Aug 18, 2021 Environmental Commission

TO ITEM ONE B, THEN ACTUALLY, UM, IT LOOKS LIKE RACHEL HAS DROPPED OFF, SO STUB, QUORUM, SO WE CAN KEEP GOING, BUT, UM, PARIS WANTED TO HAND IT OFF TO YOU AND SAY, YOU KNOW, A BIG WARM WELCOME FROM, FROM THE COMMISSION AND, UM, AND ALSO CHEER GUERRERO.

THANKS SHOES TO FILL.

I'LL TRY MY BEST.

UH, WELL MOVING ON

[1b. New Environmental Commission member welcome and introduction (Part 1 of 2)]

CAN YOU DO THIS TONIGHT, BUT UM, JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU A COUPLE OF MINUTES TO JUST INTRODUCE YOURSELF, TELL US, TELL US WHO YOU ARE, WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW IT RELATES TO WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION OR A SHORTER VERSION OF THAT.

CAUSE THAT'S PROBABLY A LONG STORY, BUT, UH, FEEL FREE TO GIVE US AN INTRO TO YOU.

AND WE'RE EXCITED TO GET TO KNOW YOU MORE IN THE COMING MONTHS.

UH, YEAH, FOR SURE.

HEY, Y'ALL MY NAME IS HARRIS GRESHY, YOU KNOW, UH, I GREW UP IN ROUNDROCK AND DRIPPING SPRINGS, BUT CURRENTLY I'VE LIVED ON THE EAST SIDE FOR FAR TOO LONG NOW.

SO HERE I AM REPRESENTING DISTRICT ONE IN SOME KIND OF OFFICIAL FASHION WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT 10 YEARS AGO, RIGHT.

UH, TIME FLUFFING HAS.

UH, BUT YEAH, YOU KNOW, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN, I THINK JUST, YOU KNOW, HAVING LIVED IN THE AUSTIN AREA FROM A YOUNG AGE, RIGHT.

YOU SORT OF SEE, YOU KNOW, THE NATURAL BEAUTY THAT, YOU KNOW, THE AREAS HAD NOTHING, YOU KNOW, AS MORE ECONOMIC STIMULATION AND DEVELOPMENT COMES TO THIS AREA.

I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE TRY TO REMEMBER, YOU KNOW, OF THE MAIN REASONS WHY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HERE FOR SO LONG IS BECAUSE YOU KNOW, OF THE CARE THAT WE PUT INTO OUR ENVIRONMENT AND MAKING SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S AROUND FOR GENERATIONS.

SO REALLY I'M JUST TRYING TO STOP ALL THE CONDOS, UH, FROM TAKING OUR OXYGEN.

SO THERE YOU GO.

I THINK THERE IS, AND I DON'T THINK WE HAVE RACHEL BACK YET, BUT KAYLA, DO WE NEED TO TAKE A MINUTE? I THINK THAT WE CAN GO AHEAD AND COME BACK AND INTRODUCE RACHEL LATER IF SHE'S ABLE TO REJOIN THE CALL.

UH, LET'S MOVE ON TO ITEM APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND ACTIONS.

WELL WELCOME AGAIN, HARRISON.

AND HOPEFULLY WE'LL HEAR FROM RACHEL IN A LITTLE BIT.

[2a. Approval of the August 4, 2021 Environmental Commission Meeting Minutes]

SO THESE ARE, UH, THE AUGUST 4TH, 2021 ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES.

EVERYONE HAVE A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THIS.

THIS IS RAMBERT.

I MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FIRST BY RAMBERT.

DO WE HAVE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND IT SECOND BY BRIMMER.

ANY DISCUSSION

[00:10:01]

EDITS? I'VE GOT A QUESTION.

IF YOU'RE NOT PRESENT AT THE MEETING PRIOR, DO YOU LIKE JUST STAY QUIET WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING? OKAY.

SO I HAVE BEEN TOLD IN THE PAST AND KAYLA CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT I'VE BEEN TOLD IN THE PAST THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO RECUSE.

UH, BUT SO OFTEN FOLKS DO IT WILL SAY, UH, IF WE WERE ACCUSED, NOW WE WILL ASK THE MINUTES.

UM, BUT THAT'S, THAT'S TOTALLY UP TO YOU.

UM, KAYLA, IS THAT RIGHT? OKAY.

THAT IS CORRECT.

YOU ARE ABLE TO VOTE ON THESE MINUTES IF YOU WISH.

WELL THEN LET'S, UH, DO A QUICK, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR.

IF YOU'RE ON CAMERA, UH, JUST, JUST RAISE YOUR HAND.

ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, SAY AYE.

ANY OPPOSED? AND THAT WAS EVERYONE.

SO PASSES UNANIMOUSLY SIX.

OH, THAT'S WE'LL MOVE ON TO

[3a. Update on School Year 2020-2021 WPD Youth Education Report—Susan Wall, Conservation Program Coordinator, Watershed Protection Department]

THREE A, SO WE'RE GETTING INTO BRIEFINGS NOW.

SO THREE 80, WE'RE GOING TO GET AN UPDATE ON SCHOOL YEAR 20, 20, 20, 21 WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT, YOUTH EDUCATION REPORT.

SO SUSAN WALL, UH, IS THERE A CONSERVATION PROGRAM COORDINATOR FOR THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT? SUSAN, THANKS FOR JOINING US TONIGHT.

SORRY.

CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN HEAR YOU NOW.

CAN YOU SEE ME? WE CANNOT SEE YOU.

I WONDER WHY, WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO? THERE SHOULD BE A BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN THAT SAYS START VIDEO, BUT IF YOU DON'T SEE IT, I WOULD SAY JUST GO AHEAD AND PROCEED AND WE'LL PUT YOUR PRESENTATION AND MAP UP WHEN YOU'RE READY.

JUST GIVE ME A MINUTE.

CAN YOU ALL SEE ME NOW? YES, WE CAN SEE YOU NOW.

AND MY NICE AT HOME OFFICE.

ALL OF THOSE WITH ALL OF US.

UM, SO, UH, YES, I'M SUSAN WALL WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT.

I'M THE YOUTH ED COORDINATOR.

UM, AND I ALSO COORDINATE FOR THE WHOLE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT.

WE HAVE A YOUTH ED TEAM, UM, THAT IS, UH, PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF THE DEPARTMENT, UH, EXCUSE ME, NOT OUTSIDE THE DEPARTMENT, OUTSIDE OUR SPECIFIC EDUCATION GROUP.

AND, UM, I, UH, PRESENT THIS REPORT EVERY YEAR, BUT LAST YEAR WAS NOT ABLE TO IN THE CHAOS OF THE BEGINNING OF COVID AND, AND LEARNING TO DO ALL OF THIS, UM, VIRTUALLY, AND I THINK Y'ALL HAD QUITE A PACKED AGENDA, BUT I DO HAVE, UM, SOME RESULTS FROM THIS YEAR.

AND THEN I, I COMPARE THEM TO LAST YEAR AND THE YEAR BEFORE.

SO Y'ALL CAN SEE, UM, HOW THE PANDEMIC HAS GREATLY AFFECTED YOUTH ED OUTREACH.

UM, NEXT SLIDE.

SO THIS YEAR, EXCUSE ME, LAST SCHOOL YEAR, IT WAS VIRTUAL.

IT WAS VIRTUAL IN THE SCHOOLS.

SO WE HAD TO GO VIRTUAL.

THIS WAS A HUGE LIFT, HEAVY LIFT FOR OUR, UH, 12, UH, OUR TEMPORARIES.

WE HAVE NINE TEMPORARY TEACHERS AND THOSE OF US COORDINATING, WE HAD TO LEARN TO USE A VIRTUAL FORMAT AS DID TEACHERS IN THE SCHOOLS, WHICH IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT ANIMAL THAN TEACHING IN THE FIELD TEACHING TO A CAMERA WITHOUT STUDENTS PRESENT, BUT INTERACTING WITH THE STUDENTS AS IF THEY WERE PRESENT LEARNING TO HOST VIA ZOOM, UM, AND PERFORMING THE ROLE OF VIDEOGRAPHER.

UH, THESE ARE ALL SKILLS AND TALENTS THAT WE DIDN'T HIRE FOR, BUT WE WERE FORCED TO TRANSITION TO.

AND I, UH, JUST COMMEND THE GROUP FOR SUCH AN AWESOME PIVOT TO THE VIRTUAL FORMAT.

UM, WE SPENT THE FIRST SIX WEEKS IDENTIFYING EQUIPMENT LIKE, UH, THE, UM, MICROPHONE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PICTURE HAS TO BE WATERPROOF BECAUSE HE HAS, IT FALLS IN THE CREEK CAUSE WE'RE IN THE CREEK TEACHING AND IT HAS TO, UM, ALSO RELAY GOOD AUDIO TO THE STUDENTS SO WE CAN TALK.

UM, THE LESSONS HAD TO BE REWRITTEN, UM, JUST GOING OUT AND DOING ART CAMP ON CAMERA.

IT DIDN'T WORK.

IT WAS A, IT'S A WHOLE NEW FORMAT.

SO WE HAD TO REWRITE AND RETEACH

[00:15:01]

WE CAME UP WITH SOME KAHOOT GAMES, WHICH YOU SEE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREENS TO KEEP THE KIDS ENGAGED.

AND, UM, YOU KNOW, KAHOOT IS REALLY JUST LIKE A, A TEST, BUT THEY THINK IT'S SO FUN.

IT'S LIKE A GAME.

SO A BIG DINETTE HELPS GET OUR POINTS ACROSS.

AND THEN WE PUT IN THINGS LIKE A BREAK WITH A FUN TIMER, WE HAD A WHEEL AND NAMES.

SO WE GAVE HER RENT AWAY EARTH, CAMP PRIZES, SO THAT, AND WE DELIVERED ALL THE MATERIALS, WHICH YOU SEE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN ALSO, SO THAT THEY HAD HANDSOME MATERIALS TO WORK WITH.

AND YOU SEE THE PICTURES THERE, UM, OF HOSTING, FILMING VIDEOGRAPHER AND TEACHING NEXT SLIDE.

AND ON THE STUDENT'S END, THIS IS WHAT THEY SEE AND PARTICIPATE IN.

SO WHEN WE WENT IN A CAVE, THEY HAD HAIRNETS AND THEIR MATERIAL BAGS.

YOU CAN SEE THE ONES AT THE TOP, THEIR HAIR NETS ON THIS.

WE ALSO GIVE THEM THE CHOICE TO MAKE THEIR OWN LITTLE HAIR KNOW HELMET, TO GO IN THE CAVE AND THIS SPORT, HE CHOSE TO MAKE HIS PAPER HELMET.

AND THEN OUR VIDEOGRAPHER GOES IN THE CAVE AND DOES THE LESSON INSIDE THE CAVE? AND OUR HOST HAS A CAVE BACKGROUND.

WE LEARNED A LOT ABOUT, UM, USING BACKGROUNDS TO MAKE US APPEAR AS IF WE WERE THERE OUT IN THE FIELD WHEN WE'RE HOSTING.

UM, AND WE WERE ABLE TO REACH, UH, USUALLY WE REACH ABOUT 16 TO 1700 STUDENTS.

OUR GOAL IS 1500.

UM, BUT WITH VIRTUAL, IT WAS JUST OVER A THOUSAND THAT WE WERE ABLE TO REACH.

AND I KNOW THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION HAS ASKED IN THE PAST ABOUT RF AND THE ETHNICITY OF WHO WE REACH.

AND SO YOU CAN SEE THAT ON THE LEFT THAT OUR TARGET IS TITLE ONE SCHOOLS, WHICH ARE LOW SOCIOECONOMIC BASED ON FREE AND REDUCED MEALS.

AND THE MAJORITY OF THOSE SCHOOLS ARE HISPANIC.

UH, WE, OUR SCHOOL IS THE SISTER PROGRAM TO EARTH CAMP SCHOOLS THAT DON'T GET EARTH CAMP, UM, WHICH ARE NON TITLE.

ONE SCHOOLS ARE NOT OFFERED EARTH CAMP.

SO THEY'RE OFFERED EARTH SCHOOL AND WE'RE NOT ABLE TO REACH EVERY TITLE ONE SCHOOL, UM, WITH THE RESOURCES AND STAFF WE HAVE.

SO EARTH SCHOOL FILLS THAT GAP.

IT'S A ONE HOUR IN CLASS PRESENTATION WITH HANDS-ON MODELS.

THE KIDS, IT COVERS THE SAME CONTENT, JUST DOESN'T NEED AN HOUR OR AN HOUR AND A HALF.

AND AFTER WE DID THE BIG PIVOT TO VIRTUAL FOR EARTH CAMP AND EARTH SCHOOL FOLLOWED SUIT AND PIVOTED TO VIRTUAL AND, UM, DID LIVE PRESENTATIONS, BUT THEY WERE, YOU KNOW, ZOOMING FROM THEIR HOME.

SO THEY COULD STILL HAVE THEM, YOU KNOW, THEY STILL HAD A LIVE INTERACTION COMPONENT TO IT.

SO IT WASN'T VIDEOTAPED SOMETHING THEY JUST WATCHED, THEY DID PARTICIPATE.

AND YOU SEE WITH THE ETHNICITY, THERE'S A GREATER, UH, UH, LESS AMOUNT OF HISPANIC, I GUESS, I SHOULD SAY, SINCE THIS DOES TARGET THE SCHOOLS THAT EARTH CAMP DOES NOT REACH.

JUST, ISN'T A VERY ADEQUATE WAY FOR CHILDREN TO LEARN.

NEXT SLIDE, UH, VIRTUAL CLEAN CREEK CAMPUS IS A PARTNERSHIP WE HAVE WITH KEEP AUSTIN BEAUTIFUL.

AND, UM, IT'S USUALLY A FIELD TRIP IN THE FIELD AND THEY DO SERVICE PROJECTS.

IT'S LIKE PLANTING SEEDS OR, UH, MAKING SEED BALLS AND SCATTERING SEED BALLS AND THE RIPARIAN AREAS OR DOING CLEANUPS.

AND, UM, THEY DID SOME LIVE INTERACTIVE LESSONS, UM, FOR THIS AND OUR COMPONENT WAS THE MACRO INVERTEBRATES, BUT ALSO A SKIT THAT THEY MADE WITH SHOWING HOW DOG POOP CAN POLLUTE THE CREEK.

AND YOU HAVE TO THROW YOUR DOG POOP AWAY BECAUSE THE POOP FAIRY DOES NOT COME AND PICK UP THAT BAG.

AND SO THE POOP FAIRY WAS AN ACTUAL PERSON THAT WAS PART OF THE SKIT.

AND, OH MY GOSH, I THINK THIS WAS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PIVOT WE DID.

I THINK YOU NEED TO GO THE ENTERTAINMENT ROUTE WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO DO IT VIRTUALLY REALLY NOT AS IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN AND, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE TRUSTED VIRTUAL,

[00:20:01]

AND, UH, IT'S BETTER TO GO AN ENTERTAINMENT ROUTE WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO FOCUS ON ONE THING LIKE SCOOPING THE POOP, UM, IS WHAT WE LEARNED FROM ALL OF THAT.

UM, NEXT SLIDE.

WATERSHED DETECTIVES, UH, WE CANCEL, UM, DUE TO COVID IT'S OUR MIDDLE SCHOOL PROGRAM.

IT IS, UH, AGAIN, MAJORITY HISPANIC.

AND, UM, WE PARTNERED WITH A, UM, UH, EDUCATOR CALLED CAPE SIM WHO DOES A LOT OF PROGRAMMING WITH, UM, MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS AND ELEMENTARY STUDENTS.

HE HAS A ACTUAL, UM, MODEL, LIKE A HUGE MODEL.

YOU CRAWL THROUGH A CAVE, SO IT'S NOT A REAL CAVE, BUT THEN TEACHES ABOUT THE AQUIFER AND THE CHEMISTRY OF IT, WHICH YOU CAN SEE HIM DOING THERE.

SO WE, UM, PARTNERED WITH CAME SIM TO DELIVER THE VIRTUAL PROGRAMMING TO A HUNDRED A THOUSAND AND THE EIGHT STUDENTS.

SO WE FOUND PARTNERSHIPS WHERE THE BETTER WAY TO GO FOR THIS PROGRAM AND FOR OUR HIGH SCOPE PROGRAM.

SO AGAIN, THAT WAS CANCELED DUE TO COVID.

WE DIDN'T DO OUR PROGRAM, BUT WE REALLY HEAVILY INVESTED IN OUR PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS, WHICH IS BARTON SPRINGS UNIVERSITY.

YOU MIGHT BE FAMILIAR WITH THAT.

IT WAS VIRTUAL.

AND WE PARTNERED WITH THE PARD RANGER CADET PROGRAM AND THEY BUILT SOME BRAIN TANKS AND STERN WAGNER HELPED THEM WITH THAT.

HE'S IN THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT AND WE ALSO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR THAT PROGRAM.

AND WE ALSO, UM, HEAVILY FUND THE AUSTIN YOUTH RIVERWATCH, UM, WHICH IS A SEPARATE 5 0 1 C3, BUT, UM, THEY DO WATERSHED PROGRAMMING AND WATER QUALITY TESTING.

AND THE, I BELIEVE THEY HAVE THEIR OWN REPORT THAT I'M REPORTING TO YOU FROM THEIR REPORT.

THAT IS, UH, THERE ARE, YOU KNOW, MOSTLY 90% ETHNIC AND LOW SOCIOECONOMIC.

SO, UM, IS A PROGRAM TO, UH, PROVIDE US WITH SOME DATA AND PERSPECTIVE ON OUR CREEKS, BUT ALSO SUPPORT THESE YOUNG PEOPLE IN FINISHING HIGH SCHOOLS.

SO THEY DO PROVIDE TUTORING AND DURING THE PANDEMIC PROVIDED MEALS, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS FABULOUS.

THEY USUALLY PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION BECAUSE THAT'S A BIG ISSUE, BUT DURING THE PANDEMIC, WEREN'T ABLE TO DO THAT.

SO THEY GAVE THE STUDENTS TEST KITS AND THE STUDENTS WENT OUT IN GROUPS OF TWO AND DID IT, IT WAS PRETTY NEAT.

THE THING, THE WAYS EVERYONE CAME UP WITH TO ACCOMMODATE THE PANDEMIC.

AND, UH, WE HAD SPECIAL REQUESTS AND FAIRS, WHICH IS THE REST OF OUR WATERSHED DEPARTMENT.

WE HAVE A TEAM THAT PARTICIPATES USUALLY PRETTY HEAVILY AND SPECIAL REQUEST AND FAIRS PRESENTATIONS AT SCHOOLS.

UM, WE HAVE A LOT OF FAIRS IN SPRING AND IN FALL LIKE THE WALNUT CREEK FESTIVAL, UM, ALONG WALLER CREEK.

AND, UH, I CAN'T THINK OF THEM OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT WE DID PARTICIPATE IN AUSTIN CORE.

WE DID IT VIRTUALLY.

WE DID PARTICIPATE IN THE SCIENCE FAIR AS JUDGES VIRTUALLY, AND THE RANGER CADET PROGRAM HAD A VIRTUAL PRESENTATION FOR US.

AND THIS, YOU CAN SEE STAR AND WAGONER IN THERE THAT, IN THAT PICTURE IN PERSON ON THE BOTTOM, RIGHT.

UM, WITH THE RANGER CADETS BUILDING, HAVING FINISHED, I GUESS, THE RAIN BARREL, UM, PROJECT THAT THEY DID.

SO THIS, UH, LAST SCHOOL YEAR, 5,098 YOUTH WERE BREACHED.

USUALLY WE REACH YOUTH AND THEY'RE ADULTS BECAUSE WE HAVE PARENTS THAT COME ALONG ON THE FIELD TRIPS OR, UM, WE'RE IN COMMUNITY OF ANTS WHERE IT'S FAMILIES.

UM, BUT WE REALLY COULDN'T COUNT THAT THIS YEAR, LAST YEAR BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC, IT WAS REALLY PRETTY MUCH JUST YOUTH SINCE IT WAS A VIRTUAL PRESENTATION.

IN 2019, WE HAD CLOSE TO 18,000 STUDENTS AND THEY'RE ADULTS 2020 IS WHEN THE PANDEMIC HIT AND IT HIT IN MARCH AND APRIL AND MAY IS A HUGE TIME OF YEAR WHEN WE DO A LOT OF EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.

SO JUST TO GIVE YOU SOME PERSPECTIVE

[00:25:01]

SO WE REACHED 10,000 AND LAST YEAR WE WORKED REALLY, REALLY HARD.

WE REACHED 5,000.

SO YOU CAN SEE THE EFFECT THAT THAT PANDEMIC HAS HAD ON EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.

AND I HOPE THIS CAN SLOWLY WHILE I'M OUT AND BACK UP TO OUR 18,000 NUMBER AS THE PANDEMIC, WHICH IS NOW RAGING AGAIN, BUT AS HOPEFULLY EVERYONE GETS VACCINATED AND HOPING THAT IT WILL, UM, BE IN PERSON THIS YEAR IS IN-PERSON.

SO THAT IT'S GOING TO BE A MIX FOR, YOU KNOW, AS THE SCHOOLS, YOU KNOW, OFFER SOME VIRTUALLY TOO NEXT SLIDE.

SO THAT'S ALL I WANTED TO SHOW THE MAP.

IF YOU COULD GET THE MAP UP, THIS IS Y'ALL, UH, HR REPRESENTING.

SO WE HAVE, UM, THE DISTRICTS ON A MAP OF AUSTIN AND YOU CAN SEE THE, UM, OOH, AM I ABLE TO GO OVER TO THE LEGEND AND CHANGE? WHAT IS SEEN PERFECT.

SUSAN, THAT MAY BE A LITTLE DIFFICULT FOR US TO DO.

UH, WE COULD PROBABLY ZOOM IN AND OUT.

NOW, WELL, THAT'S MA NEVERMIND THEN, BUT WE DO HAVE A MAP AND YOU CAN SEE, UH, JUST GO AHEAD AND PUT THIS DOWN.

OUR MAP DOES SHOW THAT WE, WE DO REACH EVERY DISTRICT AND, YOU KNOW, IF YOU WANT TO SEE THAT I CAN EMAIL IT TO YOU, BUT 2019, THERE'S A HUGE AMOUNT THAT WE'VE REACHED IN EVERY DISTRICT.

AND THEN THERE'S A SMALL AMOUNT AND THIS YEAR, SO WE ARE CONSCIENTIOUS ABOUT REACHING OUT IN EVERY DISTRICT, BUT, UM, MANY OF OUR PROGRAMS ARE FOCUSED ON AISD.

SO IF YOUR DISTRICT DOESN'T HAVE A STRONG AISD REPRESENTATION, IT MIGHT HAVE LESS SCHOOLS REPRESENTED.

THINK THE PROGRAM HAS GRAD YET, YOU KNOW, AS SOMEBODY WHO WAS ONCE UPON A TIME, YOU KNOW, A CHILD MYSELF, YOU KNOW, I WAS A BIG THING, YOU KNOW, GOING OUT TO, YOU KNOW, THE CAVES AND THE CAVERNS AND WHATNOT.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

UM, MS. WALL, UM, WE HAVE SOME QUESTIONS.

I THINK WE CAN GO AROUND.

I SAW, UH, COMMISSIONER RANDBERG WITH A HAND UP FIRST, AND THEN WE'LL GO TO COMMISSIONER FRESHY.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.

UM, I THINK THAT THE ONLY QUESTION I HAVE IS I THINK YOU'VE KIND OF ALLUDED TO IT THERE TOWARDS THE END WAS, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE IN, WE'RE IN, IN PERSON NOW.

UM, SO IS THE PLAN TO KIND OF GET BACK TO WHAT YOU WERE PRE PRE COVID WITH LESSON PLANS AND ACTIVITIES, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, IF THINGS CHANGE PIVOT AGAIN, OR MAYBE IF YOU COULD GIVE US A LITTLE INSIGHT INTO YOUR, YOUR YOU'RE LOOKING IN THE CRYSTAL BALL, I UNDERSTAND, BUT KIND OF WHAT Y'ALL'S PLANNING FOR THE FALL OR SPRING.

