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YOU FOR JOINING US[Capital Metro Board of Directors Public Hearing on March 8, 2023.]
AT, UH, FOR THE CAP METRO PUBLIC HEARING.TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8TH, AND THE TIME IS 1132.
HOW ARE YOU? ALL RIGHT, UH, LET'S SEE.
UH, WE'LL CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER.
AND TODAY'S PUBLIC HEARING IS TO TAKE ANY COMMENTS ON THE ACQUISITION OF TWO EASEMENTS RELATED TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW MACALA, UH, METRO RAIL STATION.
AND I UNDERSTAND THAT MR. CARTWRIGHT HAS A PRESENTATION FOR US, AND FOLLOWING THAT, WE WILL TAKE PUBLIC COMMENT.
RIGHT, MR. CARTWRIGHT, PLEASE PROCEED.
CHAIR TRILLIAN, BOARD MEMBERS, UM, AND DEPUTY CEO BUTCHER.
I'M KEN CARRI, VICE PRESIDENT OF CONSTRUCTION FACILITIES AT CAP METRO, AND I'LL JUST READ THIS, UH, PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE FOR YOUR BENEFIT.
THEN I HAVE A FEW SLIDES TO SHARE WITH YOU.
SO THIS IS A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE ACQUISITION OF A TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION EASEMENT OR TCE CONTAINING 0.0252 ACRES OUT OF THE LIGHT INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2320 DONNELLEY DRIVE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, TCAD NUMBER 2 5 8 2 7 0, AND A PERMANENT WASTE WATER EASEMENT CONTAINING 0.0104 ACRES OUT OF THE LIGHT INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2222 WEST RUNDBERG LANE, AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS TCAD NUMBER FORTY TWO SIX TWO HUNDRED NINETY TWO FOR THE MACALL STATION THROUGH THE EXERCISE OF EMINENT DOMAIN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TRANSPORTATION CODE SUBSECTION FOUR 50 ONE.ZERO FIVE NINE B.
AND THIS, UH, PUBLIC HEARING IS REQUIRED, UH, 30 DAYS IN ADVANCE OF ANY ACTION THAT THE BOARD MAY TAKE RE REGARDING EMINENT DOMAIN PROCEEDINGS.
AND BEFORE WE DO JUMP INTO THE SLIDES, I WILL LET YOU KNOW THAT WE HAVE BEEN IN ONGOING DISCUSSIONS WITH BOTH, BOTH OF THESE PROPERTY OWNERS.
WE DO HOPE THAT WE COME TO RESOLUTION IN THE NEXT 30 DAYS WITH THEM AND HAVE THEM SIGN, UM, THESE PARTICULAR EASEMENTS.
BUT WE ARE, BECAUSE OF THE CRITICAL NATURE OF THE TIMING OF THE ACQUISITION OF THESE EASEMENTS AS IT RELATES TO CONSTRUCTION, WE WANTED TO INITIATE THE PROCESS TODAY IN THE EVENT THAT WE NEED TO COME BACK TO YOU AND PROCEED WITH THE IMMINENT DOMAIN, UM, UH, PROCESS.
SO JUST A LITTLE BIT OF A, UH, OF THE PROJECT.
UH, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO MAY NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH AT THE MACALA RED LINE RAIL STATION, IT'S A REGIONAL RED, UH, RED LINE STATION.
IT'S LOCATED, UH, BETWEEN THE Q2 STADIUM THERE ON THE RED LINE AND DELTA DRIVE, UM, IN THE, UH, NORTH BURNETT AREA.
AND AS YOU'RE AWARE, THIS IS A RAPIDLY GROWING SECTOR OF THE CITY AND MUCH, UM, RESIDENTIAL AND INDUSTRIAL AND MULTI-USE DEVELOPMENT IS OCCURRING, AND A LOT OF REDEVELOPMENT IS OCCURRING IN THIS AREA.
