAT'S BEEN ISSUED.
AND THEN, UM, THIS RIGHT HERE IS A, UM, MINI STORAGE, AND THIS IS LIBERTY CIVIL.
THEY'VE DONE TWO PHASES OF DEVELOPMENT.
THIS IS A HOUSE BEING CONVERTED TO A DAYCARE.
AND THEN, UM, I'M SORRY, THAT'S DW PAINT, THAT'S A HOUSE BEING CONVERTED TO A DAYCARE.
SO WE HAVE LITTLE SPOTS OF, UM, DEVELOPMENT THAT, UH, HAS HAPPENED IN THE AREA.
SO ON THE, OH, YOU CAN'T SEE MY MOUSE.
SO THIS, UM, HATCHED AREA, THESE ARE WHERE WE HAVE PROJECTS UNDER REVIEW.
SO THIS IS, UM, THE BASIS SCHOOL.
I CAN'T REMEMBER WHICH ONE THIS ONE IS.
UM, BUT WE HAVE A HANDFUL THAT ARE COMING UP AND THEY'RE KIND OF ON THE, THE PERIPHERY.
SO, UM, UM, THIS IS KIND OF AN ANALYSIS OF THE, THE ZONING, UH, THE GREEN AREA'S.
COMMERCIAL RED IS RESIDENTIAL, AND BLUE IS INTERIM RESIDENTIAL.
SO IT'S, UH, THE CATEGORY, IT CAME IN WHEN IT WAS ANNEXED.
AND SO WHAT WE'VE DONE IS, UM, WE'VE LOOKED IN THE CENTRAL TEXAS AREA AND WE FOUND A, A COUPLE OF, UH, KEY PROJECTS
[00:30:01]
THAT IN STAFF'S MIND ARE, ARE WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN THIS AREA.WE WERE LOOKING FOR CAMPUS STYLE EMPLOYERS, UM, THAT INCLUDED COMMERCIAL RETAIL AS WELL AS SOME MULTIFAMILY.
AND, UM, WE TOOK THIS INFORMATION FROM, FROM THE INTERNET, SO IT MAY NOT BE A HUNDRED PERCENT ACCURATE, BUT THIS IS THE EXPANSION OF THE APPLE CAMPUS.
AND THEY HAD A 133 ACRE DEVELOPMENT, UM, THAT INCLUDED 1.5 MILLION SQUARE FEET OF OFFICE, 150,000 SQUARE FEET RETAIL, AND THEN 1.3 MILLION APARTMENTS, THEN 300 HOTEL ROOMS. WHAT'S, WHAT'S SPECIAL ABOUT THIS PROJECT IS THEY HAVE A PRETTY BIG WILDLIFE PRESERVE THAT SURROUNDS IT.
IT'S KIND OF UNIQUE IN THIS, IN THE AUSTIN AREA.
SO, UM, WE'RE NOT THINKING THAT HALF OF A PROJECT WOULD HAVE TO BE, UM, GREENBELT, BUT IT WAS KIND OF NEAT TO SEE HOW THEY INCORPORATED THE, UM, WILDLIFE PRESERVE.
SO WE, WE DID THE, THE MATH AND, UM, IT'S A, A KIND OF A 50 50 SPLIT BETWEEN THE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE MULTIFAMILY.
BUT DO WE, DO WE KNOW HOW THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED? IT HASN'T BEEN BUILT THE, OR HOW, HOW, WHEN, WHEN IT WAS, UH, I'VE HEARD OF, UH, IN THE, IN THE, THAT THEY DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY ZONING THAT, THAT IT'S, IT'S KIND OF A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, OPEN AND VERY FLEXIBLE FOR THEM TO KIND OF, UM, TO BE ABLE TO BUILD WHAT THEY WANT TO BUILD.
WE COULD DO RESEARCH ON THE ZONING THAT YEAH, I WOULD JUST MAKE SURE WE KNOW THAT.
'CAUSE I DON'T, I, I'VE MADE COMMENTS TO PEOPLE BEFORE WHEN THEY SAID, THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO DO HERE SO WE CAN LAND.
AND I SAID, I DIDN'T KNOW IF OUR COMMUNITY IN OUR CITY HAD QUITE THE RISK TOLERANCE AS MAYBE AN AREA LIKE THAT SURE.
TO BE ABLE TO MAKE A MISTAKE IF IT GOES THE WRONG DIRECTION.
SO YEAH, WE COULD JUST WANNA WATCH, WE COULD, WE COULD FIGURE OUT HOW IT'S IN ENTITLED.
UM, WE WERE JUST LOOKING BIG PICTURE, WHAT, WHAT IS OUR DREAM SCENARIO? WHAT WHAT WE THINK WOULD BE A GOOD USE HERE.
BUT THAT WOULD KIND OF BE THE NEXT STEP IF, IF WE COME UP WITH, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT WHY, WHY, WHY WE WERE TALKING ABOUT IT THOUGH, THAT I'VE HEARD THAT'S THE WAY THAT IT'S, THAT IT'S BEEN ENTITLED.
UM, SO THE NEXT ONE WE LOOKED AT WAS, UM, BRODY OAKS.
UM, AND WE WERE ALSO TRYING TO LOOK AT PROPERTIES WE THOUGHT WOULD LEGITIMATELY FIT IN THE AREA.
SO WE, WE KIND OF STUCK TO, UM, RIGHT AROUND A HUNDRED, LESS THAN A HUNDRED.
UM, THIS ONE HAS 1.2 MILLION SQUARE FEET OFFICE, 140,000 SQUARE FEET RETAIL, UH, 1700 APARTMENTS AS WELL AS 13, UM, ACRES OF GREEN SPACE.
WE HAVE A LITTLE SITE PLAN IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER.
UM, AND THE GREEN SPACE IS KIND OF, UH, AROUND IT, UH, TO THE, THE TOP OF THE IMAGE.
AND ON THIS ONE, UM, IT WAS, IT WAS SIMILAR WHERE IT'S ALMOST A 50 50 SPLIT BETWEEN THE, THE MULTIFAMILY AND THE, THE COMMERCIAL AND THEN THE DISTRICT IN, UH, ROUND ROCK.
UM, THIS ONE, UH, I DID LOOK AT THE ZONING AND ROUND ROCK DOES HAVE A PRETTY ROBUST PAD THAT OUTLINES WHAT THEY'RE DOING, AND IT DOES ENCOURAGE THE MIX.
UM, IT, IT SHOWED, UH, ON THEIR WEBSITE THAT THEY WERE DOING PARKING GARAGES, BUT IT WASN'T REQUIRED BY THE ORDINANCE.
I THINK THAT WAS JUST EFFICIENCY IN THEIR DESIGN.
UM, BUT THAT WAS WHAT WAS SHOWN IN THE PROPOSAL.
BUT THIS IS ANOTHER ONE WHERE IT WAS, UM, A PRETTY CLOSE SPLIT.
AND, AND I, I DID APPRECIATE THE, THE GREEN SPACE THAT THEY ADDED TO IT AS WELL TO KIND OF HELP TIE EVERYTHING TOGETHER.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE, THE PICTURE, YOU CAN KIND OF, UM, SEE THEY HAVE THE, THE STREET TREES INCORPORATED IN THERE.
AND THEN THE NEXT ONE, UM, JUST PULLED THIS ONE IN.
SO I DON'T HAVE, UM, THE FANCY GRAPH, BUT THIS IS, UH, EAST VILLAGE, UM, IN AUSTIN.
IT'S, UM, IT'S ONE THAT HAS A, A DIFFERENT, UM, PIECE COMPARED TO THE OTHERS.
IT DOES INCLUDE 466 SINGLE FAMILY HOUSES.
SO IN THEIR PLAN, UM, THEY HAVE A BIG, UH, GREEN SPACE IN THE CENTER, AND THEN THEY HAVE THE RESIDENTIAL ON THIS SIDE.
AND THEN THIS IS WHERE THE, THE MIXED USES COME INTO PLAY.
AND WE WERE, WE WERE TRYING TO FIND PROJECTS WHERE WE FELT LIKE THEY WERE DOING, UM, HORIZONTAL MIXED USE, UM, INSTEAD OF VERTICAL AS AN OPTION.
AND THEN THIS IS, UM, UPTOWN, THIS KIND OF HAD A NEAT, UH, CENTRAL PARK AREA RIGHT HERE, BUT A SIMILAR CONCEPT WHERE THE, UM, THE RATIO BETWEEN THE, THE COMMERCIAL AND THE MULTIFAMILIES, UH, THE 50 50 SPLIT.
AND THEN OUR LAST ONE IS, UM, VELOCITY AND AUSTIN.
IT'S INTERESTING, THE AUSTIN ONES SEEMED TO HAVE MORE GREEN SPACE THAN THE REST OF THEM.
THIS ONE ACTUALLY HAD MORE MULTIFAMILY THAN, UM, THE OFFICE SPACE.
AND THEN I KIND OF PUT 'EM ALL TOGETHER, UM, JUST TO LOOK AT, UH, HOW THE, HOW THE USES WERE DIVIDED.
SO, UM, TODD AND I WERE EXPLORING SOME AREAS, UH, IN AUSTIN THAT, UM, WE KIND OF THOUGHT HAD THE, THE VISION, THIS IS THE TRIANGLE.
SO, UM, ON THE RIGHT AND LEFT YOU HAVE RESIDENTIAL AND THIS STRIP THROUGH THE CENTER HAS MORE COMMERCIAL.
AND THEN HERE'S A, AN AERIAL OF IT.
UM, SO THEY HAVE COMMERCIAL USES.
THEY DID HAVE SOME VERTICAL MIXED USE.
UM, BUT IT'S NOT IN EVERY SINGLE BUILDING.
[00:35:05]
SO, UM, THIS IS OUR SUMMARY OF THE EMPLOYMENT CENTER.UM, SO THIS IS WHERE WE MADE THE, THE EDITS.
UM, AND IT TALKS ABOUT THE HIGH DENSITY RESIDENTIAL, UM, BEING ALLOWED CONDITIONALLY ONLY IF IT'S PART OF A VER VERTICALLY INTEGRATED MIXED USE.
SO DEPENDING ON, UM, HOW OUR DISCUSSION GOES, UM, WE'LL BE LOOKING TO MAKE UPDATES TO THIS.
AND WE ARE DOING AN ADVANCE IN ADVANCE OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE.
'CAUSE WE ARE GIVING A LOT OF INQUIRIES AND WE DON'T WANNA HOLD UP DEVELOPMENT.
'CAUSE THAT PROCESS PROBABLY IS GONNA BE ABOUT A YEAR, YEAR AND A HALF.
AND THAT'S ALL THE, THE MATERIALS I HAVE.
SO I THOUGHT WE COULD OPEN IT UP AND MAYBE TALK ABOUT THE GOALS.
UM, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO HEAR FROM RANDALL ABOUT THOUGHTS ON WHAT WE NEED AND, AND WHAT WE COULD POTENTIALLY ATTRACT? SORRY TO PUT YOU ON THE SPOT.
THANK YOU FOR THE, THE OPPORTUNITY.
IF WE COULD GO BACK MAYBE TO, UH, EAST VILLAGE, LET'S SEE, THAT I, WE, UM, ADDED THIS ONE ON AT THE, UH, AT THE END.
AND, UM, WE LIKE TO TRACK WHERE, WHO, WHO'S LANDING MAJOR, UH, EMPLOYERS, PRIMARY EMPLOYERS.
AND THIS WAS ONE, UM, THAT ATTRACTED A LIFE SCIENCE COMPANY CALLED A A BILLION TO ONE.
IT WAS A PRETTY RECENT, UH, ANNOUNCEMENT IN, IN AUSTIN FOR A LIFE SCIENCE, UH, COMPANY.
THIS IS A RIGGER HOLDINGS THAT HAS, THAT'S THE MASTER DEVELOPER.
UM, HERE, UM, THIS SITE'S ON ON PAR BETWEEN 35 AND, AND ONE 30 IN WHAT, WHAT WE'RE SEEING, UM, IS PLACES THAT HAVE, HAVE AMENITIES ARE, ARE UM, GIVE A, GIVE A ADVANTAGE, UH, TO, TO THEM.
SO IN, IN THIS CASE YOU CAN, YOU CAN SEE THAT THEY HAVE A MIXED USE, UH, DEVELOPMENT, UH, IN THERE THAT'S, UH, ATTRACTIVE FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO, UH, RECRUIT EMPLOYEES.
AND THAT SEEMED LIKE THAT WAS ONE OF THE DECIDING FACTORS FOR, FOR THAT COMPANY.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY AMENITIES? UH, SURE.
YOU CAN SEE THERE'S QUITE A BIT OF, UH, MIX WITH, UH, WITH RETAIL ESPECIALLY BEING A, BEING A PART OF THAT, BUT ALSO PLACE FOR THEIR EMPLOYEES TO POTENTIALLY LIVE THERE ON, ON SITE AND THAT, THAT LIVE, WORK, PLAY, UH, MODEL.
SO IS THERE A RECOMMENDATION FROM BOTH OF YOU OR SHOULD WE JUST START TALKING ABOUT OUR THOUGHTS? I THINK WE PROBABLY ALL LIKE THESE AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE THEM HERE, BUT HOW DO WE GET THERE? RIGHT.
SO, UM, FROM A A STAFF PERSPECTIVE, UM, WE'RE IN A, A HARD SPOT BECAUSE WE HAVE THIS DOCUMENT THAT TELLS US HOW WE SHOULD ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO DEVELOP.
SO IT'S CHALLENGING WHEN WE HAVE CUSTOMERS, CUSTOMERS COME IN WHO WANNA DEVELOP IN THIS AREA AND WE TELL 'EM IT HAS TO BE VERTICALLY MIXED USE, BUT THEY SAY IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO DO.
SO OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE AN UPDATED DOCUMENT THAT, UM, ALL OF US FEEL CONFIDENT IN AND CONFIDENT IN FORCING THAT WE CAN USE.
SO I THINK OUR CURRENT ORDINANCES DON'T ALLOW FOR HORIZONTAL MIXED USE.
RIGHT? SO ANYTIME YOU DO MULTIFAMILY, YOU HAVE TO DO A PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT.
AND AS PART OF THAT YOU COULD STATE THAT IT IS HORIZONTAL.
'CAUSE YOU'RE RIDING YOUR OWN DISTRICT, BUT IT HIGHLY ENCOURAGES THE VERTICAL.
SO YOU'RE SAYING WE JUST ENCOURAGE MORE HORIZONTAL, SO IF THE FUTURE LAND USE MAP, OR I'M SORRY, THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN WAS CHANGED, UM, TO REEVALUATE HOW THE EMPLOYMENT CENTER WORKS TO SUPPORT HORIZONTAL, THEN IT WOULD BE VERY EASY FOR US TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THOSE PUDS.
'CAUSE NOW WE HAVE THAT GUIDING DOCUMENT THAT TELLS STAFF WHAT TO DO.
I THINK THE CONCERNS THAT WE'VE HAD WHEN THINGS HAVE COME IN FRONT OF US IS THAT WHEN YOU GO HORIZONTAL, WE DON'T WANT TO HAVE A SITUATION WHERE WE'RE GOING TO END UP WITH THE RESIDENTIAL AND NOTHING ELSE.
SO ARE WE ABLE TO ENSURE THAT YES, WE CAN DO THAT THROUGH ZONING.
UM, CURRENTLY THAT'S OUR, OUR POLICY.
THEY, UM, HAVE TO PROVIDE PHASING.
SO THERE'S SOME AMOUNT OF COMMERCIAL THAT COMES IN, UM, WITH THE MULTIFAMILY OR COMMERCIAL IS FIRST.
COUNCIL, PNZ, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS, REMEMBER TO TURN ON YOUR BUTTONS? ARE YOU RECOMMENDING WE PUT A LIMIT ON IT OR A RECOMMENDED PERCENTAGE? I KNOW MOST OF THE ONES YOU'VE SHOWED, IT'S ABOUT 50 50 SPLIT ON COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL.
SO IS THAT WHAT STAFF FEELS LIKE WOULD BE APPROPRIATE? MY MY THOUGHT IS, UM, WHEN WE GO TO THIS, THIS PAGE OF OUR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, IT LISTS OUT THE APPROPRIATE USES.
WE WOULD BE A LITTLE MORE VAGUE AND NOT BE SO SPECIFIC.
LIKE IT CAN BE 50% THAT WAY WHEN Y'ALL HAVE A PROJECT AND YOU CAN MAKE THAT DETERMINATION, UM, AT A STAFF LEVEL, WE WOULD LOOK AT IT, IS IT REASONABLE? ARE WE MEETING THE INTENT? BUT IT WOULD BE A MORE VAGUE STATEMENT.
SO INSTEAD OF SAYING HIGH DENSITY RESIDENTIAL MAY BE ALLOWED ON A LIMITED CONDITIONAL BASIS ONLY AS PART OF A MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT AND VERTICALLY INTEGRATED MIXED USE, WE COULD CHANGE THAT TO REFER TO HORIZONTAL MIXED USE.
SO WE CAN MAKE KEY CHANGES TO HELP US UNDERSTAND
[00:40:01]
THE PATH.I WAS GONNA SAY ONE OF THE THINGS FOR CONTEXT, IF YOU LOOK AT THE PLAN POLICY RIGHT NOW, IT, IT JUST, IT DOESN'T LIMIT YOU ON HOW HIGH AND HOW MANY, UH, HOW MUCH DENSITY YOU CAN PUT IN.
IT JUST SAYS VERTICALLY YOU DO COMMERCIAL RETAIL ON THE GROUND FLOOR AND THEN YOU JUST GO UP FROM THERE.
SO IN, IN THE POLICY PROVISION HERE, WE COULD PUT LIMITS IN TERMS OF OVERALL DENSITY OR DENSITIES THAT WE COULD LOOK AT IN THESE DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS.
I GUESS MY THOUGHT IS, I MEAN WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THE INTENT IS CLEAR AND OUR FOCUS IS ON COMMERCIAL, WHICH IT IS AND CAN WILL CONTINUE TO BE.
UM, BUT I WOULD BE MORE INCLINED TO HAVE THE LEEWAY TO BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY EVALUATE A PROJECT.
'CAUSE I THINK WHEN WE PUT TOO MANY RULES AND REGULATIONS AROUND IT, IT MAKES IT HARD TO CONSIDER SOMETHING THAT COULD BE REALLY GREAT.
UM, BUT WITH THE FOCUS AND, YOU KNOW, STAFF KNOWS, THE COUNCIL DIRECTIVE IS WE WANT THE COMMERCIAL, WE WANT THE EMPLOYERS.
AND WE KNOW, YOU KNOW THAT AND WE KNOW THAT THOSE WERE THE PROJECTS.
AND SO IF THEY'RE COMING BEFORE US AND WE GET TO LOOK AT 'EM ANYWAY, I WOULD RATHER Y'ALL HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY TO FLESH A PROJECT OUT WITH A POTENTIAL DEVELOPER, UM, THAN IT JUST BEING A NO FOR A SILLY REASON.
HONESTLY, I I ALSO LIKE THE FLEXIBILITY.
'CAUSE WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF TIMES AT PNZ WHERE WE'RE REALLY TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ONE TO 2% DIFFERENCE ON SOMETHING BECAUSE THERE'S THESE LIMITS THERE.
SO NOW YOU'RE THE LAST PERSON IN.