YES, WE ARE HAVING A SLOW START BECAUSE THINGS ARE SO CHAOTIC WITH THE SCHOOLS.

AND SO WE'RE STARTING, UM, ABOUT THREE WEEKS LATER THAN WE NORMALLY START.

AND, UM, WE'RE ONLY DOING TWO CAMPS A WEEK RATHER THAN THREE CAMPS A WEEK IN FALL.

UM, BECAUSE WE WILL HAVE SMALLER GROUPS, WE'LL HAVE PODS OF 10 RATHER THAN 15.

SO IT REQUIRES MORE STAFFING, SO LESS CAMPS THAT WE'RE AVAILABLE TO DO, UM, BECAUSE THE STUDENTS ARE ABLE TO WEAR MASKS NOW AND WE'RE ABLE TO ASK FOR MASK WEARING, UM, AND THEIR MASK ON THE BUS.

I, UM, FORESEE THAT IT WILL BE MORE SUCCESSFUL.

UM, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT IF SOMEONE IN THE GROUP GETS COVID, WE'LL HAVE TO CANCEL.

UM, SO THERE'S THAT, UM, WITH EARTH SCHOOL, UH, WE'RE WORKING ON SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE ON CAMPUS, UM, LIVE OUTDOORS IN THEIR LEARNING.

THEY HA ALMOST ALL CAMPUSES NOW HAVE LEARNING SPACES OUTDOORS.

SO, UM, WE WILL HAVE A VIRTUAL COMPONENT AVAILABLE FOR THOSE THAT CHOOSE TO BE VIRTUAL, BUT I'M HOPING THAT'S ALL IT'S FOR IS FOR THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO VIRTUAL AND WITH OUR MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS. I THINK IT'S GOING TO TAKE A LITTLE LONGER TO GEAR UP.

WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SEE HOW THAT GOES.

UM, SO YEAH, YOU KNOW, UM, I DEFINITELY

[00:30:01]

UH, DEFINITELY I HAVE FOND MEMORIES OF, UH, YOU KNOW, BEING TOLD WHAT BAT GUANO WAS FOR THE FIRST TIME.

SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK, UH, I THINK, YOU KNOW, IT'S DEFINITELY TOUGH TO, LIKE YOU SAID, FOR, YOU KNOW, VIRTUAL ACTIVITIES.

I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE OWNERS DEFINITELY, YOU KNOW, KIND OF FALLS ON Y'ALL AND BEING ABLE TO MANUFACTURE, YOU KNOW, ENTERTAINING AND ENGAGING CONTENT THAT KEEPS THE KIDS RIVETED.

MY QUESTION WAS SORT OF AT THE BEGINNING, AND AGAIN, I DON'T REALLY HAVE MUCH EXPERIENCE WITH THIS.

I NOTICED WITH LIKE THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, THEY WERE LIKE TWO SEPARATE PROGRAMS WITH LIKE PRETTY DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHICS.

I WAS JUST WONDERING, SO ARE THESE, LIKE, I THINK YOU ALLUDED TO IT, LIKE, THERE ARE SORT OF LIKE THE ECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS IN SCHOOLS ARE DIFFERENT.

IS THERE ANY REASON WHY THERE ARE TWO SEPARATE PROGRAMS THAT SORT OF TARGET THESE SORT OF TWO DIFFERENT, UH, YOU KNOW, SUBSETS OF, UH, SCHOOLS? YES, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.

UM, OUR PROGRAM IS FOUR DAYS OF FIELD, UM, SCIENCE.

SO WE TAKE THE STUDENTS OUT OF SCHOOL ON FIELD TRIPS TO BARTON SPRINGS, TO THE LADY BIRD JOHNSON WILDFLOWER CENTER, TO GO IN A CAVE TO MCKINNEY FALLS, TO GO IN THE CREEK AND LOOK FOR BUGS.

UM, AND IT, WHEN IT'S HISTORICALLY ALWAYS BEEN TARGETED TO SCHOOLS THAT WOULDN'T OTHERWISE STUDENTS THAT WOULDN'T OTHERWISE HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY, SOME OF THESE OPPORTUNITIES ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE NATURE CENTER, BUT THEY REQUIRE PAYMENT.

AND, UM, SO THE FOCUS I ACQUIRED THIS PROGRAM, IT WAS ONLY IN ITS INFANCY.

IT WAS ONLY ABOUT THREE YEARS IN, BUT THE TARGET HAD ALWAYS BEEN TOWARDS THE, UM, SCHOOLS WITH HIGHER NEED AND TITLE ONE ARE THE SCHOOLS WITH HIGHER NEED.

AND, UM, BUT WE FEEL LIKE WITH EARTH SCHOOL, THAT ALL THOSE STUDENTS CAN PARTICIPATE IN THE NATURE CENTER AND THESE OTHER PROGRAMS, THEY DON'T NECESSARILY GET WATERSHED A SPECIFIC EDUCATION.

AND SO WE DO OUR GOAL IS THAT EVERY FIFTH GRADER COMES AWAY WITH WATERSHED EDUCATION, AQUIFER EDUCATION, KNOWING THE ACTIONS, THE PERSONAL ACTIONS THEY CAN DO TO IMPROVE WATER QUALITY, JUST LIKE THEY WALK AWAY KNOWING HOW PHOTOSYNTHESIS WORKS OR WHAT TEXAS HISTORY IS.

WE WANT THAT TO BE JUST PART OF OUR BASE KNOWLEDGE GROWING UP.

SO WE DO HAVE IT SCAFFOLDED.

WE HAVE THIS FIFTH GRADE PROGRAM TO REACH EVERYBODY, HOPEFULLY, AND THEN WE HAVE A SEVENTH GRADE PROGRAM AND THEN WE HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM THAT'S MORE TARGETED TOWARDS THE, THOSE THAT SIGN UP FOR AN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, NOT AS BROAD.

SOUNDS GOOD.

APPRECIATE IT.

I, SUSAN, THIS IS AUDREY BARRETT.

UM, THANK YOU FOR HI.

THANK YOU FOR, UM, PROVIDING THIS BRIEFING TODAY.

UM, IT'S, IT'S REALLY NEAT TO LEARN ABOUT THE PROGRAMS THAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING AND ALL THIS OUTREACH.

UM, IT'S I MEAN, IT'S AWESOME WORK, SO, UM, THANK YOU.

KEEP IT UP.

UM, I, ONE OF MY QUESTIONS WAS YOU SAID YOUR, YOUR GOAL WAS TO REACH ALL THE FIFTH GRADERS.

UM, I WAS CURIOUS HOW THE STUDENTS GET PICKED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FIELD TRIPS.

IS IT, IS IT A, UM, IS IT LIKE AT A SORT OF LIKE A WAR AND A, YOU KNOW, AN HONOR OR AN AWARD FOR THEM, IF THEY'RE DOING WELL AND INTERESTED IN SCIENCE OR IS IT JUST, THEY ALL, THEY'RE ALL GIVEN THE CHANCE LIKE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

IF WE GO TO THE SCHOOL, THEN ALL THE FIFTH GRADERS ARE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY.

MANY OF THE SCHOOLS, MANY OF THE CHILDREN, UM, DO BETTER IN THE OUTDOORS, LEARNING IN THE OUTDOORS THAN THEY DO IN THE CLASSROOM.

WE COVER LIKE 80% OF THE SCIENCE VOCABULARY FOR FIFTH GRADE.

AND, YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN ASKED BY THE CURRICULUM COORDINATORS HOW'S THAT POSSIBLE, AND THEN YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY DO THAT.

AND IT'S LIKE, WELL, YOU CAN, WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT IT, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE LOOKING AT EROSION, YOU'RE LOOKING AT, UM, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT PROCESSES THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU LEARN ABOUT A FIFTH GRADE, SO IT'S EASY TO, TO SEE THE ADAPTATIONS OF ANIMALS IN THE CAVE, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.

SO, UM, WE DO, UH, I JUST LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT.

I'M SORRY, WHAT WAS THE QUESTION? I KINDA FORGOT.

WITH THE SCHOOL, THEN THOSE, ALL THE CHILDREN WILL GET, GET THE CHANCE TO PARTICIPATE.

INITIAL QUESTION WAS IT WERE, WERE, WERE KIDS SORT OF LIKE, YOU KNOW, PICK FROM EACH DIFFERENT SCHOOL BECAUSE WE'RE INTERESTED IN DOING WELL, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE IF YOU ARE, IF YOU HAVE THE RELATIONSHIP

[00:35:01]

WELL, IT'S NOT JUST A RELATIONSHIP.

WE ALSO ASK THE SCIENCE COORDINATORS FOR AISD EVERY YEAR TO RECOMMEND 10 SCHOOLS THAT THEY SEE AS HIGH NEED IN SCIENCE.

SO WE INTEGRATE THAT INTO OUR TARGET AUDIENCE, AS WELL AS THOSE THAT HAVE COME BEFORE AND ARE WILLING TO DO HALF THE TEACHING, UM, THAT REDUCES OUR STAFF AND WE CAN STILL PROVIDE A CAMP FOR THEM.

THEM, BUT NOT IN EARTH CAMP BECAUSE WE STILL HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN ABLE TO REACH ALL THE TITLE ONE IN AISD.

CAUSE, CAUSE THAT LEADS INTO THE, ANOTHER IS, IT SEEMS LIKE, I MEAN THIS TYPE OF PROGRAM, LIKE THIS IS SO BENEFICIAL.

UM, DO YOU FEEL LIKE IF YOU, THIS IS LIKE NOT ON THE REC, I MEAN, THERE'S LIKE I'M ASKING OUT OF CURIOSITY, BUT LIKE IF YOU'RE A DEPARTMENT OR YOUR PROGRAM HAD MORE RESOURCES THAT YOU COULD SEE YOURSELF GOING INTO MORE THAN LIKE 20 SCHOOLS, YOU KNOW, 15 SCHOOLS, 20 SCHOOLS, UM, IN PR AND PROVIDING, YOU KNOW, THE SAME TYPE OF BENEFIT.

WELL, WE CURRENTLY GO TO 30 SCHOOLS WHEN WERE NORMAL, BUT THERE WERE 58 TITLE.

ONE SCHOOLS, OF COURSE, SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN CONSOLIDATED AND CLOSED, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THERE'S LESS STUDENTS.

THERE MIGHT BE LESS SCHOOLS, BUT THEY'RE JUST AS MANY STUDENTS.

AND WE DO KEEP A RATIO, UH, A CAP ON OF 30 STUDENTS AT A CAMP.

SO WE HAVE A RATIO OF 15 TO ONE FOR SAFETY REASONS AND FOR LEARNING REASONS.

SO, UM, YES, I WOULD LOVE IT IF WE COULD REACH EVERY TITLE ONE SCHOOL AND REALLY EVERY SCHOOL.

RIGHT.

BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, EVEN THE GOAL OF TRYING TO REACH EVERY TITLE ONE HAS, HAS KEPT ME DRIVEN AND WORKING TOWARDS, UM, GETTING MORE STAFF AND, AND UM, DEVELOPING POSITIONS THAT WILL RETAIN THEM BECAUSE IT TAKES US OFF ALL TO TRAIN SOMEONE.

AND, UM, WE HAVE EXCELLENT TEACHERS AND WE HAVE A GREAT MANAGER THAT HAS PROVIDED SOME, UH, GOOD SALARIES THAT ALLOW US TO GET, YOU KNOW, BUT THEN THERE'S ALWAYS THE PROBLEM OF, WELL, IT'S A SEASONAL TEMP POSITION.

SO, UM, WE'RE WORKING ON THAT, OUR MANAGERS WORKING ON THAT, BUT YES, MORE STAFF, NOT NECESSARILY RESOURCES.

WE HAVE CAVES, WE HAVE GARDENS.

NOW WE HAVE, WE USE PARKS, CITY PARKS WITH CREEKS RUNNING THROUGH THEM.

WE HAVE LIKE WHAT 58 CREEKS IN AUSTIN.

WE HAVE PLENTY OF RESOURCES.

WHAT WE NEED ARE, UM, POSITIONS THAT CONTINUE TO ATTRACT HIGH QUALITY TEACHERS AND, UM, RETAIN THEM.

AND SO WE CAN REACH MORE.

I KNOW THAT WE'VE ONE MORE QUESTION I BELIEVE FROM COMMISSIONER THOMPSON.

UM, AND THEN I THINK WE CAN GET IT.

WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO START TO MOVE ON HERE IN A MOMENT.

I'M PRETTY SURE IT'S HOUSE, SUSAN.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THAT PRESENTATION.

I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR REPORTS EVERY YEAR.

I KNOW YOU'VE CHANGED A LOT OF KIDS WISE AND I AM CURIOUS, IT'S ONLY AISD, CORRECT.

EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE ALL OF THE CHARTER SCHOOLS AND THE POPULATION IN AUSTIN IS GROWING.

SO THERE ARE MORE CHILDREN.

SO I'M INTERESTED IN YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT ATTRACTING PEOPLE FOR THE BUDGET AND SO FORTH.

BUT MOSTLY I JUST LIKE TO THANK YOU AND WONDER ABOUT THE SCHOOLS THAT ARE NOT I AISD.

AND IS THERE ANY THOUGHT TO THAT OR CONVERSATION? YES.

GREAT QUESTION.

CAUSE I KIND OF OVERLOOKED THAT FIRST SCHOOL DOES GO TO DRIPPING SPRINGS AND TO RE UH, THE PART OF EONS THAT'S IN OUR RECHARGE ZONE AND UH, HMM.

MAYBE SOMEPLACE ELSE.

I CAN'T REMEMBER.

AND THEN OUR MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL, YES.

THEY GO TO CHARTER, THEY GO TO PRIVATE, THEY GO TO ROUND ROCK IF IT'S IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN CITY LIMITS.

SO AS WE, UM, I THINK THERE ARE THOSE OTHER PROGRAMS DO REACH MORE, UM, OF THOSE CON CON YOU KNOW, SCHOOLS THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT BECAUSE I, I S D S LOST A LOT TO CHARTER SCHOOLS AND WE'VE REALIZED THAT, AND THERE'S A HUGE AUDIENCE IN CHARTER SCHOOLS.

SO, UM, WE'VE KEPT, WE KEEP TRACK OF THAT.

WE HAVE THAT ON OUR MATH.

I WAS GOING TO SHOW YOU, AND YES, WE DO TRY TO INCLUDE

[00:40:01]

AND THAT'S ALWAYS BEEN OUR GOAL.

EVERYBODY'S LIKE CHEROKEES, TEXAS.

THANKS AS WELL.

UH, JUST ONE COMMENT SLASH SORT OF QUESTION FOR ME, I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE JUST BEEN DOING SO MUCH MORE THINKING IN THE CITY ABOUT HOW WE INTEGRATE EQUITY AND JUSTICE INTO OUR WORK.

AND I THINK AS A FORMER ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR, YOU KNOW, THAT COMES TO MIND AS, AS PERTINENT, ESPECIALLY AS YOU'RE WORKING TO EDUCATE, UM, BIPAP COMMUNITIES IN A LOT OF YOUR PROGRAMS. AND I THINK THAT, UM, I'M CURIOUS IF YOU'VE EVER TALKED TO LIKE INDIGENOUS CULTURES INSTITUTE OR OTHER FOLKS WHO DO MORE WORK AROUND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, AND IF THAT'S INTEGRATED AT ALL INTO THE CURRICULUM.

YES, THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION.

AND I SPENT THIS PAST YEAR DURING THE PANDEMIC, UM, GOING TO WAY TOO MANY RACIAL EQUITY WORKSHOPS IF THAT'S POSSIBLE, BUT, UM, WE HAVE REWRITTEN OUR BARTON SPRINGS HISTORICAL STORY THAT WE TELL WHEN WE'RE THERE TO INCLUDE THE INDIGENOUS HISTORY.

UM, I'M CURRENTLY REVISING IT TO ALSO INCLUDE BLACK HISTORY.

AND, UM, WE, I HAVE COME UP WITH, UH, ALSO AT BARTON SPRINGS, WE HAVE SIGNAGE THAT WATER SHED, UH, PUT OUT THERE THAT'S, UM, ACKNOWLEDGES, UH, THE LANDS, THE PEOP THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE THAT THIS LAND BELONGS TO.

SO WE HA WE COME UP WITH A STATEMENT, A LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT STATEMENT, BUT WE'VE DECIDED WE WORKED ON IT ALL AS A TEAM.

WE'VE DECIDED THAT WE'LL DO THAT AT BARTON SPRINGS, WHERE THERE'S SIGNAGE FOR IT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE TALK WAS, AND THE CHEROKEES AND THE, AND THE GROUPS THAT WERE HERE, COMANCHE, EXCUSE ME, I ALWAYS CALL THEM CHEROKEE.

IT'S LIKE, I KNOW.

I JUST SAID, ESPECIALLY THE EQUITY OFFICE AS A RESOURCE, EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE, THEY'RE PRETTY TAPPED OUT AS WELL AS ALL OF OUR LOCAL RESOURCES, I WOULD JUST LOOK TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S GETTING PLUGGED IN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, UM, BUT REALLY AMAZING EFFORT.

AND IT, IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ALL REALLY PIVOTED IN A BIG WAY IN THE LAST YEAR.

AND SO THANK YOU SO MUCH.

UM, COMMISSIONER BARRETTS.

AND I DID WANT TO SAY THAT IN OUR VIRTUAL, WE S WE USE OUR PRONOUNS AND THE STUDENTS REALLY APPRECIATE THAT, UM, THAT WE USE OUR PRONOUNS AND SOMETIMES THEY'LL PUT THERE.

SO, UM, UH, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK THE SCHOOLS ARE VERY AWARE OF.

AND SO WE, AS TEACHERS ARE AWARE OF IT TOO.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, SUSAN.

UM, SORRY.

UH, IT IS PLAYING BEHIND HER, WHICH IS SO CUTE.

THANK YOU FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT.

AND THANKS AGAIN, SUSAN.

I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU COMING TO TALK AND WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ITEM.

UM, BUT, BUT KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK.

JUST WANT TO TAKE A REALLY QUICK BREAK, UM, TO GO REAL QUICKLY BACK TO ONE B UH, I BELIEVE COMMISSIONER SCOTT IS UP AND RUNNING.

UH,

[1b. New Environmental Commission member welcome and introduction (Part 2 of 2)]

WE CAN SEE YOU, HOPEFULLY WE CAN HEAR YOU.

AND IF YOU, IF YOU WANT TO JUST TAKE A MOMENT TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF, WE WOULD, WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT YOU, BUT WELCOME.

THANKS FOR BEING HERE.

TO BE JOINED BY, I BELIEVE ANOTHER, A NEW COMMISSIONER, HOPEFULLY BY THE NEXT MEETING.

CAN, UH, CAN YOU HEAR ME? WE CAN, OH MY GOSH.

THAT'S AMAZING.

UH, WELL, I JUST, I WOULD LIKE TO, UH, THANK, UH, COUNCILWOMAN, UH, UH, VANESSA WENCHES FOR, UH, THE HONOR TO, TO BE A PART OF THIS.

UH, IT'S VERY EXCITING, A VERY, UH, VERY STEEP LEARNING CURVE.

UH, I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M ACTUALLY FINALLY ON THE MEETING, UM, AND, UH, UH, JUST LOOK FORWARD TO, UH, GETTING TO KNOW, AND WORKING WITH ALL OF YOU AND, UH, THERE'S A LOT TO, LOT TO DO, BUT, UH, I'M IMPRESSED BY HOW MUCH HAS BEEN DONE AND, AND FOR HOW LONG PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THE ISSUES HERE.

AND, UH, I'VE HAD A, UH, UH, INTRODUCTION TO THE, UH, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN AND WATERWAYS, UH, FROM MY, UH, SISTER CAROLINE WHO, UH, VERY EARLY IN HER, UH, UH, UH, CAREER, UH, WAS SANITARIAN FOR THE CITY OF, UH, OF AUSTIN.

AND I AM AMAZED AT HOW MANY WATERWAYS THERE ARE AND HOW IMPORTANT THEY ARE.

AND IT'S, IT'S A BIG, BIG, BIG JOB.

AND, UH, UH, THANK YOU, UH, AGAIN FOR, UH, UH, LETTING ME TAKE APART.

THANKS SO MUCH AND, UH, AND WALK AGAIN.

AND, UM, WE'RE EXCITED TO GET TO KNOW YOU OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, AS WELL AS SOME OF OUR OTHER NEW COMMISSIONERS AS WELL

[00:45:01]

UM, SO THANK YOU.

UH, WE'LL MOVE

[3b. Updating the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Plan for Waller, Walnut, Taylor Slough South, and the Spicewood Tributary of Shoal Creek—Julie White, Environmental Program Coordinator and Andrew Clamann, Environmental Scientist Senior, Watershed Protection Department]

ON TO ITEM THREE B.

NOW, UH, SINCE UPDATING THE TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY TMDL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR WALLER WALNUT TAYLOR SLAW, UH, SOUTH IN SPICEWOOD, TRIBUTARY OF FULL CREEK.

WE HAVE JULIE WHITE ON ANDREW COMMAND.

WE ALL THERE.

I'M HERE.

CAN YOU HEAR ME? AM I NOT ENOUGH? YOU'RE GOOD.

YOU'RE GOOD.

NO, THERE'S AN ARGUMENT.

UH, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.

MY NAME IS ANDREW CLAMAN I'M WITH WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT.

UH, I'VE BEEN SAMPLING WATER QUALITY WITH THIS WONDERFUL DEPARTMENT FOR OVER 17 YEARS NOW.

UM, I'M HERE TONIGHT WITH, UH, JULIE WHITE, WHO HAS BEEN WITH THE SPILLS TEAM IS NOW, UH, COMING OVER TO US.

AND, UH, WE ARE HERE TO BRIEF YOU TODAY ON THE TEETH, UH, TC TWO'S TMDL IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, UH, BECAUSE IT'S CURRENTLY UNDER REVISION.

UH, JULIE, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF? OH, UH, SO ANDREW MENTIONED I WAS ON THIS DOSE RESPONSE TEAM PREVIOUS TO THIS POSITION, AND NOW I'M THE NEW AND THIS FOUR COORDINATOR.

AND I'LL EXPLAIN WHAT THAT IS A LITTLE BIT LATER.

SO, UH, YOU MAY FIND YOURSELF IN SWIMMING AROUND IN BARTON SPRINGS OR BARTON OR BULL CREEK OR SOME OF OTHER BEAUTIFUL, CLEAR CREEKS, AND, UH, NOT BE CONCERNED AT ALL ABOUT, UH, WATER QUALITY, JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE COMPETENT.

IT'S WONDERFUL.

UH, YOU MIGHT FIND YOURSELF IN ONE OF THESE OTHER FOUR CREEKS LISTED HERE ON THE SCREEN, AND MAYBE NOT BE AWARE THAT THESE CREEKS DO NOT MEET THE TCEQ CONTACT RECREATION STANDARDS, UH, DUE TO ECOLAB OR BACTERIA.

UM, THRESHOLDS, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

SO YOU MAY ASK YOURSELF, UH, OKAY.

SO HOW DID THIS CREEK GET TO THIS POINT? WHY DO WE HAVE BACTERIA IN OUR CREEKS? AND WHY ARE, WHY ARE WE IN AN I PLAN? AND WHY IS THE STATE CARE? WELL, WE SUBMIT A LOT OF OUR WATER QUALITY DATA TO THE STATE.

AND IF THAT DATA INDICATES AN IMPAIRMENT, THEN THE STREAM IS PLACED ON A THREE, A THREE D LIST.

SO CALL BECAUSE INFECTION THREE OR THREE D OF THE CLEAN WATER ACT.

