Sep 19, 2023 City Council Work Session

UM, SO I APPRECIATE, UM, MY COLLEAGUES' COMMENTS AND, AND THE DESIRE FOR AS MUCH NOTICE AS POSSIBLE.

I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY, UM, IMPORTANT.

UM, YOU KNOW, I PULLED IT IN PART FIRST BECAUSE THERE WAS NO EXHIBIT A, SO I, AND I STILL FRANKLY WOULD LOVE TO SEE THAT IN WRITING TO UNDERSTAND, UM, YOU KNOW, EXACTLY WHAT, WHAT WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE VOTING ON.

BUT, UM, I APPRECIATE WHAT YOU'VE GIVEN US SO FAR.

IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE YOU'RE GONNA TELL ME ANY MORE THAN THAT RIGHT NOW, SO I'LL WAIT FOR IT IN WRITING.

BUT, UM, I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH NOT KNOWING WHAT EXHIBIT A IS, SO I APPRECIATE THAT.

UM, AND THEN THERE ARE SOME OTHER PIECES HERE.

AND, AND I WANNA, I WANNA CLARIFY, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NOTHING IN WHAT YOU JUST SAID WITH EXHIBIT A, UM, THAT MATCHES THE INTENTION THAT I, UM, READ ELSEWHERE.

THAT WAS EXPRESSED BY COLLEAGUES THAT WE'D BE HAVING THIS JOINT MEETING, AND THEN THERE WOULD ALSO BE A PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING, AND THEN THERE WOULD ALSO

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BE A COUNCIL MEETING.

SO HOW IS THAT PLAYING OUT WITH THIS ITEM TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE NOT JUST HAVING A JOINT MEETING AND SKIPPING ALL THE OTHER STEPS? UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, THE FIRST STEP IN THIS PROCESS WOULD BE FOR COUNCIL TO VOTE ON ITEM 55 TO AUTHORIZE THE MEETING.

IF COUNCIL DOES AUTHORIZE THE MEETING, THEN THE FIRST THING THAT WILL HAPPEN FROM A MEETING STANDPOINT AS WE'LL HAVE THE PUBLIC HEARING, WHICH IS BE A JOINT PUBLIC HEARING WITH THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE PLANNING COMMISSION.

AFTER THAT PUBLIC HEARING, HEARING HAPPENS, THE PLANNING COMMISSION WILL TAKE UP THE ITEM AT ONE OF THEIR MEETINGS AND THEY WILL MAKE THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL.

AND THEN AT A SUBSEQUENT MEETING, COUNCIL WILL VOTE ON, UH, THE AMENDMENTS.

WILL THERE BE ADDITIONAL NOTICE FOR ANY OF THOSE MEETINGS? SO THE WAY WE ARE THINKING ABOUT APPROACHING IT IS, YOU KNOW, IT'S COMMON PRACTICE WHEN WE HAVE A, A CODE AMENDMENT OR A ZONING CASE WHERE WE DO DUAL NOTICE.

SO WE GIVE NOTICE OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND THE COUNCIL MEETINGS.

AND SO IN THIS INSTANCE, WE WOULD GIVE NOTICE OF ALL THREE AT ONE TIME.

SO WE WOULD HAVE THE, UH, JOINT HEARING, THE PLANNING COMMISSION ACTION DAY, AND THE COUNCIL ACTION DATE.

UM, THANK YOU.

AND BUT THAT IS, IS THAT, IS THAT DELINEATED IN EXHIBIT A THEN? THAT WILL BE DELINEATED IN EXHIBIT A.

AND THEN THERE ARE, IF YOU READ THE ORDINANCE, THERE ARE, UM, SEC THERE ARE PARTS OF THAT THAT GO BEYOND AUTHORIZING THE JOINT PUBLIC HEARING.

AND, AND I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO TALK WITH YOU THROUGH THIS, BUT THERE'S WAIVING OF THE CODE SECTION ON AMENDMENT REVIEW.

UM, AND I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANT.

SO WE WOULD BE RAVING AMENDMENT REVIEW AS IT'S ESTABLISHED IN CITY CODE, BECAUSE YOU WILL BE FOLLOWING THIS DIFFERENT PROCESS, THE JOINT MEETING, WHICH OUR CODE DOES NOT HAVE A PROCESS FOR.

AND SO IT'S BEING WAIVED FOR PURPOSES OF ALLOWING FOR THIS JOINT PUBLIC HEARING TO HAPPEN AND THE NOTICE THAT COUNSEL DIRECTS AS PART OF THIS ACTION ITEM.

SO THAT IS, UM, A PROCEDURAL CHANGE, NOT A SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE TO THE PROCESS OF HOW AMENDMENTS TO THE ZONING CODE, HOW THIS WOULD BE FOR THIS JOINT MEETING.

SO OUR RECOMMENDATION AT THIS POINT IS TO, TO TRY THIS PROCESS OUT AND SEE HOW IT WORKS FOR THE COUNCIL AND FOR THE PLANNING COMMISSION IN THE COMMUNITY.

AND, UM, IF COUNCIL WANTS TO CONTINUE DOING THAT, WE WOULD ACTUALLY COME BACK WITH A FULL CODE AMENDMENT.

BUT THIS IS FOR THIS PARTICULAR ONE HERE RIGHT NOW WITH THE, UH, THAT WE'D BE TRYING IT OUT.

SO THAT ANTICIPATED A DIFFERENT QUESTION, BUT MY ORIGINAL QUESTION WAS MORE THE WAIVING OF THIS AMENDMENT, UM, SECTION IS ABOUT WAIVING THE PROCESS SO THAT WE CAN ADD THIS ADDITIONAL STEP.

IT'S NOT ABOUT WAIVING THE PROCESS OF ONLY LIKE THE PLANNING COMMISSIONER COUNCIL CAN INITIATE AMENDMENTS.

CORRECT? CORRECT.

BASED ON OUR CURRENT LOT SIZES, WE ACTUALLY WILL NEED TO DO HOME AND TWO PHASES.

UM, AND THEN I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND THE SCOPE OF WHAT WILL BE NOTICED.

UM, THERE WERE, WE, WE, THERE HAVE BEEN LOTS OF, UM, LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AMENDMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN INITIATED BY MS COUNCIL.

UM, AND THEY'RE NOT ALL INCLUDED IN THAT.

AND WE, AS I UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF ALL THESE THINGS, THEY ALL WORK TOGETHER.

AND SO FOR INSTANCE, COMPATIBILITY IS NOT LISTED AMONG THE THINGS THAT WE'RE NOTICING FOR.

SO HOW ARE WE DETERMINING WHAT WE'RE NOTICING FOR IN THIS NOTICE? SO WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING RIGHT NOW IS TO TAKE A PIECE OF THE HOME INITIATIVE AND THEN ALSO COUNCIL INITIATED CHANGES TO OUR OCCUPANCY LIMIT OVER THE SUMMER.

AND THOSE TEND TO HAVE KIND OF SOME, THEY'RE CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER IN THE SENSE THAT WE REGULATE THE OCCUPANCY OF EACH OF THE DWELLINGS ON A PROPERTY.

AND IT IS, UH, KIND OF A, A BITE-SIZED CHUNK THAT WE COULD TAKE THAT'S NOT SO MUCH FOR EVERYONE TO ABSORB AND TO, UM, KIND OF PROCESS, BUT IT ALSO GIVES US ENOUGH THAT WE ARE UTILIZING THE JOINT MEETING, UM, FOR A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN JUST ONE THING.

UM, BUT THEY'RE THINGS THAT I THINK GO TOGETHER, UM, AND THEY CAN WORK TOGETHER IN THE CODE.

AND SO IT WOULD BE, UH, THE THREE UNITS BY RIGHT, THE CREATING A THREE UNIT USE AND THEN OUR OCCUPANCY LIMITS.

UM, I KNOW COUNSEL ALSO INITIATED, UM, CODE AMENDMENTS ON TINY HOMES AND RVS, UM, THAT MAY FIT INTO THIS AS WELL.

IF NOT, IT WILL COME BACK ON A AS NOT NECESSARILY PART OF THE JOINT MEETING, BUT POTENTIALLY IN THE SAME TIMELINE.

AND SO WHAT ABOUT, WAS LOT SIZE INCLUDED? SO WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT OR NO.

UM, RIGHT NOW WHAT WE WOULD BE PROPOSING IS TO ALLOW THREE BY RIGHT, BASED ON OUR CURRENT LOT SIZES AND THEN THIS THREE UNIT USE,

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UM, SO THIS WILL BE THE FIRST PHASE OF IT, AND THEN THE SECOND PHASE WILL BE THE LOT SIZES AND THOSE CHANGES THAT GO WITH CHANGING LOT SIZE.

UM, I'M GONNA HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, THINK ABOUT THAT.

I, I AM CONCERNED THAT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE CHALLENGE REALLY COMES WHEN YOU COMBINE ALL THESE PIECES TOGETHER AND, UM, I'M NOT SURE THAT NOTICING PEOPLE IN ONE PIECE OF IT AND LEAVING OUT ANOTHER CHUNK THAT'S HAPPENING IS REALLY FAIR NOTICE OF WHAT, UM, IS BEING CONTEMPLATED.

UM, YOU KNOW, IF IF WE'RE, AND, AND I'M FINE, IF WE'RE NOT GONNA DO THE LOT SIZE, I THAT WOULD BE GREAT, BUT I'M NOT SURE THAT THAT'S THE INTENTION.

SO I'M GONNA NEED TO THINK ABOUT, SO WHAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING TO YOU WOULD NOT BE TO TAKE UP LOT SIZE RIGHT NOW WOULD BE TO STICK TO THOSE THREE UNITS BY RIGHT.

AND CREATING THE USE, AND THEN IT WILL BE NEXT YEAR BEFORE WE CAN COME BACK WITH LOT SIZE CHANGES.

UM, AND WHAT ABOUT COMPATIBILITY? WHAT IS THE TIMING ON THAT? OH, I BELIEVE IT'S FEBRUARY OR MARCH.

AGAIN, I, I'M, I'M GONNA NEED TO DO SOME THINKING ABOUT THAT NOW THAT I HAVE A BETTER SENSE OF, OF THE NOTICE.

'CAUSE I THINK IT'S THE COMBINATION OF A LOT OF THINGS THAT, UM, BECOME PROBLEMATIC AS OPPOSED TO INDIVIDUAL PIECES IN AND OF THEMSELVES.

SO I'M GONNA WANNA THINK ABOUT THAT.

UM, AND I MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR THURSDAY ONCE I SEE THE ACTUAL EXHIBIT, BUT I APPRECIATE THE CLARIFICATION.

COUNCIL MEMBER.

COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY.

AND, UM, I JUST HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS.

DO WE HAVE A COST ESTIMATE FOR WHAT THE NOTIFICATIONS WILL BE? WE DO NOT AT THIS TIME.

DO YOU KNOW IF YOU'LL HAVE ONE OR WHEN THAT'S EXPECTED, IS THAT SOMETHING YOU COULD MAYBE SEND IN A MEMO TO COUNCIL JUST SO WE COULD BE AWARE? WE WILL.

AND THEN, UM, I NOTICED I JUST LOOKED IN THE COUNCIL MEETING WEBSITE AND EXHIBIT A THAT YOU SPEAK ABOUT, AND THAT'S IN THE DRAFT ORDINANCE IS NOT ON THE WEBSITE IN BACKUP.

DO YOU KNOW WHEN THAT MIGHT BE EXPECTED FOR US TO REVIEW? IT WILL, I WILL SEND IT TO MAYOR AND COUNCIL TODAY MYSELF, AND THEN WE WILL HAVE IT, UM, TO THE CITY CLERK SO THAT IT CAN BE POSTED.

COMMISSIONER POOLE.

MAYOR, I JUST WANTED TO, UH, GIVE MY APPRECIATION TO THE STAFF FOR THE REALLY HARD WORK THAT HAS GONE INTO GETTING TO THIS PLACE WE'VE TRIED IN THE PAST TO MAKE SOME SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE AND, AND IT HAS ESSENTIALLY OVERRUN THE COMMUNITY IN WAYS THAT THEY COULDN'T KEEP UP WITH WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO.

THIS EFFORT BY TAKING THINGS IN CHUNKS, BIT BY BIT IN A, A FAIRLY MEASURED CADENCE IS DESIGNED IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DO NOT OUTSTRIP THE PUBLIC BECAUSE THEY NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPTS THAT WE'RE BRINGING FORTH AND HELP US WITH, UM, WRESTLING THEM INTO THE SHAPE AND THE SIZE THAT FITS FOR AUSTIN.

ADDING A, A JOINT HEARING WITH THE PLANNING COMMISSION IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE NEVER DONE IN MY TIME ON COUNCIL, AND I CAN'T REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS EVER DONE BY PREVIOUS COUNCILS.

MAYBE IT HAS BEEN, BUT IT'S BEEN A WHILE.

AND I THINK IT'S A REALLY GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR US ALL TO BE SITTING TOGETHER, UH, AND LISTENING TO THE PUBLIC COME IN AND TALK TO US.

I LIKE THE FACT THAT WE ARE GOING TO BRING A GROUP, NOT ALL, NOT EVERYTHING, BUT A GROUP OF SIMILAR TYPE ISSUES AT THE SAME TIME TO MAKE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT USE OF THE, UH, THE COST BOTH IN TIME AND MONEY FOR THE NOTIFICATION.

AND IT ALSO GIVES A, UH, THE PUBLIC AN OPPORTUNITY TO VIEW THINGS IN CONTEXT WITH ONE ANOTHER AS MS. LINK HAD DESCRIBED.

SO I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THE DATES.

UM, I KNOW IT'S BEEN KIND OF A HEROIC EFFORT TO, TO KINDA LINE IT ALL UP AND HAVE, UH, THE CALENDAR WORK.

UM, AND AGAIN, JUST APPRECIATE EVERYBODY'S SUPER EFFORTS TO GET US TO THIS POINT.

THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER.

ALRIGHT.

UM, YES, COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER.

SO I HAVEN'T BEEN PART OF THE CALENDAR CONVERSATIONS AT ALL.

SO DO YOU HAVE THE DATES? ARE THOSE PART OF EXHIBIT A? WE WOULD NOT HAVE THE DATES.

UM, WE ARE WORKING WITH THE CLERK'S OFFICE AND WE ALSO NEED TO WORK WITH THE LIAISON FOR THE PLANNING COMMISSION TO, UH, DETERMINE THE CORRECT DATE.

SO WE'RE, SO THIS POINT, THIS WEEK WE'RE JUST DOING THE PROCESS AND THEN WE'RE GONNA BE FIGURING OUT THE ACTUAL DATE, RIGHT? SO IF OKAY, IF THE ORDINANCE PASSES RIGHT, THEN WE'LL SIT DOWN WITH THE CLERK'S OFFICE AND THE AGENDA OFFICE AND THE PLANNING COMMISSION LIAISON AND, AND FIGURE OUT WHAT THE RIGHT DATE IS.

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THE ONE, THE ONE THING THAT I, I I MIGHT JUST SAY IN, IN, IN CLOSING THIS OUT, BECAUSE IT IS NEW AND IT'S A, IT'S A, THE WAY THIS BEEN APPROACHING, UH, TRYING TO ADDRESS OUR HOUSING NEEDS IS NEW AND, AND WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS IN THAT REGARD.

UM, IT IS ALSO WHEN IT COMES TO HOW THINGS, UH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER MAKES A A GOOD POINT ABOUT HOW THINGS DO PLAY WITH EACH OTHER AS, AS DIFFERENT LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE CHANGES MIGHT GET MADE.

AND FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, AND I'LL JUST SAY IT 'CAUSE I THINK IT, IT REFLECTS WHAT THE, WHERE THE COUNCIL WILL GO IS THAT IN, AS WE CONSIDER NOTICE GOING FORWARD ON ANY OF THESE ITEMS THAT MAKE THESE KINDS OF CHANGES, THAT WE ARE GOING TO, UH, AT LEAST MY HOPE IS THAT WE SEEK ROBUST, COMPLETE, UM, NOTICE IN A WAY WHERE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE WE HAVE A CREDIBLE PROCESS, THEY'RE NOT BEING LEFT OUT.

AND FRANKLY, SOME OF THE CRITICISM OF WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THE PAST HAS BEEN ABOUT NOTICE AND HOW WE'VE APPROACHED THAT.

WE KNOW WHERE WE'VE MADE ERRORS.

I SAY WE KNOW WHERE ERRORS HAVE BEEN MADE.

I'M NOT SURE, UM, THE WE IS APPROPRIATE THERE, BUT I KNOW THAT ERRORS HAVE, HAVE BEEN, WE KNOW WHERE ERRORS HAVE BEEN MADE AND WE'RE LOOKING TO FOR WAYS TO, UH, FIX THAT.

SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

UH, WE'LL TALK AGAIN, I GUESS ON THURSDAY, ITEM NUMBER 99 WAS PULLED, IT RELATES TO A RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE MANAGER TO REVISE AND IMPLEMENT CERTAIN POLICIES RELATED TO TRAINING INVESTIGATIONS AND REPORTING BY THE POLICE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT.

THIS IS THE MATTER WE WENT INTO, UH, EXECUTIVE SESSION ON COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY PULLED THE ITEM.

I'LL RECOGNIZE COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY, UH, ON THE ITEM.

UM, AND I APPRECIATE THE ROBUST DISCUSSION THAT WE HAD IN EXECUTIVE SESSION REGARDING THIS ITEM.

THERE ARE SEVERAL LEGAL CONCERNS THAT WE REVIEWED, AND I AM THANKFUL FOR THE AUTHOR TO BE AMENABLE TO COMING FORWARD WITH CHANGES.

AND I, I'LL PASS IT OVER TO HIM TO, TO TALK.

COUNCILMAN VER CADRE, I'LL RECOGNIZE YOU.

THANKS MARION.

UH, THANKS COUNCILMAN KELLY.

UM, YOU KNOW, AS IT'S BEEN, UH, STATED, UM, HAD A REALLY ROBUST CONVERSATION, UH, IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION AND, AND WE WILL BE LOOKING AT BRINGING A VERSION TO, UH, BUT I AM, I'M EXCITED ABOUT BRING FORWARD THIS ITEM.

I THINK IT'S AN ITEM THAT IT, IT'S NECESSARY TO BRING FORWARD.

I THINK IT'S, UH, IT, IT, IT, IT SHOWS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO THINGS RIGHT.

WE'RE LISTENING TO OUR COMMUNITY, AND THAT WHEN WE SAY SOMETHING, UH, THAT WE'LL DO SOMETHING, WE ACTUALLY DO IT.

UH, THE PREVIOUS COUNCIL, NOT THIS COUNCIL, ARE THE ONES WHO KIND OF PUNTED THIS TO THE VOTERS AND, YOU KNOW, SAID WE WANTED TO HEAR FROM THE VOTERS AND THE VOTERS MADE THEMSELVES HEARD LOUD AND LOUD AND CLEAR.

UH, I THINK IT WAS SOMETHING 80, 80 20, UH, IN TERMS OF THE VOTE FOR, FOR THE AUSTIN POLICE OVERSIGHT ACT.

SO, YOU KNOW, THIS ITEM THAT WE'RE GONNA BRING FORWARD, IT LOOKS TO IMPLEMENT THINGS OUTSIDE OF A MEETING CONFER.

AND, AND LIKE I SAID, WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD, UH, TO BRING A VERSION TO, UM, AS SOON AS WE CAN.

THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER.

$3 MILLION FROM THE CITY.

COUNCIL MEMBER.

ANY OTHER? ON, ON ITEM NUMBER 99, THAT'LL TAKE US TO ITEM 1 0 1.

UH, THE ITEM WAS PULLED BY TWO COUNCIL MEMBERS.

UH, I'LL RECOGNIZE COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER, AND THEN I'LL RECOGNIZE COUNCIL MEMBER CADRY.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MAYOR.

UH, YES, I, I PULLED THIS ITEM FOLLOWING OUR DISCUSSION WE HAD AT THE HOUSING AND PLANNING COMMITTEE, AND I WANTED TO JUST TAKE A COUPLE MINUTES HERE TO KIND OF LOOK BACK AT, AT HOW WE GOT HERE.

AND I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT INFORMS A LOT OF WHERE I'M COMING FROM ON WHAT I'M LOOKING TO DO WITH THIS.

UH, I WAS THINKING ABOUT LAST NIGHT, ONLY TWO COUNCIL MEMBERS, COUNCIL MEMBER POOLE AND COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER, WERE HERE WHEN THIS WHOLE PROCESS STARTED BACK IN MARCH OF 2017.

UH, COUNCIL THEN ASKED STAFF TO EVALUATE THE HEALTH SOUTH BUILDING FOR ITS POTENTIAL TO PROVIDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE RANGE OF 60% M F I OR BELOW, AS WELL AS SOME MARKET RATE HOUSING, WHICH SOUNDS VERY FAMILIAR TO WHY WE'RE HERE TODAY.

AND WHEN THAT ASK WAS MADE OF STAFF, THEY DID A STUDY AND THEY DID A COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS, COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS.

AND WHAT THEY FOUND WAS THAT AT LEAST TWICE AS MANY UNITS COULD LIKELY BE PROVIDED OFFSITE THEN SUBSIDIZING ON SITE.

SUBSEQUENTLY, U L I DID A REPORT SHOWING THAT HEALTH SOUTH WAS A GOOD OPTION FOR HOUSING, FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING, BUT THAT IT WOULD REQUIRE SOME SUBSIDY, A COMBINATION OF TAX CREDITS PLUS ADDITIONAL CITY SUBSIDIES.

SO IF, IF IT GOT 9% TAX CREDITS, IT WOULD STILL NEED

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AND AFTER ALL THAT, WE COULD BUILD ABOUT A HUNDRED UNITS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON SITE.

THEN IN OCTOBER OF 2018, COUNCIL COUNCIL INITIATED THE SOLICITATION TO INCLUDE A SIGNIFICANT EMPHASIS ON MULTI BEDROOM HOUSING FOR HOUSEHOLDS WHO EARN 60% M F I AND BELOW, AND ALSO WITH THE OPTION TO MAXIMIZE STRATEGIC HOUSING BLUEPRINTS BLUEPRINT GOALS THROUGH OFFSITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPTIONS, PREFERABLY WITHIN ONE MILE OF DOWNTOWN.

SO NOW, OVER A YEAR LATER IN NOVEMBER OF 2019, THE R F P WAS ISSUED.

AND WITHIN THAT R F P WE ASKED FOR A UNIQUE TRANSACTION STRUCTURE TO PROVIDE MAXIMUM VALUE TO THE CITY, INCLUDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND AT LEAST SOME ONSITE 60% M F I UNITS OR BELOW THE CITY RECEIVED FOUR RESPONSES.

AND THIS IS WHAT I THINK IS REALLY IMPORTANT THAT GUIDES SOME OF OUR DISCUSSION TODAY.

OF THOSE FOUR RESPONSES, THE ASPEN HEIGHTS WAS THE HIGHEST SCORE.

THE SECOND PLACE FINISHER CITING SPECIFICALLY THE HIGH COST OF CONSTRUCTION, SAID THAT THEY COULD GIVE 50 UNITS ON SITE AND 50 UNITS OFFSITE.

THE THIRD PLACE RESPONSE DID EXACTLY WHAT IS BEING CONTEMPLATED UNDER THIS ITEM SAID, SEPARATE THE SITE, PUT A PIECE OF IT AS A SEPARATE AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT, WHAT WE THINK OF AS AN H F C STYLE DEAL, YOU KNOW, FOUR STORIES PRETTY MUCH EXCLUSIVELY AFFORDABLE HOUSING PLUS A SEPARATE TOWER THAT WOULD BE MIXED USE.

UNDER THAT PROPOSAL, WE WERE GONNA GET 80 UNITS ON SITE.

WE WERE GONNA HAVE TO UTILIZE TAX CREDITS, WHICH MEANS TAKING TAX CREDITS FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE CITY WHERE THERE WOULD'VE BEEN AFFORDABLE HOUSING TO DO IT.

AND WE WERE GONNA HAVE TO SPEND SOME OF OUR EITHER BOND DOLLARS OR ROAD OF FUNDS TO DO THAT.

AND THAT WAS TO GET 80 UNITS ON SITE.

WE THEN SAID, OKAY, ASPEN HEIGHTS, WE LIKE YOUR PROPOSAL.

YOU'RE PROPOSING AT THAT TIME 116 AFFORDABLE ONSITE UNITS, BOTH RENTAL AND OWNERSHIP.

AND WE ENGAGED IN THE EXCLUSIVE NEGOTIATING AGREEMENT.

IT TOOK TWO YEARS, BUT EVENTUALLY WE REACHED A MASTER DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT THAT WAS RELEASED TO US JANUARY OF THIS YEAR.

AND THEN OF COURSE, IN JUNE, WE WERE NOTIFIED THAT THE TERMS OF THE DEAL WERE FINANCIALLY INFEASIBLE BECAUSE MARKET MARKETS HAD CHANGED.

BUT I THINK IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE, EVEN IF WE LOOK AT WHAT WAS PROPOSED IN JUNE, IT WAS FOR 65 UNITS ON SITE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING PLUS AN ADDITIONAL $15 MILLION TO SPEND ON OFFSITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING.

WHETHER THAT WAS TO PLUG GAPS AND GET A COUPLE HUNDRED, UH, P S H UNITS OR SOMETHING ELSE.