SO YOU REALLY DON'T GET TO BENEFIT FROM SOME OF THE, THE, THE VARIABILITY IN THE ZONING, UH, OR IN THE USES THAT YOU CAN USE BECAUSE WE'RE, WE'RE ALREADY AT THAT CAP FOR WHATEVER REGION WE'RE IN.
SO I DO APPRECIATE KIND OF THE FLEXIBILITY REQUESTS THAT YOU'RE HAVING BECAUSE I DEFINITELY SUPPORT THAT.
AND, AND AS THE, THE MAYOR WILL ATTEST FROM THE LAST P AND Z MEETING, I WAS ASKING FOR LESS RESTRICTIONS, RIGHT? WHICH I'M USUALLY, I, I KINDA LEAN MORE TOWARDS THE OTHER SIDE A LOT OF TIMES.
BUT I THINK THAT AS WE CONTINUE TO GROW AND WE'RE CONTINUING TO TRY TO ATTRACT MORE EMPLOYERS, WE'RE GONNA NEED TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE FLEXIBLE.
AND WE SEE A LOT OF THESE GREAT EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL, UH, EMPLOYMENT CENTERS.
THAT'S REALLY WHAT THEY ARE, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THEY, THEY ARE GONNA HAVE PRIMARY EMPLOYERS THERE.
BUT WE, I THINK, I THINK THAT WE NEED TO BE A LITTLE MORE, UM, AMENABLE TO SOME OF THE MARKET DEMANDS, WHICH MAY BE MULTIFAMILY.
AS MUCH AS THAT HURTS ME TO SAY, IF YOU'VE BEEN AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO HEAR ME ON P AND Z, UM, I, I THINK, I THINK THAT THAT'S JUST WHERE WE'RE AT RIGHT NOW.
AND IF THAT'S GONNA HELP ATTRACT, WE HAVE SOME VERY LARGE TRACKS OF LAND IN THAT SPACE THAT WOULD BE CONGRUENT TRACKS OF LAND TOO.
BECAUSE SOME OF THE LANDOWNERS HAVE SOME, SOME PRETTY LARGE PIECES AND I THINK THEY COULD PUT TOGETHER SOME PRETTY GOOD PROJECTS.
UH, IF WE GIVE THE FLEXIBILITY THAT, THAT THEY WANT, I GUESS WE COULD SAY WE CAN GET WHAT WE WANT IF WE LET THEM GET A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT THEY WANT.
IT ALSO HELPS WITH, UM, COMMUNICATION WITH THE, THE COMMUNITY.
'CAUSE WE DO HAVE RESIDENTS THAT READ THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, BELIEVE IT OR NOT.
AND, UM, THEY WILL SEE THINGS LIKE THIS AND THEN SEE STAFF RECOMMENDING SOMETHING AND SAY, THAT'S NOT WHAT WE AGREED TO.
SO IT ALSO HELPS WITH THEM UNDERSTANDING WHAT'S GOING ON.
COMMISSIONER, MAY I, I HAD A QUESTION ON THESE SUCCESSFUL VENTURES OUT THERE.
HOW MANY OF THEM WERE, UM, WITH THE ZONING AND EVERYTHING APPLIED? WAS THAT WHERE SOMEBODY LIKE APPLE CAME IN AND SAID, THIS IS THE PLAN WE HAVE AND THEN THEY WENT AFTER THE ZONING? OR IS IT SOMEBODY SAYING, I WANNA BUILD THESE APARTMENTS OVER HERE AND THESE HOUSES OVER HERE AND WE MIGHT GET COMMERCIAL IN THERE.
YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING? SO IT'S NOT CONGRUENT, UH, PROJECT.
IT'S, WE'RE GONNA THROW SOMETHING TOGETHER AND HOPEFULLY WE GET THAT.
'CAUSE I, WE'VE, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF, UM, ESPECIALLY ON THE MULTI-FAMILY SIDE WHERE WE BUILT AN APARTMENT COMPLEX AND WE HAVE A POSTAGE STAMP OF COMMERCIAL THAT SITS VACANT AND THE APARTMENTS ARE BUILT IN SIX MONTHS, BUT WE STILL HAVE A VACANT LOT.
AND I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKE A LOT OF THESE PROJECTS SCARY IS WE GIVE 'EM THE RIGHT TO BUILD MULTIFAMILY.
THEY COME IN AND BUILD 2000 APARTMENTS AND THEN, OH, WE CAN'T GET ANYBODY TO, I THOUGHT THE APARTMENTS WERE TO SWAY APPLE TO BUILD THEIR OFFICES THERE.
SO THE, THESE EXAMPLES, UM, ARE MASTER PLAN DEVELOPMENTS.
SO THEY'RE NOT, UM, DIFFERENT PROPERTY OWNERS WHERE IT'S BEEN PUT TOGETHER.
AND I I DON'T THINK ANY OF THEM HAVE BEEN COMPLETED YET.
I THINK APPLE IS A, A PHASE TWO, SO THEY MAY HAVE HAD THE OTHER ONE COMPLETED.
UM, BUT I THINK IT DOES WORK BETTER WHEN IT'S A MASTER PLAN DEVELOPMENT.
I WAS GONNA SAY, I THINK THAT'S WHERE THE SITE PLAN DEVELOPMENT COMES INTO PLAY TOO, RIGHT? 'CAUSE WE DON'T WANT, YOU KNOW, JUST SPORADIC APARTMENT BUILDINGS PLACED THROUGHOUT.
IF WE HAVE A, IF WE HAVE A CENTRALIZED PLAN AND IS CONCERTED WHERE APARTMENTS ARE HERE AND THEN WE'VE GOT SOME OFFICES, THEN WE'VE GOT SOME RETAIL.
SO IT'S BUILT AS ONE CONGRUENT SPACE.
I THINK THAT THAT ALLEVIATES SOME OF YOUR CONCERNS RIGHT THERE, RON.
SO DIDN'T, DIDN'T WE CREATE AN ORDINANCE
[00:45:01]
THAT, NOT JUST THE PHASING, BUT, AND MAYBE THIS IS JUST PUD BY PUD BY PUD, WHERE WE ARE REQUIRING THE COMMERCIAL FIRST, THAT THAT'S OUR POLICY FOR PUDS.ANYTIME THEY HAVE A RESIDENTIAL COMPONENT, THE COMMERCIAL HAS TO BE FIRST.
SO WHAT RON IS TALKING ABOUT IS, IS SOMETHING THAT WAS APPROVED IN THE PAST.
SO WE'RE NOT HAVING SITUATIONS.
JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S OUT THERE.
THAT WE'VE, WE'VE KIND OF SOLVED THAT WAY.
RIGHT? UM, AND YOU KNOW, WHEN PEOPLE ASK, WELL WE DON'T HAVE MORE COMMERCIAL OR WHY WE DON'T HAVE CERTAIN STORES OR WHATEVER, AND WHY DOESN'T THE CITY, YOU KNOW, BUILD THIS? AND, AND YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN THAT THE CITY DOESN'T BUILD BUSINESSES, UM, THAT WE CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH IS CONDUCIVE TO BUILDING COMMERCIAL AND HAVING COMMERCIAL.
SO I THINK THAT'S WHAT I WOULD LIKE FROM, FROM Y'ALL IS WHAT IS, WHAT IS THAT, WHAT, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE TO, TO HAVE A CONDUCIVE ENVIRONMENT THAT IS INVITING TO THE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPER.
AND IF THERE'S, YOU KNOW, MULTIFAMILY INVOLVED IN IT, YOU KNOW, DOWN THE ROAD AFTER 2029, JUST THROWING THAT OUT THERE, JUST PICKING A RANDOM NUMBER, UH,
BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE TO Y'ALL.
I MEAN, YOU'RE THE EXPERTS AND THEN WE CAN REVIEW THE LANGUAGE AND SEE IF WE AGREE.
WE, I THINK WHAT WE'RE ALL SAYING, YOU KNOW, UH, COMMISSIONER ROSS, I MEAN COUNCILMAN ROSS AND, AND THE COMMISSIONERS, WE LIKE TO LOOK AT IT ON A PROJECT BY PROJECT BASIS AND BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT.
WE LIKE TO HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY TOO, BUT WE'RE A LITTLE MORE CONSTRICTED THAN, THAN Y'ALL ARE.
'CAUSE WE REALLY HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, STAY WITHIN OUR LANE AND, AND, AND GO BY, YOU KNOW, THE EXACT RULES AND WHERE YOU'VE GOT A, AN ACTIVITY CENTER.
WE'VE HAD THE PROBLEM BEFORE WHERE WE, YOU KNOW, YOU SAY, OH, OKAY, CAN BE THIS PERCENTAGE RESIDENTIAL AND THIS PERCENTAGE RETAIL.
AND THE DEVELOPERS THOUGHT THAT EACH ONE OF THEM GOT TO DO THAT.
AND WE'RE LIKE, NO, NO, THAT ALREADY HAS THIS PERCENTAGE AND WE'RE ONLY ABLE TO ALLOW THIS MUCH MORE RESIDENTIAL IN THERE, YOU KNOW, TO KEEP IT BALANCED.
AND SO PEOPLE GET CONFUSED, I THINK, BY THAT.
AND, AND THEY WERE WANTING TO BUILD THAT RESIDENTIAL.
BUT THEN WHEN IT'S ATTACHED TO AN EMPLOYMENT CENTER, LIKE THE EXAMPLE SHOWN TONIGHT WHERE YOU WANT THESE BIG CAMPUSES TO COME IN, I JUST THINK WE'RE ALL TALKING ABOUT FLEXIBILITY.
WE, WE WANT THE FLEXIBILITY TOO.
WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND I KNOW THAT LIVING IN THAT, IN THAT AREA, WE WANT THAT RETAIL AND THAT ACTIVITY CENTER.
BUT WE KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, THE BIG CAMPUSES ARE LIKELY TO COME IN, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN REAGAN AND 180 3 A AND, YOU KNOW, BACK THAT WAY GOING, GOING WEST.
SO, UM, WE'D LIKE THE FLEXIBILITY TOO.
SO HOW DOES STAFF FEEL ABOUT FLEXIBILITY? SO, AND I, AND I SAY THIS ON PURPOSE BECAUSE I THINK A LOT OF TIMES, UM, LIKE IT'S LIKE, UH, WE HAVE, WE HAVE THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND THAT'S WHAT WE GO OFF OF, RIGHT? AND SO, UM, SOMETIMES I THINK THE REASON WHY IT'S MORE SPECIFIC ON THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN IS 'CAUSE WE HAD COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS WITH SETTING EXPECTATIONS FOR PEOPLE AND DEVELOPERS IN, IN, IN GENERAL.
UM, WITH WHAT, LIKE, UH, JUST SETTING, SETTING PROPER EXPECTATIONS OF WHAT WAS REALISTIC TO GET APPROVED AND THE FLEXIBILITY IS AWESOME.
I THINK THAT IS ABSOLUTELY WHAT'S NEEDED.
BUT THIS IS A SERIOUS QUESTION.
LIKE HOW, HOW DO WE, IF WE, IF WE WANT TO BE FLEXIBLE AS A CITY, AS A COUNCIL AND AS A CITY STAFF, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE FROM, FROM A STAFF PERSPECTIVE? I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE, THAT WE TALK ABOUT THAT AND SEE INTERNALLY WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AND WHAT THAT FEELS LIKE.
UM, BECAUSE THAT'S GONNA BE THE KEY OF WHETHER THINGS ACTUALLY COME GET, GET PUSHED PAST THROUGH OR NOT.
RIGHT? AND SO THAT'S MY FEEDBACK ON THIS PART WAS LIKE, HOW, HOW CAN WE HELP AND HOW CAN WE PUT SOMETHING FORWARD THAT IS HELPFUL FOR STAFF, UM, AND THAT FEEL THAT WHERE STAFF IS EMPOWERED, THEY KNOW EXACTLY WITH WHAT WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE GOING FOR.
AND BASICALLY THE THREE OF YOU ESSENTIALLY, UH, OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TEAM, OUR DEVELOPMENT SERVICES TEAM, AND OUR CITY MANAGER, IT'S CLEAR THAT LIKE, THIS IS GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND THIS IS HOW WE HANDLE IT.
SO I THINK THIS IS, UM, OUR FIRST STEP.
SO UPDATING THIS SECTION, UM, IS GONNA HELP A LOT WITH HOW WE COMMUNICATE WITH CUSTOMERS AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE IN SYNC WITH THE GOALS OF THE COUNCIL.
I HAVE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT HOW WE WOULD GO ABOUT HAVING SOMETHING VERY COHESIVE AND MASTER PLANNED ACROSS MULTIPLE PARCELS.
I THINK THAT WAS SOME OF YOUR POINT COMMISSIONER.
UM, I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE HOW WE'RE ABLE TO DO THAT BECAUSE I DON'T, THE ONLY THING I CAN THINK OF IS SAYING, THIS AREA IS MULTIFAMILY, THIS AREA IS EMPLOYMENT.
BUT THEN WE END UP BACK IN THAT SITUATION WHERE WE CAN END UP WITH JUST MULTIFAMILY AND THE EMPLOYMENT ONES AREN'T NECESSARILY DONE.
SO I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T KNOW WHAT LEVERS WE HAVE FOR THAT.
DO WE? I DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE, UM, LEVERAGE NECESSARILY, BUT THERE IS, UM, A GOAL IN OUR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, UM,
[00:50:01]
THAT THAT DEALS WITH, UH, BRINGING TOGETHER THOSE PROPERTY OWNERS IN AN EMPLOYMENT CENTER AND KIND OF FIGURING OUT WHERE ARE YOU AT, WHAT DO YOU WANNA DO? MAYBE HELP CONNECTING THEM AND COMING UP WITH GOOD PROJECTS.THERE ARE SEVERAL PROPERTIES WHERE, UM, WE KNOW PEOPLE ARE READY TO SELL AND MOVE.
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? THERE'S A COUPLE OF THOSE INSTANCES, BUT IT IS PROBABLY COMMUNICATING.
I THINK ELEMENTS OF THAT, WHEN WE SAY COHESIVE TO ME THAT TALKS ABOUT PEDESTRIAN CONNECTIONS, THE ROADWAY CONNECTIONS, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF GREEN BELT CONNECTIONS.
SO WE'RE PROVIDING INTERCONNECTIVITY FROM PROJECT TO PROJECT.
SO THERE'S SOME THINGS FROM A POLICY PERSPECTIVE MAYBE WE CAN LOOK AT SPECIFYING, YOU KNOW, WITH THAT WHEN WE GET DEEPER INTO THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, THERE MAY BE ELEMENTS THAT WE CAN INCORPORATE INTO THE PLAN THAT ADD ADDITIONAL DETAILED POLICIES FOR THOSE AREAS AS WELL.
RANDALL, ARE YOU GETTING ANY LEADS FOR CORPORATE CAMPUSES?
I THINK WE'RE, UM, IN THOSE BUILDINGS.
SO I'M THINKING OF WHAT TITAN IS DOING AND THOSE TYPE OF BUSINESSES ARE GOING TO BE OUR LARGER EMPLOYERS FOR THE, UM, IMMEDIATE FUTURE.
WE'RE SEEING, UM, A LITTLE BIT LESS, UM, ACTIVITY WITH HIGHER LAND PRICES.
HIGHER INTEREST RATES WITH COMPANIES WANTING TO JUST GO OUT ON THEIR OWN AND PLAY DEVELOPER.
THEY MIGHT BE AN EXPERT AT DEVELOPING SPECIFIC WIDGET, MAKING THEM AND THEM, THOSE COMPANIES GOING OUT AND BUYING LAND AND DOING IT THEMSELVES HAS, HAS DEFINITELY SLOWED DOWN.
SO MOST OF THE SPACE THAT'S GETTING ABSORBED RIGHT NOW IN THE AUSTIN MSA IS, UM, EXISTING BUILDINGS.
AND THOSE ARE USUALLY, UH, FLEX INDUSTRIAL SPACE RIGHT NOW.
SO IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD WANT TO ENCOURAGE HERE? IS THE, THE FLEX SPACE AND THE SPEC KIND OF STUFF, OR DO WE WANNA HOLD OUT UNTIL THE ECONOMY FOR BUILDING GETS A LITTLE BETTER? LIKE WHAT WOULD BE THE THOUGHTS HERE FROM STAFF'S PERSPECTIVE? I THINK IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF A, OF A MIXTURE.
UM, IN THAT, THAT AREA, I'M NOT SURE WE CAN GO BACK TO THE, ONE OF THE FIRST SLIDES, BUT TITAN IS, IS RIGHT THERE.
THEY'VE GOT A PRETTY, PRETTY BIG PARCEL, OVER A HUNDRED, A HUNDRED ACRES THERE.
I THINK IT'S SHADED IN THE, THE OR THERE, UM, THE BIG GIANT BLUE ONE.
THEY'RE JUST TO THE, JUST TO THE, UM, LEFT OF, OF THAT, UH, OKAY.
RIGHT OVER OTHER SIDE CENTER SIDE.
SO THEY, THEY, THERE'S GONNA BE A GOOD AMOUNT OF PRODUCT DEVELOPED, UH, THERE, UM, OVER TIME.
SO I WOULDN'T SAY WE NEED TO PUT ALL OF OUR EGGS IN OKAY.
IN THE, THE BASKET OF DEVELOPING MORE AND MORE OF THE, OF THE FLUX PRODUCT, UH, THAT THEY WILL DEVELOP A GOOD AMOUNT.
UM, WE JUST WRAPPED UP CONSTRUCTION ON, ON HERO AWAY.
UH, SO I WOULD, I CERTAINLY THINK HAVING, UM, VIABLE TRACKS FOR IN THE, IN THE FUTURE WHERE THAT BEGINS TO, TO TURN IS, IS IMPORTANT.
SO MS. GRIFFIN, A LOT OF THOSE, WELL, ALL THE EXAMPLES YOU SHOWED US HAD A LOT OF GREEN SPACE.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BE REQUIRING IN THERE TO POTENTIALLY GET THOSE CAMPUS EMPLOYERS WHEN IT COMES BACK? I THINK, UM, IN THE, UH, COMPREHENSIVE PLAN DOCUMENT, IT WOULD BE BROADER LIKE ENCOURAGE, UH, CONNECTIVITY AND WALKABILITY AND THAT KIND OF THING.
AND THEN WHEN WE ACTUALLY COME DOWN TO, UM, DOING THE, THE ZONING, THAT'S WHEN WE WOULD LOOK AT THE PROPERTY.
DOES IT MAKE SENSE? IS THERE A NATURAL AREA? UM, BUT I DO THINK THE GREEN SPACE IS IMPORTANT.
SO ON THE, UM, I GUESS ON THE MARKETING OF THIS SPACE, I MEAN, 'CAUSE BASICALLY YOU'RE GONNA KIND OF TELL ME, HEY, THERE'S THIS BIG SPACE AVAILABLE, RIGHT? AND SO WOULD WILLIAMSON COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP, WOULD THEY BE SOMEBODY WHO WOULD BE TO MARKET IT THROUGH OR HAVE THEM? BECAUSE WHAT YOU'RE REALLY LOOKING FOR IS MAYBE SOMEBODY MOVE THEIR HEADQUARTERS TO LEANDER OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
I MEAN, THAT'S, I MEAN, THAT'S, YOU NEED A GOOD CORE CUSTOMER.
THE WILLIAMSON COUNTY ACCOUNT DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP IS A, A GREAT GROUP.