UH, IF THAT HAPPENS, THEN THE STATE PUTS IT IN THE TMDL PROGRAM AND THEY CREATE WHAT'S CALLED AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.

AND WE'RE GONNA REFER TO IT HERE TOO, IN AS THE I PLAN.

SO THEN, UH, THE WAY I PLAN OUR IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, UH, IT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE.

IT IS A PLAN OF WHICH TO IMPLEMENT A SET OF STRATEGIES TO GET TO WHERE YOU WANT TO GO.

UH, IF YOU WERE IN A PLACE, UH, WHERE YOU HAVE AN EXCEEDANCE OR AN IM OR AN, UM, YOU'RE, YOU'RE SEEKING THE THRESHOLDS FOR A CERTAIN CONTAMINANT, THEN YOU WANT TO GET UNDER THAT.

SO HOW DO YOU GET THERE? IT IS FACILITATED BY TCEQ STAFF AND ULTIMATELY APPROVED BY THOSE TCEQ STAFF.

BUT THE PLAN IS DEVELOPED BY A BROAD GROUP OF STAKEHOLDERS.

UH, CITY OF AUSTIN IS CERTAINLY IS ONE BUT CITIZENS AND ANYBODY ELSE WHO REALLY VOICES AN OPINION AND LIVES IN THAT AREA CAN BE A STAKEHOLDER.

UH, THE PLAN ITSELF IS GOOD FOR FIVE YEARS AFTER WHICH IT IS REVIEWED AND DETERMINED.

IF IT'S SATISFACTORY, IF YOU'VE REACHED YOUR GOALS, IF THE GOALS HAVE NOT BEEN REACHED, THEN IT MOVES TO A REVISION.

THEY REVIEW WHAT HAS WORKED, WHAT HASN'T WORKED, WHAT SHOULD BE DONE DIFFERENTLY, OR IF THINGS ARE GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO KEEP ON GOING THERE AND GET ANOTHER FIVE YEARS WORTH OF AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.

SO, UH, BASICALLY ROADMAP, I GUESS IF, UH, IF I WERE TO DRAW AN ANALOGY OF WHAT AN I PLAN IS, UH, YOU'RE, YOU'RE IN A PLACE THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO BE AND YOU WANT TO GET TO SOMEWHERE BETTER, SO WHO'S GOING TO DO IT.

HOW ARE THEY GOING TO DO IT? WHERE ARE WE GOING TO GET THERE AT THIS POINT, I'D LIKE TO, UH, TAG JULIE WHITE TO, UH, CONTINUE WITH THE DISCUSSING THAT I PLAN NEXT SLIDE.

SO CURRENTLY WE HAVE FIVE WATERSHEDS THAT ARE IMPAIRED OR UNDER THE TMDL PROGRAM.

WE HAVE TWO PLANS GILLILAND WAS APPROVED IN 2011 AND WAS REVIVED REVISED IN 2017.

WE'RE IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF THAT PLAN AND WALLER WALNUT TAYLOR SLEW SOUTH, AND THE SPICE WOOD TRIBUTARY OF SHOW ARE ALL UNDER THE SAME EYE PLAN.

THAT ONE EXPIRED IN 2020.

AND WE ARE UNDER THE REVISION

[00:50:01]

PROCESS FOR THAT.

NOW, AS ANDREW MENTIONED.

SO ALL OF THESE WATERSHEDS ARE IMPAIRED DUE TO BACTERIA FOR RECREATIONAL USE.

SO THE FORMER, I PLAN 2015 TO 2020, WE HAD FIVE VOLUNTARY STRATEGIES TO REDUCE BACTERIA IN THESE WATERSHEDS.

THE FIRST ONE WAS TO RESTORE RIGHT AREAS.

AND ONE WAY THAT WAS DONE WAS TO INITIATE GROWTH ZONES ALONG CREEKS, TO PROVIDE A BUFFER ALONG THOSE BANKS.

THE SECOND, UM, IS WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S, UM, AUSTIN WATER IN LARGE PART TO DO INSPECTIONS OF LINES AND, AND LOOK FOR ANY LEAKS, RESPONDING TO SANITARY, SEWER OVERFLOW, DISCHARGES INSPECTING OH, ONSITE SEPTIC FACILITIES.

AND THE THIRD IS, UH, PET WASTE MANAGEMENT.

THAT'S OUR SCOOP, THE POOP CAMPAIGN AND PROVIDING PET WASTE BAGS AT PARKS AND TRAILS.

PUBLIC OUTREACH IS PART OF THE EDUCATION PROGRAM THAT SUSAN JUST SPOKE TO US ABOUT.

AND THE LAST ONE IS THE IMPROVEMENT OF STORMWATER.

SO THAT'S DONE THROUGH OUR STRUCTURAL CONTROLS, OUR POND INSPECTION GROUP, AND RIGHT WHERE THEY'RE SCREENING.

SO THE GOAL OF ALL OF THESE JUST REMEMBER FOR THE I PLAN IS TO REDUCE BACTERIA.

SO THERE, THESE ARE MEASURES THAT ARE FOCUSED ON THAT NEXT POINT.

SO I WANTED TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE MS. FOUR PERMIT.

THAT'S MS. FOUR IS MUNICIPAL SEPARATE STORM SEWER SYSTEM.

SO THAT'S A REGULATORY PERMIT THAT WE HAVE WITH THE TCEQ RIGHT NOW, AS A CITY IT'S DESIGNED TO IT'S D IT'S TRIGGERED BY POPULATION, WE'RE IN AN URBANIZED AREA, AND IT'S DESIGNED TO REDUCE POLLUTANT DISCHARGES TO OUR STORM SEWER SYSTEMS. SO AS PART OF THAT PERMIT, WE'RE REQUIRED TO DEVELOP A STORM WATER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM.

SOME PEOPLE REFER TO IT AS SWAMP OR SPLIT.

I LIKE SWAP.

SO WE HAVE A PLAN, UM, THAT MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS IMPLEMENT WITHIN THE CITY, AND WE SUBMIT OUR OP OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO THE TCQ ANNUALLY.

WE'RE ALSO SUBJECT TO PERIODIC AUDITS BY THE TCQ OR THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

SO THAT WE CAN HELP THOSE OTHER DEPARTMENTS, UM, WITH THEIR WASTE STORAGE AND WASTE DISPOSAL.

SO WITHIN THAT, THAT PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE OUR SWAMP, WE HAVE MINIMUM CONTROL MEASURES.

THOSE ARE MEASURES THAT WE HAVE TO REDUCE STORMWATER POLLUTION.

SO SOME OF THESE ARE SIMILAR TO OUR I PLAN, BUT THESE ARE, ARE REALLY FOR ALL POLLUTANTS CITYWIDE, NOT JUST WITHIN THOSE SPECIFIC WATERSHEDS.

SO I JUST WANT TO GIVE A FEW EXAMPLES OF SOME OF THESE SO THAT Y'ALL ARE FAMILIAR WITH, UM, WHAT THE MEASURES ARE AND, AND CAN GET A IDEA OF HOW MANY DEPARTMENTS ARE INVOLVED IN THIS PERMIT.

THE MS FOR MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES, WATERSHED PROTECTION, UM, CONDUCT STRICT STRUCTURAL CONTROL MAINTENANCE THAT INVOLVES CLEANING OUR STORM SEWER SYSTEMS AND OUR PONDS, OUR POND INSPECTION PROGRAM IS HOUSED IN THIS MINIMUM CONTROL MEASURE.

IT ALSO IS OUR FLOATABLE REMOVAL PROGRAM.

WE HAVE TWO BOOMS ON TWO CREEKS AND THEIR BROOMS ARE, UM, COLLECT ANY FLOATABLES IN, UH, SHELL CREEK AND WEST BOLDEN.

BEFORE IT GOES INTO LADYBIRD ROAD.

PUBLIC WORKS KEEPS OUR ROADWAYS CLEAN AND AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY WORKS ON LITERARY CONTROL.

SO THE POST-CONSTRUCTION STORMWATER CONTROL WATERSHED PROTECTION, UM, HAS FLOOD CONTROL PROJECTS AND CLAN REVIEW FOR THE BARTON SPRINGS ZONE AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT AS A UST, UM, EXCUSE ME, UH, PLAN PLANNING REVIEW.

SO OUR ELICIT DISCHARGING DETECTION ELIMINATION PROGRAM, WHAT'S OTHERWISE KNOWN AS IDD E SO WATERSHED PROTECTION.

THAT'S THE GROUP THAT I USED TO WORK IN THIS BILL'S RESPONSE GROUP.

SO WE HAVE A HOTLINE AND CITIZENS CAN CALL IN AND INSPECTIONS ARE CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE IF THERE'S ANY, UM, ELICIT DISCHARGES WITHIN THE CITY.

AND AUSTIN WATER ALSO DOES INSPECTIONS OF THEIR WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE IN RESPONSE TO SANITARY SEWER OVERFLOWS WITHIN THIS SAME MEASURE.

UM, THE HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE FACILITY IS MANAGED BY AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY.

AND THAT EFFORT IS TO REDUCE ANY DUMPING WITHIN THE CITY AND ANY POLLUTANTS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT PUSH AND PREVENTION AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPING MEASURES IS MCM NUMBER FOUR.

AND THAT'S JUST TRYING TO KEEP OUR MUNICIPAL OPERATIONS CLEAN.

WE HAVE AN INSPECTION PROGRAM WITHIN WATERSHED

[00:55:02]

AND WE ALSO HAVE TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR ALL OF THOSE FACILITIES FOR, UM, ANY OF THOSE STAFF THAT HAVE DAILY DUTIES THAT COULD CONTRIBUTE IN POLLUTANTS TO STORM WATER RUNOFF, INDUSTRIAL HIGH-RISK RUNOFF IS WATERSHED PROTECTION AND, UH, AFD.

WE BOTH HAVE INSPECTION, UM, FREQUENCIES FOR INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES AND HAZARDOUS WASTE FACILITIES AND DSD ALSO INSPECTS UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS, USDS CONSTRUCTION SITE, STORMWATER, THAT'S ALL UNDER DSD FOR ACTIVE CONSTRUCTION CONSTRUCTION SITE INSPECTIONS.

MCM SEVEN IS PUBLIC EDUCATION, WHICH IS WHAT SUSAN JUST TALKED TO US ABOUT A REALLY OBVIOUSLY AWESOME PROGRAM, UM, BEYOND JUST CHILDREN'S EDUCATION.

THERE'S ALSO, UM, PROMOTING OUR HOTLINE AND OUR SHADE TREE, UM, PROGRAM FOR A REDUCED FOR ANYONE WHO CHANGES THEIR OIL AT HOME.

AND THERE'S A VARIETY OF PROGRAMS THAT WE PROMOTE THERE AND OUR MONITORING PROGRAMS, UH, WE HAVE DRY WEATHER'S SCREENING FALLS UNDER THIS MEASURE.

THAT'S WHERE INSPECTORS GO OUT WHENEVER IT'S DRY.

LOOK IT OUTFALLS TO SEE IF THERE'S ANY FLOWS THAT ARE NOT ALLOWABLE.

AND ALSO THIS IS OUR CHEMICAL MONITORING AND BIOLOGICAL MONITORING IS DONE WITHIN THIS PROGRAM.

SO THAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HERE TALKING ABOUT I PLANS.

I JUST TALKED A LOT ABOUT MS. FOURS AND SWAMPS.

AND THE REASON THAT I DID THAT IS BECAUSE TMDL MEASURES THAT WHERE THEY WERE PREVIOUSLY VOLUNTARY AND NOW THEY'RE REQUIRED TO BE IN OUR SWAMP, WHICH MAKES THEM REGULATORY MEASURES.

SO WE'RE PART OF THIS PROCESS TO RENEW OUR I PLAN.

HOWEVER, IT MAKES US MORE CAUTIOUS TO EXPERIMENT WITH NEW CONTROLS, BECAUSE ANYTHING THAT WE PUT INTO OUR PLAN IS REGULATORY, WHICH MEANS IF WE'RE AUDITED AND WE DON'T DO SOMETHING FOR ANY REASON THAT WE WOULD, WE, THE CITY WOULD RECEIVE A VIOLATION.

SO KIND OF CHANGES THE TONE A LITTLE BIT.

I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO ANDREW BECAUSE HE'S ONE OF THE SCIENTISTS WITHIN WATERSHED THAT ATTAIN STATUS AND MITTS IT TO THE STATE.

SO GO AHEAD, ANDREW TAG, I'M HIP AND LITTLE DID I KNOW 17 YEARS AGO THAT, UH, THE SAMPLES THAT I WAS COLLECTING AS THE LOW MAN ON THE TOTEM POLE, THE FIELD TECH WOULD ACTUALLY BE, UH, PRESENTED IN THIS, IN THIS ASPECT.

SO WHAT DOES THE DATA SHOW, BECAUSE, UH, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS YOU DO IN A PLANNING PROCESS IS TO LOOK BACK ON ALL THE YEARS OF DATA AND SEE WHAT IT TELLS US.

I'M VERY HAPPY TO SAY THAT, UH, IN LARGE MAJORITY IT'S SHOWING IMPROVEMENT, UH, WE HAVE THOSE, UH, FOUR STREAM, UH, FOUR STREAMS, OR WHAT, SORRY, THE FOUR WATERSHEDS THAT ARE IN THE, UM, IN THE EYE PLANS AND OF IN THOSE FOUR STREAMS, THERE ARE FIVE STREAM SEGMENTS THAT WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT IN FOUR OF THOSE FIVE STREAM SEGMENTS ARE TRENDING IN THE CORRECT DIRECTION.

THEY ARE ACTUALLY GETTING BETTER.

THEY'RE IMPROVING, WHICH MEANS THAT THE ECO CONCENTRATIONS ARE TRENDING DOWNWARD.

UM, WHEN WE, UH, UH, SO YEAH, NOT, IT'S NOT THE SAME AS IT EVER WAS.

AND THAT'LL BE THE LAST TALKING HEADS TIME, I THINK FOR THE, UH, THE PRESENTATION.

THANKS FOR HUMORING.

YOU HUMORING ME ON THAT NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

AND IN 2010, THROUGH 2015, THE CITY OF AUSTIN ACTUALLY STILL COLLECTED DATA.

SO, UH, I'D LIKE YOU TO GET COMFORTABLE WITH THIS GRAPH.

IT'S AN EXTREMELY NOISY GRAPH, BUT WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT LIKE FIVE OR SIX OF THESE.

SO I'M GOING TO GO OVER THE FIRST ONE SLOWLY AND THEN BLAST OVER THE LAST FEW.

UH, THIS PARTICULAR GRAPH IS SHOWING YOU SPICE, WHICH SHOULD BE TERRI.

THIS IS UP, UH, UP ON KIND OF LIKE THE NORTH WEST MOPAC AREA.

IT'S A TRIBUTARY TO SHOAL CREEK.

UM, AND I'M UP IN THE, IN THE FAR WEST TYPE AREA, SPICEWOOD SPRINGS.

SO, UM, IF YOU LOOK ON THE X AXIS ALONG THE BOTTOM, YOU'LL NOTICE THE DATE RANGES FROM 2008 TO 2000 AND, UH, 20 TO 2020.

UM, IT'S A, THERE'S THREE OR FOUR, MOST OF THE TIME, JUST THREE SAMPLES.

UH, THIS IS BECAUSE WE COLLECT SAMPLES ON A QUARTERLY BASIS AND SOMETIMES THE CREEK IS NOT FLOWING.

SO YOU MIGHT SEE THREE, YOU MIGHT SEE FOUR, YOU MIGHT SEE LESS.

SOME OF THE DATA WAS COLLECTED BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN.

SOME OF IT'S COLLECTED BY TCEQ, AND YOU'LL NOTICE THERE'S A LARGE GAP IN THERE BETWEEN 2010 AND 2015.

AND THAT IS THE PERIOD THAT THEY WERE, UH, THAT THEY WERE LOOKING AT THE ASSESSMENT THOSE FIRST FEW YEARS ON THE LEFT IS WHAT GOT THE, UH, THE CREEKS IN, ON THE, ON THE THREE TO THREE D LIST.

[01:00:01]

THERE IS STILL DATA IN THOSE, IN THAT AREA, BUT THOSE DATA WERE NOT COLLECTED MPA, CALL IT QUALITY ASSURANCE PLAN.

AND SO THEY WEREN'T INCLUDED IN THE ASSESSMENT.

UH, I COULD SAY THAT THEY DON'T TELL YOU MUCH OF ANYTHING DIFFERENT.

THERE'S NOTHING SURPRISING IN THAT GAP, BUT TCQ DOESN'T RECOGNIZE THOSE.

SO WE WANT TO COMPLETE THOSE IN THE ASSESSMENT.

UM, IF YOU LOOK AT THE, UM, ON THE Y AXIS ON THE LEFT HAND, Y AXIS, YOU'LL SEE E-COLI AND MPN MPM IS THE UNIT'S MOST PROBABLE NUMBER FOR A SAMPLE OF A HUNDRED MILLILITERS.

UH, NOTICE THE SCALE GOES FROM ZERO TO 3000 AND THAT THOSE NUMBERS SEEM TO TOP OUT, UH, RIGHT AROUND 2,400.

AND THAT'S BECAUSE THE TEST WE USE, THE IDEXX TEST ONLY HAS A RESOLUTION OF UP TO 2,419.

SO IF YOU GET A SAMPLE THAT'S VERY LARGE, WHETHER IT'S 2,419, OR WHETHER IT'S 15,000, IT'LL ALWAYS SHOW UP AS 2,419.

AND IN ANY CASE, THAT'S NOT A GOOD NUMBER.

SO IT, IT IT'S AN EXCEEDANCE.

UM, IF WE DID A DILUTION TO A SAMPLE, WE COULD GET A HIGHER RESOLUTION, BUT IN THIS CASE, UH, THE SCALE IS ONLY GOING TO GO TO 3000 FOR MOST OF THESE GRAPHS.

UH, IF I WERE TO JUST GO TO ANY STREAM IN AUSTIN, I WOULD EXPECT THAT THE, UH, THE VALUES TO BE IN THE HUNDREDS, NOT THE THOUSANDS.

UH, ALSO, IF YOU LOOK ON THE RIGHT-HAND ACCESS, UH, THE RIGHT-HAND Y AXIS, THERE'S A FLOW IN CFS.

THAT IS THE RED BARS, THE RED BARS SHOW YOU THE STREAM DISCHARGE, HOW MANY CUBIC FEET PER SECOND WERE FLOWING AT THE TIME OF THE SAMPLE.

UH, NOT REALLY RELEVANT TO WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT, BUT THAT DATA, UH, IS JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THESE WEREN'T STORM EVENTS, THESE ARE PRIMARILY BASED LOG BEDS OF LESS THAN HALF OF A CUBIC FEET PER SECOND, JUST TO TRICKLE, UM, TWO THINGS, UH, OF IMPORTANCE HERE, I GUESS, ARE GONNA BE THE BLUE DOTS.

THE BLUE DOTS ARE THE ACTUAL SAMPLES COLLECTED ON THAT DATE.

THEY ARE, UH, CONNECTED BY A LINE, WHICH IS NOT REALITY.

UH, THOSE, THOSE LINES DON'T REALLY GO UP AND DOWN, BUT THEY'RE CONNECTED THERE.

SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THE GENERAL, UH, ZONE THAT THE, THE CONCENTRATIONS LIE WITHIN THE GREEN LINE.

AND MY FORGIVE ME, IF ANYBODY HAS COLORBLIND ON HERE, THE GREEN LINE, WHICH IS LIES AROUND 126 MPM, THE FLAT LINE, THAT IS AN, UH, A FICTITIONAL LINE, JUST SHOWING YOU WHERE WE WANT TO BE.

THAT IS THE CRITERIA BY WHICH THE TCQ WANTS YOUR GEOMETRIC MEAN TO BE.

AND WE DON'T USE AN AVERAGE BECAUSE THEY'RE JUST STRICT, STRICT, A STRICT MEAN WOULD MEAN THAT THESE NUMBERS LIKE 2,419 OR LARGE EXCEEDENCES WOULD THROW EVERYTHING FAR UP IN THE AIR.

SO GEOMETRICALLY, THE AVERAGE IS IN A CERTAIN AREA IT'S MORE SPATIAL.

UM, AND THEN THE LAST THING I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT LINE FOR YOU TO SEE TODAY IS GOING TO BE THE ONE THAT I'VE HIGHLIGHTED IN BLUE ARROWS, THAT BLUE DOTTED LINE THAT IS TRENDING DOWNWARD, THAT IS SHOWING YOU THE TREND LINE OF ALL THE DATA.

AND IN THIS CASE, THAT TREND LINE IS PROCEEDING DOWNWARD, WHICH IS EXCELLENT, BECAUSE THAT MEANS IT WILL, IF IT CONTINUES IN THAT, UH, THAT THAT DIRECTION, IT WILL EVENTUALLY INTERSECT THE GEOMETRIC MEAN OF 1 26, WHICH IS WHERE WE WANT TO BE.

IF WE GET OUR GEOMETRIC MEAN DOWN TO 1 26 AND THESE WATERSHEDS, THEN THEY GET OFF THE THREE OR THREE D LIST.

WE HAVE SUCCEEDED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIES TO GET THIS CREEK BACK INTO, MEET THE CONTACT RECREATION THRESHOLDS.

UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

UM, THESE, UH, THE TRENDLINE IS A LITTLE FLATTER, BUT IT IS TRENDING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

STILL.

IT IS HEADING TOWARD THE GEOMETRIC MEAN.

NOW IN THIS CASE, UH, I WOULD LOOK AT THIS GRAPH AND SAY, YEAH, IT'S TRENDING DOWN.

BUT IF I WERE TO CONTINUE THAT LINE, I'D NEED ANOTHER 20 YEARS, UH, TO, TO GET THERE.

AND SO THAT'S, UH, NOT VERY ACCEPTABLE, UH, TO WHICH I WOULD RESPOND.

YES, THAT IS TRUE.

HOWEVER, I HAVE SOME, UH, BRIGHT NEWS IN THAT, UH, OVER IN 2020, WE WERE DOING SOME ECOLAB FOLLOW-UPS, WHICH IS A LONGITUDINAL SURVEY INTO DECREE, TRYING TO TRACK DOWN SOME OF THE, SOME OF THE LOCATIONS OF THE, UH, CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECOLAB.

AND, UH, WE FOUND ONE AND YOU HAVE TO BE THERE JUST THE RIGHT DAY.

YOU HAVE TO BE THERE IN JUST THE RIGHT FLOW PATTERNS.

BUT WE DID FIND AS SOME AREA, WE WORKED WITH OUR SPILL TEAM.

WE WORKED WITH AUSTIN WATER, WHO I'D LIKE TO EXTEND MY GREATEST COMPLIMENTS TO THE TB, THE LINE THEY DIED, TRUSTED.

THEY SMOKED TESTED.

THEY, THEY, THEY POPPED MANHOLES THAT WERE COVERED IN ASPHALT.

NOW THEY REALLY HAD TO GO DIGGING LITERALLY TO FIND THESE, UH, THESE THINGS.

AND WE DID FIND A COUPLE OF PROBLEMS, UH, THAT HAVE BEEN FIXED.

AND I, UM, EVER OPTIMIST THAT I AM, UH, I AM HOPEFUL THAT THIS NUMBER WILL BE GOING DOWN, UH, MUCH MORE RAPIDLY.

AND HOPEFULLY BEFORE THE END OF THE NEXT FIVE YEARS OF THIS, UH, NEXT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, HOPEFULLY WE'LL KICK THIS ONE OFF FOR THREE 3D LIST AS WELL.

BOULEVARD, THIS AREA HAS HAD SOME CHRONIC PROBLEMS. THERE'S A LOT OF GROUNDWATER INFLUENCES.

WALNUT CREEK HUGE CREEK, A BIG CREEK.

UH, IT'S SPECIFICALLY THOUGH, IN THIS ONE, UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE VERY UPPER UPSTREAM AREA KIND OF AROUND DOWNSTREAM OF MOPAC TO OUR SAMPLE SITE IS UNDER MOPAC.