WE WERE STILL ABOVE WHAT SOME OF THE RESPONSES WERE TO US IN THE R F P YEARS PRIOR, UNDER MUCH WORSE MARKET CONDITIONS.

SO THEN WE ALL PASSED THE RESOLUTION BACK IN JULY TO ONCE AGAIN, LIKE WE DID SIX YEARS AGO, SAY, WE WANT INFORMATION ON, AND WE SAID AT LEAST 60% M F I UNITS ONSITE AND WITHIN THE PALM DISTRICT.

AND AT THAT TIME, I HAD A LOT OF CONCERNS ABOUT, I WANTED US TO BE ABLE TO KNOW WHAT A, WHAT WERE WE TRADING, COULD WE GET POTENTIALLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING OFFSITE? AND I WAS TOLD THAT, WELL, WE INCLUDED AT LEAST IN THAT JULY RESOLUTION.

AND SO STAFF WILL LOOK BEYOND WHAT WE'VE ENUMERATED HERE.

BUT THEN WHEN WE RECEIVED OUR BRIEFING TO THE COMMITTEE HOUSING AND PLANNING COMMITTEE, IN THOSE NOTES OR IN, IN THE, THE DIRECTION FROM COUNCIL, IT STATES THAT COUNCIL ASKED US TO PROVIDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING SCENARIOS ONSITE AND WITHIN THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN.

NO, BEYOND THAT, NO, AT LEAST NOTHING OFFSITE.

AND SO THEN WE RECEIVED THAT ANALYSIS AND A LOT OF WEIGHT HAS BEEN PLACED ON THE FACT THAT 75% OF RESPONDENTS SAID THEY WANT AFFORDABLE HOUSING.

OF COURSE THEY DO.

EVERYONE IN THIS CITY WANTS AFFORDABLE HOUSING.

BUT THAT RES THAT QUESTION WAS NOT, DO YOU WANT SOME AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON SITE? AND SOME OFFSITE, MAYBE MORE OFFSITE, IT WAS JUST, DO YOU WANT AFFORDABLE HOUSING HERE? WELL, OF COURSE, IF I ASKED YOU IF YOU WANT A THOUSAND DOLLARS, YOU'RE GONNA SAY YES.

BUT IF

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I SAID YOU WANT $2,000 IN A YEAR, THERE MIGHT BE A DIFFERENCE.

SOME PEOPLE MIGHT SAY, I WANT IT TODAY.

SOME PEOPLE MIGHT SAY, I WANT IT LATER.

RIGHT.

THERE'S A NUANCE TO THIS OF JUST SAYING, DO YOU WANT AFFORDABLE HOUSING? SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE WE ARE TODAY, AND THAT'S WHY I THANK YOU FOR, FOR LETTING ME GET HERE.

BUT I, IT HAS REALLY, I DON'T WANT US TO, TO JUST REPEAT WHAT WE DID SIX YEARS AGO, RIGHT? MARKET HAS DRAMATICALLY CHANGED TODAY THAN IT WAS.

AND ONCE AGAIN, WE CAN GO THROUGH A MANY YEARS LONG PROCESS AND SAY, AND, AND ARRIVE RIGHT BACK HERE UNDER MUCH WORSE CONDITIONS.

SO I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE ALL THE OPTIONS THAT WE UNDERSTAND IF WE WANT SOME AFFORDABLE HOUSING ONSITE, WHAT'S THE TRADE OFF? WHAT ARE WE GIVING UP FOR THAT IF WE WANT TO MAXIMIZE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AS A CITY? YOU KNOW, WE, I HAD A MEETING WITH HOUSTON TILSON ABOUT THEIR STUDENT HOUSING AFFORD OR STUDENT AFFORDABLE HOUSING NEEDS.

THEY SAID, WE ARE, WE REALLY NEED A HUNDRED UNITS.

WELL, IF YOU COULD GET OUT OF THIS SINGULAR PROJECT, SOME OF THE FUNDING TO BUILD A HUNDRED UNITS, WHICH IS WELL, WITHIN A MILE OF HEALTHSOUTH, YOU COULD POTENTIALLY SOLVE HOUSTON TILTON'S STUDENT AFFORDABLE HOUSING NEEDS.

SO I DO HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE CITY ATTORNEY BECAUSE THE POSTING LANGUAGE HERE STATES THAT IT'S TO APPROVE A RESOLUTION DIRECTING FURTHER EXPLORATION OF ONSITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AT 1215 RED RIVER STREET AND 6 0 6 EAST EAST 12TH STREET, FORMERLY KNOWN AS HELL SOUTH.

WOULD ANY AMENDMENT LANGUAGE DISCUSSING OFFSITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPTIONS BE PERMISSIBLE UNDER THE POSTING LANGUAGE HERE, COUNCIL MEMBER, TO THE EXTENT THAT THE, UM, POSTING LANGUAGE TALKS ABOUT ONSITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT THE COST OF OFFSITE VERSUS ONSITE, I THINK THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE RELEVANT.

HAPPY TO LOOK AT THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE.

SO IF, IF WE WERE TO INSTRUCT STAFF TO WEIGH ONSITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING OR, OR TO, TO DO EITHER AN R F P OR SOLICITATION OR JUST ANALYSIS OF ONSITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND SEPARATELY SAID, WE ALSO WANT YOU TO DO AN ANALYSIS OF IF YOU JUST MADE THIS A MAXIMUM MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT, HERE'S WHAT YOU GET AT OFFSITE, THAT WOULD BE ACCEPTABLE.

I THINK YOU'RE POTENTIAL, YOU'RE THE, THE I F C IS ASKING TO LOOK AT ONSITE HOUSING AND TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU NEED TO HAVE A CONTEXT FOR THAT, WHICH ALSO INCLUDES LOOKING AT THE VALUE OF OFFSITE HOUSING, I THINK THAT FITS WITHIN THE, THE POSTING.

WELL, CAN I, CAN I, IN OTHER WORDS, IF WE WANT TO, AS PART OF THE FURTHER EXPLORATION OF ONSITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING, BE ABLE TO CONSIDER THE VALUES OBTAINED OR THE QUALITIES OBTAINED FOR ONSITE VERSUS OFFSITE, IT WOULD BE RELEVANT TO AND, AND BE, UH, SOMETHING WE COULD BRING FORWARD? THAT, THAT'S CORRECT.

THAT'S CORRECT.

WELL, I WILL BE HONEST, I EXPECTED YOU TO GIVE ME THE EXACT OPPOSITE ANSWER, .

THAT BEING SAID, THAT'S WHY WE ASK QUESTIONS AND GET ANSWERS THAT THAT'S RIGHT.

, THAT BEING SAID, UM, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING, JUST IN CASE YOU HAD THAT EXACT ANSWER ON SOME LANGUAGE, AND SO IT'S, IT'S NOT READY YET.

I WILL HOPEFULLY HAVE IT BY THE END OF TODAY JUST POST ON THE MESSAGE BOARD, BUT IT WILL VERY MUCH BE IN THAT VEIN OF ALLOWING US TO HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION SO THAT WE CAN MAKE A POLICY DECISION OF WHAT MAXIMIZES THIS SITE FOR THE CITY AND THEN MOVE FORWARD, HOPEFULLY NOT SIX YEARS FROM NOW, JUST DOING SOMETHING.

COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE, DO YOU WANNA SAY ANYTHING AND THEN I'LL GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY? SURE.

UH, THANK YOU, MAYOR.

UM, I WAS GONNA SAY, I WAS GONNA MAKE A BRIEF COMMENT, BUT IT PROBABLY WON'T BE BRIEF, BUT WELL BY DEFINITION YEAH, YEAH.

BEFORE IN CONTEXT.

IN CONTEXT MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT BRIEFER THAN RYAN'S .

UM, BUT, UH, WE, WE HAD SENT OUT A MESSAGE BOARD, UH, POST YESTERDAY, UH, WITH OUR FOLDER EXPLANATION.

UH, BUT I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT SOME, SOME POINTS.

UH, FIRST, YOU KNOW, MYSELF AND MY OFFICE ARE COMMITTED TO MAXIMIZING H UH, HOUSING OPTIONS DOWNTOWN.

UH, MY OFFICE IS EXPLORING WAYS TO MAXIMIZE HOUSING UNITS DOWNTOWN FOR PEOPLE TO LIVE AND TO GENERATE REVENUE, REVENUE FOR OUR TAX SPACE.

YOU KNOW, I BELIEVE OUR DOWNTOWN SHOULD BE A DOWNTOWN FOR EVERYONE, A DOWNTOWN THAT EVERYONE CAN, CAN LIVE, LIVE IN.

AND, AND TRUTHFULLY, RIGHT NOW, I, I DON'T FEEL LIKE THAT'S WHAT THE AUSTIN DOWNTOWN IS.

I THINK YOU NEED A CERTAIN LEVEL OF OR PRIVILEGE LIVE IN, LIVE IN IT.

AND, AND I FIND THAT ODD AND, UH, IT'S, IT'S NOT WHO WE SHOULD BE.

UH, I LIVE IN DOWNTOWN AND I SEE THE VALUE IN USING THE SPECIFIC PROPERTY AT 12TH AND RED RIVER STREET FOR ONSITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND AS MUCH MARKET HOUSING

[00:30:01]

UNITS AS POSSIBLE.

AND BEING PART OF THIS NEW COUNCIL FOCUS ON ADVANCING HOUSING FOR ALL AND GETTING THINGS DONE, I'M CONFIDENT WE CAN MOVE FORWARD, UH, TOWARD AN APPROACH FOR THE SITE THAT WILL ACCOMPLISH OUR GOALS.

ITEM 1 0 1 THIS WEEK ENABLES THE CITY TO FURTHER EXPLORE ONSITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN MORE DETAIL FOR A PORTION OR ALL OF THE SITE THROUGH A CO COMPARISON OF UNITS YIELDED THROUGH ONE STAFF'S PROPOSAL OF AN AFFORDABLE PROPERTY ON PORTION OF THE SITE.

AND TWO, A HYPOTHETICAL R F R F P OF THE ENTIRE SITE, INCLUDING OTHER COMMUNITY PRIORITIES IDENTIFIED BY AREA STAKEHOLDERS.

DEPENDING ON WHAT WE LEARN FROM THE YIELD ANALYSIS, WE WILL THEN HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE OTHER PRIORITIES AND POSSIBLY REVENUE GENERATION OPTIONS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING FROM ALL OR A REMAINDER OF THE SITE.

THIS RESOLUTION DOES NOT CLOSE THE DOOR ON EXPLORING OTHER OPTIONS.

AND, AND I, I, I BOLDED IT INTO MY TALKING POINTS.

SO PRETEND YOU'RE SEEING THAT AS BOLDED.

IT DOES NOT CLOSE THE DOOR ON EXPLORING OTHER OPTIONS.

IT MERELY ENABLES STAFF TO PROVIDE MORE DETAIL REGARDING ONSITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS, A KEY COMMUNITY AND INTEREST AND GOAL IN OUR PLANS TO, TO PROMOTE INCLUSIVITY, EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT, AND AFFIRMATIVELY FURTHERING FAIR HOUSING.

ONCE WE HAVE MORE INFORMATION AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPTIONS ON SITE, WE CAN MOVE TOWARD A FULLER VISION TO ACCOMPLISH BOTH ONSITE AFFORDABILITY AND A MORE MARKET DRIVEN STRATEGY ON THE REST OF THE SITE.

WE'RE ALSO LOOKING INTO WHEN AND HOW WE CAN EVENTUALLY AUTHORIZE A E D C AS LEAD ON THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS FOR ALL OR THE REMAINDER OF THE PROPERTY BY Q THREE OF 2024 OF THE EARLIEST.

SO TO CLOSE, THIS IS NOT A DECISION, THIS IS AN EXPLORATION OF UNIT YIELD.

THIS INTENTION IS TO LEAD ON WHAT THE COMMUNITY ASK FOR, WHICH IS ONSITE AFFORDABILITY.

AND IN NO WAY ARE WE SHUTTING OUT, EXPLORING OTHER OPTIONS, BUT RATHER PRIORITIZING COMMUNITY REQUESTS.

THERE ARE MANY PATHS FORWARD AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT, AND WE JUST WANNA ENSURE WE ARE PRIORITIZING THIS PATH OF ONSITE WORKFORCE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING.

OH, COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY.

AND THEN COUNCIL MEMBER POOLE.

SO I'LL BE REAL BRIEF.

UM, I JUST WANTED TO LET, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN AL ALTER KNOW THAT I SUPPORT YOUR AMENDMENT, AND I'M THANKFUL FOR THE DISCUSSION WE HAD YESTERDAY.

I THINK THE WAY THAT YOU LAID OUT EVERYTHING TODAY WAS WONDERFUL, AND IT REALLY BROUGHT THE PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY UP TO SPEED.

I'VE ALREADY GOTTEN MESSAGES FROM PEOPLE ABOUT IT, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT.

AND WITH THAT, I'M DONE.

COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNCIL MEMBER POOL, YOU KNOW, POOR HEALTH SOUTH .

WE'VE BEEN KICKING THIS PUPPY AROUND FOR, UM, PROBABLY TOO LONG.

UM, THE GOAL INITIALLY AND THE THROUGH THREAT HAS BEEN AFFORDABLE HOUSING DOWNTOWN IN THIS INNOVATION DISTRICT.

SO THE PEOPLE WHO DO THE WORK, THE WORKFORCE LABORERS, CAN ACTUALLY LIVE AND WALK TO WORK.

AND IF WE ONCE MORE SAY, OH, NO, NOT HERE, NOT NOW, SOMETIME LATER, THEN WE WILL HAVE PUSHED THAT, ROLLED THAT BALL FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD.

AND I ADMIT TO A LITTLE BIT OF EXHAUSTION OVER THIS TOPIC, WE MADE A BIG POINT OF PULLING THIS PROJECT BACK INTO THE CITY, SO THE CITY WOULD LEAD ON IT, AS OPPOSED TO TRYING TO FIND A PRIVATE DEVELOPER TO LEAN ON IT AND US GIVE THEM SUBSIDIES AND WAIVERS AND THE THIS AND THE THAT, KNOWING THAT BECAUSE THE CITY WOULD BE IN CHARGE, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO DO IT IN AN EXPEDITED WAY AND HOPEFULLY A FINANCIALLY EFFICIENT WAY.

AND THAT MEANS THAT WE CAN HAVE MORE PUBLIC BENEFITS FROM THIS SITE.

BUT THE BOTTOM LINE FOR ME IS AFFORDABLE HOUSING ON THIS SITE.

AND SO I REALLY DO HOPE THAT WE ARE ABLE TO GET SOME CLOSURE.

COUNCIL MEMBER CADRY, I, I SUPPORT WHAT, WHICH YOU PUT UP ON THE MESSAGE BOARD.

I THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD EXP UH, EXPLANATION OF YOUR POSITION, AND YOU'VE ONLY BEEN WORKING IN THIS, IN THESE FIELDS FOR SIX, SEVEN MONTHS.

SO I THOUGHT, UH, YOU GOT UP TO SPEED ON A PRETTY COMPLICATED PROJECT REALLY FAST.

AND I WOULD JUST, UH, COMMEND ALL OF OUR PAST WORK AND EFFORTS AROUND HEALTH SOUTH, UH, TO EVERYBODY ON THAT SITS ON THE DAIS NOW THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY HOPEFULLY GET SOMETHING DONE THERE THAT INCLUDES HOUSING OUR WORKFORCE FOLKS.

RIGHT, RIGHT THERE.

THANK YOU, MAYOR.

COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNCIL MEMBER HARBOR MEDICINE.

DOWNTOWN WHERE THEY CAN GET TO WORK EASILY, I SUPPORT THAT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

I APPRECIATE IT.

UM, IT IS WITH MY GREAT REGRET THAT, UH, HEALTH SOUTH IS NO LONGER IN DISTRICT ONE AND NOW IS IN DISTRICT NINE, BUT I REALLY APPRECIATE THE REPRESENTATION THAT'S COMING FROM THE DISTRICT NINE COUNCIL MEMBER.

AND I JUST WANNA POINT OUT, WE HAVE OVER 366,000 PEOPLE THAT WORK IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY DOWNTOWN.

SO AS MUCH AS WE CAN ACCOMMODATE THEM, UM,

[00:35:02]

SO I APPRECIATE GENERALLY SPEAKING, CONSIDERATIONS AROUND OFFSITE AFFORDABLE, UM, I DON'T WANNA RISK ANY OPPORTUNITY TO ACCOMMODATE AS MANY OF OUR HOSPITALITY WORKERS AS POSSIBLE DOWNTOWN.

COUNCIL MEMBER.

THIS ONE BE REAL SHORT.

I PROMISE.

I PROMISE, I REALLY DO.

I JUST, I FEEL LIKE IT'S BEEN REALLY IMPORTANT AS WE HAVE THIS CONVERSATION.

WE'LL CERTAINLY HAVE IT AGAIN ON THURSDAY, THAT OFFSITE AFFORDABILITY DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE'RE BUILDING UNITS IN BASTROP OR ROUND ROCK OR BUTTA.

IF WE BUILD SOMETHING HALF A MILE AWAY THAT'S ON THE BUS LINE WHERE SOMEONE CAN TAKE THE BUS TO THEIR JOB DOWNTOWN AND WE CAN DO IT FOR TWICE AS MANY PEOPLE AS WE CAN AT THE LOCATION WHERE THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO WALK.

YOU KNOW, I THINK A BIKE RIDE OR A BUS RIDE FOR MORE PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO LIVE IN THE CITY WHERE THEY WORK RATHER THAN AN HOUR AWAY BY CAR IS THAT TYPE OF DISCUSSION WE NEED TO HAVE.

ALRIGHT, COUNSEL, WE'LL GO TO ITEMS. OH, I'M SORRY.

COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON TER.

UM, SO I KNOW THAT IN PRIOR COUNCIL DIRECTION, THAT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER TOVA IN PARTICULAR HAD CHAMPIONED A PRIORITY THAT MANY OF US SHARE, WHICH IS A DESIRE TO SEE HOW THIS SPACE COULD BE BECOME AN ASSET FOR CHILDCARE AND EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT.

UM, SOME OF THAT PRIOR DIRECTION INCLUDED THE ASK TO CREATE A SPACE FOR AN ONSITE HIGH QUALITY, AFFORDABLE CHILDCARE, OR PROVIDE SPACES FOR COMMUNAL LEARNING SPACES, LABS, OR OTHER SPACES.

UM, AND I JUST WANTED TO CHECK WITH THE AUTHOR IF THEY WOULD BE AMENABLE TO ADDING LANGUAGE, INCLUDING THE CHILDCARE COMPONENT IN THIS ITEM AS WELL.

YEAH, WE WOULD.

OKAY, GREAT.

IF YOUR, IF YOUR OFFICE IS GONNA BRING SOMETHING, WE'D WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT AND SUPPORT IT.

ANYBODY ELSE ON THIS ITEM? GREAT, THANKS, COUNSEL.

UH, I, I'M GONNA CALL UP ITEMS ONE OH TWO AND 1 0 3 TOGETHER.

UH, THEY WERE BOTH PULLED, THEY BOTH RELATE TO, UH, THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN AND THEY WERE BOTH PULLED BY COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE, AND I RECOGNIZE COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE.

UM, YEAH.

UH, WE, OUR OFFICE PULLED ITEMS 1 0 2 1 0 3.

I JUST WANNA QUICKLY GET INTO IT.

UH, WE'LL BE POSTING AMENDMENTS TO THE MESSAGE BOARD LATER THIS AFTERNOON REGARDING ITEM 1 0 2, THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN, INITIATING RESOLUTION.

UH, MY STAFF HAS BEEN WORKING DILIGENTLY WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND CITY STAFF TO MAKE SURE WE IMPLEMENT TOOLS THAT PRESERVE AND INCENTIVIZE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PLACEMAKING, THE DISTRICT.

AND I GUESS A QUICK HISTORY LESSON.

HISTORICALLY, UH, THE AREA WAS A STRONGHOLD FOR, UH, OUR MEXICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY HERE IN AUSTIN.

AND UNFORTUNATELY, MUCH OF THAT HISTORY, UH, HAS BEEN DISPLACED, UH, AND WE'RE COMMITTED TO DO RIGHT, UH, BY THIS COMMUNITY.

UH, SO THE AMENDMENTS, UH, ADJUST THE TIMELINES REGARDING THE CULTURAL DISTRICT OVERLAY, THE CHAPTER THREE 80 PROGRAM AND THE LOCATION ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM.

UH, WE'RE ALSO WORKING ON PROVIDING DIRECTION TO ENCOURAGE COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS TO CONSIDER OTHER NAMING OPTIONS FOR THE DISTRICT THAT HIGHLIGHTS BOTH THE HISTORY AND THE VISION OF THE DISTRICT.

YES, THE QUESTION COMES, COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES? YES.

CAN I HAVE STAFF? PLEASE JOIN ME AT THE FRONT.

I'D LIKE TO, UH, COLLEAGUES.

THIS PALM DISTRICT PLAN, UH, HAS BEEN IN THE WORK FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, AND SINCE WE DO HAVE NEWER COLLEAGUES ON THE DAAS, THAT'D BE HELPFUL FOR US TO GET BRIEFED ON, ON THE LATEST.

AND THEN I'LL HAVE QUESTIONS AFTERWARDS.

GOOD MORNING.

UM, MAYOR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, I'M STEVIE GREATHOUSE.

I'M A DIVISION MANAGER WITH THE CITY'S HOUSING, OR A CITY'S PLANNING DEPARTMENT, RATHER.

I'M HERE TO GIVE YOU A VERY BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN.

UM, THIS WORK REALLY BEGAN IN LATE 2019 AND INVOLVED CONSIDERABLE ENGAGEMENT IN 2021 AND 2022 THAT CULMINATED IN PRESENTATION OF A DRAFT PLAN, UM, AT A PUBLIC HEARING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON NOVEMBER 15TH, 2022.

WE PREVIOUSLY DID PROVIDE A FULLER BRIEFING ON THE DRAFT PLAN AT A WORK SESSION, UM, COUNCIL WORK SESSION NOVEMBER 29TH, 2022.

BUT AS COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES MENTIONS MANY, UM, FOLKS ON THE DIOCESE WERE NOT THERE ON NOVEMBER 29TH OF LAST YEAR.

UM, PLANNING COMMISSION APPROVED THE PALM DISTRICT, UH, PLAN WITH RECOMMENDATIONS ON JULY 25TH AFTER APPOINTING A WORKING GROUP THAT CONDUCTED ADDITIONAL ENGAGEMENT FOCUSED PRIMARILY ON RED RIVER VENUE OWNERS, UM, AND PROVIDED RECOMMENDATIONS TO PLANNING COMMISSION.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

OH, I GUESS I'VE GOT A CLICKER AS WELL.

UM, THE STUDY AREA FOR THIS PLANNING PROCESS EXTENDS ROUGHLY FROM 15TH STREET TO LADY BIRD LAKE, UM, TRINITY, AND A LINE THAT KIND OF JOGS ALONG TRINITY STREET, UM, TO I 35 ON THE EAST.

THIS AREA OF DOWNTOWN IS REALLY AN EPICENTER FOR A NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC INVESTMENTS THAT ARE ANTICIPATED OVER THE YEARS AHEAD.

THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN WILL PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO THE IH 35 RECONSTRUCTION AND

[00:40:01]

CAP AND STITCH EFFORTS.

IT'LL PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO PROJECT CONNECT, UM, AND IMPLEMENTATION WITHIN THIS PORTION OF DOWNTOWN AUSTIN.

IT'LL PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO CONVENTION CENTER RECONSTRUCTION TO WATERLOO GREENWAY PHASES TWO AND THREE TO THE PALM SCHOOL SITE VISIONING THAT IS BEING LED BY OUR PARTNERS AT TRAVIS COUNTY TO EXISTING RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT, AS WELL AS POTENTIAL IMPLEMENTATION OF A FUTURE MEXICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE COURT, OR IT WILL PROVIDE GUIDANCE TO FUTURE EXPANSION OF THE MS. BARTOS MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER.

IT'LL PROVIDE GUIDANCE OF THE AUSTIN COURT TRANSPORTATION PLAN, THE FUTURE OF THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT HEADQUARTERS SITE HEALTH SOUTH, AS WAS DISCUSSED, UM, EARLIER IN THIS MEETING, AS WELL AS PROVIDING GUIDANCE, UM, TO FUTURE REGULATORY CHANGES BEING LED BY CITY DEPARTMENTS.

UM, THE VISION OF THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN, UM, IS REALLY, UH, TO PROVIDE A VIBRANT HISTORIC HUB OF DOWNTOWN WHERE THE PAST IS HONORED, THE CULTURE, CULTURE IS CELEBRATED, AND THE FUTURE IS SHAPED.

UM, AND THE IMPETUS FOR THIS PLANNING REALLY CAME OUT OF A DESIRE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL OF THE TRANSFORMATIVE ENERGY THAT IS COMING TO THE DISTRICT AND TO ENSURE THAT CULTURAL AND HISTORIC IDENTITY OF THE DISTRICT IS AMPLIFIED RATHER THAN CONTINUING TO BE OBLITERATED BY THE CHANGES AHEAD.