AND THE REAL PURPOSE OF THIS STATION IS TO PROVIDE THOSE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE TO UTILIZE TRANSIT TO ACC, UH, TO, UH, ACCESS THEIR, UM, THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS, THE, THE BUSINESSES A AND, UH, YOU KNOW, JOB CENTERS, UM, IN THE VICINITY OF THIS, INCLUDING THE, UH, DOMAIN, UH, DEVELOPMENT, THE STATION ITSELF FEATURES TWO PLATFORMS PLUS ONE SPECIAL EVENT PLATFORM.
AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE'RE, UH, EXTENDING THE DOUBLE TRACKING IN THIS AREA FOR A MILE AND A QUARTER.
WE HAVE ACCESS FROM BURNETT ROAD TO THE RAIL STATION VIA SHARED USE PATH FOR BOTH BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN USE.
UM, THERE IS AN ACCESSIBLE ROUTE FROM, UH, DELTA DRIVE TO THE Q2 STADIUM ACROSS THE, UH, THE TRACKS THERE.
YOU CAN SEE DELTA DRIVE WOULD BE IN THE FOREGROUND, AND THEN THE STADIUM, OBVIOUSLY IN THE BACKGROUND HERE, AND THAT PEDESTRIAN THREW AWAY CONNECTING THE TWO.
THERE WOULD ALSO BE, UH, PROTECTION TO KEEP PEDESTRIANS OUT OF THE RAILWAY, UH, DURING ACTIVE TRAIN MOVEMENT AS WELL.
BUT THE, UM, STATION ITSELF WILL HAVE THE TYPICAL AMENITIES, CANOPIES, BIKE RACKS, TICKET VENDING MACHINE, ET CETERA.
THERE'LL BE CROWD CONTROL AND SAFETY PROVISIONS.
WE'LL DO OFF, OFF, UH, PLATFORM BOARDING FOR SPECIAL EVENTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, WE HAVE A LOT OF STORM WATER IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'RE DOING AS PART OF THE PROJECT, OBVIOUSLY TRAIN CONTROL, UH, SYSTEMS AS WELL.
AND WE'RE AS ALWAYS INCORPORATING SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES INTO THE PROJECT.
UM, AS PART OF THE PLANNING FOR THIS STATION, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF, UM, PUBLIC OUTREACH EVENTS LISTED HERE.
AND SO WE GOT EXTENSIVE PUBLIC INPUT ON THIS, UM, AS WE PROCEEDED WITH THE DESIGN PROCESS.
AND NOW, UH, WE ARE IN, UH, FULL CONSTRUCTION ON THAT.
AS YOU MAY BE AWARE, UH, TRACK E FOUR AS WE, UH, CALL IT, IS A PERMANENT WASTEWATER EASEMENT.
AND, UM, AS PART OF THIS PROJECT, WE HAVE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN TO ACTUALLY SHIFT A WASTEWATER LINE AND THEN UPSIZE IT, UH, WHERE
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THEY COST SHARE PARTICIPATION BY THE CITY FOR THAT.AND SO THIS, UH, SHORT, UM, SECTION ACROSS THIS PRIVATE PROPERTY WOULD BE REQUIRED.
IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THAT, WE ARE FOLLOWING THE, UH, UNIFORM ACT AS PART OF THIS, AND WE WOULD BE USING, UH, LOCAL FUNDS FOR THIS ACQUISITION.
THE NEXT TRACK, UH, WE CALL E 22 IS A TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION EASEMENT.
SO THIS WILL BE IN PLACE JUST FOR THE DURATION OF THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS.
AND IT IS, UH, NEAR BREAKER LANE, AS YOU CAN SEE THERE ON THE MAP.
AND, UH, THIS IS AN AREA SO WE CAN CONSTRUCT A RETAINING WALL TO SUPPORT OUR SECOND TRACK IN THAT AREA.
AND, UH, AS WITH THE FIRST, WE'RE FOLLOWING THE UNIFORM ACT AND USING, UH, LOCAL FUNDS FOR THIS PARTICULAR ACQUISITION.
