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I'M GOING TO CALL TO ORDER THE COUNCIL WORK SESSION.
WE ARE MEETING IN THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ROOM AT CITY HALL.
UH, THE MAYOR PRO TIM IS, IS, IS OFF THE DIAS.
I'LL, UH, ANNOUNCE FOR THE RECORD THAT SHE IS HERE.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, NATASHA HARPER.
AND, AND WHILE I'M THINKING ABOUT IT, I WANNA GO AHEAD AND SAY SHE, UH, HAD A, AN UNEXPECTED AND UNAVOIDABLE ISSUE THAT CAME UP FOR HER, AND SHE HAS ASKED THAT IF ANYBODY HAS QUESTIONS FOR HER ABOUT, UM, SPECIFICALLY ITEM NUMBER 16 IS WHAT SHE WAS REFERRING TO, THAT PLEASE PUT THOSE QUESTIONS ON THE MESSAGE BOARD AND SHE WILL, UM, ANSWER THOSE.
SHE WILL, SHE WILL BE HERE AS SOON AS SHE CAN BE, BUT, UM, HOPEFULLY WE'LL BE EFFICIENT ENOUGH THAT, UM, UH, WELL, WE'LL SEE IF SHE CAN GET HERE.
BUT SHE, SHE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY KNEW IT WAS UNEXPECTED AND, AND, UH, UNAVOIDABLE.
AND PLEASE GO TO THE MESSAGE BOARD IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS.
[A. Pre-Selected Agenda Items]
WE HAVE PRE-SELECT TWO, UH, PRE-SELECTED AGENDA ITEMS THAT WE'LL HAVE FOR DISCUSSION.THE WAY I INTEND TO DO THIS IS I'M GOING TO TAKE UP ITEM 16, WHICH IS THE E T O D ITEM FIRST AT, IS THAT THE, THE ANGELS
UH, ITEM NUMBER 16 IS THE E T O D ITEM.
WE'RE GOING TO TAKE THAT UP FIRST.
AND THE REASON WE'RE GONNA TAKE THAT UP FIRST IS WE HAVE, UH, A COUPLE OF OUR STAFF PEOPLE THAT WE KNOW WE'RE GOING TO HAVE QUESTIONS FOR THAT, UH, HAVE, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, EXCUSE ME, AN AIRPLANE TO CATCH.
AND SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THEY, UM, UH, SINCE WE'VE, WE'VE CALLED ON THEM TO HELP US OUT, WE DON'T MAKE THEM MISS THAT.
AT THAT POINT, WE WILL TAKE UP THE, UH, BRIEFING ON THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
UH, THE WORD BRIEF AND BRIEFING, UH, THE ROOT WORD IS BRIEF.
UM, I'M, I'M JUST, I'M JUST NOTICING THAT I, THAT'S THE FIRST TIME I I'VE EVER NOTICED THAT.
AND THEN WE WILL GO INTO AN EXECUTIVE SESSION, AND I'LL APPROPRIATELY ANNOUNCE THE EXECUTIVE SESSION AT THE TIME.
SO I'LL TURN TO THE CITY MANAGER ON ITEM NUMBER 16.
YEAH, MAYOR, UH, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL CAN, CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME? UH, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT THIS ITEM AND, UH, AND DESERVEDLY SO.
IT, UH, IT'S AN IMPORTANT, UH, IT'S IMPORTANT FOR OUR CITY AND IT'S IMPORTANT FOR THE, THE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT SURROUND THESE DISTRICTS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
BUT I WANT TO JUST, UH, TO, TO LAY THE PREDICATE OF, OF WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO GET ACCOMPLISHED TODAY.
ONE IS SIMPLY WE'RE KICKING OFF THE PROCESS BY WHICH WE THEN WILL BEGIN TO EVALUATE THE CHANGES THAT NEED TO MA BE MADE TO THE, UH, DEVELOPMENT CO THE CODE DEVELOPMENT, AND THEN THE CHANGES THAT WE NEED TO MAKE TO THE AUSTIN PLAN.
AND SO I WANT TO, AND THAT PROCESS IS GONNA INVOLVE A LOT OF COMMUNITY INPUT, A LOT OF, UH, UH, INVOLVEMENT BY JUST, NOT JUST NEIGHBORHOODS, BUT PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THIS VERY IMPORTANT, UH, TOPIC AND ISSUE.
SO THERE'S GONNA BE PLENTY OF TIME FOR PUBLIC INPUT.
IT'LL BE, IT'LL COME BACK TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION.
THERE'LL BE PUBLIC HEARINGS, THERE'LL BE ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS.
THOSE WILL BE, UH, VOTED ON BY THE, THE COMMISSION.
COME BACK TO THE COUNCIL FOR REVIEW, AND THEY'LL, THE, MY LAST TOUR DUTY HERE, WE, THOSE WERE ADDITIONAL PUBLIC HEARINGS WE HAVE AT THIS, UH, FORUM, UH, SO THAT THE CITIZENS COULD BE PROPERLY HEARD.
AND SO I JUST WANTED TO DO THAT AS A PREDICATE PRIOR, PRIOR TO THIS PRESENTATION, LAWYER.
WE ACTUALLY DON'T HAVE A FORMAL PRESENTATION, UM, PREPARED RIGHT NOW, BUT WE DO HAVE STAFF FROM BOTH THE PROJECT CONNECT OFFICE AND THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT THAT HAVE, UH, BEEN WORKING DILIGENTLY ON THE EQUITABLE TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT POLICY PLAN.
AND WE'RE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
I THINK CITY MANAGER GARZA GAVE A GOOD OVERVIEW OF THE OBJECTIVES OF THE ACTION ON THURSDAY.
ALL RIGHT, COUNSEL, I, I DO THINK THERE'S BEEN QUITE A BIT OF DIS, UH, OF INFORMATION SUPPLIED.
SO WHY DON'T WE JUST START THE DISCUSSION, UH, WITH THE COUNCIL, AND I'LL RECOGNIZE COUNCIL MEMBER POOL FIRST.
THANKS, MAYOR, AND THANKS, UM, TO OUR CITY MANAGER.
AND THANK YOU, ROSIE, FOR SENDING, UH, THE EMAIL MEMO.
UH, I THINK IT WAS EARLY THIS MORNING OR LATE LAST NIGHT.
THAT GIVES A REALLY GOOD COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT OF, UH, THE PROCESS WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS, WHAT IS AND IS NOT AHEAD OF US, AND WHAT WE ARE AND ARE NOT DOING.
AND I HAD, UH, NUMEROUS EMAILS COME IN FROM NEIGHBORHOODS IN DISTRICT SEVEN EXPRESSING CONCERNS
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AND, UM, SOME, UH, CONFUSION OVER WHAT THEY WERE READING.AND WHAT I WANTED TO DO, JUST TO KICK THIS OFF, COULD YOU POSSIBLY REVIEW THE MEMO THAT YOU SENT TO US ALL? I WILL BE FORWARDING IT TO EVERYBODY WHO HAS WRITTEN IT TO, WRITTEN TO ME AND PUTTING IT OUT IN AN EMAIL BLAST.
BUT THE INFORMATION THAT YOU HAVE LODGED IN THAT EMAIL IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
AND, AND PERHAPS THAT WOULD BE A GOOD WAY TO START TODAY, TO DO SOME LEVEL SETTING ON WHAT IS AND IS NOT HAPPENING, WHAT THE PROCESS IS, AND WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS.
AND, AND I KNOW MY TEAM WILL JUMP IN IF I START TO GO, UH, AWRY HERE.
UM, THE ACTION THAT WE'RE REQUESTING ON MARCH 9TH WOULD DO FOUR PRIMARY THINGS.
FIRST, IT WILL ACCEPT THE E T O D POLICY PLAN.
IT WILL INITIATE AMENDMENTS TO THE IMAGINE AUSTIN COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO INCORPORATE THE E T O D STATION AREAS AND THEIR IDENTIFIED TYPOLOGIES INTO THE GROWTH CONCEPT MAP.
AGAIN, INITIATING AS CITY MANAGER GARZA SAID, WE WILL, UM, THAT WILL ALL RUN THROUGH A, A PROCESS.
THERE WILL BE AMPLE PUBLIC COMMUNICATION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR PROBABLY MORE DISCUSSION THAN ALL OF US ARE READY TO, TO UNDERTAKE.
THIS JUST STARTS US, UH, ON THAT JOURNEY.
IT AUTHORIZES THE CITY MANAGER TO COORDINATE WITH CAP METRO TO INCORPORATE THE E T O D POLICY PLAN TOOLS FOR THE GREEN LINE AND METRO RAPID STATIONS WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE NORTHEAST AUSTIN DISTRICT PLANNING PROCESS.
AS YOU GUYS ALL KNOW, THIS WAS A PROCESS THAT WAS INITIATED A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO.
AND, UH, WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF CONSULTANT SELECTION RIGHT NOW, AND THIS IS A WAY TO ACHIEVE SOME EFFICIENCIES.
UH, WE HAVE A CONSULTANT THAT'S ALREADY WORKING ON AREAS, UM, THAT TOUCH AROUND TRANSIT.
IT MAKES SENSE TO HAVE THEM, UM, INCORPORATE THIS POLICY PLAN AS PART OF THE TOOLKIT THAT THEY USE, UM, FOR THE MORE DETAILED PLANNING OF THE NORTHEAST AUSTIN DISTRICT AREA.
UM, THAT, THAT CHANGE DOESN'T REALLY, UM, AFFECT STAFF CAPACITY OR THE BUDGET THAT WE HAVE FOR THAT PARTICULAR PLANNING EFFORT.
IT JUST INCORPORATES THE, THE POLICY COMPONENTS.
AND LASTLY, IT WILL INITIATE SEVERAL FOCUS SYSTEM-WIDE AMENDMENTS TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE TO IMPLEMENT THE E T O D POLICY PLAN.
AND WE CAN GO INTO MORE DETAIL ABOUT THAT, UM, HERE IN A MOMENT.
UM, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS.
THIS IS A POLICY DOCUMENT, AND IT'S GONNA SERVE AS A FRAMEWORK FOR A HOST OF ACTIVITIES RELATED TO IMPLEMENTING THE E T O D DEVELOPMENT IN AUSTIN OVER THE YEARS AHEAD.
THE POLICY PLAN DESCRIBES ACTIVITIES THAT ARE ALREADY UNDERWAY, AS WELL AS THOSE THAT CAN BE TAKEN IN THE FUTURE.
AND THE DRAFT RESOLUTION INCLUDES INITIATION OF SEVERAL RECOMMENDED NEAR-TERM ACTIVITIES THAT I JUST WENT OVER.
THOSE ALL REQUIRE FORMAL COUNCIL DIRECTION, INCLUDING INITIATION OF THOSE CODE AMENDMENTS.
WE'RE ALSO GOING TO, UM, BEGIN WORKING ON THE NEXT STEPS THAT DON'T REQUIRE FORMAL COUNSEL ACTION, WHICH INCLUDE ANALYZING OUR EXISTING DENSITY BONUS PROGRAMS, CONSULTING WITH E T O D IMPLEMENTATION LEADS TO IDENTIFY FINANCING AND PROGRAMMATIC SUPPORT FOR MEETING THE E T O D GOALS, INCLUDING FUNDING AND RESOURCE GAPS.
UM, WE'RE GONNA BE DEVELOPING AN EQUITY SCORECARD TO EVALUATE PROPOSED E T O D DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.
UH, THIS WILL BE DEVELOPED IN PARALLEL TO THE OVERLAY AND BROUGHT BACK TO COUNCIL AS A PACKAGE AND DEVELOPING AN AFFORDABLE OR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN ON PUBLICLY OWNED LAND GOAL TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE FOR PLANNING EFFORTS.
UH, WE'LL ALSO BE COLLABORATING WITH CAP METRO AND OTHER PUBLIC AGENCIES ON THE STRATEGIC REAL ESTATE PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS TOOL, ALL THINGS THAT ARE NEXT ON THE LIST, BUT DON'T REQUIRE US TO HAVE FORMAL COUNCIL INITIATION.
SO WE CAN GO THROUGH, UM, THE MORE DETAILED ASPECTS OF THE DRAFT RESOLUTION.
I'LL PROBABLY TURN THAT OVER TO STAFF TO DO, BUT I WANTED TO DO A LITTLE BIT OF, HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT WHAT THIS DOES NOT DO.
UM, THIS DOES NOT DESIGNATE ALL BUS STOPS IN THE CITY AS E T O D LOCATIONS.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE HEARD.
THAT IS DEFINITELY NOT WHAT IS HAPPENING.
THE E T O T O D POLICY PLAN INCLUDES PROJECT CONNECT IN INITIAL INVESTMENT COMMUTER RAIL STATIONS, LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT STATIONS, AND METRO RAPID STATIONS.
IT DOES NOT INCLUDE REGULAR BUS STOPS.
UM, THERE'S A MAP WITHIN THE DRAFT E T O D POLICY PLAN FOR PROJECT CONNECT LIGHT RAIL AND BUS TRANSIT STATIONS.
AND ADDITIONALLY, IT IS LIKELY THAT PROPOSED REGULATIONS SURROUNDING COMMUTER RAIL OR LIGHT RAIL STATIONS WILL DIFFER FROM PROPOSED REGULATIONS AROUND METRO RAPID STATIONS.
SO THE LIGHT RAIL STATION POLICIES WILL BE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE WOULD RECOMMEND FOR FOR BUS RAPID TRANSIT STATIONS.
THIS DOES NOT CHANGE ZONING REGULATIONS OR FUNDING.
ACCEPTANCE OF THE E T O D POLICY PLAN DOES NOT CHANGE ANY REGULATIONS, PROGRAMS, TOOLS, FUNDING, OR CITY INVESTMENTS.
SOME OF THE, SOME OF THE TOOLS WOULD NEED TO HAVE FUNDING OR RESOURCES IDENTIFIED BEFORE THEY COULD BE IMPLEMENTED.
OTHER TOOLS MAY EVENTUALLY RESULT IN CHANGES TO ZONING OR REGULATIONS NEAR SOME PROJECT CONNECT STOPS, BUT CANNOT BE IMPLEMENTED WITHOUT FIRST COUNCIL INITIATING CHANGES.
THEN STAFF WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY TO DEVELOP A PROPOSAL AND THEN FUTURE NOTICE IN PUBLIC
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HEARINGS.AND LASTLY, COUNCIL VOTING TO ADOPT THEM.
ADDITIONALLY, THERE ARE MANY TOOLS LISTED IN THE E T O D POLICY PLAN THAT WILL NEED TO BE ASSESSED FOR WHERE THEY SHOULD BE APPLIED TO HELP MEET THE SIX E T O D POLICY GOALS.
UH, THE ASSESSMENT WILL TAKE PLACE AS PART OF FUTURE PHASES OF THE WORK.
THIS DOES NOT DO AWAY WITH SINGLE FAMILY ZONING.
THE CITY'S EXISTING CODE PROVISIONS, UH, FOR TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT, UH, PROHIBIT NEW CONSTRUCTION OF SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING WITHIN GATEWAY OR MIDWAY ZONINGS OR ZONES INSIDE EXISTING TODS.
HOWEVER, STAFF DOES NOT ENVISION USING THE EXISTING T O D DESIGNATIONS IN THE CURRENT CODE AS PART OF THE UPDATED E T O D PLANNING PROCESS OR INTERIM REGULATIONS OR THE OVERLAY STAFF IS, IS SPEC IS SPECIFICALLY REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL DIRECT US TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY TO CREATE INTERIM REGULATIONS FOR E T O D AND AN E T O D OVERLAY AS DESCRIBED IN THE E T O D POLICY PLAN, THE EXISTING TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT CODE PROVISIONS WOULD NOT APPLY TO ANY NEW AREAS.
AND I DID WANTED TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE URGENCY OF THE WORK.
ACCEPTING THE PLAN ON MARCH 9TH ON THURSDAY ALLOWS US TO BEGIN THE STEPS OF IMPLEMENTING, AND ITS KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF THE E T O D AND THE WIDER PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS.
FIRST, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE MOVE FORWARD TO IMPLEMENT E T O D QUICKLY AHEAD OF DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE PROJECT CONNECT SYSTEM IN ORDER TO GUIDE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT.
THE E T O D POLICY PLAN SUPPORTS AND IMPROVES PROJECT CONNECTS GRANT COMPETITIVE COMPETITIVENESS FOR FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION, CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANTS, SMALL STARTS AND NEW STARTS FUNDING.
AND WE HAVE STAFF HERE THAT CAN HELP ADDRESS ANY QUESTIONS OR THAT COME UP ABOUT THAT.
AND THEN LASTLY, TAKING ACTION RELATED TO E T O D ON MARCH 9TH WOULD ALIGN WITH THE TIMELINES OF VARIOUS RELATED PROJECT CONNECT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PUBLIC DECISION MAKING PROCESSES THAT WILL BEGIN OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL MONTHS.
HAPPY TO GO INTO ANY DETAIL ABOUT THE CODE WORK, UM, BUT I WANNA JUST OPEN IT UP THERE FOR ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS.
UM, HIGH LEVEL, BUT VERY DETAILED OVERVIEW.
I'D ALSO EMPHASIZE THAT THE WORK THAT WE ARE ENGAGED IN HERE HAS SOME PRETTY DEEP ROOTS, UH, FROM YEARS BACK.
IT IS BUILT ON NUMEROUS ORDINANCES THAT HAVE BEEN PASSED AND AND ARE IN EFFECT.
UM, AND THEN SPECIFICALLY TWO ISSUES THAT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT RESIDENTS WERE REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT WAS THE, UM, ALL BUS STOPS BECOME EAD LOCATIONS.
WE KNOW THAT THAT IS, WE HAVE DISCUSSED THAT BEFORE, AND THAT IS NOT THE INTENTION HERE AT ALL, BECAUSE BUS STOPS CAN MOVE AND BE RELOCATED.
AND THAT'S ALSO WHY THE RAIL LINES ARE SO IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEY ARE FIXED AND WE CAN RELY ON THEM.
THERE IS SOME PREDICTABILITY ABOUT THEM REMAINING THERE IN FAR INTO THE FUTURE.
AND THEN THE REALLY CONCERNING PIECE THAT CAME TO MY ATTENTION EARLIER THIS WEEK ABOUT, UH, DOING AWAY WITH SINGLE FAMILY ZONING THAT IS NOT IN A, IN, IN FACT, WHAT THIS IS ABOUT.
AND I WOULD NOTE THAT ONE OF THE TODS THAT IS, UM, SUCCESSFULLY BEING PLANNED IS IN DISTRICT SEVEN.
IT'S ONE OF THE THREE THAT, UH, HAD BEEN GREEN LIT IN THE PAST, AND THERE'S HOUSING THERE AND THERE'S SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING IN THAT T O D AND THAT'S THERE DELIBERATELY AND WITH PURPOSE.
SO, UM, I, AGAIN, I I WILL CONTINUE TO AMPLIFY THIS INFORMATION AND ASSURE, UM, MY CONSTITUENTS AND HOPEFULLY THE REST OF THE CITY THAT WHAT WE ARE ENGAGED IN HERE IS NOT IN FACT UNDERMINING, UH, THE NEIGHBORHOODS OR, UM, OR THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE.
IN FACT, WE HOPE TO, UM, ENHANCE IT, UH, TREMENDOUSLY.
BEFORE I GO TO ANYBODY ELSE, UM, LET ME ASK IF ANYBODY ELSE WOULD LIKE TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MEMO.
UM, I THINK THAT MIGHT BE A GOOD WAY TO PROCEED.
I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION IF IS ON PAGE TWO UNDER THE ESTABLISHING INTERIM REGULATIONS THAT APPLY TO ETO ODS, THE LAST SENTENCE THERE, YOU SAY, STAFF IS REQUESTING THAT COUNCIL INITIATE CODE AMENDMENTS THAT WOULD ALLOW STAFF TO REVIEW THE EXISTING INITIAL REGULATIONS AND PROPOSED NEW OR REVISED INTERIM REGULATIONS.
IS THAT SEPARATE FROM WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE? DO Y'ALL NEED A A, A SEPARATE NO, THAT'S PART OF THE RESOLUTION.
THAT IS PREPARED FOR CONSIDERATION ON THURSDAY.
I JUST WANTED MAKE SURE YOU WEREN'T NEEDING, LET'S DO MORE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER VELA, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION? UH, I, I DID.
IT'S, IT'S SOMEWHAT RELATED TO THE MEMO, BUT ARE THERE ANY, UH, FIRM GOALS IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT ARE ENVISIONED TO LIVE WITHIN A T O D, LIKE KIND OF POPULATION GOALS FOR THE T O D SPECIFICALLY? STEVE, YOURE WARNER.
UH, WARNER COOK, PRINCIPAL PLANNER WITH THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
SO THERE ARE NOT SPECIFIC GOALS PER STATION AREA.
ONE THING THAT WE DID LOOK AT WHEN CREATING THE
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TYPOLOGIES WAS THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN STATION AREAS TODAY.AND SO WHAT, UH, WE DID WAS ACTUALLY TARGET USING FTA KIND OF CRITERIA, WHAT THOSE THRESHOLDS ARE THAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR, JUST SO YOU CAN GET AN IDEA OF IF IT'S, IF IT'S LISTED IN THE POLICY PLAN AS MORE PEOPLE TODAY, THEN THAT MEANS THAT IT'S KIND OF MEETING THE TARGET IN THE AREA FOR, UM, FOR RAIL STATIONS, A MEDIUM HIGH SCORE AND FOR BUS STATIONS, UH, UH, METRO RAPID STATIONS, UM, MEDIUM SCORE.
AND THEN IF IT SAYS FEWER PEOPLE TODAY, THEN THAT'S ONE THAT ISN'T QUITE PERFORMING.
BUT AS OTHER PEOPLE CAN SPEAK TO, IT'S NOT ABOUT EVERY SINGLE STATION MEETING THAT THRESHOLD.
IT'S REALLY ABOUT MORE OF THE CORRIDOR.
AND, AND THAT'S A VERY GOOD POINT.
UH, IT'S, IT'S A WEIGHTED AVERAGE BASICALLY OF ALL OF THE STATIONS.
WE'RE NOT LOOKING, YOU KNOW, CLEARLY, FOR EXAMPLE, THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT MORE POPULATION DENSITY IN THE WEST CAMPUS STATION THAN THERE IS, YOU KNOW, ON ANOTHER STATION, YOU KNOW, FARTHER KIND OF NORTH, OUTSIDE OF THE URBAN CORE.
BUT SO, SO IN TERMS OF THE POPULATION GOALS, SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ON PAGE, I'M SORRY, 65, I GUESS IT'S A NINE, UH, UH, 65 ON THE PDF, A NINE OF THE ATTACHMENT THAT THOSE NUMBERS WHERE THE, YOU KNOW, A HIGH, UH, AREA WOULD BE 15,000 AND ABOVE IN THE, I GUESS AT THE HALF MILE.
UH, UM, THE AREA AROUND THE, AND THEN THE MEDIUM WOULD BE 57 60 TO, TO 9,599.
MEDIUM WOULD BE 9,600 TO 1499 FOR THE RAIL.
AND ARE WE TARGETING THE, IN THE PLAN, THE MEDIUM, HIGH LEVEL FOR THE, THE STATIONS? GOOD MORNING.
STEVIE GREATHOUSE, DIVISION MANAGER, HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT, UM, WE HAVE NOT SET SPECIFIC TARGETS IN THE PLAN.
SO REALLY WHAT THE PLAN IS DOING IS SETTING KIND OF A COURSE AND A DIRECTIONALITY, AND WE'LL BE, WE ARE SET UP WITH THE WAY THAT THE PLAN IS CURRENTLY DRAFTED TO DOCUMENT AND MONITOR AND MAKE SURE THAT THE STATIONS ARE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, WHICH WOULD BE MOVING TOWARDS THAT SORT OF WEIGHTED AVERAGE THAT WARNER'S TALKING ABOUT.
BUT THE PLAN ITSELF, AS IT'S CURRENTLY DRAFTED AND IS IN FRONT OF COUNCIL TODAY FOR CONSIDER FOR THIS WEEK FOR CONSIDERATION, DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY SPECIFIC TARGETS, UM, FOR HOUSING AND, AND WHY NOT? UM, FROM STAFF'S PERSPECTIVE, WE, WE HAVE THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN THAT DOES SET GOALS AND TARGETS THAT WE TRACK AND DO ON A SCORECARD.