AND THEN, UH, FINAL SLIDE FOR THIS VERY BRIEF BRIEFING.

UM, ON THURSDAY, A COUNCIL WILL BE HOLDING A HEARING ON THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN AS AN AMENDMENT TO IMAGINE AUSTIN UNDER ITEM NUMBER 1 0 3.

THE BACKUP FOR ITEM 1 0 3 INCLUDES TWO VERSIONS OF EXHIBIT A.

VERSION ONE WOULD ADOPT THE PLAN, INCLUDING ALL PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDED AMENDMENTS, VERSION TWO OF EXHIBIT A WOULD ADOPT THE PLAN WITH PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS AS REFINED BY STAFF TO CLARIFY LANGUAGE, REMOVE REDUNDANCIES, AND REMOVE TWO RECOMMENDATIONS.

STAFF RECOMMENDS CONSIDERATION OF EXHIBIT A VERSION TWO ON THURSDAY.

IN ADDITION, COUNSEL WILL BE ASKED TO CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A COMPANION RESOLUTION RELATED TO PLAN IMPLEMENTATION UNDER ITEMS NUMBER 1 0 2.

UM, AND DUE TO THE SCHEDULE CONSTRAINTS OF TODAY'S WORK SESSION, I'LL GO AHEAD AND STOP THERE, BUT HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.

COUNCILMAN FUENTES.

AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, COLLEAGUES, I DO WANNA HIGHLIGHT, THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT ITEM UP FOR OUR CONSIDERATION THAT HAS BEEN YEARS IN THE MAKING AND I APPRECIATE STAFFER BEING BRIEF.

BUT THIS IS WHAT OUR WORK SESSIONS ARE FOR.

THEY'RE FOR US TO HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT THE POLICIES THAT ARE BEFORE US, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S SOMETHING AS MONUMENTAL AS THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN.

AS Y'ALL SEE, IT COVERS A GOOD PORTION OF OUR DOWNTOWN DISTRICT, INCLUDING THE MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CORRIDOR.

UM, SO JUST SO I'M CLEAR FOR THE COMMUNITY, THE WHAT IS BEFORE US FOR TO VOTE ON, AND THAT IS STAFF IS RECOMMENDING, IS EXHIBIT A VERSION TWO? THAT IS CORRECT.

UH, CAN YOU TALK US THROUGH, UH, HOW DOES THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN AND THE MEANS FOR IMPLEMENTATION ACTION ENSURE THE LONG-TERM COMMITMENT TO THE EVOLUTION OF THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT THAT GOES FROM 15TH STREET TO FOURTH STREET IN THIS NEWLY DESIGNED PALM DISTRICT AREA? SURE.

THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF CONVERSATION OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS, PARTICULARLY FOCUSED ON KIND OF HOW THE PLAN INTERACTS WITH THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT.

YOU'LL FIND MANY OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE INCLUDED IN, UM, EXHIBIT A THAT WERE FORWARDED BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION WORKING GROUP, RELATE TO STRENGTHENING THE LANGUAGE AND THE PLAN IN SUPPORT OF THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT, UM, AS WELL AS MUCH OF THE LANGUAGE IN THE COMPANION RESOLUTION THAT WILL BE CONSIDERED ON THURSDAY.

UM, PROVIDES SPECIFIC DIRECTION, UM, TO CITY STAFF, UM, PRIMARILY WITHIN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, BUT ALSO WITHIN THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT TO UNDERTAKE ACTIVITIES, UM, IN THE SHORT TERM, PROVIDING SORT OF URGENT, CRITICAL SUPPORT TO THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT.

UM, IN TERMS OF REGULATIONS AND INCENTIVES, BOTH.

SO WE'RE ALL COMMITTED TO ENSURING THE VIABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT.

AND AS PART OF THAT, COUNCIL PREVIOUSLY TOOK ACTION ON CREATING THE, UM, PRESERVATION OVERLAY.

AND CAN YOU TALK US THROUGH THE TIMELINE FOR WHEN THAT WILL COME BACK? UM, I THINK THERE'S DISCUSSION ONGOING ABOUT A TIMELINE THAT WILL BE INSERTED INTO THE RESOLUTION, BUT THE CONVERSATIONS WITH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT STAFF WHO I CAN ALSO BRING UP TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION ALSO IF I SCREW IT UP.

BUT, UM, WE'LL BE TO PROVIDE A REGULAR EVERY THREE MONTH PROGRESS REPORT ON PROGRESS TOWARDS DEVELOPING AND APPLYING THAT CULTURAL OVERLAY, UM, AND TO GET IT CREATED AND APPLIED, UM, PARTICULARLY WITHIN THE RED RIVER DISTRICT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE NEXT YEAR.

SO OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT IS AVAILABLE.

YES, DONALD JACKSON, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.

YEAH, DONALD JACKSON.

AND JUST TO PUT A LENS ON THIS, COLLEAGUES, UM, WHAT I AM CONCERNED IS THAT WE HAVE LIVE MUSIC VENUES, MUSIC VENUES, THE HEART AND SOUL OF OUR CITY THAT ARE AT RISK OF DISPLACEMENT IF WE DON'T PRIORITIZE AND GET THIS OVERLAY EXPEDITED AND IN INTO IMPLEMENTATION

[00:45:01]

AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.

SO, CAN YOU PLEASE TALK US THROUGH WHAT WORK HAS BEEN DONE? UH, GOOD MORNING.

UH, WE'VE ACTUALLY BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR SOME TIME.

UH, THIS WAS TRIGGERED BY, UH, SOME COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS LAST YEAR.

UH, THE SAME ONES THAT, UH, LED TO THE, UH, UH, CREATIVE SPACE DEFINITION CHANGES THAT WERE VOTED ON LAST WEEK.

BUT IT ALSO CALLS FOR A VARIETY OF REGULATORY INCENTIVE PROGRAMS FOR CREATIVE SPACES AND LIVE MUSIC VENUES, UH, INCLUDING SPECIFICALLY A, AN OVERLAY FOR THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT.

SO WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR SOME TIME.

OUR, OUR, WE'RE DEFINITELY INTENDING TO GET THIS, UH, IN FRONT OF Y'ALL AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.

UH, THE MAIN ISSUE, WE, THE MAIN CONSIDERATIONS WOULD BE TRYING TO DO THAT IN A WAY THAT'S INTEGRATED WITH THE REST OF THESE, UH, POLICIES AND PROGRAMS, UH, LIKE THE, THE LOCATION ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM, UH, CREATING A GENERAL PROCESS FOR CREATIVE SPACE OVERLAYS AND HAVING THE RIGHT RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT BE SORT OF THE FIRST PILOT OF THAT.

UH, AND WE WOULD JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE HAVE ENOUGH TIME FOR, UH, COMMUNITY INPUT ON THOSE, ON THOSE PROGRAMS. UH, OUR INTENT IS TO TRY AND GET THIS COMPLETED BY, UH, SPRING OF 2024, BUT WE JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T SET, UH, EXPECTATIONS REALISTICALLY IN CASE, UH, COMMUNITY INPUT TAKES LONGER OR THERE'S REVISIONS THAT NEED TO BE DONE.

UH, IS MY UNDERSTANDING, COUNCILOR CADRY, THAT YOU INTEND TO BRING FORWARD AMENDMENTS TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES? THAT IS CORRECT.

AND THEN LASTLY, MY QUESTION IS AROUND THE RAINY STREET FUND.

SO WE KNOW THAT THERE WAS A FUND ESTABLISHED WITH A DEVELOPMENT THAT WAS TAKING PLACE IN THE RAINY STREET AREA, UM, A DECADE AGO.

THERE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEVELOPMENT FEES THAT WENT INTO THAT FUND TO HELP WITH THE PRESERVATION OF OUR MEXICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY.

CAN YOU PLEASE TELL US THE STATUS OF THAT FUND? SURE.

SO THAT, UM, THE LEADERSHIP ON THE CONVERSATIONS AROUND THAT, UM, FALL UNDER OUR FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT AND, UM, PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT THAT DID PROVIDE A MEMO BACK TO COUNCIL IN FALL OF 2022 OUTLINING AN ENGAGEMENT PROCESS THAT THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT HAD UNDERTAKEN, UM, TO RECEIVE FEEDBACK AND INPUT ON, UM, PROJECTS THAT SHOULD BE, UH, THAT, THAT FUNDING SHOULD BE USED FOR.

UM, AND WE WILL NEED TO FOLLOW UP PRIOR TO THURSDAY TO GET ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT SORT OF WHAT THE FOLLOW-UP SINCE THAT, THAT FALL MEMO, UM, WAS PROVIDED.

CAN WE PLEASE INCLUDE THAT MEMO IN THE BACKUP FOR THIS ITEM? SURE.

AND COLLEAGUES, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT 200,000 EACH YEAR IS SUPPOSED TO GO INTO THAT FUND.

SO HOW MUCH, HOW MUCH FUNDS DO WE HAVE? AND I CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD AT TODAY'S MEETING.

I'M TRYING TO GET AN ANSWER TO YOU FOR THURSDAY.

SO ONE OF FLAG THIS, YOU KNOW, FOR LATINO COMMUNITY, THERE WAS A FUND ESTABLISHED.

WE KNOW THAT RAINY STREET WAS A PREDOMINANTLY MEXICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY.

UH, RAINY STREET HAS CERTAINLY CHANGED IN THE LAST DECADE.

THE FUND WAS ESTABLISHED FOR PRESERVATION, UH, PROJECTS FOR OUR MEXICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY.

AND THE COMMUNITY WANTS TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WITH THESE FUNDS, WHAT HAVE BEEN DONE.

AND SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE AN ANSWER FOR THEM.

UM, AND IF WE COULD HAVE THE INFORMATION BY THURSDAY, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.

YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.

AND, UH, THERE WAS ONE OTHER QUESTION.

THE, THERE WAS A, UM, MINORITY REPORT THAT WAS SUBMITTED AS PART OF THE PLAN.

CAN WE ALSO INCLUDE THAT IN THE BACKUP PLEASE? YEAH, WE CAN.

AND THERE IS, UM, FOR FOLKS THAT ARE SORT OF REVIEWING THE MATERIALS RIGHT NOW, THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN DOES HAVE A SPEAKUP AUSTIN, UM, PAGE, SPEAKUP AUSTIN.ORG/PALM DISTRICT THAT HAS ALL OF THE BACKUP REPORTS THAT WENT INTO THE PLANNING PROCESS, UM, INCLUDING THE BACKUP REPORT, UM, THAT WAS PROVIDED BY MARTHA RA, UM, BASED ON HER FOCUS ENGAGEMENT WORK WITH EAST AUSTIN COMMUNITIES IS AVAILABLE ON THAT SPEAK UP PAGE.

BUT WE WILL ALSO MAKE SURE TO GET IT INCLUDED IN BACKUP.

AND I'M NOT GOING TO READ THE WHOLE THING YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU, BUT I WANTED TO GIVE IT TO YOU AS IN AS ADVANCED AS POSSIBLE SO THAT IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS OR RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, YOU COULD BRING THOSE OUR WAY.

I BELIEVE COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY WAS NEXT.

AND BY THE WAY, I'M, I'M STEERING THE SHIP NOW.

THE MAYOR HAS STEPPED OFF THE DIOCESE.

WE NEED TO GET YOU LIKE A CAPTAIN'S HAT .

UM, WELL AGAIN, TOO, THANK YOU FOR THE RECOGNITION, MAYOR PRO TEM.

I, I DO BELIEVE THAT THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT AS WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON IT SINCE 2019, WHICH PREDICATES MY TIME ON COUNCIL ALSO.

AND SO WE HAVE SOME REALLY IMPORTANT DECISIONS TO MAKE.

COUNCIL MEMBER CADRY, I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOUR AMENDMENTS.

I I'D LIKE PLENTY OF TIME TO REVIEW THEM, SO I'M EAGER TO SEE WHAT YOU'RE, WHAT YOU'RE GOING FOR WITH THE OVERLAY IN CHAPTER THREE 80 AGREEMENTS.

AND, UM, I DO HAVE QUESTIONS RELATED TO COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER'S MOTION SHEET THAT HE JUST PASSED OUT, BUT I'LL WAIT UNTIL HE TALKS ABOUT THAT TO BRING THEM UP.

SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE TIME.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

UH, YEAH, I JUST HANDED OUT, UM, SOME ITEMS THAT WE'VE BEEN MEETING WITH COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE'S OFFICE ABOUT, THERE'S LANGUAGE IN THE PALM DISTRICT PLAN ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, WE'VE LOOKED AT A LOT OF ELEMENTS, BUT THERE ARE STILL A FEW THINGS WE WANT TO LOOK TO IN THE FUTURE.

AND SO THIS IS JUST, UH, AN ATTEMPT TO ENUMERATE SOME OF THOSE THINGS AS WE HAVE FUTURE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE PALM DISTRICT, UH, FOR ITEMS OF CONSIDERATION.

[00:50:01]

AND I THINK HERE'S THE FIRST ONE OF THOSE.

HI.

YEAH, THANK YOU.

UM, AGAIN FOR THAT RECOGNITION.

SO HERE IN YOUR MOTION SHEET, YOU MOVE TO AMEND ITEM 1 0 2, UM, DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO BEGIN A SECOND PHASE OF WORK ON THE EAST DOWNTOWN VISION PLAN, WHICH INCLUDES, AND THE FIRST BULLET POINT THERE IS PLANS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY INFRASTRUCTURE.

WHICH I DEFINITELY THINK IS IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE CURRENT SITUATION WITH OUR POLICE HEADQUARTERS DOWNTOWN NOT BEING GREAT.

I'VE BEEN IN THAT BUILDING WHEN THE, THE, I GUESS THE PLUMBING'S NOT WORKING AND THE TOILET'S BACK UP AND IT'S ABSOLUTELY AWFUL.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND.

UM, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE FROM OUR, UM, PUBLIC SAFETY PEOPLE ABOUT HOW THAT SPECIFIC BULLET POINT IMPACTS PAST PLANNING RELATED TO THE MOVING OF A P D HEADQUARTERS.

SO I'D BE INTERESTED IN, IN THAT IN PARTICULAR, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THERE HAVE BEEN PREVIOUS PLANS THAT HAVE BEEN LAID OUT, BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW IT WOULD BE IMPACTED BY WHAT YOU'RE BRINGING FORWARD.

RIGHT.

AND THIS IS REALLY TO INTEGRATE THOSE DISCUSSIONS WITH ANY FUTURE DISCUSSIONS FOR THE PALM DISTRICT, WHETHER IT IS A P D HEADQUARTERS OR, AND YOU LOOK AT THE FIRE STATION AND E M S STATION AND, AND THE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT RELOCATING THOSE TO AN AREA THAT IS STILL VERY SERVICEABLE TO DOWNTOWN IS IT ONLY GETS HARDER BY THE DAY TO FIND A SPOT FOR THOSE TO GO.

AND SO, UH, I THINK IT'S, IT, IT BEHOOVES US TO HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS AS ADVANCE AS POSSIBLE.

BUT YEAH, WE, WE CAN, UH, FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE EVERYTHING MESH RIGHT WITH YOUR AND, AND PERHAPS IT'S SOMETHING THE CITY MANAGER CAN SPEAK TO ON THURSDAY.

UM, JUST FOR CLARITY, BECAUSE IN, IN MY HUMBLE LITTLE COUNCIL MEMBER OPINION, I DO BELIEVE THAT WHEN WE ARE PLANNING FOR MORE DENSITY IN AREAS THAT ARE UNDERSERVED BY PUBLIC SAFETY, THAT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ROPE THAT INTO THE PLANS SO THAT WE DON'T INCREASE RESPONSE TIMES FROM OTHER PARTS OF TOWN AND PULL RESOURCES FROM AREAS THAT WERE INTENDED TO HAVE USES FOR THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR FLAGGING THAT.

ABSOLUTELY.

I'LL READ THE REST OF THIS AS SOON AS I HAVE SOME TIME, AND THANK YOU FOR BRINGING IT FORWARD.

YOU GOT IT.

BY CHANCE, ARE YOU PREPARED TO SPEAK TO THE PUBLIC SAFETY LOCATION CONVERSATIONS TODAY, OR SHOULD WE JUST WRITE THAT, NOT THAT PARTICULAR ITEM? UM, WE DID ASK A SIMILAR QUESTION OF FINANCIAL SERVICES STAFF AFTER THE NOVEMBER 29TH, UM, MEETING SEVERAL, ACTUALLY, SEVERAL MONTHS AGO NOW.

UM, AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THAT PLANS WERE UNDERWAY BUT HAD NOT BEEN SORT OF RELEASED IN A FORMAT THAT WE COULD SHARE YET, BUT THAT MAY HAVE CHANGED.

SO WE WILL MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT, UM, PRIOR TO THURSDAY'S MEETING.

SOUNDS GOOD.

I APPRECIATE THAT BEING FLAGGED.

COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES? YES.

I JUST HAD A QUICK COMMENT, AND I WISH I COULD TAKE CREDIT FOR THIS IDEA, BUT THIS CAME FROM THE COMMUNITY, UM, THAT WE'RE GOING THROUGH A CONVENTION CENTER RENOVATION, THAT THAT MIGHT BE A, AN APPROPRIATE PLACE FOR US TO HAVE, UM, A RENOVATED FIRE, E M SS AND POLICE STATION, OR AT LEAST A FIRE E M S STATION.

UM, SO I WANTED TO PUT THAT OUT THERE FOR CITY STAFF TO THINK ABOUT AND TO CONSIDER SINCE WE WILL BE REBUILDING OUR CONVENTION CENTER.

THAT MIGHT BE, IT MIGHT MAKE SENSE TO REPLACE IT THERE.

WE'LL CERTAINLY LOOK INTO THAT.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ON THIS PARTICULAR ITEM? I THINK THAT DOES IT.

MY INTENT NOW IS TO MOVE INTO THE BRIEFINGS IN THE ORDER IN WHICH, WHICH THEY'RE POSTED.

UH, SO AS WE'RE GETTING READY TO TALK ABOUT THE I 35 CAP ANDIT PROJECT, UM, I WILL JUST FLAG, WE HAVE AN ITEM FOR FEE WAIVERS, THE TURKEY TROTT, AND CIRCLE C.

UH, THERE'S NOT A WHOLE LOT OF EVENTS THAT HAPPEN IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF DISTRICT DATE, BUT WE ARE FULFILLING THE REST OF OUR ALLOCATED BUDGET FOR THIS FEE WAIVER.

AND I THINK THERE'S GONNA BE ABOUT $772 LEFT IF ANYONE HAS EXTRA MONEY THEY NEED TO USE BEFORE SEPTEMBER 30TH.

UM, WE'LL DOUBLE, DOUBLE CHECK ON THAT NUMBER.

I, I'M MORE THAN HAPPY TO PROVIDE $300 TO THAT.

ANYONE WHATEVER'S LEFT AT THE END OF THE DAY, I'LL LEAVE THAT EXTRA.

SO I'M HAPPY TO COVER WHATEVER I, SHE MAY BE ABOUT TO MAKE IT CHEAPER FOR ME.

I DON'T KNOW.

I, I APPRECIATE THAT.

I'LL POST TO THE MESSAGE BOARD AND I'LL LET Y'ALL ARGUE OVER WHO WANTS TO HELP US OUT.

COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER.

UM, THANK YOU FOR RAISING THAT.

I WANTED TO, UM, I'M ALREADY CONTRIBUTING TO YOUR ITEM, SO, UM, I WANTED TO ADD, UM, $500 TO, UH, I THINK IT'S COUNCIL MEMBER VELASQUEZ'S D S C SAFE FEE WAIVER.

UM, IF THE CLERK COULD NOTE THAT, PLEASE.

I FORGET WHAT NUMBER IT IS.

IT OVER TO ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER.

ANY OTHER COMMENTS BEFORE WE MOVE INTO BRIEFINGS? I WILL KICK

[B1. Reconnecting Communities Grant Application for 1-35 Cap and Stitch Program.]

GOOD MAYOR AND COUNCIL, WE HAVE UP BEFORE RICHARD, WHEN RICHARD COMES UP, I, WE JUST WANNA LAY SOME FOUNDATION FOR, WE, YOU HAVE TWO

[00:55:01]

ITEMS ON YOUR AGENDA FOR THURSDAY.

ONE IS TO, UH, ACCEPT A GRANT THAT WE'VE ALREADY GOTTEN FROM U S D O T ON RECONNECTING COMMUNITIES.

ONE THEN IS A AUTHORITY TO APPLY FOR ANOTHER GRANT.

THIS IS A, A, AN OPPORTUNITY THAT'S GOING TO BE VERY COMPETITIVE.

WE'VE ALREADY HEARD THAT DALLAS IS GONNA APPLY FOR THE SAME GRANT TO DO SOME CAPS, UH, EXTEND CLYDE WARREN IN, IN, UH, THEIR COMMUNITY.

UH, SEATTLE IS LOOKING TO DO A CAP ON I FIVE, SO IT'S GOING TO BE VERY COMPETITIVE.

SO WE HAVE PUT TOGETHER A PROPOSAL TO SUBMIT THAT WE THINK IS THE MOST COMPETITIVE OF ALL THE CAPS WE HAVE.

WE CAN'T SUBMIT FOR EVERY CAP PROJECT THAT WE HAVE ON I 35.

AND, UH, WE THINK WE HAVE A GOOD SHOT AT THIS ONE, THE ONE THAT RICHARD'S GOING TO, UH, EXPLAIN TO YOU TODAY.

AND THE REASON WHY IS BECAUSE ON THURSDAY WE HAVE AN ITEM TO ACCEPT A GRANT FROM THIS SAME PROGRAM FROM D O T TO CONTINUE THE WORK ON OUR CAP AND STITCH PROGRAM.

SO THAT'S AN INDICATION TO US THAT THEY SUPPORT THIS PROGRAM.

SO IF WE SUBMIT A COMPETITIVE BRAND TO BRING PERHAPS UP TO A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS TO THIS COMMUNITY, WE, WE, UH, WE'RE REALLY ENCOURAGED TO DO THAT.

SO RICH IS GONNA LAY OUT WHY WE THINK THIS PARTICULAR CAP IS THE MOST COMPETITIVE AND, UM, UH, LAY OUT THAT FOR US AND AND APPRECIATE THAT.

SO THANK YOU MAYOR AND COUNSEL FOR YOUR, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION, RICHARD.

THANK YOU MR. GOODE.

GOOD MORNING, MAYOR PROAM AND COUNCIL RICHARD MENDOZA, INTERIM DIRECTOR FOR TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS.

AND I'VE GOT A BRIEF PRESENTATION THAT I'M GONNA GO THROUGH WITH YOU THIS MORNING.

OUR TEAM HAS BEEN WORKING ON PREPARING AN APPLICATION FOR A FEDERAL RECONNECTING COMMUNITIES GRANT, UH, WITH THE, UH, US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.

AND, BUT FIRST I'M GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE OVERALL TXDOT CAPEX 35.

'CAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE TIMING OF THAT PROJECT AND HOW THAT WILL ALLOW US TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS, UH, POTENTIAL OPPORTUNITY.

SO TDOT'S CAPITAL EXPRESS PROJECT, OF COURSE, THEY RECEIVED THEIR RECORD OF DECISION IN AUGUST OF, UH, 23.

UH, WILL BE LOWERING THE MAIN LANES TO PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CITY TO DECK OVER THOSE LOWERED LANES WITH A SERIES OF CAPS AND STITCHES.

SO CONSTRUCTING THE CAPS COULD PROVIDE UP TO 30 ACRES OF NEW URBAN REAL ESTATE.

NEXT SLIDE.

SO FOR OUR AUDIENCE OUT THERE, WHAT ARE CAPS AND STITCHES? SO THERE'S AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION HERE BETWEEN A HIGHWAY CAP AND A HIGHWAY STITCH.

ESSENTIALLY THE ILLUSTRATION SHOWN ON YOUR LEFT REFLECTS A CAP.

SO IT'S A LARGE DECK, IT'S GREATER IN LENGTH OF 300 FEET AND IT WILL ACCOMMODATE NEW PROGRAMMING SUCH AS STRUCTURES IN GREEN SPACE.

CONVERSELY, A HIGHWAY STITCH IS ALSO A COVERING OF A LOWERED HIGHWAY, HOWEVER, IT IS LESS THAN 300 FEET IN LENGTH.

THE IMPORTANT DISTINCTION HERE ARE THAT CAPS REQUIRE ADDITIONAL FORCE, AIR VENTILATION, LIFE SAFETY, UM, UH, COMPONENTS, WHEREAS STITCHES DO NOT.

NEXT, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

SO, TEXTILES, OVERALL CAPITAL EXPRESS CENTRAL PROJECT EXTENDS FROM STATE HIGHWAY 71 ON THE SOUTH TO HIGHWAY TWO 90 ON THE NORTH.

IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE TIMING OF HOW TXDOT PLANS TO, UH, CONDUCT THIS OVERALL PROJECT.

UH, THEY PLAN TO PHASE IT OUT INTO THREE MAJOR SECTIONS, BEGINNING WITH CONSTRUCTION LETTINGS IN 2024, TO INCLUDE BEN WHITE TO HOLLY, THE M L K BIKE PAD BRIDGE RECONSTRUCTION, AS WELL AS NEEDED DRAINAGE TUNNELS.