I THINK THERE'S DIFFERENT TOOLS THAT LANDOWNERS WHO WANNA DEVELOP CAN, CAN DO.
THERE'S A CERTIFIED, UH, SIDE PROGRAM, UM, THAT, UH, THAT'S, THAT'S OPERATED, THAT'S, UH, THAT LANDOWNERS ARE DEVELOPERS, UM, WANT TO HAVE A EXTRA ASSET AND MARKING THEIR, THEIR SITE CAN, UH, CAN DO AS AS WELL.
AND, UM, THAT HELPS SERVE, UM, THAT HELPS SHOW THAT THE SITES ARE, UH, SHOVEL READY AND UM, AND READY TO GO.
SO, SO THERE ARE DIFFERENT MECHANISMS, UH, AND, AND TOOLS OUT THERE THAT, AND, AND WHEN WILL THE HERO WAY PART BE COMPLETED THAT THE COUNTY'S DOING?
[00:55:03]
THAT'S A LOADED QUESTION.WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF COMPLETED? WELL, THAT PEOPLE CAN GET IN AND OUT IF THEY WORK THERE AND THEY WANT TO DRIVE HOME, THERE WILL BE A FEW LANES THERE IN A YEAR, MAYBE FULL BUILD OUT.
CAN I ASK A QUESTION? I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING TARDY AND I APOLOGIZE IF I ASK SOMETHING THAT'S ALREADY BEEN ADDRESSED, BUT LOOKING AT THAT CIRCLE, I'M JUST CURIOUS, AND I ALSO WANT TO ASK ANOTHER QUESTION AFTER I ASK THIS ONE BECAUSE, UM, I ASKED THAT, I DON'T KNOW, A YEAR OR SO AGO WHEN WE HAD A PROJECT BEFORE US, BUT RANDALL, DO PEOPLE EVER, THEY HAVE CONCERNS, DO BUSINESSES HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE LACK OF DENSITY OF HOUSING IN THAT EMPLOYMENT AREA FOR LIKE, CUSTOMERS THAT MIGHT VISIT THEIR BUSINESSES OR WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO ATTRACT THEIR ON THE, ON THE CONCERNS? IS IT RESIDENTS THAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO? RIGHT.
PEOPLE THAT WILL VISIT THOSE, THOSE BUSINESSES.
YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THAT'S A LOT OF VACANT LAND OVER THERE THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT ON THAT MAP.
I IT'S ASKING ABOUT THE, THE, THE, UH, DENSITY.
ARE THE BUSINESSES CONCERNED ABOUT THE DENSITY? PROBABLY MORE ON THE COMMERCIAL SIDE RATHER THAN THE IT DEPENDENCE ON WHAT TYPE OF BUSINESS? I WOULD IMAGINE IT IT WOULD BE ON THE, ON THE RETAIL, UH, SIDE.
RETAIL DOES FOLLOW, UM, ROOFTOPS AND AND DENSITY.
SO, SO YES, FROM A, FROM A RETAIL, UH, STANDPOINT, HAVING MORE, MORE DENSITY WOULD, WOULD CERTAINLY HELP OUT.
DID YOU FORESEE BASICALLY MOST OF THAT BEING APARTMENTS AND CONDOS IN THAT AREA, RIGHT? NO, NOT IN THE EMPLOYMENT CENTER.
AND THAT WAS MY FOLLOW UP QUESTION 'CAUSE I'D ASKED, I THINK THE EMPLOYMENT CENTER ALLOWS FOR ZERO TO 30%, UH, RESIDENTIAL, DID THAT GET REVISED OR, WELL, I THOUGHT IT WAS ZERO TO 30 AND THEN WE WEREN'T SURE.
SO WE, WE CHANGED IT, UM, JAN, JANUARY MAYBE, UM, TO 0%, UNLESS IT'S PART OF A VERTICAL MIXED USE BUILDING.
BUT VERTICAL MIXED USE IS NOT WORKING.
SO WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT IS LETTING GO OF THAT A LITTLE BIT AND ALLOWING IT TO BE MORE HORIZONTAL BASED ON THE FEEDBACK WE GOT FROM SOMEONE THAT'S DEVELOPING THE NORTH LINE AND WHAT THEY'VE SEEN FROM A LOT OF FEEDBACK FROM DIFFERENT WELL, IT'S NOT JUST THEM.
SO WE'VE HEARD FROM SEVERAL DEVELOPERS.
UH, CAN COUNCIL RECEIVE THE, THE PACKET OF SLIDES, PLEASE? YES.
UM, AND THAT WENT OVER SOME OF THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE AREA THAT ARE WORKING, WORKING, I GUESS JUST FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH.
I, I WOULD RATHER SEE, AND I I MAYBE Y'ALL WOULD TOO, THE LARGE CAMPUS TYPE, UM, THINGS GO IN THERE THAN, THAN JUST THE INDIVIDUAL LITTLE WAREHOUSE TYPE THINGS.
IT WOULD BE MORE ATTRACTIVE FOR THE AREA.
AND BECAUSE THE NORTHERN SIDE, KIND AND NORTHEAST SIDE OF THE EMPLOYMENT CENTER IS VERY NEAR AN EXISTING RESIDENTIAL AREA, YOU KNOW, I JUST THINK THAT'S A BETTER FIT FOR THE AREA.
I'VE BEEN BY BOTH OF THE APPLE CAMPUSES ON FARMER.
MY SON LIVES IN THAT DIRECTION, SO I'M ALWAYS GOING BY THOSE AND THEY'RE GOOD LOOKING DEVELOPMENTS AND I'D LOVE TO SEE SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN THERE.
SO WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED FROM US? I, I FEEL LIKE I HAVE DIRECTION.
UH, P AND Z DID Y'ALL HAVE ANYTHING ELSE? I JUST HAVE A QUESTION 'CAUSE YOU KNOW, STAFF IS UNDERNEATH THE SAME CONSTRAINTS, OR LEAST THE PLANNING STAFF IS UNDERNEATH THE SAME CONSTRAINTS THAT P AND Z IS THAT COUNCIL DOESN'T HAVE, LIKE WE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE.
SO I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND ALL OF YOUR APPETITE TO ENTERTAIN SOME OF THESE DEVELOPMENTS.
'CAUSE IT DOESN'T DO ANY GOOD FOR US AS A CITY TO GO OUT AND INVITE PEOPLE IN AND IT, AND IT DOESN'T PASS THROUGH.
RIGHT? AND SO I JUST WANTED TO KNOW KIND OF YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS AROUND IT, COUNSEL? YEAH, I HAVE, I HAVE A LITTLE BIT.
UM, JUST ONE LITTLE QUICK ONE WOULD BE, UM, I DON'T THINK MYSELF AND MOST OF THE, MOST OF THE CITY, UM, HAD, WOULD HAVE THE APPETITE OF PUTTING US IN A POSITION WHERE WE COULD HAVE LARGE AMOUNTS OF MULTIFAMILY WITHOUT BEING AGGRESSIVE.
ACTUALLY, I'M OKAY WITH AGGRESSIVE ASKS IF WE'RE GONNA BE ALLOWING MORE FLEXIBILITY, WHICH I THINK IS GONNA BE NECESSARY TO GET THINGS THAT ACCOMPLISHED IN THE CITY, I'M OKAY WITH US ASKING AGGRESSIVELY FOR A, A PHASING PLAN, LIKE AN AGGRESSIVE PHASING PLAN IN THAT, IN THAT ASPECT WHERE WE ARE GIVING HIGHER LEVELS OF FLEXIBILITY THAN WE'VE DONE BEFORE TO GIVE MORE FREEDOM THERE.
BUT WE ARE GETTING SOME TYPE OF, UM, SOME TYPE OF GUARANTEES IN THERE.
AND I THINK THAT WOULD BE VERY IMPORTANT.
ANYONE ELSE SAT OH, YOUR MIC'S, YOUR MIC'S OFF.
I THINK, I THINK IT'D BE GREAT TO HAVE SOMETHING LIKE A CAMPUS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
MY FEAR IS, IS THAT WE KIND OF GO THAT WAY AND THEN WE END UP WITH IT BEING PARCELED AND THEN WE END UP WITH A BUNCH OF HOMES THAT DON'T WANT ANYTHING NEXT TO 'EM.
AND WE, AND, AND WE DON'T HAVE TRANSITION ZONES AND ALL THAT AND IT JUST ENDS UP BEING A BUNCH OF HOMES.
[01:00:01]
THAT WITH THAT.BUT I THINK IF WE CAN FIND THE RIGHT PERSON, IF WE CAN GO OUT THERE AND SET THIS UP RIGHT AND BE FLEXIBLE TO WORK WITH SOMEBODY, I THINK WE CAN GET IT DONE.
AND I, I'D LIKE THAT, I WOULD BE IN FAVOR OF IT AS LONG AS IT MAKES SENSE.
UM, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T, WHEN THE LAST TIME SOMETHING THERE CAME TO US, I, I WASN'T READY TO DIE ON THE HILL TO SAY NO MULTIFAMILY.
BUT IF IT MAKES SENSE AND YOU CAN BRING US THE COMMERCIAL FIRST AND SHOW US THAT YOU HAVE A PLAN TO DEVELOP IT, UM, THEN WE CAN HAVE THAT DISCUSSION.
YOU KNOW, IT'S GOTTA BE THEN EMPLOYMENT CENTERED EMPLOYMENT FIRST AND EVERYTHING ELSE FOLLOWS FROM THAT, IN MY OPINION.
UM, ANYBODY ELSE? I WAS JUST GONNA ASK THE QUESTION.
ARE YOU ABLE TO POINT, NOT THAT YOU HAVE TO PUBLICLY SAY IT, BUT ABLE TO POINT TO SOME DEVELOPMENTS THAT DECIDED AGAINST COMING HERE BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE THAT FLEXIBILITY? NO.
I'LL JUST SAY THAT IF I CAN, I'LL JUST SAY I'M IN FAVOR OF THAT AS WELL.
UM, MY CONCERN IS WHEN YOU LAY 22 TO 43, I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY PLANS FOR THAT ROADWAY TO BE EXPANDED AND HERO.
I KNOW IT'S GONNA BE A BIG ROADWAY DOWN THE ROAD AND WITH TITAN ALREADY COMING, HARMONY SCHOOL COMING AND ADDING OTHER THINGS OVER THERE, AND IT'S ALREADY A MOUNT HOUSE AND REALLY YOU'RE ONLY GONNA GET ONE EXTRA LANE AND THAT'S THE CENTER TURN LANE.
AND THE FIRST PHASE OF THAT PROJECT, FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, WHEN WE HAD THE, UH, PRESENTATION BACK IN THE SPRING.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANY WAY FOR US TO WORK WITH THE COUNTY TO SEE IF MAYBE THEY CAN, UH,
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS FROM ANYONE? ALL RIGHT, IF WE'RE ALL GOOD, THEN I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR SHOWING UP.
IT'S BEEN KIND OF SHORT NOTICE AND WE BROUGHT YOU OUT HERE A FEW TIMES.
IT'S BEEN FANTASTIC INPUT AND WE APPRECIATE YOU.
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEW CHAIR AND, UH, THANK YOU TO ALL STAFF THAT HELPED PUT THIS TOGETHER TONIGHT.
WITH THAT, WE ARE GOING TO ADJOURN THE BRIEFING WORKSHOP AT 6:38 PM PLEASE BE BACK AT SEVEN O'CLOCK FOR OUR REGULAR MEETING.
[5. Open Meeting, Invocation and Pledges of Allegiance.]
GOOD EVENING.TODAY IS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST, 2024.
AND THE TIME IS 7:01 PM AND THIS IS THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE LEAN CITY COUNCIL.
SHANE O'BRIEN WITH ROCK POINT CHURCH WILL BE PROVIDING THE INVOCATION, FOLLOWING THE INVOCATION.
PLEASE REMAIN STANDING FOR THE PLEDGES OF ALLEGIANCE.
FATHER, WE WANT TO PAUSE FOR A MOMENT AND IN THIS MOMENT JUST ACKNOWLEDGE YOU AND FATHER, WE DO THAT WITH A GRATEFUL HEART, ESPECIALLY FOR THE GIFT OF COMMUNITY AND THE PRIVILEGE THAT WE GET TO SERVE ONE ANOTHER.
AND FATHER, WE JUST WANNA THANK YOU FOR OUR GREAT CITY OF LEANDER.
AND SO, LORD, TONIGHT WE JUST WANT TO ASK FOR YOUR WISDOM IN THE DECISIONS THAT ARE MADE HERE TONIGHT, AND THAT YOU WOULD GIVE EACH CITY COUNCIL MEMBER CLARITY.
FATHER, WOULD YOU HELP THEM TO HAVE COMPASSION AND GIVE THEM THE COURAGE TO LEAD WITH INTEGRITY AND A HEART THAT DOES WHAT IS BEST AND GOOD, UH, FOR ALL.
AND AND GOD MADE THE DISCUSSIONS TONIGHT BE RESPECTFUL.
AND MAY THEIR ACTIONS TONIGHT MOVE US FORWARD WITH, WITH PURPOSE IN OUR CITY AND THAT THEIR FOCUS WOULD BE UNITED ON THE WELLBEING OF EACH CITIZEN HERE.
AND SO, FATHER, I WANT TO ASK YOU VERY SPECIFICALLY TO BLESS THE FAMILIES OF LEANDER.
AND FATHER, WOULD YOU BLESS THE BUSINESSES THAT CALL THIS PLACE HOME? AND GOD, WOULD YOU GUIDE US ALL TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT, THAT YOU'VE PUT IN OUR PATH? AND SO, FATHER, PLEASE, UH, WOULD YOU HELP US TONIGHT TO HONOR YOU IN THIS MEETING BY REFLECTING ON THE LOVE AND THE JUSTICE THAT YOU CALL EACH ONE OF US TO SHOW OUR FELT, HUMAN BEINGS? AND FATHER, WE ASK THIS ALL IN YOUR SON'S NAME, JESUS CHRIST, AMEN.
AND PUT 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, HONOR THE TEXAS FLAG.
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO BE TEXAS.
ONE STATE UNDER GOD, ONE AN INDIVISIBLE.
[6. Roll Call.]
[01:05:01]
CITY SECRETARY CRABTREE, WILL YOU PLEASE CALL ROLE COUNCIL MEMBER C BATTALION PARKER.HERE, COUNCIL MEMBER MACKLE HERRERA.
HERE, COUNCIL MEMBER DAVID MCDONALD.
HERE, MAYOR PRO TEM NICOLE THOMPSON.
PRESENT COUNCIL MEMBER CHRIS ERNIE.
HERE, COUNCIL MEMBER BECKY ROSS.
COUNCIL IS ELIGIBLE TO DO BUSINESS.
ITEM NUMBER SEVEN IS NON AGENDA ITEM, PUBLIC COMMENTS.
FOR ITEMS ON THE AGENDA, I WILL CALL ON SPEAKERS PRIOR TO THE DISCUSSION OF THE AGENDA ITEM.
AND DURING THE PUBLIC HEARING, INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE SUBMITTED COMMENTS VIA THE WEBSITE WILL ONLY HAVE POSITIONS READ INTO THE RECORD.
ANY WRITTEN COMMENTS HAVE BEEN SHARED WITH THE COUNSEL AND WILL BE MADE A PART OF THE OFFICIAL RECORD.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT DURING PUBLIC COMMENTS, THIS IS A TIME FOR YOU TO TALK TO COUNSEL.
IT IS NOT A TIME THAT WE CAN HAVE BACK AND FORTH CONVERSATION.
UM, WITH THAT, I DON'T HAVE ANYBODY SIGNED UP FOR COMMENTS TONIGHT.
WAS THERE ANYBODY WHO WISH TO COMMENT ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT ON THE AGENDA? ALL RIGHT, WE ARE MOVING RIGHT
[8. Staff Reports
]
FIRST WE HAVE AN UPDATE ON POLICE COPS GRANT AWARD WITH POLICE CHIEF MITTEN.
IS THIS ON? IS IT, I DIDN'T SEE THE GREEN LIGHT.
WELL THANK YOU MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
SO, UH, THIS HAS BEEN A, UH, A YEAR IN THE MAKING WHEN WE PUT IN FOR THIS PARTICULAR GRANT THAT WE RECEIVED.
SO I'M GONNA SAY THIS SLOWLY 'CAUSE IF YOU SAY IT TOO FAST, IT, IT'S A TONGUE TWISTER.
SO, UH, THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OFFICES OF THE COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLICING SERVICE, AND THAT'S A LOT TO SAY RIGHT THERE.
UM, FINALLY AND, UH, I GUESS WOULD SAY ACCEPTED AND APPROVED AND AWARDED US ON SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2024, UH, $236,000 FOR A FEDERAL GRANT THAT WE PUT IN FOR, I WANNA SAY IT WAS JUST ABOUT OVER A YEAR AGO.
UM, THE BEAUTY OF IT IS THERE'S NO MATCH ON THAT.
SO THAT'S ALWAYS AWESOME BECAUSE WE'RE NOT REQUIRED TO, TO GIVE THEM ANY FUNDS.
UM, THE GOAL OF THIS, AND I'LL READ THIS HERE, OF THIS GRANT PROGRAM, IS TO INCREASE THE COMMUNITY POLICING CAPACITY AND CRIME PREVENTION EFFORTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.
SO WHAT WE DID IS WE KIND OF LOOKED AND LOOKED AT OUR, UH, OUR DEPARTMENT AS A WHOLE TO KIND OF LOOK AT WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WOULD, UH, WOULD FIT INTO THAT PARTICULAR GUIDELINE.
AND THE THREE THINGS THAT WE WERE, AND WE TALKED ABOUT IT QUITE A BIT OVER THIS LAST YEAR, WERE, UM, THE THREE THINGS, THE THREE THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE FUNDED WERE THE LICENSE PLATE CAMERAS, WHICH WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHICH, WHICH, UH, THE COMPANY NAME'S FLOCK, BUT IT'S A, UH, LICENSE PLATE READER, A FORENSIC COMPUTER WORKS STATION, WHICH IS GONNA ALLOW US TO DOUBLE UP ON THE EFFORTS OF US TO BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD, AND I USE THE WORD DUMPING CELL PHONES AND THINGS LIKE THAT THAT COME IN FROM EITHER CRIME SCENES OR ACCIDENTS OR THINGS LIKE THAT.
UH, THE OLD WAY WAS YOU SEND IT TO THE STATE AND YOU HOPE WITHIN 30 TO 45 TO 90 DAYS YOU GET SOME KIND OF RESULTS.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO PURCHASE A COMPUTER, UH, A COUPLE YEARS AGO, BUT BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF PHONES AND THINGS LIKE THAT THAT ARE OUT AT ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT WE DEAL WITH, IT'S ALREADY SLOWED DOWN THAT.
SO THIS COMPUTER'S GONNA ABLE US TO, TO SPEED UP THAT PROCESS AND, AND GET THIS, UH, INFORMATION A LOT QUICKER.
BUT THE ONE I REALLY WANNA TALK MORE ABOUT WAS OUR DISPATCH RADIO CONSULATE, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW WE ONLY HAVE THREE CONSOLES WITHIN OUR COMMUNICATIONS CENTER RIGHT NOW.
AND, UH, WHEN WE PUT THIS IN, WE DIDN'T REALLY, WE WERE KIND OF KIND OF ANALYZING THE CALLS THAT WE HAD, BUT THIS WAS OUR RECORD YEAR FOR CALLS FOR SERVICE THAT CAME IN.