THIS IS JUST A SITE PLAN SHOWING THE STATION ITSELF WITH DELTA DRIVE ON THE LOWER AREA THERE, THE STADIUM, UM, UH, ON THE UPPER PORTION OF THE SITE PLAN THERE, AND THE YELLOW INDICATING THE PEDESTRIAN THREW AWAY ACROSS THE TRACKS BETWEEN DELTA DRIVE AND THE STADIUM THERE.
AND THEN THOSE PINK AREAS ARE WALKWAYS AND THEY INCLUDE ON THE RIGHT SIDE STAGING AREA FOR BUSES FOR SPECIAL EVENTS.
AND AGAIN, JUST TO, UH, I WON'T REPEAT THIS, BUT AGAIN, THIS IS A PUBLIC HEARING, UM, RELATED TO THE ACQUISITION OF BOTH OF THESE TRACKS.
AND, AND, UH, UH, AT THIS PUBLIC HEARING IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TRANSPORTATION CODE SECTION 4 51 0 5 9 B.
AND WITH THAT, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS BOARD MEMBERS MAY HAVE BEFORE YOU OPEN IT UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
COLLEAGUES, UM, BOARD MEMBER POOL.
THE STAGING FOR BUSES DURING PUBLIC EVENTS THAT DOES NOT REPLACE THE REGULAR SERVICE OR THE INCREASED SERVICE DURING, UM, MATCHES AND, AND EVENTS THERE? THAT IS CORRECT.
SO IT'S, IT AUGMENTS WHAT IS ALREADY CORRECT.
IT'S ANOTHER BUS OPTION DURING SPECIAL EVENTS.
ALL RIGHT, ANY ADDITIONAL? YES.
I, I HAD ANOTHER QUICK QUESTION.
YOU MENTIONED YOU WERE IN ONGOING CONVERSATIONS.
ARE YOU ABLE TO SHARE THE MOST RECENT DATE OF YOUR LAST CONVERSATIONS WITH THESE GROUPS? UM, AS, AS RECENTLY AS YESTERDAY.
WE WILL BE REACHING OUT TO LATER TODAY AS WELL.
AND, AND BOTH LANDOWNERS ARE, UH, AWARE THAT THIS PUBLIC HEARING IS TAKING PLACE TODAY.
ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? I'LL ASK FOR THE THIRD TIME.
ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? HEARING NONE, THEN WE WILL OPEN THIS SEGMENT UP TO, UH, TO PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, FOR THE PRESENTATION, WE HAVE ONE PERSON, UH, WHO, WHO SIGNED UP AHEAD OF TIME, UH, TO SPEAK, AND THAT'S MS. UH, MS. ZK, JOSEPH.
UH, MS. JOSEPH, ARE YOU WITH US? MS. YES, MR. CHAIR.
UH, IF, IF THERE'S A DELAY ON MY END AND IT, THE, THE LITTLE SYSTEM TELLS YOU YOU'VE BEEN MUTED AND UNMUTED, SO IT'S FLOOR ABOUT THE DELAY.
YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES, PLEASE PROCEED.
THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR MEMBERS, I'M ZNO JOSEPH.
I'D LIKE TO MAKE COMMENTS AS IT RELATES TO MC STATION, IMMINENT DOMAIN EASEMENT, SPECIFICALLY THE 2222 WEST RUNDBERG.
I JUST WANNA CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION.
UH, RESPECTFULLY, THE CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS SPECIFIES HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT SYSTEM.
THIS IS TRUE, BUT IT ALSO SAYS THAT IT WILL IMPROVE ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL SERVICES, WHICH IS NOT TRUE IN THE RUNDBERG AREA TO EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, GROCERY STORES, CHILDCARE JOBS, ESPECIALLY IN HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED AND UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES.
I WAS AT H E B RUNDBERG YESTERDAY.
I TOOK PICTURES OF ALL THE TRASH AND LITTER.
I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS PROJECT IS RE CODIFYING THE 1928 PLAN.
YOU ARE REDLINING THE CITY, AND YES, I AGREE WITH MR. CARTWRIGHT.