UM, WE ARE PLANNING ON CONTINUING TO, TO, DID I SAY STRATEGIC STRATEGIC HOUSING BLUEPRINT? THANK YOU WARNER.
UM, STRATEGIC HOUSING BLUEPRINT THAT DOES SET GOALS AT A DISTRICT AND CORRIDOR LEVEL AROUND THE CITY.
AND WE DIDN'T WANT TO HAVE A SET UP A PLAN WHERE WE'RE KIND OF SETTING OURSELVES UP ON TWO SEPARATE SETS OF TRACKING AND TWO SEPARATE SETS OF GOALS THAT ARE OVERLAPPING AND COMPLICATED.
UM, WHEN REALLY WHAT WE ARE, ARE TRYING TO DO IS MAKE SURE THAT WITH THIS PLANNING EFFORTS WE'RE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND THAT WE CAN KIND OF TRACK THAT DIRECTIONALITY.
THAT'S CERTAINLY, UM, WE'VE HEARD, YOU KNOW, A DESIRE THAT SOME FOLKS HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SET THOSE TARGETS AT EITHER THE COURT OR THE STATION LEVEL.
UM, THAT'S CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT WE COULD MONITOR AND TRACK IF FOLKS WANTED TO SET A TARGET, BUT WE HADN'T HAD THE ABILITY WITH THIS PLANNING PROCESS, UM, TO, TO GO INTO THE LEVEL OF DEPTH AND COMMUNITY DIALOGUE THAT IT WOULD TAKE TO APPROPRIATELY SET THOSE TARGETS.
SO WE ARE NOT COMING THIS WEEK, UM, WITH TARGETS TO RECOMMEND.
AND COUNCIL MEMBER, I, I THINK IF I UNDERSTAND YOUR QUESTION, GIVE US SOME TIME TO WORK THROUGH THAT ISSUE TO COME BACK WITH A RECOMMENDATION ON THE, ON THE HOUSING TARGET SO THAT WE CAN TAKE CARE OF THAT SENSITIVITY THAT, UH, UHHUH WAS JUST MENTIONED.
I, I, I THINK IT IS A, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO TRY TO ADDRESS, BUT I DON'T THINK WE'RE READY TO SAY IT OUGHT TO BE ONE WAY OR THE OTHER UNTIL WE GET SOME MORE DETAIL.
HOW DO WE, WHAT DO WE NEED TO ZONE THIS IN ORDER TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN? YOU KNOW, AND, AND SO THAT, THAT LACK OF KIND OF AFFIRM GOAL FOR POPULATION DENSITIES AROUND THE STATION, UM, CONCERNS ME.
IF I COULD ADD, UH, CITY MANAGER, MAYOR, COUNSEL, ANIQUE BODAY, PROJECT CONNECT OFFICE, THAT WORK, THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT.
AND THE CITY MANAGER IS CORRECT.
THAT WORK WILL COME AS WE SYNC UP WITH THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS FOR THE INVESTMENT THAT IS ON OUR HORIZON, THAT WE WILL BE DECIDING THIS SUMMER.
WE HAVE A KICKOFF MARCH 21ST IN COORDINATION WITH OUR PARTNERS AT AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP AND CAPITAL METRO TO LOOK AT SCENARIOS FOR OUR INVESTMENT IN LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT.
ONCE WE HAVE THAT, UM, IN COORDINATION WITH ROSIE'S GROUP AT HOUSING AND
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PLANNING, WE CAN START LOOKING AT WHERE EXACTLY ALONG THOSE CORRIDORS, IT MAKES SENSE TO HAVE THOSE TARGETS AND TO START TO HONE IN MORE SPECIFICALLY AS THE CITY MANAGER POINTED OUT.AND YOU MENTIONED THAT THERE'S ANOTHER PLAN THAT ALSO HAS POPULATION GOALS FOR THE CORRIDOR.
WH WHICH PLAN WAS THAT? I WAS MENTIONING THE STRATEGIC HOUSING BLUEPRINT, UM, WHICH DID SET DISTRICT BASED GOALS AND IN SOME CASES CORRIDOR BASED GOALS FOR HOUSING ACCOMMODATION.
AND IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, UH, AND PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, WE'RE WAY UNDER THOSE GOALS AND MY DIRECTOR CAN ADDRESS THAT WITH THE, WITH HER NODDING HEAD
AND, AND AGAIN, MY CONCERN IS THAT IF WE'RE NOT EVEN SETTING GOALS, HARD NUMBER GOALS FOR INDIVIDUAL STATIONS, IDENTIFYING SAYING LIKE, YOU KNOW, THIS STATION, LET'S SAY LIKE THE GOVERNMENT CENTER STATION AGAIN, TO PICK A DOWNTOWN ONE, UH, WHICH DOESN'T HAVE A LOT OF POPULATION AROUND IT AT THIS POINT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOTTA REALLY COMMIT AND SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE WANT.
CAUSE I KNOW WE'RE GONNA HAVE STATIONS THAT ARE FARTHER UP NORTH THAT ARE NOT GONNA HAVE, YOU KNOW, 9,000 PEOPLE IN THE HALF MILE RADIUS, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA HAVE, THAT ARE MUCH MORE SURROUNDED BY NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE NOT GONNA DEVELOP IN THE SAME WAY THAT OTHER STATIONS ARE.
AND IF WE DON'T HAVE THOSE HARD GOALS, I'M, I'M, I'M CONCERNED THAT WE'RE NOT GONNA GET THE RIDERSHIP.
UH, AND, AND THE, THE, THE INCREASE IN IN HOUSING UNITS THAT, UH, THAT WERE, AND AGAIN, AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS GO ALONG WITH, I MEAN, THOSE, THOSE, YOU KNOW, 10% OF A HIGHER NUMBER IS A, IS A GOOD THING.
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? 10% OF 2000 IS MORE THAN 10% OF 1000.
SO THAT'S JUST KIND OF MY, UH, SENSE OF THINGS.
SO I, I WOULD JUST WANNA REITERATE THAT, UM, THAT WE AGREE WITH YOU, UH, AND THAT'S WHAT COMES NEXT AS WE GET INTO INDIVIDUAL STATIONARIES.
THIS IS JUST THE HIGH LEVEL POLICY PLAN THAT SETS THE FRAMEWORK FOR HOW WE'RE GONNA DO THOSE EFFORTS.
COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES, THANK YOU.
UM, AND, AND THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING THAT, UH, DIRECTOR TRULA.
CAUSE I JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT FOR OUR COLLEAGUES, OUR MOBILITY COMMITTEE MET, UH, THIS PAST WEEK AND OUR HOUSING COMMITTEE, WE HAD A JOINT COMMITTEE WHERE WE HAD A CONVERSATION.
AND FOR MY UNDERSTANDING, CUZ I ALSO RAISED SIMILAR CONCERNS ABOUT NOT HAVING CONCRETE GOALS AND KNOWING HOW WE ARE SO OFF TRACK ON OUR STRATEGIC HOUSING BLUEPRINT, YOU KNOW, HOW CAN WE, UM, BEST, UH, DEVELOP AN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY.
AND FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, WHAT WAS SHARED DURING THE COMMITTEE MEETING WAS THAT STAFF WOULD COME BACK WITH MORE OF THOSE CONCRETE, CLEARLY DEFINED METRICS THAT I THINK INCLUDES THE PRODUCTION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING, BUT ALSO I WOULD LIKE IT TO INCLUDE THE PRESERVATION OF EXISTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING ALONG THOSE LINES AS WELL.
ANYBODY ELSE WANNA TALK ABOUT THE MEMO? SURE.
YOU MENTIONED DENSITY BONUS REVIEW.
IS THAT SPECIFIC OR ALL? YES, WE COOK AGAIN.
UM, SO WE, THROUGH OUR PROCESS WORKING ON E T O D IN THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO LOOK AT HOW EVERY DENSITY BONUS OVERLAYS.
AND SINCE WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING IS POSSIBLY ANOTHER E T O D OVERLAY, UH, STAFF RECOGNIZE THE NEED TO, MANY OF THESE EXISTING PROGRAMS ARE VERY SIMILAR TO EACH OTHER WITH KEY DETAILS, RIGHT.
AND IT CAN BE VERY DIFFICULT, UH, AS SOMEBODY LOOKING TO USE ONE OF THEM TO KEEP ALL THOSE DETAILS.
UH, IT'S ALSO A LOT OF STAFF TIME TO BE ABLE TO LIKE REALLY FOCUS IN ON EACH OF THOSE.
SO WE'RE INTERESTED IN REVIEWING THE EXISTING REQUIREMENTS IN LIGHT OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE GONNA DO WITH THE COMMUNITY TO POSSIBLY PROPOSE ANOTHER PROGRAM SO THAT IF THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES TO STREAMLINE OR, YOU KNOW, MAKE THINGS SIMILAR TO ONE ANOTHER SO THAT IT'S MORE EASY TO GET THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S SOMETHING STAFF IS IN VERY INTERESTED IN DOING.
I WOULD JUST, UH, ECHO SOMETHING THAT COUNCIL MEMBER VELO MENTIONED THE OTHER DAY IN OUR COMMITTEE HEARING PART OF THAT BE UNO AND, AND HOW THAT HAS FUNCTIONED AND, AND POTENTIALLY USING THAT AS A MODEL FOR SOME OF THESE STATIONS.
MAYOR PRO, LET ME, I'M GONNA RECOGNIZE THE MAYOR PRO TIM, BUT I, I FORGOT TO NOTE IT NOTE, WHEN THE MAYOR PRO TIM, UH, SHE'S BEEN HERE SINCE THE, WE STARTED THIS DISCUSSION.
SO FOR THE RECORD, I'M PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR.
UM, COULD YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE STRATEGIC HOUSING BLUEPRINT AND, YOU KNOW, WHICH CORRIDORS ALIGN WITH PROJECT CONNECT AND WHICH ONES MAYBE DON'T? CAUSE I KNOW WHEN IT WAS BUILT, PROJECT CONNECT WAS STILL VERY MUCH A, A TWINKLE IN SOMEONE'S EYE.
I I, I'M NOT EVEN SURE I'M KEEPING IN MIND THE STRATEGIC HOUSING BLUEPRINT WAS APPROVED IN, IN 2017, SO IT WAS WELL BEFORE.
UM, BUT FOLKS THAT HAVE MAPS IN FRONT OF THEM, MAYBE YEAH, WE ARE, OR JUST ROUGHLY IS IT, YOU KNOW, HALF AND HALF? IS IT 80 20? YOU KNOW, SO STRATEGIC HOUSING BLUEPRINT REALLY FOLLOWED SOME OF THE, UM, GROWTH CORRIDORS SHOWN IN THE IMAGINE AUSTIN GROWTH CONCEPT.
SO TO THE EXTENT THAT THOSE OVERLAP WITH PROJECT CONNECT CORRIDORS, THERE'S OVERLAP BETWEEN
[00:25:01]
THE TWO.UM, THERE ARE PROBABLY A FEW PROJECT CONNECT CORRIDORS THAT DON'T RUN DOWN, UM, GROWTH QUARTERS AND VICE VERSA.
THERE'S ACTUALLY SOME GROWTH QUARTERS AND GROWTH CONCEPT THAT DON'T, BUT IT IS A, THE VENN DIAGRAM IS, IF I HAD TO JUST, YOU KNOW, GUESS IT'S PROBABLY A 60, 70% MATCH.
UM, AND YES, I, I WILL FLAG IF, IF SOMEONE'S GOT EXTRA TIME BETWEEN HERE AND THURSDAY, WE HAD A PRETTY ROBUST DISCUSSION AT OUR LAST MOBILITY COMMITTEE MEETING, AND IT WAS ALL IN ALL WENT ABOUT TWO AND A HALF HOURS, UM, WITH MAYBE 30, 40 MINUTES FOR Q AND A.
UM, BUT THERE WERE A LOT OF DIFFERENT PRESENTATIONS BETWEEN CAPITAL METRO'S INVOLVEMENT AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, YOU KNOW, THE CITY PLANNING SIDE.
AND THEN WE EVEN HAD A KIND OF, UH, RAPID FIRE PANEL OF HOUSING ADVOCATES URBAN LAND INSTITUTE, YOU KNOW, UM, A PROFESSOR FROM UT OTHER FOLKS THAT HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS CONVERSATION FOR A LONG TIME.
SO IF YOU WANNA DIG INTO THOSE PRESENTATIONS, THEY SHOULD BE ARCHIVED IN THE BACKUP FROM, UH, LAST THURSDAY.
TIM, I WANNA ASK A COUPLE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MEMO.
BASED UPON QUESTIONS THAT I'M RECEIVING FROM PEOPLE, UM, AND, AND I ALSO, I ECHO WHAT COUNCIL MEMBER POOL SAID IS THIS IS A VERY HELPFUL DOCUMENT, BUT I WANT TO, I KNOW WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS I'M GOING TO GET BASED UPON THE DOCUMENT.
UM, AND, AND I WANNA START ON THE FIRST PAGE.
UH, BULLET NUMBER TWO, UNDER ACTION REQUESTED IT BEGINS INITIATES AMENDMENTS TO THE IMAGINE AUSTIN COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
AND THEN THE FOURTH BULLET ALSO SAYS, INITIATES SEVERAL FOCUSED SYSTEM-WIDE AMENDMENTS TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE FOR CLARITY PURPOSES.
WHILE THAT INITIATES THOSE AMENDMENTS IN BOTH OF THOSE INSTANCES, THAT'S NOT, NOT SETTING ANYTHING IN CONCRETE OR EVEN SETTING A PATH ON WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IN TERMS OF AMENDMENTS TO THE IMAGINE AUSTIN COMPREHENSIVE PLAN OR, UH, UH, THE SYSTEM-WIDE AMENDMENTS TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE.
IT WILL NOT, IT DOES NOT SET OUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN AND DOESN'T EVEN CREATE THE FIRST STEP IN A PATH TO WHAT WILL HAPPEN.
IS THAT CORRECT? IT, IT OPENS THE DOOR TO ALLOW US TO START HAVING CONVERSATIONS AS STAFF.
WE CANNOT INITIATE CODE AMENDMENTS, UM, THAT HAS TO BE DONE EITHER BY THE CITY COUNCIL OR BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION.
AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT THESE ARE SOME CRITICAL THINGS THAT, THAT WE NEED TO START TO ADDRESS IN SOME SHAPE, FORM, OR FASHION.
AND THIS ALLOWS US THAT OPPORTUNITY.
SO WHAT IT DOES IS IT, IT LEGALLY ALLOWS FOR THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THOSE AMENDMENTS, BUT IT DOES NOT IN ANY WAY PREORDAINED OUTCOMES AND THE PROCESS, UH, THAT PROCESS IS YET TO BE CARRIED OUT.
UM, I, ON ON PAGE TWO, I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO DESCRIBE, IF THE FIRST BULLET SAYS IT DOES NOT DESIGNATE ALL BUS STOPS IN THE CITY AS E T O D LOCATIONS, BUT YET IT SETS OUT, IT SETS OUT THAT THERE WILL BE MAT METRO RAPID STATIONS THAT WILL THAT, AND, AND I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU IF YOU, THAT WILL BE DESIGNATED AS E T O D LOCATIONS, WE HAVE HEARD AS, AS COUNCIL MEMBER POOL INDICATED, AND YOU ALL KNOW WE'VE HEARD OTHERWISE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE HAD THIS BULLET IN HERE
UM, WE, UH, KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF CONCERN AND QUESTION ABOUT THE BUS STATION ASPECTS.
I WOULD LIKE FOR THERE TO BE A, IF YOU DON'T MIND, A GREATER DESCRIPTION OF HOW THERE'S A DIFFERENCE, UH, BETWEEN METRO RAPID BUS STATIONS AND EVERYDAY BUS STATIONS.
THE GREATHOUSE, I WILL ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THAT ONE.
UM, SO UNDER THE PROJECT CONNECT SYSTEM, AND ACTUALLY UNDER TODAY'S SYSTEM, WE HAVE METRO RAPID LINES THAT PROVIDE SERVICE THAT'S A LITTLE BIT CLOSER TO RAIL SERVICE THAT HAS, UM, DEDICATED LANES IN SOME LOCATIONS.
THE STOP SPACING IS SEPARATED, THE STOPS THEMSELVES TYPICALLY HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE INFRASTRUCTURE INVOLVED IN CONSTRUCTION OF THE STOP THEMSELVES.
UM, AND THEY FUNCTION MORE SORT OF CLOSER TO THE WAY A RAIL WILL FUNCTION IN THE FUTURE.
UM, AND THEN WE HAVE ALL OF THE SORT OF DAILY, UM, BUSES RUNNING AROUND AUSTIN LOCAL BUS SERVICE THAT HAVE CLOSE STOPS.
THE STOPS CAN MOVE AROUND AS THEY FREQUENTLY, UM, DO AND SOME EVERY TIME CAPITAL METRO DOES A SERVICE CHANGE, UM, THAT ARE REALLY PROVIDING KIND OF LOWER INTENSITY SERVICE WITH BUS STATIONS THAT FUNCTION A LITTLE BIT, YOU KNOW, THAT FUNCTION LIKE BUS STATIONS AND NOT LIKE RAIL STATIONS.
SO THE, FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE EQUITABLE T O D POLICY PLAN AND THE DISCUSSIONS THAT WE'VE HAD WITH COMMUNITY TO DEVELOP THAT PLAN, UM, AND THE DIRECTION THAT WE RECEIVED FROM COUNCIL THAT INITIATED THE WORK TO DEVELOP THAT PLAN INDICATED THAT WE SHOULD LOOK AT MAKING SURE THAT WE WERE INCLUDING BOTH THE FUTURE METRO RAPID LINES, WHICH ARE THOSE KIND OF HIGHER CAPACITY TRANSIT
[00:30:01]
LINES, WHICH THAT FUNCTION A LITTLE BIT MORE LIKE RAIL IN THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING TO LOOK AT BOTH METRO RAIL AND LIGHT RAIL, UM, LINES AS WELL.AND SO THE POLICY PLAN THAT IS BEFORE, UM, COUNCIL FOR CONSIDERATION THIS WEEK LOOKS AT ALL 98 STATION PAIRS ON BOTH THE RAPID BUS SYSTEM, THE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM, AS WELL AS THE METRO RAIL SYSTEM.
UM, AND THE RESOLUTION THAT IS IN FRONT OF COUNCIL THIS WEEK WOULD PROPOSE TO MAKE, TO INITIATE, AS WE JUST DISCUSSED, CHANGES TO THE CODE THAT WOULD PROVIDE NEW REGULATIONS AT STOPS FOR BOTH LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM, OR I KEEP SAYING BOTH, BUT IT'S ACTUALLY THREE.
THE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM, THE METRO RAIL SYSTEM, AND THE FUTURE, UM, RAPID BUS SYSTEM.
THE PART OF THE REASON BEHIND THAT, IN ADDITION TO THE COMMUNICATION FROM COUNCIL AND COMMUNITY THAT WE HAD SORT OF LEADING UP TO THE PLAN OF LOOKING AT OUR FULL SYSTEM, INCLUDING THOSE BUS LINES THAT FUNCTION, THAT ARE THE RAPID BUS LINES THAT FUNCTION A LITTLE BIT MORE LIKE RAIL, IS THAT THE SYSTEM AS WE BUILD IT OUT OVER TIME WILL BE, COULD BE TRANSITIONING IN SOME CASES WE WILL HAVE LINES LIKE WE DO TODAY THAT ARE RAPID BUS THAT WILL BE TRANSITIONING TO BECOME RAIL LINES.
UM, IN OTHER CASES, LIKE THE GOLD LINE ON THE PROJECT CONNECT VISION PLAN, WE HAVE SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED IN THE VISION PLAN AS A FUTURE LIGHT RAIL LINE THAT WILL BE STARTING OUT, UM, BEFORE IT BECOMES A FUTURE LIGHT RAIL LINE.
WE'LL PROBABLY SPEND SOME PERIOD OF TIME AS A RAPID BUS LINE.
SO IT, FROM STAFF'S PERSPECTIVE AND THE REASON THE RECOMMENDATION IS, IS WRITTEN THE WAY IT IS, UM, WE WOULD BE DIFFERENTIATING THE REGULATIONS, THERE WOULD DEFINITELY BE A NEED.
AND AS, AS ROSIE MENTIONED IN THE SUMMARY OF THE, THE MEMO THERE, THE REGULATORY NEEDS ARE DIFFERENT AT RAPID BUS AND RAIL.
SO THERE'S NO INTENTION TO TREAT THE TWO SYSTEMS THE SAME, BUT AT LEAST THE PROPOSAL THAT IS CURRENTLY ON THE TABLE WOULD DIRECT STAFF TO INITIATE CHANGES THAT WOULD POTENTIALLY MAKE CHANGES TO REGULATIONS ALONG BOTH THE RAPID BUS SYSTEM, UM, AND THE LIGHT RAIL AND METRO RAIL SYSTEMS. GREAT, THANK YOU, UH, FOR THAT.
ON, ON THE URGENCY OF THE WORK, COULD YOU TELL, COULD YOU DESCRIBE WHAT THE TIMELINE IS NEEDED FOR, FOR US TO MEET THE FDA GUIDELINES? WHEN YOU, YOU FIRST WERE LAYING THIS OUT, YOU TALKED ABOUT THAT, AND THAT'S A KEY REASON WE'RE MOVING NOW.
UH, AND AND I, I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO KIND OF OUTLINE THAT IN MORE DETAIL ABOUT, AND, AND, AND LET ME ADD WHAT WAS GONNA BE MY SECOND QUESTION.
UH, MY SECOND QUESTION TO THAT WOULD BE IS WHY DO WE MOVE ON THIS NOW WHEN AS, UH, WE KNOW IT HASN'T REALLY BEEN DECIDED? AND ON THE, AS YOU POINTED OUT ON THE 21ST THAT THERE WILL BEGIN THAT PROCESS OF LAYING OUT WHAT WE MIGHT ACTUALLY SEE IN TERMS OF, UH, THE, THE LINES INCLUDING METRO RAPID AND ALL THAT.
UH, SO WHY NOW WHEN WE'RE NOT SURE WHAT ATP MIGHT ACTUALLY END UP DOING.
UM, AN BODE WITH THE PROJECT CONNECT OFFICE, AND I'D LIKE TO INVITE UP JENNIFER PINE, WHO'S WITH THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
TO ALSO, UH, TO HELP ME ADDRESS THIS QUESTION.
UM, AS YOU KNOW, THE TAX REVENUE, UM, ELECTION THAT HAPPENED IN 2020, UM, CITY REVENUE IS COLLECTED AND, UM, TRANSFER TO AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP TO FOCUS ON THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF LIGHT RAIL.
UM, JENNIFER IS THE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR AT ATP OVER PLANNING AND CONTROLS.
WE WORK VERY CLOSELY TOGETHER, UM, ON MONITORING WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE E T O D PLAN AS IT SYNCS UP WITH THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PHASE OF THE NEW STARZ GRANT PROJECT, UH, GRANT PROCESS, WHICH WE ARE CURRENTLY IN.
I HAVE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS BEFORE I, I TURN IT OVER TO JEN TO TALK ABOUT, UM, TIMING AND WHY NOW.
UM, TO ADD ON TO WHAT MS. GREATHOUSE SAID, UM, YOU KNOW, THE CHARACTERISTICS OF OF METRO RAPID ARE MORE SIMILAR TO A FIXED, UH, A FIXED LIGHT RAIL LINE THAN THEY ARE TO A LOCAL BUS STOP.
IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY CAN'T, BUT THEY'RE LESS LIKELY.
THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE STOPS ARE MUCH MORE INTENSE.
AND, UM, IF, IF YOU WANNA GO OUT TO THE PLEASANT VALLEY LINE OR TO THE EXPO LINE, THEY'RE CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
SO WE ARE, WE'VE BEEN MAKING GREAT PROGRESS ON THE FIRST TWO LINES OF THE FOUR THAT WERE APPROVED BY VOTERS IN 2020.