WE HAD OVER 44,000 CALLS THAT CAME IN TO THE DEPARTMENT, UH, LAST YEAR.
AND IF YOU PUT THAT INTO PERSPECTIVE, WE HAD THREE CONSOLES THAT WERE TAKING THAT IN, UH, WHICH ARE PHONE CALLS AND THEN OFFICERS BEING DISPATCHED OUT.
SO ADDING THAT EXTRA CONSOLE AND THEN ALSO WITH YOUR SUPPORT FOR ALLOWING US TO APPLY FOR THE GRANT AND YOUR SUPPORT OF ALSO, UH, FUNDING TO ADDITIONAL, UH, COMMUNICATION OPERATORS, WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO GET THAT FOURTH CONSOLE UP AND RUNNING AND PUT DISPATCHERS ON THAT ONE SO WE CAN GET THE ANSWERING POINT FOR THE, UH, CITIZENS FASTER AND THE CALLS CAN GET SENT OUT OR TO US, AND THEN WE CAN DISPATCH OFFICERS OUT THERE QUICKER.
SO WE JUST THANK YOU GUYS FOR, FOR ALLOWING US TO, TO PUT IN FOR THIS AND JUST SUPPORT THROUGH THIS PROCESS BECAUSE TO ME THAT'S A HUGE PIECE OF WHAT WE DO IS JUST BEING ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF THE CITIZENS AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN, ESPECIALLY WITH IN COMMUNICATIONS, WHICH IS SUPER, SUPER IMPORTANT.
SO, BUT I ALSO CAN'T TAKE THE CREDIT FOR IT BECAUSE, UM, OUR FINANCE DEPARTMENT WHO'S BEEN AMAZING THROUGH THIS PROCESS, MS. SARAH, WHO HAS BEEN AWESOME.
I DON'T KNOW IF SHE WORKED FOR THEM, BUT SHE KNEW I WAS, THE LITTLE QUIRKS AND LITTLE TURNS AND THE LITTLE ISSUES THAT WE RAN INTO AND THE CODES.
AND MS. PAM WAS ALSO, I KNOW SHE'S GOT SOME OTHER THINGS SHE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT, BUT I JUST APPRECIATE THEIR HELP ON, ON ANY OF THAT.
SO DID YOU GUYS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON ANY OF THIS PART BEFORE WE I MOVE ON TO THEIR PART? THAT'S ALL.
ALRIGHT, MS. PAM, HE'S RIGHT THERE.
GOOD EVENING MAYOR COUNCIL, I'M PAM KABY.
WE HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO VISIT YET.
UH, I HAVE BEEN THE ACCOUNTING MANAGER FOR THE CITY OF LEAN SINCE 2022 AND OCTOBER 1ST.
I MOVED INTO THE ROLE OF THE GRANT ADMINISTRATOR POSITION FOR THE CITY.
AS WE ALL ROLL OUT THESE NEW GRANT SERVICES, WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO BE ROLLING OUT SOME GRANT SERVICES BECAUSE WE RECOGNIZE THAT THERE'S FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES OUT THERE THAT COULD BENEFIT
[01:10:01]
THE CITY THAT WITH OUR CIP AND OUR OTHER PRIORITY PROJECTS THAT WE JUST HAVEN'T HAD THE RESOURCES OR THE CAPACITY TO GO AFTER.SO WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO BE MOVING FORWARD IN THAT.
AND I JUST WANTED TO SHARE SOME OF OUR NEXT STEPS AND WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT.
SO WHAT'S NEXT IS THAT WE ROLLED OUT A SURVEY TO OUR DEPARTMENTS.
THAT WAS OCTOBER 31ST, 1ST OF NOVEMBER, ASKING THEM FOR SOME NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND SOME GRANT OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE COULD BE PURSUING.
AS YOU MAY REMEMBER, IN OCTOBER YOU MET JUDY LANGFORD WITH LANGFORD GRANT CONSULTING SERVICES.
SO WE'RE GONNA USE THIS NEEDS SURVEY TO KIND OF COMMUNICATE WITH THEM SO THAT THEY ARE AWARE OF WHAT OUR PRIORITIES ARE AND WHERE OUR CIP PROJECTS IS, SO THAT AS THEY'RE MONITORING GRANT OPPORTUNITIES, WE CAN MAKE SURE WE'RE VERY STRATEGIC IN HOW WE GO AFTER THOSE GRANTS AND NOT USING OUR RESOURCES, JUST CHASING GRANTS THAT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THEY SUPPORT OUR MISSION AND YOUR GOALS.
UM, SO WE ROLLED THAT OUT AND WE PLAN TO BE PUTTING TOGETHER A LITTLE PRESENTATION THAT WILL BRING TO YOU AT THE RETREAT THAT SHARES WHAT OTHER DEPARTMENTS WHERE THEY WOULD LIKE TO DO, UH, GRANT WISE AND SOME OF THE GRANTS THAT WE MAY BE PURSUING AT THAT TIME.
UM, WE'RE ALSO GONNA SHARE THE, THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY WITH OUR CIP, UH, I'M SORRY, WITH OUR GRANT CONSULTANT, JUDY LANGFORD.
SO THAT, UM, WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGES WHERE OUR GOALS ARE AND WHERE WE'RE GONNA MOVE FORWARD WITH SOME GRANT SERVICES.
WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING, UM, WRITTEN POLICY AND PROCEDURES SO THAT WE ACTUALLY HAVE A FORMAL DOCUMENT THAT GUIDES HOW WE'RE GOING TO MANAGE OUR GRANTS AND TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE MEETING ALL THE REGULATIONS AND WORKING WITH OUR STAFF.
WE'LL ROLL OUT SOME TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THEM ALONG WITH OUR CONSULTANT BECAUSE ULTIMATELY OUR DEPARTMENT IS OUR SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS AND, AND THEY HAVE TO BE INVOLVED IN THE GRANT MANAGEMENT.
SO WE'RE JUST GONNA MAKE SURE EVERYBODY HAS THE TOOLS THEY NEED.
SO THAT'S JUST KIND OF A QUICK OVERVIEW OF WHERE WE'RE AT MOVING FORWARD.
IS THERE ANYTHING, ANY QUESTIONS I CAN ANSWER FOR YOU? NO QUESTION, BUT I'M SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS AND I LIKE THE PLAN YOU HAVE LAID OUT AND I'M EXCITED TO HEAR ABOUT THE UPDATES.
WELL, WE APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT.
UH, I JUST WANNA SAY THE SAME THING.
SO WE, WE HOPE WE KEEP SEEING YOU HERE,
UP NEXT IS BRUSHY CREEK REGIONAL UTILITY AUTHORITY, BCRA, PHASE TWO AND TWO, A PROJECT UPDATE WITH AARON ARCHER, VICE PRESIDENT OF WALKER PARTNERS, AND SAM ROBERTS, GENERAL MANAGER OF BCRA.
GOOD EVENING, HONORABLE MAYOR, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS AND CITY MANAGER.
I'M THE GENERAL MANAGER FOR THE B-C-R-U-A AND AARON ARCHER WITH WALKER PARTNERS AND I ARE HERE TONIGHT TO GIVE Y'ALL A, UH, AN UPDATE ON WHAT'S CALLED PHASE TWO AND PHASE TWO A AND THEN ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE.
AND, UH, I HAVE A PRETTY SMALL ROLE MIX UP MAYBE IF QUESTIONS COME UP LATER, BUT TAKE, I'M KIND OF THE, THE HISTORIAN ROLE 'CAUSE I WAS BEEN HERE SINCE THE BEGINNING AND JUST, UH, SEE IF I CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO ADVANCE THIS.
I THINK THAT MIGHT BE MY ONE SLIDE.
UH, THAT PICTURE WAS TAKEN JUST A FEW DAYS AGO, OR VERY RECENTLY.
THAT'S, UH, WHAT IT, WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE RIGHT NOW.
AND, UM, BUT ANYWAY, SO, SO, AND Y'ALL PROBABLY, PROBABLY MANY OF Y'ALL KNOW THE HISTORY OF THIS, UH, THAT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE WHOLE IDEA FOR THE PARTNERSHIP WAS BORN ACTUALLY IN 2005.
AND, AND IT STARTED WITH JUST CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN THE THREE CITIES AND, AND IT JUST, IT IT, IT STARTED SNOWBALLING.
AND BY 2007 WE HAD CREATED A LOCAL GOVERNMENT CORPORATION AND WE JUST STARTED GET, WE STARTED EXECUTING ALL SORTS OF AGREEMENTS.
WE, WE HAD A, WE CAME ALONG WITH A MASTER AGREEMENT, NOT IT, IT TOOK A, A COUPLE YEARS TO GET WHAT'S CALLED THE MASTER AGREEMENT.
'CAUSE WE WERE EXECUTING ILAS LIKE CRAZY BECAUSE WE, WE HAD TO GET STUFF PRE WE, BECAUSE WE WERE BUILDING ROADS THAT WE HAD TO PUT THESE BIG PIPELINES IN WITH THE ROADS AND, AND, AND IT'S, IT WAS AN AMAZING AND STILL IS AN AMAZING, UH, COOPERATIVE PARTNERSHIP TO WAIT, WE, WE DID EVERYTHING AND ARE STILL DOING EVERYTHING.
SO, SO ANYWAY, YOU KNOW, THAT EVERYTHING GOT ROLLING AND WE, AND WE STARTED HIRING ENGINEERING FIRMS AND DESIGNING THINGS AND, AND THE VERY FIRST PHASE WAS CALLED PHASE ONE A.
AND THAT'S BASICALLY, IT'S, IT'S ALL OF THE, ALL OF THE BUILDING YOU SEE THERE IN THE BACK.
AND, AND THEN TWO OF THOSE TRAINS AS, AS THEY CALL 'EM, TWO OF THOSE, UH, LONG SEDIMENTATION BASINS.
[01:15:01]
ANYWAY, THAT PHASE ONE A WAS FINISHED IN 2012.AND, AND, AND THEN WE DID A RE-RATING OF IT.
AND THEN PHASE ONE C STARTED CONSTRUCTION SOMEWHERE AROUND 18 OR 20, UH, 19.
BUT IN BETWEEN THAT TIME IS WHEN WE, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, THE, THE REALLY, THE, THE HALLMARK IDEA OF THE WHOLE PROJECT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE DEEP WATER INTAKE TO, TO IMPROVE DROUGHT SUSTAINABILITY, UH, FROM LAKE TRAVIS.
AND ALONG WITH THE TREATMENT AND, AND THE DISTRIBUTION, BUT THE, THE RAW WATER INTAKE, BEING ABLE TO HAVE THIS TUNNEL AND THIS STEEP INTAKE FAR OUT IN THE LAKE THAT, THAT'S BEEN SOMETHING THAT EVERYBODY'S TALKED ABOUT SINCE THE EARLY NINETIES.
AND SO ANYHOW, WE STARTED DESIGN ON THAT IN, IN 2015 WITH A PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING REPORT.
AND THAT TOOK LIKE THREE YEARS AND A HUGE EFFORT.
AND, AND SO, AND THE TEAM, THE THREE CITY TEAMS THAT, WHAT'S CALLED THE OPERATING COMMITTEE, WE ALL, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN MEET MEETING MONTHLY FOR, WHAT, 14 YEARS AND, AND TO DO ALL THIS STUFF.
BUT ANYWAY, UH, SO, SO WE GOT, UH, PHASE TWO DESIGN AND IT'S, AND IT STARTED CONSTRUCTION IN 2022, JUNE OF 2022.
AND, UH, ON A, ON A DAY BASIS, IT'S ABOUT HALF HALFWAY COMPLETE.
SO WE'LL PROBABLY GO IN A LITTLE MORE DETAIL ON THAT LATER.
UM, OH, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE STATS AND, AND I'LL, I'LL STOP TALKING IN A SECOND, BUT THE STORIES ARE REALLY INTERESTING THAT, 'CAUSE THERE WAS A MEETING LIKE IN, IT'S LIKE IN 2006 WHERE EACH CITY HAD TO COME TO THE TABLE AND SAY, HERE'S HOW MUCH WATER WE WANT FULL BUILD OUT.
AND THERE WAS NO TURNING BACK ONCE YOU DID THAT, ALL THE PIPES, EVERYTHING HAS BEEN PLANNED AROUND THAT SINCE ALL THOSE YEARS.
AND LEANDER CAME TO THE TABLE WITH 50 MGD, I'LL NEVER FORGET IT 'CAUSE WE WERE LIKE, WOW, REALLY? AND, AND, AND, AND, AND Y'ALL WERE LIKE, YEAH, WE'RE GONNA NEED IT.
AND LO AND BEHOLD, YOU KNOW, IT'S ALL WORKING OUT AND, UH, YEAH.
SO, SO YEAH, Y'ALL, AND THEN YOU ADD THE 12 MGD FROM YOUR SANDY CREEK WATER PLANT, YOUR TOTAL ALL IN IS 62 MGD, WHICH IS A NICE HEALTHY AMOUNT OF WATER FOR A LOT, A LOT OF PROSPEROUS GROWTH OUT HERE.
UM, I THINK THAT WAS IT FOR MY INTRO.
AND THEN AARON, AARON WILL, UH, TELL YOU THE REAL INTERESTING TECHNICAL STUFF.
SO THE, THE FIRST PART OF THE PRESENTATION, I WANTED TO GIVE SOME, SOME BACKGROUND ON PHASE TWO, THE RAW WATER DELIVERY SYSTEM TO LET YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT IT IS AND THE STATUS OF THAT PROJECT.
AS SAM HAD MENTIONED, IT'S PRIMARILY BEING DRIVEN BY THE NEED TO REDUCE DROUGHT VULNERABILITY.
THESE LONG RECURRING DROUGHTS THAT WE KEEP HAVING HAVE RENDERED NOT ONLY B UAS FLOATING INTAKE, BUT MANY OTHER FLOATING INTAKES ON THE LAKE AND OPERABLE.
SO WE NEEDED TO HAVE A PLAN TO MOVE AWAY FROM USING THE CURRENT FLOATING INTAKE.
THE OTHER REASON IS THAT THE EXISTING FLOATING INTAKE IS CAPACITY LIMITED.
SO WE NEED THIS SYSTEM TO COME ONLINE BEFORE WE REACH THE MAXIMUM CAPACITY WE CAN DELIVER FROM THE FLOATING INTAKE.
UH, THE ULTIMATE CAPACITY OF THE SYSTEM WILL BE 145 MGD 62 OF THAT WOULD BE GOING TO LEANDRO ONCE IT'S AT BUILD OUT, UH, THE MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE PHASE TWO SYSTEM, WHICH YOU CAN SEE IN THE MAP HERE.
IF YOU START, AND NOW I KNOW ONE OF THESE IS KIND OF A SPOTLIGHT.
IS IT THAT ONE? TOP ONE? TOP ONE? OH YEAH.
THE RAW WATER INTAKE IN THE LAKE AT A VERY DEEP LOCATION NEAR THE, THE MAIN COLORADO RIVER CHANNEL IS, UH, OFF THE SHORELINE THERE FROM THE VILLAGE OF VALENTI.
AND IT CONVEYS THE WATER THROUGH THIS BLUE LINE, WHICH IS A DEEP SUBSURFACE TUNNEL TO THE REMOTELY LOCATED PUMP STATION, UH, WHICH IS SANDWICHED IN BETWEEN CEDAR PARK'S WATER TREATMENT PLANT AND SANDY CREEK PARK ON LIME CREEK ROAD.
THAT PUMP STATION THEN SENDS THE WATER BACK ACROSS THE LAKE THROUGH THE GOLD LINE, WHICH IS ANOTHER DEEP TUNNEL CALLED THE TRANSMISSION TUNNEL, UH, OVER WHERE IT CONNECTS TO AN EXISTING PIPELINE BUILT IN 2012 INDICATED BY THE RED LINE, WHICH IS A 78 INCH DIAMETER PIPELINE THERE AT THE END OF TRAILS AND ROAD.
ULTIMATELY, THE SYSTEM WILSON WATER TO THE BICHER WAY WATER PLANT, BUT IT'LL ALSO SEND WATER TO LEE SANDY CREEK WATER PLANT AND CEDAR PARKS PLANT FOR CONSTRUCTION.
UH, WHEN WE DID THE PROJECT, WE ENDED UP WITH SIX PROPOSERS COMING AFTER THE PROJECT AND A JOINT VENTURE BETWEEN THA AND SAK WAS SELECTED TO BUILD THE PROJECT.
GENERALLY, THA IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BUILDING THINGS ABOVE GROUND AND SAK HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR BUILDING THE TUNNELS
[01:20:01]
AND THINGS BELOW GROUND, NTP WAS ISSUED IN JUNE OF 22.UH, WE HAVE A FIVE YEAR CONSTRUCTION DURATION, WHICH PUTS US TODAY AT JUST ABOUT EXACTLY 50% ON A TIME BASIS FOR BUILDING THIS, UH, CONTRACT.
THE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT AMOUNT IS $225 MILLION AND A LITTLE BIT OF CHANGE.
AND TO DATE, WE'VE PAID OUT ABOUT $109 MILLION FOR A COMPLETED WORK PUTTING US AT ABOUT 49% ON A COST BASIS.
I WANNA SPEND JUST A MINUTE KIND OF GOING THROUGH THE STATUS OF CONSTRUCTION ON SOME OF THESE MAIN PROJECT ELEMENTS, STARTING WITH THE MAIN CONSTRUCTION SHAFT.
I KNOW THAT A NUMBER OF YOU HAVE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO GO OUT THERE AND TAKE A VISIT AND GETTING A LITTLE BIRD CAGE AND GO DOWN THE BIG DEEP SHAFT.
IT'S 300 FEET DEEP, 30 FOOT DIAMETER.
UH, IT'S REALLY THE HEART OF THE PROJECT RIGHT NOW WHERE ALL OF THE TUNNELING IS OCCURRING, GOING BOTH DIRECTIONS.
EVERYTHING IN AND OUT FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE TUNNELS GOES THROUGH THIS SHAFT.
AND WHEN ALL THAT TUNNELING IS DONE AND EVERYTHING HAS BEEN FLOODED, THIS WILL BE REPURPOSED AS A WET WELL WITH SOME PUMPS.
THE CONTRACTOR MADE EXTREMELY GOOD PROGRESS ON BUILDING THIS SHAFT.
THEY GOT THE ENTIRE THING MINED AND THEN LINED, UH, WITH CONCRETE IN SIX MONTHS.
ONCE UNDERGROUND, THERE'S A VERY LARGE HORSESHOE SHAPED SUCTION CHAMBER.
IT'S ABOUT, UH, 87 FEET LONG, 35 FEET WIDE, AND 26 FEET HIGH.
AND THIS IS A LARGE CHAMBER FOR THE PUMPS TO SUCK WATER OUT OF IN THE FUTURE.
THAT WAS THE NEXT ELEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION, UH, THAT HAS BEEN COMPLETED WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE CONCRETE LINER.
THAT'LL BE JUST ABOUT THE LAST THING THAT THE CONTRACTOR DOES BEFORE WE DO FLOOD THE TUNNEL.
UH, AFTER THEY CONSTRUCTED THE SUCTION CHAMBER, THEY STARTED BY MINING OUT THE TRANSMISSION TUNNEL.
SO THIS IS THE SHORTER TUNNEL, IT'S 2,600 FEET LONG THAT GOES OVER TO TRAILS IN ROAD.