THERE WILL BE ENHANCEMENTS IN THIS AREA, BUT IT'S ALSO 80% AREA MEDIAN INCOME, WHICH MEANS YOU HAVE TO EARN ABOUT $61,000.
THERE'S AN ARTICLE FROM K VIEW FROM FEBRUARY 17TH, 2020, WHERE DEVELOPERS ARE PAYING MILLIONS TO AVOID AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THIS AREA.
AND SO I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE, UM, THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS EARN APPROXIMATELY $42,000 AND HISPANICS EARN ABOUT $50,000.
AND SO IT'S SOURCE OF INCOME DISCRIMINATION, AND BERNARD ROAD IS THE DIVIDING LINE.
I WOULD ALSO REMIND COUNCIL MEMBER POLL THAT WHEN MAYOR ATLER, UM, ACTUALLY WAS CONSIDERING THE STADIUM, HE TOLD THE CITY MANAGER TO PUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING SOMEPLACE ELSE IN THE CITY.
I WANT YOU TO RECOGNIZE AS WELL
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THAT THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN CAPITAL METRO AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN SPECIFIES THAT RENTERS AS WELL AS HOMEOWNERS AND BUSINESSES WILL BEAR THE COST OF IMPLEMENTING PROJECT CONNECT.AND SO I WOULD ASK YOU TO RECOGNIZE THE NEED ONCE AGAIN TO IMPROVE THE SERVICE NORTH OF US.
180 3, THE BUS THAT USED TO RUN EAST WEST FROM ONE WALMART TO THE OTHER, WALMART NORWOOD TO WALMART, NORTHCROSS IS NOW TWO BUSES.
THAT MEANS YOUR RIDERSHIP IS UP IF YOU'RE COUNTING THE BOARDINGS, BECAUSE WE HAVE TO TAKE MORE BUSES.
NOW IT'S 3 25 15 MINUTES, AND IT'S 30 MINUTES TRANSFER 3 24.
I WILL LASTLY JUST CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION RESPECTFULLY THAT THE, I LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT, WHICH IS RARE.
UM, I WOULD JUST CALL TO YOUR ATTENTION THAT THE PROPOSITION A ALSO, UH, MENTIONED AFFORDABLE HOUSING ALONG THE TRANSIT CORRIDORS IN THAT, UNFORTUNATELY, UM, THE RED LINE IN THE MACAL STATION IS NOT IMPROVING ACCESS FOR TRANSIT DEPENDENT WRITERS.
AND LASTLY, WE'LL JUST STATE MY OPPOSITION TO CHEETO VELA BEING ON THE BOARD.
AND I AM IN COMMUNICATION WITH JACK PETRI, WHO IS A AUSTIN ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY.
AND I WOULD JUST LASTLY TELL THE BOARD THAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL DOES HAVE JURISDICTION OVER CONTRACTS.
THAT'S NOT A THREAT, THAT'S JUST HIS JURISDICTION.
SO YOU MAY HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION, BUT THE STATE YOU DO NOT.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL GLADLY ANSWER THEM AT THIS TIME, AND THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO MAKE MY COMMENTS.
ALL RIGHT, ANY QUESTIONS? HEARING, THANK YOU, MRS. JOSEPH.
I APPRECIATE THE TIME THAT YOU'VE TAKEN THE COMMENT TO US.
UM, YOU'RE WELCOME, MR. CHASE.
UH, DO WE HAVE ANYONE ELSE IN THE, THE ROOM, UH, THEY DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO SIGN UP THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK, LOOKS MORE LIKE STAFF THAN THE PUBLIC.
SO
UH, ANYONE IN THE CROWD THAT WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK.
UH, HEARING NONE, UH, I WOULD LIKE, WELL, LET'S SEE.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT WE NEED TO COVER? WE'VE, OKAY.
UH, THANK EVERYBODY FOR THE COMMENTS THAT WERE MADE.
AND THIS CONCLUDES OUR PUBLIC HEARING FOR TODAY.