UM, SO THAT'S A, AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION.
UM, THEY'RE MORE FIXED THAN A LOCAL BUS STOP, UM, AS WE PREPARE FOR OUR GRANT APPLICATION.
AND, AND JEN, WE'LL, WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT.
AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, THERE'S A LOT OF WORK THAT GOES INTO THAT APPLICATION.
[00:35:01]
MOVING FORWARD WITH THE E T O D PLAN IS THE FIRST STEP.THE CITY HAS CONTROL OF LAND USE REGULATIONS, NOT ATP, NOT CAP METRO.
THAT IS, UM, OUR, AND IT IS, AND LAND USE FUTURE AND EXISTING IS A PART OF THE FDA CRITERIA.
AND WE HAVE SOME SLIDES TO SHOW YOU HOW, UH, THE E T O T E T O D WORK ACTUALLY FITS INTO THAT F T A CRITERIA.
SO, UM, I KNOW THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT OUR FIRST, UH, SCORING, UH, SCORING EVENT, UM, WITH THE F IN, UM, SUMMER OF NEXT YEAR, 2024, WHICH IS NOT THAT FAR AWAY, AND THERE'S A LOT OF WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE BEFORE THAT.
SO I'M GONNA HAND IT, HAND IT OVER TO JEN TO EX TO EXPLAIN THAT TIMELINE.
I'M WITH AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
UH, SO THE TIMELINE, UM, FOR THE FEDERAL PROCESS, UH, AS, AS HAS BEEN MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, WE ARE LOOKING TO ENGAGE IN A COMMUNITY DIALOGUE STARTING LATER THIS MONTH.
AND ULTIMATELY, YOU KNOW, AFFIRM THIS SUMMER, UM, WHAT THE DEFINITION OF THE LIGHT RAIL PROJECT IS THAT WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO ADVANCE.
UH, SO AS PART OF THE PURSUIT OF FEDERAL FUNDING THAT TAKES YEARS, AND THERE ARE A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT GATES, UM, AND WHAT ANIQUE WAS REFERRING TO AS FAR AS A PRELIMINARY RATING, UH, OF THE PROJECT, UH, WHICH IS CRITICAL OBVIOUSLY TO BEING COMPETITIVE AND, AND OBTAINING THOSE FEDERAL FUNDS.
WE WOULD, UM, BE PUTTING TOGETHER THAT PACKAGE FOR SUBMITTAL NEXT SPRING.
UM, SO ANY WORK DONE IN THE NEXT YEAR, UM, YOU'D BE ABLE TO TAKE CREDIT FOR, AS IT WERE.
UM, AND SO THE SLIDE THAT'S UP ON THE SCREEN IS, UH, JUST TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THE FTA CONSIDERS.
UH, AND I KNOW THIS LOOKS LIKE A LITTLE BIT OF A COMPLICATED GRAPHIC, BUT I CAN BREAK IT DOWN SIMPLY THAT ABOUT HALF OF IT HAS TO DO WITH THE FINANCIAL COMMITMENT, YOU KNOW, OUR COMMITMENT OF FUNDS.
UM, AND WE'RE ACTUALLY IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE THAT WAY.
UM, YOU KNOW, A ATP, UM, IS PREPARED TO FINANCE, UM, USING PROP A AND THE FEDERAL FUNDS, UM, FOR NOT ONLY THE CAPITAL COSTS, BUT ALSO THE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE COSTS.
SO WE'RE ACTUALLY IN GREAT SHAPE THERE.
SO ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE EQUATION IS THE PROJECT JUSTIFICATION, WHICH IS THE MERITS OF THE PROJECT.
UH, WE'RE COMPETING WITH OTHER PROJECTS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
AND SO THIS IS THEIR WAY OF KIND OF NORMALIZING THAT EVALUATION TO, UM, AWARD PROJECTS FUNDS.
SO PROBABLY THE ITEMS THAT ARE MOST DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE TOPICS WE'RE, WE'RE CONCERNED WITH HERE THIS MORNING ARE LAND USE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
AND SO THAT IS LOOKING QUITE SPECIFICALLY AT WHAT IS THE POPULATION DENSITY WITHIN A HALF MILE OF EACH STATION AREA AND HOW MANY JOBS ARE LOCATED THERE THAT WOULD THEN BE ACCESSIBLE BY THIS LIGHT RAIL PROJECT.
UM, IN ADDITION, THEY ALSO LOOK AT PARKING AND PRESENCE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UM, ON THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SIDE, THAT'S YOUR MORE QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT.
THEY'RE REALLY LOOKING AT PLANS AND POLICIES THAT HAVE BEEN PUT IN PLACE TO PROMOTE TRANSIT, SUPPORTIVE LAND USE.
UH, YOU KNOW, AS YOU KNOW, THIS IS A GENERATIONAL TYPE OF PROJECT, AND THE LONG TERM VIEW IN SOME WAYS IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE CURRENT CONDITIONS.
UM, AND SO THAT INTENTIONALITY TO SUPPORT, UM, TRANSIT, SUPPORTIVE LAND USE, A MIX OF USES, UH, A SUFFICIENT DENSITY, UH, IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE IN ASSESSING THE MERITS OF THE PROJECT.
UM, AND THEN MY LAST, I I THINK THAT COVERS, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE.
WE HAD A RECORD OF OF, OF WHAT THE TIME SITUATION IS, AND I MEANT TO ASK A QUESTION A LITTLE BIT EARLIER THAT, UM, ON, ON METRO, ON METRO BUS AND ON SIMPLE, WHAT WE CALL REGULAR BUS STATIONS, WHEN I THINK OF REGULAR BUS STATION, I THINK MOST PEOPLE THINK OF, UH, MAYBE A PLACE TO SIT, A SIGN THAT SAYS, THIS IS A BUS STOP, MAYBE MAYBE A, A PLACE TO GET OUT OF THE RAIN, BUT THAT'S DIFFERENT THAN THE STATIONS THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THAT ARE CURRENTLY BEING BUILT.
IS THERE A WAY TO IDENTIFY THOSE AND, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE A DEFINITION OF THEM IN THIS RESOLUTION SO THAT PEOPLE WILL KNOW WHAT ARE THE ACTUAL PLACES THAT WILL BE IMPACTED AS OPPOSED TO ROUTINE BUS STOPS? I'M, I WOULD SAY YES.
I WAS SAYING YES, ALSO, LUCKILY, UM,
AND, AND BECAUSE THAT MAY BE THE RIGHT ANSWER.
THERE, THERE ARE MAPS ACTUALLY THROUGHOUT THE, IN THE EAD POLICY PLAN DRAFT ITSELF, THERE IS A MAP THAT SHOWS THE LOCATION OF THE FUTURE, UM, METRO RAIL, METRO LIGHT RAIL, AND THE METRO RAPID STATIONS.
AND WE COULD ABSOLUTELY REFERENCE THAT IN THE RESOLUTION.
UH, COUNCIL RYAN, I WANTED TO SAY THAT.
AM I ON THAT? SHE, SHE SENT THAT, UH, MEMO
[00:40:01]
AT 10 O'CLOCK LAST NIGHT, SO THANK YOU FOR DOING THAT.BUT, UH, I HOPE YOU DIDN'T COME IN BEFORE EIGHT O'CLOCK THIS MORNING.
WELL, YOU KNOW, I DID, BUT IT WAS ONLY CUZ I HAD TO DROP OFF THE KIDS, UM, AT THE MIDDLE SCHOOL.
BUT I, I WANNA RECOGNIZE, UM, WARNER AND STEVIE AND, UM, ERICA LEAK AND ANDREW BATES WHO WERE WORKING WITH ME UNTIL 10 O'CLOCK LAST NIGHT,
I'M GONNA GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTAR AND THEN COUNCIL MEMBER POOL, AND THEN I'LL GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON AL ALTER.
I JUST WANTED TO FOLLOW UP ON ONE THING YOU MENTIONED, AND THAT WAS ABOUT DENSITY WITHIN THE HALF MILE AS THEY'RE ANALYZING IT.
IS THAT CURRENT, OR IF WE WERE TO CHANGE THE ZONING, HOW WOULD THAT INTERPLAY WITH THEIR SCORING SAYING, WELL, IT'S NOT VERY DENSE RIGHT NOW, BUT THEY'VE JUST CHANGED IT BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO BE, UH, A RAIL LINE.
HOW DOES THAT WORK? UH, SO THEY DO LOOK AT CURRENT AND FUTURE CONDITIONS.
SO WE WOULD BE PROVIDING INFORMATION ON WHAT'S THERE NOW USING, UM, THE EXISTING CENSUS, UM, DATA AND CAMPO FORECAST, UM, AND ALSO LOOKING AT PLANS AND POLICIES, WHAT'S BEING PROMOTED, WHAT'S ANTICIPATED IN THAT AREA.
I WOULD ADD TO THAT TOO, IN TALKING WITH JEN, UM, THAT ONCE WE SUBMIT IN THE SUMMER OF 2024, FOR MOST LIKELY FOR INITIAL SCORING, UM, TOWARDS THE END OF THE PROCESS THEY'LL RE-LOOK AT OUR NUMBERS AND THAT WOULD BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW WHAT THEY CALL, UM, DEMONSTRATED PROGRESS ON PLANS AND POLICIES.
SO PASSING A PLAN AND POLICY IS ONE THING, SHOWING DEMONSTRATED OUTCOMES OF THOSE PLANS AND POLICIES IS ALSO, UH, WOULD BE THE MOST IMPORTANT PART.
AND SO TOWARDS THE END OF THE PROCESS, WE'LL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THE OUTCOMES OF SOME OF OUR POLICIES, WHETHER THEY BE LAND USE, WHETHER THEY BE PARKING, UM, WHETHER, WHETHER THEY BE RELATED TO CONNECTIVITY, CONNECTIVITY AND LOCAL MOBILITY FIRST LAST MILE TYPE IMPROVEMENTS, UM, WHICH WAS ALSO ON THAT CHART.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT GO INTO THAT.
UM, NON-FUNDING 50% THAT WE, THAT WE'RE DOING WELL.
BUT AGAIN, WE'LL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW THE DEMONSTRATED OUTCOMES OF THE ACTIONS.
COUNCIL MEMBER POOL AND COUNCIL MEMBER ALISON AL ALTER, I WANTED TO ADD TO THE CONVERSATION ABOUT DENSITY TO REMIND, UM, THE DIOCESE AND ALL OF US WHO ARE, UM, WORKING THROUGH ALL OF THE VARIOUS THREADS AND THE IMPORTANT PIECES THAT THE, UM, DISPLACEMENT DOLLARS STILL NEED TO BE BROUGHT INTO THIS EQUATION.
AND WE NEED TO BE COGNIZANT OF OUR TIMING IF WE ARE LOOKING AT CHANGING WHAT THE ZONING IS ON A PIECE OF LAND THAT COULD VERY WELL AND LIKELY WILL INCREASE THE COSTS.
BUT WE NEED TO FIRST, I THINK, AND THAT SAYS WHAT WE HAVE ON A POLICY LEVEL BEEN PROMISING, TAKE CARE OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING IN THOSE AREAS NOW AND WHO MAY BE DISPLACED SO THAT THEY DON'T LOSE THEIR HOMES.
SO I WOULD ASK THAT WE, WE KIND OF REMEMBER THAT AND FOCUS ON THAT, UM, AND, AND DO IT IN SEQUENCE SO THAT WE CAN GET THAT TAKEN CARE OF BEFORE WE MAY MOVE INTO, UH, TAKING SOME ACTIONS THAT WOULD IN TEND TO INCREASE THE VALUE OF, OF THE SOIL THAT WE'RE, THAT WE'RE FOCUSED ON.
IF THAT MAKES SENSE TO EVERYBODY.
COUNCILOR MORALE AND AL ALTER.
UM, I WANNA JUST REFLECT THAT FROM WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT TODS AND ETO TODS, JUST BECAUSE YOU DESIGNATE SOMETHING A T OD OR AN ETO O D DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU SOLVE THE MOBILITY ISSUES AND CREATE A SPACE WHERE MORE PEOPLE ARE USING TRANSIT AND GIVING UP THEIR CARS.
SO I THINK IT'S, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE, UM, BE INTENTIONAL HERE AND WE UNDERSTAND THAT UM, THERE'S NO GUARANTEE IF WE MOVE FORWARD WITH AN ETO D THAT IT'S ACTUALLY GONNA DO WHAT WE HOPE IT DOES.
THERE ARE VERY FEW OF THESE PROJECTS THAT ACTUALLY FUNCTION, UM, VERY OFTEN YOU END UP CREATING, UH, A LOT OF MARKET RATE HOUSING AND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THERE ARE STILL USING THEIR CARS.
UM, SO JUST AS WE, AS WE MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS PROCESS, I THINK WE HAVE TO KEEP THAT VERY MUCH IN MIND.
UM, WITH RESPECT TO, UM, THE MEMO, I WANTED TO JUST CLARIFY WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE EXISTING TODS.
SO WE HAVE NINE DESIGNATED TODS, UM, THREE OF WHICH THAT WERE CITED IN THERE.
AND IT DOESN'T SOUND WE'RE DOING VERY WELL ON THOSE MEASURES, WHICH IS THE IMPETUS FOR TRYING TO DO IT IN AN EQUITABLE WAY.
UM, BUT WHAT HAPPENS TO THE SIX TODS THAT HAVEN'T BEEN PLANNED, THAT WE HAVE BEEN LONG SAYING WE WANTED TO BE TODS? DO THEY BECOME ETO ODS NOW AND WHAT HAPPENS TO THE EXISTING THREE THAT HAVE GONE FURTHER IN THE PROCESS? YES, I'LL TACKLE THAT QUESTION.
UM, SO PART OF WHAT IS BEING RECOMMENDED AND THE RESOLUTION AS A CODE AMENDMENT WOULD BE TO GO AND LOOK AT THE EXISTING REGULATIONS THAT ARE CALLED THE INITIAL REGULATIONS THAT APPLY TO THAT SET OF NINE.
AND ACTUALLY IT'S SLIGHTLY LESS THAN NINE BECAUSE A FEW OF THEM JUST HAD POINTS ON A MAP AND DIDN'T EVER GET BOUNDARIES
[00:45:01]
THAT THE REGULATIONS APPLIED WITHIN.BUT STAFF IS PROPOSING AS PART OF THAT, A CODE AMENDMENT TO REALLY GO LOOK AT THOSE CODE PROVISIONS, UM, SEE IF THEY STILL MAKE SENSE, IF IT WILL STILL MAKE SENSE TO HAVE SORT OF A SEPARATE KIND OF SET OF TODS THAT HAVE ONE SET OF REGULATIONS AND ETOS THAT HAVE ANOTHER, OR IF IT MAKES SENSE TO REVISE THE REGULATIONS AND CONSOLIDATE THEM IN A WAY TO COVER THE ENTIRE PROJECT CONNECT SYSTEM.
SO THAT'S A PART OF WHAT'S BEING INITIATED WITH THE CODE AMENDMENT.
WITH RESPECT TO THE, THE THREE STATIONS THAT HAVE EXISTING AREA PLANS AND REGULATING PLANS IN PLACE, THOSE STATION AREA PLANS AND REGULATING PLANS WOULD ABSOLUTELY STAY ON THE GROUND UNTIL WE ARE AT A PLACE THAT WE'RE READY TO PROPOSE, UM, EITHER COURT OR BASED, UM, OR STATION BASED PLANNING SERVICES TO EITHER MODIFY THOSE PLANS THAT REPLACE THEM.
SO THAT'S A SLIGHTLY, THOSE ARE TWO SLIGHTLY SEPARATE, UM, DISCUSSIONS BECAUSE WE RECOGNIZE THAT THOSE, THOSE STATIONARY PLANS AND REGULATING PLANS HAD QUITE A BIT OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UM, INTEREST DESIRE AROUND THOSE PLANS.
UM, SO THAT WOULD BE, THAT WOULD BE KIND OF FUTURE STAGES AS WE MOVE TOWARDS DOING FOCUSED STATIONARY VISION PLANNING IN A PARTICULAR LOCATION, UM, TO LOOK AT HOW WE'D NEED TO MODIFY THOSE PLANS.
BUT FOR THE REG, THE, THE BASE INITIAL REGULATIONS THEMSELVES, UM, IN THE CODE TODAY, WE ARE PROPOSING WITH THIS RESOLUTION TO TAKE A LOOK AT THOSE IN CONCERT WITH THE PROPOSAL THAT WE HAVE TO DISCUSS INTERIM REGULATIONS THAT WOULD APPLY TO A LARGER SET OF STATIONS.
UM, AND FOR THE F FDA FUNDING PROCESS, OBVIOUSLY THE RAIL COSTS MORE THAN THE BUS RAPID TRANSIT.
SO WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT CHART, IS THAT LARGELY FOR RAIL OR HOW DO WE THINK ABOUT THAT? YOU KNOW, CUZ ONE OF, ONE OF THE CHOICES WE HAVE IS WHERE WE PUT OUR RESOURCES AND OUR PRIORITIZATION, EVEN IF WE HAVE A PLAN THAT SAYS YOU WANNA EVENTUALLY DO IT FOR EAD, THERE IS AN ARGUMENT I THINK TO BE MADE THAT YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON THE RAIL FIRST.
UM, BUT I, I JUST WANNA UNDERSTAND WHAT THE FDA PROCESS, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW MUCH OF THAT IS BASED ON WHAT WE DO WITH RAIL OR IS IT BOTH OR, OR HOW IS THAT WORKING? GO AHEAD.
UH, SO THE, THE SLIDE I HAD UP THERE IN THE PROCESS I WAS REFERRING TO WAS FOR THE NEW STARTS GRANT PROGRAM, WHICH IS FOR LIGHT RAIL.
THOSE ARE FOR THE LARGER, UH, TRANSIT INVESTMENTS.
UH, SOME OF THE METRO RAPID PROJECTS ACTUALLY RECENTLY RECEIVED SMALL STARTS GRANTS ALREADY.
AND THE PROCESS IS NOT, NOT DISSIMILAR, BUT MAYBE A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
SO, UH, THAT SLIDE WAS PRIMARILY REFERRING TO LIGHT RAIL.
SO THE, THE BUS ONES HAVE ALREADY GOTTEN THE, THE SMART START.
IT IS SMALLER, A SMALLER, UH, COST.
UM, THE EXPO CENTER AND PLEASANT VALLEY METRO, A RAPID PROJECTS HAVE RECEIVED THEIR FEDERAL FUNDING.
IN FACT, THE, UM, THE FEDERAL FDA ADMINISTRATOR WILL BE HERE, UM, THIS WEEKEND ON FRIDAY TO DO A CEREMONY FOR THAT SIGNING OF THAT GRANT AGREEMENT FOR VENTURE RAPID AND EXPO, WHICH IS VERY EXCITING.
WELL CONGRATULATIONS FOR THOSE WHO'VE BEEN WORKING ON THAT.
UM, THAT LEADS ME TO MY NEXT QUESTION, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, WITH TIMING AND STAFFING, AND I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'S THIS MEMO OR NOT, UM, I AM CONCERNED ABOUT WHETHER TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING WE DO NOTHING.
UM, WE'VE DONE THAT FOR MANY YEARS HERE.
UM, AND I THINK WE ALL AGREE AROUND THE RAIL STATIONS THAT, THAT WE SHOULD BE PUTTING THE, THE DENSITY IN THOSE AREAS.
HOW DOES THIS PLAN ALLOW FOR THAT FLEXIBILITY AND THAT PRIORITIZATION? SO WE HAVE A PLAN THAT HAS PRIORITIZATION WITHIN RAIL AND HAS A PRIORITIZATION WITHIN BUS, BUT HOW DOES IT HELP US PRIORITIZE ACROSS RAIL AND BUS IN HOW YOU'RE GONNA BE SPENDING YOUR TIME? WE KNOW THAT THE HOUSING PLANNING DEPARTMENT HAS LIMITED RESOURCES.
REALLY IMPORTANT PART OF THIS IS THE CONTEXT SENSITIVE NATURE OF THE PLANNING.
UM, BECAUSE THESE STATIONS ALL LOOK DIFFERENT.
I KNOW, YOU KNOW, THE FEW STATIONS THAT I HAVE IN MY DISTRICT, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE A, YOU'RE THEY'RE LITERALLY IN A FLOODPLAIN AND IT'S GONNA LOOK REALLY DIFFERENT THAN PLACES THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, BIG TRANSIT CENTERS IN TERMS OF THE PLANNING.
SO HOW ARE WE, HOW DO WE PRIORITIZE ACROSS RAIL AND BUS? AND THEN WE HAVE THE FACTOR THAT YOU BROUGHT UP EARLIER ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA BE MAKING SOME INVESTMENTS AND CHANGING SOME THINGS AND SOME THINGS MAYBE BUS RAPID UNTIL THEY BECOME RAIL.
HOW, HOW ARE WE THINKING ABOUT THAT PRIORITIZATION? BECAUSE YOU CANNOT DO A HUNDRED AND 180 STATIONS AT ONCE AND DO THEM IN THE CONTACT SENSITIVE WAY THAT THEY DESERVE AND THAT YOU'RE SAYING THEY SHOULD BE DONE.
I'LL START AND THEN I, AND THEN I'M GONNA PASS IT TO STEVIE WITH A, WITH A COUPLE OF, UM, SUGGESTIONS, UM, ON WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, AS WE WERE DISCUSSING THIS, UH, ALL WEEK, THE, THE, YOU KNOW, FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE PROJECT CONNECT OFFICE, UM, THE LIGHT RAIL STATIONS ARE DEFINITELY A PRIORITY GIVEN WHERE WE ARE IN THE C I G CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT GRANT PROCESS FOR NEW STARTS.
THEY'RE ABSOLUTELY A PRIORITY.
[00:50:01]
UM, WE CAN FOCUS EVEN MORE ON PRIORITIZATION OF THE STATIONS ONCE WE GO THROUGH OUR PUBLIC INPUT PROCESS AND PUBLIC COMMENT PROCESS ON THE SCENARIOS THAT STARTS MARCH 21ST, UM, THAT PROCESS.AND SO I WOULD, UM, PASS IT TO STEVIE TO TALK ABOUT THERE'S ONGOING, UH, PLANNING WORK AROUND TRANSIT THAT WOULD CONTINUE.
BUT I WOULD HOPE, UH, THAT THE COORDINATION THAT HAPPENS AND THE SYNCING UP OF FUTURE PLANNING WORK WITH THE RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE WOULD BE FOCUSED TO THE LIGHT RAIL STATIONS THAT ARE PART OF THE SCENARIOS THAT THE COMMUNITY, UM, HAS TOLD US ARE A PRIORITY.
YEAH, AND I'LL JUST ADD TO THAT, I THINK WHAT IS IN THE PROPOSAL THAT IS ON COUNCIL'S DI THIS WEEK REALLY CONSIDERS THE WORKLOAD IMPACTS OF THE WORK BY MOVING IN THE DIRECTION OF DEVELOPING THE EAD OVERLAY, WHICH WOULD NOT BE THE BE ALL AND END ALL LIKE THAT.
I WANT TO BE REALLY CLEAR, THE EAD OVERLAY IS A TOOL TO GET OUR SYSTEM PART OF THE WAY THERE.
IT IS NOT A BLANKET, YOU KNOW, REZONING OR REREGULATING OF THE ENTIRE SYSTEM CUZ WE KNOW WE CAN'T DO THAT.
BUT THAT TOOL AT LEAST ALLOWS US TO SHORE THINGS UP ON A SYSTEM-WIDE LEVEL SO THAT AS WE PUT FOCUSED RESOURCES INTO THOSE ACTUAL DETAILED STATIONARY OR COURT ORDER BASED PLANNING ACTIVITIES ALONG THE LINE, UM, WE AREN'T WAITING ACROSS THE ENTIRE SYSTEM FOR SOMETHING TO HAPPEN THAT THE EAD OVERLAY WOULD BE THE TOOL THAT KIND OF SHORES THINGS UP TEMPORARILY, UM, WITH THE PARTICULAR SET OF REGULATIONS.
AND THEN WE WOULD BE FOCUSING PLANNING RESOURCES.