UH, IT WAS EXCAVATED BY AN 11 FOOT DIAMETER TUNNEL BORING MACHINE.
APPARENTLY ALL TUNNEL BORING MACHINES GET A NAME.
AND THIS ONE'S NAME WAS MISS CHELSEA.
YOU CAN SEE THE CUTTER HEAD ON IT.
I THINK IT WAS THE GRANDDAUGHTER OF THE PRESIDENT OF SAK.
UH, THEY DID COMPLETE ALREADY THAT EXCAVATION AND THEY'VE ALREADY LINED THAT TUNNEL.
UH, THE LINER SYSTEM WAS 78 INCH STEEL PIPE.
SO YOU CAN SEE SOME IMPRESSIONS HERE OF THE TUNNEL BORING MACHINE AS WELL AS THE OPERATION FOR COMPLETING THAT, UH, LINING.
ANOTHER MAJOR ELEMENT, A MAJOR ELEMENT OF THE PROJECT IS CONSTRUCTING SEVEN FAIRLY LARGE DIAMETER, ABOUT EIGHT FOOT DIAMETER SHAFTS AT THE PUMP STATION SITE.
THESE WILL BE 300 FEET DEEP AND WILL ALLOW THE PUMPS TO TAKE SUCTION OUT OF THAT UNDERGROUND SUCTION CHAMBER.
THIS IS AN ACTIVITY THAT THE CONTRACTOR IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON.
IT'S SOME OF THE MORE COMPLEX WORK ON THE PROJECT.
WE HAVE EXTREMELY TIGHT TOLERANCES FOR HOW THESE GET BUILT BECAUSE WE HAVE PUMPS TAKING SUCTION OUT OF THEM AND THEY NEED TO BE BUILT EXACTLY TO SPEC.
THIS CONSTRUCTION RIGHT NOW IS ONGOING AND THE CONTRACTOR HAS FALLEN BEHIND SCHEDULE ON THAT WORK A LITTLE BIT, WHICH I'LL EXPLAIN IN A MINUTE.
UH, THE INTAKE TUNNEL WAS CONSTRUCTED AFTER THE TRANSMISSION TUNNEL.
IT'S ALMOST 9,000 FEET LONG, GOING OUT TO THE INTAKE, UH, BENEATH THE VILLAGE OF VAE, ON AVERAGE, THREE TO 400 FEET BELOW GROUND, ALSO AN 11 FOOT DIAMETER TUNNEL.
AND THE CONTRACTOR, ONCE AGAIN COMPLETED IT WELL AHEAD OF THEIR PLAN SCHEDULE OF NINE MONTHS.
THEY ACTUALLY COMPLETED THE NINE, THE MINING IN THREE MONTHS.
AND AT THE END OF THAT, WORKING TWO SHIFTS A DAY, THEY WERE MINING OUT 200 FEET OF THAT TUNNEL PER DAY, MAKING EXTREMELY GOOD PROGRESS.
THEY'VE SINCE LINED MOST OF THAT TUNNEL, UM, AND THEY'RE ALMOST BACK NOW TO THE MAIN SHAFT OF THAT LINING SYSTEM.
THEY'LL WRAP THAT UP WITHIN A MATTER OF WEEKS.
WHILE THEY WERE WORKING ON THAT TUNNEL, THEY ALSO MOBILIZED A LARGE MARINE FLEET OUT IN LAKE TRAVIS.
IF YOU TOOK A BOAT RIDE OUT THERE OVER THE LAST YEAR, YOU PROBABLY SAW THAT OUT THERE BY STARNS ISLAND WITH A BUNCH OF CRANES.
UM, THEY DRILLED TWO LAKE TAPS INTO THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE, 10 FOOT DIAMETER DEEP SHAFTS THAT THEY PUT THIS EIGHT FOOT DIAMETER STEEL PIPE IN.
THERE'S FOUR DIFFERENT WITHDRAWAL ELEVATIONS ON THESE TWO LAKE TAPS, WHICH ALLOWS US TO TAKE WATER AT DIFFERENT ELEVATIONS IN LAKE TRAVIS BECAUSE IN THE SUMMERTIME, IF YOU GOT DIVE CERTIFIED IN THE LAKE, YOU KIND OF HAVE FELT WHEN YOU HIT THAT THERMIC CLINE AND IT GETS COLD WATER QUALITY BELOW THE THERMIC.
SO WE DON'T WANT TO DRAW WATER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE.
WE WANT DO IT NEAR THE SURFACE.
SO HAVING ALL THESE ELEVATIONS TO TAKE WATER OUT ALLOWS US TO ALWAYS TAKE THE HIGHEST QUALITY WATER OUT OF THE LAKE REGARDLESS OF THE LAKE LEVEL.
YOU CAN SEE SOME PHOTOS OF THEM INSTALLING THESE RISER PIPES IN THE LAKE BED.
AND THEN THOSE RISER PIPES SAT THERE WAITING FOR THE TUNNEL TO BE MINED UP UNDERNEATH THEM, WHICH
[01:25:01]
YOU CAN IMAGINE GOING 9,000 FOOT, UM, 400 FEET UNDERGROUND.AND HITTING THESE SHAFTS IS SOMETHING THESE CONTRACTORS ARE EQUIPPED TO DO, THEY'RE PREPARED TO DO.
BUT NEVERTHELESS, IT'S COMPLICATED WORK.
THERE'S A PHOTOGRAPH DOWN IN THE MIDDLE WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE SURVEYOR RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ALIGNMENT OF THAT TUNNEL HAVING A REALLY GOOD DAY WHEN THEY REALIZED THEY HAD GONE 9,000 FEET AND THEY WERE OFF CENTER LINE BY LESS THAN AN INCH.
SO THEY DID A GREAT JOB, UH, CONNECTING TO THOSE INTAKES.
IN THE LEFT PHOTOGRAPH YOU CAN SEE A PHOTO OF THE BULKHEAD, WHICH IS HOLDING BACK A HUNDRED FEET OF LAKE TRAVIS.
AND ONCE THEY MADE THOSE CONNECTIONS, THEY COULD THEN START LINING THAT INTAKE TUNNEL BACK WITH A ONE FOOT THICK CAST IN PLACE, CONCRETE LINER, TAKING IT BACKWARDS TO THE MAIN SHAFT ON SHORE ADJACENT TO THE INTAKE, UH, WE DID ACQUIRE A SITE TO CONSTRUCT A MAINTENANCE BUILDING.
THE PURPOSE OF THE MAINTENANCE BUILDING IS TO CONTROL INVASIVE MUSCLE GROWTH.
UH, WE KNEW EVEN BACK WHEN WE STARTED WORKING ON THIS, WHEN THERE WAS NO ZEBRA MUSSELS IN LAKE TRAVIS, THAT IT WAS REALLY JUST A MATTER OF TIME.
AND SO WE HAVE A MAINTENANCE BUILDING ON SHORE WITH SOME TREATMENT SYSTEMS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN KEEP ZEBRA MUSSELS OUT OF OUR RAW WATER DELIVERY SYSTEM BECAUSE THERE'S NO PLACE ON THE LAKE.
A ZEBRA MUSSEL WOULD RATHER BE THAN AN INTAKE SYSTEM WITH A CONSTANT FLOW OF WATER IS A FILTER FEEDER.
THEY CAN COLONIZE AND INFEST A RAW WATER SYSTEM EXTREMELY QUICKLY.
I EVEN PUT A PHOTO HERE OF ONE OF THE PUMPS FROM THE FLOATING INTAKE, AND THESE ARE ZEBRA MUSSELS THAT ATTACH TO THAT PUMP AFTER JUST ONE YEAR AFTER THEY HAD BEEN DETECTED IN THE LAKE.
SO THEY'RE VERY PROLIFIC AND WE NEED TO HAVE A PLAN TO CONTROL THEM.
EVENTUALLY, UH, WE'LL MOVE NEXT YEAR INTO THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PUMP STATION BUILDING.
UH, WE GOT VERY LARGE DIAMETER PIPE AND PUMPS IN THAT BUILDING, ABOUT 17,000 SQUARE FEET.
UH, BUT THAT WORK IS STILL A WAYS OFF BEFORE WE CAN START IT.
UH, LOOKING FORWARD AT THE SCHEDULE FOR PHASE TWO, SOME OF THE MAJOR UPCOMING WORK ACTIVITIES, UH, BASED ON THE CONTRACTOR'S LAST SCHEDULE THAT THEY SUBMITTED, THEY'VE NOW FALLEN BEHIND THE SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION DATE BY ABOUT A HUNDRED DAYS.
UH, THEY HAVE A REQUIREMENT NOW TO SUBMIT TO US A RECOVERY SCHEDULE.
THE RECOVERY SCHEDULE IS GONNA INCLUDE A NARRATIVE OF THE ACTIVITIES THAT THEY NEED TO TAKE AND ACTION THEY NEED TO TAKE TO GET BACK ON TRACK TO MAINTAIN OUR SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION DATE.
AND WE'RE AWAITING SUBMITTAL OF THAT SCHEDULE, ANTICIPATING THAT WE'LL RECEIVE IT NEXT WEEK.
IN THE MEANTIME, THEY'RE CONTINUING TO WORK ON THE LINER SYSTEM FOR THE INTAKE TUNNEL.
THEY'RE WORKING ON THESE BOARS AND CASINGS AT THE PUMP STATION SITE, TYING IN THE PIPELINE THERE AT THE END OF TRAILS IN ROAD TO THE EXISTING PIPELINE.
AND SOON THEY'LL START WORKING ON THE CONCRETE IN THE SUCTION CHAMBER.
NOW I'M GOING TO MOVE TO PHASE TWO A, THE WATER PLANT EXPANSION.
BUT MAYBE BEFORE I DO THAT, IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS ON PHASE TWO, I CAN ANSWER THOSE FIRST.
COUNSEL, DID YOU SAY WHAT THE, WHAT WAS THE CAUSE OF DELAY? I WAS THINKING ABOUT THOSE MUSCLES.
RIGHT NOW, THE CAUSE OF THE DELAY IS SOME OF THE SEQUENCING THAT THE CONTRACTOR HAS GONE THROUGH TO BUILD THESE INDIVIDUAL PUMP SHAFTS AT THE PUMP STATION.
THERE ARE SOME MATERIALS THAT THEY ORDERED THAT DIDN'T ARRIVE ON TIME AND THEY'VE, IT'S BEEN A STEEP LEARNING CURVE FOR THEM TO DO THAT WORK KNOWING THAT WE HAVE EXTREMELY STRINGENT TOLERANCES, THEY NEED TO GET IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.
SO THEY'RE MOVING SLOWER THROUGH THAT THAN THEY HAD ANTICIPATED IN THEIR ORIGINAL SCHEDULE.
SO HAVE THEY, UH, PICKED UP ANY TIME? WERE THEY FURTHER BEHIND AND NOW THEY'RE AT A HUNDRED? I'M WAITING FOR THE RECOVERY SCHEDULE TO SEE WHERE THEY ARE.
THE LAST SCHEDULE THAT THEY SUBMITTED TO US WAS A HUNDRED DAYS.
ANY OTHER COUNSEL COMMENTS? I JUST WANNA THANK YOU FOR STAYING ON TOP OF THE CONTRACTORS.
UM, THE DELAYS ARE ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE AND SO I APPRECIATE YOU STAYING ON TOP OF THEM AND ASKING FOR THAT RECOVERY SCHEDULE AND MAKING SURE THAT THEY, UM, MAKE THIS WORK UP.
'CAUSE THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT PROJECT TO US.
WE HAVE AN EXTREMELY EXPERIENCED FIELD TEAM OUT THERE AND THEY'RE KEEPING A VERY CLOSE EYE.
OH, UH, WHEN, UH, WE HAD WALKER PARTNERS HAD A PHOTOGRAPHER GO OUT THERE AT ONE POINT AND HE TOOK A DRONE PHOTO OF, OF THE SHAFT AND GENE ASKED ME TO PUT IT IN, SO I PUT IT IN FOR YOU.
SO IT'LL GO 300 FEET PRETTY QUICKLY.
[01:30:04]
IT'S NOT SCARY TO DO IT LIKE THAT, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK OVER THE EDGE, IT'S A LITTLE SCARY.ALL RIGHT, SO LET ME PIVOT TO THE PHASE TWO, A WATER TREATMENT PLANT EXPANSION.
SAM GAVE YOU A HISTORY OF THE RUNDOWN OF THE PRIOR EXPANSIONS WHEN THOSE WERE COMPLETED.
THIS ALSO SHOWS YOU THE CAPACITY OF EACH OF THOSE EXPANSIONS.
BUT RIGHT NOW I'M GONNA FOCUS ON PHASE TWO A.
AND PHASE TWO A WILL INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF THE B SURE UA PLANT UP TO ABOUT 64 MGD SCHEDULED TO BE COMPLETE IN 2027.
UH, CEDAR PARK IS NOT PARTICIPATING IN PHASE TWO A.
THEY DON'T NEED TO GET ADDITIONAL CAPACITY UNTIL THE, THE TWO PHASES DOWN THE ROAD.
UH, SO THIS IS A, AN EXPANSION FOR BOTH ROUND ROCK AND LEANDER ON A CAPACITY BASIS.
LEANER REPRESENTS 52.4% OF THIS EXPANSION, WHICH TRANSLATES TO 11.7 MGD, UH, BOOSTING LEAN ANDREW'S OVERALL CAPACITY AT THE TREATMENT PLANT UP TO 31.2 MGD.
ONCE WE'RE DONE, UH, SCHEDULE-WISE, WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THE MIDDLE OF FINAL DESIGN.
WE'RE WORKING ON THE 90% DESIGN SUBMITTAL, WE'LL COMPLETE DESIGN, AND THEN GO INTO SOME PERMITTING WORK WITH THE WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD IN TCEQ, ANTICIPATING THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO BID THE PROJECT, UH, LATE SPRING-ISH, DEPENDING ON HOW LONG IT'S IN REGULATORY REVIEW, LATE SPRING OF NEXT YEAR, AND THEN BE ABLE TO AWARD THAT CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT, UH, LATE SUMMER-ISH.
UH, GENERALLY MAYBE AROUND AUGUST WE'D BE COMING BACK TO YOU WITH A CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR PHASE TWO A AND THEN SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION WOULD BE LATE SPRING OF 2027 TO HAVE THAT ONLINE BEFORE WE MOVE INTO SUMMER DEMAND.
IN TERMS OF FUNDING, UH, BOTH LEANDER AND ROUND ROCK ARE ANTICIPATING USING TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD SWIFT FUNDS.
SWIFT FUNDS HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN USED, UH, FOR PHASE ONE C PH 1D PHASE TWO, UH, AND MANY OTHER MISCELLANEOUS PROJECTS.
UH, THE PHASE TWO, A TOTAL COST LOOKING AT BOTH CONSTRUCTION AND DESIGN IS AROUND $120 MILLION.
LEANDER ALLOCATION BASED ON THAT 52.4% IS ROUGHLY AROUND $60 MILLION.
THE, UH, THE SWIFT PROCESS INVOLVES SUBMITTING WHAT THEY CALL AN ABRIDGED APPLICATION, USUALLY THE VERY END OF JANUARY, BEGINNING OF FEBRUARY NEXT YEAR, WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD RECEIVES THESE RELATIVELY SHORT APPLICATIONS AND THEY RANK THEM AND THEN IDENTIFY WHO THEY WANT TO INVITE BACK TO SUBMIT A FULL FINAL APPLICATION.
AND THAT WOULD BE DUE IN MAY OF NEXT YEAR.
AND AGAIN, WE'VE GONE THROUGH THIS PROCESS MANY TIMES AS A GROUP LOANS WOULD THEN CLOSE, UM, NORMALLY ABOUT NOVEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER OF THAT, THAT YEAR.
SO TOWARDS THE END OF NEXT YEAR.
IN YOUR OPINION, SINCE THIS IS A REGIONAL PROJECT, DOES THAT HELP OUR ABILITY TO GET IN FRONT OF THEM FOR THE NEXT ROUND? IT ABSOLUTELY HELPS.
THEY, TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD ALMOST EVERY YEAR ASKS THAT THEY CAN BRING SOME OF THEIR FOLKS OUT HERE, DO A TOUR OF THE FACILITIES THEY SEE, BE SURE UUA IS REALLY KIND OF THE, THE BEST SHINING EXAMPLE OF A REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP.
SO THEY, THEY DO A LOT OF TOURS TO COME SEE, THEY WENT AND SAW THE PHASE TWO, THEY WENT AND SAW THE MARINE OPERATION, THEY'VE COME TO SEE THE PLANT.
I, I THINK WE'RE GONNA RANK VERY HIGHLY.
AND I BELIEVE THAT WAS MY LAST SLIDE.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ON PHASE TWO A OR FUNDING? THANK YOU, COUNSEL.
I WAS JUST GONNA SAY THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
WE, WE, I FEEL LIKE WE TALK ABOUT THIS A LOT SINCE BEING ON B-C-R-U-A.
AND SO WE GO OVER THIS IN OUR MEETINGS QUITE REGULARLY, BUT I APPRECIATE Y'ALL BEING HERE AND GIVING SUCH A THOROUGH PRESENTATION TO COUNCIL AND TO EVERYONE ABOUT OUR WATER, WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING TO FIX THE CONCERNS THAT HAVE BEEN OUT THERE AND THE TIMEFRAME FOR IT.
YOU KNOW, I LIKE TALKING ABOUT IT.
COUNCIL MEMBER, HER, I JUST HAD A QUICK QUESTION.
SO WHAT IF WE DON'T GET APPROVED? WHAT HAPPENS THEN? SO WE JUST GO TO THE MARKET AND IS THERE A DIFFERENT WAY TO GET THE MONEY? I WOULD ASSUME THAT I, I WOULD LOOK AT THE FINANCIAL GROUP HERE AT THE, AT THE CITY, BUT YOU'VE NEVER NOT MADE THE SHORT LIST.
ANYBODY ELSE? I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE AND HIGHLIGHT TWO COMMENTS THAT WERE SAID BY ONE BY EACH OF YOU.
NUMBER ONE, THIS HAS BEEN PLANNED FOR, FOR A VERY LONG TIME, AND I REMEMBER SEEING A SLIDE, I THINK IT MAY HAVE BEEN A-B-C-R-U-A MEETING WHERE THERE WAS PLANS OUT TO 2050.
IS THAT CORRECT? FOR ALL THE, THE PHASES? YES.
WHEN WE LOOK AT ULTIMATE CAPACITY, WE'RE TALKING 20 50, 20 60 MM-HMM,
SO TO SAY THAT OUT LOUD AGAIN, THIS HAS BEEN PLANNED FOR A LONG, A LONG TIME AND THERE IS A LONG TERM PLAN
[01:35:01]
FOR THE FUTURE.SO THOSE THAT SAY THAT WE DON'T HAVE A PLAN FOR WATER AND WE DIDN'T PLAN FOR THIS, THEY'RE INCORRECT.
IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING? THAT'S CORRECT.
THESE HAVE BEEN PLANNED FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
UM, THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR.
AND I MEAN, I KNOW THIS, BUT IT JUST BEARS REPEATING.
AND THEN, AND THEN THE OTHER THING, UH, WAS THAT OTHERS ARE LOOKING AT THIS PROJECT AS AN EXAMPLE AND KIND OF SETTING A, AN EXAMPLE FOR HOW TO GET THIS DONE.
SO WE'RE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT.