THEN FOLLOWING IN 2025, WORK WILL BEGIN, UH, OR THE CON CONTRACT WILL BE LET FOR FOURTH STREET RAIL BRIDGE AND THE UPPER DECK RETROFIT.

AND THEN FINALLY, IN 2026, A BULK OF THE CONSTRUCTION WILL BE THE DOWNTOWN SEGMENT, HOLLY THE 15TH, AS WELL AS UNIVERSITY AND CAPITOL PLAZA, UH, SECTIONS.

SO THIS TIMING IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY THIS CONSTRUCTION WILL HAVE TO TAKE PLACE BEFORE ANY POTENTIAL CAP AND STITCH CONSTRUCTION ON TOP.

NEXT SLIDE.

AS THE COMMUNITY TO IDENTIFY.

SO HOW DOES A POTENTIAL CAP STITCH PROGRAM MESH WITH TXDOT SCHEDULE? SO WHAT I HAVE IDENTIFIED ON THIS SLIDE ARE THE PREVIOUSLY STATED LETTING SCHEDULES FOR SEGMENTS OF THE TXDOT I 35 PROJECT, WITH THE CORRESPONDING POTENTIAL CAP STITCH LOCATIONS THAT OUR TEAMS HAVE BEEN INVOLVED WORKING WITH TDOT AS WELL

[01:00:01]

THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY ACTUALLY IS GONNA BE, UH, MADE NEXT YEAR IN 2024 WITH THE LADY BIRD LAKE SEGMENT.

THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO REALIZE A WOODLAND AVENUE STITCH, THEN NOT UNTIL 26, WHERE THE BULK OF THE CENTRAL, UH, WORK BEGINS, WILL THERE BE OPPORTUNITY TO INCORPORATE ADDITIONAL CAP AND STITCH LOCATIONS? THESE SECTIONS ARE PRIMARILY THE DOWNTOWN SEGMENT, AND YOU CAN SEE HERE LISTED, AND I'LL HAVE ILLUSTRATION ON THE NEXT SLIDE THAT SHOW THESE HAWLEY STREET STITCH EAST DE CHAVEZ TO FOURTH STREET CAP, ADDITIONAL CAPS ALL THE WAY EXTENDING TO 12TH, UH, STREET STITCH.

ALSO UNIVERSITY SEGMENT, SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS THE NORTHERN SEGMENT, 32ND STREET STITCH 38 AND A HALF STREET TO 41ST STREET CAP, AS WELL AS THE F 41ST STREET TO AIRPORT BOULEVARD CAP.

AND THEN FINALLY ON THE NORTHERN END, THE CAPITOL PLAZA SEGMENT FOLLOWING SLIDE, UH, ARE AN ILLUSTRATION OF THOSE POTENTIAL CAP AND STITCH LOCATIONS THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH.

TEXT ON PRELIMINARILY.

UH, THE TOP ILLUSTRATION DEPICTS THE NORTHERN SECTIONS PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED.

THE BOTTOM ILLUSTRATION IS THE CENTRAL SEGMENT.

AND THEN FINALLY, BOTTOM RIGHT, THAT IS THE WOODLAND AVENUE POTENTIAL, UH, EXPANDED STITCH LOCATION.

I THINK IT'S GOOD TO MENTION, AND SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD ALSO, THAT OUR PARTNERS AT UT ARE ALSO EXPLORING CAP AND STITCH LOCATIONS WITH TXDOT.

SO IT, IT BEARS A NOTING THAT THIS IS THE, UH, LOCATION APPROXIMATELY WHERE THEY'VE BEEN IN THOSE CONVERSATIONS.

THEY'VE ALSO BEEN WORKING WITH MY TEAM TO ENSURE THAT WE AREN'T DOING ANYTHING THAT MIGHT CONFLICT WITH EACH OTHER'S PLANS.

SO THIS SECTION PRIMARILY IS BETWEEN EAST DEAN KEATON STREET, ALL THE WAY DOWN TO 16TH STREET.

SO FOR THIS FUNDING OPPORTUNITY, AGAIN, IT'S A RECONNECTING COMMUNITIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS GRANT OPPORTUNITY MADE, UH, POSSIBLE BY THE FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND JOBS ACT OF 2021.

IT PROVIDES LARGE CAP GRANT OPPORTUNITIES.

UH, THIS IS A COMBINATION OF TWO FORMER PROGRAMS THAT THE U S D O T COMBINED, THE RECONNECTING NEIGHBORHOODS, AS WELL AS THE, UH, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD EQUITY ACCESS PROGRAMS. WHAT THAT DOES IS IT MAKES MORE FUNDING AVAILABLE TO COMMUNITIES AND EASES THE APPLICATION PROCESS.

HOWEVER, THIS, UH, UM, CALL FOR PROJECTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITY, THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT APPLICATIONS IS SEPTEMBER 28TH, 2023.

THAT'S WHY WE'RE BRINGING THIS R C A FORWARD FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION ON THURSDAY.

SO, AS, AS MR. GOODE STATED, THIS WILL, THIS, WE EXPECT THIS TO BE A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE, UH, GRANT, AND, UM, IT WILL BE GRADED AND RANKED USING THIS, THESE PRIMARY CRITERIA.

UH, FIRST, THE PROJECT SHOULD BE WITHIN THE DISADVANTAGED CENSUS TRACKS AS IDENTIFIED BY THE U S D O T JUSTICE 40 INITIATIVE SHOULD ENHANCE TRANSIT AVAILABILITY.

BY THE WAY, THE ILLUSTRATION ON THE RIGHT IS A DEPICTION OF THOSE QUALIFYING AREAS WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.

UH, THE LOWER SHADED SECTION IS THAT SECTION EAST CA CHAVEZ TWO SEVENTH.

THE UPPER SECTION IS BETWEEN EAST 11TH AND 12TH.

IT SHOULD INCREASE DENSITY IN A MIX OF SURROUNDING LAND USES.

IT SHOULD ENGAGE WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN AREA STAKEHOLDERS, IMPROVE BIKE AND PEDESTRIAN ACCESS, MITIGATE DISPLACEMENT CONCERNS, AND ENCOURAGE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INVESTMENTS.

SO WHAT WE'LL BE BRINGING FORWARD ON THURSDAY IS A RECOMMENDATION.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR A CAP SEGMENT EXTENDING FROM CAESAR CHAVEZ TO FOURTH STREET.

THIS REPRESENTS ABOUT 5.3 ACRES.

AND, UH, WE ARE PROPOSING TO SEEK $105 MILLION OF FEDERAL GRANT FUNDING WITH A PROPOSED CITY MATCH OF $45 MILLION.

WE FEEL THAT THE 105 MILLION WILL BE SUFFICIENT TO, UH, BUILD THE REQUIRED SUPPORTING, UM, STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS FOR A CAP PROJECT, AS WELL AS THE LIFE SAFETY VENTILATION MECHANICAL SYSTEMS I PREVIOUSLY NOTED, AND THAT THE 45 MILLION WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THE AMENITIES ON TOP, UH, PRIMARILY LANDSCAPING RESTROOMS, UH, SOME LIGHT, UH, UH, CONCESSIONS, IF YOU WILL, FOR A WHOLESOME PROJECT.

WE WERE ADVISED

[01:05:01]

BY THE BUILD AMERICA BUREAU AND OUR GRANT CONSULTANTS THAT WHOLESOME TURNKEY PROJECTS SUBMITTED WITH THIS PROGRAM WOULD SCORE HIGHER THAN, SAY, IF WE WENT IN WITH AN EXPANDED SECTION OF JUST STRUCTURAL, UH, ELEMENTS.

AND AGAIN, THIS MATCH WOULD NOT BE NEEDED UNLESS WE WERE SUCCESSFULLY AWARDED, WHICH WE EXPECT THAT ANNOUNCEMENT TO BE ABOUT NEXT SPRING OF 2024.

SO, Y CESAR CHAVEZ, THE FOURTH STREET CAP, UH, AGAIN, WE LOOKED AT THAT, UH, EXPECTED GRADING AND RANKING CRITERIA.

WE FEEL THAT THIS SECTION CHECKS THE MOST BOXES, UH, OF THAT, UH, GRADING, UH, CRITERIA.

UH, IT'S ALSO, WE FEEL THE MOST COMPETITIVE IN TERMS OF A TURNKEY PROJECT AND THE LARGEST BITE OF THE APPLE, UH, TO REALIZE AS MUCH OF THE POTENTIAL CAPTAIN STITCH THAT'LL MAKE BE MADE AVAILABLE FROM THE I 35 CAPEX PROJECT.

UH, PRELIMINARILY, WE ESTIMATE THAT THE TOTAL RESPONSIBLE, UM, COST PARTICIPATION FOR THE CITY, IF WE WERE TO REALIZE ALL OF THE 30 ACRES OF NEW URBAN, UM, LAND WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY 600 TO $800 MILLION.

SO WHILE THIS, WE EXPECT MORE GRANT OPPORTUNITIES AFTER THIS, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WHEN THEY DO COME AVAILABLE, THAT WE TRY AND BITE OFF AS MUCH AS THAT AS POSSIBLE.

UH, WE FEEL STRONGLY THAT THIS PROJECT WOULD BE A STRONG CANDIDATE, BE THE BEST ROUND PEG FOR THE ROUND HOLE FOR THIS, UH, GRANT OPPORTUNITY.

SO CESAR CHAVEZ, THE FOURTH STREET CRAP OPPORTUNITY AGAIN, UH, LIKE THE CAP STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS WOULD BE PROVIDED BY THE FEDERAL FUNDING CITY MATCH WOULD PROVIDE.

UH, THESE ARE, ARE DEPICTIONS OF WHAT THOSE, UH, PARK-LIKE OPEN SPACE AMENITIES AND RESTROOMS, PAVILIONS SHADE TREES MIGHT LOOK LIKE.

AND IT ALSO PROVIDES FLEXIBILITY FOR ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS OF AMENITIES BASED ON WHAT WE HEAR FROM THE COMMUNITY, UH, IN THE EVENT THAT WE DO REALIZE MORE, UH, FUNDING PERHAPS PHILANTHROPY OR PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.

SO THAT'S THE FOURTH STREET TO CHAVEZ STREET, UH, CAP STRATEGY.

WHAT ABOUT THE REMAINING ADDITIONAL CAP AND STITCH OPPORTUNITIES? UH, WE'VE BEEN IN, UH, CONSTANT CONVERSATION AND WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS AT TXDOT.

THEY'VE INDICATED TO US BASED ON THAT LETTING SCHEDULE THAT I, UH, PREVIOUSLY PRESENTED THAT THEY WOULD REQUIRE A CITY OF AUSTIN PAYMENT BY DECEMBER OF 2024, UH, FOR OUR PARTICIPATION, OUR PORTION OF THE FUNDING TO SYNC UP WITH THEIR CONSTRUCTION, LETTING SCHEDULE TO REALIZE ADDITIONAL CAP AND STITCH LOCATIONS.

AND RIGHT HERE IS, UH, AN ESTIMATE OF WHAT THAT COST WOULD BE, UH, 600 MILLION.

IT COULD GO UPWARDS OF 800 MILLION DEPENDING ON WHAT WE BUILD ON TOP.

AND SO, UH, OBVIOUSLY THAT'S A TREMENDOUS CHALLENGE FOR THE CITY, GIVEN THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY BY THIS TIMELINE.

BUT WE CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THEM ON, UH, UH, FUTURE CAPS INCORPORATED INTO THE HIGHWAY DESIGN.

SO WE DO NOT PRECLUDE OUR CHANCE TO REALIZE THESE OPPORTUNITIES GOING FORWARD, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THEM ON THE POTENTIAL FUNDING SOURCES.

WELL, ON THE FUNDING, THE TIMING OF THE FINANCING, OUR DEPARTMENT CONTINUES TO WORK WITH OUR F S D FINANCE SERVICES DEPARTMENT.

SOME OF THOSE STRATEGIES POTENTIALLY COULD BE FUTURE GRANTS, PHILANTHROPY, PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, UH, ESTABLISHMENT OR EXPANSION OF TIFS ORT ZONES, ADDITIONAL CAPITAL DEBT.

AND THEN AGAIN, WE'VE SEEN EXAMPLES WHERE OTHER COMMUNITIES HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WORK WITH THEIR LOCAL TECH STOCK DISTRICTS ON TIMING AND COSTS FOR CAP PROJECTS.

AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO WITH OUR LOCAL TXDOT DISTRICT.

SO FOR THURSDAY, THERE'S TWO ACTIONS THAT WE'LL BE BRINGING FORWARD.

ONE IS TO CONSIDER THIS REQUEST AND GET AUTHORIZATION TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR RECONNECTING COMMUNITIES GRANT.

AND ALSO TO, WE WERE PREVIOUSLY AWARDED A PLANNING GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $1.12 MILLION, UH, A RECONNECTING COMMUNITIES, UH, UH, PILOT, UH, PLANNING GRANT.

AND WHAT THAT GRANT WILL DO, OR WHAT THAT ACTION WILL DO, WILL AUTHORIZE THE CITY TO RECEIVE THE FUNDS IN AN ADVANCE FUNDING AGREEMENT WITH THE U S D O T.

AND THIS WILL HELP ENSURE THAT THE AMENITIES THAT WE BUILD ON TOP MATCH THE NEEDS OF THE ADJOINING COMMUNITIES.

IT WILL ALSO MAKE,

[01:10:01]

UH, FUTURE GRANT APPLICATIONS, UH, MORE COMPETITIVE.

WE'LL BE ABLE TO COLLECT MORE OF THE RELEVANT DATA TO BUILD STRONGER APPLICATIONS GOING FORWARD.

AND, UM, THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION, OPEN QUESTIONS.

I, UH, APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.

AND THOSE ARE ITEMS 97 AND 98 FOR, UM, FOR THURSDAY'S MEETING.

UM, CAN YOU JUST VERY HIGH LEVEL, I'LL JUST TAKE A MOMENT BEFORE GOING TO MY COLLEAGUES.

UM, CAN YOU TELL US WHERE THE CONVERSATIONS ARE FOR MAYBE FOURTH STREET TO SEVENTH STREET OR 11TH AND 12TH STREET CAPS? ARE THOSE THINGS THAT HAVE YET TO BE SORTED OUT AS TEXT STOP MOVES FORWARD? MM-HMM.

, AND I'M THINKING SPECIFICALLY, I DON'T THINK THERE'S PAGE NUMBERS, BUT THE, UH, MAP THAT TALKS ABOUT THE DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES RIGHT.

CONCERNS.

AND SO YOU'VE GOT CAESAR CHAVEZ, DE FOUR STREET.

BUT THEN OKAY.

YOU KNOW, CLEARLY THERE'S OTHER FOLKS SURE.

THAT CAN BE SERVED BY THOSE CROSSINGS.

, CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT, WOULD WE LOOK AT THOSE NEXT YEAR OR THE YEAR AFTER? CERTAINLY TO BE DETERMINED.

SO THE PROPOSAL BEING BROUGHT THURSDAY IS THE SEGMENT FROM CAESAR CHAVEZ, UH, TO FOURTH STREET.

AND SO WHAT THAT, UH, WHAT THAT INCLUDES IS THE COSTS THAT WE FEEL WE COULD REASONABLY EXPECT TO BE AWARDED WITH THIS PROGRAM.

UH, WE'RE GONNA BE ASKING FOR $105 MILLION OF FEDERAL MONEY.

IF WE WERE TO INCLUDE, UH, A LARGER SEGMENT OF THESE CAPS WITHIN THIS APPLICATION, UH, WE FEEL WE'D BE ALMOST PRICED OUT FOR THIS PROGRAM.

THERE WAS A CALL FOR THE RECONNECTING, UM, UH, NEIGHBORHOODS LAST YEAR.

THE LARGEST AWARD LAST YEAR WAS $55 MILLION TO ONE PROJECT.

AND SO WORKING WITH OUR FINANCE SERVICES, UH, DEPARTMENT ALSO ON THE AMOUNT OF LOCAL MATCH THAT WE FEEL WE COULD REASONABLY, UH, ACCOMMODATES, SAY THROUGH CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION AND AN EXPECTED AWARD, UM, WE FELT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, THIS WAS A STRONG APPLICANT.

UH, I FAILED ALSO TO MENTION THAT THIS SECTION ALSO INCLUDES THE ONLY PORTION OF THE CAPS THAT, UH, CREATE A, UH, WHOLE LAND BRIDGE SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO STEP ON ASPHALT TO GET FROM DOWNTOWN TO THE EAST SIDE.

SO ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS ALL THE WAY UP THROUGH SEVENTH STREET, UH, ARE, UH, WE EXPECT MORE GRANT OPPORTUNITIES.

ALSO, WE'RE FINALIZING OUR FINANCING STRATEGIC, UM, UM, PLAN, UH, FOR THAT TO GET MORE FUNDING THE 11TH AND 12TH, UH, LOCATIONS, RIGHT, RIGHT NOW.

AND WHILE THEY DO FIT WITHIN THE, UH, US DOT'S JUSTICE 40 INITIATIVE, UH, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH TEXTILE ON ALL POTENTIAL CAP ANDIT LOCATIONS.

BUT AS OF YET, THEY'VE, UH, NOT, UH, VALIDATED THE ENGINEERING, UM, CONFIRMED THE ENGINEERING VIABILITY OF CAPS AT THOSE LOCATIONS.

BUT, UH, WE DO EXPECT TO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THEM.

AND THEY HAVE STATED THEY'RE AMENABLE TO WORK WITH US ON THOSE TECHNICAL ASPECTS AS THEY PROCEED WITH THE DESIGN.

AND THAT MAKES, AND WE DON'T HAVE COST ESTIMATES FOR THAT LOCATION THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO INCLUDE IN THIS APPLICATION.

I SEE.

AND, AND THAT'S HELPFUL 'CAUSE I KNOW THE SMALLER CAPS MAY HAVE A DIFFERENT APPLICATION PROCESS BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT GONNA COST AS MUCH MONEY.

I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT MISSING THE BOAT WITH TEXT DOTS TIMELINE OF INSTALLING THE SUPPORT BEAMS IN THE CONVERSATION.

UM, COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, YOU HAD YOUR HAND UP? I DID, BUT I THINK MY QUESTION MAY HAVE BEEN ANSWERED.

UM, I, I THINK, UH, YOU MADE REFERENCE TO VIABILITY FOR 11TH AND 12TH.

AND SO JUST THINKING SINCE 12TH STREET WOULD LITERALLY, FROM THE EAST SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY TO THE WEST SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, TAKE YOU RIGHT INTO WATERLOO GREENWAY.

I'M JUST CURIOUS WHY THAT'S A STITCH AND NOT A CAT.

THE DISTINCTION THERE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER IS IT WOULD BE 300 FEET OR LESS TO CAP, IT WOULD REQUIRE THE INCORPORATION OF THE LIFE SAFETY FORCE VENTILATION.

AND WHAT THAT WOULD REQUIRE IS TDOT TO DO MORE DESIGN IN TERMS OF, THEY WOULD HAVE TO GO DEEPER TO ACCOUNT FOR THE HEIGHT OF THAT THO THAT MECHANICAL, AND THAT WOULD ALSO AFFECT THEIR DRAINAGE DESIGN.

SO WHILE THEY HAVE NOT SHUT THE DOOR ON THAT POSSIBILITY, UM, IT, IT IS RIGHT NOW A CHALLENGING LOCATION.

BUT IN MY CONVERSATIONS WITH THEM, AS THEY PROGRESS AND DESIGN, THEY ARE AMENABLE TO REVISITING THOSE LOCATIONS AND, AND POTENTIAL CAP LOCATIONS.

COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER.

[01:15:02]

AND, UM, REALLY HOPE THAT, UH, WE SUCCEED IN, IN SECURING THIS GRANT.

UM, I HAD A COUPLE QUESTIONS.

UM, SO THE CURRENT GRANT REQUIRES A CITY MATCH OF ABOUT 45 MILLION.

IF I'VE GOT THE NUMBER RIGHT.

UM, WHERE IS THAT COMING FROM? OKAY, THE MATCH REQUIREMENT IS ACTUALLY A 20%, UM, UM, MINIMUM MATCH, UH, THAT WE, WE RECOMMEND GOING 45 MILLION SO THAT WE COULD DELIVER A MORE COMPLETE PROJECT AND WHOLESOME AMENITIES ON TOP.

AND IN MY CONVERSATIONS WITH FINANCIAL SERVICES, UM, DEPARTMENT, THE LOCAL MATCH, THEY'VE DETERMINED THAT CERTIFICATES OF OB OF OBLIGATION ARE AN APPROPRIATE ME, UH, MECHANISM FOR PROVIDING THE CITY LOCAL MATCH FOR THIS GRANT OBLIGATION.

SO A, A NEW, NEW BOND DEBT.

SO DO WE HAVE TO VOTE ON THAT? NOT ON COOS, NO, MA'AM.

OR COS NOT COOS.

UM, I MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT.

UM, FROM LEGAL ON THAT.

UM, AND THEN YOU MENTIONED A $600 MILLION ESTIMATE FOR THE CAPPING.

I WAS WONDERING IF THAT INCLUDES THE UT SEGMENT OR ONLY COVERS THE CITY SEGMENTS.

THAT'S ONLY INCLUSIVE OF THE CITY SEGMENTS.

NOT, UH, NOT THE UT SEGMENT.

COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES, AND THEN VELA.

DO WE HAVE THE, I KNOW YOU MENTIONED THE UT CONVERSATIONS GOING ON, BUT HOW FAR AWAY ARE WE ARE FROM, LIKE, HOW FAR AWAY ARE WE FROM AN ACTUAL COMMITMENT FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS TO FUND THAT CAP? I, I DO NOT HAVE THAT INFORMATION.

UM, WE HAVE BEEN PRIMARILY IN COORDINATION FROM A TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE TO ENSURE WHEREVER OUR TWO PROJECTS, UH, ABUT WE DON'T DO ANYTHING THAT MIGHT CONFLICT WITH THE OTHER DESIGN, THE FINANCING.

I'VE NOT BEEN PART OF THAT, UH, CONVERSATION WITH UT, BUT THEY WOULD HAVE TO ANNOUNCE PRETTY SOON HERE, IF THE END OF 2024 IS OUR KIND OF DEADLINE TO GET FUNDING FOR CAPS, I WOULD EXPECT THEY WOULD BE SUBJECT TO THE SAME, UH, DEADLINE AS THE CITY, JUST SO THAT, UH, THEY COULD MEET THE T LETTING SCHEDULE.

THEY NEED TO HAVE THE COMMITMENT EARLY BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO DESIGN FOR THOSE ELEMENTS NOW, EVEN THOUGH THEY DON'T EXPECT CONSTRUCTION IN 26 UNTIL 26.

IS THERE ANY COST DIFFERENCE TO THE CITY IN TERMS OF, UH, IF WE PUT THE SUPPORTS AND THEN LATER ADD CAPS, UH, OR, YOU KNOW, IN OTHER WORDS, WOULD IT BE MORE EXPENSIVE TO KIND OF, TO PHASE IT LIKE THAT? WHERE, WHERE, YOU KNOW, BUILDING THE SUPPORTS OR TXDOT WITH OUR MONEY IS BUILDING THE SUPPORTS FOR THE CAPS, OR WOULD IT BE CHEAPER TO DO IT AT THE SAME TIME? ANY THOUGHTS ON THAT? YES, THERE ARE EXAMPLES AROUND THE COUNTRY WHERE THEY WENT IN WITH JUST THE SUPPORT STRUCTURES INITIALLY AND THEN LATER CAME AND PUT THE LIDS, IF YOU WILL.

MY EXPERIENCE IS, YOU KNOW, THE LONGER YOU SPREAD OUT CONSTRUCTION, THE HIGHER IT COSTS.

UM, TX OUT HAS TOLD US ALL ALONG THAT THEY STRONGLY PREFER THAT THEY, THEY DO EVERYTHING ALL AT ONE TIME.

THERE'S LESS DISRUPTION TO THE TRAVELING PUBLIC.

UH, THEY'RE ALREADY THERE EXCAVATING, BUILDING, CONSTRUCTING, YOU KNOW, THEY CAN ACHIEVE, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, SAVINGS, UH, LEVERAGING, UH, CON CONTRACTORS.

SO, BUT IN OUR CONVERSATIONS, THEY'VE NOT SHUT THE DOOR ON THAT UNDERSTANDING THAT 600 MILLION'S A LOT IN THE NEXT 12 OR 14 MONTHS MM-HMM.

UH, AND SO THOSE CONVERSATIONS WE CONTINUE TO HAVE.

FEET WIDE, UH, OUTSIDE OF THE PAVEMENT, WILL, WILL GET YOU A PRETTY NICE AMENITY.

UH, I MEAN, I, I, I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND THEIR POINT OF VIEW AND, AND GENERALLY SPEAKING, I THINK IT'LL BE MUCH BETTER TO GET IT ALL DONE IN ONE SHOT, BOTH FROM A COST PERSPECTIVE AND FROM INCONVENIENCE TO THE PUBLIC, UH, PERSPECTIVE.

UH, WITH REGARD TO THE STITCHES, AND I'LL FOCUS ON THE ONE PROPOSED ON 51ST STREET FOR THE MOMENT.

UH, WE TALKED A LOT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE CAPS AND THE STITCHES AT, AT THIS POINT, THE CITY WOULD BE REQUIRED TO PAY FOR ANY STITCHES.