OUR YEAR ONE WORK PROGRAM AT THIS POINT IS REALLY, UM, FOCUSED AROUND STATION AREAS THAT WE'VE ALREADY INITIATED.
SO NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER AND PARTNERSHIP WITH CAPITAL METRO, SOUTH CONGRESS TRANSIT CENTER AND PARTNERSHIP WITH CUP METRO.
WE'VE ALREADY ACTUALLY BEEN OUT WORKING IN COMMUNITY, UM, WITH, WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF CAPITAL METRO OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS ON STATION AREA PLANNING IN THOSE TWO LOCATIONS AS DIRECTED BY COUNSEL IN NOVEMBER.
AND THEN THE NORTHEAST AUSTIN DISTRICT PLAN, WHICH HAS ALREADY BEEN INITIATED AND HAS A LOT OF STATION AREAS WITHIN THAT PLANNING AREA, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE LEVERAGING THOSE RESOURCES.
BUT IN TERMS OF FUTURE YEARS OF PLANNING, WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, IN THE EAD POLICY PLAN FOR HOW TO PRIORITIZE STATIONS.
UM, THE WAY THAT WE WANNA PRIORITIZE STATIONS MAY, UM, DIFFER ONCE WE WORK WITH COMMUNITY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE INITIAL INVESTMENT IS MOVING FORWARD.
UM, THERE'S DEFINITELY THE OPPORTUNITY FOR COUNCIL TO PROVIDE DIRECTION ON WHAT THAT SORT OF YEAR TWO AND BEYOND WORK PROGRAM LOOK LIKE, UM, OR TO ADD ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO TRY TO SHIFT IT AHEAD TO, TO BE A YEAR ONE WORK PROGRAM.
BUT I DEFINITELY, YOU KNOW, HEAR THE, THE, THE CONCERNS ABOUT RESOURCES.
UM, AND THAT'S REALLY THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN AND THE REASON WHY THERE IS THE RECOMMENDATION TO PUT IN PLACE THE UNARMED REGULATIONS AND TO PUT IN PLACE THE EAD OVERLAY AT A SYSTEM-WIDE LEVEL IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE SOMETHING IN PLACE WHILE WE WORK.
WE ARE WORKING TOWARDS ALLOCATING PLANNING RESOURCES TO DO THE MORE SPECIFIC FOCUS PLANNING IN THE COURT ORDERS THAT NEED IT.
I'D LOVE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THE YOU UTAH OVERLAY, BUT, BUT I WANNA PAUSE HERE AND JUST, UM, SPEAK TO THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER HERE.
I DON'T THINK THIS PLAN TELLS US, US THAT WE'RE PRIORITIZING RAIL OVER BUS.
UM, I, YOU KNOW, I UNDERSTAND, I DON'T, I'M NOT SURE I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GONNA BE IN THAT
I MEAN IT'S THE, HOW WE WORD THAT OR HOW WE PUT INTO THIS RESOLUTION COMMENTS OR, OR, UH, SENTENCE OR TWO OR WHEREAS I THINK THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL SO THAT WE HAVE THAT CLEAR DIRECTION FROM THE COUNCIL THAT, THAT THAT'S NOT JUST FROM THE DISCUSSION TODAY, BUT THAT'S KIND OF FROM THE HISTORY.
THAT'S WHAT WE WANT TO GET DONE OR GET IT ACHIEVED.
YEAH, I MEAN, AND THAT'S PROB I JUST WANNA, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GONNA COME OUT ON THE, ON MARCH 21ST, SO THAT WOULD BROADLY RIGHT.
YOU KNOW, THERE MAY BE SOME STATIONS THAT ARE TRANSITIONING FROM V R T TO RAIL AND THOSE MIGHT BE TREATED DIFFERENTLY, BUT I JUST, I THINK THAT THE WORRY IS THAT, THAT WE'RE GONNA SPEND TIME, YOU KNOW, ON TRANSIT STATIONS ON LAMAR THAT ARE IN A FLOOD PLANE VERSUS DOING THEM ON THE RAIL, YOU KNOW, IN THE RAIL, UM, CENTERS, ET CETERA.
WELL I THINK THAT, I MEAN, HERE'S WHAT I'VE HEARD IS THAT WE, WE NEED BETTER DEFINITION AROUND EACH OF THESE, UH, TOOLS AND TRANSIT, UH, UH, MODES.
[00:55:01]
HAVE THAT AND IF, UH, WE NEED TO EMPHASIZE THAT THE RAIL IS THE PRIORITY, THEN THAT, THAT'LL BE EASY FOR US TO DO.AND, UH, AND THAT'S WHERE OUR, I MEAN, THAT'S WHERE WE'LL FOCUS OUR WORK AND THEN TO THE DEGREE THAT, TO DO THAT, TO THE DEGREE THAT WE DON'T END, END UP COMPROMISE ANY OF THE, THE GRANT PROCESS FOR, UH, THE FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION ADMINISTRATION TO AWARD TO US.
YEAH, THAT WOULD BE, THAT WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
MAY I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE EAD OVERLAY, BUT I CAN WAIT IF OTHER YES, MAYOR TIM.
IT'S A BIT OF INTERESTING CONVERSATION ABOUT PRIORITIZATION.
UM, THE OAK HILL METRO RAPID WAS VERY, VERY EARLY TO BE IDENTIFIED AS BEHIND THE MARK FOR LAND USE PLANNING.
UM, SOME OF THE OTHER METRO RAPIDS WERE ABLE TO GET OUT THE DOOR, UM, AND HAVE DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
AND THE OAK HILL LINE IS, IS STILL NOT QUITE UP TO THAT LEVEL OF, OF BEING ABLE TO HAVE THE IS THAT'S NOT, IT'S NOT SCORING HIGH ENOUGH.
UM, SO I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT, EVEN THOUGH WE KNOW THAT THE, THE RAIL LINES ARE GOING TO HAVE HIGHER RIDERSHIP, THEY'RE GONNA HAVE DIFFERENT LAND USE PATTERNS THAT ARE NEEDED BECAUSE OF THE PROXIMITY AND THE POPULATION SERVED.
BUT WE CANNOT FORGET ABOUT THAT PINNACLE CAMPUS THAT PARK AND RIDE.
YOU KNOW, WE IN SOUTHWEST AUSTIN HAVE I THINK FOUR BUS ROUTES.
AND THE ONE NEAR ME RUNS EVERY 35 MINUTES.
SO IF WE'RE GONNA GET SERIOUS ABOUT PEOPLE BEING ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MODE SHIFT GOAL, WE CAN'T FORGET ABOUT SOME OF THE ONES THAT ARE WAY FARTHER BEHIND.
SO I UNDERSTAND IF THERE'S CERTAIN NUANCES AROUND FLOODPLAINS OR THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT ALL THOSE TRACKS OF LAND HEADING OUT TO THE PINNACLE CAMPUS, THEY PREDATE SOS THEY NEED TO, THEY NEED TO HAVE THEIR PARKING LOTS TAKEN OUT, THEIR END-TO-END CONCRETE.
THEIR, UM, THEY DON'T HAVE STORMWATER CONTROLS, A LOT OF THEM.
AND SO I'M JUST REALLY WORRIED THAT IF WE TRY TO GET THE REST OF THE PLAN RIGHT BEFORE WE START TALKING ABOUT WHAT LAND USE PATTERNS NEED TO BE HAPPENING AT THE METRO RAPID FOR SOUTHWEST AUSTIN, WE'RE GONNA ENTIRELY MISS THE BOAT.
SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS IN A WAY OF ALL PARTS OF THIS COMMUNITY, YOU KNOW, PARTICIPATE IN PROJECT CONNECT, THEY PAY INTO THE, THE TRE THAT VOTERS APPROVED.
AND I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE NOT GONNA END UP AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST SIMPLY BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF, UM, RIDERSHIP RIGHT NOW.
WE NEED TO BE MAKING MORE EFFORTS TO, TO ENCOURAGE RIDERSHIP IN SOUTHWEST AUSTIN.
AND I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT OAK HILL IS NOT FORGOTTEN.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON THAT OR IF THAT'S MORE OF A STUMP SPEECH, BUT
AND THE THREE FACTORS WERE SORT OF THE PRESENCE OF PUBLICLY OWNED LAND, THE AMOUNT OF RECENT SORT OF CHANGE IN CHURN THAT WE'RE SEEING IN THAT LOCATION, UM, IN BOTH IN POPULATION OR, AND EMPLOYMENT.
AS WELL AS, UM, LOOKING AT SOME ECONOMIC REAL ESTATE METRICS RELATED TO IMPROVEMENT VALUE TO LAND RATIO TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW LIKELY THAT PLACE IS TO REDEVELOP IN THE NEXT NEAR TERM TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE GET GETTING PLANNING AHEAD OF THAT.
SO THAT WAS THE PRIORITIZATION METHOD THAT THAT STAFF USE TO KIND OF IDENTIFY, UM, A RANKED LIST, IF YOU WILL, OF WHERE WE WOULD RECOMMEND SERVICES MOVE FIRST.
BUT WE CAN DEFINITELY LOOK AT ADDING ADDITIONAL CRITERIA TO THAT AND WE CAN DEFINITELY LOOK AT ADDING ADDITIONAL DIRECTION THROUGH THE RESOLUTION ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.
UM, AND I GUESS THAT THAT IS A RESPONSE TO, TO YOUR QUESTION, MAYOR PRO TIM, AND THAT THAT WAS REALLY LOOKING AT IT NEUTRAL TO WHETHER IT WAS RAIL OR RAPID BUS.
SO WE WERE LOOKING AT THE FULL SYSTEM WITH THAT ANALYSIS.
YEAH, I APPRECIATE, I KNOW THAT CENTRAL PART OF THE DISTRICT IS WHERE A LOT OF THE MARKET RATE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS AND I KNOW WITH THE, UH, A C BOND WHERE THEY INCLUDED DOLLARS FOR REDEVELOPMENT OF THE PINNACLE CAMPUS, I REALLY WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE, YOU KNOW, WE ARE THINKING WAY AHEAD OF THE GAME HERE CUZ THINGS COULD REDEVELOP AT SOME POINT.
UM, AND WE WILL HAVE MISSED THE BOAT AND LOST OUR CHANCE AT GETTING MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING INTO THAT CENTRAL PART OF MY DISTRICT.
I WANTED TO ADD ON TO WHAT MY COLLEAGUE MAYOR PROTE ALICE IS SAYING, INCLUDING, UM, OUR WORK TOGETHER, WHICH YOU ARE NEWLY APPOINTED TO CAP METRO, WHICH I'M REALLY GLAD ABOUT.
UM, MAYBE WE CAN WORK TOGETHER WITH THE SERVICE, THE ROUTE, UM, DISTRIBUTION WITH CAT METRO TO, UM, ANALYZE THAT AND SEE IF THERE'S WAYS THAT WE CAN SEND MORE BUSES TO THAT PART OF THE CITY.
AND THEN ALSO I'D BE CURIOUS TO KNOW IF ANY OF THE, UM, UH, IS IT THE, THAT START GRANT, THE SMART GRANT, SMALL SMALL START GRANT, UM, MIGHT BE APPROPRIATE FOR THE SOUTHWEST PART OF THE CITY.
JUST ASKING, WE'VE GOTTEN GRANTS FOR THE NORTHEAST DISTRICT, WE GOT $600,000 FOR THAT, UM, UH, PLANNING EFFORT AND WE GOT ALMOST A MILLION FOR THE BLUE AND ORANGE
[01:00:01]
LINE.SO THERE, THERE'S FUNDING OUT THERE AND PERHAPS YOU'RE PART OF THE CITY, UM, WE COULD DO SOME FOCUS ON.
AND ANY GUIDANCE YOU HAVE TO LEND ME ON BETTER ADVOCATING FOR OUR BUS ROUTES, EVEN THE REGULAR ONES IN SOUTHWEST AUSTIN.
BUT, UM, YEAH, I KNOW THAT, UM, THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO WANNA RIDE THE BUS AND THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE EXCITED FOR METRO RAPID AND I WANNA HELP MAKE THAT VISION A REALITY.
COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN AL ALTER AND THEN COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTAR.
I'M CURIOUS AT A MORE FUNDAMENTAL LEVEL, AS Y'ALL ARE PLANNING FORWARD, WHAT DO YOU ENVISION COMING FIRST THE INFRASTRUCTURE, THE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE, AND THEN THE HOUSING AND DEVELOPMENT THAT SUPPORT THAT OR VICE VERSA WHERE WE WE GET THE HOUSING AND, AND THAT OTHER, UM, DEVELOPMENT AND THEN BRING THE TRANSPORTATION TO IT.
YOU KNOW, I HEAR WE TALKING ABOUT THE NORTHEAST BUS RAPID AND IT SEEMS LIKE WE'RE DOING MORE OF THE FORMER, WE'RE BRINGING THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THEN DEVELOPING AROUND IT.
BUT I'M WONDERING, ARE WE, IT, IT SEEMS LIKE WE'LL ALWAYS BE PLAYING CATCH UP, RIGHT? WE'LL BE YEARS BEHIND IF WE, IF WE BRING A STATION AND THEN ZONE AND THEN ALLOW IT TO GO THROUGH THE, THE PROCESS TO DEVELOP, YOU KNOW, WE'LL BE MANY YEARS BEHIND IN TERMS OF ACTUALLY UTILIZING THE INVESTMENTS.
I'M, I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW Y'ALL ENVISION THAT.
YEAH, AND I JUST SAY I THINK IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF THE REALITY IS A LITTLE BIT OF BOTH THE IDEAL, WHICH NOBODY IS EVER GONNA HIT IN ANY CITY IN THE HISTORY OF CITIES WOULD BE, I THINK TO HAVE THE LAND USES IN PLACE, BUT AL LIKE THE DAY THAT THROUGH TRANSIT OPENS, RIGHT? BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT A LAG TIME.
YOU DON'T WANT THE, YOU DON'T WANT HIGH INTENSITY, DENSE, WALKABLE DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT ANY WAY TO GET THERE, WITHOUT A CAR.
UM, AND THE LONGER THAT LAG TIME IS THE LONGER THAT'S THE CASE, RIGHT? SO, YOU KNOW, IN AN IDEAL UNIVERSE YOU WOULD HAVE THE LAND USES AND THEN THE TRANSIT, BUT WITH THE, YOU KNOW, A VERY LITTLE LAG TIME.
UM, IN REALITY IT'S GONNA BE COMING ONLINE SIMULTANEOUSLY AND IN SOME CASES THERE WILL BE DEVELOPMENT THAT HAPPENS YEARS LATER.
WELL I WOULD, I WOULD RECOMMEND ING ON THE SIDE OF DEVELOPMENT A LITTLE EARLIER, GIVEN HOW THAT HAS BEEN A GREAT CHALLENGE AND, AND IS MUCH, IS OFTEN SLOWER THAN WE THINK IT'S GOING TO BE GIVEN SOME OF THE OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE SIDE OF THINGS.
SO THAT MAYBE WE DO END UP ACTUALLY HAVING THEM LINE UP BECAUSE OF THAT CHALLENGE AND WHERE WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO INFLUENCE THAT.
UM, THAT'S WITH PUBLICLY OWNED LAND, THAT'S WITH OUR ABILITY TO ACQUIRE PROPERTY, UH, ALONG THE AREAS OR ALONG THE TRANSIT, THE STATION AREAS.
UM, I, I, I THINK IDEALLY WE WOULD BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
UM, AND THAT IS ONE OF THE GOALS WE'RE PURSUING AND THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER JUST COMMITTED TO FIXING THE PERMIT PROCESS TOMORROW.
MAY YOU'RE WORKING LATE TONIGHT.
COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON AND I, I THINK, I'M SORRY, MAYOR.
I THINK, UM, MS. PINE WANTED TO ADD SOMETHING ON THAT.
IF YOU INDULGE ME JUST TO ONE OTHER THING ON THAT, UH, JUST LOOKING AT OTHER CITIES REALLY ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHEN THEY'VE PLANNED AND BUILT NEW LIGHT RAIL SYSTEMS, UM, YOU KNOW, ONE THING ABOUT LIGHT RAILS ONCE YOU LOCATE IT, LIKE IT DOES NOT MOVE AT LEAST NOT VERY EASILY.
AND THUS THE WORD FIXED RAIL, THUS THE WORD FIXED.
UM, AND I'M LEARNING SO MUCH
UM, AND, UM, KIND OF SOME LESSONS LEARNED OR THAT YOU ALMOST CAN'T PLAN FOR IT TOO EARLY OR OTHERWISE YOU CAN'T CONTROL IT OR, YOU KNOW, YOU KIND OF LOST YOUR OPPORTUNITY.
COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON AL ALTER AND
UM, FIRST I WANNA JUST RESPOND TO MAYOR PROAM ELLIS'S COMMENTS ON OAK HILL.
AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT CONTEXT AND, AND YOU KNOW, THE, THE GOVERNMENT INVESTMENTS THAT ARE BEING IN MADE IN THAT AREA.
MY INITIAL QUESTION WAS HOW ARE WE PRIORITIZING ACROSS THE TWO? BECAUSE WE HAVE A PRIORITIZATION FOR ONE AND A PRIORITIZATION FOR THE OTHER.
UM, YOU KNOW, AND I JUST LOOKED AT IT AND O OKAY IS IS LISTED AMONG THE HIGH PRIORITIES FOR B R T AND SO, SO MAYBE SOME COMBINATION.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT ANSWER IS FOR THE PRIORITIZATION, BUT WE DO HAVE TO HAVE SOME PRIORITIZATION AND I THINK WE, WE, WE GIVE FOLKS AN IMPRESSION THAT WE'RE DOING SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE LIMITED RESOURCES, LET'S MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE SPENDING THOSE IN THE, IN THE BEST PLACES.
BUT I CAN'T TELL FROM HAVING TWO SEPARATE ONES WHERE THAT SHOULD BE, OR TO GUIDE PEOPLE TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND WHEN WE WOULD BE DOING THAT.
SO I THINK SOME CLARIFICATION OF HOW WE WOULD DO THAT, UM, WOULD BE, WOULD BE IMPORTANT.
CUZ OBVIOUSLY THE METRO RAPIDS ARE IMPORTANT, UM, BUT THEY ARE STILL A DIFFERENT ANIMAL WITH RESPECT TO THE FDA, UM, PROCESS THAT WE'RE, THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
[01:05:01]
MY OTHER QUESTION HAD TO DO WITH THE EAD OVERLAY.UM, SO YOU MENTIONED THAT, YOU KNOW, PART OF WHAT WE WERE DOING WAS TO CREATE THIS EAD OVERLAY SO WE WOULDN'T BE ABSENT REGULATION IN THESE AREAS, UM, WITHOUT, YOU KNOW, BEFORE WE DID THE, THE SMALL AREA PLANNING.
UM, BUT THAT CONCEPT IS STILL VERY VAGUE AND I THINK IT IS CAUSING, UM, CONCERN IN THE COMMUNITY AND IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO HAVE, UM, SOME CLARIFICATION CUZ I THINK IT'S ONE OF THESE, LIKE, THIS IS A ZONING JARGON THAT NOBODY UNDERSTANDS.
AND ON THE FACE OF IT SOUNDS, SOUNDS VERY SCARY, BUT IT'S NOT CLEAR WHAT, WHAT IT, WHAT THE SCOPE OF THAT IS AND WHETHER, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING LIKE REZONING SINGLE FAMILY HOMES IS IN THAT OVERLAY OR, YOU KNOW, WHAT EXACTLY ARE THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT COULD GO IN THAT OVERLAY AS YOU ENVISION IT.
THE, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT THE EXISTING T OD OVERLAY IS FAIRLY MINIMAL IN TERMS OF THE BASICS THAT ARE IN THAT.
UM, SO IT'D BE ALSO BE HELPFUL IF YOU COULD PROVIDE SOME INSIGHT ON HOW THAT WOULD COMPARE.
SO I'M, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD OR ROSIE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY? NO, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY WARNER AND STEVE, YOU'RE GONNA MAKE IT NOT SCARY
SO I'M GONNA SORT OF PROVIDE VERY HIGH LEVEL, UM, WHAT'S BEING RECOMMENDED BY THE RESOLUTION AND THEN TURN IT OVER TO WARNER TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT THE PLAN ACTUALLY DESCRIBES AS A POSSIBLE EAD OVERLAY.
CUZ IT WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE REALLY TALKING ABOUT IS SORT OF BASED ON THE, THE PLAN DOCUMENT ITSELF AND THE TOOLKIT, UM, THE TOOL THAT'S IN THERE.
BUT WHAT IS, WHAT'S, UM, ENVISIONED AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL BASED ON THE RESOLUTION IS THAT WE WOULD IDENTIFY AN APPROPRIATE BOUNDARY.
SO WE WOULD HAVE TO DO BOUNDARY SETTING, UM, AT THE STATION AREAS, AND WITHIN THAT BOUNDARY IT WOULD APPLY A SET OF REGULATIONS THAT A PROPERTY OWNER COULD CHOOSE TO OPT INTO.
SO THE BASE ZONE REGULATIONS WOULD STILL BE IN EFFECT, BUT THE PROPERTY OWNER SIMILAR TO BUT NOT THE SAME AS VMU.
AND SIMILAR TO, BUT NOT THE SAME AS THE UNO OVERLAY BECAUSE THAT'S THE, THE DETAILS ARE WHAT STILL NEED TO BE DEVELOPED.
AND WHAT I'M GONNA HAVE WARNER TALK ABOUT, UM, THE PROPERTY OWNER WOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE THE CHOICE TO EITHER DEVELOP UNDER THE BASE ZONE ENTITLEMENTS OR PROVIDE COMMUNITY BENEFITS IN EXCHANGE FOR ADDITIONAL ENTITLEMENTS.
UM, AND THOSE COMMUNITY BENEFITS COULD BE A VARIETY OF THINGS.
THEY WOULD PROBABLY DEFINITELY INCLUDE HOUSING AFFORDABILITY, BUT THERE ARE OTHER COMMUNITY BENEFITS THAT WE MIGHT LOOK AT BASED ON THE DIRECTION FROM THE COMMUNITY AND THE E UTAH PLAN.
THOSE ENTITLEMENTS THAT THEY WOULD BE TRADING COMMUNITY BENEFITS FOR COULD BE THINGS LIKE HEIGHT AND FLU RATIO.
UM, BUT THE, THE LEVEL THAT WE'RE SETTING THOSE TRADE-OFFS AT IS NOT BEING SET.
THIS IS REALLY THE, AT THIS POINT, THEY WOULD BE SET IN THE CODE AMENDMENT THAT WOULD ULTIMATELY COME BACK TO COUNCIL TO HAVE A CONVERSATION AROUND.
BUT AT THIS POINT, THE INITIATION WOULD BE TO HAVE THE COMMUNITY DIALOGUE TO LOOK AT THE BEST PRACTICES TO LOOK AT, UM, THE CALIBRATION OF THE MARKET AND WHAT THE MARKET WILL ACTUALLY DELIVER IN ORDER TO PROPOSE BOTH THE BOUNDARIES AND THE REGULATIONS THAT WOULD APPLY.
UM, THOSE REGULATIONS COULD ALSO INCLUDE REGULATIONS AROUND PRESERVATION AND AROUND TENANT PROTECTIONS.
IF, IF WE APPLIED THAT OVERLAY TO SAY AN EXISTING, UM, DEVELOPMENT THAT INCLUDED HOUSING AND IT SIMILAR TO WHAT WE DID WITH THE VMU TWO LAST YEAR, UM, WHERE WE'VE PUT IN PLACE SOME PRETTY HEAVY DUTY PRESERVATION AS PART OF THAT TOOL, UM, WE ARE REFERENCING A TOOL THAT WAS DEVELOPED, UM, IN THE TOOLKIT THAT CAPITAL METRO AND THEIR CONSULTANT TEAM AND PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY DELIVERED THAT DESCRIBES IT A LITTLE BIT MORE.
AND I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO WARNER TO KIND OF PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL DETAIL THAT, UM, MAY BE IN THE PLAN AND AT LEAST TO TELL YOU A PAGE NUMBER TO LOOK ON
YEAH, I CAN DEFINITELY GIVE A PAGE NUMBER.