YOU GUYS ARE ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF A REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP AND WE'RE SEEING MORE OF THOSE NOW, BUT MANY OF THEM HAVE COME TO YOUR GENERAL MANAGERS LOOKING FOR INSTRUCTION AND STORIES ON HOW THEY WERE DEVELOPED.
AND NONE OF US HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THAT BEGINNING.
THAT'S NOT, I'M NOT TOOTING OUR HORN, THAT HORN STARTED BLOWING LONG BEFORE WE EVER THOUGHT ABOUT BEING UP HERE, SO THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT.
WE APPRECIATE YOU BEING OUT HERE.
[9. Leander History
]
UM, THIS EVENING I WANT TO START WITH A COUPLE OF THI LITTLE RANDOM THINGS HERE THAT I HAVE RECENTLY LEARNED.
THE UNITED STATES FLAG DID NOT HAVE THE STARS IN, IN, UH, THE ROSE THAT WE HAVE NOW UNTIL GENERAL E WELL, PRESIDENT EISENHOWER MADE IT, UH, THE CONSISTENT WAY THAT WE DO IT FROM, FROM THEN UNTIL NOW.
UP UNTIL THEN, THE STAR PATTERN ON THE US FLAG COULD BE DIFFERENT.
AND THE FLAG UP TOP AT THE ERA IN THE EIGHT, EARLY 18 HUNDREDS, ALL THE WAY UP UNTIL, WELL, UNTIL EISENHOWER DECIDED DIFFERENT, UM, THE GREAT LUMINARY FLAG, A FLAG, HOWEVER MANY STATES WE HAD AT THAT TIME, THEY WOULD PUT THE STARS IN A DIFFERENT PATTERN, AND THEY CALLED IT THE GREAT LUMINARY FLAG.
UM, THEN TEXAS WAS PART OF THAT IN THAT ERA.
AND THE PROVISIONAL FLAG OF TEXAS, THAT EXACT FLAG, THAT FLAG RIGHT THERE, THAT PHOTOGRAPH, IT LOOKS A LITTLE WONKY BECAUSE THAT PARTICULAR FLAG IS THE FLAG THAT FLEW OVER THE STATE CAPITOL IN 1846 WHEN TEXAS JOINED THE UNION.
YOU SEE THE REFLECTION OF THE GLASS.
THE TEXAS STATE HISTORICAL COMMISSION KEEPS THIS PARTICULAR FLAG IN THEIR HALLWAY.
I, YOU KNOW, I ALWAYS WANT TO PRESERVE THINGS A LITTLE BETTER, BUT THAT'S HOW THEY CHOSE TO DO IT.
AND FORTUNATELY THEY DID, BECAUSE IT IT, PEOPLE THAT GO INTO THAT PARTICULAR HALLWAY GET TO SEE THAT FLAG, AND IT'S THE ACTUAL ONE, AND IT'S A VERY NICE FLAG.
AND THAT I, I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT BECAUSE IT IS BEAUTIFUL, AND I THINK I'LL BE REPRODUCING IT SOON.
I'M HERE TODAY TO SPEAK ABOUT SPIRITS OF BAGHDAD.
UM, THE SPEAKING OF GRANTS, THE CHAMBER RECEIVED A GRANT FOR $10,000 TO PROMOTE A HISTORICALLY BASED EVENT IN LEANDER, AND THEY CAME TO THE HISTORICAL PRESERVATION COMMISSION WITH THE IDEA OF HAVING A REENACTMENT IN THE CEMETERY.
THIS IS A POPULAR THING TO DO, UH, UH, AROUND THE COUNTRY WHERE PEOPLE, UM, DRESS UP, UH, IN PERIOD COSTUME AND TALK IN FIRST PERSON OF PEOPLE BURIED IN CEMETERIES HERE IN LEANDER.
WE DID THAT ON, UH, OCTOBER 19TH.
AND HERE ARE SOME PICTURES FROM IT.
THE EVENT SOLD OUT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AFTER WE PUT THE, UH, TICKETS ON THE LINE FOR PURCHASE, ESPECIALLY THE LATER ONE.
AND HERE ARE, IS ONE OF OUR ACTORS.
WE HAD AN ACTOR WHO PORTRAYED JOHN BABCOCK.
JOHN BABCOCK WAS THE CHILD THAT WAS BURIED THERE.
AND, YOU KNOW, SINCE UM, ACTORS HAVE, UM, ARTISTIC LICENSE, WE CHOSE TO GO WITH AN ADULT, ADULT VERSION OF JOHN BABCOCK.
UM, HE WAS, HE WAS THE SMALL TOMBSTONE, RIGHT THERE IS JOHN BABCOCK'S TOMBSTONE.
OUR NEXT ACTOR PORTRAYED JOE BRYSON, UM, THE BRYSON COMMUNITY FOR THE BRYSON FARM.
JOE WAS THE, THE MAIN MAN THAT, UH, IT ACTUALLY WASN'T A FARM, IT WAS A RANCH.
HE WAS THE MAIN RANCHERS THERE.
AND, UM, IT, THAT IS FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT KNOW BOBBY BRYSON, WHO IS OUR OLDEST CITIZEN, THIS IS BOBBY.
OH, BOBBY, ARE YOU HERE? HI, BOBBY.
UM, SO THIS
UM, I LEARNED SOMETHING NEW ALL THE TIME, AND SOMETHING I FOUND OUT, AND I HAD NEVER EVEN CONSIDERED THIS,
[01:40:01]
WE HAD A CITIZEN, WE RECEIVED TWO COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS EVENT AT THE CEMETERY.YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO GET COMPLAINTS.
WE DO ANYTHING GOOD, WE'RE GOING TO GET COMPLAINTS.
ONE COMPLAINT WAS, UH, A GENTLEMAN, HE WANTED TO VISIT HIS SON'S GRAVE, AND, UH, HE WASN'T AWARE OF THE EVENT.
SO WE'RE GONNA A, I DON'T KNOW HOW WE CAN ADVERTISE MORE, BUT WE'RE GONNA ADVERTISE MORE.
UH, THE SECOND ONE WAS A LADY WAS OFFENDED THAT WE HAD AN ACTOR LEANING ON A TOMBSTONE.
UM, I'VE NEVER HEARD THAT BEFORE, BUT, UM, THAT WAS HER FAMILY TRADITION.
SO, UH, IT WAS VERY INTERESTING.
HERE IS OUR NEXT ACTOR, OUR ACTRESS AND ACTOR, LENO LENORA CARUTHERS.
SHE IS NOT BURIED IN BAGHDAD CEMETERY, BUT HER LETTERS ARE HOW WE KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT THE ORIGINAL FOUNDING OF BAGHDAD AND THE VERY EARLY PART OF OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, HER LETTERS BACK TO SOUTH CAROLINA ARE HOW WE KNOW THAT.
MABRY JENNINGS, HE WAS, UH, OUR EARLIEST DOCTOR.
AND, UM, DR. JENNINGS, HE DID TALK ABOUT, UM, LIFE HERE IN LEANDER.
INTERESTINGLY, WE HAD SEVERAL PEOPLE THAT ASKED QUESTIONS, UH, ABOUT THE, THE CHARACTER.
UM, THE ACTORS PORTRAYED EVERYBODY IN FIRST PERSON, AND THEY ASKED QUESTIONS, AND THEY, UH, THEY REALLY WANTED ANSWERS.
SO, I'M GOING TO DO NEXT, NEXT TIME WE DO THIS, I'M GONNA GET MORE RESEARCH TO THE ACTORS SO THAT THEY CAN ACT, ACTUALLY ANSWER THE QUESTIONS IN FIRST PERSON.
AND THEN WE HAD A LITTLE INCIDENT WITH OUR, UM, ACTORS, AND BRIDGET DECIDED THAT WE NEEDED, UH, OUR FIFTH ACTOR, AND THEY CHOSE ME TO PORTRAY MY MOTHER.
AND IF ANY OF YOU KNOW, MY MOTHER, UM, I GOT HER HAND GESTURES DOWN.
AND SO, UM, WE HAD AN ACTOR, UM, THAT COULDN'T, COULD NOT PARTICIPATE AND BACKED OUT RIGHT AT THE LAST MINUTE.
SO IN, UH, THREE WEEKS, I, UM, I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS GONNA AGREE TO IT, BUT I DID AGREE TO IT AND, UH, WROTE MY OWN SCRIPT, MEMORIZED IT, AND CAME AND DID THAT.
AND, UM, IT WAS A VERY, VERY GOOD EXPERIENCE.
AND I, WE NEXT YEAR LESSONS LEARNED, UH, WE CAN DO ANOTHER ROUND.
SO WE ARE GOING TO BE, UH, ALMOST DOUBLING OUR CAPACITY NEXT YEAR.
YEAH, IT, IT WAS A LOT OF FUN.
I HOPE EVERYONE GETS TO COME OUT NEXT YEAR.
COUNCIL, ANYTHING? I JUST ECHO THAT.
IT WAS A FANTASTIC EVENT YEAH.
AND VERY WELL PUT ON, VERY WELL ORGANIZED, AND THE ACTORS WERE AMAZING.
OH, ABSOLUTELY DID, DID A GREAT JOB.
UM, THE ACTORS ARE FROM GEORGETOWN.
THEY WERE, I MEAN, IT WAS SO SPOT ON.
AND, UH, UH, SCOTT KMI IS WHO WROTE THE SCRIPTS, SO, YEAH.
I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THE DOCTOR'S SCRIPT, BY THE WAY.
UH, IF YOU GET A CHANCE TO, UM, UH, TELL SCOTT, I THINK, I KNOW HE'D APPRECIATE IT.
HE, HE REALLY STRESSED ABOUT IT.
[ CONSENT AGENDA: ACTION]
RIGHT, COUNSEL, WE'RE GONNA MOVE INTO OUR CONSENT AGENDA.YOU'LL BE CONSIDERING ITEMS 10 THROUGH 23.
THIS IS AN ACTION ITEM, MOTION TO APPROVE SECOND, SECOND MOTION.
AND SECOND, IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR PASS IS UNANIMOUSLY THANK YOU INTO
[24. Conduct a Public Hearing regarding Zoning Case Z-24-0123 to amend the Northline Planned Unit Development on several parcels of land 115.7076 acres ± in size, out of the William Mancil Survey, Abstract No. 437, the Talbot Chambers Survey, Abstract No. 125; and generally located south of East San Gabriel Parkway and approximately 200 feet east of US 183, Leander, Williamson County, Texas.
]
ITEM NUMBER 24, CONDUCT A PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING ZONING CASE Z DASH 24 DASH 0 1 23 TO AMEND THE NORTHLINE PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT ON SEVERAL PARCELS OF LAND, UH, 115.7076 ACRES, PLUS OR MINUS IN SIZE, AS STATED ON THE POSTED AGENDA.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, GRIFFIN.
UM, THIS IS A, A PUBLIC HEARING FOR AN AMENDMENT TO THE NORTHLINE PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT.
UM, THE COUNCIL HAS RECENTLY REVIEWED A REQUEST FOR THE NORTHLINE RETAIL PUD, AND, UM, THAT INCLUDED, UH, REMOVING THIS SECTION OF NORTHLINE AND CREATING A, A SEPARATE ZONING.
UM, NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT AN AMENDMENT TO THE OVERALL PUD TO INCLUDE A OPTION AREA.
UM, SO IN THE, THE PROJECT, THIS AREA THAT'S, UH, HIGHLIGHTED IN BLUE, UM, IN THE FUTURE AS THEY GO THROUGH THEIR DEVELOPMENT PROCESS, THEY'LL HAVE THE OPTION TO ADD THAT TO THE NORTHLINE RETAIL, UM, POD TO ALLOW FOR MORE CONVENTIONAL, UH, COMMERCIAL DESIGN.
UM, THIS WILL STILL MAINTAIN THE WALKABILITY THAT WE DISCUSSED PREVIOUSLY.
AND, UM, THIS WAS REVIEWED BY THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION.
WE DID HAVE A COUPLE OF ITEMS COME UP IN THE, THE DISCUSSION.
I THINK WE'RE ALL IN SYNC, AND I'VE WORKED WITH THE DEVELOPER TO COME TO A GOOD CONCLUSION ON HOW WE TREAT, UM, MAIN STREET AND THE TYPE OF DEVELOPMENT WE'RE GONNA SEE.
UM, I'LL BE GLAD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS AFTER THE PUBLIC HEARING AND THE APPLICANT'S AVAILABLE IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS.
[01:45:01]
OKAY.UH, THE PUBLIC HEARING IS NOW OPEN.
I DO NOT HAVE ANYBODY SIGNED UP TO SPEAK ON THIS ITEM.
IS THERE ANYBODY WHO WISHES TO SPEAK? ALL RIGHT.
WE'LL DISCUSS AND CONSIDER ACTION REGARDING ZONING CASE Z DASH 24 DASH 0 1 23 AS PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED.
YEAH, I MEAN, I'LL, I'LL SECOND JUST WANNA SAY, UH, THANK YOU FOR EVERYBODY WORKING TOGETHER TOO.
THANK YOU FOR ADDRESSING EVERYBODY'S CONCERNS.
I THINK WE ARE VERY MOTIVATED TO MOVE THIS FORWARD AND GET THINGS ROCKING HERE.
SO, UM, I'LL SECOND MOTION IS SECOND.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? ALL RIGHT.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.
[25. Conduct a Public Hearing regarding Ordinance Case OR-24-0023 to amend the Composite Zoning Ordinance to update requirements for site development, dry utilities, and to provide for related matters; Leander, Williamson and Travis Counties, Texas.
]
TO AMEND THE COMPOSITE ZONING ORDINANCE TO UPDATE REQUIREMENTS FOR SITE DEVELOPMENT, DRY UTILITIES, AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS, LEAN WILLIAMSON AND TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES.
UM, THIS IS A PUBLIC HEARING FOR AN AMENDMENT TO OUR COMPOSITE ZONING ORDINANCE.
UM, OVER TIME, STAFF HAS, UM, SEEN AN INCREASE IN OUR DRY UTILITY PERMITS.
UM, DRY UTILITIES ARE THE CABLE INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, WHERE THE PROVIDERS COME IN AND ADD INTERNET, UM, FOR DIFFERENT PROPERTIES.
SO WE, WE'VE MADE SOME CHANGES TO, UM, HELP, UH, ACCOMMODATE THE, THE RESIDENTS AS WELL AS GUIDE THE UTILITY PROVIDERS IN HOW TO, UM, NOTIFY NEIGHBORS OF WHEN THINGS ARE HAPPENING.
UM, WE ALSO DID SOME CLEANUP ITEMS, UM, TO THE ORDINANCE, UH, TO CLARIFY SITE DEVELOPMENT REQUIREMENTS AND ADD A EARLY GRADING PHASE TO OUR PROCESS.
UM, SO WHAT THAT MEANS IS IF YOU, UM, HAVE A COMMERCIAL PROJECT THAT'S GONE THROUGH THE REVIEW, AND, UM, THEY'RE AT A POINT WHERE WE'VE AGREED TO SETBACKS, THE DRAINAGE MAKES SENSE, BUT THEY'RE STILL WORKING THROUGH SOME OTHER ITEMS, THEY'LL BE ALLOWED TO START THE GRADING ACTIVITY TO HELP BE MORE EFFICIENT WITH THEIR TIME.
UM, THIS REQUEST WAS REVIEWED BY THE, UM, PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION, AND THEY UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDED APPROVAL.
AND I'LL BE GLAD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS AFTER THE PUBLIC HEARING.
THERE IS NOBODY SIGNED UP TO SPEAK ON THIS ITEM.
IS THERE ANYBODY WHO WISHES TO SPEAK? ALL RIGHT.
WE'LL DISCUSS AND CONSIDER ACTION REGARDING ORDINANCE CASE OR DASH 24 DASH 23 AS PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED.
COUNSEL, UH, A MOTION TO APPROVE.
ONE SECOND IS A MOTION AND A SECOND.
ANY DISCUSSION? I JUST WANNA THANK DEVELOPMENT SERVICES.
THIS IS VERY FORWARD THINKING AND WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT WHEN YOU COME TO US AND LET US KNOW WHERE THE ISSUES ARE THAT CAN BE CLEANED UP BECAUSE WE HAVE NO IDEA,
THERE'S A MOTION AND A SECOND.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.
[26. Cast Ballot for Travis Central Appraisal District Board of Directors]
INTO OUR REGULAR AGENDA, ITEM 26, CAST BALLOT FOR TRAVIS CENTRAL APPRAISAL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE POWERS.UM, AT THE, UH, MOST RECENT LEGISLATIVE STATE LEGISLATIVE SESSION, THE, UM, LEGISLATURE CHANGED THE WAY THAT, UH, BOARD MEMBERS FOR THE APPRAISAL DISTRICTS THROUGHOUT THE STATE ARE SELECTED.
UM, THE, THE FIRST CHANGE, OR WAS TO, UM, ADD THREE MEMBERS TO EACH BOARD THAT ARE, ARE ELECTED, UM, BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
AND, UM, AND THEN FIVE MEMBERS ARE SELECTED BY THE TAXING ENTITIES, UH, WITHIN THAT EACH APPRAISAL DISTRICT.
SO, UH, THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS NEW, UH, STATUTE.
UM, AND THEN GOING FORWARD, IT WILL, IT WILL, UM, UH, BE, BE THE SAME, UH, BOARD MEMBERS SERVE THREE YEAR TERMS. BUT IN THIS FIRST YEAR, SINCE YOU GOTTA GET STARTED AND HAVE STAGGERED TERMS, UH, UH, THE, UH, THE, THE TOP THREE VOTE GETTERS WILL SERVE, WILL BE APPOINTED TO A THREE YEAR TERM.
AND THE NEXT TWO HIGHEST VOTE GETTERS, UH, WILL SERVE ONE YEAR TERMS. UM, THE, UM, TRAVIS IS THE FIRST ONE ON YOUR AGENDA, BUT THE NEXT ONE WAS IS WILLIAMSON.
AND, UH, THE PROCEDURES AND THE RULES ARE THE SAME.
THE WAY THE VOTES ARE ALLOCATED AMONG THE TAXING ENTITIES IS, UM, BASED ON EACH TAXING ENTITY'S PERCENT OF THE LEVY, OF THE TOTAL LEVY BEING THE ACTUAL PROPERTY TAX DOLLARS THAT ARE ASSESSED.
SO, UH, OF THE 5,000 VOTES FOR EACH, UM, APPRAISAL DISTRICT, THE LION'S SHARE, BOTH, WHETHER IT'S TRAVIS OR WILLIAMSON COUNTY, IS GONNA BE, UH, CONTROLLED BY THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
AND THEN OF COURSE, IN TRAVIS, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN ALSO HAS, UH, UM, A LARGE SHARE OF VOTES, BUT FOR THE CITY OF LEANDER AND, AND TRAVIS, WE HAVE 10 VOTES.
[01:50:01]
ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, UM, BEFORE YOU CAST YOUR BALLOT.I THINK THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR THAT WE'VE HAD INFORMATION ON ALL THE PEOPLE THAT WANT TO BE APPOINTED, AND IT'S SO HELPFUL.
THE, I MEAN, LI LIVING IN, IN TRAVIS COUNTY TOO, I MEAN, I'M A LITTLE, I I HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF A, A PERSPECTIVE OR, OR WANT TO HAVE SOME SAY HERE TOO, FOR JUST THE SMALL BIT OF OUR CITIZENS THAT ARE HERE TOO.