IS THAT CORRECT, MR. MENDOZA? SO, TXDOT AND THEIR BASE PROJECT COUNCIL MEMBER ARE INCLUDING CROSSINGS.

THEY CALL 'EM, THEY, THEY STOP SHORT OF CALLING THEM STITCHES, BUT THEY CALL 'EM ENHANCED CROSSINGS UP TO 70 FEET WIDE, UH, 70

[01:20:01]

ANYTHING BEYOND THAT UP TO 300 FEET, THE CITY WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PAYING FOR, FOR AN ENHANCEMENT.

SO THE STITCH COULD BE UP TO 300 FEET, HOWEVER, TXDOT WOULD STILL, UH, PAY FOR THE FIRST 70 FEET OF A 300 FOOT WIDE OR WHATEVER WIDTH THAT STITCH IS.

AND IN TERMS OF THE CAPS, I, I THINK THEY KIND OF SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES IN TERMS OF USEFULNESS.

UM, YOU KNOW, WE COULD POTENTIALLY PUT BUILDINGS ON THEM, UH, LARGE, UH, PARTS, OR AT LEAST LIKE MULTI ACRE, UH, UH, PARTS, THE STITCHES.

AND AGAIN, I'LL, FOR MY PURPOSES, I'M GONNA STICK WITH THE 51ST STREET EXAMPLE.

IT'S FIFTH TO SIXTH, SIXTH TO SEVENTH, WHERE WE COULD POTENTIALLY TAKE SPACE THAT WE ARE USING DOWNTOWN.

, UH, YOU KNOW, A STREET I KNOW VERY WELL.

UM, I'M NOT SURE WHAT WE GET OUT OF, YOU KNOW, 200 FEET OF, OF STITCH, LET'S SAY JUST NORTH OF 51ST STREET IN TERMS OF PROGRAMMING, IN TERMS OF, OF FOLKS KIND OF ENJOYING IT.

UH, WHAT, WHAT ARE WE THINKING ABOUT, AGAIN, BE BEFORE WE START SPENDING, YOU KNOW, 10 MILLION, $20 MILLION OR WHATEVER THAT MAY BE ON THAT.

I, I JUST, WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT, I MEAN, 51ST STREET IS A STREET TO BE CROSSED.

YOU KNOW, EITHER YOU'RE GETTING TO THE EAST SIDE, YOU'RE GETTING TO THE WEST SIDE.

I JUST DON'T SEE SOMEBODY KIND OF READING A BOOK ON THE STITCH, YOU KNOW, ABOVE I 35 AND, AND WATCHING THE, THE TRAFFIC BY.

AND I'M, I'M NOT SURE I WANT TO PAY FOR THAT AS A, AS A POLICY MATTER.

UH, ANY THOUGHTS FROM, UH, FROM YOU, FROM THE DEPARTMENT ON THAT? CERTAINLY, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE, WHEN WE EXPLORE, UM, THE BENEFIT FROM A MOBILITY ASPECT OF A STITCH VERSUS JUST THE STANDARD, UM, UM, ENHANCED CROSSING THAT TXDOT WILL PROVIDE, YOU KNOW, WE LOOK AT THE NETWORK ON EITHER SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY AND HOW WE CAN BEST ALIGN, UH, THE CROSSING OF 35 WITH THAT.

MANY TIMES WE DISCOVER THAT, UH, INCORPORATING A STITCH WILL IMPROVE THAT EXPERIENCE CROSSING AND, AND SOMETIMES NOT MM-HMM.

SO IT'S REALLY, UH, A CASE BY CASE BASIS.

UH, SO WE, YOU KNOW, ENSURE THAT WE'RE GAINING THE BEST BENEFIT, OF COURSE, OBVIOUSLY MORE PUBLIC SPACE, MORE BUFFER OF ACTIVE MOBILITY BIKE PEDESTRIANS FROM THE MOTOR VEHICLE, UH, CROSSING OPPORTUNITY FOR ADDITIONAL SHADE STRUCTURES, UM, UM, UH, AND THAT SORT OF THING.

JUST THE LOOK AND FEEL OF, OF THAT AMENITY.

SO IT, IT REALLY DEPENDS TECHNICALLY, UH, BY CROSSING, BY CROSSING.

AND, AND JUST TO BE CLEAR, I'M, UH, COMPLETELY SUPPORTIVE OF THE ENHANCED CROSSING.

UH, I I THINK IN TERMS OF THE, YOU KNOW, A WIDE SIDEWALK AND A GRADE SEPARATED, UH, BICYCLE CROSSING, UH, THAT SEEMS LIKE AN EXCELLENT IDEA.

I THINK GOING BEYOND THAT TO INCLUDE, YOU KNOW, LET'S SAY AGAIN A QUARTER ACRE OR, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT JUST TO THE SIDE OF THE ENHANCED CROSSING.

AGAIN, I JUST, I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE VALUE IS IN IT, IN THAT MM-HMM.

, I, I HAVEN'T REALLY HEARD A COMPELLING ARGUMENT TO, TO, TO BE MADE FOR IT.

AND ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, I'D RATHER BUY MORE CAPS, YOU KNOW, I'D RATHER PAY FOR MORE CAPS AND LESS STITCHES THAN, THAN, YOU KNOW, LOSE A CAP OR STRUGGLE TO, UH, YOU KNOW, FINANCE THE, THE, THE PROJECT.

AGAIN, JUST WANTED TO, TO SHARE THAT WITH THE GUYS.

JUST MY KIND OF THOUGHTS AND PERCEPTIONS ON THAT.

YES, SIR.

I ALSO FAILED TO MENTION THAT THAT PLANNING GRANT THAT WE'LL RECEIVE, UH, WILL HELP INFORM THE LOOK AND FEEL OF CAP AND STITCH.

'CAUSE WE'LL HEAR FROM THE COMMUNITY IN TERMS OF WHAT VALUE OR BENEFIT THEY WOULD WANT TO DERIVE FROM A, A STITCH ENHANCEMENT.

AND ONE FINAL QUESTION, UH, IN TERMS OF THE LOAD BEARING CAPACITY, THAT, UH, WHERE ARE WE ON, ON, ON UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE CAN BUILD ON THE CAPS? SO AT PRESENT, UH, AND IT'S VERY EARLY IN DESIGN, UM, THEY FEEL WE CAN INCORPORATE TWO TO FOUR STORY BUILDINGS.

ANYTHING BEYOND THAT, UH, WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE ADDITIONAL CONVERSATIONS TO ENSURE THAT THE VERTICAL STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS WOULD BE ABLE TO SUPPORT THAT.

ALRIGHT.

AT, AT WHICHEVER LOCATION THAT WE MOVE FORWARD WITH.

AND DO WE HAVE A CONSULTANT THAT'S, UH, THAT'S WORKING WITH US ON THAT? I DO HAVE A DESIGN CONSULTANT THAT CAN GIVE US SOME VERY HIGH LEVEL PRELIMINARY COST ESTIMATES MM-HMM.

, UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTAND THAT TEXTILE IS STILL VERY EARLY IN THE DESIGN PROCESS MM-HMM.

AND SO THOSE WILL NEED TO BE REFINED AS WE GET DOWN THE ROAD.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

YOU'RE WELCOME.

I APPRECIATE THAT LINE OF QUESTIONING.

AND NOW I NEED TO FIND A BOOK SO I CAN HANG OUT AT 51ST STREET AND PROVE COUNCIL MEMBER VELA WRONG.

LET'S GO OVER TO COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN AL ALTER.

I JUST WANTED TO BUILD OFF REAL QUICKLY WHAT, WHERE COUNCIL MEMBER VELA ENDED.

YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE ARE SOME GREAT OPPORTUNITIES, ESPECIALLY IN THOSE CAPS THAT ARE GOING TO JUST BE A BLOCK WIDE.

WHETHER

[01:25:01]

UH, LET'S SAY IT'S THE A P D STAGING GROUND OR SOMETHING THAT IS NOT, UM, DOESN'T NEED TO GO VERY HIGH AND PUT IT ON A CAP AND FREE UP AN AREA THAT HAS DIRT UNDERNEATH IT WHERE WE COULD MAXIMIZE THAT SPACE AND HAVE A GREATER PUBLIC BENEFIT, UH, AS A, A KIND OF TRADE, AS IT WERE.

SO I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO LOOK AT OPPORTUNITIES WHERE WE CAN UTILIZE THESE SPACES FOR LOW RISE, UH, CONSTRUCTION IN ORDER TO HAVE A GREATER BENEFIT, MAYBE WHERE THAT'S FREED UP.

I APPRECIATE THAT.

THANKS.

DO YOU HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS? NO OTHER QUESTIONS.

UM, I APPRECIATE THE COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS THAT MY COLLEAGUES HAVE PRESENTED.

UM, I THINK WE'RE ALL VERY INTERESTED IN, YOU KNOW, EXACTLY WHERE THE, THE NICKELS AND DIMES COME FROM AND YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, IF THIS HIGHWAY IS MOVING FORWARD, THAT WE'RE DOING SO IN A WAY THAT HELPS PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY, HELPS CREATE BETTER BIKE AND PET INFRASTRUCTURE.

UM, THE FINANCING IS OBVIOUSLY STILL, UH, A PRETTY BIG QUESTION.

UM, I'LL JUST FLAG THAT I HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE, THE TIMING OF IT.

I'M REALLY WORRIED THAT IF FOR SOME REASON WE DON'T GET THIS COMPLETE APPLICATION APPROVED, WE COULD BE IN A REALLY TIGHT POSITION WHERE TDOT'S READY TO MOVE FORWARD AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT QUITE READY THERE.

UM, I, I THINK THAT THIS IS A GREAT PROJECT AND I KNOW THE STAFF HAS HAD SOME REALLY GREAT SUCCESSES WITH FEDERAL GRANT APPLICATIONS LATELY, SO I'M GONNA BE OPTIMISTIC, UM, THAT, THAT THOSE ARE GOING TO WORK OUT.

BUT I, I APPRECIATE THE QUESTIONS THAT EVERYONE'S ASKING TODAY.

'CAUSE, UM, TO COUNCIL MEMBER VELAS POINT, IF WE, IF THERE'S ONE THAT IS, DOESN'T NEED TO BE AS WIDE AND WE CAN PUT MORE MONEY IN A PLACE WHERE WE THINK MORE PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE CROSSING AND SPENDING TIME, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT TO BE LOOKING AT.

SO, ANY FINAL THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS BEFORE WE MOVE ON? UM, WE'RE ALSO GOING TO BE TAKING UP, UH, DISCUSSIONS AROUND THIS CONVERSATION AT OUR NEXT MOBILITY COMMITTEE MEETING.

SO IF FOLKS WANT TO JUMP IN ON THAT, THEN AREN'T ALWAYS A PART OF OUR MOBILITY COMMITTEE DISCUSSIONS, YOU'RE MORE THAN WELCOME AND INVITED TO COME AND PARTICIPATE.

UM, LIKEWISE, WE'LL PUT UP A MESSAGE BOARD POST ALSO ASKING FOR QUESTIONS AHEAD OF TIME JUST SO PEOPLE CAN BE PREPARED WITH THE INFORMATION THEY, THEY MIGHT NEED TO PRESENT.

AND IF YOU'RE NOT ON THE COMMITTEE, I'M HAPPY TO READ SOME OF THE QUESTIONS AS WELL, IF FOLKS ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND.

UM, BUT IF THERE'S NO FURTHER QUESTIONS, WE WILL MOVE ON TO THE NEXT BRIEFING.

LET'S GO AHEAD AND MOVE INTO DISCUSSIONS AROUND THE TREE AT BARTON SPRINGS.

THANK YOU, DIRECTOR MENDOZA.

ALRIGHT,

[B2. Update on the health of Flo, a tree at Barton Springs.]

I SEE DIRECTOR MCNEELY IS HERE.

GOOD MORNING.

KIMBERLY MCNEELY SERVING AS THE DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR AND WITH ME IS JOSHUA ERICKSON, WHO IS OUR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION COORDINATOR.

AND, UH, ALSO THE INDIVIDUAL WHO IS THE HEAD OF OUR FORESTRY TEAM WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT.

SO, OH, WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO BRING UP THE PRESENTATION ON, UM, BARTON SPRINGS POOL TREE, PLEASE? DIFFERENT ONE.

WELL, COUNCIL MEMBERS, WE CAN GET STARTED WITHOUT PRETTY PICTURES.

I, UM, JUST FOR THE BACKGROUND, PLEASE KNOW THAT THIS IS A 46 INCH DIAMETER PECAN TREE THAT'S LEANED OVER THE POOL DECK SINCE THE 1920S.

UH, IT'S ESTIMATED TO BE OVER A HUNDRED YEARS OLD.

UH, IT IS A TREE THAT HAS BEEN CALLED FLOW, SO IT'S BEEN AFFECTIONATELY NAMED FLOW.

AND SO THERE'S SOME EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO THIS PARTICULAR TREE.

ITS TRUNK IS HOLLOW, SO 90% OF THE TRUNK AT THE BASE IS CONCRETE.

AND, UH, THAT WAS DONE BACK IN THE 9 19 58, WHICH IS A PRACTICE THAT IS NO LONGER, UH, SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD RECOMMEND OR IT'S NO LONGER DONE, UH, TO, TO TREES.

AND IT IS A STEEL STRUCTURE.

THERE'S A STEEL STRUCTURE THAT ADDS SUPPORT AND THAT WAS PUT IN IN THE 1950S.

AND SO YOU'LL SEE THAT IT HANGS OVER.

IT'S COMING UP, I SWEAR TO YOU, PRETTY SOON YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE THE TREE.

UM, WE CAN TELL THEY, I THINK THEY FOUND THE PRESENTATION.

YEAH, I THINK THEY FOUND IT.

PULL IT UP.

UM, STAFF HAVE MONITORED THIS TREES, ITS STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY SINCE, UH, FOR, FOR SOME TIME.

AND THEY CONTINUE TO DO THAT ON A REGULAR BASIS.

AND, AND IT'S SPEC SPECIFICALLY, WE DO THAT BECAUSE OF ITS PROXIMITY TO THE INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE SWIMMING IN THE SWIMMING POOL.

UM, AND

[01:30:01]

IT'S BEEN A PART OF OUR, OUR FABRIC.

WE, WE RECOGNIZE THAT.

SO THERE'S NOTHING ABOUT, UM, THIS PARTICULAR, UH, SITUATION THAT MAKES ANY OF US FEEL GOOD.

RIGHT.

WE, WE HAVE TWO, AS STAFF MEMBERS ARE ATTACHED TO THIS TREE, YOU CAN SEE THAT, UM, THERE'S AN INFECT.

THERE'S THE INFECTED TREE, WHICH IS FLOW.

AND THEN, UH, IN ANTICIPATION OF THE FACT THAT FLOW WAS NOT IN THE GREATEST OF SHAPE, UH, THE DEPARTMENT, UH, BEFORE ME PLANTED.

UM, AND BEFORE JOSHUA PLANTED A SEPARATE PECAN TREE, UH, IN THE EVENT THAT FLOW WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO MAKE IT SO THAT THERE WOULD CONTINUE TO BE SHADE AND THAT THERE WOULD CONTINUE TO BE, UH, HONORING THAT THE PECAN TREE IN THIS PARTICULAR SPACE.

NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

THAT PARTICULAR TREE COMPANY WASN'T AWARE OF THAT AT THE TIME, AND SO THEY DID NOT, UM, ASSESS THAT.

UM, THE TIMELINE HERE IS, IS JUST BASICALLY ON JULY 6TH IS WHEN WE SENT, UH, WE DID SOME TESTING AND WE SENT THE, THE TESTING TO THE LAB AT, UH, AT A AND M ON AUGUST 15TH.

THEY LET US KNOW THAT THIS TREE HAS A FUNGUS CALLED THE BRI BRITTLE CINDER FUNGUS.

UH, I'LL LET JOSHUA, WHEN HE COMES TO TALK TO YOU, TELL YOU HOW TO SAY THE SCIENTIFIC NAME, .

ON AUGUST 15TH, PARD CONTACTED FOUR SEPARATE INDEPENDENT, UH, ARBORISTS TO HELP US UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY THOUGHT MIGHT BE INTERVENTIONS FOR THIS TREE, OR WHETHER OR NOT THEY BELIEVE THAT THE, UH, INTERVENTIONS WERE NOT POSSIBLE.

AND INSTEAD REMOVAL, UH, IN, IN AN ATTEMPT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE KEPT THAT SPACE AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE.

ON AUGUST 18TH, UM, WE DID ADD SOME, UH, ADDITIONAL ROPES FOR SUPPORT, AND WE ROPED OFF PART OF THE SPACE TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE SWIMMING NEAR THE TREE, SHOULD IT FALL, WOULD NOT BE HARMED.

AND WE ALSO DON'T ALLOW ACCESS ON THE PARTICULAR SPACE UNDERNEATH THE TREE THAT, UH, IS A WALKWAY.

UH, YEAH.

LAST WEEK, THURSDAY, UM, OUR FRIEND IN, UH, IN, IN, UH, KAREEM HELMI, WHO IS THE CITY STRUCTURAL ENGINEER FROM THE CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES QUALITY MANAGEMENT DIVISION, AND A TEAM OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE ALSO ENGINEERS WENT AND, UH, EVALUATED THE TREE.

AND IN THEIR ASSESSMENT, ALTHOUGH HE IS HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS IN THEIR ASSESSMENT FROM AN ENGINEERING PERSPECTIVE, THEY WERE UNABLE TO DETERMINE, UH, A VALID PATH FORWARD OR A VIABLE PATH FORWARD FOR IT TO BE, TO REMAIN STRUCTURALLY SOUND IN THAT SPACE.

BUT HE'S THE EXPERT AND HE WAS HERE TO ANSWER ANY OF THOSE QUESTIONS.

NEXT PAGE, PLEASE.

THIS IS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE TREE.

THE, THE DISEASE THAT THE TREE HAS, IT ACTIVELY FEEDS ON LIVE TISSUE.

IT CAUSES THE TREE TO FALL OVER WITHOUT WARNING.

AND EVEN THOUGH THE CANOPY MAY LOOK AS THOUGH IT, IT'S, UM, HEALTHY, THAT'S FROM THE INSIDE OUT, THERE IS DISEASE THAT IS OCCURRING.

UM, THE PRESENCE OF THE FRUITING BODY, UH, UH, IS, IS A WARNING SIGN THAT, UH, THAT THIS IS MAKING THE TREE MORE AND MORE UNSTABLE.

IT CAN AFFECT, UH, OTHER TREES.

HOWEVER, UH, JOSHUA WILL LET YOU KNOW THAT THAT'S NOT A MAJOR CONCERN OF HIMSS HIS, BUT, BUT IT IS A POSSIBILITY.

UM, THERE'S NO EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR THIS PARTICULAR DISEASE.

AND THE INFECTION IS ON A PORTION OF THE TRUNK THAT IS THE MOST COMPROMISED, WHICH IS WHAT GIVES US PAUSE ABOUT THE STABILITY OF THIS PARTICULAR TREE.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

SO THERE'S SOME RISKS, AND THAT'S OF THE, THE LIMB FALLING AND COLLAPSING WITHOUT WARNING.

YOU CAN SEE THE BARRICADES THAT I PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED THAT ARE PUT UP THAT DO BLOCK ACCESS ON THAT SPACE.

IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT THAT IS A D A ACCESS.

AND SO THEREFORE, THE A D A ACCESSIBILITY TO THE POOL IS NOW COMPROMISED.

UM, YOU CAN SEE THOSE RED, UH, RESCUE TUBES THAT ARE IN THE WATER, AND THOSE ARE, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT THE AREA IN FRONT OF THE POOL WHERE THE, IN FRONT OF THE TREE, I'M SORRY, WHERE THE LIMB COULD FALL IN THE POOL.

THAT'S HOW WE'RE KEEPING OUR LAP SWIMMERS AWAY SO THAT THEY CAN BE AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE WHEN THEY'RE VISITING THE SWIMMING POOL.

NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

THIS IS THE ARBORIST REPORT.

UM, IT, YOU CAN SEE THAT THEY TALKED ABOUT THE OVERALL RISK.

ALL FOUR OF THOSE COMPANIES SAID THAT THE, THE CONDITIONS EMINENT DANGER, THERE'S AN EXTREME RISK.

IT'S HIGH, UH, IT'S A HIGH RISK.

WE DON'T NEED TO READ THOSE ALL TO YOU.

YOU'LL SEE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE THERE, IT TALKS ABOUT, WELL, WHAT IF YOU DID, ARE THERE ANY SORT OF MITIGATING OPPORTUNITIES? AND, UH, EVEN WITH REMOVING THE BRANCHES, ONE OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS ASSESSED THE FACT THAT THERE WAS STILL A HIGH RISK.

AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT THE HERITAGE TREE CARE, THEY REVISED THEIR REPORT, UM, UH, BECAUSE WHEN THEY WERE TAKING A LOOK AT THE RISK, THEY DIDN'T, UH, TAKE A LOOK SPECIFICALLY AT THE RISK TO THE BYPASS.

AND THE BYPASS IS A FUNCTION OF THE SWIMMING POOL THAT WATER GOES THROUGH, AND IT IS DIRECTLY UNDERNEATH THAT SIDEWALK.

AND SO SHOULD THAT LIMB COME DOWN AND HIT THE, AND DO SOME DAMAGE TO THE BYPASS, THEN THERE'S, THERE'S PROBLEMS WITH THE SWIMMING POOLS FUNCTIONS.

AND SO THEREFORE,

[01:35:01]

AND SO THAT'S WHY THERE'S AN ASTERISK NEXT TO LOW NEXT PAGE, PLEASE.

SO, OUR FORESTRY TEAM, MYSELF, OUR STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS, THEY AGREE THAT THE, WITH THE CONSULTING ARBORISTS, THAT THE SAFETY HAZARDS ARE GREAT, AND THAT REMOVAL IS THE OPTION THAT WE ARE RECOMMENDING.

UH, WE KNOW THAT THIS TREE IS BELOVED.

AND SO WE HAVE ALREADY STARTED ON OUR WEBPAGE A OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE TO HONOR FLOW, SHARE STORIES ABOUT FLOW, HELP US COMMEMORATE THE MEMORIES AND THE EMOTION AROUND FLOW.

AND, UH, THERE'S PROBABLY AT LEAST 70 ENTRIES AT THIS PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME.

AND IF WE ARE MOVING FORWARD OR WHEN WE ARE MOVING FORWARD, I'M, I'M A LITTLE TENTATIVE HERE ON THAT, ONLY BECAUSE I KNOW IT'S OUR RECOMMENDATION.

BUT I ALSO UNDERSTAND, UH, THAT COUNCIL MAY OR MAY NOT WANT TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THIS, BUT, UH, PARD WILL HOST AN EVENT TO HONOR THE TREE PRIOR TO ITS REMOVAL.

AND JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ON THE SAME PAGE, AS HARD AS IT IS FOR ME TO SAY THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT DOES RECOMMEND REMOVAL OF FLOW.

WITH THAT, WE'RE AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS.

I APPRECIATE THIS.

ARE THERE QUESTIONS? COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY? I JUST HAVE A STATEMENT.

UM, THANK YOU FOR A PRESENTATION TODAY.

FLOW.

I MEAN, WHAT CAN I SAY? THIS TREE HAS NO DOUBT BEEN A CHERISHED PART OF OUR COMMUNITY FOR DECADES, BEARING WITNESS TO COUNTLESS MEMORIES AND MULTIPLE GENERATIONS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO VISITED BARTON SPRINGS POOL.

UM, AND I THINK AS WE REFLECT HERE ON FLOW'S HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE, WE'RE REMINDED OF THAT DEEP CONNECTION TO OUR COMMUNITY AND WHAT THEY HAVE WITH THAT REMARKABLE TREE.

IT'S BEEN A WITNESS SILENTLY TO OUR JOYS, SORROWS AND THE PASSAGE OF TIME.

UM, I'VE HEARD COUNTLESS STORIES FROM PEOPLE ABOUT HOW MUCH FLOW MEANS TO THEM.

I KNOW THE PARKS DEPARTMENT HAS ENCOURAGED THE COMMUNITY TO SHARE THEIR STORIES, LIKE YOU SAID.

UM, THE EMAIL THAT'S SET UP ON YOUR WEBSITE IS TREE STORIES@AUSTINTEXAS.GOV.

AND I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT THE CITY HONORS THE LEGACY OF THIS ICONIC TREE AND WHAT IT'S WITNESSED IN OUR CITY OVER THE YEARS.

I AGREE.

THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A, A DESIRE IN THE COMMUNITY TO BE ABLE TO COMMEMORATE AND SHARE THEIR STORIES, UM, DEPENDING ON HOW THIS THIS PROCESS MOVES FORWARD, I'VE HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT ALL FOUR OF THE ANALYSES THAT, THAT Y'ALL HAD, UH, COMMISSIONED.

AND, AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE VERY SIMILAR.

AND, AND IT IS VERY UNFORTUNATE TO SEE WHAT, YOU KNOW, FROM ONE ANGLE MAY LOOK LIKE AN EXTREMELY BEAUTIFUL TREE THAT IS PROVIDING PEOPLE A LOT OF SHADE, UM, AND COOLING THE AREA DOWN.

WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT FROM ANOTHER ANGLE, YOU, YOU SEE HOW MUCH IT IS BEING PROPPED UP BY FILLING MATERIALS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, METAL BARS AND BEAMS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

AND SO, UM, I WOULD ABSOLUTELY HATE FOR SOME SITUATION TO HAPPEN WHERE IT ENDED UP BECOMING SO UN STRUCTURALLY SOUND THAT SOMEBODY GOT HURT OR IT DAMAGED THE POOL IN, IN SOME OTHER FASHION.

AND SO, I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN A REALLY HARD, UH, PROCESS FOR A LOT OF, UH, PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND AND TO LOOK AT.

AND I AM, YOU KNOW, I THINK EVERYONE WOULD SAVE EVERY SINGLE TREE IN THE PARK IF IT WAS POSSIBLE.

BUT AT A CERTAIN POINT, UM, IT, IT IS REACHING THE END OF ITS LIVABLE LIFE AND, UM, WE CAN ALWAYS COMMEMORATE IT AND WE SHOULD, WE SHOULD LOOK AT DOING SOMETHING TO REALLY SHOWCASE HOW SPECIAL THIS TREE HAS BEEN FOR PEOPLE AND TO, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN STILL REMEMBER IT AND EVERYTHING IS PROVIDED TO OUR COMMUNITY OVER THE LAST A HUNDRED YEARS.

UM, BUT IT'S AMAZING TO THINK THAT PEOPLE, EVEN AS FAR BACK AS THE FIFTIES BEFORE BARTON SPRINGS WAS DESEGREGATED, WERE PROPPING THIS TREE UP TO TRY TO HELP MAKE SURE THAT IT WAS SAVED.

SO THIS HAS BEEN A CONVERSATION THAT'S BEEN A LONG TIME IN THE WORKS COUNCIL MEMBER POOLE.

I WANT TO EMPHASIZE EVERYTHING THAT THE MAYOR PROTO JUST SAID.

AND THEN I JUST WANTED TO ASK, SINCE WE'VE GOT THIS EMINENT ARBORIST WITH US HERE, WHAT IS THE NORMAL AVERAGE LIFESPAN AND THEN WHAT'S THE HIGH AND THE LOW ON A PECAN TREE ON A, ON A HEALTHY PECAN TREE? YEAH.

IT'S NOT UNCOMMON FOR THAT TO BE IN THE RANGE OF A HUNDRED YEARS OR MORE MM-HMM.

, UH, IDEAL LOCATIONS.

AND IN A PROTECTED LOCATION, IT COULD BE UPWARDS OF TWO OR 300 YEARS, UH, UNDER IDEAL CONDITIONS.

AND WE CAN SEE WHERE THE CONDITIONS HERE WEREN'T NECESSARILY IDEAL AND THE TREE HAS LABORED TO ACCOMMODATE THE SETTING ITSELF.

AND, UH, I MEAN, I, I, I CAN FEEL THAT ANGUISH OF THAT TREE AND THE WAY IT'S BENT AND FALLING OVER.

SO THANK YOU FOR THE, FOR THE GOOD WORDS.

UH, MAYOR PATAM COUNCIL MEMBER, I HADN'T THOUGHT ABOUT THE BYPASS IN TERMS OF, IF IT DOES COLLAPSE, IS THERE'S A POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGE TO THE SIDEWALK AND, YOU KNOW, THE BYPASS CAVING IN THERE.

THAT IS WHAT ONE OF OUR CONCERNS IS.

PRETTY A LOT OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE BYPASS, IF YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC QUESTION ABOUT THAT.

AND I HAVE, UH, JODY J UH, WHO IS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR WHO HAS

[01:40:01]

BUT THAT IS ONE OF THE CONCERNS THAT THE DEPARTMENT HAS.

WELL, AGAIN, I MEAN, JUST THINKING THROUGH ALL THE SCENARIOS, 'CAUSE THAT, UH, TREE HAS A CONCRETE, I MEAN, IT, IT'S, IT'S HEAVIER THAN A NORMAL TREE WOULD BE AND IF IT WERE TO COLLAPSE, AND THAT CONCRETE IS GONNA, IF, IF, UH, IF MS J DOESN'T MIND LIKE, ELABORATING ON SOME OF THOSE, 'CAUSE HONESTLY, I HADN'T THOUGHT ABOUT THE DAMAGE TO THE SIDEWALK.

I WAS THINKING MORE ABOUT THE, THE, THE SAFETY OF THE, OF THE SWIMMERS AND PEOPLE AROUND IT.

BUT, UH, BUT YEAH, IF THAT, IF THAT BYPASS COLLAPSES, THAT SOUNDS VERY EXPENSIVE.

AND JUST FOR THE RECORD, WE DO CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE MORE THAN WE CARE ABOUT THE BYPASS, BUT IT WAS A CONSIDERATION.

HI, JODY J, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION.

UM, FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE BYPASS IS, THE BYPASS IS, UH, RUNS THE LENGTH OF THE POOL, AND IT IS, BARTON CREEK IS BYPASSED AROUND THE POOL ITSELF.

UM, SEVERAL YEARS AGO, THE BYPASS, UM, UH, FLOATED, UM, AND POPPED AND WE HAD TO MAKE A LOT OF REPAIRS TO, UH, TO THE BYPASS.

IT IS ACTUALLY, UM, ANCHORED INTO A ROCK, AND THERE'S CONCRETE INSIDE THE BYPASS TO KEEP IT IN, IN PLACE.

THE THOUGHT IS, IS THAT IF THE TREE FALLS, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THE, THE, THE BYPASS COULD ROCK, UM, AS IT WASN'T ENGINEERED TO HOLD, UM, THE WEIGHT OF A TREE HITTING ON IT.

SO, UM, I, I APPRECIATE THAT.

AND I, I, I MEAN, THAT JUST KIND OF ADDS TO THE, UH, OVERALL, UH, LEVEL OF CONCERN.

UH, AND I'M SORRY, WITH, UH, WITH REGARD TO I THINKING THE, THE FUNGAL, UH, INFECTION AND CONTAGION, I KNOW THAT THERE WAS A MENTION OF THAT IT, IT'S, IT'S NOT A GREAT RISK FOR CONTAGION, BUT, UH, UH, JUST COULD YOU ELABORATE THAT OR ANY, UH, UH, THOUGHTS ON, UH, UH, ON JUST KIND OF LEAVING IT THERE AND, AND WHAT CONCERNS THAT WOULD BRING? SURE.

UNLIKE OTHER, UH, TREE DISEASES LIKE OAK QUILT, FOR EXAMPLE, WHERE IF YOU HAVE AN INFECTION IN ONE AREA THAT MAY SPREAD OUTWARD FROM THAT LOCATION, UH, RETCH AREA IS NOT A DISEASE THAT WE TYPICALLY SEE SPREAD IN THAT SAME FASHION.

UM, WE KNOW THAT, UH, TREES THAT ARE STRESSED OR MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO PESTICIDE OR TO PESTS AND DISEASE, UM, FLOW IS OBVIOUSLY STRESSED.

UH, THERE'S A LOT OF WOUNDS.

THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, CAVITIES THAT ARE IN THAT TREE.

IT DOES NOT PUT ON THE AMOUNT OF ANNUAL GROWTH THAT YOU WOULD EXPECT OF A, OF A HEALTHIER TREE.

UH, THE TREE IMMEDIATELY BEHIND THAT IS IN MUCH BETTER CONDITION.

UH, IT'S HEALTHY, IT'S PUTTING ON MUCH MORE ANNUAL GROWTH.

UH, THE CANOPY IS THICKER OF THAT TREE AND IT'S GROWN SIGNIFICANTLY FASTER.

AND SO FROM THAT STANDPOINT, I DON'T EXPECT THAT TO, I DON'T EXPECT THIS TO SPREAD TO OTHER TREES 'CAUSE I DON'T SEE OTHER TREES THAT ARE IN THAT SAME CONDITION IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA.

BUT WITH ANY DISEASE, UH, THE LONGER THAT IT'S ON SITE, THE MORE RISK THERE IS FOR THAT TO SPREAD.

I DON'T SEE AN IMMEDIATE CONCERN MM-HMM.

UM, BUT EVERY OTHER PLACE THAT WE'VE SEEN CRUTCH MARIA INFECT A TREE REMOVAL IS SCHEDULED AS QUICKLY AS FEASIBLE TO LIMIT THAT SPREAD AND TO REDUCE THAT RISK.

SO THE LONGER IT CONTINUES IN ITS CURRENT STATE, THE GREATER THE, THE POTENTIAL FOR, FOR SPREAD.

TO WHAT DEGREE, I CAN'T REALLY SPEAK TO THAT.

UM, BUT BY, BY THE FACT OF IT JUST BEING ON SITE AND HAVING MORE TISSUE TO CONTINUE FEEDING ON, AND FOR THAT FUNGAL FRUITING BODY TO CONTINUE TO GROW, I WOULD SAY THAT THE RISK IS STILL, IS HIGHER IF IT'S THERE.

AND, UH, AND THEN WITH REGARD TO THE OTHER PECAN TREE, THAT'S JUST, WHAT IS THAT NORTH RIGHT? A FLOW MM-HMM.

, UH, HOW DOES A CANOPY SHADE? 'CAUSE I HONESTLY, I MEAN, THE LOSS OF THE SHADE FROM FLOW IS, IS PROBABLY WHAT PEOPLE WILL NOTICE.

OBVIOUSLY THE TREE ITSELF, BUT IT DOES CAST A LOT OF SHADE, AND I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE TEND TO LINGER IN THAT AREA PRECISELY BECAUSE OF THAT.

HOW IS THAT OTHER TREE DOING IN TERMS OF BEING ABLE TO KIND OF CAPTURE, UH, UH, SOME OF THE SHADE IN THAT, IN THAT KIND OF AREA? RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE DIVING BOARD THERE, MOST OF THE CANOPY OF FLOW IS OUT OVER THE POOL AND OVER THE POOL FROM THE EDGE OF THE POOL DECK OUT OVER THE POOL.

, UM, EVERYTHING ELSE FROM THE POOL DECK TO THE NORTH IS THE TREE BEHIND IT ACTUALLY.

AND SO SOME OF THE GROWTH OF THE TREE BEHIND IT HAS ACTUALLY BEEN, UM, IT HASN'T BEEN ABLE TO FILL IN THAT AREA BECAUSE THE OTHER CANOPY IS THERE OF FLOW.

, UH, IF THAT WERE NO LONGER THERE, I WOULD HAVE EVERY REASON TO BELIEVE THAT IT WOULD CONTINUE TO FILL IN, IN THAT AREA.

AND SO I I, WHILE IT WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON SHADE IN THAT AREA, IT'S NOT GONNA BE THE SAME AS IF THERE WAS NOT THAT TREE BEHIND.

GOT IT.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

FURTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? I THINK THAT DOES IT.

THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.

THE NEXT ITEM WE WILL TAKE UP IS GONNA BE THE LAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND CLIMATE VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS.

[B3. Land management strategies and climate vulnerability analysis.]

[01:45:02]

UM, COUNSEL, SORRY, SAINT STILL ME, KIMBERLY MCNEELY, PARKS AND RECREATION DIRECTOR.

UH, I HAVE WITH ME MY COLLEAGUE MATT MCCAW, WHO WILL, UH, PROVIDE YOU THIS PRESENTATION.

MATT IS OUR ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION PROGRAM MANAGER.

HIS RESPONSIBILITIES ARE TO, UH, DO HIS BEST, THE BEST JOB THAT HE CAN TO TAKE CARE OF THE MAJORITY OF OUR OPEN SPACE AND OUR, OUR NATURAL LANDS.

AND SO I'LL JUST HAND IT OVER TO HIM AND BE HERE FOR QUESTIONS.

GOOD MORNING.

UH, IT'S GOOD TO BE WITH YOU.

UM, LET'S SEE IF THIS, THERE WE GO.

UH, SO JUST A QUICK, UH, BRIEFING THIS MORNING.

UM, UH, FIRST I'D LIKE TO GIVE A QUICK, UH, REVIEW OF THE 2019 WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS AUDIT AS IT RELATES TO PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT.

UH, GIVE YOU A BRIEFING ON WHAT IS CALLED THE RECOMMENDED LAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND CLIMATE VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS.

THAT IS THE, UH, LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN THAT WE COMMITTED TO PRODUCE.

AND WE'LL GET ON, UH, INTO THAT A LITTLE LATER.

UH, AND ALSO TO TALK A BIT ABOUT HOW WE INTEND TO UTILIZE THE, UM, RESOURCES THAT WERE APPROPRIATED RECENTLY IN THE F Y 24 BUDGET FOR THIS PURPOSE.

SO IN 2019, THE OFFICE OF THE CITY AUDITOR WRAPPED UP AN AUDIT OF, UH, AUSTIN'S WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS.

UH, THERE WERE FOUR MAJOR FINDINGS.

ONE OF THE FINDINGS WAS PARTICULAR TO AUSTIN PARKS AND RECREATION.

UH, IT FOUND THAT PARD, UH, HAD LITTLE CAPACITY TO MANAGE LAND TO MITIGATE WILDFIRE RISK ON PARKLAND.

UH, SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WERE FOR PAR TO CREATE A LAND MANAGEMENT TEAM AND ALSO TO CREATE LAND MANAGEMENT PLANS WITH A PRIORITY IN HIGH RISK PROPERTIES.

UH, THAT'S WHAT PARD HAS DONE.

UH, WE ESTABLISHED A LAND MANAGEMENT TEAM.

UH, WE ALSO PARTICIPATED AS A STAKEHOLDER IN THE CREATION OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.

UH, AND WE HAVE, UH, ENGAGED, UM, STAKEHOLDERS AND HIRED A, UH, VERY, UH, HIGHLY QUALIFIED CONSULTING TEAM, UH, TO WORK WITH STAFF TO CREATE, UH, THE LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN, WHICH WILL GUIDE OUR WORK.

UH, IT'S A VERY TECHNICAL, UH, SCIENTIFIC BASE, UH, DOCUMENT.

I WOULD SAY.

WE CALL IT A GUIDING DOCUMENT.

IT DOESN'T TELL US EXACTLY WHAT TO DO, WHERE, WHEN, OR HOW, BUT IT IT, IT FRAMES OUR APPROACH.

UH, AND SO WE'LL TALK MORE ABOUT IMPLEMENTATION.

UH, THE TEAM THAT'S BEEN ESTABLISHED, UH, ONE, UM, POSITION WAS RECLASSIFIED INTERNALLY TO CREATE THE PROGRAM MANAGER.

THAT'S MY POSITION CURRENTLY.

WE RECLASSIFIED ANOTHER POSITION TO CREATE AN ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM COORDINATOR FOR WILDLIFE AUSTIN, AND OTHER FUNCTIONS LIKE OUTREACH, COMMUNICATIONS, VOLUNTEER COORDINATION, ET CETERA.

UH, ANOTHER POSITION WAS CREATED, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM COORDINATOR POSITION WAS CREATED TO LEAD UP PARTS, UH, RESPONSE TO HOMELESSNESS ACROSS THE DEPARTMENT.

THAT POSITION WAS PLACED IN THIS TEAM AS WELL.

WE HAVE TWO TEMPORARY POSITIONS UNDER THAT ONE.

UH, THE COLUMN ON THE LEFT, UH, THE, WE, WE WERE, WE RECEIVED TWO NEW POSITIONS IN F Y 24 FOR THIS TEAM, UH, THAT WILL BE AN ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM COORDINATOR AND BIOLOGIST SENIOR THAT WILL FOCUS PRIMARILY ON IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIES, UH, IN THE LAND MANAGEMENT GUIDING DOCUMENTS.

UH, WE ENVISION NEEDING, UH, ADDITIONAL POSITIONS IN THE NEXT, SAY, THREE TO FIVE YEARS TO CONTINUE FILLING OUT THIS TEAM, UH, TO GET US, UM, SCALED UP AND OPERATIONAL.

UH, WE DO ENVISION NEEDING ADDITIONAL POSITIONS BEYOND THAT THREE TO FIVE YEAR TIMEFRAME, BUT WE JUST DON'T HAVE DETAILS AT THAT POINT, UH, AT THIS POINT YET, WE SORT OF NEED TO RUN THE PROGRAM FOR A WHILE AND THEN REEVALUATE IN, IN THREE TO FIVE YEARS OR SO, UH, THE COMPONENTS OF THE DOCUMENTS.

UM, BROADLY SPEAKING, WE HAVE A SITE ANALYSIS WHICH LAYS OUT OUR CURRENT STATE OF OUR LANDS AND OUR CURRENT CHALLENGES.

UM, WE CONDUCTED A CLIMATE VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS.

THIS IS A VERY INNOVATIVE, UH, TYPE OF ANALYSIS THAT WE WERE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH.

THIS LAYS OUT, UM, OUR FUTURE CHALLENGES AS RELATED TO CLIMATE MANAGEMENT GOALS ARE THE SPECIFIC VEGETATION TYPES THAT, UM, SCIENCE INDICATES ARE EXPECTED TO BE BEST, MOST RESILIENT TO CLIMATE DRIVERS, SUCH AS HEAT, DROUGHT, DISEASE, AND ULTIMATELY WILDFIRE.

REALLY THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THIS CENTURY.

RESTORATION STRATEGIES IS OUR TOOLBOX OF ACTIONS, STRATEGIES, TECHNIQUES THAT WE CAN USE TO IMPROVE, UH, RESILIENCE AND REDUCE VULNERABILITY AND TO MITIGATE RISK ACROSS THE PARK SYSTEM.

UH, AND, UH, A MONITORING DIRECTION.

WE'RE GONNA NEED TO MONITOR PROGRESS SO THAT WE CAN MANAGE ADAPTIVELY THE SCOPE OF THE PLAN.

IT'S NOT PARK SYSTEM WIDE.

ABOUT 25% OF OUR PARK LANDS ARE DEVELOPED

[01:50:01]

OR MAINTAINED ACTIVELY.

THE REMAINDER ABOUT 75% IS NATURAL AREA IN SOME FORM OR FASHION.

SO WE ENGAGED IN A PROCESS INTERNALLY TO IDENTIFY THE LANDS, SPECIFIC LANDS THAT ARE MOST CONDUCIVE AND ECONOMICAL EFFICIENT FOR A SYSTEMS LEVEL APPROACH.

UH, IT, IT'S A LITTLE OVER 10,000 ACRES.

UH, THIS DOESN'T NECESSARILY LIMIT OUR ACTIVITIES OR WHAT WE INTEND TO DO, BUT IT SIMPLY RECOGNIZES THAT SOME LANDS, UH, ARE, ARE MORE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT FOR THIS TYPE OF APPROACH THAN OTHERS.

UH, A NATURAL AREA WE SHOULD SAY IS, IS JUST A, ANY AREA WITH SORT OF A NATURAL CHARACTER DOMINATED TYPICALLY BY NATIVE PLANTS AND ANIMALS.

AS I MENTIONED, ROUGHLY THREE QUARTERS OF OUR PARKLAND IS NATURAL AREA IN SOME PARK TYPE.

THEY PROVIDE CRITICAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, UH, NAMELY SUPPORTING HUMAN HEALTH AND WELLBEING.

THE COMMUNITY HAS BEEN VERY CLEAR IN THEIR DESIRE TO HAVE ACCESS TO HEALTHY, OPEN, NATURAL AREAS.

TO THIS POINT, UH, THE BUDGET FOR RESTORATION AND MANAGEMENT OF PARTS NATURAL AREAS HAS BEEN FAIRLY LIMITED.

AS A RESULT, UH, MANAGEMENT HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO HAPPEN AT BROAD SCALES, AND OUR LANDS ARE DEGRADED, WHICH MAKES THEM MORE VULNERABLE TO THE CLIMATE DRIVERS, SUCH AS HEAT, DROUGHT, DISEASE, AND WILDFIRE.

AND THAT, IN TURN PRESENTS CERTAIN RISKS TO THE COMMUNITY TO PARK USERS AND TO THE LANDS THEMSELVES.

SO, GETTING INTO SOME RESULTS.

SO FIRST OFF, IF WE'RE GONNA MANAGE LAND TO MITIGATE RISK, UH, WE FIRST NEED TO UNDERSTAND NOT ONLY THE RISK ITSELF, BUT ALSO WHERE OUR LANDS ARE LOCATED WITH RESPECT TO OUR MOST VULNERABLE POPULATIONS.

SO, UM, SIMPLY THE GEOGRAPHY OF OUR PUBLIC LANDS IN AUSTIN.

UH, OVER 85% OF OUR LANDS, UH, THAT WE'VE PURCHASED ARE PROTECTED FOR VARIOUS REASONS.

ARE WEST OF I 35.

UH, MOST OF THOSE LANDS IN THE WESTERN PART OF TRAVIS COUNTY AND NORTHERN HAYES COUNTY ARE PART OF THE BALCON CANYON LANDS PRESERVE AND WATER QUALITY PROTECTION LANDS.

UH, NOT SURPRISINGLY, ALMOST ALL OF THE LANDS THAT HAVE RECEIVED SOME SORT OF ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION, UH, ACTIVITY ARE ALSO WEST OF I 35.

UH, AT THE SAME TIME, OUR MOST SOCIALLY VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES, AND THIS IS, UM, THIS DATA COMES FROM THE C D C SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX.

MOST OF THOSE VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES ARE LOCATED EAST OF 30 35.

UH, IN TERMS OF CURRENT STATE, ABOUT THREE QUARTERS OF OUR LANDS ARE IN SORT OF MODERATE TO VERY POOR ECOLOGICAL CONDITION DUE TO FACTORS SUCH INVASIVE SPECIES, LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY, AND ELEVATED, UH, WILDLAND FUEL CONDITIONS.

WE CALL OUT ECOLOGICAL CONDITION AND WE ASSESS THAT BECAUSE IT, UH, IT AFFECTS THE LIKELIHOOD OF IT, IT AFFECTS, UH, ECOSYSTEM VULNERABILITY, UH, PARTICULARLY TO, UH, ELEVATED, UH, WIDESPREAD TRADE MORTALITY AND INTENSE WILDFIRE.

UM, ELEVATED PROBABILITY OF INTENSE WILDFIRE.

UH, THOSE AREAS ARE DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE PARK SYSTEM.

UM, ELEVATED CLIMATE VULNERABILITY INDEX.

THIS IS ANOTHER OUTPUT OF SOME OF OUR ANALYSES ARE ALSO DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE PARK SYSTEM, BUT TEND TO BE CONCENTRATED EAST AND MOPAC, UH, IN THE FUTURE.

CLIMATE CHANGE, I WOULD SAY, IS ALREADY INCREASING THE LIKELIHOOD OF WIDESPREAD TREE MORTALITY AND INTENSE WILDFIRE.

UH, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, RESEARCH INDICATES THAT THE TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS THAT WE SAW DURING THE 2011 WILDFIRE SEASON ARE PROJECTED TO BE CLOSER TO THE AVERAGE CONDITION, POTENTIALLY AS SOON AS 2040.

SO IMPLEMENTATION, WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? UM, WE HAVE A, A WHOLE HOST OF STRATEGIES, UM, THAT WE CAN USE WHERE APPROPRIATE GIVEN SITE CONDITIONS.

UM, THOSE STRATEGIES, UH, ARE RELATE TO WILDLAND FUEL REDUCTION, WOODLAND OR FOREST HEALTH IMPROVEMENT, OR MANAGEMENT OR RESTORATION, GRASSLAND RESTORATION, AND OTHER STRATEGIES RELATED TO, UH, BIODIVERSITY OR MANAGING KARST AREAS OR CAVES, UH, OR ENDANGERED SPECIES HABITAT, OR IMPROVING HABITAT FOR A SPECIES OF GREATEST CONSERVATION NEED.

SO, UH, WE THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE ILLUSTRATIVE JUST TO SHOW SOME PHOTOS OF WHAT SOME OF THIS WORK LOOKS LIKE.

SO THIS IS AT THE ONION CREEK WILDLIFE SANCTUARY.

WE'VE ALREADY BEEN DOING WORK OVER THE LAST THREE TO FOUR YEARS, UM, GIVEN OUR RESOURCE AVAILABILITY.

SO THIS IS A, UH, A WOODLAND HEALTH THINNING WITH SOME PILE BURNING.

ASSOCIATED PILE BURNING IS A STRATEGY WHERE, WHERE WE'RE ABLE TO USE IT.

IT'S A REALLY GOOD STRATEGY FOR, UH, MANAGING CUT MATERIAL IN A COST EFFECTIVE WAY.

UH, TYPICALLY WE FIND THAT, UM, IF WE'RE DOING A, A FUEL REDUCTION TREATMENT OR SOME SORT OF FOREST HEALTH IMPROVEMENT THAT INVOLVES CUTTING OF BRUSH, THE CUTTING OF THE CUTTING WORK TYPICALLY, UH, IS ABOUT FIVE TO 10% OF THE COST.

AND THE REMAINDER IS ACTUALLY DEALING WITH THE CUT MATERIAL.

[01:55:01]

UM, BROADCAST PRESCRIBED BURNING IS A TECHNIQUE THAT'S BEEN USED IN THE AREA THROUGHOUT THE, IN THE AREA FOR THE PAST 20 TO 30 YEARS.

UH, IT'S A, IT'S A POWERFUL TOOL.

IT'S A REALLY STRONG, UH, UH, PROVIDES A LOT OF BENEFITS FOR IMPROVING ECOSYSTEM HEALTH AND ALSO REDUCING WILDFIRE RISK.