AND, UH, AT METRIC

[01:05:01]

THERE'S A LOT OF OLDER INFRASTRUCTURE, THIS TREND LINE THAT WAS GOING DOWN RAPIDLY.

I'M NOT TOO WORRIED ABOUT THIS ONE.

AS LONG AS WE KEEP DOING WHAT WE'RE DOING, I FEEL LIKE, UH, BEFORE THE END OF THIS NEXT FIVE-YEAR PERIOD OF IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, WE'RE GOING TO GET THE GEOMETRIC MEME DOWN.

UH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT WAS FIXED IN THIS, UH, UH, THIS WATERSHED, UH, AUSTIN WARRANTY CHILI IS WORKING DAY IN AND DAY OUT TO FIX, UH, SEWER LINES, WHETHER THEY'RE PRIVATE CONNECTIONS OR LATERALS OR MAINS OR MAINS OR, OR PROBLEMS LIKE THAT.

BUT, UH, SOMETHING GOT FIXED CLEARLY AROUND THE 2015 AREA BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T HAD VERY MANY HIGH LEVELS SINCE THEN.

NEXT SLIDE PLEASE WALLER CREEK.

THE NEXT FEW SLIDES ARE GONNA BE ABOUT WALLER CREEK.

NOW, UH, THE, THE AREA THAT THIS ONE IS SHOWING IS THE LOWER AREA, WHICH IS DOWNSTREAM OF WAL-MART, UH, WATERLOO, WHICH REALLY WON'T BE A PROBLEM ANYMORE BECAUSE, UH, IN THIS AREA BELOW THE WALLER TUNNEL, UH, THAT AREA IS NO LONGER REALLY CREATE FLOW AS MUCH AS IT IS RECYCLED, UH, LAKE WATER BECAUSE OF THE WATER TUNNEL OPERATIONS.

SO, UH, I'M JUST SHOWING THIS SLIDE BECAUSE AT ONE POINT IT WAS A PROBLEM YOU'LL NOTICE BETWEEN 2015 AND 2020, ALL THOSE NUMBERS ARE DOWN THAT ONE'S GOING TO MEET, UH, MEET THE THRESHOLD AS WELL.

THAT'S A WALK UPSTREAM TO WALLER CREEK AT 24TH.

THIS IS BASICALLY ON UT CAMPUS THERE.

SAME THING, TRENDLINE.

UH, WHAT, UH, IS, IS HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

WE'RE ALMOST THERE ACTUALLY WITH THIS ONE.

UM, NOTICE, UH, THE BIG PROBLEM WAS BACK IN 2008 OR 2009.

THOSE APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN FIXED.

I KNOW, UH, UT I KNOW THE PEOPLE THERE, THEY WORK REALLY HARD AT FINDING THINGS.

THERE'S BEEN A COUPLE OF ELLIPTIC CONNECTIONS THAT WEREN'T KNOWN, UH, THAT DIRECTED A WASTEWATER STRAIGHT TO A STORM SEWER, WHICH CAME OUT IN PULSES.

UH, BUT THAT HAS BEEN RESOLVED.

I THINK WE'RE OKAY ON THIS ONE TOO.

WALNUT CREEK AT AVENUE H THIS IS THE TOUGH ONE.

THIS IS THE ONE, UH, THAT IS NOT HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

AND IT'S BASICALLY FLAT.

IF ANYTHING IS TRENDING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION, UH, WE HAVE NOT FOUND THIS PROBLEM YET.

AND THE TROUBLE HERE IS THAT WALLER CREEK IS HIGHLY.

UH, THE FLOW IS INTERMITTENT HERE, AND IF YOU DON'T CATCH IT JUST ON THE RIGHT DAY, WHEN THE CREEK IS FLOWING, I'M NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO WALK UPSTREAM AND FOLLOW THAT, UH, ECO I SIGNAL.

WE ARE WORKING ON THIS ONE, UH, AND WE'RE NOT EXACTLY SURE WHERE THE PROBLEM LIES, WHETHER IT'S WASTEWATER, DIRECT HUMAN INPUTS, PETS, WILDLIFE, URBAN WILDLIFE, OR A BIG SOUP MIXTURE OF ALL OF THEM.

BUT, UH, THIS IS THE ONE THAT'S GOT ME PUZZLED, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK ON THIS ONE.

OH, AND THIS IS WHERE I WILL TAG, UH, JULIE TO COME BACK IN AGAIN, JULIE, OVER FROM THE TALKING HEADS TO PAUL SIMON TALKING ABOUT THE, I PLAN AGAIN.

SO OUR KICKOFF MEETING FOR THIS REVISION WITH STAKEHOLDERS WAS JUNE 24TH.

WE JUST HAD OUR SECOND MEETING YESTERDAY.

SO WE'VE BEEN IDENTIFYING STAKEHOLDERS, WHICH IS DIFFERENT PEOPLE THAT WITHIN THE COMMUNITY THAT WE WANT TO INVITE.

UM, OUR MAIN STAKEHOLDERS ARE US, THE CITY WITH, UM, AUSTIN WATER, WATERSHED PARK, UM, PARKS AND RECREATION, AND, UM, TRAVIS COUNTY.

THEY ALSO HAVE, UH, A PERMIT WITH THE TCEQ, UTI AND TEXTILES.

SO THERE'S ALSO A LOT OF OTHER STAKEHOLDERS.

I'LL SHOW YOU AN EXAMPLE OF THAT.

SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THE DATA THAT ANDREW JUST DISCUSSED AND THE, I PLAN, UM, DURING THE PREVIOUS TERM TO SEE WHAT WORKED AND WHAT'S NOT WORKING AND, AND TALKING ABOUT HOW WE'RE GOING TO REVISE IT FOR THE NEXT ROUND.

IT TAKES A WHILE TO GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS AND WE EXPECT TO, UH, HOPEFULLY ADOPT IT IN THE FALL OF 2022.

SO DURING THE LAST OR THE IMPLEMENTATION, THE FIRST TIME 2015, THESE WERE SOME OF THE STAKEHOLDERS THAT WERE INVOLVED IN DIFFERENT CAPACITIES.

UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE WAS, UM, AT THAT TIME, AN ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEMBER, MARIANNE NEELY THAT PARTICIPATED IN THAT PROCESS NEXT TIME.

SO YOU GUYS ARE WELCOME TO BE PART OF THE REVISION PROCESS WITH US.

THERE'S NO NEED TO FEEL OBLIGATED, BUT IF ANY OF YOU GUYS WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE, YOU CAN EMAIL ANDREW AND I, AND WE CAN GET YOU IN TOUCH WITH THE FACILITATOR THAT, UM, THE TCQ IS USING FOR THIS PROCESS.

AND NEXT SLIDE.

I PLAN AND ALL OF OUR STATUS UPDATES ON WHAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW.

WE'RE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT Y'ALL MAY HAVE THIS LINK HERE ON THIS SIDE WILL TAKE YOU TO TCS TCEQ PAGE, UM, THAT WILL SHOW YOU THE PREVIOUS

[01:10:01]

THANKS SO MUCH, JULIAN, ANDREW.

UM, I JUST ONE CLARIFYING QUESTION THEN WE'LL GO TO OTHER COMMISSIONERS FOOD BACKGROUND TO ME.

UM, CAN YOU JUST, JUST CLARIFY FOR ME AND FOR FOLKS WHO MAYBE AREN'T AS USED TO TALKING ABOUT TMDL AND WATER QUALITY ISSUES, LIKE WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IS BETWEEN WHY A CREEK MIGHT HAVE A TMDL VERSUS WHAT OTHER IMPAIRMENTS OTHER CREEKS MIGHT HAVE, I GUESS, LIKE, IT MIGHT ALSO BE SURPRISING FOR SOME FOLKS THAT THESE ARE THE ONLY CREEKS THAT HAVE TMDL ISSUES LIKE BACTERIA ISSUES, LIKE, I GUESS, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE BROADLY ABOUT LIKE WHY TMDL VERSUS IMPAIRMENTS MORE BROADLY? DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? YES.

ANDREW, DO YOU WANT TO TAKE IT? COULD YOU RESTATE THE QUESTION PLEASE? I'M SORRY.

I WAS MULTITASKING.

I WAS JUST ASKING FOR A REAL QUICK CLARIFICATION FOR MY OWN BENEFIT AND OTHERS, JUST TO CLARIFY, UM, FOR FOLKS WHO DON'T DEAL WITH THIS STUFF, VERY OFTEN, THERE'S A LARGER UMBRELLA OF IMPAIRED CREEPS, RIGHT? BUT THAT TMDL IS UNDER THAT UMBRELLA.

AND CAN YOU JUST EXPLAIN THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE BROADLY BECAUSE TO SOMEONE WHO'S A LAY PERSON WHO MIGHT BE LOOKING AT THIS PRESENTATION, THERE'S ONLY FIVE WATERSHEDS THAT Y'ALL ARE LOOKING AT FOR THIS SPECIFIC IMPAIRMENT, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT OUR URBAN WATERSHEDS AREN'T SUFFERING FROM, UH, OTHER IMPAIRMENTS.

WELL, THAT THAT'S ABSOLUTELY TRUE.

SO, UH, FIRST OF ALL, WE DON'T SUBMIT ALL OF OUR DATA TO THE TCEQ.

WE COLLECT A LOT OF DATA AND, UH, WE DON'T SUBMIT IT ALL.

THERE'S ONLY CERTAIN SEGMENTS THAT ARE CONSIDERED CLASSIFIED SEGMENTS THAT THE TCQ WOULD TAKE, UH, IN THIS CASE, THOSE URBAN STREAMS. AND OF COURSE, GILLILAND CREEK ARE THE ONES THAT HAVE ARE IN THE TMDL PROGRAM.

AND THERE ARE SEGMENTS ALL ACROSS THE STATE.

UM, IF YOU LOOK AT IN THE AUSTIN AREA, IT SEEMS LIKE WE HAVE MORE IMPAIRMENTS FOR ECO LINER THINGS THAN MOST, BUT THAT'S BECAUSE WE REPORT MORE THAN MOST SOME, UH, I THINK IF, IF ALL THE ENTIRE STATE REPORTED AS MUCH DATA AS WE DID, UH, TCEQ WOULD KNOW WHAT TO DO THEMSELVES, BUT, UH, YES, NO, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.

THERE ARE, UH, MANY OTHER CRITERIA FOR MANY OTHER, UH, CONTAMINANTS, UH, OF WHICH THAT HAVEN'T MADE IT TO THE LIST YET.

BUT, UH, MANY OF OUR CREEKS DO HAVE CONTAMINANTS OF E-COLI AND OTHER THINGS THAT ARE NOT IN THE TMDL PROGRAM.

I HOPE THAT ANSWERED THE QUESTION.

I'M SORRY.

I WASN'T MORE, HOPEFULLY THAT WAS USEFUL CLARIFICATION FOR FOLKS.

UM, BUT YEAH, I APPRECIATE IT.

IT CERTAINLY WAS GOOD FOR ME.

QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS.

CAN WE SHARE RIVER? UH, YES.

YOU SAID THERE WERE OTHER CREEKS THAT HAD SOME ECOLAB ISSUES THAT WEREN'T UNDER THIS PROGRAM.

UH, WHAT ARE THOSE OTHER CREEKS THAT MIGHT HAVE SERIOUS, UH, ECOLAB PROBLEMS? WELL, UH, SO WE HAVE, UM, I THINK 44, 45 WATERSHEDS, DEPENDING ON HOW YOU BREAK THEM UP.

AND AS YOU MIGHT ASSUME, IT'S REALLY THE CLUSTER OF THE URBAN ONES, UH, SHOAL CREEK ITSELF.

UH, ALTHOUGH IT, IT DOESN'T EXCEED THE THRESHOLDS OF THE, THE TCEQ IS, UH, IS PRETTY HIGH.

IN FACT, I WOULD SAY ALL OF THE URBAN, THE RESTAURANTS EAST GOLDEN WEST BOLDEN, THE CLOSER YOU GET TO THE INNER CITY, UH, THE MORE AGING INFRASTRUCTURE YOU HAVE, THE MORE PEOPLE YOU HAVE, THE MORE PETS YOU HAVE AND THE URBAN WILDLIFE THEMSELVES, UH, ARE A LARGE PROBLEM.

YOU'VE GOT RACCOONS AND POSSUMS AND STUFF THAT BASICALLY LIVE IN THE CULVERTS AND THEY'RE GOING TO DEPRECATE THEM IN THAT SAME AREA.

SO THE DENSER POPULATION AREA, YOU HAVE THE WORST THE CREEKS ARE GOING TO BE.

AND I, UH, I, I, WASN'T PREPARED TO DAVID.

I COULD HAVE SHOWED YOU A HEAT MAP OF ALL THE AREAS THAT WE HAVE EXCEEDENCES IN IT'S, YOU KNOW, THE CLOSER YOU GET TO THE CENTER, THE WORSE IT GETS, THE FURTHER YOU GET OUT, THE BETTER IT GETS.

UH, IT'S JUST ONE OF THE, UH, TRAGEDIES, I GUESS, THE, UH, THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMENTS, I GUESS, THAT, UH, THAT WE ALL LOVE THIS PLACE SO MUCH.

WE ALL WANT TO LIVE HERE AND THAT'S WHERE THEY, UH, MOST PEOPLE, THE WORST THINGS GET, I CAN NOT CIRCLE BACK WITH CALEB AND PROVIDES YOU, UH, SOME, SOME, UH, SOME RANKINGS, LIKE A RANK, ALL THE WATERSHEDS.

IF YOU'D LIKE TO DO THAT, I CAN, I CAN PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

I APPRECIATE IT.

IT WAS VERY NICE PRESENTATION.

THANK YOU, MR. BARRETT.

HI.

UH, THANK YOU ALL.

UM, MY I'VE GOT TWO QUESTIONS.

THE FIRST ONE IS, UM, JUST TO HELP ME UNDERSTAND BETTER, LIKE THE VOLUNTARY COMPONENTS OF THESE, UM, LIKE I PLANS VERSUS SORT OF THE REQUIRED.

AND I KNOW YOU SAID IT KIND OF, IT TRANSITIONED OVER THE YEARS, BUT, UM, IS IT, DID

[01:15:01]

JULIE, IS THAT CORRECT WHEN YOU WERE PRESENTING ON THE VOLUNTARY STRATEGIES AT THE BEGINNING, I WAS WONDERING LIKE IN THE, YOU KNOW, THE GREAT LIST OF WHERE THERE'S LIKE, IT WAS LIKE FIVE OR SIX BULLETS ON THAT SLIDE.

I WAS WONDERING, OKAY.

IF THERE WERE VOLUNTARY STRATEGIES AND ARE THESE LIKE VOLUNTARILY BEING CARRIED OUT OR ARE THESE LIKE, ACTUALLY A PART OF LIKE A WEEK RECALL, LIKE SOMEONE DOES A PROGRAM HAVE OVERSIGHT ON, ON REQUIRED, LIKE REQUIRING, UH, YOU KNOW, THESE STRATEGIES TO BE IMPLEMENTED? SO I WAS LIKE A LITTLE, I KIND OF WAS GETTING CONFUSED BACK AND FORTH AS TO LIKE A LOT OF TIMES WHEN YOU HEAR LIKE, SORT OF THE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IT'S SORT OF ASSOCIATED WITH VOLUNTARY ACTIONS VERSUS THE REGULATORY REQUIREMENT SIDE OF ADDRESSING THESE IMPAIRMENTS.

RIGHT, RIGHT.

SO PREVIOUS IN THE PREVIOUS PLAN, THOSE WERE OUR VOLUNTARY STRATEGIES.

AND WITH OUR NEW MS. FOUR PERMIT THAT WE HAVE AS A CITY, THE TCQ ADDED IN THE REQUIREMENT FOR TMDL ARE ALL OF OUR MEASURES FROM OUR TEAM DEALS AND OUR POEMS TO BE INCLUDED IN OUR PERMIT.

SO THAT PERMIT IS A REGULATORY PERMIT.

SO THERE'S A LOT OF OVERLAP.

THERE'S, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE SAME THINGS THAT WE DID IN OUR I PLAN, WE ALSO DO, AND OUR REGULATORY PERMIT.

SO WE HAVE TO REPORT THAT TO THE TCQ.

AND I GUESS THEY'RE KIND OF OUR OVERSIGHT IN A WAY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING ALL OF THESE THINGS.

SO, UM, IN THE FUTURE, OUR, OUR, I PLAN AS WE'RE REVISING IT NOW IS GOING TO BE VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE ALREADY ARE COMMITTED TO, TO THE STATE AND OUR REGULATORY PERMIT.

SO, UM, DOES THAT HELP A LITTLE BIT, I GUESS OUR OVERSIGHT ULTIMATELY IS THE TCQ AND PREVIOUSLY WE, YOU KNOW, WE WORKED WITH A TMDL GROUP AND SAY, WE'RE LIKE, OH, WELL, WE'LL TRY THIS PILOT PRO PROJECT AND DO THIS, OR WE'LL INITIATE THESE RETROFITS TO UPON SEE HOW THAT GOES, BUT NOW WE MIGHT NOT BE SO, UM, EXPERIMENTAL WITH THINGS AND ABLE TO DO THAT SINCE IF WE PULL BACK ON A PILOT PROJECT BECAUSE OF WHATEVER REASON THAT PANDEMIC OR WHATNOT, UM, WE MIGHT BE IN TROUBLE WITH THE STATE RATHER THAN BEFORE.

IT'S JUST, OH, WELL, THAT WAS VOLUNTEERING.

THAT CAN DROP OFF.

THAT'S REALLY HELPFUL.

UP AND PUT SIGNS EVERYWHERE BECAUSE WE WOULD NEVER KNOW WHAT THE CONCENTRATIONS ARE AT THAT TIME.

UM, TH THE SECOND QUESTION WAS, UM, JUST MY UNDERSTANDING OF, OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A WATERSHED IS DECLARED IMPAIRED.

I KNOW YOU GUYS HAD SAID THAT THERE IS IMPAIRED DUE TO BACTERIA FOR RECREATIONAL USE.

AND, AND SO, LIKE, HOW LIMITED ARE THESE AREAS? LIKE, ARE PEOPLE, I'M SURE THERE'S SOME SIGNAGE, BUT LIKE, LIKE, JUST LIKE WHAT, LIKE WHAT STOPS LIKE, OR IS IT LIKE HAZARDOUS, LIKE FROM, YOU KNOW, JUST AS CITIZEN FROM BEING LIKE, OH, I'M JUST GONNA HOP IN HERE.

CAUSE IT'S PRETTY, AND I WANT TO COOL OFF, LIKE, HOW DOES, IS THERE SIGNAGE IN THESE AREAS OR IS THAT OKAY FOR THEM TO DO WHAT'S GOOD.

HOW DOES THAT PLAY OUT IN TERMS OF COMMUNICATING TO THE PUBLIC THAT THERE'S SO MANY COLA HERE AND YOU MIGHT WANT TO EXERCISE, UH, YOU KNOW, PROCEED WITH CAUTION, SO TO SPEAK WELL, THAT'S, THAT'S AN, THAT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.

SO, UM, THE GEOMETRIC MEAN AT 1 26, UH, IS NOT, THIS IS NOT A MAGICAL NUMBER, YOU KNOW, BEYOND THAT YOU'RE GOING TO GET SICK.

AND UNDER THAT, YOU'RE JUST FINE.

IT'S KIND OF A STATISTICAL MEMBER, STATISTICALLY RELEVANT NUMBER.

AND IF YOU LOOK BACK, IT'S BASED ON SOME EXTREMELY ARCHAIC STUDIES, UM, AND BASICALLY THE IDEA THERE IS THAT IN A, IN A CONCENTRATION OF THAT MUCH, IF YOU SUBMERSE YOUR HEAD, IF YOU GO SWIMMING, OR IF YOU INGEST SOME OF IT, IT GETS, I MEAN, YOUR EARS OR ANY, ANY OF THE HEAD HOLES FOR THAT MATTER.

UM, YOU HAVE A STATISTICALLY HIGHER CHANCE OF GETTING SICK TO SOME DEGREE, AND THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING LIKE IN GAIA, RIGHT HERE, INFECTION OR SOMETHING WORSE.

I MEAN, E-COLI BACTERIA IS NOT REALLY THE PROBLEM PER SE.

IT IS THE, UH, INDICATOR BACTERIA OF WHAT, WHAT COULD INDICATE A MUCH LARGER, UH, SUITE OF PATHOGENS.

SO, UH, IN THIS CASE, THE, UH, THE CONTACT RECREATION, UH, THAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT IS REALLY, THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT SWIMMING AND IMMERSING YOUR HEAD AND INGESTION.

SO IN MOST OF OUR CREEKS THAT ARE A ANKLE DEEP, THAT PRETTY MUCH DOESN'T HAPPEN UNLESS YOU'VE GOT MAYBE LIKE A KID, UH, UH, GOING AROUND IN THERE.

AND THE, AS YOU SAW BY THOSE GRAPHS THAT THE CONCENTRATION AT ANY ONE POINT IN TIME IS SO HIGHLY VARIABLE.

UM, I COULD HAVE TAKEN MY SAMPLE, UH, JUST AS, JUST AS A DEER HAPPENED, TO PROVE IN THE WATER UPSTREAM.

SO THE VARIABILITY THAT YOU COULD SEE COULD BE IN ANY NATURAL WATER.

AND SO WE COULDN'T POSSIBLY GO

[01:20:01]

AND, UH, YOU ARE RIGHT TO, UH, POINT OUT THAT SOME OF THESE STREAMS THAT ARE KNOWN TO HAVE ISSUES, UH, A CHILD OR SOMETHING COULD, UH, GET DOWN ON THEIR HANDS AND KNEES AND SPLASH AROUND THIS WATER AND, AND GET, GET SICK.

BUT THERE WOULD BE NO WAY FOR US TO ACTUALLY POST SIGNS AT EVERY LOCATION THROUGHOUT THE CREEK.

SO, UH, THERE IS NO WAY FOR US TO REALLY COMMUNICATE THAT TO THE CITIZENRY, UH, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF OUR DASHBOARD, OUR FIND YOUR WATERSHED DASHBOARD.

YOU CAN LOOK AT THAT AT ANY POINT IN TIME, AND YOU CAN SEE THE MOST RECENT SCORES AND THOSE SCORES CAN BE BROKEN INTO, UH, THE WHAT'S CALLED THE CONTACT RECREATION, UH, VALUE, WHICH IS BASED JUST ON ECOLAB BACTERIA.

SO A CITIZEN COULD LOOK, UH, ON THEIR, FIND THEIR WATERSHED MAP AND SEE WHAT THE LAST YEAR OF DATA HAS SHOWN THEM.

UM, AND, UH, A GEOMETRIC MEAN OF 1 26 COULD BE, COULD BE THERE BECAUSE OF SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED 10 YEARS AGO, AS IN SOME OF THESE WATERSHEDS EVENTS THAT HAPPENED 10 YEARS AGO.

AND, UH, YEAH, WE REALLY COULDN'T DO THAT, THAT SIGNAGE.

IT'D BE LOVELY TO HAVE THAT IN, IN REAL TIME AND IN ALL THESE CREEKS, BUT THERE'D JUST BE NO FEASIBLE WAY OF POSTING SIGNAGE FOR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

IT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.

A GOOD DILEMMA.

UH, I THINK WE DID.

I SEE COMMISSIONER YEAH.

I WAS GOING TO SAY ONE POSSIBLE WAY TO HAVE SOME KIND OF REAL-TIME, UH, COMMUNICATION WITH CITIZENRY IN SOME GENERAL AREA WOULD BE, HAVE LINKED LIKE A QR CODE THAT GOES TO THE WEBSITE OR SOMETHING, OR JUST LIKE A LINK TO THE WEBSITE, OBVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, I THINK, UH, YOU'RE RIGHT IN THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S DIFFICULT TO PUT THAT EVERYWHERE.