UM, A 58 AND 59 IS KIND OF WHERE WE LAY OUT THIS IDEA OF AN OVERLAY FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
I THINK STEVIE DID A GREAT JOB OF EXPLAINING THE, THE EXTENT OF WHAT WE KNOW, BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW YET WHAT THOSE BONUSES SHOULD BE.
WE, WE KNOW THAT WE'VE HEARD ABOUT THINGS LIKE CHILDCARE AND ABOUT, UH, AFFORDABLE NONPROFIT SPACE AND OF COURSE AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
SO WE KNOW THAT THERE'S LIKE A REALM OF COMMUNITY BENEFITS, BUT WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHICH ONES ARE MOST APPROPRIATE, WHERE WHAT THE COMMUNITY IS INTERESTED IN.
WE ALSO NEED TO THINK ABOUT WHAT ADDITIONAL ENTITLEMENTS COULD BE OFFERED IN EXCHANGE FOR THOSE BENEFITS WHERE THEY ACTUALLY GET BUILT.
YOU KNOW, FOR INSTANCE, THE PLAN TALKS ABOUT, UH, THE CURRENT FIEN LUU PART OF A LOT OF OUR PROGRAMS MAYBE ISN'T NECESSARILY CALIBRATED, RIGHT? SO THAT'S AN IMPORTANT ASPECT.
WE'D NEED TO THINK ABOUT WHETHER A FI AND LUU WAS EVEN ALLOWED.
UM, AND THEN AS STEVIE SAID, THE HALF MILE KIND OF PLANNING BOUNDARY, THE CIRCLE, UH, WE DON'T ENVISION THAT THAT'S A, THAT'S WHERE THE OVERLAY EXACTLY APPLIES IN THE FUTURE.
WE NEED TO WORK WITH COMMUNITY TO FIGURE OUT WHERE IT APPLIES.
[01:10:01]
MIGHT BE CERTAIN TYPES OF PROPERTY IT DOES AND DOESN'T APPLY TO AS FAR AS EXISTING USES, UH, IT MIGHT APPLY TO ALL, BUT THERE BE DIFFERENT KIND OF LIKE SUB LEVELS IN THERE.OR AS STEVIE SAID, PRESERVATION LEVELS.
YOU KNOW, THESE ARE JUST THINGS THAT WE'VE LOOKED AT FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND AND HEARD DURING OUR FEEDBACK.
UM, BUT WE'RE NOT YET AT ALL SURE WHAT THEY WOULD BE BECAUSE WE NEED TO TALK WITH OUR COMMUNITY.
WE NEED TO TALK WITH OUR PARTNERS, WE NEED TO TALK WITH DEVELOPERS OF PRIVATE, PUBLIC, AND NONPROFIT, UM, SO THAT WE CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT WOULD MAKE SENSE, UH, IN ONE TYPOLOGY OR ON A RAPID VERSUS A RAIL STATION.
THAT'S A, THAT'S ANOTHER FACTOR WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT AS WELL.
UM, CAN YOU ALSO SPEAK TO THE VALUE CAPTURE IDEAS THAT YOU HAVE RECENTLY BEEN LEARNING MORE ABOUT SOME OF THE OTHER CITIES AND HOW, UM, THEY'RE USING THAT IN TEXAS TO GET AFFORDABLE HOUSING, WHICH WE HAVE NOT REALLY SUCCESSFULLY BEEN DOING.
UM, CAN YOU SPEAK TO HOW YOU'RE ENVISIONING THAT PART WORKING, UM, AND WHEN THAT WOULD HAPPEN IN THIS PROCESS? BECAUSE IT'S SORT OF, THE SOONER THAT HAPPENS, THE MORE MONEY YOU HAVE.
UM, AND AS I UNDERSTAND IT, IF WE WANT TO MAKE THE ETO ODS IS SUCCESSFUL, WE HAVE TO, WE HAVE TO BE, UM, SHAPING THEM.
AND THE VALUE CAPTURE IS REALLY ONE OF THE SHAPE WAYS THAT THAT'S BEING DONE IN REALLY DIFFERENT WAYS IN OTHER CITIES THAN HOW WE'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT IT.
SO I, WHEN WE SAY VALUE CAPTURE, AT LEAST FROM LIKE HEARD IT KIND OF DESCRIBED THIS WAY AT PLANNING CONFERENCES LATELY, THAT INCLUDES THINGS LIKE TRADING ENTITLEMENTS FOR COMMUNITY BENEFITS.
BUT ARE YOU, OR SO ARE YOU SPEAKING GENERAL? I'M TALKING ABOUT LIKE GENERAL YOU SPEAKING LIKES.
I'M TALKING ABOUT LIKE A, A TIF OR A TURS.
UM, UM, SO WE HAVE DEFINITELY THERE IS, THERE ARE TOOLS RELATED TO KIND OF INNOVATIVE GAP FINANCING THAT ARE LISTED IN THE TOOLKIT, UM, WITH THE DESCRIPTION AND, AND TIFT, HERS IS NOT THE ONLY INNOVATIVE FINANCING KIND OF GAP FINANCING TOOL OUT THERE.
THERE'S ALSO SOME, UM, ROTATING LOAN FUNDS THROUGH THE BUILD AMERICA, UM, GRANT PROGRAM THAT WE'VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT RECENTLY.
UM, AND I THINK THE PLAN IS TO KIND OF CONTINUE HAVING CONVERSATIONS, UM, WITH OUR PARTNERS IN THE FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT AND WITH OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS INCLUDING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND AEDC THAT DO THIS KIND OF, UM, COMMUN THIS KIND OF WORK TO PROVIDE THAT SORT OF LAYERED CAPITAL AND FIGURE OUT VALUE CAPTURE, UM, TO IDENTIFY WHETHER THERE ARE STATIONS THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE FOR THOSE TOOLS.
UM, AT THIS POINT, I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, I AM NOT THE, I AM NOT THE EXPERT ON, UM, TAX INCREMENT FINANCE.
UM, I DO KNOW THAT OUR FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT HAS, UM, SOME FISCAL POLICIES IN PLACE THAT ARE IN PLACE FOR VERY GOOD REASONS TO KEEP US, UM, SOLID AND SOLVENT AS A CITY.
AND SO THE CONVERSATIONS WILL NEED TO INCLUDE THE FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT, BUT WE HAVE HAD THE INITIAL CONVERSATIONS AS PART OF THE WORK TO DEVELOP THE TOOLKIT, UM, AND ENVISION THOSE CONVERSATIONS WILL CONTINUE.
DID YOU WANNA ANSWER? NO, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, I MEAN, WE'RE HAPPY IF THERE ARE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS THAT YOU WANNA SUBMIT, UM, THROUGH Q AND A.
WE'RE HAPPY TO WORK WITH FSD TO TRY TO GET THOSE ANSWERED BEFORE THE THURSDAY MEETING.
YEAH, I DON'T KNOW THAT THEY NEED TO BE IN THE PLAN FOR THIS WEEK AS MUCH AS I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE REALLY LOOKING AT THOSE SERIOUSLY BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, THERE YOU HAVE LIMITED TIME MM-HMM.
THAT IF WE WAIT THREE YEARS TO DO, IT'S GONNA BE PROBLEMATIC TO BE ABLE TO LEVERAGE IT TO ACTUALLY, UM, ACCOMPLISH ANY OF THOSE GOALS THAT WE'RE GUIDING THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN FROM A MONEY, MONEY STANDPOINT.
COUNCIL, AND THIS QUESTION IS FROM, UH, MS. PINE.
UH, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WE'RE PLANNING ON ABOUT A 50% FEDERAL GRANT MATCH FROM THE GOVERNMENT.
THAT'S OUR CURRENT ASSUMPTION THAT WE'RE COMFORTABLE WITH.
AND, BUT WE'RE NOT GUARANTEED BY ANY MEANS TO GET THAT 50%.
WHAT ARE THE RANGES OF, OF FEDERAL KIND OF SHARES THAT YOU'VE SEEN OUT WITH THE THE NEW STARTS, UH, PROJECTS? UM, SO YOU'RE RIGHT THAT IT'S NOT GUARANTEED.
I WOULD SAY IT'S NOT GUARANTEED TILL WE SIGN THE GRANT AGREEMENT REALLY.
BUT, UM, UH, 50% HAS BEEN A PRETTY, UM, REASONABLE ASSUMPTION FOR MOST PROJECTS OF THIS SORT.
IT REALLY VARIES A LOT DEPENDING ON CONDITIONS.
UM, I HAVEN'T SEEN TOO MANY HIGHER THAN 50% LATELY, BUT, UH, IT'S INTERESTING THAT THERE'S ACTUALLY QUITE A BIT OF FUNDING FOR TRANSIT PROJECTS RIGHT NOW IN DC SO, UM, IT'LL, WE'RE KIND OF TRACKING THAT TO SEE HOW THINGS CHANGE.
UM, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY WHAT PERCENTAGE YOU END UP WITH IS DEPENDENT ON THE MERITS OF THE PROJECT CERTAINLY, BUT ALSO OTHER THINGS, UH, LIKE, UH, THE, THE NATURE OF THE CONGRESSIONAL APPROPRIATIONS AND WHAT ARE THE OTHER PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE THAT YOU'RE COMPETING AGAINST.
SO NOT ALL THINGS THAT ARE IN YOUR
[01:15:01]
CONTROL.UM, YOU KNOW, THE LAND USE POLICY ASPECT IS ONE OF THOSE AREAS THAT IS ACTUALLY IS WITHIN YOUR CONTROL INFLUENCE AND, AND I, UH, I I APPRECIATE THAT.
AND, AND IF, UH, THAT CHART THAT YOU WERE SHOWING WITH, UH, DIFFERENT KIND OF THE SCORING OF METRICS, UH, I MEAN LAND USE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS, WERE ALL ON THERE AT 16, 16 AND 16.
I MEAN, SO JUST BY MY, JUST EYEBALLING THAT CHART, YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE GOOD LAND USE, THEN THAT'S GOOD, UH, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND THAT ALSO PRODUCES GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL OUTCOMES.
SO, UH, I I I JUST WANTED TO REALLY EMPHASIZE THAT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, WE DON'T HAVE, YOU KNOW, HARD NUMBERS ON, ON WHAT THIS WHOLE PROJECT IS GONNA COST, UH, YET, BUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIKE A, YOU KNOW, 45% MATCH AND A 50% MATCH OR A 55% MATCH, I MEAN, THAT COULD BE IN THE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
IS THAT CORRECT? YES, IT CERTAINLY COULD BE.
SO I, I JUST REALLY WANNA EMPHASIZE THAT POINT, BECAUSE WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW IN OUR E T O D POLICY COULD, YOU KNOW, BRING US HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
AND AGAIN, I MEAN, THAT COULD MEAN, YOU KNOW, AN EXTRA STATION, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? THAT COULD, THAT, THAT AFFECTS THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT AND HOW MUCH WE CAN BUILD IN ALL OF THAT.
SO I, I, I JUST REALLY WANT TO, UH, TO EMPHASIZE THAT WHAT'S A GOOD, AND I KNOW YOU ALL HAVE TO GO IN ABOUT LIKE FIVE MINUTES OR SO.
UM, BUT WHAT'S A GOOD EXAMPLE OF LIGHT RAIL LAND USE PLANNING? LIKE WHAT OTHER CITIES WOULD YOU LOOK TO AND SAY THEY DID A GOOD JOB WITH THEIR NEW STARTS PLAN? UH, WELL, THAT'S A TOUGH ONE.
UM, I THINK, UH, BECAUSE A LOT OF IT HAS TO DO WITH INTENTIONALITY, RIGHT? THAT YOU ARE, UM, PUTTING A POLICY IN PLACE TO SUPPORT, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE, THESE ARE MUTUALLY REINFORCING INVESTMENTS IN POLICIES, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN THE TRANSIT INVESTMENT, LAND USE, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, PARKING, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THESE FACTORS.
UM, SO I THINK THE CITIES THAT HAVE BEEN MOST SUCCESSFUL HAVE HAD THAT KIND OF A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW ON HOW IT ALL FITS TOGETHER, UM, AND HAVE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF TENDED TOWARDS ACTION.
UM, YOU KIND OF MOVED THROUGH THE, THE PROCESS SO THAT, UM, AND JUST IN TERMS OF BEING COMPETITIVE FOR FEDERAL FUNDS, THAT'S ALL PART OF, UM, EVERYTHING THAT YOU'RE DOING TO POSITION THE PROJECT TO BE MOST SUCCESSFUL.
AND, AND JUST A COUPLE OF QUICK, YOU KNOW, COMMENTS REALLY, BUT I, I REALLY APPRECIATE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, ALLISON ALT ALTER'S, UH, COMMENTS BOTH ABOUT, UM, PRIORITIZING THE LIGHT RAIL PLANNING, UH, AS OPPOSED TO, AGAIN, I MEAN, IT'S ALL IMPORTANT, BUT THE LIGHT RAIL PLANNING INVOLVES BRINGING DOWN, YOU KNOW, BILLIONS, YOU KNOW, IN FEDERAL DOLLARS.
UH, AND THE LIGHT RAIL PLANNING IS REALLY, HAS A POTENTIAL TO BE TRANSFORMATIVE.
SO MY, MY SENSE WOULD BE THE SAME THAT, THAT, I MEAN, IF I HAVE TO PICK AND CHOOSE, YOU KNOW, WHAT TO WORK ON FIRST, WHAT TO PRIORITIZE, I, I, I PICK, YOU KNOW, LIGHT RAIL, UH, UH, STOPS OVER ANYTHING ELSE.
AND I ALSO REALLY APPRECIATE THE TURS COMMENT.
UH, WE ARE GONNA HAVE TO PUT IN A LOT OF INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT INTO THE CORRIDOR.
I, I KNOW THERE'S BEEN DISCUSSIONS WITH WATERSHED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, POTENTIAL LIKE, YOU KNOW, WATERSHED IMPROVEMENTS.
I MEAN, WHEN WE'RE TEARING UP THE STREET TO BUILD A LIGHT RAIL, THAT'S GONNA BE REALLY EXPENSIVE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, WHILE WE'RE DOING THAT, WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS AROUND THERE.
AND THE QUESTION IS, AND IT'S A GREAT TIMING AND WE SHOULD PROBABLY DO IT, BUT WHERE DO WE GET THE MONEY? THAT'S NOT THE TRE MONEY CAN'T GO TO, YOU KNOW, WATERSHED IMPROVEMENTS.
UM, SO I, I I, I KIND OF LOOK OVER TO THE, THE, THE, SOME KIND OF TURS AROUND, YOU KNOW, THE, THE LIGHT RAIL KIND OF MAP, AND WE CAN USE THAT FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS.
WE CAN USE THAT FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UH, SO, UH, AND, AND, AND AGAIN, TO HER COMMENT, THE SOONER WE DO IT, THE BETTER.
UH, I, I WAS TALKING WITH, UH, UH, SINCLAIR BLACK, UH, ON THE RECONNECT AUSTIN AND STUFF, AND, AND YOU KNOW, HE WAS, HOW DO WE PAY FOR, YOU KNOW, CAPS ON I 35 AND THAT KIND OF STUFF LIKE THAT.
HE WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE NEED TO DO A TUR ON AROUND, YOU KNOW, THE I 35, THE PORTION'S GONNA GET REDEVELOPED.
AND HE WAS LIKE, THE TIME TO DO THE TURS WAS 10 YEARS AGO.
AND, AND, AND I MEAN, I THINK HE'S RIGHT.
SO WITH TO THAT, I, I THINK WE NEED TO TAKE A REALLY HARD LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, THE INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS THAT WE NEED TO MAKE AROUND THE LIGHT RAIL AND HOW WE'RE GONNA FINANCE IT.
AND I THINK THE SOONER THAT WE MAKE THOSE DECISIONS, THE MORE VALUE WE CAPTURE.
UH, SO AGAIN, I APPRECIATE THOSE COMMENTS FROM CUSTOMER AB BRATER AND, AND JUST NOTED, AND WE WILL WORK WITH FINANCIAL SERVICES ON THAT.
JUST IN THE, CUZ YOU ASKED SORT OF ABOUT NATIONAL EXAMPLES, I DID WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE THAT OUR PARTNERS AT CAPITAL METRO DID, UM, WORK WITH THEIR CONSULTANT TEAM TO PUT TOGETHER SOME BEST PRACTICES AS PART OF THE EQUITABLE TD WORK THAT ARE AVAILABLE ON THE WEBSITE, UM, THAT LOOK AT PLACES LIKE SEATTLE, SAN JOSE, DENVER, RALEIGH, ATLANTA, UH, TACOMA PARK, LANGLEY PARK, MARYLAND, AS WELL AS CHICAGO, WHICH IS REALLY SORT OF THE ORIGINS OF THE IDEA OF THIS KIND OF EQUITABLE T OD PLAN THAT WE LOOKED TO AS WELL.
[01:20:01]
SORT OF TOURS AND TOOLS, I THINK THE POINT THAT THE EQUITABLE T OD POLICY PLAN THAT WE'RE PRESENTING THIS WEEK IS MAKING IS THAT WE NEED ALL THE TOOLS IN THE TOOLBOX.UM, NO ONE TOOL IS GONNA GET US TO WHERE WE NEED TO GO.
AND SO REALLY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE HOPEFUL THAT WE'RE SETTING OURSELVES ON A COURSE OF SYNCHRONIZING AND USING THE VARIOUS TOOLS THAT WE DO HAVE AT OUR DISPOSAL TO MAKE THE VISION OF EQUITABLE TD REALITY IN AUSTIN.
AND THANK YOU ALL FOR A, A REALLY GOOD DISCUSSION.
I THINK THE WHOLE COUNCIL, UH, I CAN SPEAK TO THE WHOLE COUNCIL THAT WE APPRECIATE THE, THE LEVEL OF DETAIL.
UM, YOU OBVIOUSLY WANNA SAY SOMETHING.
UM, THE INFORMATION I SENT TO YOU LAST NIGHT, I'M GONNA WHIP IT INTO A MEMO AND SEND IT OUT THROUGH OFFICIAL DISTRIBUTION.
SO, AND, AND LOADED US BACK UP TO THE ITEMS. SO, UM, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ACCESS TO IT.
AND BEFORE EVERYBODY LEAVES, AND I KNOW WE PEOPLE GOT PLANES TO CATCH, BUT IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE WITH CAPITAL METRO AND YOU'RE HERE TODAY TO HELP US OUT, UM, WOULD YOU STAND UP? YEAH, THERE THEY ARE.
UH, I, I JUST WANNA RECOGNIZE Y'ALL FOR TAKING TIME TO BE WITH US TODAY.
UM, THERE'S A LOT OF FOLKS WORKING ON THIS AND, AND HELPING US OUT, SO, UH, THANK Y'ALL.
I HOPE THERE'S NOT ANY TRAFFIC GOING TO THE AIRPORT.
MEMBERS, THAT'LL TAKE US TO, UM, A DISCUSSION ON ITEM NUMBER 22.
THAT ITEM WAS PULLED BY COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN AL ALTER.
UH, WHILE STAFF IS COMING UP, IS THERE GONNA BE, I'LL, I'LL RECOGNIZE COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN AL ALTER.
I JUST HAVE A, A VERY BRIEF QUESTION RELATED TO THIS AS IT PERTAINS TO PRIORITIZATION OR HOW WE'RE CHOOSING WHAT GETS FUNDED FROM THE CAPTURE OF THESE FUNDS.
YOU KNOW, THEY, WE HAVE THE EXHIBIT THAT KIND OF TALKS ABOUT ALL THE VARIOUS OPTIONS OF, OF THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA DO WITH THESE FUNDS, BUT I'M JUST CURIOUS IF Y'ALL COULD, UH, HANG ON TO YOUR CONVERSATIONS UNTIL YOU GET OUTSIDE.
WHO WILL BE MAKING THIS DECISIONS? IS THERE A PRIORITIZATION LIST THAT WILL JUST GO DOWN? HOW DOES, HOW DOES THAT WORK? YOU KNOW, GOOD MORNING.
COUNCIL MEMBERS, RICHARD MENDOZA, INTERIM TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR, AND, UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR QUESTION.
COUNCIL MEMBER, I ALSO JOINED BY, UH, ASSISTANT, UH, DIRECTOR, UH, MR. SAGURA.
JASON REDFORD, PARKING MANAGER.
UH, CERTAINLY, YEAH, THE PROPOSED PARKING MANAGEMENT, UM, TRANSP PARKING MANAGEMENT DISTRICT IS SET UP SO THAT REVENUES THAT ARE DERIVED FROM THAT, UH, THAT PARKING DISTRICT CAN THEN BE REAPPLIED INTO INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS.
AND, UM, RIGHT NOW, UH, THE PROCESS IS THAT THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT WORKS WITH THE COMMUNITY TO IDENTIFY, UH, THOSE MOBILITY IMPROVEMENTS.
UH, TYPICALLY THEY'RE AROUND SAFETY, UH, EXTENSION OF SIDEWALKS, UH, CROSSWALK IMPROVEMENTS, UH, YOU KNOW, BIKE PED, UH, SAFETY, CONNECTING TO TRANSIT.
AND SO THE PROCESS IS WE WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY, WE WORK WITH ALL THE STAKEHOLDERS TO DEVELOP A CANDIDATE LIST OF IMPROVEMENTS.
OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, IT'S DEPENDENT ON THE REVENUE THAT WE DERIVE AND ONCE FUNDED, THEN WE ASSIGNED A PROJECT MANAGER AND MOVE FORWARD WITH THOSE IMPROVEMENTS.
WELL, I, I HAD A, AN INDIVIDUAL ASK ME SPECIFICALLY ABOUT SIDEWALKS, AND SO YOU TOUCHED ON THAT.
BUT I THINK YOU TOUCHED ON IT.
ANYBODY ELSE GOT ANYTHING? YES.
THIS IS ON A DIFFERENT ITEM THOUGH.
OH, WELL, LET'S GO TO THE OTHER ITEM.
UH, ANYBODY GOT ANY QUESTIONS ON THIS ITEM? GREAT.
UM, MAYOR, I JUST WANTED TO NOTE ON ITEM 25, WHICH OUR COLLEAGUE, COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN AL ALTER IS BRINGING, AND THAT'S THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION.
AND, UM, WE REALLY HAVE TO BE PROACTIVE IN THIS AREA, AND THAT'S WHY I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE MY NAME ADDED IN SUPPORT OF THIS ITEM TO BE ONE OF THE CO-SPONSORS, IF THAT WOULD BE OKAY WITH THE, UH, BRINGER OF THE RESOLUTION.
I APPRECIATE IT'S SON, I KNOW YOU, THAT'S, YOU'VE DONE SOME WORK ON THIS AND APPRECIATE WORKING WITH YOU ON IT.
[B1. Climate Equity Plan Update.]
NEXT ITEM, WHICH IS A, I'M SORRY, COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES.UH, SIMILAR TO, UH, WHAT COUNCIL MEMBER PO JUST BROUGHT UP, COUNCIL MEMBER PO I BELIEVE YOU HAVE AN ITEM ON, UH, CREATING AN EQUITABLE PLAN RELATED TO, UH, CHARGING STATIONS, EV CHARGING STATIONS.
UH, AND I ALSO WANTED TO BE REQUESTED
[01:25:01]
TO, TO BE A CO-SPONSOR ON THAT ITEM.I WOULD BE THRILLED TO HAVE YOU AS A CO-SPONSOR.
TIM, CAN I JUMP IN ON CO-SPONSORING THAT AS WELL? ABSOLUTELY.
THANK YOU MAYOR PROTE, HAPPY TO HAVE YOU ON BOARD.
UM, THIS MAY BE NOT THE RIGHT TIMING SINCE MR. BAYLA AND MR. MS. HARPER MADISON ARE NOT.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO GO BACK TO THE E T O D IF PEOPLE ARE PROPOSING AMENDMENTS THAT WE NEED TO SEE THEM ASAP, IT'S NOT, IT'S A SUPER COMPLICATED PLAN.
AND ADDING SOME LAST MINUTE THING ON THURSDAY, I THINK IS, UM, NOT GONNA BE WELL RECEIVED BY THE COMMUNITY.