I WILL SAY, HOWEVER, THAT GIVEN OUR, THE URBANIZED CONTEXT OF AUSTIN'S PARKS BROADCAST PRESCRIBING IS GONNA HAVE LIMITED UTILITY, ALTHOUGH WE WILL, UM, PROBABLY WE WILL USE IT WHERE, WHERE WE'RE ABLE AND WHERE IT'S APPROPRIATE.

UH, I SHOULD SAY, UM, PAR STAFF, UM, UH, ENGAGE WITH AND PARTNER WITH, UH, UH, A COLLECTION OF OTHER AGENCIES, UH, THAT ALL FOLLOW THE HIGHEST, UH, STANDARDS FOR WILDLAND, UH, FIRE OPERATIONS.

UM, PRESCRIBED BURNS ARE PERMITTED BY AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT AND IMPLEMENTED BY THIS, UH, COLLECTION OF AGENCIES, UH, INCLUDING AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT.

UH, ANOTHER TYPE OF, UH, WOODLAND FOREST HEALTH TREATMENT MIGHT BE CALLED A DRIP LINE TREATMENT.

THIS IS WHERE WE WOULD REMOVE SMALL COMPETING BRUSH WITHIN THE DRIP LINES OF LARGER, MORE SPECIMEN TREES.

SO THE PURPOSE IS TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF THE LARGER TREE, AS WELL AS THE RESILIENCE OF THE ENTIRE WOODLAND SYSTEM.

THIS IS A SHADED FUEL BREAK.

UH, THIS ONE'S ALONG MARY MOORE SEA WRIGHT IN MARY MOORE C WRIGHT PARK, UH, ON THE RIGHT IS UNTREATED, ON THE LEFT IS TREATED.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS IS TO REDUCE, UH, CANOPY FIRE AND BER PRODUCT PRODUCTION PRODUCTION ADJACENT TO STRUCTURES LONG TERM.

AS I'VE MENTIONED, OUR STRATEGY IS HOLISTIC RESTORATION MANAGEMENT, PARKLAND NATURAL AREAS TO MITIGATE RISK, IMPROVE RESILIENCE, AND SECURE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES FOR AUSTIN IN PERPETUITY.

UH, WE'LL USE THIS GUIDING DOCUMENT, UH, TO HELP DIRECT OUR WORK, BUT WE'LL ALSO NEED TO, AND, AND ALL ARE, ARE ALREADY ENGAGING IN COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS TO HELP DEVELOP SITE SPECIFIC AND IMPLEMENT SITE SPECIFIC WORK PLANS.

IN TERMS OF HOW WE PLAN TO SCALE UP, UH, WE HAVE A VARIETY OF STRATEGIES.

WE'VE ALREADY BEEN DOING SOME OF THIS WORK, BUT WE, UH, INTEND TO SCALE UP, UH, IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE STRATEGIES.

UM, OVER TIME.

I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF DETAIL.

UH, WE CAN GO BACK AND I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE HERE, JUST SORT OF, UH, SIMPLY ILLUSTRATING THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING WORK, BUT WE'LL BE ABLE TO DRAMATICALLY SCALE UP IN THE NEXT, IN THE COMING YEARS.

UH, ON THURSDAY, UH, THIS ITEM COMES BEFORE, UH, COUNSEL, AND WE'RE REQUESTING APPROVAL OF THE RECOMMENDED CLIMATE VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS AND, UH, SORRY, RECOMMENDED MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND CLIMATE VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS.

AND THAT IS, THAT'S ALL MY PRESENTATION.

SITUATIONS LIKE THE WINTER STORM IN THE FUTURE.

COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON AL ALTER.

THANK YOU, MATT.

UM, APPRECIATE, UM, THE PRESENTATION AND APPRECIATE YOUR WORK.

I KNOW THAT, UM, YOU'VE BEEN LIVING AND BREATHING THIS FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW, AND I'M, I'M GLAD THAT WE'RE FINALLY A COUNCIL FOR ADOPTING THIS AND THAT WE WERE ABLE TO MAKE SOME IMPORTANT INVESTMENTS, IF NOT ALL THE INVESTMENTS THAT WE NEED TO MAKE, UM, IN MOVING THIS FORWARD DURING THE BUDGET.

SO, SO THANK YOU FOR THAT.

UM, THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT WORK COLLEAGUES.

IT CAME OUT OF AN AUDIT THAT I ASKED FOR, UM, THAT WAS PUBLISHED IN 2019 WITH RESPECT TO OUR WILDFIRE RISK.

UM, THAT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSCORE THE IMPORTANCE, BUT I DO WANNA JUST COMMENT THAT WHILE THIS ORIGINATED IN OBSERVATIONS THAT CAME OUT OF OUR WILDFIRE RISK, THIS PLAN IS FOR MUCH MORE THAN JUST MITIGATING WILDFIRE RISK.

IT IS REALLY TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE MANAGING OUR LANDS, UM, IN WAYS THAT WILL ALLOW THEM TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITY, UM, AS NATURAL SPACES FOR MANY YEARS TO COME.

THIS WORK, IF WE DO IT RIGHT, IS GONNA ALLOW US TO MITIGATE RISKS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ONE OF THOSE RISKS AS WILDFIRE, BUT IT IS NOT THE ONLY ONE.

IT'S ALSO GOING TO ALLOW US TO, UM, PLANT AND, AND MAKE CHANGES TO THE NATURAL SYSTEM THAT ALLOW IT TO BE MORE RESILIENT.

AND, UM, I HAD A CHANCE TO KIND OF REALLY READ THROUGH THE PLAN AND IT WAS VERY INTERESTING TO, TO READ IT AND THINK ABOUT ALL THE RESILIENCE WORK WE'RE DOING FOR OUR COMMUNITY, THE PEOPLE IN IT TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE DO THE SAME THING FOR OUR NATURAL, UM, SYSTEM.

SO I'M EXCITED FOR THIS PLAN TO REALLY, UM, GUIDE US MOVING FORWARD IN THIS, IN THIS WORK.

UM, AND SO I DO HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS THAT I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE COVER.

UM, SO EXTREME WEATHER AND CLIMATE CRISIS IMPACTS ARE COMPLEX.

THEY'RE MULTIFACETED AND THE RISKS WE ARE TRYING TO MITIGATE OUR YEAR ROUND, THEY DON'T JUST COME IN THE SUMMER MONTHS WHEN WE HAVE HIGH RISK OF WILDFIRE.

SO I WANTED TO ASK IF YOU COULD SPEAK TO HOW STORM MARA IMPACTED OUR PARKS AND PRESERVES AND HOW ADOPTION OF THIS PLAN CAN HELP US WITH

[02:00:01]

WE HAD SEVERAL MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF DAMAGE, UM, IN OUR PARKS.

UM, MANY OF WHICH WERE THE PARKS THAT WERE ACTIVELY MANAGED, BUT THERE ALSO WAS DAMAGED, UM, ELSEWHERE.

SO IF YOU COULD SPEAK TO HOW HAVING THIS PLAN AND HAVING THE STAFF TO IMPLEMENT IT WOULD HELP US, UM, WITH THOSE KINDS OF EXTREME WEATHER AS WELL.

SO, UM, RIGHT WINTER STORM TOMORROW WAS A BIG DEAL.

I THINK TWO AND A HALF MILLION IN PARKS ALONE IS WHAT THE ACUTE RESPONSE WAS JUST TO REMOVE BRUSH FROM DEVELOPED PARKS INTO REOPEN AMENITIES.

UH, WHEN, WHEN I THINK ABOUT, AND, AND THERE'S SOME VERBIAGE IN THE, IN THE DOCUMENTS ABOUT THIS, UH, BECAUSE WE WERE, MARA HAPPENED WHEN WE WERE, YOU KNOW, IN THE MIDST OF WRITING THE TEXT FOR THESE DOCUMENTS.

SO I, I GUESS THE, THE WAY TO CONCEPTUALIZE IT IS MARA IS ONE OF THOSE ANOMALOUS, UNPREDICTABLE EVENTS THAT ENTITIES CANNOT REALLY EXPLICITLY PLAN FOR.

AND SO INSTEAD OF THINKING ABOUT AND PLANNING FOR, UH, ICE STORMS OR WINDSTORMS OR WHATEVER, WE, WE SIMPLY PLAN FOR UNPREDICTABLE EVENTS.

AND SO THAT, THAT POINTS US BACK TO IMPROVING RESILIENCY OF OUR LANDS AND ALSO IMPROVING RESILIENCE, UH, UH, UH, IN CAPACITY OF OUR ORGANIZATION.

SO THE, THE, SOME OF THE STRATEGIES I TALKED ABOUT ARE, A LOT OF 'EM ARE COMPLEX.

THEY'RE DIFFICULT.

THEY DO INVOLVE SOME RISK.

FIRE MANAGEMENT INVOLVES SOME RISK HEAVY, THE EQUIP EQUIPMENT OPERATION INVOLVES SOME RISK.

AND SO IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT WORK EFFECTIVELY, ECONOMICALLY AND AT SCALE SAFELY, WE HAVE TO BUILD THE ORGANIZATION THAT'S CAPABLE OF DOING IT.

AND ONCE WE HAVE THAT SORT OF ORGANIZATION, THEN WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO RESPOND TO ALL TYPES OF ANOMALOUS, UNPREDICTABLE EVENTS THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS GOING TO BRING, WHETHER THEY'RE ICE STORMS OR WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE.

I THINK THANK YOU.

AND, AND I'LL COME BACK TO IMPLEMENTATION IN A COUPLE MINUTES.

THERE WERE, UM, SO THE PARKS BOARD, UM, SUPPORTED THE ADOPTION OF THIS PLAN, AS DID THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION.

NOW, THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION RECOMMENDED ADDITIONAL DIRECTION ON FOUR POINTS.

UM, INCLUSION OF COMMUNITY GROUPS.

ONE, DEVELOPING WORK PLANS, INCORPORATION OF ADDITIONAL WAYS TO IMPROVE SOIL HEALTH AND INCREASE GROUND HYDRATION WAS THE SECOND.

ENSURING WORK PLANS INCLUDE MEASURABLE MONITORING EFFORTS, UM, WAS THE THIRD, AND THEN THE FOURTH HAD TO DO WITH THE USE OF HERBICIDES.

SO I BELIEVE THAT PART IS ALREADY DOING MANY OF THESE, OR IT'S CLEAR IN THE PLAN IF YOU READ IT, THAT THOSE AREN'T ARE IN THERE.

UM, BUT WOULD YOU SUPPORT ADDING DIRECTION, UM, JUST TO REITERATE THE THINGS THAT THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION WAS CONCERNED ABOUT, UM, WHEN WE ADOPT THIS ON THURSDAY? SURE.

SO RECOMMENDATIONS ONE THROUGH THREE FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION ARE ALREADY IN LINE WITH CURRENT PRACTICE.

UM, RECOMMENDATION FOUR WAS SORT OF TWO PARTS.

I THINK THAT'S PERFECTLY REASONABLE.

UM, THE, THE OTHER PART OF RECOMMENDATION FOUR HAD TO DO WITH, UH, ONLY USING HERBICIDES FOR NON-NATIVE INVASIVE SPECIES.

THAT COULD BE A CHALLENGE BECAUSE THERE ARE LEGITIMATE CIRCUMSTANCES WHEN WE DO NEED TO, UH, REMOVE A PROBLEMATIC RESPROUTING NATIVE SPECIES.

AND THE ONLY FEASIBLE OPTION IS HERBICIDE.

SO, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, POISON AVI ALONG TRAILS, IF WE HAVE, UH, AGGRESSIVE RESP SPOUTING SPECIES IN INFRASTRUCTURE SUCH AS IN FENCES OR IN POWER LINES, OR UH, IN GRASSLAND RESTORATION, THERE ARE NATIVE SPECIES THAT ARE PROBLEMATIC THAT WE, THAT DO NEED TO BE ADDRESSED.

AND OFTENTIMES THE MECHANICAL SOLUTIONS ARE MORE PROBLEMATIC THAN THE HERBICIDE SOLUTIONS, SUCH AS, UM, AT MESQUITE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE, THE GRASSLAND RESTORATION AT COMMONS FORD METRO PARK.

UH, SO IT, IT, MY IMPRESSION IS THAT THE INTENT IS TO ENSURE THE RESPONSIBLE USE OF HERBICIDE, BUT LIMITING HERBICIDE TO ONLY NON-NATIVE SPECIES DOESN'T NECESSARILY ENSURE THEIR RESPONSIBLE USE.

I WOULD LEAN BACK ON THE PART I P M PLAN, THE CITY OF AUSTIN INVASIVE SPECIES MANAGEMENT PLAN, AND SOME OTHER INTERNAL DOCUMENTS AND LICENSING AND TRAINING THAT WE GO THROUGH TO ENSURE THAT OUR HERBICIDES ARE USED APPROPRIATELY.

WHICH IS GONNA ALLOW US TO DO, UM, CLIMATE ANALYSIS, YOU KNOW, AT A MICRO LEVEL IN, IN VERY TARGETED PARTS OF THE CITY.

YOU, MY OFFICE WILL WORK WITH YOU ON DIRECTION THAT THAT ADDRESSES THE NUANCES FOR, FOR THE FOURTH POINT, UM, COLLEAGUES, I'LL BE OFFERING, UM, SOME DIRECTION ALONG THAT LINE.

UM, AND THEN I, I, I WAS STRUCK IN READING THROUGH THE PLAN ABOUT HOW MUCH OF THIS WORK MIGHT BENEFIT MOVING FORWARD FROM ANOTHER INITIATIVE WE HAVE, WHICH IS THE UT CITY CLIMATE COLLAB,

[02:05:01]

UM, ARE YOU ALREADY WORKING WITH THAT GROUP, UM, IN YOUR WORK AT THIS POINT? I DON'T THINK I'M FAMILIAR WITH THAT PARTICULAR INITIATIVE.

SO WE'LL PROBABLY MAKE AN INTRODUCTION AND ALSO PROVIDE DIRECTION FOR THAT TO BE EXPLORED.

IT'S A NEW INITIATIVE THAT, UM, WE FUNDED ACTUALLY IN THE FISCAL YEAR 23 BUDGET THAT'S GONNA RUN THROUGH DECEMBER 24.

AND IT'S KIND OF LIKE WE'RE GONNA HAVE OUR OWN CITY CLIMATOLOGISTS ON CALL FOR OUR USE, UM, AND STUDENTS AT UT WHO WILL BE ENGAGING IN RESEARCH.

AND I THINK THERE WAS A LOT OF REALLY INTERESTING OVERLAP IN THE WAY THAT YOU'RE APPROACHING AND THE WAY THAT YOU NEED TO THINK ABOUT THINGS THAT MIGHT, MIGHT BE GOOD PART OF THAT, UM, PARTNERSHIP.

UM, AND THEN LASTLY, I WANTED TO SEE IF WE COULD, UM, SPEAK A LITTLE BIT MORE TO THE RESOURCES NEEDED FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN.

OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE RESOURCES FOR THIS YEAR, UM, BUT THE ANALYSIS DID SAY IT WAS, I THINK, $200 PER ACRE WITHIN THE PLAN, WHICH I TAKE IT IF WE HAVE 10,000 ACRES MEANS ABOUT 2 MILLION A YEAR, AND WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT THERE YET.

UM, SO CAN YOU SPEAK A LITTLE BIT, AND, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS YOU, MATT OR MS. MCNEELY, ABOUT, UM, CITY MANAGER'S PLANS FOR MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THAT PLAN DURING BUDGET.

WE TALKED ABOUT A FIVE YEAR PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTING IT.

UM, CAN YOU SPEAK TO THOSE DETAILS? YEAH.

SO, UM, MORE THAN BACK OF THE NAPKIN, BUT NOT, UH, FULLY FULL, FULLY FLUSHED OUT, UH, WE HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT YEAR OVER YEAR COULD BE NEEDED, UH, SHOULD BE NEEDED.

BUT AS MATT HAS SAID, HE, HE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO EXECUTE THE PROGRAM TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND, UM, HOW THE PROGRAM IS OPERATING, TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THE RESOURCES WOULD BE NEEDED IN THE, IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS, FIVE YEARS, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.

ALSO, WE HAVE BEEN SPENDING, UM, TIME EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRANT OPTIONS, WHICH COULD BE A SUPPLEMENT TO THE GENERAL FUND, OR IT COULD BE, UH, IN PLACE OF THE GENERAL FUND IN ORDER TO TAKE SOME OF THAT BURDEN.

AND WE ARE ACTIVELY EXPLORING THAT RIGHT NOW.

SO I GUESS TO ANSWER THIS SPECIFICALLY, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, IT'LL OBVIOUSLY BE ON OUR RADAR.

IT'S AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THE THINGS THAT THE PARKS AND RECREATION, UH, DEPARTMENT DOES.

AND IT WILL BE LOOKED AT, UH, IN ITS PRIORITIZATION ORDER AS IT RELATES TO ALL THE OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS THAT THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT DOES.

BUT WE, WE, AGAIN, WE HAVE MORE THAN THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN, AND SO WE HAVE A, AN IDEA, WE JUST NEED TO LET THE PROGRAM PLAY ITSELF OUT SO WE CAN ASK FOR, UH, AND PRIORITIZE APPROPRIATELY THE RESOURCES THAT MAY BE NEEDED IN THE FUTURE.

SO I'LL ALSO BE INCLUDING SOME DIRECTION ON REPORTING AND MAKING SURE THAT, UM, WE'RE DEVELOPING THAT PLAN AND, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE INVESTING THOSE RESOURCES, UM, TO IMPLEMENT THIS PLAN, WHICH TOOK MANY YEARS, UM, TO CREATE.

IT'S VERY EXPANSIVE.

IT IS, YOU KNOW, REALLY TRYING TO PROVIDE US A GUIDE ACROSS 10,000 ACRES AND HOW YOU HANDLE IT IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS SO YOU CAN GO IN AND PLAN MUCH MORE INFORMED, UM, FOR THE PARTICULAR, UM, PLACE THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.

UM, BUT WE HAVE BEEN VERY REMISS, I THINK, IN MAKING INVESTMENTS IN OUR PUBLIC LANDS IN THE MANAGEMENT SO THAT THEY CAN BE RESILIENT.

UM, AND, AND WE NEED TO NOT, UM, NOT JUST PUT THIS PLAN ON THE SHELF.

SO, UM, CITY MANAGER, I'M SEEING THE A C M OVER HERE AND MR. GARZA'S ABSENCE.

UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'S JUST SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA BE A REALLY HIGH PRIORITY FOR ME IN MY OFFICE TO SEE THAT, THAT WE CONTINUE THAT MOMENTUM MOVING, MOVING FORWARD.

SO, THANK YOU.

FURTHER QUESTIONS.

COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES.

UNDERSTAND WHEN WE MAKE THAT INVESTMENT, UH, HOW DOES THAT, HOW, HOW, WHAT, HOW DOES THAT INVESTMENT IMPACT INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE? AND SO I THINK THAT, AGAIN, WE DON'T HAVE A SPECIFIC PRESCRIPTION OF THIS LAND THIS DAY, THESE KINDS OF INTERVENTIONS, BUT WE HAVE A SYSTEM AND AN AN ANALYSIS AND MATRIXES THAT HELP US RUN THROUGH THE DIFFERENT SPACES THAT HAVE TO BE MANAGED SO THAT WE CAN DO BETTER DECISION MAKING.

UH, AND, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER, I WOULD LOVE TO ALSO BE CONNECTED WITH THE UT TEAM TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THAT PROGRAM.

UM, IT'S, UH, INCREDIBLE THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH OUR UNIVERSITY ON CLIMATE RESILIENCE EFFORTS.

UH, SO THE QUESTION I HAVE IS, YOU KNOW, PART OF ADOPTING THE AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN WAS THAT WE WERE CENTERING EQUITY IN OUR EFFORTS.

AND SO WITH THIS LAND, UH, CONSERVATION LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN, YOU KNOW, YOU NOTED IN YOUR, IN YOUR PRESENTATION THAT OVER 80%, NEARLY 90% OF ALL OF OUR PUBLICLY OWNED LAND IS WEST OF 35, AND YET THE SOCIAL VULNERA VULNERABILITY OF OUR COMMUNITY AND THE COMMUNITIES WHO ARE MOST IMPACTED, PARTICULARLY WITH THE HEAT AISLE EFFECT, ARE ON THE EAST SIDE.

SO, LIKE, WHAT, WHAT IS THE EQUITY THAT'S BEING TAKEN AS PART OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN, UH, AND WHAT MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE IN THAT EFFORT? SO I'M JUST ON A VERY SIMPLE LEVEL, AND I'M SURE MATT CAN ADD, WHEN WE'RE MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT, LIKE ALL THINGS, LOOKING AT ALL THINGS AND YOU'RE MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT WHERE THE RESOURCES ARE GOING TO BE, THERE'S A SOCIAL VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS THAT HELPS US

[02:10:01]

UH, THAT'S NOT A VERY GOOD WAY TO SAY THAT, BUT WE HAVE BETTER DECISION MAKING SO THAT WE CAN TAKE, UM, INTO CONSIDERATION OUR MOST VULNERABLE POPULATIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE PROTECTED.

AND SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, I, I'LL LET, UM, MATT EXPLAIN.

SO FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS, PLEASE KNOW THAT WE WERE GIVING YOU THE FACTS RIGHT ON THAT, RIGHT? AND THOSE ARE THE FACTS.

TO THIS DAY, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE SAY THAT WE WANT TO CONTINUE, IT'S JUST SOMETHING THAT THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TODAY.

AND SO NOW THAT WE KNOW THAT, NOW THAT WE KNOW BETTER, WE CAN DO BETTER, AND MATT CAN TALK ABOUT HOW THAT, THAT WILL BE USED.

UM, SURE.

TO THAT I WOULD JUST ADD, UM, IN THE, I WAS PART OF THE, I WAS SAT ON THE, ONE OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.

THAT WAS A BIG HONOR.

UH, SO I WOULD, FIRST, I WOULD REFER BACK TO THE PLAN ITSELF, WHICH JUST SIMPLY IDENTIFIES CREATION OF LAND MANAGEMENT PLANS.

LIKE THIS IS AN EQUITY MECHANISM TO BEGIN WITH SIMPLY BECAUSE OF THE UNDERINVESTMENT IN OUR PARK SYSTEM TO DATE.

UM, SO JUST BY GETTING TO THIS POINT, I THINK THAT THAT'S, THAT'S AN IMPORTANT GOAL IDENTIFIED IN THE PLAN TO, UH, DIRECTOR NEELY'S COMMENTS I WOULD ADD.

SO WITH RESPECT TO SOCIAL VULNERABILITY, SOME OF THE RISK CALCULATIONS WE WERE ABLE TO DO, I WOULD REFER BACK TO WHAT I SORT OF MENTIONED EARLIER.

IF WE'RE GONNA MANAGE LAND TO MITIGATE RISK, WE NEED TO KNOW WHERE THE LANDS ARE LOCATED WITH RESPECT TO VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES.

AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO UTILIZE THE C D C'S SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX AS AN INPUT INTO SOME OF OUR RISK CALCULATIONS.

DOESN'T DETERMINE WHERE WE'RE GONNA WORK, BUT IT'S SIMPLY PUTS IT ON THE LIST.

UM, AND, AND THE LONG LIST OF CONSIDERATIONS THAT NEED TO BE, UM, DEALT WITH WHEN PLANNING ACTUAL WORK ON THE GROUND.

UM, SO, AND, AND LASTLY, I WOULD SAY THAT, UH, WHEN DEVELOPING WORK PLANS, SO THE IDEA IS UNIFIED MANAGEMENT WITH COMMUNITIES, WITH STAKEHOLDERS IN PARKS.

UM, SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO SIT DOWN THERE WHERE WE HAVE COMMUNITY GROUPS THAT ARE ACTIVE.

WE'LL BE ABLE TO SIT DOWN WITH HIM OVER THE HOOD OF THE TRUCK OR WHEREVER AND, AND PUT TOGETHER PLANS THAT WE CAN ALL GET ON BOARD WITH.

UM, WE HAVE OUR, OUR OUTREACH COORDINATOR, THAT'S ONE OF HIS, YOU KNOW, TOP OF LINE, UH, DIRECTIONS AS TO ENGAGE WITH FOLKS WHO WANNA BE INVOLVED, WHERE WE DON'T HAVE GROUPS INVOLVED, THEN WE'LL HAVE TO PUT IN THE WORK TO RECRUIT THEM.

SIDE THERE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE VERY, THE, THE WAY THIS ANALYSIS WORKS, IT MAKES IT VERY PLAIN HOW YOU NEED TO MAKE THOSE INVESTMENTS.

, I THINK THERE ARE FOLKS OUT THERE WHO WANT TO BE INVOLVED BUT DON'T KNOW HOW, OR DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY CAN YOU, AND SO WE'LL HAVE TO DO FINAL THANK YOU.

AND I APPRECIATE THAT, AND I CERTAINLY RECOGNIZE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE 10,000 ACRES OF LAND THAT WE NEED TO MANAGE, AND THAT'S, YOU KNOW, WHILE THE CITY HAS A LOT TO DO TO RIGHT FOR ITS WRONGS IN MM-HMM.

, PRESERVING OUR WEST SIDE COMMUNITIES, BUT LEAVING OUR EAST SIDE COMMUNITIES TO BEAR THE BRUNT OF DEVELOPMENT PRESSURES.