UM, BUT MAYBE IN JUST LIKE AREAS WHERE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE ARE KNOWN TO CONGREGATE AND RELATIVELY LARGE AMOUNTS, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

UH, MY BIG IDEA, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW, I'M NOT THE EXPERT, YOU KNOW, I'M JUST, UH, I'M JUST A JOE, EVERY MAN THROWING OUT SOME IDEAS.

I LIKED THAT.

AND I DO APPRECIATE THE SUGGESTION THAT SUDDENLY I'VE CERTAINLY NEVER THOUGHT OF, AND I WILL COMMUNICATE THAT TO THE APPROPRIATE PEOPLE.

OUR CODES.

AREN'T JUST FOR RESTAURANTS GETTING DRUNK FOR FREE.

UM, THAT REMINDS ME OF, UM, I'M GOING TO GO BLANK ON HIS LAST NAME.

I BELIEVE HIS FIRST NAME IS KEVIN, BUT HE DID THAT LIKE, UH, WHO'S A CRP STUDENT AND WAS DOING LIKE A WATER RELATED CREEK RELATED PROJECT.

ANYWAY, I'LL REMEMBER IT LATER AFTER YOU GUYS HAVE ALREADY SIGNED OFF, UH, COMMISSIONER RAMBERT.

UM, YEAH.

SO, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DO FIND IT KIND OF HOTSPOTS, I GUESS YOU WOULD SAY, UH, IN THE WALLET, IN THAT, IN THAT, UH, UPPER WALNUT AVENUE, H UH, YOU KNOW, I'VE GOT TO KIND OF ASSUME IT HAS TO DO WITH, UH, WITH AGING INFRASTRUCTURE, JUST BECAUSE THE PART OF TOWN IT IS, I HAVE NO DATA TO BACK THAT UP ON, BUT WE'RE GOING TO KEEP, WE'RE GOING TO KEEP TWO CANNED SALMON OURSELVES UP THESE STREAMS UNTIL WE FIND ONE PROBLEM.

UH, YEAH, I THINK ANDREW, UH, MIGHT BE GOOD TO, IF YOU COULD GET US ALL THE COMMISSIONERS THAT, UH, FIND YOUR WATERSHED WEBSITE AND WE COULD KIND OF SPREAD IT AROUND OR DIFFERENT DISTRICTS.

I THINK THAT MIGHT HELP GET THE WORD OUT A LITTLE BIT.

UM, BUT THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THE ONLY QUESTION I HAD, UM, IS THE, OF COURSE THE ENIGMA ONE, I'M LOOKING AT THE WALNUT CREEK AT AVENUE H UM, DO YOU THINK, I MEAN, IS IT JUST THE SAME THING AS, AS SLOW TRYING TO GET OUT THERE AT THE RIGHT TIME AND SEE IF THERE'S A COUPLE OF THINGS UPSTREAM, EVALUATION AND GET LUCKY, OR IS IT AGING INFRASTRUCTURE IN THAT PART OF TOWN? OR, I MEAN, IF WE DON'T KNOW, WE DON'T KNOW, BUT IT'S JUST KIND OF A, AN ENIGMA, RIGHT? YES.

SO, UH, AND I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THOSE, JUST LIKE YOU SAID, THIS IS A, THERE'S PROBABLY A COMPOUNDED ISSUE HERE OF BOTH URBAN WILDLIFE HANGING OUT IN THE, IN THE OLD CULVERTS AND THE STREAMS. THERE WAS, I MEAN, WHENEVER YOU WALKED DOWN THE STREET AND A CAT SLIPS DOWN INTO A GUTTER THAT CATS PROBABLY LIVE IN THERE.

SO THE TRICK HERE IS THAT, UM, THAT PROBLEM THAT THAT'S ISOLATED IN A STORM SEWER WON'T REVEAL ITSELF, UNLESS YOU HAVE JUST THE RIGHT STORM EVENTS, SMALL STORM EVENTS THAT, THAT, UH, LOOSEN EVERYTHING UP AND THEN BRING THEM TO THE CREEK, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO FLUSH THEM OUT.

EVERYTHING'S FINE, UNLESS YOU HAVE A SUPERBOWL FLUSH AND THEN IT PUSHES OUT TO THE TOP, AND THEN IT'S SITTING AROUND THE PIPE WAITING FOR A WATER.

YOU KNOW, IT JUST FLOW GOING THROUGH THE INTERSTITIAL SPACE OF THAT KIND OF AROUND THAT DRAIN TO PUSH IT OUT IN THE CREEK.

UH, THEY ARE INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT TO TRACK DOWN.

I, I, A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, I DECIDED TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS AND FIX THINGS BECAUSE THAT'S MY NATURE.

I WANT TO FIX THIS.

SO I CAME UP WITH A QIPP CALLED THE, UH, THE ECOLAB ECOLAB FOLLOW UP INVESTIGATION IN WHICH WHEN WE GOT A HIGH KIT, WE'D RUN OUT THE NEXT DAY AND WE START SAMPLING UPSTREAM AND WE'D FIND IT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, ONCE YOU GET THAT HIGH HIT, YOU GOTTA, YOU GOTTA FOLLOW THAT SCENT.

AND SO MANY TIMES I WOULD FOLLOW IT TO A DEAD END OR TO A CULVERT OR TWO AND NOTHING.

UH, WE HAVE OCCASIONALLY FOUND MIXTURES OF PROBLEMS OF PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS, UH, AREAS OF DAY LABOR, FOR EXAMPLE, AROUND THE, AT THE HOME DEPOT DOWN OFF OF 35 AND WOOD WOOD LAND WOODWARD, I FORGET THE WOOD, UH, THAT AREA, THERE'S NOWHERE FOR THE GO TO THE RESTROOM.

[01:25:01]

AND, AND I KNOW THERE'S GOING TO BE MORE THAN ONE, BUT YEAH, I DON'T KNOW.

I GUESS MY, MY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THAT IS, I DON'T KNOW.

NO, THAT'S, THAT'S GOOD.

NO, I, I DON'T KNOW EITHER, BUT, UH, THANKS FOR CONTINUING TO DIG INTO IT.

APPRECIATE IT.

ONE MORE, ONE MORE QUESTION FROM MR. THOMPSON, AND THEN I THINK WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO MOVE ON.

UM, THANKS FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.

IT WAS VERY HELPFUL.

AND I JUST HAVE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS, UM, BRIEFLY.

UM, I THINK SUSAN WAS JUST TELLING US ABOUT HER EDUCATION AND OUTREACH THE COMMUNITY TO TRY AND TEACH THEM ABOUT THE CREEKS.

SO I THINK THAT'S ONE AVENUE THAT, UM, IS SUCCESSFUL IN THAT KIDS THAT GO TO THE CREEK IN DIFFERENT AREAS OF TOWN WILL THEN HAVE A CARE PERHAPS.

AND THE OTHER WAS, UM, ABOUT THE HOMELESSNESS.

UM, I THINK THAT THAT MIGHT HAVE, UM, I, YOU JUST MENTIONED THAT AND I WAS AFRAID THAT THAT MIGHT HAVE SOME SORT OF, UM, INPUT WITH OUR WATER QUALITY.

UM, BUT THE TV CAMERAS, UM, BARTON, BARTON SPRINGS TELLS YOU ARE USED TO POST.

UM, WE CAN'T SWIM TODAY BECAUSE THERE'S A HIGH COUNT AND THEN WE STARTED CLEANING.

SO I THINK ALL OF THESE THINGS HAVE COME TOGETHER TO TRY AND ELEVATE THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC, AND HOPEFULLY THE CHILDREN, UM, WILL GO HOME AND TELL THEIR PARENTS IF THEIR PARENTS NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.

SO I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF THE TOOLS THAT YOU GUYS HAVE USED AND THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'VE SEEN UNDER YOUR CARE.

SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT.

THANKS SO MUCH FOR COMING IN AND ALL THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING, UH, ON THIS AND, AND MORE INJURY, UH, AND JULIE.

SO I APPRECIATE IT.

AND, UM, WE WILL SEE YOU NEXT TIME AND YOU NEED TO MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ITEM ON OUR AGENDA.

SOMEONE TRIED TO SAY SOMETHING, ANDREW, KEVIN JEFFERIES, KEVIN JEFFRIES.

HE DID THE, UH, THE BLUE SCOPE THING WHERE HE, PEOPLE COULD TAKE A PICTURE AND, AND, UH, SUBMITTED ABOUT THEIR CREEK BLUE INDEX .

ITEM, UH, AN ITEM FOR CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION.

ALSO APPRECIATE ALL THE HUMOR, UH, TALKING HEADS AND THE, UH, I DON'T REMEMBER THE OTHER ONE, BUT IT WAS, UH, THE PLAN STAND.

UM, BUT, UH, BUT I APPRECIATE IT.

UM, WE'LL MOVE ON NOW TO

[4a. Joint presentation on the Programing, Operations and Maintenance Agreement between the Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) and The Trail Foundation (TTF)—Christine Canal Chute, Program Manager II, PARD, Heidi Anderson, CEO, TTF and Al Godfrey, TTF Board Member]

UM, SO WE HAVE A JOINT PRESENTATION ON THAT.

I, UH, I'M NOT GONNA READ, CAUSE I'M GONNA HAND IT OFF TO OUR, OUR FEARLESS SECRETARY, UH, KEVIN RANDBURG, UH, AND I ACTUALLY NEED TO RECUSE ON THIS ITEM, SO, UH, Y'ALL ARE ON YOUR OWN AND I WILL BE BACK FOR ITEM FOUR B THANKS.

THANKS, KATIE.

UM, UM, MY, MY, MY VIDEO AND AUDIO IS KIND OF INTERMITTENTLY COMING IN AND OUT, SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S HAPPENING TO ANYONE ELSE, BUT, UM, HOPEFULLY IT WON'T INTERRUPT THIS, BUT YEAH, WE'RE ON ITEM FOUR, A, A JOINT PRESENTATION ON THE PROGRAMMING OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT, OR POMA BETWEEN PARK AND REC PARKS AND REC AND THE TRAIL FOUNDATION.

AND, UM, I GUESS WITH THAT, I'LL MAYBE HAND IT OVER TO STAFF FOR THE LEAD ON THE PRESENTATION.

NO, HEAR ME.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? CHRISTINE? WE CAN HEAR YOU NOW.

UNFORTUNATELY, I'M NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO SEE ME, BUT, UH, MY NAME IS CHRISTINE AND I AM THE PROGRAM MANAGER FOR THE HARD COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM.

THE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM COORDINATES THE EFFORTS OF OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND OUR VOLUNTEERS.

UH, WE LEVERAGE EXTERNAL RESOURCES, BOTH FUNDING AND IN-KIND AND THE PROGRAM IS ABLE TO ENHANCE AUSTIN'S PARKS AND HELP GROW A SENSE OF COMMUNITY AND STEWARDSHIP THROUGH THE UMBRELLA PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM THAT I

[01:30:01]

MANAGE COMMUNITY MEMBERS, NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND LOCAL BUSINESS PARTNERS CAN COLLABORATE WITH THE DEPARTMENT.

UM, THEY CAN ADOPT THEIR PARK, PARTICIPATE IN VOLUNTEER DAYS, PROPOSE ENHANCEMENTS AT THEIR LOCAL PARK, UH, DONATE RESOURCES AND FUNDING TO PARK IMPROVEMENTS.

AND FOR THE PURPOSES OF TODAY'S PRESENTATION, NONPROFIT PARTNERS WITH AN ALIGNED MISSION THAT MEET THE PART CRITERIA FOR PARTNERSHIPS CAN ENTER INTO AN AGREEMENT TO FORMALIZE THE PARTNERSHIP GOALS AND DELINEATE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES.

I'M REALLY EXCITED TO BE HERE TODAY BECAUSE I'M VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT OUR PART, UH, PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM.

AND, UM, TODAY I'M HERE WITH THE TRAIL FOUNDATION TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON THE DECADE LONG PARTNERSHIP WITH PARD AND AN OVERVIEW OF THE FORMALIZATION OF THIS PARTNERSHIP THROUGH A PARK OPERATIONS, MAINTENANCE AND PROGRAMMING AGREEMENT.

I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO HEIDI ANDERSON AND AL GODFREY WITH THE TRAIL FOUNDATION.

WATER ACCESS AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS ALONG THE TRAIL, SO THAT WE CAN CLOSE OFF THE DESIRE PATH THAT SEEMED TO JUST POP UP HERE AND THERE FROM OVER USAGE.

YOU CHRISTINE AND COMMISSIONERS, ALL OF YOU FOR ALLOWING US TO JOIN YOU THIS EVENING, WE ARE SO EXCITED TO BE HERE AND HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WITH THIS COMMISSION IN PARTICULAR, ALL OF THE ONGOING WORK THAT WE DO ON A DAILY BASIS, REALLY IN THIS VERY SPECIAL PLACE.

AND WE WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WE REALLY TRULY VIEW IT AS AN HONOR TO GET TO DO THIS WORK AND SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY IN THIS WAY.

UM, I'M GOING TO LINGER ON THIS ONE FLIGHT A BIT LONGER THAN THE OTHERS, BUT I DO PROMISE TO KEEP US MOVING.

IT'S JUST, THIS IS THE FUN STUFF RIGHT HERE.

UH, THIS SLIDE PROVIDES A GREAT SNAPSHOT OF THE TRAIL.

FOUNDATION'S INCREASED ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION WORK, WHICH IS BASED ON THE URBAN FORESTRY AND MANAGEMENT LAND MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES, WHICH WERE ESTABLISHED IN 2015 WITH THE INVOLVEMENT OF WATERSHED PROTECTION STAFF, PARD STAFF, AND OTHERS.

UH, WE THEN EXPANDED THOSE EFFORTS SIGNIFICANTLY ON OUR END IN 2018.

THESE GUIDELINES ESTABLISHED UNITS AROUND THE FULL 10 MILE LOOP OF THE TRAIL, UH, REGARDING ALL OF THE DIFFERENT ECOLOGIES THAT EXIST IN THE DIFFERENT LAND MANAGEMENT TASKS THAT ARE APPROPRIATE FOR EACH AREA.

I LIKE TO CALL THIS GUIDE.

THESE GUIDELINES ARE BIBLE, AND WE KIND OF, WE BASICALLY LIVE BY THEM.

WE FOCUS ON INVASIVE REMOVAL AND IRRIGATED TREE PLANTINGS PULL AND SAPLING PLANTINGS, SOIL RESTORATION, WOODLAND EXPANSION, ALL KINDS OF DIFFERENT ECOLOGICAL AREAS.

ALL OF THESE EFFORTS ARE FOLLOW CITY CODES, CODE CITY CRITERIA AS, AND BEST PRACTICES AND CITY PROTOCOL FOR, UH, EVERYTHING DOWN TO PEST MANAGEMENT.

THESE GUIDELINES ARE BEING UPDATED LITERALLY RIGHT NOW, AS WE SPEAK, BECAUSE WE UNDERSTAND THIS TO BE A VERY ORGANIC AND LIVING SPACE IN 2019.

YOU'LL SEE SOME OF THESE PICTURES.

I'M GOING TO EXPLAIN WHAT A FEW OF THEM ARE.

WE FACILITATED 50 DAYS OF TREE CARE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE FORESTRY DEPARTMENT.

YOU'LL ALSO SEE HERE SOME PHOTOS FROM OUR LIVING SHORELINE AND FLOATING WETLAND PROGRAM, WHICH WE HAVE WORKED ON IN THE PAST FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS OR SO ON THESE PROJECTS AROUND THE LAKE.

UH, THEY FOCUS ON IMPROVING HABITATS IN THE WATER AND WATER QUALITY.

UH, WE'VE GOT A PHOTO HERE OF ONE OF OUR RAIN GARDENS.

WE HAVE SEVERAL OF THESE NOW, THE CONGRESS AVENUE RAIN GARDEN CURRENTLY INFILTRATES OVER A HUNDRED THOUSAND GALLONS OF STORMWATER ANNUALLY IN OUR EAST AVENUE.

RAIN GARDEN INFILTRATES OVER 240,000 GALLONS ANNUALLY.

SO THAT'S BEEN A REALLY SUCCESSFUL PROJECT FOR US IN 2019.

WE FORMALIZED OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH WATERSHED PROTECTION WITH OUR TRAIL DRAINAGE.

CO-SPONSORSHIP THE OBJECTIVES OF THAT PROGRAM WERE TO WORK TOGETHER WITH WATERSHED TO DEVELOP STRATEGIES THAT ADDRESS MINOR EROSION ISSUES, PRIMARILY THROUGH THE DIFFERENT LANDSCAPES, UM, AND WITH FEATURES THAT WOULD SLOW AND DIVERT, UH, INFILTRATE OR SPREAD SHALLOW STORM WATER FLOWS.

AND SOME EXAMPLES INCLUDE EROSION CONTROL THAT WE RECENTLY DID OVER AT WHAT WE CALL THE HOTEL SLOPE, WHICH IS BEHIND THE LINE, A LOT OF EROSION HAPPENING THERE, ESPECIALLY DURING SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL.

SO WE REVEGETATING THAT HILLSIDE INSTALLED SOME RETAINING WALLS AND A DRY CREEK BED.

AND WE'RE CURRENTLY FINISHING AND WRAPPING UP SOME, A FESTIVAL BEACH DRAINAGE ANALYSIS, AND SOME SOIL STUDYING OVER IN THAT AREA RIGHT NOW.

BUT WE EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THE PARTNERSHIP WITH WATERSHED ON THE SHORELINE STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM, WHICH WILL ALLOW US HERE IN THE COMING YEAR TO HOST OVER WELL OVER A HUNDRED GUIDANCE AND VOLUNTEER EVENTS.

WE WILL PLANT OVER 7,000 NATIVE PLANT SPECIES.

WE WILL SEED OVER 11 ACRES OF FLOODPLAIN MANAGED HABITAT FOR PLANNING TO INSTALL SIX MORE WETLAND AND AQUATIC HABITAT PROJECTS PROPAGATE OR GROW OVER 200 WETLAND PLANTS IN THE GREENHOUSE INSTALL FOR ADDITIONAL RAIN GARDENS AND FACILITATE REGULAR SOIL TESTING THAT WILL IMPROVE HEALTH OF SOIL.

SO A LOT OF DIFFERENT, UH, EFFORTS HAPPENING THERE.

IN ADDITION, WE WORK WITH WATERSHED AND PARD TO FORMALIZE

[01:35:01]

AND WE DO A LOT OF PLANTINGS AND WOODLAND EXPANSIONS.

WE HAVE A REALLY EXCITING PROJECT THAT HAD BEEN COMPLETED OVER IN THE LAMAR BEACH AREA, WHERE WE HAVE A LARGE THREE WOODLAND PLANTED AREAS, COMPOSED OF NATIVE CANOPIES AND UNDERSTORY TREES.

AND IT'S BEEN REALLY SUCCESSFUL, IMPORTANT TO NOTE HERE BEFORE WE MOVE ON THAT ALL OF OUR PROJECTS GET PRIORITIZED THROUGH OUR ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION COMMITTEE, WHICH INCLUDES PART AND WATERSHED REPRESENTATION, AND THEY ALL FOLLOW A FORMAL REVIEW PROCESS OF CAP FORM.

YOU'LL HEAR A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT AND COMPLY WITH WATERSHED PERMIT, CITY CODES, ET CETERA, NEXT SLIDE.

SO THIS SLIDE GIVES YOU A LITTLE SENSE OF WHO WE ARE AND HOW WE CAME TO BE.

OUR MISSION IS TO ENHANCE, PROTECT, AND CONNECT THE BUTLER TRAIL FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL WE WERE, WE WERE, THE TRAIL ITSELF WAS REALLY STARTED IN 1971 WITH LADY BIRD JOHNSON AND SOME OF HER FRIENDS, BUT IN 2003 IS WHEN THE TRAIL FOUNDATION WAS FOUNDED.

OUR MODEL ORIGINALLY WAS TO IDENTIFY A NEED THAT WOULD WOULD EXISTED ON THE TRAIL.

WE WOULD FUND IT, WE WOULD BUILD IT AND WE WOULD GIFT IT BACK TO THE CITY AND BASICALLY WALK AWAY BECAUSE WE DIDN'T HAVE THE CAPACITY TO MAINTAIN IT OVER TIME.

HOWEVER, WE'VE COME TO REALIZE THAT AS WE, AS WE BUILT NEW PROJECTS AND THOSE PROJECTS ARE KIND OF LIKE BUILDING UP ON THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, THESE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BECOME MORE OF A BURDEN TO THE PARKS DEPARTMENT'S BUDGET.

SO WHAT WE FOUND IS THAT THERE IS AN INCREASED USE OF THE TRAIL OVER FOUR AND A HALF MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR NOW ARE ON THE TRAIL.

PARDES RESOURCES ARE BEING SPREAD INCREASINGLY THIN ACROSS OUR CITY.

AND YET OUR MISSION IS TO INCREASE OUR WORK, TO KEEP UP WITH THE PACE OF USE.

SO THAT LANDED US IN A PLACE WHERE IT WAS TIME FOR TTF TO START SETTING UP A MORE FORMALIZED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CITY AND TAKING ON MORE OF THE MAINTENANCE OF THE SPACE AND OUR WORK FALLS INTO TWO MAIN BUCKETS, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS, WHICH FOLLOW ALL CITY CODES AND PROCESSES.

THAT'S OUR RESTROOMS AND OUR TRAILHEADS AND OUR INFRASTRUCTURE.

AND THEN THE, THAT DAY-TO-DAY BOOTS ON THE GROUND.

ECOLOGICAL WORK AGAIN, THAT'S CENTERED AROUND THOSE LAND MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES.

YOU SEE HERE ADOPTED IN 2015.

THIS SIDE IS GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU A SNAPSHOT OF OUR FINANCIAL INVESTMENT AND THE PUBLIC BENEFIT THAT COMES FROM THAT.

THE TRAIL FOUNDATION AS A NONPROFIT IS ABLE TO LEVERAGE PRIVATE DONATIONS THAT HELP US INCREASE THE BANDWIDTH FOR IMPROVEMENT AND MAINTENANCE AND ENHANCEMENT OF THIS TRAIL.

SO THE NUMBERS HERE GIVE YOU A SENSE OF OUR PAST INVESTMENT CAPABILITIES, AND THIS IS ONLY GROWING FOR US AS THE, OF THE TRAIL GROWS.

SO OUR REVENUE COMES PRIMARILY FROM INDIVIDUALS AND FOUNDATIONS WITH SOME CORPORATE SUPPORT, AND WE'RE ABLE TO BE EFFICIENT WITH THOSE DOLLARS BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH A ROBUST VOLUNTEER PROGRAM.

SO WHEN I STARTED AT TTF FOUR YEARS AGO, WE WERE HAVING ABOUT FOUR VOLUNTEER EVENTS A YEAR.

NOW WE HAVE THREE PUBLIC VOLUNTEER EVENTS EVERY WEEK, AND WE REALLY GET TO ENGAGE WITH THE PUBLIC, HAVE THEM ACTIVATE THE SPACE AND HELP US PRESERVE THIS.

IT HELPS EVERY DOLLAR THAT WE RAISE GO FURTHER IMPORTANT TO NOTE HERE, WE'VE HAD A FEW QUESTIONS COME UP ABOUT DONOR RECOGNITION.

WE FOLLOW AS ALL PARTNERS TO THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, CITY PROTOCOLS, AND CRITERIA FOR ANY RECOGNITION OR SIGNAGE THAT TAKES PLACE IN THE PARKLAND.

SO DONORS ARE ONLY ABLE TO RECEIVE PERMANENT RECOGNITION AND A PARK WHEN THEY HAVE GIVEN 25,000 OR MORE.

AND THAT IS NOT TO INCLUDE LOGOS.

IT'S ALL INTEGRATED INTO THE DESIGN OF OUR PROJECTS AND ALL GOES THROUGH CITY PROCESS AND, AND REVIEW.