UM, SO I, I JUST REALLY WANNA ENCOURAGE YOU THAT IF YOU ARE BRINGING AMENDMENTS, THAT WE'RE GETTING THOSE WELL IN ADVANCE SO THAT PEOPLE CAN, CAN COMMENT, UM, IN THEIR COMMENTS TO US ON, ON THURSDAY.
YEAH, AND I, I WAS PLANNING ON, AND I ONLY PICKING YOU TOO, CUZ I, YOU HAD TALKED ABOUT HAVING AMENDMENTS, UH, OTHER PEOPLE MAY ALSO BE YES, THE, AND, AND THAT'S CONSIDERED I WAS GOING TO SEND OUT PROBABLY NOT UNTIL TOMORROW MORNING.
THE TYPICAL EMAIL THAT I SEND OUT THAT TELLS YOU HOW THINGS MIGHT GO ON THURSDAY.
AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WAS GONNA ASK IS THAT WE, WE TR IF THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT OF AMENDMENTS, AS, AS WE KNOW, WE, WE MOVE BETTER WHEN WE'VE SEEN 'EM IN, IN ADVANCE.
SO PLEASE, AND, AND I'LL TRY TO COORDINATE FROM A PRESIDING POSI, UH, POSITION, HOW WE LAY THOSE OUT AND LET EVERYBODY KNOW HOW THOSE WILL GET LAID OUT.
I PROBABLY WON'T BE ABLE TO DO THAT IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING DEPENDING UPON HOW THE AMENDMENTS COME, BUT CERTAINLY AT THE MEETING, LIKE WE DID, UH, LAST WEEK.
COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER POOL FOR ITEM 27, I WILL BE POSTING TWO AMENDMENTS THAT MY STAFF AND I PUT TOGETHER YESTERDAY ON THE MESSAGE BOARD TODAY SO THAT YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK AT THEM.
AND COUNCIL MEMBER ELLA, I RESPONDED TO YOUR MESSAGE BOARD POST.
IN, IN THAT SAME SPIRIT I DO, WE'RE WORKING ON AN AMENDMENT.
WE HAVE NOT, UH, UH, FINALIZED IT YET, BUT I WANNA SET SOME GOALS AROUND, UH, THE POPULATIONS THAT WE WANNA SEE AROUND THE, THAT TO ME IS JUST A HUGE MISSING ELEMENT OF THE PLAN.
UH, AND, AND WE'RE WORKING ON IT.
SO WE WILL BE COMING FORWARD WITH SOME KIND OF AMENDMENT REGARDING FIRMING UP THE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE POPULATION, UH, DENSITIES THAT WE WANNA SEE AROUND THE LIGHT RAIL STATIONS IN PARTICULAR.
UH, ANYTHING ELSE BEFORE WE GO TO THE BRIEFING? ALL RIGHT, UH, I'LL NOW CALL UP, UH, THE BRIEFING ON THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN JUST TO REMIND THE STAFF THAT, UH, WE'VE BEEN GIVEN AN ASSEN INCENTIVE TO BE BRIEFED.
I'LL JUST REMIND YOU THAT THIS IS A, A, A COUNCIL RE LIKE THIS IS A COUNCIL MANDATED QUARTERLY BRIEFING TO THE FULL COUNSEL, UM, FROM DIRECTION FROM COUNCIL.
SO THERE ARE SOME OF US WHO REALLY DO BELIEVE THAT THIS IS IMPORTANT.
I KNOW I, WELL, GOOD MORNING, MAYOR COUNSEL.
UM, WE'LL, WE'LL SEE IF WE CAN'T STRIKE A PERFECT BALANCE THERE.
UM, JASON ALEXANDER, CHIEF OF STAFF FOR THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE.
UM, WE ARE HERE IN FRONT OF YOU TODAY TO, TO DO JUST THAT, GIVE YOU A VERY QUICK BRIEFING ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OUR CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
JUST BY WAY OF QUICK BACKGROUND FOR SOME OF THE NEW MEMBERS, UM, THIS WAS A PLAN ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL IN LATE 2021.
UH, IT IS, IT OUTLINES OUR CLIMATE GOALS AND THE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES THAT WE'LL BE USING TO ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS.
UM, LATE ABOUT THIS TIME LAST YEAR, UH, WE WERE IN FRONT OF THIS BODY AND COMMITTED TO AND HAVE SINCE BEGUN DOING QUARTERLY UPDATES ON SPECIFIC, UH, SECTIONS OF THAT PLAN.
IT IS BROKEN UP INTO FIVE FOCUS AREAS.
UM, TODAY WE ARE GONNA BE BRIEFING YOU ON ONE OF THOSE FOCUS AREAS.
THE, THE NATURAL SYSTEMS WITH ME TODAY ARE ZACH BOMBER, OUR INTERIM CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER.
HE AND HIS TEAM ARE THE ONES THAT KIND OF SHEPHERD AND CONVENE THIS WORK.
CONVENE THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS TOGETHER, UH, TO FULFILL THE, THE WORK INVOLVED.
UH, KATIE COIN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR OUR WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT AND ALSO OUR ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER.
AND THEN ANDREW SMILEY WITH TREE FOLKS, UH, ONE OF THE KEY PARTNERS IN THIS PARTICULAR FOCUS AREA TODAY.
SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA ASK ZACH TO TAKE US THROUGH THE SLIDES.
UH, HI MAYOR COUNCIL, I'M ZACH BOMBER.
UH, SO LET'S GET GOING ON THIS BRIEFING.
SO, UH, THE OUTLINE FOR THE PRESENTATION TODAY IS I'M GONNA COVER SOME OVERVIEW TOPICS, SORT OF THE BIG PICTURE OF WHAT'S IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UH, TO GET EVERYBODY UP TO SPEED.
THEN, UH, COMMUNITY SPORT AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN OUR EFFORTS TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE ARE ESSENTIAL.
SO, UH, WE HAVE ANDREW SMILEY WHO'S GONNA TALK ABOUT, UH, SOME EFFORTS THERE.
AND THEN KATIE COIN IS GONNA TAKE IT THE REST OF THE WAY AND TALK ABOUT EFFORTS AT WATERSHED PROTECTION, AUSTIN WATER DEVELOPMENT SERVICES AND PARKS.
[01:30:01]
SO, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN CLIMATE ACTION GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO 2007.THAT WAS THE FIRST MAJOR, UM, INITIATIVES THAT WERE PASSED BY CITY COUNCIL TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE.
FAST FORWARD UP TO 2015 WAS THE FIRST AUSTIN, UH, COMMUNITY CLIMATE PLAN.
UH, 2019 WAS, UH, WAS THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY RESOLUTION.
THEN, UH, CITY STAFF WORK WITH HUNDREDS OF COMMUNITY MEMBERS BETWEEN 2019 AND 2021 TO CREATE THE AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
AND THIS PLAN IS MEANT TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE SOURCES OF EMISSIONS THAT CAUSE CLIMATE CHANGE AS WELL AS RACIAL EQUITY ISSUES IN OUR COMMUNITY AND THE CONFLUENCE AND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THOSE TOPICS.
REALLY IMPORTANT PART OF THIS PLAN, UM, THAT WAS ADOPTED WITH RESOLUTION 99 WAS THIS GOAL TO REACH NET ZERO COMMUNITY WIDE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BY 2040.
SO THOSE ARE THE EMISSIONS THAT ARE CAUSED BY THE BURNING OF FOSSIL FUELS AND TRYING TO GET TO USING AS CLOSE TO ZERO FOSSIL FUELS AS WE CAN BY 2040.
UM, ALSO PASSED ON THAT SAME DAY IN 2021 WAS WHERE'S RESOLUTION ONE 10, WHICH SET PRIORITIES, UM, FROM COUNCIL, ONE OF WHICH WAS TO HAVE THESE QUARTERLY BRIEFINGS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN.
SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER, UM, WHEN IMPLEMENTING ACTIVITIES AND ACTIONS RELATED TO CLIMATE CHANGE, THAT THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT THE CITY CAN DO ENTIRELY ON ITS OWN.
THIS ABSOLUTELY INVOLVES ACTION ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE CITY ORGANIZATION, UM, ESPECIALLY WITH DEPARTMENTAL ACTION, WHICH YOU'RE GONNA HEAR ABOUT TODAY.
BUT EVEN MORE IMPORTANTLY, TO GET TO ZERO EMISSIONS COMMUNITY WIDE, WE HAVE TO HAVE ENGAGEMENT WITH THE COMMUNITY, SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY AND ACTION REALLY BE TAKEN, BEING TAKEN BY INDIVIDUALS, BUSINESSES, NONPROFITS, TO GET THOSE ACTIVITIES SPREAD THROUGH OUR COMMUNITY TO, TO GET OFF FOSSIL FUELS AND BE PULLING DOWN MORE CARBON FROM THE ATMOSPHERE.
SO WHAT'S IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN? I'M JUST GONNA HIT ON A COUPLE OF OVERVIEW SLIDES.
UM, CUZ WE HAVE SOME NEW, UH, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UH, THERE ARE 17 QUANTITATIVE GOALS IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN FOCUSED ON REACHING, UM, QUANTITATIVE METRICS BY 2030.
THERE ARE 74 STRATEGIES, WHICH ARE FOCUSED ON THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
AND THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UM, IN ITSELF, UM, HAS, UH, ALL OF THESE GOLDEN STRATEGIES, BUT IT REALLY FITS IN A CONSTELLATION OF OTHER PLANS.
SO, AUSTIN ENERGY'S PLANS, PROJECT CONNECT, AUSTIN WATER, ZERO WASTE, UM, LAND USE PLANS, TRANSPORTATION, ALL OF THOSE OTHER PLANS FIT TOGETHER WITH A CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN TO REALLY MAKE OUR SORT OF COMPREHENSIVE CITY APPROACH TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE.
SO FIVE SECTIONS IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN THAT ADDRESS THE MAJOR SOURCES OF EMISSIONS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO THE FIRST ONE IS CONSUMPTION OF GOODS, FOOD, AND PRODUCTS.
SECOND ONE IS SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS.
SO ALL OF THE ENERGY AND NATURAL GAS THAT WE USE IN BUILDINGS.
SECTION THREE IS NATURAL SYSTEMS, WHICH WE'RE GONNA GO THROUGH IN DETAIL TODAY.
NATURAL SYSTEMS, MEANING, UM, EVERYTHING AROUND US THAT'S PULLING CARBON OUT OF THE ATMOSPHERE FOR IT TO GROW.
AND THEN TWO SECTIONS ON TRANSPORTATION.
TRANSPORTATION, LAND USE AND TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION.
SO WHY NATURAL SYSTEMS? NATURAL SYSTEMS ARE THE TREES, THE PLANTS, THE LANDSCAPING, THE RIVERS, THE UH, THE CREEKS, THE RIPARIAN AREAS, AGRICULTURE, UH, WILD LAND AREAS, EVERYTHING AROUND US, THE ECOSYSTEMS THAT CREATE SORT OF LIFE AS WE KNOW IT.
ALL OF THOSE SYSTEMS USE CARBON DIOXIDE FOR FOOD.
AND IF WE CAN ENHANCE THE ACTIVITIES OF THOSE NATIONAL SYSTEMS, THEY WILL PULL MORE CARBON DIOXIDE DOWN FROM THE ATMOSPHERE.
SO THEY NOT ONLY SAVE ENERGY ON OUR BUILDINGS, THEY CAPTURE CARBON, THEY CLEAN OUR AIR, THEY CLEAN OUR WATER, UM, BUT THEY REALLY HELP, UM, ALL SORT OF HUMANS IN OUR COMMUNITY HAVE, UM, BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE OUTCOMES AS THEY, UM, AS THEY INTERACT IN OUTDOOR SPACES AND PARKS, ET CETERA.
SO THERE ARE FOUR QUANTITATIVE GOALS IN THE NATURAL SYSTEM SECTION.
UH, THE GREAT OUT ACTION IS GONNA BE COVERED AND PICKED UP IN OUR FOOD AND PRODUCT CONSUMPTION PRESENTATION WHEN WE, WHEN WE HIT THAT ONE IN A, IN, UM, ANOTHER QUARTER THIS YEAR.
BUT THE THREE MAJOR GOALS THAT YOU'RE GONNA HEAR ABOUT TODAY AND HEAR ABOUT ACTIVITIES THAT WE'RE IMPLEMENTING TO REACH ARE PROTECTING ADDITIONAL, UH, CARBON POOLS, 20,000 ACRES OF CARBON POOLS ON NATURAL LANDS IN OUR COMMUNITY, UM, ACHIEVING AT LEAST 50% CITYWIDE TREE CANOPY COVER, UH, BY 2050 AND DONE IN AN EQUITABLE WAY.
AND THEN, UH, FOURTH, UH, INCLUDING ALL CITY OWNED LANDS LIKE WILDLANDS AND PARKS, UNDERLAND MANAGEMENT PLANS THAT RESULT IN NEUTRAL NEGATIVE CARBON EMISSIONS.
UM, SO THOSE ARE THE, THE SORT OF GENERAL TOPICS YOU'RE GONNA HEAR ABOUT.
UM, AND OUR OTHER PRESENTERS ARE GONNA TALK ABOUT HOW WE'RE GONNA GET THERE.
SO NEXT, ANDREW FROM TREE FOLKS.
UH, AND, UH, MR. MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, UH, APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE.
I'VE GOTTEN A CHANCE TO MEET A LOT OF FOLKS AT SOME OF TREE FOLKS EVENTS AND WE APPRECIATE Y'ALL SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT AND REALLY A PLEASURE TO MEET SOME OF THE NEW FOLKS TOO.
UH, FOR PEOPLE WHO AREN'T FAMILIAR WITH TREE FOLKS, UH, WE REALLY STARTED AS A SMALL
[01:35:01]
GROUP OF NEIGHBORS PLANTING TREES, UH, ABOUT 30 YEARS AGO.AND THAT HAS GROWN INTO A MULTIFACETED APPROACH TO ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE AND, UH, AND TREE CANOPY COVERAGE IN THE AREA.
UH, THE, UH, THE CLIMATE PLAN, THE CLIMATE, UH, EQUITY PLAN REALLY PARALLELS A LOT OF THE WORK THAT, UH, TREE FOLKS IS DOING CURRENTLY.
AND WE WERE, UH, WE WERE HAPPY TO BE ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF, UH, THIS SECTION OF THE CLIMATE PLAN.
UH, SPECIFICALLY TREE FOLKS, UH, ORGANIZES UP TO ABOUT 20 DIFFERENT, UH, TREE COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING PROJECTS EVERY YEAR, INCLUDING SEVERAL ON WATERSHED PROTECTION LANDS, UH, AND OTHERS AT SCHOOLS AND PARKS, UH, LIBRARIES, OTHER PUBLIC SPACES.
UH, WE ALSO, UH, WE ALSO ARE INVOLVED IN FLOODPLAIN RESTORATION WHERE WE'RE PLANTING BETWEEN 50 AND 75 ACRES OF CENTRAL TEXAS FLOODPLAIN LAND EVERY YEAR.
AND THEN ENROLLING THAT LAND INTO CARBON CREDIT, UH, PROGRAMS. AND THE CARBON CREDITS ARE THEN TRADED TO THE CITY TO HELP WITH OUR ZERO NET CARBON GOALS.
UH, TREE FOLKS ALSO DISTRIBUTE TREES TO NEIGHBORS TO PLANT IN THEIR OWN YARDS.
UH, ANYWHERE FROM 5,000 UP TO ABOUT 7,000 TREES, UH, ARE DISTRIBUTED EVERY YEAR TO AUSTIN ENERGY CUSTOMERS TO PLANT IN THEIR OWN YARDS.
UH, AND EVERYTHING THAT WE DO FROM THE TREE PLANTING HERE IN THE COMMUNITY, THE LARGER SCALE REFORESTATION AND FLOODPLAIN, THE TREE DISTRIBUTION ALL INCLUDES AN EDUCATIONAL COMPONENT.
UH, AND OF COURSE IT'S ALL ABOUT THE TREES, BUT IT'S ALSO ALL ABOUT THE FOLKS.
SO THERE'S ALSO A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ELEMENT WHERE WE MOBILIZE ABOUT A THOUSAND VOLUNTEERS EVERY YEAR TO HELP DO THIS WORK.
UH, SO, UH, OBVIOUSLY THIS, UH, THIS WORK IS ALL IN, UH, IS MADE POSSIBLE REALLY BY A LOT OF OUR PARTNERSHIPS WITH THE CITY, AND I WANTED TO POINT OUT A FEW OF THOSE SPECIFICALLY TODAY.
UM, WE WORK REALLY CLOSELY WITH THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY ON OUR CARBON PLUS CREDITS PROGRAM, UH, TO TRADE THE CREDITS FROM REFORESTATION TO THE CITY.
THEY'RE, UH, THEY'RE KIND OF LOCALLY GROWN IN ORGANIC, UH, CREDITS IF YOU CAN COMPARE FROM THE, FROM LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS WORK.
UH, WE, UH, WE ALSO WORK REALLY CLOSELY WITH THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT THAT IDENTIFIES OUR READY SET PLANT, UH, UH, COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING PROJECTS ALONG CREEKS STREAMS ALONG THE RIVER.
WE, UH, WE ALSO WORK WITH AUSTIN ENERGY TO DISTRIBUTE TREES, UH, AS I MENTIONED, FIVE TO UP TO 7,000 TREES EVERY YEAR.
UH, THAT'S FUNDED IN PART BY, UH, BY AUSTIN ENERGY.
WE WORK WITH THE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT, UH, ON A COUPLE OF, UH, LONG TERM CONTRACTS AND ALSO SHORTER TERM GRANTS TO ACHIEVE A LOT OF OUR WORK.
UH, AND THEN WE'RE HOUSED AT HORNSBY BEND, UH, WHICH IS JUST AN AMAZING FACILITY IF FOLKS HAVEN'T VISITED, UH, WE'VE BEEN OUT AT HORNSBY BEND FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS AND HOPE TO BE THERE, WELL FOR A LOT LONGER.
UH, SO THOSE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT WE HAVE WITH, UH, WITH OUR CITY DEPARTMENTS.
OH, I SHOULD MENTION TOO, THAT WE PROCURE TREES AND WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PAR TO DO TREE PLANTINGS AS WELL.
UH, SO OUR GOALS ARE SHARED WITH THE CITY AS FAR AS REACHING THIS 50% TREE CANOPY COVERAGE.
AND WE'RE GONNA DO THIS BY CONTINUING THE WORK THAT TREE FOLKS DOES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY.
UH, I THINK WE'VE MADE GREAT PROGRESS SO FAR AND WE'LL CONTINUE WITH MORE TREES ON PUBLIC LANDS, MORE TREE PROTECTIONS AND MITIGATIONS, UH, MORE COMMUNITY TREE PLANTINGS, GETTING THE PUBLIC INVOLVED CUZ AGAIN, NOT JUST ABOUT THE TREES, IT'S ABOUT THE FOLKS TOO, UH, PROMOTING TREE HEALTH AND, UH, THEN USING DATA THAT'S PROVIDED FROM THE CITY AND OTHER SOURCES TO REALLY HELP DRIVE THE INVESTMENTS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO MAKE IN OUR URBAN TREE CANOPY AND TOWARDS CLIMATE RESILIENCE.
SO THANK Y'ALL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THAT INFORMATION.
GOOD MORNING, MAYOR AND COUNSEL.
MY NAME IS, MY NAME IS KATIE COIN.
I'M YOUR CITY OF BOSTON ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF WATERSHED PROTECTION.
UH, THIS IS TRULY ONE OF THE BEST EXAMPLES WE HAVE IN OUR CITY OF A ONE CITY SUCCESS STORY.
UH, THIS IS DEPARTMENTS WORKING TOGETHER, UH, TOWARD THIS IMPLEMENTATION WORK, BUT EVEN BEYOND THAT, WORKING WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS, WORKING WITH ORGANIZATIONS LIKE TREE FOLKS.
SO I CAN'T UNDERSTATE THE IMPORTANCE OF THOSE ONGOING PARTNERSHIPS, ONGOING COLLABORATION AMONGST CITY DEPARTMENTS.
UH, EVEN, EVEN MY ROLE IN THIS BEGAN PRIOR TO MY, MY JOURNEY AS CITY STAFF, UH, AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN.
I SERVED AS CO-LEAD OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE, UH, FOR THIS PROJECT.
AND SO IT'S FANTASTIC TO BE ABLE TO COME FULL CIRCLE TO SPEAK ABOUT THIS NOW.
UM, SO I'M GONNA DIVE INTO AUSTIN'S URBAN FOREST.
UH, AS WAS MENTIONED EARLIER, I'M PRESENTING ON BEHALF OF A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS.
WE ALSO HAVE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THOSE DEPARTMENTS IF WE HAVE QUESTIONS.
[01:40:01]
WILL DO MY BEST WITH, UH, ALL OF THIS.SO WE HAVE ABOUT 30% OF OUR CITY SHADED BY TREES CURRENTLY.
YOU CAN SEE THAT MAP ON THE RIGHT, THE BOUNDARY OF WHICH IS ALL OF THE WATERSHEDS THAT TOUCH THE CITY OF AUSTIN ARE SHOWN IN THAT MAP.
UH, IN GREEN, YOU CAN SEE THE DISTRIBUTION OF TREE CANOPY IS NOT EQUITABLE IN THE CITY.
UH, THAT'S NOT NEWS TO, TO ANY OF YOU, I'M SURE.
BUT THAT, THAT IS A HUGE DISPARITY THAT WE CAN REMEDY BY ALSO FURTHERING THESE CLIMATE GOALS OF, UH, OF, OF PLANTING ENOUGH TO GET TO 50% CANOPY COVER BY 2050.
SO THAT GOAL SPECIFICALLY CAN BE FURTHERED BY CONTINUING TO ENFORCE OUR REGULATIONS.
OUR TREE PROTECTION AND PLANTING REGULATIONS ARE SOME THAT ARE VERY, VERY MUCH TO BE PROUD OF.
UH, WE LOOK AT ALSO OPPORTUNITIES TO INCREASE CANOPY COVER IN RIGHT OF WAY AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.
WE JUST HAD A CONVERSATION ABOUT EAD.
WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK HAPPENING AROUND TRANSPORTATION RIGHT NOW, WORKING WITH CORRIDOR PROGRAM OFFICE, WORKING WITH PROJECT CONNECT.
LOOKING AT OPPORTUNITIES IN THOSE CORRIDORS TO ACTUALLY INCREASE OUR TREE PLANNING EFFORTS IS, IS A HUGE WIN-WIN, NOT JUST FOR CLIMATE, BUT ALSO TO REDUCE URBAN HEAT ISLAND EFFECT AND HAVE SOME OF THOSE CO-BENEFITS OF HAVING A FUNCTIONING URBAN ECOSYSTEM AT THE SAME TIME AS A FUNCTIONING TRANSIT SYSTEM.
UH, WE ALSO LOOK AT HOW WE CAN PRIORITIZE TREE PLANTING MORE EQUITABLY.
SO, UH, THIS WORK VERY SPECIFICALLY HAS SET UP GOALS AROUND EQUITABLE PLANTING THAT LOOK EAST TO TRY TO REMEDY SOME OF THOSE DISPARITIES.
UH, AND LIKE WE'VE ALREADY MENTIONED, THOSE P THREE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO BE IMPORTANT, NOT JUST FOR PLANTING, BUT ALSO FOR EDUCATION AND INCREASED STEWARDSHIP.
DIVING INTO WATERSHED PROTECTIONS WORK, WE ARE UPDATING OUR STRATEGIC PLAN.
UH, AND SO THIS IS CALLED RAIN TO RIVER.
YOU CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS PLAN AT RAINER RIVER ATX UH.COM.
UH, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE SUBSTANTIVELY UPDATED OUR STRATEGIC PLAN AS A DEPARTMENT IN 20 YEARS.
IT'S ALSO THE FIRST TIME THAT WE'VE HAD A CHANCE TO REALLY MEANINGFULLY INCORPORATE CLIMATE, UH, JUSTICE AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, REALLY RACIAL EQUITY AT THE CORE OF THIS PLAN.