I THINK WE GOT EVEN GOT EMAILS, BUT BEFORE THAT I HAD WRITTEN DOWN THERE TOO.
AND RATHER THAN MAKING A MOTION, JUST KIND OF PUT IT OUT THERE SO WE COULD TALK ABOUT IT.
SO IT'S NOT A FIRST PERSON TO JUST SAY A NAME, BUT, UM, UM, I LIKE THE IDEA OF, UH, SOMEBODY FROM ONE OF THE SMALLER STUDIES ACTUALLY HAVING SOME KIND OF SAY TOO.
I THINK ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT WE GOT AN EMAIL FROM, THEY'RE GONNA BE STRONGLY SUPPORTED BY THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.
UM, AND I WANT, I WANTED TO, I WANTED TO PROPOSE THAT WE PUT OUR NAME IN FOR SOMEBODY ELSE, THAT, THAT WOULD HAVE ANOTHER VOICE IN THERE TOO.
UM, MAYBE THEY WOULDN'T GET THE MOST VOTES OF ANYBODY ELSE, BUT MAYBE THEY WOULD GET ON THAT ONE TOO.
SO, UM, I WANTED TO PROPOSE THAT THOMAS KILGORE, MAYOR OF LAKEWAY, UM, BE SOMEBODY THAT, THAT WE CAN CONSIDER PUTTING OUR 10 VOTES FOR US.
SO I WAS ACTUALLY WONDERING IF THAT'S A CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
THERE'S A NUMBER OF MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL OF LAKEWAY.
IS THAT LIKE, I WAS SURPRISED THAT COUNCIL MEMBERS COULD BE APPOINTED LEGALLY? THEY CAN.
AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THEY'VE MADE IT FROM THE EMAIL THAT WE GOT TO, AGAIN, I, I WROTE THIS DOWN AFTER JUST READING THROUGH ALL OF THEM.
I WROTE THAT NAME DOWN, AND THEN WE GOT TWO EMAILS, ONE, TWO PEOPLE THAT WERE JUST REACHING OUT SAYING, HEY, PLEASE VOTE FOR ME, I THINK IS WHAT THEY WERE, THEY WERE SAYING.
UM, AND, UH, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THE CITY OF LAKEWAY RATHER THAN, UH, THEY MADE THEIR CHOICE OF SUPPORTING ONE PERSON THERE.
UH, BUT THAT'S JUST MY, MY 2 CENTS IN READING THROUGH EVERYTHING AND WHAT I THOUGHT, UH, SOMEBODY THAT I WOULD WANT TO REPRESENT ME, IF YOU KNOW, AS, AS A SOMEBODY WHO'S IN TRAVIS COUNTY TOO.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS FOR TRAVIS COUNTY? I WAS LOOKING AT THE JOHN HAVEN STRIKE HAVEN STRIKE, IF THAT'S HOW YOU SAY IT.
I DON'T KNOW HIM EITHER, BUT, AND I THINK THAT'S THE ONE THAT, THAT THAT IS THE ONE THAT SUPPORTING DISTRICT, EVERY SINGLE SCHOOL DISTRICT AROUND EVERYWHERE IS SUPPORTING THAT GENTLEMAN, SO OH, OH, GOTCHA.
THAT'S ANOTHER REASON WHY I THINK I WANT TO PUT MY NAME BEHIND THOMAS.
SO I HAD HIM, I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, UM, JUST READING THEIR BIOS.
I HAD HIM AND DEBORAH CARTWRIGHT, BECAUSE THEY BOTH SEEMED TO HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE WITH, UM, WITH TAXING DISTRICTS AND HOW THINGS WORK.
UM, BUT I'M OPEN TO WHOEVER THOSE ARE JUST THE STANDOUTS THAT I SAW.
ANYBODY ELSE HAVE THOUGHTS? I DID JUST BREEZING THROUGH THE NAMES AND READING THEIR BIOS.
I DO APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT, UH, THOMAS IS A VETERAN AND I THINK THAT'S JUST THE PERSON HE WANTS TO SERVE AND IS CURRENTLY SERVING IN THE CITY OF LAKEWAY AS WELL.
SO I JUST, UH, WANT TO ECHO SUPPORT BEHIND CHRIS'S NOMINATION.
ANYBODY ELSE? I WOULD SUPPORT THOMAS GILGORE.
I AND I, I, I WOULD STAY AWAY FROM ANYBODY THAT'S WITH A, A SCHOOL DISTRICT.
YOU WANNA MAKE A MOTION? YEAH.
I'LL MAKE A MOTION THAT WE, UM, PUT OUR 10 VOTES BEHIND THOMAS GIL KILGORE.
ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? ALL, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PASSAGE AND UNANIM.
[27. Cast Ballot for Williamson Central Appraisal District Board of Directors]
I'M NUMBER 27 CAST BALLOT FOR WILLIAMSON CENTRAL APPRAISAL DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS.UM, WE HAVE, UH, 115 VOTES AND FOR THE WILLIAMSON APPRAISAL DISTRICT.
AND, UH, IF IT MATTERS, YOU, YOU ARE NOT LIMITED FOR, YOU CAN SPREAD YOUR VOTES OUT AMONG MULTIPLE, UM, CANDIDATES.
BUT, UH, FIVE OF THE, UH, NOMINEES ARE CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS, AND THEN TWO ARE, UH, WE'RE NOMINATED.
SO FIVE OF THE SEVEN ARE CURRENTLY ON THE APPRAISAL DISTRICT, AND THIS ONE IS DECIDEDLY MORE COMPLEX.
CAN YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN THE ONE AND THREE YEAR TERM VOTES AND HOW WE'RE SUPPOSED TO HANDLE THAT? UM, SO THANK YOU BECAUSE, UH, I, I STRUGGLED FOR A WHILE.
ESSENTIALLY, THE TOP FIVE VOTE GETTERS ARE GONNA GET APPOINTED TO THE BOARD.
THE, THE ONES WITH THE MOST, THE THREE WITH THE MOST WILL BE APPOINTED TO A THREE YEAR TERM, AND THE NUMBER FOUR AND NUMBER FIVE WILL GET THE ONE YEAR TERM.
I WAS TRYING TO THINK THROUGH WHY THAT MIGHT MATTER, BUT YOU KNOW, IT, IT COULD BE THAT A TAXING ENTITY, I DON'T KNOW.
BUT, SO THIS ULTRA CONFUSING BALLOT THAT THEY GAVE US, WE
[01:55:01]
DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE TO PICK ONE YEAR IN THREE YEAR.WE CAN JUST SAY THESE, MANY OF US ARE THIS PERSON, THIS MANY TO THIS PERSON.
UNLESS YOU SPECIFY, WE'RE GONNA SAY IT'S A, FOR A A THREE YEAR, IT WON'T CHANGE.
BUT IT, IT MAY, DEPENDING ON HOW MANY VOTES THEY GET, THE TOP THREE WILL BE THREE YEAR TERMS. AND THE, THE BOTTOM WILL GET THE FIRST ONE YEAR TERM.
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE, THE TWO SEPARATE BOXES, THE BOTTOM WITH THE THREE YEAR TERM? UM, I, I BELIEVE THAT THAT WAS BECAUSE THE TWO AT THE BOTTOM ARE NOT CURRENTLY ON THE BOARD.
THAT'S THE ONLY DIFFERENCE I CAN SAY.
THAT WAS WHAT I GOT FROM IT TOO.
WELL, I HAVE THREE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT, BUT, UM, WHO DO YOU LIKE? I LIKE, UM, LISA BERKMAN, JOHN LUX, AND LAURA WEBER.
I ALSO, UM, KNOW SONNY FOX FROM, FROM VARIOUS THINGS.
I DIDN'T REALIZE HER, UM, HER BACKGROUND WAS SO, UH, INVOLVED.
UM, BUT SHE'S VERY SMART AND ANALYTICAL.
I WOULD NOT MIND US ADDING HER IN.
YEAH, SHE'S SOLID, VERY INVOLVED.
I JUST DON'T KNOW THE, I KNOW SHE'S WENT INTO REAL ESTATE.
YEAH, BUT THAT'S NOT A, THAT'S NOT AN ISSUE.
YEAH, A LOT OF THEM ARE, BUT I, I LIKE ANGIE.
UM, SHE REACHED OUT TO US, ACTUALLY, I WANNA SAY IN AUGUST.
I BELIEVE IT WAS AN EMAIL TO COUNSEL TO INTRODUCE, UM, HERSELF, UM, IN PREPARATION FOR WHAT, THAT WAS THE ONLY EMAIL THAT I CAN RECALL RECEIVING FOR ANYBODY THAT EXPRESSED INTEREST IN THIS.
SO I'D LIKE HER TO BE CONSIDERED.
ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY STANDOUTS? DO WE WANNA JUST DIVIDE OUR VOTES BETWEEN THOSE FIVE THREE VOTES? YOU ARE SO GOOD.
23 VOTES A PIECE TO THOSE FIVE.
I'M THE NUMBERS GUY, SO I'M SUPPOSED TO DO THAT.
GIS WAS ANOTHER ONE, BUT I HAVE TO GET MY CALCULATOR OUT.
CAN WE JUST RECAP WHO THE, WHO THE ONES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT? BERKMAN, LUX WEBER.
DID ANYBODY MAKE A MOTION THERE OR DO YOU WANT I CAN DO IT.
UM, I MAKE A MOTION THAT WE DIVIDE OUR VOTES EQUALLY.
23 EACH TO LISA BERKMAN, JOHN LUXE, LAURA WEBER, SONNY FOX, AND ANGIE ADA.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.
THAT IS LESS PAINFUL WHEN WE HAVE BIOGRAPHIES.
[28. Discuss and consider action on City of Leander Mission and Vision Statements.]
UM, NUMBER 28, DISCUSS AND CONSIDER ACTION ON CITY OF LEANDER MISSION AND VIS VISION STATEMENTS.SO, UM, LONG AWAITED DRAFT VISION AND MISSION STATEMENTS.
SO THESE ARE, UH, REALLY A RESULT OF CITY COUNCIL'S WORK.
WHEN WE HAD OUR COUNCIL RETREAT BACK IN JULY, WE WENT THROUGH A VERY FUN FILLED PROCESS TO GO THROUGH SOME BRAINSTORMING.
AND WE WERE REALLY TALKING ABOUT IN THAT BRAINSTORMING EXERCISE, WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT THE CITY OF LEANDER SHOULD BE DOING? AND WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT WE OUGHT TO BE DOING? AND THEN WE WENT THROUGH A PROCESS TO DO A LOT OF BRAINSTORMING.
WE PUT TOGETHER HUNDREDS OF CONCEPTS, AND THEN WE WENT THROUGH A REALLY GREAT PROCESS THEN TO GO THROUGH AND BEGIN TO, UH, ASSEMBLE THOSE LIST OF CONCEPTS AND IDEAS INTO RELATED STACKS.
UH, 'CAUSE WE NOTED EACH ONE OF THOSE ON A, ON A NOTE CARD.
AND THEN FROM THERE, WE BEGAN TO APPLY A TITLE TO EACH ONE OF THOSE CONCEPTS.
AND THOSE REALLY BECAME REALLY GUIDING CONCEPTS FOR WHAT THE VISION AND THE MISSION FOR THE CITY IS.
UM, AND THEN FROM THERE, WE BEGAN TO GO THROUGH EACH ONE OF THOSE CONCEPTS AND IDENTIFY EACH ONE OF THOSE AS A GOAL OR AN OBJECTIVE.
AND SO AFTER WE FINISHED ALL THAT PROCESS, WE WENT BACK INTO THE LAB AND BEGAN WORKING ON DRAFTING SOME VISION MISSION STATEMENTS THAT WERE CENTERED AROUND THOSE CONCEPTS.
SO ATTACHED TO YOUR STAFF REPORT OR THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WAS A DOCUMENT THAT INCLUDED A DRAFT VISION MISSION STATEMENT.
IN ADDITION TO THAT, OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES, EACH ONE OF THOSE GUIDING PRINCIPLES CONTAINS A REALLY, THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES THAT WERE ORGANIZED.
AND THERE WAS A LITTLE BIT OF WORDSMITHING TO SOME OF THAT PROCESS.
SO ULTIMATELY, UM, WE ARE PRESENTING THESE STATEMENTS TO COUNSEL TO CONSIDER.
[02:00:01]
UH, WE CAN WORDSMITH, YOU CAN KICK 'EM OUT, WE CAN GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD.UM, YOU KNOW, ANY KIND OF GUIDANCE OR DIRECTION THAT YOU GUYS MAY HAVE WOULD BE, UH, VERY WELCOMING, UH, AND THROUGH THIS PROCESS.
BUT AGAIN, HERE'S THE DRAFT VISION AND MISSION STATEMENTS.
I WON'T READ THOSE OUT LOUDLY, YOU JUST REALLY WANT THEM READ OUT LOUD.
SO THE GUIDING CONCEPTS THAT WE ULTIMATELY DEVELOPED ARE REALLY FIVE GUIDING CONCEPTS.
THE FIRST TWO BALANCE AND POSSIBILITIES.
AND THESE AREN'T ANY RANK ORDER, BUT, BUT THESE WERE JUST THINGS THAT WE PULLED TOGETHER.
THESE ARE COUNCIL'S TERMINOLOGY, UM, UH, THE ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY, LAND USE BALANCE, THE FULL LIFE CYCLE, CITY ULTIMATE BALANCE BUILT FOR THE FUTURE, MAXIMIZE CITY POTENTIAL.
UM, SOME OF THOSE ARE YOUR EXACT LANGUAGE.
SOME ARE, ARE WORDS THAT WE PUT TOGETHER BASED ON CONCEPTS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED THAT WE FELT BETTER.
EXPLAIN SOME OF THOSE, THOSE CONCEPTS.
AND AGAIN, YOUR STAFF REPORT, YOU'LL SEE UNDERNEATH, UNDER EACH ONE OF THOSE, UH, GOALS, WE'VE GOT THE OBJECTIVE STATEMENTS THAT ARE THERE.
WE'VE TRIED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE LANGUAGE IN THE OBJECTIVE STATEMENTS WE'RE GONNA BE ACTIONABLE.
SO WE CAN LOOK AT THESE GUIDING CONCEPTS.
WE CAN LOOK, WE CAN USE THESE AS A LENS TO LOOK THROUGH THE THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING ON A DEPARTMENTAL BASIS.
AND THEN WE CAN BEGIN TO LOOK AT OUR, OUR DEPARTMENTAL OPERATIONS AND PROGRAMS AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALIGNING THOSE WITH REGARD TO WHAT THESE OVERALL GUIDING CONCEPTS ARE.
THE FUNDAMENTALS WAS A, A KEY POINT OF EMPHASIS IN OUR CONVERSATION.
'CAUSE THAT'S WHERE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DOING THE, THE BASIC THINGS, THE BASIC BUILDING BLOCKS THE CITY NEEDS TO DO.
AND THOSE GET INTO, YOU KNOW, UH, COMMUNITY HEALTH, THEY GET INTO, UH, PROVIDING CORE SERVICES.
THEY GET INTO PUBLIC SAFETY, YOU KNOW, AS KEY COMPONENTS TO THAT VIBE, UH, WAS A TERM THAT THAT WAS CREATED.
AND AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S HOW WE WANT THE COMMUNITY TO FEEL AND THE THINGS THAT WE'RE DEVELOPING IN THE COMMUNITY TO BEGIN TO CULTIVATE THE WAY THAT WE WANT TO FEEL ABOUT THE COMMUNITY.
AND REALLY RECOGNIZING THE FACT THAT WE ARE A GROWING DIVERSE COMMUNITY.
UH, THERE'S MANY MORE TYPES OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AND IDEAS AND CONTINUE TO ENRICH, UM, OUR COMMUNITY AND, AND MAKE US A, A, UH, MORE, UH, FULFILLED AND ENRICHED COMMUNITY.
SO IT'S, IT'S IDENTIFYING THOSE THINGS, RESPECTING THOSE THINGS, RESPECTING THE HERITAGE OF THE COMMUNITY AND BRINGING THOSE TOGETHER TO CREATE THAT SENSE OF CULTURE AND, AND A SENSE OF PLACE FOR, FOR EVERYONE.
SO AGAIN, UM, IN TERMS OF HOW A VISION MISSION STATEMENT WOULD BE USED, HERE'S SOME OF THE BASIC CONCEPTS.
WHY THE CITY EXISTS AND WHAT THE ORGANIZATION STANDS FOR.
SPECIFICALLY THE VISION STATEMENT IS WHERE ARE WE GOING? SO WHAT'S THE OBJECTIVE? WHAT'S THE PICTURE THAT WE'RE PAINTING? WHAT ARE WE GRASPING FOR? THE MISSION STATEMENT IS WHY DO WE EXIST AND, AND WE'RE EXISTING.
IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THAT, THAT VISION OF THE CITY, IT HELPS US TO CREATE COMMON GROUND AS WE LOOK AT THE DIVERSITY AND THE VARIETY OF THINGS THAT THE CITY HAS TO DO.
WHAT'S THE COMMON PLATFORM OR THE COMMON BASIS THAT WEAVES ALL THOSE THINGS TOGETHER? AND HOW DOES IT GROUND THE ORGANIZATION TO MAKE SURE WE'RE GOING THE DIRECTION WE NEED TO GO STRATEGICALLY, IT'S PROVIDING GUIDANCE FOR THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO DO.
SO HOW DO WE DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN STREETS AND PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES, BETWEEN PARKS AND RECREATION AND, AND PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT AND ALL THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE NEED TO DO.
BUT WE ALSO LOOK AT OUR UTILITY SYSTEMS AND WHAT ARE WE DOING AND HOW ARE WE WEAVING THAT TOGETHER? BUT IT GIVES US THE BASIS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN WHAT WE NEED TO DO AND BEGIN TO PRIORITIZE.
THE KEY ISSUE IS WE HAVE MORE DEMAND AND REQUIREMENTS.
WE HAVE RESOURCES, AND HOW DO WE HAVE A BASIS THEN TO DECIDE WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE OTHER? AND THIS IS CRITICAL TO THAT.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY, CREATING THOSE ACTIONABLE PROGRAMMING AND PLANNING EFFORTS THAT WE'LL DEVELOP WITHIN EACH DEPARTMENT.
SO ONCE WE HAVE A VISION AND MISSION STATEMENT, WE'LL GO BACK AND WORK ON A DEPARTMENTAL LEVEL TO EVALUATE WHAT THE VISION AND MISSION FOR EACH DEPARTMENT IS AND HOW IT'S THEN FEEDING INTO WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE.
AND THAT'S IMPORTANT AS WE BEGIN TO PRIORITIZE AND WE BEGIN TO ESTABLISH DEPARTMENTAL PROGRAMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM OPERATIONS, FROM, FROM PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKING TO, UM, GROWING AND FIGURING OUT HOW TO BEST UTILIZE THE RESOURCES TO GO WHERE THE CITY COUNCIL WANTS US TO GO.
THERE ARE A COUPLE OF, UH, OTHER DOCUMENTS THAT WE HAVE THAT THE CITY HAS ADOPTED.
UM, WE HAVE SOME KEY VISION ELEMENTS.
THESE WERE DERIVED FROM AN EXERCISE THAT I THINK THAT THE CITY COUNCIL DID IN 22.
UM, THERE WAS NOT A VISION STATEMENT CREATED, BUT THERE WERE THESE VISION ELEMENTS THAT WERE THERE.