ALSO, WE DO NOT RECEIVE CITY FUNDING OR ANY MANAGEMENT FEES FROM PARD TO DO THIS WORK.

THE ONLY REAL CITY FUNDING WE RECEIVED FROM TIME TO TIME IS THROUGH THE PARKLAND DEDICATION PROGRAM, WHICH HELPS US WITH SOME OF OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS.

BOND FUNDING WOULD NEVER FUNNEL THROUGH TTF EVEN WITH, OR WITHOUT THIS AGREEMENT IN PLACE.

THOSE DOLLARS ALWAYS WILL GO THROUGH CITY DEPARTMENTS DEPENDING ON IF THAT'S PART OR, OR PUBLIC WORK.

SO FOR EXAMPLE, THE WISHBONE SOLUTION, THAT'S COMING TO LONGHORN DAM, THAT'S GOING TO BE MANAGED THROUGH PUBLIC WORKS AND TTF GETS TO BE A STAKEHOLDER FOR THAT PROJECT.

UM, AND THEN CHRISTINE, I THINK I'M PASSING IT TO YOU AND THEN I'LL BE BACK IN A FEW MINUTES.

DID WE LOSE CHRISTINE? THERE YOU ARE.

[01:40:01]

SO MARCH 12TH, 2020, THIS WAS JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS REALLY BEFORE, UH, SHUT DOWN FROM COVID, UH, CITY COUNCIL EXPRESS SUPPORT FOR PARTNERSHIPS AND DIRECTED THE CITY MANAGER TO WORK WITH PARKS, NONPROFITS THAT HAVE ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS WITH PARD AND FORMALIZE EXISTING PARTNERSHIPS THROUGH AN AGREEMENT PART, A SHARES, THIS COMMITMENT TO GROWING PARTNERSHIPS THAT ALIGN WITH OUR OVERALL MISSION, VISION AND VALUES.

THE DEPARTMENT SEEKS TO PROVIDE THIS PUBLIC BENEFIT TO THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY BY CULTIVATING THESE RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS WHO VALUE EQUITY AND INCLUSION AND INCREASED ACCESS PARTNERSHIPS ALLOW FOR THE PARKS DEPARTMENT TO LEVERAGE RESOURCES AND TO FURTHER THE PUBLIC ACCESS GOALS INCREASE THE MAINTENANCE STANDARDS AND PROVIDE QUALITY PROGRAMMING AND ACTIVATION OPPORTUNITIES TO AUSTINITES ARE TRUSTED PARTNERS LIKE THE TRAIL FOUNDATION HELP THE DEPARTMENT TO ENHANCE OUR AUSTIN'S PARKS AND RECREATION SYSTEM.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, OVER A MONTH RESEARCH MEETINGS WITH LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS, UM, AND LEARNING FROM NATIONAL PARK ORGANIZATIONS PART DEVELOPED WITH THE PARTNERSHIP PATHWAY THAT'S RIGHT WHERE YOU, THE PARENT THE WAY ALLOWS FOR VARIOUS TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS OF DIFFERENT CAPACITIES TO PARTNER WITH PARD.

AND EACH OF THESE PARTNERSHIP CONFIGURATIONS THEN HAS A CORRESPONDING CRITERIA.

THE GOAL WAS TO CREATE CONSISTENCY AND TRANSPARENCY IN OUR PARTNERSHIPS AND SUBSEQUENT AGREEMENTS.

THE TRAIL FOUNDATION IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THE PATHWAY TRIAL FOUNDATION.

AS HEIDI EXPLAINED, BEGAN AS A GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATION OF VOLUNTEERS WHO SAW AN ISSUE AND GOT, GOT PEOPLE TOGETHER.

AND SO YOU REALLY SEE THAT AS KIND OF OUR PARTNERSHIP, SEE THIS FRIENDS GROUP ADOPT A PART GROUP.

UM, AND THEN AS CAPACITY GREW MOVED TO THE LEVEL OF A NONPROFIT PARTNER WHO IS FUNDRAISING AND PROVIDING DONATIONS AND STEWARDSHIP TO THE SITE.

AND THEN AS CAPACITY HAS GROWN AND THE USAGE OF THE SITE HAS, HAS GROWN AS WELL ENTERING INTO WHAT YOU'RE SEEING THIS PARTNERSHIP, A THIS PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP.

UM, AND WITH THIS PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP, THE AGREEMENT WILL BE BASED ON ALL OF THE PARTNERSHIP CRITERIA, HIS ACTIVITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES DETAILED IN THAT CRITERIA, WHICH WAS PROVIDED IN YOUR BACKUP.

OPPORTUNITIES AND JUST THE BOOTS ON THE GROUND AT THE, THE TRAIL, UH, THE CITY, UH, WE KICKED OFF WITH OUR CITY LEGAL TO DRAFT AND NEGOTIATE THE POMA AND TO BEGIN DELINEATING ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES AS DIRECTED BY COUNCIL, WE HAVE BEGUN ROUTING THOSE, THE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PLAN AND THE PROGRAMMING PLAN TO PERTINENT CITY STAFF AND FOR THEIR EXPERTISE, THEIR COMMENTS, AND THEIR REVIEW.

THIS SLIDE REPRESENTS THE, THE ROBUST COLLABORATION THAT TOOK MONTHS OF REVIEW AND OVERSIGHT AND OP OF THE OPERATION AND GOVERNANCE DOCUMENTS THAT WILL ENCOMPASS THE POMO AGREEMENT.

WHEN COMPLETED, I STATED THE FIRST STEP PER THE COUNCIL RESOLUTION IS FOR THE PARTNER TO ALIGN WITH THE PART VISION, PART, VISION, AND MISSION, AND MEET OUR PARD PRIDE HEART PARTNERSHIP CRITERIA.

A ADDITIONALLY, AN ANNUAL PROGRAMMING PLAN AND AN ANNUAL OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PLAN ARE REQUIRED PER THE PALMA AND ENCOMPASS ALL THE PERMITTED ACTIVITIES OF THE ORGANIZATION.

THESE DOCUMENTS DOCUMENTS ARE DRAFTED IN COLLABORATION WITH CITY STAFF AND ARE REVIEWED BY PERTINENT DEPARTMENTS.

ADDITIONALLY, UM, THE HOMA AND THE PARTNERSHIP AS PER THE POMA AND THE PARTNERSHIP, A CONFIGURATION THERE'S A MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE THAT WILL BE MADE UP OF PART WATERSHED PROTECTION AND TTF, THAT WILL BE FORMED AND DIRECTED IN THE AGREEMENT TO PROVIDE OVERSIGHT AND SUPPORT FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DIRECTOR, APPROVED OPERATIONS, PROGRAMMING, AND MAINTENANCE ANNUAL PLANS.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE PROVIDES A KIND OF OVERVIEW OF THE DRAFTING AND REVIEW PROCESS.

PARDON TTF OFFICIALLY KICKED OFF EXPLORING THIS FORMALIZATION OF THE PARTNERSHIP IN 2018 BY JOINTLY APPLYING FOR THE URBAN LAND INSTITUTE ADVISORY SERVICES PROGRAMS AND THROUGH A PANEL OF DIVERSE NATIONAL EXPERTS AND NINE MONTHS OF RESEARCH AND ROBUST ENGAGEMENT ULI REALLY ASSISTED THE CITY AND TTF AND PROVIDING KEY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED INTO THE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.

UM, ADDITIONALLY TTF AND PARD, AND SOON TO BE WATERSHED WILL BE HOLD WEEKLY MEETINGS WITH THE GROUNDS MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS, UM, TO REALLY DISCUSS WEEKLY OPERATIONS AND THE COLLABORATION

[01:45:01]

THIS WILL BE MONTHS OF REVIEW AND SEVERAL ITERATIONS OF THOSE PLANS, UH, AS YOU SAVE OR AT THEIR NEXT STEP, WE'RE BEGINNING TO PRESENT TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AS A PART OF THAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND TRANSPARENCY PROCESS, UH, WE'LL THEN MOVE TO COUNCIL TO APPROVE THE NEGOTIATION AND EXECUTION OF THE AGREEMENT, AND THEN BEGAN THAT FINALIZATION OF THE AGREEMENT.

AND THEN THE POMA WILL BE SUBMITTED TO THE DIRECTOR FOR REVIEW AND APPROVAL.

CAPITAL PROJECTS.

UM, AS HEIDI TALKED ABOUT, UM, EARLIER THEN THIS PROVIDES THIS OUTLINE OF THE PROCESS FOR WHICH A PARTNER WOULD PROPOSE, DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A CAPITAL PROJECT ON PARKLAND.

WHAT ABOUT ARE NOT INCLUDED WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF THE PALMA AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS? UH, FUTURE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS WILL CONTINUE TO FOLLOW ALL OF PART'S COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AND APPLICABLE CITY STATE, FEDERAL LAW CODE REVIEW, AND REQUIREMENTS.

THE POMA WILL OUTLINE THE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT TERMS AND INCLUDE AN AGREEMENT WILL BE THE TERMS WITH THE CITY THAT CITY LAW WILL BEGIN REVIEWING AND NEGOTIATING.

UM, BUT ALSO INCLUDED WILL BE EXTENSIVE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND DELIVERABLES.

THESE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS WILL INCLUDE A REVIEW OF ANNUAL OPERATING BUDGET, UH, PROGRAMMING AND ACTIVATION PLANS, STEWARDSHIP, PARKLAND IMPROVEMENTS, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION, PARTNERSHIPS, AND COLLABORATION.

UM, WE WILL HARD, WE'LL ALSO HAVE AN ANNUAL DESK REVIEW OF THE PARTNERSHIP, A CONFIGURATION, WHICH WILL INCLUDE A REVIEW OF THE ORGANIZATION'S NINE 90, UM, AND ALL, UH, CONFLICT OF INTEREST, POLICY GIFT, DONOR POLICY, BOARD INCLUSION, MATRIX, ALL OF THE DIFFERENT GOVERNANCE DOCUMENTS THAT MAKE UP THE ORGANIZATION AND THE PARTNERSHIP A CONFIGURATION.

HEIDI IS GOING TO TAKE ON THIS SLIDE IF YOU CAN UNMUTE HER, PLEASE.

THANK YOU, CHRISTINE.

SO THIS FLIGHT IS MEANT TO TRY AND GRAPHICALLY ILLUSTRATE THE PROPOSED PARTNERSHIP PHASING, WHICH, UH, IS FIRST AND FOREMOST MEANT TO, WAS CREATED TO BE A VERY THOUGHTFUL, MEANINGFUL AND CONSERVATIVE APPROACH.

SO THE PROJECTIONS FOR PHASING OF THE ONM PLAN ARE BASED ON ANALYSIS OF CURRENT TRAIL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CONDITIONS, UM, PER OUR POMA PRIOR TO MOVING INTO ANY NEXT PHASE.

TTF WE'LL WORK WITH THE CITY TO REVIEW CAPACITY FUNDING, FEASIBILITY, TIMELINE, AND SCOPE, AND, AND WE WILL REACH BENCHMARKS TO PROGRESS TO THE NEXT PHASE.

YOU CAN SEE HERE AT THE TOP, THE MAP SHOWS THE TRAIL AND PARKLAND DESIGNATED AS FOUR SPECIFIC ZONES.

AND THEN THE O AND M FOR EACH OF THESE ZONES, WE'LL TRANSITION THROUGH THREE STAGES OF OUR COURSE, TOTAL COAST COURSE OF 10 YEARS.

UNLESS OF COURSE WE CAN ALL AGREE TO MOVE IT FURTHER ALONG QUICKER, UM, OR EVEN IF IT NEEDS TO GO MORE SLOWLY, BUT THAT'S WHY WE'LL HAVE THESE MOMENTS WHERE WE CAN DECIDE TOGETHER WHEN WE MOVE TO THE NEXT PHASE.

UH, WE WILL BEGIN PRIMARILY WITH THE SOUTHEAST ZONE, AS YOU SEE HERE IN THIS CHART.

AND BY PHASE THREE TTF WILL BE THE PRIMARY OPERATOR AND MAINTAINER OF THE SPACE, BUT PARD AND OBVIOUSLY WATERSHED AS WELL, ALWAYS HAVE SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES, WHICH WILL ENSURE A CONTINUOUS COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN ALL PARTIES AND BASED ON THE NATIONAL CONSERVANCY MODELS THAT ARE BEST PRACTICES.

THERE'S ALWAYS A PERCENTAGE OF SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL WORKING TOGETHER IN THIS SPACE.

ALSO VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THIS PARKLAND WILL ALWAYS BE PUBLIC PARKLAND, NOTHING IN THIS PARTNERSHIP CHANGES THAT THERE'S NO LEASE OR OWNERSHIP BEING TRANSFERRED IN ANY WAY.

TGF IS JUST STEPPING UP TO HELP PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE

[01:50:01]

EFFORTS.

AND THERE ARE SOME UNPLANNED AREAS THAT ARE UP FOR DISCUSSION AFTER PHASE THREE THAT IS OUTLINED HERE.

UM, AND THOSE ARE JUST AREAS WE WEREN'T QUITE SURE WE COULD TAKE THEM ON RIGHT NOW, AGAIN, GOING BACK TO THAT CONSERVATIVE IMPORT APPROACH.

UM, I WANT TO REITERATE ALSO THAT TTF WILL CONTINUE TO WORK AND COMMUNICATE VERY CLOSELY WITH BOTH PART AND WATERSHED.

IN FACT, WE ALREADY HAVE WEEKLY MEETINGS WITH FIELD OPERATIONS, UH, BETWEEN THE PARDON AND, UH, TTF WE TALKED TO WATERSHED REGULARLY AND WE HAVE QUARTERLY MEETINGS WITH A BROADER, MORE EXPANDED GROUP THAT EVEN INCLUDES PUBLIC WORKS AND SOMETIMES TRANSPORTATION.

UM, NEXT SLIDE, THIS SLIDE IS GOING TO SHOW, UM, SOME OF THE FUN STUFF TOO.

I MEAN, THESE ARE, THIS IS A GREAT MAP THAT SHOWS OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS OVER THE LAST 18 YEARS.

THE TRAIL IS A 10 MILE LOOP, BUT WHEN YOU ADD ALL OF THE CONNECTIONS AND BRIDGES THAT GO NORTH SOUTH, IT'S A 16 MILE FULL TRAIL CONNECTION.

THE PURPLE DOTS YOU SEE ON THIS MAP ARE, ARE, UH, PROJECTS THAT ARE COMPLETED.

SO RESTROOMS THE BRIDGE UNDER CONGRESS AVENUE, UH, SOME EXERCISE EQUIPMENT HERE AND THEIR WATER ACCESS POINTS AND SUCH THE YELLOW, OUR CURRENT PROJECTS AND THE ORANGE ARE THOSE THAT ARE REMAINING IN THIS LIST OF 15 THAT WE HAVEN'T PRIORITIZED JUST YET IN 2017, DTF DID IDENTIFY 15 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES.

ONE OF WHICH WAS ELEVATING OUR ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION WORK ON A DAILY BASIS.

ALL OF THOSE PROJECTS WERE IDENTIFIED BASED ON, UH, SO A GRID, UH, THAT SHOWED US COMMUNITY NEED AND OUR FEASIBILITY.

AND WE RANKED ALL THE IDEAS AND CAME TOGETHER TO DECIDE THESE FIT ON THESE 15 PROJECTS.

I WILL SAY, WE LIKE TO CALL THIS A TOOL, NOT A RULE.

ALL CAPITAL PROJECTS INCLUDE EXTENSIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND ARE REVIEWED AND APPROVED THROUGH EVERYTHING.

CHRISTINE JUST EXPLAINED TO YOU ABOUT, UM, HOLLY IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THIS.

WE HAVE A, ONE OF OUR 15 PROJECTS NOTED IN THE HOLLY AREA AND WHEN THAT LAND IS OPENED BACK UP AND THE TRAIL IS REALIGNED.

WE HAVE A QUOTE UNQUOTE ENHANCEMENT LISTED THERE, BUT PENDING COMMUNITY NEED AND BENEFIT AND WHAT THE COMMUNITY WOULD LIKE TO SEE THERE.

IT'S JUST US SHOWING OUR INTENTION OF STAYING COMMITTED TO THAT SPACE.

UM, NEXT SLIDE, THIS SLIDE JUST GIVES YOU A QUICK SNAPSHOT OF, OF SOME OF THE MANY PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS THAT WE HAVE.

AND WE WORK WITH REGULARLY ON THE LEFT.

IT'S MOSTLY CITY PARTNERSHIPS, UH, AND WE WORK WITH THEM ALL IN DIFFERENT WAYS.

UH, WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON, ON AN ARTS AND CULTURE PLAN, PUBLIC ART PLAN WITH ARTS AND PUBLIC PLACES.

UH, WE JUST FINISHED SOME CAMPS WITH CAMACHO AND METS RECREATION CENTERS.

THEY OBVIOUSLY WORK WITH WATERSHED VERY CLOSELY AND PARD.

UM, WE'RE GOING TO START WORKING WITH PROJECT CONNECT ON THE BLUE AND ORANGE LINES AND LOTS OF CONVERSATIONS WITH ALL OF THESE GROUPS ON A REGULAR BASIS, AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT.

WE WERE VERY CLOSE TO THEM WHEN THE SCOOTERS DESCENDED UPON A TOWN THERE FOR A WHILE.

SO, AND THEN ON THE RIGHT, YOU SEE MOSTLY OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS, THE BIGGEST ONES BEING, KEEP AUSTIN BEAUTIFUL WATERLOO, GREENWAY, AND SHOAL CREEK, BECAUSE WE ALL WORK TOGETHER COLLABORATIVELY IN THE SAME SPACE.

AND WE WILL ABSOLUTELY CONTINUE TO DO THAT.

UM, NEXT SLIDE, THIS FINAL SLIDE OF FOUR FOR ME, BEFORE I GIVE IT BACK TO CHRISTINE IS A SNAPSHOT OF OUR PUBLIC BENEFIT THROUGH PROGRAMMING.

AND THIS IS WHERE WE ALWAYS KIND OF KEEP IN MIND, HOW CAN WE SERVE LAST YEAR? THIS WAS REALLY IMPORTANT TOPIC FOR US.

AND WE LAUNCHED OUR MUSIC ON THE TRAIL SERIES, WHICH ALLOWED US TO MAKE THE TRAIL A VENUE FOR THE AUSTIN ARTISTS WHO WERE OUT OF WORK AND DIDN'T HAVE A VENUE TO PLAY IN.

WE WERE ABLE TO PAY ARTISTS AND GIVE THEM WORK ON THE TRAIL.

WE HOSTED THE FIRST MONTH OF THAT SERIES HIGHLIGHTING THE BLACK MUSICIANS OF OUR COMMUNITY IN HONOR OF BLACK LIVES MATTER.

AND SINCE WE'VE OPENED IT UP TO DIFFERENT THEMES AND DIFFERENT MONTHS, UM, AND JUST THE ARTISTS OF AUSTIN AS, AS A WHOLE, WE DID VOTER REGISTRATION BOOTH LAST YEAR.

AND FOR, UH, PREPARING FOR THE ELECTION, WE HAD BLOOD DRIVES ALL KINDS OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO SEE WHAT THE COMMUNITY WANTS.

WE WORK ON CITIES, CONNECTING CHILDREN TO NATURE THROUGH UC HERE, WE CREATED A SCAVENGER HUNT ABOUT THE TREES FOR PARENTS TO HAVE SOMETHING TO DO DURING LOCKDOWN.

THEY COULD GET OUT AND DO WHATEVER PORTION OF THE TRAIL THEY WANTED ON THE SCAVENGER HUNT.

WE PARTNERED WITH THE WILDFLOWER CENTER.

YOU SEE HERE WITH PORTLANDIA, IF YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH THAT, UH, EVENT OUT AT THE WILDFLOWER CENTER, THEY HAVE ARTISTS DESIGN A FORT, AND THIS IS ONE OF THE FORKS THAT WAS PART OF LAST YEAR'S EXHIBITION THAT WE'VE MOVED OVER TO THE HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL FOR TEMPORARY INSTALLATION.

WE HAVE AN ONGOING KIDS ADOPTED GARDEN PROGRAM OVER AT, UH, THE CAMACHO REC CENTER.

AND AS I MENTIONED, WE DID SUMMER VIRTUAL CAMP LAST SUMMER.

WE DID IN-PERSON CAMPS WITH BOTH REC CENTERS.

[01:55:01]

THIS SUMMER.

WE HAVE A ROBUST INTERNSHIP PROGRAM.

WE JUST HAD FIVE CITY INTERNS THIS SUMMER WORKING WITH US, HELPING TO BUILD AND NURTURE THOSE GREEN SPACE JOBS, UM, IN THE FUTURE.

AND THEN WE'RE ALSO INTEGRATING NATURE, PLAY INTO SOME OF OUR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS AND WORKING WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT ON THAT.

I MENTIONED BRIEFLY OUR ARTS AND CULTURE PUBLIC ART PLAN, WHICH IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING DEVELOPED RIGHT NOW WITH AIPP AND PART, LOTS OF EXTENSIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THERE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS AND DOESN'T WANT IN THAT AREA.

AND WE HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE FROM WATERSHED PROTECTION ON THAT TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

UM, AND SO ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS HERE.

ONE LAST THING I JUST WANT TO LEAVE YOU WITH IS THAT WE, UM, WE TRULY DO BELIEVE THAT OUR MISSION AND UNDERSTAND THAT OUR MISSION TO BENEFIT ALL.

IT MEANS THE WHOLE 10 MILE LOOP EAST WEST, NORTH, SOUTH ALL COMMUNITIES.

AND WE TOOK SOCIAL JUSTICE VERY SERIOUSLY LAST SUMMER AND HIRED A DEI CONSULTANT TO REALLY COME IN AND, AND DO A DEEP DIVE WITH US TO UNDERSTAND AND AUDIT EVERYTHING WE'RE DOING.

SEE WHERE WE HAVE BLIND SPOTS, SEE WHERE WE NEED TO GROW AND LEARN, AND WE'RE STILL WORKING ON THAT, BUT, UM, WE'VE MADE SOME GREAT STRIDES AND WE'RE EXCITED.

WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THE FUTURE.

SO WITH THAT, I'LL PASS IT BACK TO CHRISTINE.

GOOD.

UM, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

DO YOU WANT TO, JUST TO SPEAK TO WHAT HEIDI JUST PRESENTED ON? UM, PART IS REALLY THANKFUL FOR OUR PARTNERS, UM, AND SPECIFICALLY, SPECIFICALLY THE TRAIL FOUNDATION TO BE ABLE TO BE NIMBLE DURING THIS TIME AND REALLY PROVIDE, UH, THESE ACTIVATION OPPORTUNITIES AND ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES, UH, DURING A TIME WHEN THE ENGAGEMENT WAS EXTREMELY LIMITED.

SO, UM, THAT REALLY, SHE REALLY WAS ABLE TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE GREAT WORK THAT HAS BEEN ABLE TO HAPPEN IN THE LAST TWO YEARS IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES.

UM, SO THIS SLIDE IS JUST TO GIVE AN OVERVIEW OF THE NEXT STEPS OF OUR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, UH, PRESENTATIONS.

UH, I'VE BEEN GOING TO PARK SPORT, AND THEN AS I MENTIONED, UH, GOING TO THE COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE THE POMA WITH TTF NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

AND THAT IS IT FOR OUR PRESENTATION TODAY.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND WELCOME ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS YOU HAVE ON THE PRESENTATION OR THE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE TRIAL FOUNDATION AND THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT.

THANK YOU, CHRISTINE.

THANK YOU, HEIDI.

UM, DOES ANYONE HAVE, I GUESS, RICK, YOUR HANDS FOLLOWING, KATY'S GREAT LEAD FOR ME TODAY.

RAISE YOUR HANDS.

IF YOU GUYS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS AND WE CAN GO ON AND GO THROUGH THEM ONE BY ONE.