WE'RE REALLY FOLLOWING THE LEAD OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, WHICH I HAVE TO SAY IS ONE OF THE BEST EXAMPLES NATIONWIDE OF A CLIMATE ACTION PLAN THAT INTEGRATES RACIAL EQUITY AT ITS CORE.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING VERY MUCH TO BE PROUD OF.
UH, SO WE'RE TAKING A LOT OF CUES FROM THAT, UH, IN OUR RAIN TO RIVER PLAN.
WE'RE CURRENTLY IN ENGAGEMENT FOR THIS.
UM, I BELIEVE COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES GAVE US A HUGE SHOUT OUT WHEN WE CAME TO PRESENT ON REINDER RIVER ENGAGEMENT, UH, EARLIER IN THE FALL.
UH, THIS IS, AS SOMEONE COMING FROM URBAN PLANNING PRIVATE SECTOR WORK, THE ENGAGEMENT WE'RE DOING ON THIS PLAN IS BEST PRACTICE TIMES, TIMES 10.
UH, AGAIN, SOME OF THE BEST ENGAGEMENT WE'VE DONE, UH, AS A CITY, UH, REALLY LOOKING AT HOW WE'RE GONNA GUIDE DEPARTMENTAL PLANNING OPERATIONS, ALL OF THE WORK OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR YEARS TO COME.
ONE OTHER ITEM I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT RELATED TO WATERSHED IS OUR BLACKLAND PRAIRIE STREAM CORRIDOR OR STUDY.
SO NOT ONLY HAVE WE HAD SOME DISPARATE OUTCOMES IN TERMS OF TREES, UH, AND OUR TREE CANOPY, EAST AND WEST, WE ALSO JUST HAVEN'T HAD AS MUCH SCIENCE THAT REALLY COVERS THE BLACKLAND PRAIRIE ECOSYSTEM OUT EAST.
IT'S A VERY DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEM THAN WHAT WE HAVE TO THE WEST.
AND SO WE HAVE MADE SURE THAT WE'VE PUT EFFORT AND FUNDING TOWARD UNDERSTANDING THAT ECOSYSTEM BETTER, SO THAT WHEN WE'RE ASKED TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT HOW WE CHANGE REGULATIONS, HOW WE PROTECT THAT ECOSYSTEM DIFFERENTLY, WE HAVE THE SCIENCE TO BACK IT UP.
SO THIS STUDY, UH, TALKS, TALKS ABOUT HOW THERE ARE A LOT OF RIPARIAN AREAS TO THE EAST IN BLACKLAND PRAIRIES THAT ARE IN POOR CONDITION.
AND I WANNA MENTION THAT'S THAT'S DESPITE HAVING RELATIVELY LOW DEVELOPMENT, WE KNOW THAT'S ACTUALLY WHERE WE HAVE SO MUCH OF OUR DEVELOPMENT PRESSURE NOW, THAT IF WE ALREADY HAVE POOR ECOSYSTEMS, WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO THESE NOW BEFORE THEY GET WORSE AND WORSE.
UH, WE ALSO NEED MORE STEWARDSHIP FOR THESE ECOSYSTEMS TO RECOVER.
UM, THESE ARE PLACES WHERE WE'VE HAD SO MUCH DEFORESTATION EAST THAT THERE AREN'T ENOUGH TREES TO PROVIDE THE SEED SOURCE FOR THESE ECOSYSTEMS TO HEAL THEMSELVES.
SO WE NEED TO HELP THEM ALONG A LITTLE BIT MORE.
WE ALSO KNOW BECAUSE OF DEFORESTATION THAT IN EASTERN ECOSYSTEMS IN THIS BLACKLAND PRAIRIE SOILS CAN'T STABILIZE THEMSELVES.
IT'S NOT THAT ROCKY ECOSYSTEM WHERE EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TREES TO THE WEST, SOILS CAN HOLD ONTO, UH, UH, ONTO, UH, ITSELF AND NOT ERODE.
UH, SO WE NEED MORE TREE PLANTING TO HELP WITH EROSION PROBLEMS EAST AS WELL.
SO SOME OF THE KEY ACTIONS THAT CAME OUT OF THIS REALLY LOOK AT REVISING SOME OF OUR REGULATIONS TO PROVIDE EQUITABLE PROTECTION FOR EAST SIDE ECOSYSTEMS. IT'S NOT GOING TO BE EXACTLY THE SAME AS WEST SIDE.
TWO DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS. UH, ONE OTHER ITEM IS REALLY, MAN, MAKING SURE WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS IN RAINER RIVER.
UH, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE LOOKING EAST AT, AT OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESTORATION.
UH, WE WANT TO IMPROVE MANAGEMENT, BUT WE ALSO WANT TO LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO PROTECT LAND, UH, IN, IN GOOD CONDITION AND O OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TO PROTECT AND RESTORE LAND,
[01:45:01]
UH, THAT MAYBE IS IN POOR CONDITION.SO REALLY LOOKING AT ADDING TO THAT GOAL OF 20,000 ADDITIONAL ACRES PROTECTED BY 2050, UH, REALLY FOCUSED ON BLACKLAND PRAIRIE.
THESE ARE SOME HISTORIC WINDS THAT CAN CONTINUE TO BE MANAGED, UH, UH, WITH CLIMATE IN MIND.
AND SO AUSTIN WATER WILDLANDS CONSERVATION, BALCONES CANYON LIONS, UH, WAS A VISIONARY PLAN THAT CAME OUT IN THE 1980S.
UH, WE HAVE ABOUT A LITTLE OVER 32,000 ACRES IN PROTECTION, UM, THAT IS PROTECTING OUR DRINKING WATER.
UH, THERE IS RESTORATION THAT'S ACTIVELY OCCURRING THAT REALLY IS LOOKING TO FURTHER OUR ECOSYSTEM SERVICE GOALS TO FURTHER OUR CLIMATE RESILIENCE TO MAXIMIZE THE AMOUNT OF CARBON WE'RE ABLE TO SEQUESTER IN THESE LANDS.
UH, SO AUSTIN WATER CONTINUES TO BUILD THAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THESE LANDS TO FUNCTION WELL AND ALSO BE OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMUNITIES TO ENGAGE IN NATURE.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF PROTECTED LANDS THAT, THAT ARE UNDER, UNDER AUSTIN WATER'S PURVIEW ARE THE WATER QUALITY PROTECTION LANDS.
SO, UH, THESE WERE ESTABLISHED IN 1988, CREATED TO PROTECT THE BARTON SPRINGS RECHARGE.
A LOT OF THAT RECHARGE, 30% OF IT IS ACTUALLY COMING FROM ONION CREEK.
A LOT OF OUR CURRENT ACQUISITION EFFORTS ARE FOCUSED ON HAYES COUNTY.
UH, AND AGAIN, THIS FURTHERING THOSE, THOSE ACQUISITION GOALS, UH, AS A PART OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT OUR RESTORATION EFFORTS FROM AUSTIN WATER.
A LOT OF THIS IS FOCUSED ON CAVE RESTORATION, SEED COLLECTION AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE.
THERE'S A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR EDUCATION.
WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW WE CAN ENHANCE THE WAY OUR AQUIFERS RECHARGE TO THE WEST.
UH, AND, AND I BELIEVE, UM, ARE REALLY LOOKING AT MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE UPDATING THAT 10 YEAR MANAGEMENT PLAN WITH CLIMATE IN MIND.
UH, HOPEFULLY I'M KEEPING THIS AS BRIEF AS, UH, BRIEFING CAN BE, UH, PAR.
OUR PARKS, OUR FUTURE LONG-RANGE PLAN, UH, IS, IS, UH, THE STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT TO GUIDE, UH, FROM 2020 TO 2030, UH, THE WAY THAT DEPARTMENT FUNCTIONS, OPERATES, PLANS ACQUIRES, LAND, ET CETERA.
UH, ONE OF THE BIGGEST WINS I CAN SAY FOR PART, IS THAT, UH, SINCE THE 2018 PARKS BOND AND WITH PARKLAND DEDICATION, UH, EITHER LAND OR FIEN LUU, 460 ADDITIONAL ACRES OF PARKLAND HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED SINCE 2018, AND THAT HAS RESULTED IN 40,000 ADDITIONAL RESIDENTS WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE TO A PARK.
SO NOT ONLY ARE WE PROTECTING LAND, WHICH HELPS US WITH OUR CLIMATE GOALS, WE'RE ALSO INCREASING QUALITY OF LIFE FOR OUR RESIDENTS.
UH, WE ALSO WANTED TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF OUR, OUR PARTNERSHIP, UH, OPPORTUNITIES, SOME OF OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAMS. UH, AND SO THESE ARE KEY OPPORTUNITIES WHERE OUR RESIDENTS ARE INTERACTING WITH THESE SPACES.
WE KNOW THAT RESULTS IN BETTER LONG-TERM STEWARDSHIP WHEN PEOPLE FEEL CONNECTED TO THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD, THEIR COMMUNITY, TO THEIR ECOSYSTEM.
SO THINGS LIKE ACTIVATED PARK PROJECTS, OPPORTUNITIES FOR CHILDREN TO CONNECT WITH NATURE, NATURE PLAY GUIDELINES THAT HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED AND ESTABLISHED AS PART OF THE PARKS DEPARTMENT ARE ALL HUGE WINS FOR THAT.
AND AUSTIN CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS, I KNOW HAS BEEN A PRIORITY FOR, FOR COUNCIL IN THE PAST.
PART IS IN THE PROCESS OF HIRING TWO FULL-TIME PERMANENT POSITIONS, UH, AND, AND CONTINUING TO ENGAGE IN, IN WORK THERE.
LOOKING HISTORICALLY THOUGH, THERE'S STILL A LOT OF WORK TO BE DONE IN TERMS OF THE WAY PARKLAND AND CONSERVE LAND IS DISTRIBUTED IN THIS CITY.
THIS STATISTIC IS JARRING, 87 POINT A 5% OF CONSERVE LAND.
AND 98.5% OF RESTORED LAND IS WEST OF I 35.
UH, AND, AND SO AGAIN, DRIVING HOME THIS POINT THAT WE NEED TO FOCUS EAST ON TREE PLANTING, ON ACQUISITION, ON CLIMATE GOALS, ON ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION, ON ACCESS TO PARKS AND ACCESS TO NATURE.
THIS IS, THIS IS A HUGE OPPORTUNITY.
LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN IS SOMETHING THAT PART PART HAS BEEN WORKING ON, UM, THAT REALLY LOOKS AT HOW WE'RE GOING TO ADDRESS, UH, MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE MANAGING THOSE EAST SIDE LANDS THAT WE DO HAVE, UH, WITH EQUITY IN MIND.
UH, AND SO REALLY LOOKING AT HOW WE'RE ADDRESSING CLIMATE VULNERABILITY THROUGH THE WAY WE MANAGE OUR PARKLAND, AS WELL AS, UH, LOOKING AT PRIORITIES BASED ON SOME KEY FACTORS.
SO PART IS USING, UH, SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX, UH, AND REALLY LOOKING AT ENVIRONMENTAL RISK AND ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITY.
WHO'S MOST VULNERABLE TO MAJOR CLIMATIC EVENTS OR ENVIRONMENTAL, UH, DISASTERS AS WELL AS SOME CHRONIC ISSUES LIKE URBAN HEAT OR LOCAL FLOODING, ET CETERA.
AND HOW DO WE ALIGN THAT WITH THE WAY WE INVEST IN OUR PARKS IS A KEY WAY THAT THEY'RE STARTING TO REALLY THINK BIGGER ABOUT WHAT PARKLAND CAN DO FOR OUR RESIDENTS.
ALL RIGHT, SO THAT LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN, I BELIEVE IS, UH, GOING TO, TO Y'ALL, UH, SOMETIME THIS SPRING IN DRAFT FORM, UH, THAT WILL REALLY LOOK TO RETHINK HOW, UH, WE'RE THINKING ABOUT RESILIENCE AND HEALTH OF THOSE NATURAL AREAS.
UM, AND WE'LL ALIGN WITH A NUMBER OF OUR EXISTING PLANS, INCLUDING THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
[01:50:02]
LASTLY, ON PART, UH, WE HAVE TO MENTION SUSTAINABLE SITES.SUSTAINABLE SITES IS BASICALLY LEAD.
EVERYONE KNOW WHAT LEAD IS, LIKE SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS, LEAD SUSTAINABLE SITES.
IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS, IS BASICALLY LEAD FOR LANDSCAPES.
THIS IS A CERTIFICATION PROGRAM TO SAY THAT THE LANDSCAPE YOU'VE, YOU'VE, YOU'VE DESIGNED IS SUSTAINABLE.
UH, WE ARE THE FIRST CITY WORLDWIDE TO INCORPORATE SITE, THE SITES RATING SYSTEM INTO LOCAL POLICY, AND WE HAVE MORE PARTICIPATING PROJECTS THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.
SO THAT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2021 WITH A GOAL OF ALL PARKS, INVESTMENTS, UH, ALIGNING WITH THOSE SUSTAINABLE SITES GOALS.
UM, LET ME GET INTO NEXT STEPS.
SO I WANNA LEAVE YOU WITH FOUR KEY NEXT STEPS, UH, AND HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS FIRST.
WE BELIEVE THAT IT IS VITAL THAT WE CREATE CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT FOCUSED LAND MANAGEMENT PLANS FOR ALL CITY OWNED LANDS.
SO YOU'RE HEARING FROM SOME OF THE DEPARTMENTS THAT THINK ABOUT THIS THE MOST PART, AUSTIN WATER WATERSHED, UH, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES.
WE'RE THINKING ABOUT HOW OUR LANDS CAN FUNCTION TO HAVE A FUNCTIONING ECOSYSTEM.
I THINK WE REALLY EXPANDING NETWORK OUT TO ALL CITY OWNED LAND AND REALLY UNDERSTANDING HOW WE CAN MANAGE ALL LAND WITH THESE GOALS IN MIND, UH, IS GOING TO BE CRITICAL.
NUMBER TWO, UH, AN INCREASED FOCUS ON EASTERN CRESCENT LANDS.
THAT WAS A THREAD YOU SAW THROUGH THIS ENTIRE PRESENTATION, THAT THAT IS A VITAL NEED.
UH, AND REALLY LISTENING TO AND COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THOSE NEEDS ARE, UH, AND WORKING IN COLLABORATION WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS.
THIRD, UH, REMEDY DISPARITIES IN THE EASTWEST DISTRIBUTION OF PROTECTIVE AND ACTIVELY MANAGED PUBLIC LANDS THROUGH LAND ACQUISITION AND FUNDING FOR INCREASED STEWARDSHIP AND RESTORATION ACTIVITIES.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A LEGACY OF, OF FOLKS ON, ON, ON COUNCIL RIGHT NOW WHO HAVE, UH, REALLY DOUBLED DOWN ON LAND ACQUISITION EFFORTS HISTORICALLY, AND IT'S TIME FOR EASTSIDE ACQUISITION, UH, IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
FINALLY, UH, COMPLETE AN EQUITY ASSESSMENT OF CITY ENVIRONMENTAL CODE.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I COMMITTED TO AS A PART OF OUR CONVERSATIONS WITH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER TOKS, UH, RESOLUTION THAT ASKS US TO BRING DOC ENVIRONMENTAL CODE UPDATES, UH, TO COUNCIL.
WE'RE STILL IN PHASE TWO OF THAT, BUT, UH, ARE WORKING THIS YEAR TO SCOPE OUT WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE TO DO A DEEP DIVE ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CODE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT MISSING OPPORTUNITIES TO HAVE MORE EQUITABLE OUTCOMES FOR EASTSIDE COMMUNITIES.
REALLY THOROUGH AND, AND BRIEF UPDATE.
UM, YOU KNOW, I I REALLY ENJOYED THE, THE FOCUS ON PRESERVATION OF EAST SIDE LAND, AND ONE AREA THAT YOU HIGHLIGHTED THAT IS A KEY COMPONENT OF OUR NATURAL SYSTEMS AS PART OF THE CLIMATE ACT ACTION PLAN IS, UH, PRESERVATION OF FARMLAND.
I'M WONDERING, CAN YOU TALK, TALK US THROUGH LIKE WHAT, LIKE WHAT IS THE SYNERGY THERE BETWEEN WANTING, UH, TO HAVE LAND ACQUISITION UNDERSTANDING HISTORICALLY THAT THE EAST SIDE LAND HAS, UH, SIGNIFICANT TIES TO, TO FARMLAND AND RANCHING? UH, WHAT MORE CAN A CITY BE DOING ON THAT PARTICULAR STRATEGY? I, I CAN TAKE THAT AND MAYBE PITCH IT TO ZACH IF I MISSED SOMETHING, BUT I, I, I SEE ALL THESE STRATEGIES AS VERY COMPLIMENTARY.
UH, IF WE'RE TO ACQUIRE 20,000 ADDITIONAL ACRES EAST, I THINK WE NEED TO LOOK AT A COMBINATION OF, OF GOALS.
AND SO, UH, IF WE'RE LOOKING AT CLIMATE GOALS, WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW LANDS CAN SEQUESTER MORE CARBON WHEN WE RESTORE BLACKLAND PRAIRIE, OR WHEN WE HAVE REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE, WHICH IS AN ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY WHICH HAS CULTURAL TIES TO EAST SIDE COMMUNITIES.
THOSE BOTH SEQUESTER CARBON, THOSE BOTH, UH, AFFIRM THE WAY OUR ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS AND, AND THE WAY WE, UH, SUPPORT OUR LOCAL FOOD SYSTEMS. THAT IS COMPLIMENTARY TO, UH, LARGER HABITAT AND BIODIVERSITY GOALS.
THAT COUNCIL MEMBER POOL, I KNOW HAS, HAS RECENTLY SPOKEN ABOUT BEING IMPORTANT.
SIGNED US ON TO OUR, OUR INTERNATIONAL BIODIVERSITY TARGETS THAT WE WILL COME BACK TO IN THE NEXT EIGHT MONTHS OR SO.
UH, TO TALK MORE ABOUT BIODIVERSITY.
SO THERE'S BIODIVERSITY, THERE'S SOIL CARBON, THERE'S HABITAT GOALS, UH, IN ADDITION TO REALLY LOOKING AT THE WAY WE'RE HAVING ALL THIS FOCUS ON TRANSIT, HAVING A FO FOCUS ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING, AND HOW DO WE CO-LOCATE LAND ACQUISITION WITH THESE GOALS IN MIND, UH, WITH SOME OF THOSE OTHER PIECES THAT ARE CRITICAL TO HAVING A RESILIENT CITY, UH, AND MAKE SURE FOLKS HAVE ACCESS TO NATURE, ACCESS TO TRANSIT AS BOTH INFRASTRUCTURE ITEMS THAT PEOPLE NEED TO HAVE GOOD QUALITY OF LIFE.
SO IT'S, TO ME ALL, ALL COME ALL, UH, REALLY A UNIFIED GOAL.
I'LL JUST BRIEFLY ADD THAT, UM, FROM COUNCIL DIRECTION FROM OVER A YEAR AGO, UM, WE ARE CURRENTLY COLLABORATING WITH TRAVIS COUNTY ON CREATING A REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEM PLAN THAT JUST KICKED OFF IN THE LAST MONTH.
AND THAT PLAN IS GONNA REALLY DIVE INTO THE DETAILS OF LAND ACQUISITION, UM,
[01:55:01]
FOCUSED ON AGRICULTURE AND PRESERVING AGRICULTURE IN NOT ONLY JUST TRAVIS COUNTY, BUT ALSO THE SORT OF SIX COUNTY REGION.REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR, YOUR PRESENTATION AND ALL THE WORK AND, UM, COLLEAGUES.
THIS IS A, A REAL PASSION OF MINE, THIS FOCUS ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND HOW WE PREPARE.
I THINK, UM, THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL.
WE HAVE BIG, HUGE SNOWSTORMS IN CALIFORNIA.
THE LIST KIND OF GOES ON AND ON, AND I KNOW THAT Y'ALL SHARE, UM, THE CONCERN AND THE URGENCY OF THIS.
UM, IN 2019, I LED A RESOLUTION THAT DECLARED A CLIMATE EMERGENCY AND IT REALLY CALLED AND THE CITY MANAGER AND OUR STAFF TO CRE TREAT THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY WITH THE URGENCY THAT IT DESERVES.
AND, YOU KNOW, LAID OUT A NUMBER OF THINGS, ONE OF WHICH, UM, WAS ACCELERATING OUR TARGETS FOR NET ZERO AND, AND, AND, AND CARBON EMISSIONS.
UM, BUT IT ALSO TALKED ABOUT THE NEED TO HAVE INTERDEPARTMENTAL, UM, COOPERATION AND, UM, A REAL FOCUS ON HOW WE ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE.
AND I THINK THE WORK THAT WE'RE SEEING TODAY IS AN EXAMPLE OF THAT.
UM, INTERDEPARTMENTAL WORK IS REALLY, REALLY HARD.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, UH, TO OUR INTERIM CITY MANAGER, I WOULD JUST REALLY ENCOURAGE YOU, UM, TO MAYBE TAKE A LOOK BACK AT THAT RESOLUTION AND TO REALLY THINK ABOUT HOW, UM, WITH YOUR NEW FRESH EYES, HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT AND UPLIFT THE WORK, UM, TO MAKE IT EASIER ON THESE FOLKS WHO'VE BEEN, BEEN GALLANTLY WORKING SO HARD TO TRY TO ADVANCE THESE ISSUES.
UM, AND I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF WAYS THAT THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE COULD SUPPORT THAT WORK, UM, IN NEW WAYS THAT WOULD REALLY ALLOW US TO TAKE THE PLAN, WHICH AS, UM, OUR STAFF MENTIONED IS, IS CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST PLANS IN THE COUNTRY AND REALLY HELP US TO IMPLEMENT IT.
UM, A PLAN IS ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS IMPLEMENTATION, UM, WHICH IS WHY I SPONSORED THE IMPLEMENTATION RESOLUTION FOR THIS AS WELL.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT HAS, UM, SOME ELEMENTS THAT I THINK ARE NOT YET, UM, BEING IMPLEMENTED.
WE HAD ASKED FOR A MID-YEAR BUDGET AMENDMENT, WHICH WE REALLY DIDN'T GET A MID-YEAR BUDGET AMENDMENT.
UM, THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN HAS FALLEN IN THE BUDGET PROCESS YEAR AFTER YEAR AT A POINT WHERE IT'S NOT GETTING FUNDING IN THE BUDGET.
IT'S COMING UP IN SEPTEMBER AND WE'VE JUST DONE OUR BUDGET.
UM, AND WE REALLY NEED TO THINK ABOUT WHERE WE NEED TO, TO, TO INVEST.
AND, YOU KNOW, I HAVE SOME IDEAS FROM WHAT I'VE HEARD, BUT I, I WOULD ASK, UM, ZACH OR JASON IF YOU COULD SPEAK TO SORT OF SOME OF THOSE RESOURCE NEEDS THAT YOU HAVE, WHETHER IT'S BODIES OR, OR FUNDING, UM, THAT YOU THINK WOULD BE REALLY STRATEGIC FOR US.
AND, AND IF YOU WANNA FOCUS ON THE NATURAL SYSTEMS AREA, CUZ THAT'S YOUR FOCUS TODAY, THAT'S FINE.
UM, BUT I, BUT FOR ME, THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THE BUDGET.
WE'VE JUST MISSED THE MARK YEAR AFTER YEAR IN TERMS OF PROVIDING THE STAFF WITH THE RESEARCH THAT THEY NEED TO, TO, TO TACKLE, UM, THE CHALLENGE THAT'S BEFORE US.
WELL, I WILL FIRST JUST ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AND, UM, JUST COMMIT THAT WITH, UH, OUR NEW INTERIM CITY MANAGER THAT WILL SPEND SOME TIME WITH HIM AS WE START THINKING THROUGH THE BUDGET PROCESS, WHAT THOSE KIND OF INVESTMENTS LOOK LIKE.
I KNOW THAT, UH, ZACH'S BEEN KIND OF WORK SHOPPING THE DIFFERENT NEEDS WITH THE DIFFERENT PARTNER DEPARTMENTS.
UM, I CAN'T SPEAK SPECIFICALLY TO THOSE RIGHT NOW, UH, BUT WE CAN CERTAINLY, UH, GET MORE INFORMATION ON THAT AND BE HAPPY TO, TO BRIEF YOU AND, AND OTHERS AS WELL.