SO THESE ARE ON THE CITY WEBSITE.
[02:05:01]
SO THOSE THINGS ARE THERE.UM, SOME OF THOSE ARE, ARE CONSISTENT WITH SOME OF THE PIECES THAT WE'VE GOT, UM, THAT COUNCIL HAD WORKED UP THROUGH OUR PROCESS.
SO THERE IS SOME CONSISTENCY BETWEEN WHAT WAS DISCUSSED AT THAT POINT AND WHAT WE HAVE.
I THINK WE'VE GONE INTO MORE DETAIL WITH REGARD TO THE EFFORTS THAT WE WENT THROUGH THIS, UH, EARLIER THIS YEAR.
AND THEN, UH, THERE IS A, UH, VISION STATEMENT THAT'S CONTAINED WITHIN THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
AND I THINK, AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE SOME SIMILARITIES WITH REGARD TO WHAT THAT VISION STATEMENT SAID AND SOME OF THE VISIONING PIECES THAT WE HAVE INCORPORATED INTO THE WORK THAT THE COUNCIL DID.
I'LL GET A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THAT IF YOU WANNA READ THAT.
NEXT ONE HERE IS THE MISSION STATEMENT THAT WAS PREPARED IN 22.
SO I WANNA JUMP IN HERE IF THAT'S OKAY.
UM, I WANNA THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS BECAUSE I THINK FOR THOSE OF US THAT WERE HERE IN 22, WE HATED THIS
UM, IT WAS LONG AND DRAWN OUT AND WE WORKED AT IT, BUT WHAT WE ENDED UP WITH WAS SO GENERIC.
UM, WHEN WE WERE WORKING WITH THE RECRUITMENT COMPANY TO HIRE YOU, UM, THEY, THEY CAME TO US AND SAID, YOU KNOW, YOU GUYS DON'T HAVE ANY MISSION OR VISION ON THE WEBSITE.
CAN YOU ADD IT FOR THE PEOPLE WE'RE TRYING TO RECRUIT? AND IT WAS EMBARRASSING TO PUT IT UP BECAUSE IT'S SO GENERIC AND DIRECTIONLESS.
AND SO I KNOW YOU HAVE MORE, BUT I JUST WANNA JUMP IN AND SAY, HERE'S THE EXAMPLE.
AND I THINK WE'RE EXCITED TO, TO HAVE SOMETHING THAT HAS OUR OWN STAMP ON IT.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS BEFORE WE PROCEED? WE'RE ALMOST TO THE END, I PROMISE.
SO, UM, AGAIN, THESE ARE, AS WITH THE VISION PIECES, THERE ARE KEY VISION ELEMENTS.
THESE ARE KEY MISSION ELEMENTS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED AND DOCUMENTED DURING THAT PROCESS.
UH, AND AGAIN, THERE THERE'S A MIX HERE.
SOME ARE KIND OF MORE GOAL, SOME ARE KIND OF MORE OBJECTIVE, BUT THESE WERE KIND OF THE THINGS THAT WERE PUT TOGETHER.
AND AGAIN, I THINK THERE, THERE'S, THERE'S SOME, THERE'S SOME CONSISTENCY AND I THINK THAT'S THE GOOD NEWS BETWEEN THERE AND, AND KIND OF WHAT WHAT WE'VE DEVELOPED MOVING FORWARD.
SO, UM, SO AGAIN, SO IF WE GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE EXISTING MISSION STATEMENT VERSUS THE DRAFT MISSION STATEMENTS, UM, JUST WANT TO KIND OF GIVE A COMPARISON THERE.
UM, THE DRAFT MISSION STATEMENT DOES HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE DIRECTION, IT GIVES A LITTLE BIT MORE DEFINITION IN TERMS OF, OF WHAT WE'RE DOING AND WHY WE'RE TRYING TO DO THAT.
CAN I SAY THAT I APPRECIATE THAT MISSION STATEMENT BECAUSE IT DOES TO ME FULLY CAPTURE WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO SAY YES.
BACK IN 22 AND, AND COULDN'T BRING IT ALL TOGETHER.
SO I THINK IT DEFINITELY TALKS ABOUT OUR PURPOSE AND, AND THE PURPOSE COUNCIL WANTED TO PUT FORWARD FOR THE COMMUNITY AND FOR STAFF SO PEOPLE WERE CLEAR ON THE DIRECTION.
UM, BUT I'LL LET YOU FINISH ABOUT THE VISION 'CAUSE I HAVE A, YEAH, I THINK THIS IS THE LAST SLIDE.
SO I JUST WANTED TO LEAVE THIS ONE WITH YOU TO, TO KIND OF LOOK AT AND CONTEMPLATE AS Y'ALL DISCUSSED THIS AND PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL DIRECTION TO US.
SO I DO WANNA THANK, UH, THERE'S A NUMBER OF STAFF THAT WERE OVER IN, IN THAT PART OF THE BUILDING THAT GOT TIRED OF ME RUNNING IN.
I WAS LIKE, WHAT ABOUT THIS ONE? WHAT ABOUT THIS ONE? IS THERE, YOU KNOW, BETTER WORD.
SO YEAH, THIS WAS A LOT OF PEOPLE KIND OF COMING TOGETHER AND, AND HELPING KIND OF MASSAGE THIS OUT.
THANK YOU TO YOU AND ALL THE STAFF THAT WORKED ON THIS, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER HERRA.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, TO, TO YOUR POINT EARLIER IN THE WORKSHOP ABOUT HAVING BENCHMARKS AND ACCOUNTABILITY, I THINK THIS IS HOW WE SPELL IT OUT AND FIGURE OUT WHAT THOSE METRICS ARE THAT WE WANT TO FOCUS IN ON.
AND I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S IN OUR PACKET IS MUCH MORE DETAILED THAN WHAT'S ON THE SCREEN.
AND THAT WAS A PAINFUL PROCESS, BUT, UM, WHAT WE GOT IS SO FANTASTIC AND I THINK IT'S GONNA GO A LONG WAY FOR US TO CONTINUE TO KEEP OUR EYE ON THE BALL OF WHAT WE WANNA BE AND NOT BE DISTRACTED BY LITTLE THINGS THAT THAT COME ABOUT.
AND I THINK THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT.
WHAT DO Y'ALL THINK? I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, THIS WILL ALSO HELP WITH THE BRANDING.
AS WE TALK ABOUT FOCUSING ON THAT FOR NEXT YEAR, ONCE WE HAVE THIS ALL PUT TOGETHER.
SO, SO MY QUESTION IS ARE WE ADOPTING THIS OR ARE WE GONNA WORDSMITH IT A LITTLE? IS THERE SOMETHING YOU'D WANNA WORDSMITH? I HOPE WE CAN WORDSMITH THE VISION STATEMENT.
IT'S A LITTLE, UM, YEAH, THAT'S CLUMSY FOR ME.
LIKE YEAH, THAT'S ONE I I'D WORK ON.
'CAUSE THERE'S SOME BACK AND FORTH IN IT AND YOU USE SOME VIBRANT AND VIBE AND TWO THINGS.
I THINK ON THE, YOU KNOW, WHEN I LOOK AT THE MISSION STATEMENT, I LIKE IT.
AND FUNDAMENTAL IS WHAT WE SAID.
AND IT'S MUCH MORE BETTER THAN BASIC.
[02:10:01]
I THINK 'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE'RE SAYING THERE.
I WAS REREADING THE VISION STATEMENT.
WHAT WAS YOUR LAST NAME? YOU SAYING? FUNDAMENTAL? THE WORD FUNDAMENTAL FOR YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A MISSION STATEMENT.
I WAS SAYING FUNDAMENTAL, MAYBE A BETTER WORD FOR THAT, BUT MAYBE THAT IS THE WORD.
AND THEN ON THE THE VISION STATEMENT I WAS SAYING CELEBRATES ITS VIBRANT CULTURE AND CULTIVATES A WELCOMING VIBE.
I THINK THAT NEEDS TO BE WORKED ON.
IT'S JUST, IT SEEMS TOO CASUAL.
LET'S FIND A SYNONYM FOR FIVE.
UM, BUT FUNDAMENTAL, I THINK DURING THAT CONVERSATION IT WAS BETWEEN FOUNDATIONAL AND FUNDAMENTAL WAS THE CONVERSATION.
AND FUNDAMENTAL WAS, I THINK HAD THE MAJORITY VOTE IS HOW WE GOT THERE.
IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, YOU COULD CHANGE, UH, VIBE AT THE END OF THE VISION TO ATMOSPHERE.
WHAT DO Y'ALL THINK? I LIKE ATMOSPHERE.
I'M, I'M PROBABLY BETTER WITH ATMOSPHERE TOO.
AND THEN, AND BILL, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY? I WAS JUST SAYING THE OFFERS ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES IS, UH, THIS IS ASPIRATIONAL AND WHAT WE WANNA DO.
SO IT'S HARD 'CAUSE I KNOW WE'RE NOT THERE.
SO WHERE WOULD YOU PUT ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES? I OH, I SEE IT.
'CAUSE I FEEL LIKE THAT'S A CHALLENGE.
WE COULD SAY SUBSTANTIAL POSSIBILITIES.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT WORD IS.
I'M JUST SAYING WHEN I HEAR IT LIVING HERE AND, AND KNOWING THAT'S THE ASPIRATIONAL GOAL.
BUT WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO GET, I DON'T KNOW.
MY BRAIN IS TWO STEPS AHEAD OF THAT.
SO I WAS GONNA SAY ASPIRATIONAL IS KINDA LIKE HOPE.
SO MAYBE THERE'S SOMETHING LIKE THAT THAT CAN SOME SENTENCE OR PHRASE THAT FITS IN THERE.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS? INVITES ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES.
YOU DID WHAT? INVITES POSSIBILITIES AS AS OPPOSED TO OFFERS.
OH, THAT'S 'CAUSE WE DON'T REALLY OFFER IT YET, BUT WE'RE INVITING IT.
SO WE WOULD KEEP, YOU'RE GOOD WITH KEEPING ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES IF WE CHANGE IT TO INVITES INVITE.
SO THE NEW STATEMENT WOULD READ AN ECONOMICALLY SUSTAINABLE AND BALANCED COMMUNITY THAT INVITES ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES, CELEBRATES ITS VIBRANT CULTURE AND CULTIVATES A WELCOMING ATMOSPHERE.
ARE WE GOOD WITH THIS? LOVE IT.
AND ON THE MISSION STATEMENT, WERE WE GOOD WITH FUNDAMENTAL OR WERE WE CHANGING THAT ONE? I I ALL SO WE'RE ALL GOOD WITH THE MISSION STATEMENT.
I, AFTER I DID THE, I READ THE, THE VISION WHEN I WAS GOING THROUGH THE PACKET, I READ THE VISION STATEMENT FIRST AND I WAS LIKE, WHAT'S MISSING HERE? MM-HMM.
AND THEN I READ THE MISSION STATEMENTS, LIKE THOSE ARE THE WORDS I HAD WRITTEN DOWN.
SO ARE WE GOOD WITH ALL OF THIS? WITH THE EDITS TO THE VISION STATEMENT? ANY OBJECTIONS? ALL RIGHT.
THERE'S AN ACTION ITEM, RIGHT? OKAY.
TAKE ONE, ONE COMMENT REAL QUICK.
UM, I'M JUST LOOKING AT THE LEANDER MISSION STATEMENT VERSUS THE VISION STATEMENT AND WE HAVE INVITING ATMOSPHERE DOWN HERE.
WHAT IF WE USED ENVIRONMENT IN ONE OF THESE
AND I DON'T CARE WHICH ONE, BUT JUST RATHER THAN REPEAT.
SO LET'S DO IT ON THE VISION STATEMENT 'CAUSE THAT WILL BE EASIER.
ARE WE ALL GOOD WITH THAT ENVIRONMENT? YEAH, THAT'S FINE.
SO THE END, IT'S GONNA END IN WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT FOR MISSION STATEMENT.
AND THEN THE MISSION STATEMENT STAYS AS IS.
I DON'T WANNA MESS WITH THE MISSION STATEMENT.
I WILL MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE ALL OF THIS WITH THE EDIT TO THE VISION STATEMENT SO THAT IT READS AN ECONOMICALLY SUSTAINABLE AND BALANCED COMMUNITY THAT INVITES ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES, CELEBRATES ITS VIBRANT CULTURE AND CULTIVATES A WELCOMING ENVIRONMENT.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? I WE'RE NOT GONNA REDO THIS WHEN WE DO THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, ARE WE? NOT LIKELY, BUT WE CAN REVISIT IT IF WE FEEL THERE'S A NEED.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.
SO I GUESS YOU DON'T WANNA DO THIS AGAIN IN JANUARY? NO, NOT
[02:15:01]
SO MUCH.MR. BRYSON CAMPAIGN LEANDER ABOUT 92 YEARS AGO.
DO YOU MIND IF I HOLD THAT UP FOR THE CAMERA? THANK YOU.
HOPEFULLY THE CAMERA WILL FOCUS IN ON ME.
THIS IS DOWNTOWN LEANDER, 92 YEARS AGO, UM, BROUGHT TO US BY MR. BOBBY BRYSON HIMSELF.
THAT'S MY MOTHER, MY MOTHER HOLDING ME.
HERE WAS IN ABOUT, UH, 1942, I WAS TAKING A BALE OF COTTON.
THAT'S HIM AND HIS SUB WAS THERE A LOT OF COTTON AROUND HERE.
YOU COULD SEE THE BALES AND STARTED OVER THERE ON THE PLATFORM.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING THAT WITH US.
I THINK BOBBY OUGHT TO TEAM UP WITH KA SOMETIME.
SEE, THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES LEANER SPECIAL IS PAT BRYSON'S HUSBAND COMES AND SHOWS PICTURES AT THE COUNCIL MEETING IN THE BUILDING NAMED AFTER PAT BRYSON.
MR. BRYSON, YOU MIGHT WANNA GO TO THAT TABLE IN THE BACK.
YOU MIGHT WANNA SHARE IT WITH THEM, HUH? THERE'S REPORTERS AT THE BACK.
GO INTERVIEW, GO SHARE WITH THEM.
ITEM 29, COUNCIL MEMBER, FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. ANY DELIBERATION OF OR DECISION ABOUT THE SUBJECT OF THE INQUIRY SHALL BE LIMITED TO A PROPOSAL TO PLACE THE SUBJECT ON THE AGENDA FOR A SUBSEQUENT MEETING.
[30. Council Member Closing Statements.]
ITEM 30, EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE.COUNCIL MEMBER CLOSING COMMENTS.
HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE BLESSED TO BE HERE AND, UM, YEAH, JUST ENJOY MANY BLESSINGS.
IT'S GREAT TO ENTER THE TIME OF, UH, THE HOLIDAY SEASON AND WE START OFF BY BEING THANKFUL AND THEN COMES, OF COURSE, CHRISTMAS.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND GOOD NIGHT.
AND ALTHOUGH WE'LL HAVE ONE MORE MEETING, JUST A REMINDER THAT THE OLD TOWN CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL WILL BE DECEMBER 7TH, SO MAKE PLANS TO BE THERE.
YEAH, I THINK THIS WHOLE TOWN HAS A LOT TO BE THANKFUL FOR.
AND, UH, AND SO THANKS FOR LETTING US BE UP HERE.
THANKS FOR, UH, I'M THANKFUL FOR OUR COUNCIL.
I'M THANKFUL FOR OUR CITY, UH, FOR THE WAY THAT WE'RE, UM, SHOWING PEOPLE HOW TO WORK TOGETHER.
I THINK IT'S A, IT'S A REALLY NEAT THING.
SO, UM, I'M THANKFUL TO BE HERE.
HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYS THEIR THANKSGIVING AND HAS A GOOD HOLIDAY.
UH, AS ALWAYS, UH, WE HAVE MADE A COMMITMENT TO SHOP LOCAL HERE BECAUSE WE WANT ALL OF YOU AT HOME TO ALSO SHOP IN LEANDER.
SO TONIGHT WE PICKED UP DINNER FROM CHIBA HUT.
PLEASE REMEMBER, AS WE ENTER THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, UM, WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING FOR GIFTS OR DINNER OUT, CHOOSE LEANER FIRST BECAUSE EVERY TIME YOU PURCHASE SOMETHING IN LEANDER, ALL OF THE SALES TAX AND AND WHATNOT IS GOING BACK INTO YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY.
IT'S KEEPING PEOPLE EMPLOYED HERE, IT'S BRINGING BUSINESSES HERE.
IT'S PAYING FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL THINGS THAT WE TALK ABOUT.
UM, AND THEN I ALSO WANT TO ECHO A FEW OF THE COMMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN UP HERE TONIGHT.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR DECEMBER 7TH.
IT IS THE FIRST SATURDAY IN DECEMBER.
UM, THE CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL IS GOING TO BE GOING ON ALL DAY AND INTO THE EVENING, AND IT IS THE VERY BEST THING THAT WE DO ALL YEAR.
IF YOU'VE NEVER BEEN, YOU HAVE TO GO AND TO GET A LITTLE PREVIEW.
IF YOU DRIVE BY OUR BUILDING RIGHT NOW, THE TREE IS UP AND IT'S MASSIVE AND IT'S WONDERFUL AND MAGICAL AND IT IS JUST THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO BE HERE.
AND THEN JUST A HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYBODY, ESPECIALLY OUR WONDERFUL STAFF BECAUSE WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR ALL OF YOU AND, UM, YOU KEEP US RUNNING AND WE CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH.
[31. Convene into Executive Session pursuant to:
]
NUMBER TWO, SECTIONS 5 5 1 0.071 AND 5 5 1 0.072.
TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE AND SECTION 1.05.
TEXAS DISCIPLINARY RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT TO CONSULT WITH LEGAL COUNSEL REGARDING THE ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY LOCATED IN THE ELIJAH D HARMON SURVEY, ABSTRACT NUMBER SIX FOR THE LEANDRE 2243 WATER MAIN PROJECT.
AND NUMBER THREE SECTIONS 5 5 1 0.071 AND 5 5 1 0.087.
TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE AND SECTION 1.05.
TEXAS DISCIPLINARY RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT TO DELIBERATE PROPOSED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES FOR ONE OR MORE BUSINESS PROSPECTS THAT THE GOVERNMENTAL BODY SEEKS TO HAVE, LOCATE,
[02:20:01]
STATE OR EXPAND IN OR NEAR THE TERRITORY OF THE CITY.REGARDING PROJECT EDA DASH 24 DASH 0 0 4, THE TIME IS 8:19 PM
[ Reconvene into open session to take action as deemed appropriate in the City Council's discretion regarding:
]
NUMBER TWO, CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEY REGARDING 2243 WATER MAIN PROJECT MAYOR PRO TEM.
DO YOU HAVE A MOTION APPROVE THE ACQUISITION OF PROPERTIES LOCATED IN THE ELIJAH D HARMAN SURVEY ABSTRACT NUMBER SIX FOR WATERLINE EASEMENT AND TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION EASEMENT RELATING TO THE RM 2243 WATER MAIN PROJECT AS DISCUSSED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION SECOND MOTION, AND SECOND.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.
NUMBER THREE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES REGARDING PROJECT EDA DASH 24 DASH 0 0 4 MAYOR PER TIME, DO YOU HAVE A MOTION? NO ACTION.
AND WITH THAT COUNSEL IS ADJOURNED AT 8:39 PM GOODNIGHT.