COMMISSIONER, KAYLA CHAMPLIN, UH, WATERSHED PROTECTION, ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION LIAISON.

HARRIS WHERE YOU GOT, HEY, Y'ALL UH, FIRST OF ALL, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY, YOU KNOW, PERSONALLY, I'M A VERY BIG FAN OF, UH, YOU KNOW, THE TRAIL.

UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY WITH THE PANDEMIC, RIGHT.

PEOPLE TRADITIONALLY THINK OF, YOU KNOW, DIRTY SIX OR UT WHEN I THINK OF AUSTIN.

BUT I THINK WITH SORT OF THOSE THINGS HAVEN'T BEEN SHUT DOWN OR LIMITED THE LAST FEW YEARS, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE TRAIL AND WHAT REPRESENTS THE CITY HAS REALLY TAKEN ON, UH, MAGNIFIED VOLUME AND VALUE, YOU KNOW, UM, YOU KNOW, PERSONALLY ALSO AS A MUSICIAN MYSELF, I TOTALLY NOTICED, YOU KNOW, WHAT Y'ALL HAD DONE LAST YEAR WITH THE SORT OF MUSIC ON THE TRAIL THING.

I THINK THAT WAS A REALLY COOL MOVE, UH, AS A BROWN PERSON, I'M GLAD THAT, YOU KNOW, Y'ALL SERVE DIVERSIFIED THAT STUFF.

MY QUESTION IS, YOU KNOW, AS AUSTIN OF MOVES INTO LIKE STAGE FIVE AND, YOU KNOW, VENUES ARE STARTING TO GET SHUT BACK DOWN, HAVE YOU ALL THOUGHT ABOUT DOING LIKE, UH, WELL, FIRST OF ALL, I WAS JUST LIKE, YOU KNOW, UH, I FEEL LIKE ONE THING THAT, UH, SORT OF STUCK OUT TO ME IS LIKE, YOU KNOW, MAYBE Y'ALL SHOULD THINK ABOUT DOING MORE MEDIUMS OF MUSIC, RIGHT? MAYBE LIKE ELECTRONIC MUSIC OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, SORT OF JUST, YOU KNOW, PROVIDING DIFFERENT, UH, EXPERIENCES TO PEOPLE WHILE THEY'RE ON THE TRAIL THAN ONE THAT THEY MIGHT BE USED TO.

UM, AND SECONDLY, I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT DOING LIKE A FESTIVAL TYPE OF ATMOSPHERE WITH DIFFERENT ACTS, RIGHT? BECAUSE USUALLY WHAT I'VE NOTICED IS THAT IT'S JUST LIKE ONE ACT IN AN AREA.

UM, AND MAYBE HAVING THAT, YOU KNOW, UH, RAISE FUNDS OR AWARENESS FOR THE TRAIL FOUNDATION OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

UM, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY I THINK, YOU KNOW, OUTDOOR SPACES ARE BECOMING AS PERFORMANCE VENUES, RIGHT.

ARE BECOMING MORE VALUABLE IN AUSTIN AS LIKE COVID, YOU KNOW, RIDES AND SUBS, YOU KNOW, SOME SIZE AND THEN IT RISES AGAIN.

UH, I WAS JUST WONDERING IF Y'ALL HAD EVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT OR, YOU KNOW, IF Y'ALL HAD REACHED ANY CONCLUSIONS ABOUT IT, I CAN CHIME IN HERE AND TO ANSWER SOME OF THIS FOR WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING NOW, AND MAYBE SOME OF OUR THOUGHTS FOR THE FUTURE RIGHT NOW, WE DO HAVE SOME VARIETY OF NEW TYPES OF MUSIC ON THE TRAIL.

WE HAD JAZZ AND BLUES AND EVEN THE HARVEST OUT THERE, UH, WRAPPERS, UH, OUT THERE SO FAR, WE'RE A LITTLE CONSTRICTED ON SPACE.

WE'RE ALSO CONSTRICTED ON ELECTRICITY IN CERTAIN PLACES.

AND WE WERE EVEN MORE, HAVE BEEN MORE CONSTRICTED IN THAT WE DIDN'T WANT TO, OR COULDN'T TELL PEOPLE WHERE THE MUSIC WAS GOING TO BE BECAUSE WE COULDN'T

[02:00:01]

DRAW A CROWD.

AND, UH, SO WE DIDN'T WANT TO ENCOURAGE CROWDS.

RIGHT.

UM, I WILL SAY YOU TALK ABOUT THE TRAIL BEING SO ACTIVE, ESPECIALLY IN THIS TIME TRAIL.

AND WE KNOW THAT THERE HAVE BEEN SPIKES DURING THE PANDEMIC OF UP TO 20% INCREASED USAGE DURING THIS TIME.

SO DEFINITELY PEOPLE HAVE FLOCKED TO THIS SPACE.

UM, WE ARE WORKING WITH THE PARKS DEPARTMENT ON PROGRAMMING PLANS MOVING FORWARD, AND WHAT MAKES SENSE FOR THIS SPACE AND WHERE WE COULD POTENTIALLY EXPAND OUR PROGRAMMING.

WHAT'S APPROPRIATE IN THAT SPACE AND WHAT'S NOT.

AND SO, UH, THE TRAIL BEING A LINEAR PARK, IT'S NOT THE KIND OF SPACE WHERE WE WOULD EVER LIKELY HOST TO SOME BIG FESTIVAL TYPE SITUATION, THE WAY YOU SEE IN A ZILKER OR OTHER PLACES AROUND SYDNEY, THE CITY, BUT WE WILL BE WORKING WITH PARD TO EXPAND OUR PROGRAMMING, TO, TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY NEEDS.

COULD I, COULD I ADD, EXCUSE ME, THIS IS AL GODFREY.

I'M A BOARD MEMBER AND, UM, UH, PARTICIPATING HERE MOSTLY IN THE BACKGROUND BECAUSE HEIDI IS DOING SUCH A GREAT JOB.

AND I JUST WANTED TO SAY, I THINK THESE WERE GREAT.

THIS WAS A GREAT SET OF SUGGESTED YOU MADE.

AND I THINK YOU'RE IN MANY WAYS SPEAKING OUR LANGUAGE BECAUSE, UH, ONE OF THE, UH, UNDERPINNING IDEAS FOR THE TRAIL FOUNDATION IS THAT IT SERVES ALL OF AUSTIN AND THAT REALLY DOES REACH TO MUSIC AND CULTURAL EXPRESSION, UH, IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS.

AND I THINK YOU REALLY TOUCHED ON SOME GREAT IDEAS.

SO WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO GIVE IT BACK TO THE CHAIR TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY MORE QUESTIONS.

JUST WANTED TO DO A QUICK REMINDER TO KEEP, PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THE COMMISSION'S PURVIEW WITH YOUR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS TONIGHT.

AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT, JUST LET US KNOW AND WE'RE HAPPY TO DO ASSIST.

THANK YOU, ROGER THAT, KAYLA.

THANK YOU, PAM.

YEAH, GO AHEAD PLEASE.

UM, I JUST LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.

AND I'D ALSO LIKE TO JUST MAKE A COMMENT THAT, UM, I THINK THAT THE TRAILS ARE BEING USED A LOT MORE NOW BECAUSE THEY ARE SAFER THAN PERHAPS SOME OF THE WALKS THAT WE HAVE HISTORICALLY HAD THROUGH OUR WOODED AREAS.

UM, WE HAVE HAD A LOT OF HOMELESS ISSUES IN THE PARKS, AND SO I WOULD LIKE TO SAY, THANK YOU FOR NUMBER ONE, THE CHANCE TO VOLUNTEER AND HELP.

AND I HAVE PLANTED SOME OF THOSE TREES.

SO THANK YOU FOR THAT.

AND ALSO BECAUSE IT'S SO NECESSARY NOW THAT, UM, PEOPLE HAVE SPACE TO, UM, BE A PART OF NATURE AND TO FEEL SAFE.

SO I'M VERY THANKFUL FOR ALL OF YOUR EFFORTS AND I HOPE THAT THIS, UH, WE'LL PROCEED WITHOUT FLAWS.

ANYBODY ELSE GOT ANYTHING? UM, YEAH.

TH THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.

UM, AL I'M GLAD YOU GOT TO GET A WORD IN EDGEWISE, SO THANKS FOR THAT, CHRISTINE, HEIDI, THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE DETAILS, UM, YEAH.

WITH, WITHOUT ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE COMMISSION.

I WOULD AGREE.

UM, I THINK THIS IS A GREAT IDEA.

I THINK THE TRAIL FOUNDATION HAS DONE A GREAT JOB OF CARRYING THE WATER, SO THEY SAY, UM, AND, UH, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE WOULD BE, WOULD BE GREAT.

UH, SO PICK IT UP AND RUN, RUN FORWARD, UM, PLEASE, AND KEEP US POSTED IF YOU NEED ANYTHING ELSE FROM US.

AND THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO COME PRESENT TO YOU TONIGHT.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

WELL, I'VE GOT THE GAVEL, I GUESS I'LL KEEP GOING.

I'LL SEE IF KATIE SHOWS BACK UP, UM, LET'S MOVE ON TO FOUR BEEF, UM, UH, DISCUSSION OF GREAT SHE'S BACK, UM, A DISCUSSION AND CONSIDER PROPOSED CHANGES FOR THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE FOR RAILS, INCLUDING AN AMENDMENT TO LDC 25 8 3 4 1 AND 25 8 3 4 2 TO CUT AND FILL REQUIREMENTS, ALLOWING CUT AND FILL UP TO EIGHT FEET FOR PUBLIC TRAILS.

IF THE CUT OR FILL IS NOT LOCATED ON A SLOPE OF MORE THAN 15% OR WITHIN A HUNDRED FEET OF A CLASSIFIED WATERWAY, AND THE TRAIL IS CONSTRUCTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA MANUAL.

AND THEN THE SECOND ONE IS AN AMENDMENT TO LDC 25 8 2 61.

TO CLARIFY THE LANGUAGE TO FORMALIZE THE CURRENT INTERPRETATION, MAKING CLEAR THAT A TRAIL WITHIN THE CRITICAL WATER QUALITY ZONE IS LIMITED TO 12 FEET PLUS ONE FOOT COMPACTED SUB-GRADE SHOULDERS ON EITHER SIDE.

AND WITH THAT, I'LL HAND IT BACK OVER TO KATIE AND, UM, I THINK START, UH, MAYBE A STAFF PRESENTATION.

[02:05:02]

AND THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR TIME TONIGHT.

I AM KATIE WEBTECH, I'M THE URBAN TRAIL PROGRAM MANAGER IN THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, AND IT'S GREAT TO BE FOLLOWING, UM, HEIDI AND CHRISTINE'S PRESENTATION SINCE EVERYONE IS NOW THINKING ABOUT TRAILS.

UM, SO TONIGHT I'M HERE TO TALK ABOUT A COUPLE TOTE AMENDMENTS AS RELATED TO TRAILS, AND WE'VE WORKED REALLY CLOSELY WITH THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT ON THIS.

AND SO WHILE I'M THE ONE PRESENTING, I BELIEVE LIZ JOHNSTON IS ON THE LINE AND CAN HELP ADDRESS QUESTIONS AT THE END.

AND NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

SO I'M GOING TO START WITH JUST A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND OF HOW WE GOT HERE TODAY.

THEN I'LL TALK ABOUT THE PROPOSED CODE CHANGES.

AND THEN MY GOAL WAS TO LEAVE PLENTY OF TIME FOR QUESTION AND ANSWER NEXT SLIDE.

SO FOR SOME BACKGROUND IN FEBRUARY OF 2020 CITY COUNCIL DIRECTED THE CITY MANAGER TO CREATE AN URBAN TRAIL STAKEHOLDER GROUP, TO LOOK AT THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSES AND REQUIREMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DESIGN AND PERMITTING OF URBAN TRAILS.

SO THE GOAL WAS TO FIND WAYS THAT WE COULD IMPROVE DESIGN AND PERMITTING TO MAKE IT MORE EFFICIENT.

AND COST-EFFECTIVE SO THE STAKEHOLDER GROUP THAT WE PUT TOGETHER WAS MADE UP OF CITY STAFF FROM PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT WITH OUR BENCH TRIALS, WATERSHED PROTECTION DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, UM, PARKS AND REC, AND THE OTHERS AND THE LEADERS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE TRAIL FOUNDATION THAT WE JUST HEARD FROM, THAT WERE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN BUILDING URBAN TRAILS.

CAUSE YOU KNOW, WHEN THE TRAIL FOUNDATION IS BUILDING A TRAIL, THEY'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE THE CITY GOALS.

WE'RE FACING ALL THE SAME CHALLENGES.

SO TRYING TO WORK TOGETHER ON RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT NEXT SIDE.

SO IN FEBRUARY, UM, THAT RESOLUTION WAS PASSED BY COUNCIL AND THEN WE CONVENED THE STAKEHOLDER GROUP IN APRIL AND WE ALL WORKED TOGETHER FOR THE MONTHS FOLLOWING TO TALK ABOUT THE CHALLENGES WE FACED, FINDING KIND OF COMMON THEMES AND THEN DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS LARGELY RELATED TO PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS THAT EVERYONE COULD AGREE UPON.

AND THAT'S WHAT WE THEN PUT BACK IN THE MEMO TO COUNCIL.

WE WERE ABLE TO COME UP WITH SOME CLEAR RECOMMENDATIONS AND ALSO SOME AREAS WHERE WE STILL NEED TO DO MORE RESEARCH.

SO WE PUT VITAMIN THAT TO COUNCIL BACK IN JANUARY, AND THEN THIS JUNE, THEY PASSED ANOTHER RESOLUTION THAT ASKED BOTH FOR AN UPDATE ON ALL OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE PUT FORWARD.

SO LOOKING AT WHAT WE'VE IMPLEMENTED SO FAR, AND THEN THEY ASKED US TO MOVE FORWARD CODE AMENDMENTS THAT HAD BEEN RECOMMENDED IN THIS MEMO.

AND SO THAT'S SOME OF WHAT I'M HERE TO TALK ABOUT TONIGHT.

IN ORDER TO MAKE THEM ADA ACCESSIBLE, WE DO NEED TO DO CUT AND FILL.

SO THE PURPOSE FOR THESE AMENDMENTS AND IN GENERAL, KIND OF WHAT WE WERE LOOKING AT WAS HOW DO WE STREAMLINE THE REVIEW PROCESS, CREATE TRANSPARENCY AND FORMALIZE INTERNAL POLICY.

SO W WE'RE NOT TRYING TO ACTUALLY CHANGE WHAT GETS CONSTRUCTED.

WE STILL WANT TO BE SURE THAT THE TRAILS ARE CONSTRUCTED IN A WAY THAT PROTECTS THE ENVIRONMENT AND FOLLOWS ALL THE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS.

IT'S JUST THE QUESTION OF, CAN WE MAKE THE PROCESSES TO GET THERE EASIER? UM, AND I ALSO WANT TO NOTE THAT SOME OF THE REASON THAT COUNCIL IS LOOKING AT THIS NOW IS BECAUSE AS YOU ALL HAVE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT TONIGHT, THERE IS A LOT MORE, A LOT MORE PEOPLE ARE GOING OUT ON THE TRAILS, UM, WITH COVID AND THEN WE'VE GOT MORE BOND FUNDING THAN WE'VE EVER RECEIVED BEFORE.

SO WE'RE GOING TO BE GROWING AND HOPEFULLY GROW AND QUICKLY.

AND THEN OUR GOAL IS THAT URBAN TRAILS ARE A WAY TO GET PEOPLE TO LEAVE THEIR CAR AT HOME.

SO THEY'RE GREAT FOR RECREATION.

WE ALSO WANT THEM TO BE A KEY PIECE OF THE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK AND THEREFORE HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, IMPROVE THE ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE WE'RE GETTING CARS OFF THE ROADS.

SO THAT'S JUST SOME OF OUR, OKAY, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

SO THEN TO GET INTO THE AMENDMENTS THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.

SO LOOKING AT LDC 25, 8, 3 41 AND 3 42, THESE ARE RELATED TO CUT AND FILL REQUIREMENTS.

SO CURRENTLY CUT OR FILL IN A SUBURBAN WATERSHED IS LIMITED TO FOUR FEET IN DEPTH, BUT ADMINISTRATIVE VARIANCES CAN BE GRANTED TO ALLOW UP TO EIGHT FEET.

IF CERTAIN CONDITIONS ARE MET NOMINATION, ALSO NOTE THAT CONSTRUCTION OF ROADWAYS IN PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY HAVE NO CUTTER FILL LIMIT.

SO THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT AS URBAN TRAILS, TYPICALLY WHEN THEY'RE BUILT ALONG CREEKS OR, UM, AND OTHER AREAS WITH VARYING TOPOGRAPHY

[02:10:01]

AND IN MY EXPERIENCE, ANYTIME WE'VE REQUESTED ONE OF THESE ADMINISTRATIVE VARIANCES, AS LONG AS WE MEET THE APPROPRIATE CONDITIONS THEY'VE BEEN GRANTED.

AND SO WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING HERE WITH THIS AMENDMENT IS TO ALLOW CUT AND, OR FILL UP UP TO EIGHT FEET FOR A PUBLIC TRAIL.

IF THE CUT OR FILL IS NOT LOCATED ON A SLOPE OF MORE THAN 15%, IF THE CUTTER FILL IS NOT LOCATED WITHIN A HUNDRED FEET, A CLASSIFIED WATERWAY.

AND IF THE TRAIL IS DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA MANUAL.

SO BASICALLY THESE ARE THE CONDITIONS THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO MEET NOW TO GET AN ADMINISTRATIVE VARIANCE.

AND AS I SAY THAT WE'VE USUALLY BEEN ABLE TO GET THEM.

THIS JUST TAKES OUT THE VARIANCE PROCESS SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE BACK AND FORTH WITH THE REVIEWER AND KNOW UPFRONT THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE PERMITTED CUT OUR FILL OF UP TO EIGHT FEET IF THESE CONDITIONS ARE MET.

SO THIS CREATES A MORE TRANSPARENT PROCESS.

OUR ENGINEER KNOWS WHAT TO BE LOOKING FOR, KNOWS WHAT TO BE DESIGNING TOWARDS.

AND THEN ALSO, HOPEFULLY WE FREE UP SOME CAPACITY FOR THE REVIEWING STAFF AS WELL.

WOW.

WHAT'S ACTUALLY CONSTRUCTED.

SO ONE EXAMPLE WHERE THIS AMENDMENT WOULD BE HELPFUL WAS WITH NORTHERN WALNUT CREEK TRIAL.

SO AS THE IMAGES HERE ARE THE PIECES OF TRAIL ALREADY CONSTRUCTED.

UM, BUT WE ARE ALSO STARTING CONSTRUCTION ON A NEW PHASE OF THIS TRAIL IN NOVEMBER.

AND THIS IS FROM WALNUT CREEK DISTRICT PARK UP NORTH NEAR THE DOMAIN.

UM, AND THEN TRAVELING EAST TO OAKBROOK DRIVE.

SO JUST EAST OF LAMAR BOULEVARD.

AND FOR THIS PROJECT, WE WERE GRANTED ADMINISTRATIVE VARIANCES FROM FILL REQUIREMENTS.

SO WE WERE ALLOWED GREATER THAN FOUR FEET, LESS THAN EIGHT.

AND, BUT IT DID REQUIRE SOME BACK AND FORTH WITH THE REVIEWER DURING PERMITTING.

AND WHEN WE GET TO PERMANENT, WE'RE USUALLY ON A PRETTY TIGHT TIMEFRAME AND TRYING TO MOVE A PROJECT FORWARD MORE QUICKLY.

SO OUR HOPE IS THAT THIS NEW, UM, CODE CHANGE WOULD JUST ALLOW US TO NOT HAVE TO HAVE THAT BACK AND FORTH.

SO IT WOULD SAVE SOME TIME, BUT AGAIN, IT WOULDN'T CHANGE.

SO THEN THE OTHER SECTION OF CODE THAT WE'RE LOOKING TO AMEND IS LDC 25 8 2 61, RELATING TO CRITICAL WATER QUALITY ZONE DEVELOPMENT.

SO CURRENTLY A HARD SURFACE TRAIL WITHIN THE CRITICAL WATER QUALITY ZONE IS LIMITED TO 12 FEET IN WET UNLESS A WIDER TRAIL IS DESIGNATED IN A COUNCIL ADOPTED PLAN.

AND WE AGREE WITH THIS.

UM, BUT THE CHANGE THAT WE ARE PROPOSING IS TO JUST KIND OF CLARIFY THE LANGUAGE.

SO CURRENTLY THE LANGUAGE DOESN'T MAKE CLEAR IF THE 12 FEET REFERS TO THE SURFACE WIDTH.

SO THE ACTUAL USABLE SPACE OF THE TRAIL, OR IF IT INCLUDES THE SUBGRADE SHOULDERS, THAT BASED ON OUR STANDARD TRAIL DETAIL EXTEND ABOUT ONE FOOT ON TO EACH SIDE OF THE TRAIL.

SO MAKING THAT TOTAL 14 FEET.

AND SO OUR PROPOSED AMENDMENT IS TO CLARIFY THE LANGUAGE, TO FORMALIZE THE CURRENT INTERPRETATION, TO MAKE CLEAR THAT A TRAIL IS LIMITED TO 12 FEET PLUS ONE FOOT COMPACTED SUBGRADE SHOULDERS ON EACH SIDE.

AND THIS IS THE CURRENT INTERPRETATION.

SO THIS IS CURRENTLY WHAT REVIEWERS ARE ALLOWING, BUT IT JUST FORMALIZES THIS INCODE AND MAKES FOR A MORE TRANSPARENT PROCESS.

AND SO A CURRENT EXAMPLE, UM, IS LOWER BOGGY CREEK TRAIL IS, WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 2019.

UM, AND, OR IN 2020, SORRY.

AND, UM, IT WAS 11 FEET WET, BUT IT HAS THAT ONE FOOT ON EACH SIDE.

SO THAT MAKES IT FOR A TOTAL OF 13 FEET.

IF THE UPGRADE IS INCLUDED IN THAT CALCULATION, IN WHICH CASE IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN PERMITTED AS PORTIONS ARE WITHIN THAT CRITICAL WATER QUALITY ZONE, BUT WITH CURRENT INTERPRETATION, IT WAS ALLOWED WITHOUT A PROBLEM.

UM, AND SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO FORMALIZE.

AND THEN WE HAVE A COUPLE OF UPCOMING PROJECTS WHERE THIS AMENDMENT WOULD BE REALLY BENEFICIAL.

UM, ONE IS NORTHERN WALNUT CREEK TRAIL, WHICH I JUST TALKED ABOUT AND THEN ALSO COUNTRY CLUB CREEK TRAIL, JUST OUR LAST SEGMENT OF THE TRAIL ON COUNTRY CLUB CREEK, CONNECTING EAST RIVERSIDE TO OLD TAURUS.

SO I KNOW THAT WAS A LOT OF INFORMATION VERY QUICKLY, BUT I'M HAPPY TO GO BACK TO ANY OF THOSE SLIDES OR ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT ANYONE HAS AND HOPEFULLY LIZ WOULD BEYOND TO ASSIST ME AS WELL.

[02:15:03]

YES, I'M HERE.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.

I THINK WE'LL GO TO COMMISSIONER SCOTT FIRST, MY FIRST TIME SPEAKING, I JUST, UH, I THINK IT'S A VERY, UH, GREAT GOAL TO GET PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR CARS AND MOVING AROUND THE CITY BY, UH, UM, EITHER BY FOOT OR, OR ON, UH, A BICYCLE, UH, SOMETHING OF THAT SORT.

I HAVE A, I HAVE A TRICYCLE, WHICH I REALLY ENJOY USING, AND, UH, IT'S A GREAT WAY TO EXERCISE.