YEAH, I JUST ADDED, UH, TO WHAT JASON MENTIONED, THAT, UH, WE ARE HAVING THESE CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL WORKSHOPS ON ALL FIVE OF THE SECTIONS OF THE PLAN TO HELP DEPARTMENTS CREATE PRIORITIES, CREATE BUDGET ASKS TO GO INTO THE BUDGET PROCESS FOR THIS YEAR.
UM, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING TO, UM, CREATE HOPEFULLY, UM, ANOTHER SORT OF NET ZERO SUMMARY AS PART OF THE PROPOSED BUDGET LIKE WE DID LAST YEAR.
UM, CAUSE A LOT OF THESE THINGS, UM, ARE SPECIFIC CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN PROJECTS, BUT MANY OF THE PROJECTS THAT GET FUNDED END UP BEING ROLLED INTO DEPARTMENT BUDGETS AND ROLLED SORT OF INTO THINGS THAT DON'T REALLY LOOK LIKE CLIMATE CHANGE OR LOOK LIKE, YOU KNOW, TAGGED AS THE CLIMATE EQUITY CLAMP AT ARE.
UM, SO I, OUR HOPE IS TO MAKE SURE WE PULL OUT THOSE THINGS AND HIGHLIGHT AND COMMUNICATE BETTER ON THOSE.
SO, UM, IT'S EASIER TO SEE AND, AND MORE ACCESSIBLE.
I MIGHT ADD THAT, UH, YOU'RE FROM KATIE, YOU'RE FROM WATERSHED MANAGEMENT, CORRECT? YES.
SO I, I THINK THERE'S, THERE'S, THERE'S WHAT, AND YOU'VE TALKED ABOUT THE, THE NEED.
YOU KNOW, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT PARKLAND EAST OF 35, UH, WHAT REALLY TALKING ABOUT IS OPEN SPACE AND IF THERE IS A CONNECTION TO A DRAINAGE SYSTEM THAT WE CAN, THAT WE CAN MAKE AN INVESTMENT IN THAT CAN PRESERVE, UH, THE WATER QUALITY IN THOSE AREAS, THE
[02:00:01]
DRAINAGE DEPARTMENT OR THE WATERSHED DEPARTMENT HAS AN OBLIGATION TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE CAPITAL PROGRAM OUGHT TO LOOK LIKE OR WHAT CAPITAL INVESTMENT OUGHT TO LOOK LIKE.AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO WORK WITH JORGE, UH, ALONG WITH JASON TO FIGURE OUT WHETHER THERE'S A, A WAY TO CONNECT THOSE DOTS, UH, TO, TO, TO DEAL WITH THAT ISSUE.
WE CAN DEFINITELY, UH, TALK TO DIRECTOR MORALES, UH, MORE AND WORK WITH Y'ALL ON, ON THAT, BUT POINT TAKEN, UH, USING WATERSHED FUNDS, USING, USING DEAF FUNDING FOR, FOR THAT WORK IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE REALLY LOOKING INTO MORE, INCLUDING BLACKLAND PRAIRIE RESTORATION EAST.
SO JUST HAD A CONVERSATION WITH POD STAFF AND WATERSHED STAFF ABOUT WHAT THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE IN COLLABORATION, RECOGNIZING THAT THEY DON'T ALWAYS HAVE THE RESOURCES, BUT WE MIGHT.
UM, AND IF, IF I CAN SPEAK TO YOUR POINT, YOU KNOW, BEYOND JUST BUDGET, UH, WE NEED FUNDING TO ACQUIRE LAND, AND I DON'T WANNA SPEAK TO WHAT THAT MECHANISM IS.
UH, I THINK WE NEED GUIDANCE FROM Y'ALL ON, ON WHAT THAT COULD BE, BUT 20,000 ACRES IS A LOT OF ACREAGE.
IF WE WANTED TO BUY CARBON CREDITS ON THE GLOBAL MARKET TO OFFSET THE EQUIVALENT OF THAT 20,000 ACRES, IT WOULD BE A LOT OF MONEY AND WE'RE NOT GONNA GET ANY OF THE CO-BENEFITS THAT WE WOULD GET IF WE ACQUIRED IT LOCALLY.
UH, AND THERE IS A RACE TO ACQUIRE LAND EAST RIGHT NOW.
SO THAT, THAT TO ME IS THE MOST CRITICAL PIECE THAT WE NEED TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT.
AND I'LL JUST, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NEW TO THE DIAS, I'LL JUST UNDERSCORE THAT OUR PARKLAND DEDICATION RULES, UM, BY LAND WHERE WE'RE DEVELOPING AND THAT DEVELOPMENT IS HAPPENING A LOT ON THE EAST SIDE, AND SO IT IS PUTTING THAT PARKLAND ON THE EAST SIDE.
UM, PART IS NOT UP HERE, BUT THEY'RE IN THE ROOM.
I DON'T KNOW THAT I NEED THEM TO SPEAK TO THIS, BUT I DO WANNA FLAG THE LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN, WHICH CAME OUT OF OUR 2019 WILDFIRE AUDIT, UM, WILL BE COMING BACK TO US THAT WILL NEED, UM, FUNDING AND RESOURCING FOR STAFFING.
THEY HAVE TWO PEOPLE IN THE LAND MANAGEMENT DIVISION OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, AND THEY'RE ALSO WORKING ON HOMELESSNESS.
UM, WE SAW THE DESTRUCTION IN OUR PARKS, UM, FROM THE TREES WITH THE ICE STORM THAT IS GOING TO TAKE MONTHS.
UM, I WAS JUST OVER AT GREAT HILLS PARK AND, YOU KNOW, THEY HAD CREWS OUT THERE, AND THE CREWS WERE GONNA BE THERE FOR DAYS, UM, JUST TO BE ABLE TO CUT DOWN THE TREES, LET ALONE TAKE THE TREES, THE DEAD DEBRIS OUT.
SO THERE'S AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT THAT WE NEED TO DO FOR THE LAND MANAGEMENT THAT LINKS NOT JUST TO CLIMATE CHANGE, BUT ALSO OUR CLIMATE PREPAREDNESS AND OUR, AND OUR MITIGATION RISK.
UM, I ALSO WANTED TO ASK ABOUT THE OVERARCHING STRATEGY.
SO YOU SAID YOU'RE HAVING, YOU'RE HAVING MEETINGS ABOUT THE FIVE GOALS, BUT ONE OF THE WAYS THAT WAS REALLY UNIQUE ABOUT THIS PLAN IS IT SET OUT, I DON'T REMEMBER IF IT'S THREE OR FIVE OVERARCHING STRATEGIES ABOUT HOW WE WERE GOING TO ACCOMPLISH THIS.
UM, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I FOUND PROBLEMATIC IN OUR BUDGET LAST YEAR IS THAT ONE OF THE KEY MECHANISMS IS TO CREATE GREEN JOBS, WHICH IS ALSO, YOU KNOW, BENEFICIAL FROM AN EQUITY STANDPOINT.
IT'S, IT'S SUPER IMPORTANT, UM, FOR US TO BE ABLE TO DELIVER ON THIS PLAN.
AND YET THERE WERE NO INVESTMENTS IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET FROM THE CITY MANAGER WITH RESPECT TO NEW INVESTMENTS INTO GREEN JOBS.
AND WE HAD PASSED THIS, UM, THE SEPTEMBER BEFORE.
THERE WAS NOT A MID-YEAR AMENDMENT AS WE'D ASKED FOR, FOR THAT.
UM, SO CAN YOU SPEAK TO HOW YOU'RE WORKING ON THE GREEN JOBS OR SOME OF THE OTHER OVERARCHING STRATEGIES AND WHAT YOU MIGHT NEED THERE, UM, TO REALLY MAKE THOSE HAPPEN? SORRY ABOUT THAT.
KIMBERLY MCNELEY SERVING AS THE PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR.
SO, UM, THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT HAS SOMETHING CALLED THE A ACC C PROGRAM, THE AUSTIN CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS.
IT IS A GREEN JOB WORKFORCE PROGRAM.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, AT THIS PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME, WE HAVE, UM, WELL, IT'S BEEN SOMETHING THAT WE'VE, WE'VE PUT INTO IN PLACE, UH, UH, I THINK TWO YEARS AGO IT RECENTLY TRANSO IT DIDN'T RECENTLY, IT TRANSITIONED OVER TO THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT LAST YEAR.
WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF HIRING TWO FULL-TIME POSITIONS.
ONE IS ALREADY, UH, HIRED, THE OTHER IS, UM, ADVERTISED AND, UH, CLOSES ON FRIDAY.
UH, THOSE AS A PROGRAM MANAGER WHO MANAGES THE ENTIRE PROGRAM, WHO WILL TRY TO CONTINUE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PROGRAM IS SUSTAINABLE, PUTS TOGETHER THE POLICIES, UM, ALSO MAKES SURE THAT, UM, WE HAVE SUSTAINABLE FUNDING IN, IN MULTIPLE WAYS.
AND THEN WE HAVE ALSO THE COORDINATOR WHO IS RUNNING CREWS.
AND SO RIGHT NOW WE HAVE, UM, WE HAVE AN INTERNAL PATHWAYS PROGRAM WHERE WE'RE WORKING SPECIFICALLY, UH, WITHIN THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND WITHIN OUR OWN DEPARTMENT TO BE ABLE TO HIRE INDIVIDUALS TO PERFORM WORK ON OUR OWN PARKLAND OR,
[02:05:01]
UH, IN, IN WAYS THAT ARE BENEFITING OUR, OUR, UH, OUR, OUR FELLOW DEPARTMENTS.AND WE HAVE, UM, 31 YOUTH STAFF THAT WORK, UH, IN OUR INTERNAL PATHWAYS PROGRAM.
AND THEN WE ALSO WORK WITH THE AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS.
AND SO YOU'LL SEE A, A CONTRACT THAT'S COMING BEFORE YOU, A CERTIFICATE OF EXEMPTION THAT WILL COME BEFORE YOU ON THURSDAY.
AND THAT IS FOR, UM, LAND MANAGEMENT CREWS THAT WILL GO OUT AND DO LAND MANAGEMENT WORK THROUGHOUT THE PARK SYSTEM AND ON OTHER LANDS ON WATERSHED PROTECTION LAND ON AUSTIN WATERLAND, UM, THROUGH THE AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS.
AND IT IS ALSO A YOUTH WOR, UH, YOUTH WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
AND THE, UH, THE THING ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR PROGRAM IS WE ARE TARGETING UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.
WE ARE TARGETING, UM, GROUPS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE NOT NORMALLY REPRESENTED IN THE GREEN JOBS, UM, AR ARENA.
AND WE'RE TRYING TO ENSURE THAT THOSE INDIVIDUALS, UH, RECEIVE THE JOB SKILLS AND THE TRAINING THAT'S APPROPRIATE, THAT WILL HELP THEM THEN BE ABLE TO APPLY FOR FULL-TIME JOBS.
SO THAT'S JUST IN A NUTSHELL, THE, UM, THE A ACCC PROGRAM AND WE HOPE TO, UM, PROVIDE YOU A LARGER UPDATE AFTER WE GET THE PROGRAM MANAGER HIRED ON AND, AND WE'RE ABLE TO EXECUTE MANY OF THE PLANS THAT ARE IN PLACE.
DID YOU WANNA ADD SOME, IF YOU WANT ME TO? SURE.
UH, I CAN ALSO JUST SPEAK GENERALLY ABOUT WATERSHED PROTECTION AND ALSO SOME OF OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS AS, AGAIN, THIS IS COMMUNITY AND CITY, NOT JUST CITY.
UH, WE HAVE SOME AMAZING ORGANIZATIONS LIKE AUSTIN YOUTH RIVER WATCH, URBAN ROOTS, THAT DOES URBAN AG, UH, WORK, UM, THAT, THAT ARE SUPPORTED BY THE CITY.
FOR INSTANCE, AUSTIN, AUSTIN YOUTH RIVER WATCH HAS FUNDING THAT IT RECEIVES ANNUALLY FROM WATERSHED PROTECTION.
UH, AND WHAT THEY DO IS THEY TRAIN YOUTH, UH, IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
UH, AND SO THAT IS WORK THAT WE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT.
I WILL ALSO SAY THAT, UH, MANY CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN MYSELF AND THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF PHIL OPERATIONS IN THE WATER, UH, SHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT.
SO THAT'S REMESH, UH, SWAMINATHAN.
UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HOW WE CAN BETTER BUILD UP OUR GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AND LAND MANAGEMENT TEAMS WITH EQUITY IN MIND.
AND, AND THAT IS A CORE GREEN JOBS FUNCTION, UH, WITHIN WATERSHED.
UM, CITY MANAGER, I, I, WE ALSO HAVE A, A, A REPORT THAT UT DID ON THE UT ON GREEN JOBS, WHICH INDICATED THAT GREEN JOBS WERE A REALLY BIG GROWTH AREA FOR OUR CITY.
UM, AND THEY, THEY PLANNED OUT, UM, SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE COULD BUILD UP OUR GREEN JOB INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE CITY, WHETHER IT WAS CITY LED OR OR NOT.
ACC C IS ONE OF THOSE MECHANISMS AND, UM, OBVIOUSLY I'M A BIG FAN OF THE A ACCC, BUT THERE ARE OTHER THINGS THAT WE NEED TO BE DOING.
UM, AND THE ABSENCE OF INVESTMENTS IN GREEN JOBS, WHICH WAS ONE OF THE OVERARCHING STRATEGIES THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE, UM, ALLOWING US TO IMPLEMENT THIS PLAN.
YOU CANNOT IMPLEMENT A CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN IF YOU DON'T HAVE PEOPLE WHO CAN TAKE ON THOSE JOBS, AND YOU CANNOT DO IT EQUITABLY IF YOU'RE NOT BRINGING IN PEOPLE INTO THAT WORKFORCE WHO DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO THOSE JOBS.
WE ALSO, AS YOU KNOW, HAVE A RETENTION AND A RECRUITMENT CHALLENGE.
UM, AND THROUGH THE PROGRAMS WITH A ACCC WORKING WITH OUR DEPARTMENTS AND THROUGH OTHER MECHANISMS, IT IS A GREAT WAY TO BE BRINGING IN THOSE PEOPLE AND ADDRESSING THE NEEDS SO THAT NOT EVERY DEPARTMENT HAS TO BE A MASTER OF, OR THAT'S THE WRONG WORD, THE HAS TO KNOW HOW TO DO, UM, EQUITY AND KNOW HOW TO RECRUIT FOLKS IN THAT WAY.
AND YOU CAN CENTRALIZE THINGS.
IT SOLVES A LOT OF CONTRACTING PROBLEMS, BUT THERE'S AN ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITY THERE AND, AND IT IS CRITICAL IF WE WANNA IMPLEMENT THIS PLAN, WE, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO FOLLOW UP.
AND I'D, I'D JUST LIKE TO ADD REALLY QUICKLY, IF I DON'T MIND, JUST TO SPEAK TO THE EFFICACY OF SOME OF THESE PROGRAMS. UH, SO ANECDOTALLY, TREE FOLKS HAS HIRED, UH, SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE GONE THROUGH THE AUSTIN YOUTH WORKS, UH, PROGRAM, UH, INCLUDING SEVERAL WHO ARE NOW IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS WITH THE ORGANIZATION.
SO I WOULD SAY AS FAR AS CREATING GREEN, UH, UH, A READY GREEN WORKFORCE, AUSTIN YOUTHWORKS IS DOING THE WORK.
UH, WE ALSO PARTICIPATED RECENTLY IN AN A ACCC, UH, GREEN JOBS ACCELERATOR WITH A FOCUS ON, UH, ON CREATING EQUITY IN THOSE JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS. AND THAT HAS ENABLED US TO NOW INCORPORATE GREEN JOBS TRAINING EFFORTS INTO SOME OF OUR, UH, INTO SOME OF OUR NEWER INITIATIVES LIKE OUR SEEDS TO TREES PIPELINE TO HARVEST SEEDS AND TO ACTUALLY START OUR OWN NATIVE TREE NURSERY AGAIN WITH, UH, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A C C TO CREATE THOSE JOBS AND GET PEOPLE READY TO THEN ENTER THE WORKFORCE AND, AND, UH, GO EVEN BEYOND WHAT, UH, TREE FOLKS CAN OFFER.
I HAVE A QUESTION, A FEW QUESTIONS AS IT RELATES TOWARDS THE GENERATION SIDE OF, UH, EMISSIONS.
I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE WHO HERE I WOULD TARGET THAT TO, BUT
[02:10:01]
WHAT I AM TRYING TO UNDERSTAND AND, AND AS Y'ALL PRESENT THIS UPDATE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO DISCUSSION OF GENERATION AND MY RUDIMENTARY UNDERSTANDING OF, OF WHERE WE ARE IS THAT WE ARE OFF TRACK LARGELY DUE TO GENERATION OF PARTICULARLY OUR CONTINUED INVESTMENT IN COAL GENERATION.AND SO I WANT TO BOTH UNDERSTAND IF WE DID EVERYTHING YOU'RE PUTTING FORWARD AND EVERYTHING YOU'RE SUGGESTING, AND WE DON'T SOLVE THAT PIECE OF THE EQUATION, CAN WE EVEN EVER GET TO THE GOALS IN THIS PLAN? AND I ESPECIALLY LOOK AT THE DASHBOARD, YOU KNOW, WHEN I CLICK ON THE VARIOUS YEARS OF, OF WHERE WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE, YOU KNOW, I, I CLICKED ON 2030 AND OUR EMISSIONS FROM ELECTRICITY DRAMATICALLY SHRINKS, BUT HOW CAN WE DO THAT IF WE ARE CONTINUING TO IN INVEST IN A, A POWER PLANT THAT MAKES THAT NOT POSSIBLE? SO I'M, I AM FLAGGING THAT AS JUST SOMETHING THAT I DON'T, I DON'T, I FEEL LIKE IT ALWAYS HAS TO BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION.
UM, BUT SEPARATELY, I'M WONDERING IF IN THE FUTURE WE CAN HAVE KIND OF BREAKOUTS OF, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE SEE IN THE STRATEGIC HOUSING BR BLUEPRINT.
HERE ARE VARIOUS BUCKETS OF THINGS, WHETHER IT'S GREEN JOBS, WHETHER IT IS ELECTRICITY, REFRIGERANT, HOWEVER YOU WANNA BREAK IT OUT.
BUT WHERE ARE WE? ARE WE ON TRACK? ARE WE OFF TRACK? ARE WE MEETING OUR GOALS? ARE WE NOT? UH, SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUALLY SEE HOW WE'RE DOING AND IF WE'RE WHERE WE NEED TO ADJUST.
SO I GUESS THAT'S MORE COMMON THAN QUESTION, BUT, UH, I JUST WANNA PUT THAT OUT THERE.
SO WE REPORT OUR TOTAL COMMUNITY-WIDE EMISSIONS ANNUALLY, AND WE UPDATE THE DASHBOARD OF IMPLEMENTATION OF ALL THE STRATEGIES IN THE, IN THE PLAN ANNUALLY.
SO ALL THAT INFORMATION IS PROVIDED ONLINE, UM, IN TERMS OF THE SPECIFIC ELECTRICITY GENERATION, AUSTIN ENERGY WILL HAVE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
UM, BUT THEY ARE, OUR EMISSIONS HAVE BEEN DROPPING, UM, COMMUNITY WIDE, PRIMARILY DUE TO AUSTIN.
AUSTIN ENERGY'S RENEWABLE INVESTMENTS AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF INVESTMENTS.
UM, WE DIDN'T TOUCH ON THAT TOPIC TODAY BECAUSE THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN IS SO LARGE THAT WE'RE SORT OF GOING PIECE BY PIECE.
UM, BUT WE WILL, WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT WE HIT ON THAT, THAT PORTION OF THE PLAN, UM, IN IN FUTURE BRIEFINGS.
AND COUNCIL MEMBER, I THINK THAT'S A, THAT'S AN ISSUE ON OUR TO-DO LIST.
UH, WITH RESPECT TO THE AUSTIN ENERGY, JUST SO YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS AN INHIBITOR FOR US TO BRING IN, UH, GREEN ENERGY IS THAT WE DON'T HAVE THE TRANSMISSION CAPABILITY TO ALL BRING IT IN.
WE GOT, WE GOT CHOKE POINTS IN THAT TRANSMISSION FROM WEST TEXAS, UH, THE WIND FARMS. AND SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO ADDRESS A CAPITAL PROGRAM TO TRY TO ADDRESS SOME OF THAT.
BUT IT, IT WOULD SURPRISE ME THAT WE LOST MONEY LIKE THREE, THREE OR FOUR YEARS IN A ROW IN AUSTIN ENERGY.
AND THAT IS REALLY A RED FLAG FOR ME IN TERMS OF THIS IS THE DEPARTMENT THAT WAS, UH, NOT JUST THE, UH, JEWEL WITHIN THIS ORGANIZATION, BUT IT WAS ALWAYS HEALTHY FROM A FINANCIAL STANDPOINT.
WE GOT OUR BOND RATING DOWNGRADED BECAUSE OF THAT.
AND SO THAT MEANS WHEN WE SELL PAPER, WE SPEND MORE MONEY ON INTEREST THAN WE OTHERWISE WOULD.
THOSE ARE THINGS THAT ARE CRITICAL AND WE INTEND TO TRY TO BRING A REPORT THAT TRIES TO BE HOLISTIC WITH ALL THESE ISSUES THAT WE'VE BROUGHT TODAY.
PLUS TRYING TO BALANCE THE NEEDS OF, UH, OF THAT, UH, VERY IMPORTANT DEPARTMENT FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
ANYBODY, MAY I ASK A QUESTION? OH, I'M SORRY.
UM, AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION TODAY.
REAL QUICK, I JUST, ONE QUESTION.
UM, IN REGARDS TO THE AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS PROGRAM, CAN YOU TELL ME HOW MANY YOUTH HAVE BEEN TRAINED AND EMPLOYED SINCE THE START OF THE PROGRAM? OH MY GOSH.
I, I CANNOT BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE THAT DATA WITH ME, BUT I WILL GET THAT TO YOU.
I ACTUALLY HAVE A MEETING WITH LELAND, UM, LATER TODAY.
YEAH, IF I COULD HAVE THAT, THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL FOR ME TO ABSOLUTELY REVIEW.
THANK Y'ALL FOR THAT BRIEFING.
[E. Executive Session]
WE ARE, UH, ON AT THAT POINT IN THE AGENDA TO GO INTO AN EXECUTIVE SESSION.THE CITY COUNCIL WILL NOW GO INTO A CLOSED SESSION TO TAKE UP TWO ITEMS PURSUANT TO SECTION 5 51 0.074 OF THE GOVERNMENT CODE.
THE CITY COUNCIL WILL DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING PERSONNEL MATTER NUMBER E ONE, EMPLOYMENT DUTIES AND EVALUATION OF THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER PURSUANT TO SAY ALSO PURSUANT
[02:15:01]
TO SECTION 5 51 0.07, ONE OF THE GOVERNMENT CODE, THE CITY COUNCIL WILL DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO ITEM E TWO, THE SEARCH FOR AN APPOINTMENT OF A NEW CITY MANAGER.UH, COUNCIL MEMBER NATASHA HARPER MADISON IS HERE.
UH, IS THERE ANY OBJECTION TO GOING INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION ON THE ITEMS ANNOUNCED? HEARING NONE, THE COUNCIL WILL NOW GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION.
UH, I WILL RETURN AT THE END OF THE EXECUTIVE SESSION TO ANNOUNCE, UH, THE END OF THE EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR ANYBODY THAT IS, IS WATCHING OR PAYING ATTENTION TO THAT WE'RE HEADED TO EXECUTIVE SESSION IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION ROOM.
IN CLOSED SESSION, WE DISCUSSED PERSONNEL MATTERS RELATED TO ITEM E ONE AND LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO ITEM E TWO.
UH, WITHOUT OBJECTION, THE CITY COUNCIL IN THIS WORK SESSION IS ADJOURNED.
YOU, YOU DON'T HAVE LONG WEIGHT COWBOY COWBOY.