MY, ONE OF MY DOGS SAID A TIME AS WELL, AND, UH, UM, VERY WELL PRESENTED.

I, UH, I THINK THAT, UH, YOUR IDEA WILL REALLY EXPEDITE WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE AND I, I WOULD SUPPORT IT.

I THINK IT'S, UH, I THINK THAT SOUNDS A VERY, UH, REASONABLE AND WILL CUT THROUGH SOME RED TAPE FOR YOU AND, AND, UM, MOVE THINGS ALONG MORE QUICKLY.

SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

UH, COMMISSIONER THOMPSON NEXT.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

GOOD.

AND THEN THANKS, KATIE.

UM, THAT WAS A GREAT PRESENTATION.

I CAN REMEMBER, UM, LIKE CUSSING AND DISCUSSING THESE BITS OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS AND REVIEWING SOME OF THESE TRAILS THAT HAVE COME THROUGH BEFORE ASKING FOR, UM, UH, THESE CHANGES AND DEBATING THE WIDTH OF THE TRAIL AND SO FORTH.

SO I APPRECIATE THE CULMINATION OF THAT WORK AND EVERYTHING THAT'S GONE INTO IT.

I JUST LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT THERE ARE, UH, MULES THAT TRAVEL.

THOSE ARE PRETTY MUCH THE ONLY MOTORIZED VEHICLES THAT ARE ALLOWED AREN'T THEY LIKE TO PICK UP THE TRASH AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT THESE WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE.

UM, AND THE TRAILS ARE NOT BUILT FOR MOTORIZED VEHICLES AT ANY OF ANY SORT.

SO, UM, I'M THANKFUL FOR THAT.

AND SO I DON'T REALLY LIKE THE, UM, COMPARISON OF SAYING THAT THERE'S NO CUT AND FILL FOR ROADWAYS.

AND I THINK THAT SHOULD BE CORRECTED.

I'M JUST SAYING THAT IF WE HAD ANY SAY SO IN THE MATTER WHATSOEVER, WE WOULD CERTAINLY CHANGE THAT, BUT I AM THANKFUL THAT YOU ARE BUILDING THE TRAILS FOR, UM, PUBLIC ACCESS IN A ORDERLY FASHION THAT WILL NOT, UH, DEGRADE THE CREEKS AND SO FORTH.

SO THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR EFFORTS AND LISTENING TO US HISTORICALLY.

THANK YOU, MR. BARRETT.

I THINK YOU'VE HEARD THE PRESENTATION TODAY.

I THOUGHT IT WAS A VERY CLEAR AND EASY TO FOLLOW AND UNDERSTAND.

SO THANK YOU.

UM, I WOULD JUST LIKE FOR YOU ALL, UM, TO PROVIDE A LITTLE MORE CONTEXT ON THE PROS AND CONS OF INCREASING, I GUESS THE AMOUNT THAT YOU'RE ALLOWED TO CUT AND FILL.

I MEAN, IT, IT, IT SEEMS, UM, THAT IT'S ALWAYS TRIED, I GUESS, WHERE I WAS TRYING TO LIMIT IT TO, I GUESS KIND OF PRESERVE THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE AND I KNOW THERE'S CARBON, UM, OR THERE'S QUESTIONS ABOUT, AGAIN, THE AMOUNT OF CARBON POTENTIALLY RELEASED WHEN YOU'RE MOVING SOIL AROUND.

AND, UM, BUT I, BUT I'VE ALSO HEARD THAT, I MEAN, THE NUMBERS THAT WERE SET INITIALLY WERE LIKE SOMEWHAT ARBITRARY.

I'M NOT SURE.

UM, AND SO I JUST, I WOULD APPRECIATE JUST A LITTLE MORE CONVERSATION ON SORT OF THE PROS AND CONS OF HOW, OR JUST HOW YOU GET ABOUT TO LIKE, UH, GOING TO EIGHT FEET OR FOUR FEET, EIGHT FEET, AND JUST THE THOUGHT PROCESS OF THAT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWER, AND, UM, HAVING EXPERIENCED IN, UM, PRIVATE AS WELL AS, UH, IT'S VERY EXPENSIVE TO BRING IN DIRT AND MOVE IT AROUND.

LIZ CAN SPEAK TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL PIECE TO THAT PRIDE.

AND, AND I, I, THIS IS LIZ JOHNSON, DEPUTY ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER WITH WATERSHED PROTECTION.

AND, UM, I APPRECIATE YOUR POINT.

UM, THE, THE, THE FOUR FEET AND THE EIGHT FEET ARE, UM, THEY ARE ARBITRARY, BUT THEY ARE, THEY HAVE A VERY LONG HISTORY, UM, OF, UH, OF, UH, BEING IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE.

SO SINCE 1986, THOSE WERE THE, THE THRESHOLDS.

SO, UH, FOUR FEET WAS, WAS THE LIMIT AND, AND ALL WATERSHEDS, BUT SUBURBAN WATERSHEDS HAVE THIS ABILITY TO, UM, UH, ASK FOR ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF UP TO EIGHT FEET.

AND THESE ARE FAIRLY ROUTINE REQUESTS, UM, UM, ARE MY EXPERIENCE AS A LONG TIME

[02:20:01]

AND SO MOST DESIGNERS REALLY DO TRY TO DO THEIR BEST TO LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF CUT AND FILL, BUT, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON THE LOCATION, UM, THE GRADES AND, AND, UM, OTHER CONSTRAINTS, ESPECIALLY RELATED TO ADA ACCESS AMERICANS WITH DISABILITY ACT, SOMETIMES IT'S JUST REALLY DIFFICULT TO GET THERE.

AND SO THIS, UM, WAS ALREADY IN THAT LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE THAT THE, UH, APPLICANTS ARE ABLE TO ASK FOR ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF UP TO EIGHT FEET, GIVEN CERTAIN CONDITIONS.

AND THIS SIMPLY, UM, GIVES IT, UH, THE ABILITY FOR, UH, DESIGNERS TO, TO HAVE TO HAVE THE CERTAINTY THAT THEY WILL BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE, UH, THAT WITHOUT HAVING TO ASK FOR AN ADMINISTRATIVE BARRIER.

AND ALSO, I WILL SAY THAT MANY TRAILS ARE VERY CONSTRAINED IN THE LOCATION BECAUSE THEY, UH, IT'S DEDICATED LAND FROM, UM, PROJECTS IT'S IN THE FLOODPLAIN.

THERE'S CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES, TREES, UM, TOPOGRAPHY THAT CAN BE UNDULATING.

AND SO IT'S VERY, SOMETIMES DIFFICULT TO WORK AROUND, UM, ALL OF THOSE ISSUES WITH, AND THE LIMITS OF FOUR FEET.

I HOPE THAT ANSWERED YOUR QUESTION IF YOU, IF YOU HAVE ANY FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS ON THAT.

I'M GOOD.

I DO HAVE A QUESTION.

UH, I'M A NEWBIE, OBVIOUSLY, WHAT IS CUT AND FILL, I ASSUME IT'S LIKE DIGGING UP DIRT AND THEN PUTTING UP LIKE THE SAND OR THE PAVEMENT OR WHATEVER.

RIGHT.

SO THAT IS, SO YOUR EXISTING TOPOGRAPHY IS HERE.

AND SO IF YOU CHANGE, UM, IF YOU CHANGE THAT FINAL GRADE AFTER THE CONSTRUCTION BY MORE THAN FOUR FEET OR, UM, LESS THAN FOUR FEET.

SO IF YOU'RE, IT'S BASICALLY WHERE YOU ARE TODAY, NATURAL GRADE, AND YOU'RE GOING TO ALTER IT IN ONE DIRECTION, OTHER EITHER WAY IS TO MAKE LIKE A WALKABLE OR HIKER BULL OR BIKEABLE SLOPE WHERE PREVIOUSLY, RIGHT.

AND SO THERE ARE CUT AND FILL LIMITS, UM, WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, DEPENDING ON WHERE WE ARE URBAN WATERSHEDS DO NOT ACTUALLY HAVE CUTTING FILL LIMITS, UM, BUT ELSEWHERE IN THE CITY, UH, ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? WELL, LIZ AND KATIE, I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR, YOUR PRESENTATION TONIGHT.

AND I JUST WANTED TO SAY, I REALLY APPRECIATE REASONABLE AND RATIONAL AND EFFORTS LIKE THIS THAT HELP, YOU KNOW, MINIMIZE THE FATIGUE THAT COMES WITH SOME OF THE BUREAUCRACY THAT WE'VE CREATED IN THE CITY YOU, WHERE WE WANT TO DO GOOD.

UM, AND SO I, I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

AND, UM, I'M ALL FOR STUFF LIKE THIS.

UM, MR. RAMBERT, CAN WE, UM, HAVE ANYTHING ON THIS ONE? I DO.

I HAVE A DRAFT MOTION.

DO WE HAVE, IS THIS A PUBLIC HEARING? DO I NEED TO MOVE TO CLOSE THE BOOK? IT IS.

I NEED A MOTION FOR THAT.

IF WE CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING, MADAM CHAIR FIRST AND A SECOND FROM PAM THOMPSON, UH, THE, UH, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR.

RAISE YOUR HAND MOTION TO POSE THE PUBLIC HEARING PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.

MOTION? I DO, UM, ON AGENDA ITEM FOUR B THE SUBJECT BEING DISCUSSED AND CONSIDERED PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE FOR URBAN TRAILS.

DO WE HAVE A

[4b. Discuss and consider proposed changes to the Land Development Code for Urban Trails including: (1) Amendment to LDC 25-8-341 and 25-8-342 to cut and fill requirements to allow cut and fill of up to 8 ft for a public trail if the cut or fill is not located on a slope of more than 15% or within 100 feet of a classified waterway and the trail is constructed in accordance with the Environmental Criteria Manual (2) Amendment to LDC 25-8-261 to clarify the language to formalize the current interpretation making clear that a trail within the critical water quality zone is limited to 12 feet plus one foot compacted subgrade shoulders on each side. Staff: Katie Wettick, Urban Trails Program Manager, Public Works Department]

WHEREAS THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE ORGANIZES CITY STAFF ARE REQUESTING CHANGES TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE FOR URBAN TRAILS, SPECIFICALLY REQUESTING NUMBER ONE, AN AMENDMENT TO LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE 25 DASH EIGHT DASH 3 4 1 AND 25 8 DASH 3 4 2 2 CUT AND FILL REQUIREMENTS, ALLOW CUT AND FILL UP TO EIGHT FEET FOR A PUBLIC TRAIL.

IT'S A CUT AND FILL IS NOT LOCATED ON A SLOPE MORE THAN 15% OR WITHIN A HUNDRED FEET OF A CLASSIFIED WATERWAY.

AND THE TRAIL IS CONSTRUCTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL CRITERIA MANUAL AND AN ADDITIONAL, UH, REQUESTED AMENDMENT TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE 25 DASH EIGHT DASH 2 61.

TO CLARIFY THE LANGUAGE TO FORMALIZE THE CURRENT INTERPRETATION, MAKING CLEAR THAT A TRAIL WITHIN THE CRITICAL WATER QUALITY ZONE IS LIMITED TO 12 FEET PLUS ONE FOOT COMPACT IN SUBGRADE SHOULDERS ON EACH SIDE.

THEREFORE THE ENVIRONMENTAL

[02:25:01]

COMMISSION RECOMMENDS THE ABOVE-NOTED CHANGES OF THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE.

UH, AND I'M LOOKING FOR A SECOND.

IF ANYONE WANTS ONE SECOND BY COMMISSIONER SCOTT.

SO, UH, COMMISSIONER THOMPSON.

UH, WE HAVE ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION WHERE WE GO TO A VOTE, MOVES EMOTION.

UH, OKAY.

WE'VE GOT A FIRST AND A SECOND AND I'M GOING TO ACTUALLY ON, ON BOATS LIKE THIS, I ALWAYS DO A ROLL CALL, UH, COMMISSIONER SCOTT ON EASY STUFF LIKE CLOSING THE PUBLIC HEARING.

I'LL JUST DO A SHOW OF HANDS.

UH, COMMISSIONER CRUSHY, WHATEVER, UH, COMMISSIONER BARRETT.

COMMISSIONER SCOTT.

GOSH, EVERYONE MOVED AROUND ON ME JUST NOW.

HOLD ON.

UH, WHO HAVE I NOT DONE YET, BUT REMEMBERED YES, PRETTY SURE COIN.

AND I BELIEVE THAT'S EVERYONE AS THAT.

I THOUGHT I THOUGHT YOU GUYS WERE GOING TO BE STATIC AND THEN YOU WERE, YOU SHIFTED ON ME ANYWAY.

UH, RIGHT.

MOTION PASSES.

UM, I BELIEVE 7 0 7 FOLKS RIGHT NOW.

UH, THANK YOU, KATIE.

AND THANK YOU, LIZ FOR COUNTING ON THAT ONE TOO.

TO COMMITTEE REPORTS, UM, NEW COMMISSION MEMBERS, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'LL WANT TO HAVE A CHAT SOON IF THERE WERE COMMITTEES THAT WE'D LIKE YOU TO SERVE ON, AND WE CAN HAVE SOME, SOME OFFLINE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT YOUR INTERESTS.

UH, WELL, WE ARE GONNA TRY AND WRAP UP HERE REAL SOON.

RUBEN, ON

[5. COMMITTEE REPORTS]

AND IF THAT'S SOMETHING YOU'RE INTERESTED IN DOING, IT'S CERTAINLY WHERE A LOT OF THE MORE DETAILED WORK THAT IS REALLY IMPACTFUL, UH, THAT ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION DOES, UM, HAPPENS.

SO ANYONE HAVE, UH, ANY COMMITTEE REPORTS.

UH, COMMISSIONER BARRETT.

I HAVE A QUESTION, BUT IT'S NOT A COMMITTEE REPORT ABOUT A FUTURE.

SO I GUESS I'LL KIND OF LET YOU GET YEAH, ONE SECOND.

I ALWAYS TRY TO UPDATE.

UM, SO I AM THE REPRESENTATIVE FOR, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION ON THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE, UH, AT IS MY, MY BACKUP.

AND, UM, WE HAVE BEEN MEETING A BUNCH LATELY, SPECIFICALLY TALKING ABOUT THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, WHICH JUST WAS PRESENTED TO THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE TODAY.

AND WE'LL BE GOING SEPTEMBER 30TH TO SEEK COUNSEL FOR, FOR HOPEFUL APPROVAL AT THAT TIME.

SO THERE WILL BE SOME PRESS AND OTHER MEDIA AROUND CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN BEING APPROVED, UH, HOPEFULLY, AND THEN, UM, I DID WANT TO SAY WE'RE REALLY FOCUSING ON IMPLEMENTATION NOW, AND THERE'S THIS FANTASTIC, UM, GRADUATE STUDENT FROM UC SANTA BARBARA, WHO IS A CLIMATE CORP FELLOW FOR THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY.

THIS SUMMER HAS BEEN, UH, HER NAME IS ELENA ORTIZ.

UH, WE'VE BEEN GETTING GREAT PRESENTATIONS FROM HER AND SHE'S BEEN DOING A TON OF RESEARCH ON HOW, UM, OTHER CITIES ACROSS THE US HAVE REALLY MADE SURE THAT THEIR CLIMATE PLANS ARE IMPLEMENTABLE.

UH, AND SO THAT'S REALLY GOING TO BE OUR FOCUS MOVING FORWARD IS MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY DELIVERING ON, ON WHAT WAS PLANNED PROMISES.

UH, AND SO I'LL HAVE SOME MORE UPDATES, UH, HOPEFULLY IN THE FALL ABOUT WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AND HOW WE'RE TRYING TO SET UP ACCOUNTABILITY FOR IMPLEMENTATION.

UM, ALL RIGHT.

[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS, AND THEN WE'LL ADJOURN.

SO COMMISSIONER BARRETT, YOU HAD, UH, SOMETHING ON FUTURE ITEMS. YES.

SO I JUST WANTED TO TOUCH BASE, AND MAYBE THIS IS A QUESTION FOR, FOR LIZ, UM, ABOUT WHERE THE BRODY OAKS DEVELOPMENT, UM, PROJECT STANDS, UM, LIKE HAVE THEY OFFICIALLY APPLIED, I GUESS I'M PAID FOR THE APPLICATION? UM, I WAS JUST CURIOUS IF THERE WAS AN UPDATE ON THAT, BECAUSE THAT IS MY DISTRICT AND I JUST NEED TO MAKE SURE I'M PAYING ATTENTION TO THAT AND FOLLOWING THAT CLOSELY.

UM, YES, I KNOW THAT, UM, THEY HAVE SUBMITTED FOR REVIEW.

I AM UNSURE IF, UH, OUR INITIAL ROUND OF COMMENTS HAVE GONE OUT YET.

I'LL DOUBLE CHECK ON THAT AND GET BACK WITH YOU.

UM, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, THESE NEGOTIATIONS ARE ONGOING.

UM, I KNOW THAT THERE'S SOME, UM, ISSUES WITH THE AUSTIN ENERGY SUBSTATION AND TRYING TO FIND, UH, AN ADEQUATE LOCATION FOR THAT.

UM, AND SO SOME OF THESE ISSUES WILL NEED TO BE WORKED THROUGH, UM, WE ARE, UM, LOOKING AT, UH, THE, THE, WHERE THE LOCATION OF THE CAVE IS

[02:30:01]

FOR EXAMPLE, AND, AND COMING UP WITH CRITERIA SURROUNDING THAT.

BUT, UM, WE WILL DEFINITELY, UH, KEEP YOU ALL INFORMED AS THIS PROCEEDS, AND OBVIOUSLY IT WILL NEED TO COME THROUGH THIS BODY BEFORE, UH, FOR OUR RECOMMENDATION BEFORE GOING ON TO COUNCIL AS WELL.

SO, UM, YOU WILL HEAR ABOUT IT AGAIN AND WE CAN PROVIDE REGULAR UPDATES IF YOU WISH.

OKAY, GREAT.

THANKS.

AND, UH, AND ACTUALLY THAT REMINDS ME LIZ, UM, AMY ROMERO FROM THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY.

WE RECENTLY ASKED HER TO CREATE LIKE A VIEW ONLY GOOGLE SHEET THAT TRACKS EVERY MOTION THAT WE MAKE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

AND THEN ALSO, UM, CAN BE FILLED IN, IN TERMS OF LIKE STATUS UPDATES.

AND I HAVE BEEN MEANING TO BRING THAT UP.

SO MAYBE THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN TALK ABOUT IN THE FUTURE, UH, ABOUT MAYBE HAVING A LITTLE BIT, UM, WE'RE TRANSPARENT WITH JUST TRACKING, UH, THINGS THAT COMMISSIONERS ARE TRYING TO TRACK.

UH, ANY, ANY OTHER COMMENTS ABOUT, ABOUT FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? PEOPLE WANT TO SEE KATIE, SORRY, I'M TALKING TO HIM.

UM, THE PRESENTATION THAT YOU MENTIONED ABOUT THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UH, COULD WE GET THAT PRESENTED TO, TO THIS COMMISSION, OR SHOULD WE JUST TRY TO CATCH IT AT SOME OF THESE UPCOMING, UM, YOU KNOW, OPPORTUNITIES WHERE IT'S BEING PRESENTED? SO WE HAD A PRESENTATION ON IT AND TO FILL FOLKS IN, WE HAD A PRESENTATION ON IT LIVES WITH SET OR KILLER.

I THINK THEY WENT TO MORE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS THAN I'VE EVER SEEN OF CITY PLANNING GO TO, BUT IT WAS LIKE LAST, LATE FALL, YOU KNOW, PRE-HOLIDAY TIME PERIOD, I THINK BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN IT WAS DONE.

AND THEN IT DIDN'T QUITE GET GOING ON THE RAILS TOWARD COUNCIL IN TIME FOR IT TO NOT BE A POTENTIAL DISRUPTION TO THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION.

AND WE PUT IT ON HOLD BECAUSE WE DIDN'T WANT ALL OF THE BAD CLIMATE BILLS TO GET EVEN MORE OF A PLATFORM IN TERMS OF LIKE RESPONDING TO US AND PASSING A REALLY FORWARD-THINKING EQUITY DRIVEN CLIMATE PLAN.

SO WE BASICALLY DIDN'T WANT TO POKE THE BEAR THAT IS THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE.

AND THAT'S WHY IT'S COMING BACK UP NOW, EVEN THOUGH IT'S WAY LATER THAN IT SHOULD BE.

WE'VE, UH, COMMISSIONER SCOTT, ARE WE STILL, UH, IN A CLOSED MEETING AND IS THAT THE NORMAL, UH, WAY THAT, UH, WE SHOULD BE DOING THINGS? SO IT'S JUST A POINT OF INFORMATION.

AND, AND MAYBE LIZ OR KAYLA, IF I'M TALKING TOO MUCH ABOUT UNPOSTED ITEMS, UM, FOR, FOR UPDATES, MAYBE I COULD STOP THAT, BUT IF WE WANT TO GET AN UPDATE ON, I JUST TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS, MR. BARRETT, UM, IF WE WANT TO GET AN UPDATE, IT MIGHT MAKE SENSE TO GET AN UPDATE AFTER COUNCIL FRUITS, SINCE WE'VE ALREADY SEEN THEM.

CAUSE THEN WE CAN TALK MORE ABOUT IMPLEMENTATION.

UM, AND I GUESS, WAS THAT PART OF WHAT YOU WERE ASKING? UH, COMMISSIONER SCOTT, HI, JUST, UH, ONE A CLARIFICATION.

UH, AT SOME POINT WE, WE WENT INTO A CORE SEARCH SESSION AND AS A POINT OF INFORMATION, I'M JUST ASKING, ARE WE STILL IN CLOSED SESSION? SHOULD WE BE IN CLOSED SESSION? UM, I, I, I DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND WHEN WE NEED TO BE IN AND WHETHER WE ARE IN, WHETHER WE SHOULD BE BACK IN A, IN A PUBLIC SESSION, DOES THIS POINT OR NOT? THAT'S A, THAT'S WHAT I'M, THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT I'M ASKING COMMISSIONER SCOTT.

THIS IS KAYLA CHAMPLIN, WATERSHED PROTECTION.

UH, THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION DOES NOT DO CLOSED SESSION.

SO ALL, EVERYTHING THAT WE DISCUSS IN THE MEETINGS WILL BE, UH, BROADCASTED LIVE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

SO, UM, FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS, YOU CAN MAKE REQUESTS, BUT WE SHOULDN'T GET INTO ANY, UM, DEEP DISCUSSION ABOUT THESE ITEMS. REALLY.

YOU CAN ASK FOR A BRIEFING ASK, UM, AND THEN WE CAN PROVIDE THE UPDATES AT A LATER TIME RELATED TO THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.

I THINK THAT FALLS WITHIN THE PURVIEW OF THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY UPDATE THAT KATIE WAS PROVIDING.

SO I THINK FOR THAT WE'RE OKAY.

BUT WE SHOULD PROBABLY GO AHEAD AND WRAP IT UP AND, UH, WE CAN COORDINATE ON FUTURE UPDATES FOR YOU ON THESE DIFFERENT TOPICS WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSION.

THAT'S, THAT'S NO PROBLEM.

UM, I'VE JUST, UM, JUST SO I'M CLEAR ABOUT THE PROCESS.

HAPPY, HAPPY TO FOLLOW UP WITH YOU.

UH, COMMISSIONER SCOTT AND YEAH, BUT THANKS FOR THAT REMINDER, KAYLA AND, UH, YEAH, I THINK I HAVE THE COVER OF THE COMMITTEE REPORTS.

TARA SAID, IF, IF YOU'RE TALKING, YOU ARE MUTED.

ANY OTHER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS BEFORE WE WRAP UP?

[02:35:03]

NO, IT'S MAKING A DAVE CHAPPELLE REFERENCE AND SAYING RAPID OUT B, BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO BE IMPOLITE AND SAY THAT WITH MY MIC ON.