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE AS WE ROLL OUT THIS, UH, LAND CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN, UM, AN EQUAL IF NOT GREATER, MORE AGGRESSIVE APPROACH IN LAND ACQUISITION SO THAT WE GET PUBLIC LAND ON THE EAST SIDE AS WELL.

AND SO I JUST WANNA EMPHASIZE THAT FOR, AS WE MOVE FORWARD AS POLICY MAKERS, THAT SHOULD BE ONE OF OUR TOP CONSIDERATIONS.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER, UM, THANK YOU.

COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES, I WOULD BE VERY SUPPORTIVE OF ADDITIONAL ACQUISITIONS FOCUSED ON THE EAST SIDE.

AND I'LL JUST POINT OUT THAT TRAVIS COUNTY HAS A BOND, UM, PACKAGE RIGHT NOW THAT WILL BE, I THINK IT'S A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS ON THE EAST SIDE, UM, FOR LAND ACQUISITION, UM, OF EAST SIDE OF TRAVIS COUNTY.

ANYWAY, UM, SO THAT'S ONE, ONE STEP THAT WE CAN TAKE IN, IN SUPPORTING THOSE MEASURES.

AND WHEN WE RETURN TO A BOND, I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'LL BE IN 24 OR BEYOND, UM, CERTAINLY WOULD BE VERY SUPPORTIVE OF ADDITIONAL ACQUISITIONS.

UM, I DO WANNA POINT OUT THAT, YOU KNOW, AS THE, AS THE PLAN IS WRITTEN, UM, THERE'S AN ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITY INDEX IN, THERE'S A SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL, UM, SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX, AND THEN THERE'S A COMBINATION OF THAT WHERE YOU REALLY SEE, AND IN THAT COMBINATION INDEX, WHICH I THINK IS THEIR CLIMATE VULNERABILITY INDEX, YOU REALLY SEE EMPHASIS ON THE EAST SIDE PROPERTIES AND NARROWING IN, EVEN WITHIN THE PARKS AS TO, YOU KNOW, WHERE THE MOST VULNERABLE SPOTS ARE.

UM, AND IF YOU LOOK CAREFULLY AT THE WEST SIDE, THERE'S, YOU KNOW, VERY SPECIFIC SMALL SECTIONS OF LARGE TRACKS THAT HAVE THE HIGHER AMOUNT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL VIABILITY WHERE YOU MIGHT WANNA INVEST.

AND THEN IN THE EAST

[02:15:01]

UM, AND IT'S GOT THE DATA SO THAT WHEN THEY'RE GOING TO MAKE THEIR CHOICES, UM, I THINK THEY HAVE, THEY HAVE THE ANALYSIS TO GUIDE THEM, UM, TO ADDRESS SOME OF THOSE INEQUITIES FROM THE PAST AS WELL.

LAST BRIEFING, AND THAT'S GONNA BE AN UPDATE REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF A WORKING GROUP'S RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO CITY'S APPROACH TO HANDLING OF SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES.

I THINK THAT DOES IT FOR THIS TOPIC.

THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.

EXCELLENT.

UH, WHAT I'LL SUGGEST, I KNOW WE HAVE ONE MORE BRIEFING THAT WE NEED TO TAKE UP, SO I MAY SUGGEST WE TAKE THAT BRIEFING UP.

UM, I'LL PROBABLY GRAB A LUNCH AFTER WE KICK OFF THE AUSTIN ENERGY OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING.

UH, THAT COUNCIL MEMBER POOLE WILL BE LEADING, UM, LET'S SAY THAT'S GONNA START AT ONE O'CLOCK, JUST SO STAFF KNOWS GENERALLY WHEN TO BE AVAILABLE, IF THAT WORKS FOR YOU, CHAIR.

SOUNDS GOOD.

AND IF OTHER FOLKS NEED TO GRAB SOMETHING AND BRING THEIR, THEIR LUNCH OUT TO SNACK ON, UM, IN THE MEANTIME, IT'LL HELP KEEP US MOVING THROUGH THIS DAY.

SO WITH THAT, LET'S BRING UP OUR

[B4. Update regarding implementation of a working group's recommendations related to the City's approach to the handling of sexual assault cases.]

WELCOME.

GOOD AFTERNOON, COUNSEL.

MY NAME IS HANNAH SANKO, AND I AM A SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVOR WHO REPORTED MY RAPE TO THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT BACK IN 2006.

NOW IT HAS BEEN NEARLY FIVE YEARS SINCE I STOOD IN FRONT OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND GAVE MY VERY FIRST PUBLIC TESTIMONY, AND IT WAS THAT VERY SAME DAY THAT I SIGNED ON AS THE NINTH NINTH PLAINTIFF TO THE SURVIVOR CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT THAT WAS BROUGHT AGAINST THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN THE TRAVIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE FOR THEIR MISHANDLING OF OUR SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES.

AND IT WAS THAT VERY SAME WEEK THAT AN INVESTIGATIVE REPORT ON THE MISUSE AND OVERUSE OF EXCEPTIONAL CLEARANCE WAS RELEASED, FOCUSING IN ON AUSTIN, AND JOLTING ME TO DIG OUT THE COPY OF MY OWN SEXUAL ASSAULT REPORT, ONLY TO LEARN THAT MY CASE TOO HAD BEEN EXCEPTIONALLY CLEARED.

NOW, WHEN I STARTED OUT ON THE JOURNEY OF ADVOCATING FOR CHANGE IN THE SEXUAL ASSAULT ARENA, I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS ENTERING INTO.

I HAD NO IDEA THAT OUR FIGHT FOR JUSTICE AND OUR FIGHT FOR CHANGE THROUGH THE SURVIVOR LAWSUIT WAS GONNA TAKE FOUR LONG YEARS TO COME TO A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.

IT, I HAD NO IDEA THAT THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW BY THE POLICE EXECUTIVE RESEARCH FORUM THAT SO MANY OF US SURVIVORS AND ADVOCATES TESTIFIED IN SUPPORT OF WOULD BE ON ITS OWN THREE AND A HALF YEAR JOURNEY.

AND I HAD NO IDEA OR EXPECTATION THAT I WOULD BE HERE TODAY SITTING AMONGST A TEAM OF A P D PERSONNEL, HELPING TO SHAPE A TRULY COLLABORATIVE PROJECT THAT HAS BECOME KNOWN AS THE COLLECTIVE SEX CRIMES RESPONSE MODEL PROJECT.

WHILE I HAVE BECOME PUBLICLY KNOWN AS A SURVIVOR, A PLAINTIFF, AND A RELATIVELY VOCAL ADVOCATE, WHAT MANY HAVEN'T KNOWN ABOUT ME IS THAT I HAVE OVER 20 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR FOCUSING IN ON GOVERNANCE, RISK, COMPLIANCE, AND LARGE SCALE PROJECT MANAGEMENT.

SO SINCE JANUARY OF THIS YEAR, AND AS A SART MEMBER, I HAVE LEANED INTO THIS WORK AS A PROJECT MANAGER WITH THE HOPE AND GOAL THAT AUSTIN SURVIVORS WILL SEE THE IMPROVEMENTS COMING FROM THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PERF REPORT AND THE SURVIVOR LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT TERMS. TODAY, WE ARE HERE TO SHARE WITH YOU THE PROJECT FRAMEWORK THAT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED AND THE PROGRESS THAT HAS BEEN MADE TOWARD THAT GOAL.

NOW, THE FIRST COUPLE OF SLIDES IN OUR POWERPOINT HIGHLIGHT THE TIMELINE OF EVENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED LEADING UP TO THIS MOMENT.

AND WHILE MY OWN PERSONAL STORY INTERSECTS WITH MANY OF THEM, THERE ARE LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF SURVIVORS IN OUR COMMUNITY THAT HAVE THEIR VERY OWN STORIES WITH THEIR VERY OWN INTERSECTING POINTS.

THE D N A LAB CLOSURE OF 2017, THE WITHDRAWAL OF A P D FROM THE AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY SEXUAL ASSAULT RESOURCE AND RESPONSE TEAM, AND THE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT ON EXCEPTIONAL CLEARANCE BOTH OCCURRING IN 2018, THE SURVIVOR LAWSUITS THAT WERE FILED, THE FEDERAL CLASS ACTION IN 2018, AND THE STATE CLASS ACTION IN 2020.

AND FINALLY, THE PERF REPORT THAT WAS RELEASED IN NOVEMBER OF 2022 BASED UPON A COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION OF SEXUAL ASSAULTS THAT WERE REPORTED TO A P D SPANNING AN EIGHT YEAR PERIOD FROM 2012 TO 2020.

NOW, THE PROJECT FRAMEWORK THAT HAS BEEN CREATED WAS DESIGNED WITH

[02:20:01]

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES IN MIND FROM THE ONSET.

WE KNEW THAT WE NEEDED A MODEL THAT WOULD RESULT IN SYSTEMIC AND LASTING CHANGE.

WE KNEW THAT WE NEEDED A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH THAT WOULD STRENGTHEN THE TRUST AND TRANSPARENCY WITH SURVIVORS, ADVOCATES AND MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY.

WE KNEW THAT WE HAD A WEALTH OF KNOWLEDGE WITH SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS RIGHT HERE IN AUSTIN, AND IT WAS IMPERATIVE THAT WE WERE INCORPORATING THEM INTO THIS EFFORT, ALIGNING THEIR EXPERTISE WITH THE WORK AT HAND, AND ENSURING THAT CHECKS AND BALANCES WERE BEING ESTABLISHED RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING.

NOW, THE SCOPE OF WORK FOR THIS PROJECT IS COMPRISED FROM TWO KEY SOURCES.

THERE WERE 103 RECOMMENDATIONS COMING OUT OF THE PERF REPORT, AND 16 TERMS OF SETTLEMENT DERIVED FROM THE SURVIVOR LAWSUIT THAT WAS APPROVED BY COUNSEL IN JANUARY OF 2022.

WE HAVE SET UP A WORK GROUP MODEL IN WHICH EACH OF THESE 119 ITEMS OF SCOPE HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED TO ONE OF SIX DIFFERENT WORK GROUPS.

AND THE WORK GROUPS THAT HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED INCLUDE PROJECT MANAGEMENT, POLICY, TRAINING, RESPONSE AND INVESTIGATION, DATA AND METRICS, AND OUTREACH AND PARTNERSHIPS.

EACH WORK GROUP IS BEING LED BY TWO INDIVIDUALS, ONE A P D CO-CHAIR, AND ONE NON A P D CO-CHAIR.

AND WE HAVE USED THE RA C MODEL TO ASSIST US IN DEFINING WHO IS RESPONSIBLE, ACCOUNTABLE, CONSULTED, AND INFORMED.

IT IS ULTIMATELY A P D THAT IS RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE FOR THIS WORK.

WHILE IT IS THE EXTENDED COMMUNITY EXPERTS AND ADVOCATES THAT ARE TO BE CONSULTED AND STAKEHOLDERS LIKE YOURSELF, THE COMMISSION FOR WOMEN AND THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION THAT ARE TO BE INFORMED AS TO THE STATUS AND PROGRESS.

GOOD AFTERNOON, COUNSEL.

MY NAME IS MARCIA ALONZO.

I AM THE AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY SART COORDINATOR.

I AM ALSO THE COORDINATOR FOR THE COALITION AGAINST HUMAN HUMAN TRAFFICKING FOR CENTRAL TEXAS.

PRIOR TO COMING TO A P D I WAS AN ADVOCATE.

I HAVE 20, 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE DOING ADVOCACY, ALSO PROJECT MANAGEMENT, AND WORKING WITH DIFFERENT, UM, MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS.

WITH ME TODAY, WE HAVE CHIEF JEFF GREENWALD.

WE HAVE NEWLY APPOINTED CHIEF ERIC, UM, FITZGERALD, OUR VICTIM SERVICES AND WELLNESS MANAGER, KACHINA CLARK, COMMANDER CHRIS BAJO AND INTERIM VICTIM SERVICES SEXUAL ASSAULT SUPERVISOR, KATIE HERBERS.

ASIDE FROM HAVING PARTNERSHIPS AND SUPPORT FROM A P D, WE CENTERED AROUND MAKING OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS THE FOCUS AND CRUX OF THIS WORK.

UM, PARTNERS HELD FROM SEXUAL ASSAULT AND ADVOCACY, LEGAL ADVOCACY, THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, THE SART TEAM, RESPECTFULLY, THESE RELATIONSHIPS ALLOW US TO INCORPORATE BEST PRACTICES AND BUILD TRUST.

AND HAVING EACH ONE A P D AND ONE NON A P D PERSON ALLOWS US TO HAVE CHECKS AND BALANCES, ALLOWS US TO INCORPORATE BEST PRACTICES AND CONTINUE OUR WORK BEING SURVIVOR-CENTERED.

GOOD AFTERNOON COUNSEL.

MY NAME IS ALLISON ROPER, AND I'M A BUSINESS PROCESS CONSULTANT WITH THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.

I'M GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT WE'VE HAD TO DATE, SO WE DO CONTINUE TO MAKE PROGRESS AND DEMONSTRATE SUCCESS FOR BOTH OUTCOME AND PROCESS-BASED ISSUES.

TO DATE, OUR FOCUS HAS REALLY BEEN ON ESTABLISHING THE C SS C R M PROJECT AND LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR REAL CHANGE.

AS MARCY INDICATED, WE HAVE BOTH A P D AND NON A P D PARTNERS AT THE TABLE WORKING ACROSS ALL ELEMENTS OF THE PROJECT, AND WE REALLY DO USE THE WORD PARTNERS, UH, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE TRULY ARE.

WE ARE PARTNERS IN THIS CRUCIAL WORK, SO EVERYBODY HAS AN EQUAL SPOT AT THE TABLE.

OUR MODEL IS UNIQUE, AND THE LEVEL OF COLLABORATION IS NEW TO MANY OF US, SO WE'RE FEELING OUR WAY THROUGH.

UM, THIS INTENSE COLLABORATIVE WORK HAS THE ABILITY TO BECOME A NATIONAL BEST PRACTICE, AND WE'RE TAKING IT VERY SERIOUSLY.

WE DO PLAN TO CONTINUE BUILDING ON THE PROJECT TO REACH OUR OWN GOALS HERE FOR THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY, AND TO SERVE AS AN EXAMPLE TO OTHER COMMUNITIES FOR THEIR OWN FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION.

WE'RE COMMITTED TO CONSISTENT AND TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION THROUGHOUT THE DURATION OF THIS PROJECT, AND ARE PROVIDING QUARTERLY UPDATES, UM, WITH THE COMMISSION FOR WOMEN, THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION, AND A JOINT WORKING GROUP WITH THEM BETWEEN

[02:25:01]

THE TWO.

ALL OF US AT THE TABLE, BOTH A P D AND NON A P D PARTNERS ALIKE RECOGNIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING.

CREATING LONG LASTING CHANGE IS NOT EASY, BUT IT'S SOMETHING TO WHICH WE ARE COMMITTED.

WE'RE NOT SIMPLY FOCUSED ON CHECKING THE BOXES OF THE 119 ITEMS THAT CERTAINLY COULD BE DONE, BUT THAT'S NOT WHERE REAL CHANGE IS GONNA HAPPEN.

WE WANNA CREATE SYSTEMIC CHANGE, AND IN ORDER TO DO THAT, WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO STRENGTHEN RELATIONSHIPS WITH ALL PARTNERS ACROSS THE COMMUNITY.

AS HANNAH MENTIONED EARLIER, WE DO HAVE 119 RECOMMENDATIONS AND SETTLEMENT ITEMS THAT ARE PART OF OUR SCOPE OF WORK.

AND AS OF THIS MONTH, YOU CAN SEE HERE ON THE SLIDE, WE HAVE, UH, AT LEAST 49% OF THOSE ITEMS ARE EITHER IN PROGRESS OR COMPLETED.

THIS SLIDE PROVIDES A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF OUR WORK TO DATE RELATED TO THE SCOPE.

EACH OF THE ITEM OF THE SCOPE, AS HANNAH MENTIONED, IS ASSIGNED TO A SPECIFIC WORK GROUP TO ASSESS AND TO IMPLEMENT.

EACH RECOMMENDATION MAY VARY.

EACH OF THE 119 WILL VARY IN THEIR INTENSITY FROM SOMETHING SIMPLE AND STRAIGHTFORWARD, SUCH AS PURCHASING TRIPODS FOR INTERVIEW ROOMS, OR TO ONES THAT ARE MUCH MORE COMPLEX, SUCH AS THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN.

THE PHRASE NOT STARTED, THAT'S NOTED ON THIS SLIDE IN GRAY, IN THESE BARS, IS USED AS A PROJECT MANAGEMENT TOOL.

SO I WANNA MAKE THAT DISTINCTION.

IT'S TO INDICATE IN THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT FIELD TO INDICATE THAT THE COLLABORATIVE WORK GROUPS ARE THE ONES THAT HAVE NOT YET ADDRESSED A PARTICULAR RECOMMENDATION OR SETTLEMENT TERM.

THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT A P D HAS NOT DONE WORK IN THESE AREAS.

A P D HAS ACTIONED AND IMPROVED SERVICES RELATED TO MANY OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT YOU SEE HERE.

IT'S JUST THAT THE PROJECT GROUPS HAVE NOT STARTED THEIR WORK ON THIS, AND WE ARE TAKING A VERY DELIBERATE PROCESS AND SLOW PROCESS TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING IS ADDRESSED IN ITS IN ITS ENTIRETY.

AS WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE TIMELINE SUMMARY ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT WHILE THE PERF REPORT WAS OFFICIALLY PUBLISHED IN LATE 2022, WORK GROUPS ONLY BEGAN TO WORK ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE SPRING OF 2023.

SO IT'S ONLY BEEN A FEW SHORT MONTHS, AND WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED A GREAT DEAL, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO BUILD UPON THAT INITIAL SUCCESS.

GREETING CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS IMPORTANT WORK.

I'M LIEUTENANT CRYSTAL LIU, AND I'M ASSIGNED TO APDS SEX CRIMES UNIT AND DOMESTIC DOMESTIC VIOLENCE UNIT.

I HAVE BEEN WITH THE DEPARTMENT FOR 22 YEARS.

I WANNA EXTEND MY PERSONAL, UH, GRATITUDE TOWARDS THE ENTIRE SEX CRIMES CHAIN OF COMMAND, WHO ARE IN ATTENDANCE TODAY FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND THEIR GUIDANCE.

I WILL SPEAK TO YOU ABOUT THE ISSUES AND RISKS WE HAVE IDENTIFIED AND THE PROJECT'S PRIORITIES AND NEXT STEPS AMONG THE ISSUES THAT WE'VE HAD TO WORK THROUGH.

SOME WERE ANTICIPATED WHILE OTHERS BECAME APPARENT TO US ONCE THE WORK BEGAN.

THOSE HAVING TO DO WITH FINANCIAL AND BUDGETARY PROCESSING HAPPENED BECAUSE FUNDS FOR PROJECT INITIATIVES INCLUDING CASE REVIEW, A SETTLEMENT AUDIT, A PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN, AND VICTIM SURVEYS HAD TO BE LOCATED AMONG THE CITY BUDGETS AND TRANSFERRED TO THE A P D.

PRECIOUS TIME WAS SPENT IN LOCATING AND ACCESSING THESE FUNDS, LEAVING INSUFFICIENT TIME TO CONDUCT THE CONSULTATION WITH PROJECT MEMBERS THAT WE HAD COMMITTED TO.

MEETING BUDGET DEADLINES LEFT US WITH LITTLE TIME TO SEEK AND ACHIEVE CONSENSUS.

IN THE PLANNING STAGE, IN THE INITIATIVES PLANNING THAT WE HAVE HAD TIME FOR PROJECT MEMBERS WORKED WITH INSUFFICIENT FUNDS, AND THEY FOUND MISALIGNMENT AMONG THE BUDGETED AMOUNTS WHERE THE AMOUNT FOR ONE INITIATIVE SEEMED BETTER ALIGNED AND SUFFICIENT FOR ONE OF THE OTHER INITIATIVES.

WE NOW HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE AND PERSPECTIVE TO DELIVER INFORMED REQUESTS FOR THE AMOUNTS NEEDED FOR THESE IMPORTANT AND ONGOING ENDEAVORS.

THIS IS A LARGE PROJECT, AND IT TAKES TIME TO DO THE WORK CORRECTLY, SYSTEMICALLY AND COLLABORATIVELY.

AS MENTIONED, WE HAVE 44 MEMBERS AND THE CONSENSUS THAT WE'VE COMMITTED TO TAKES TIME.

A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK IS HAPPENING ON A VOLUNTARY BASIS BY THE PROJECT MEMBERS AND LOCAL AGENCY PARTNERS, ALL OF WHOM HAVE PRIMARY DUTIES.

FOR MANY, IT'S LIKE HAVING A SECOND JOB AND THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY OWE THEM OUR GRATITUDE.

WE WORK HARD TO MAINTAIN A CADENCE OF WORK THAT'S REASONABLE, BUT ALL MEMBERS HAVE WORK FAMILIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES, AND WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN OUT OUR PROJECT MEMBERS.

WE ANTICIPATE WE ANTICIPATED AND HAVE EXPERIENCED PROJECT MEMBER TURNOVER AND THE MODEL STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES THAT WE HAVE IMPLEMENTED OR DESIGNED TO ACCOMMODATE FOR THIS.

LASTLY, WE WORK HARD TO IDENTIFY BEST PRACTICES, AND THEN WE HAVE TO ACCOUNT FOR AND ADJUST TO THE CONSTRAINTS AND LIMITATIONS FROM A P D'S STAFFING SHORTAGE.

WE WILL CONTINUE TO INFORM AND ADVISE

[02:30:01]

MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF WAYS TO IMPROVE STAFFING ENHANCEMENTS IN TRAINING AND IMPROVEMENTS TO THE A P D WEBSITE, EACH OF WHICH WILL MAKE A P D'S SEX CRIMES RESPONSE MORE EFFECTIVE.

NOW, I'D LIKE TO SPEAK ABOUT THE PRIORITIES AND NEXT STEPS IN THE NEXT SLIDE.

OKAY, GOT IT.

THE A P D CHIEFS CHECK IN WITH COMMANDER VALLEJO AND I REGULARLY FOR PROJECT UPDATES.

THEY EXPEND EXTEND TO US THEIR SUPPORT AND ASK WHAT WE NEED.

CHIEFS CHICON AND HENDERSON MET WITH THE PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS AND COMMUNICATED THEIR SUPPORT.

THEY HAVE GIVEN US THE SPACE TO BE ABLE TO DO THE WORK.

HOWEVER, PROJECT MEMBERS ARE TELLING US THAT THEY WANT TO CONTINUE TO SEE AND HEAR FROM OUR CHIEFS.

WE ARE WORKING HARD TO IDENTIFY THE BEST TRAINING FOR THE DEPARTMENT'S, OFFICERS, DETECTIVES, AND SUPERVISORS, SO THAT IN OUR DEALINGS AND INTERACTIONS WITH SURVIVORS, WE ARE TRAUMA INFORMED.

AVA'S.

DYNAMICS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT TRAINING MODULE.

UH, CHIEF HENDERSON HAS REQUIRED ALL PATROL OFFICERS TO COMPLETE EVA'S DYNAMICS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT TRAINING MODULE BY THE END OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR.

AND WE WILL BUILD ON THAT TRAINING WITH GUIDANCE FROM THE PROJECT'S TRAINING WORK GROUP.

WE HAVE TASKED OUR PROJECT MEMBERS WITH IDENTIFYING THE BUDGET NEEDS FOR INITIATIVES, TRAINING PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT TO POSITION OUR SWORN STAFF AND VICTIM SERVICES TO BE SUCCESSFUL.

WE JUST COMPLETED THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF PROJECT UPDATES TO THE COMMISSION FOR WOMEN AND PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION, AND TO THE REST OF OUR STAKEHOLDERS.

AND THESE WILL CONTINUE.

THESE WILL BE THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF PROJECT UPDATES, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD TRUST, TRANSPARENCY, AND REPAIR WITH OUR COMMUNITY AND AMONG THE PROJECT'S TEAM MEMBERS.

COLLECTIVELY, WE HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING THAT PROCESS IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE MODEL WE ARE WORKING HARD TO CREATE.

UH, WE'RE ALL OF OUR TEAM MEMBERS ARE AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS, UM, THAT ANY OF YOU MIGHT HAVE.

THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.

LET'S START WITH COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER.

UH, WAYS, CREATIVE WAYS TO ADDRESS OUR STAFFING ISSUES, UM, THAT DON'T LEAVE SEX CRIMES UNAFFECTED.

I WANNA JUST, FIRST OF ALL, THANK THAT THE TEAM FOR YOUR WORK AND THE SPIRIT WITH WHICH YOU'RE APPROACHING, UM, THIS COLLABORATION.

UM, THIS HAS BEEN A LONG PROCESS, UM, AND WE, WE DID GET THE PER RECOMMENDATIONS BACK IN 22, AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NINE MONTHS INTO 23 AND, UM, I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT YOU ARE BEFORE US AND THAT WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS.

UM, I HAD TO BE VERY PATIENT, UM, WITH THIS PROCESS, AND I WAS ABLE TO DO THAT BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME, I REALLY FELT LIKE EVERYONE WAS COMING TO THE TABLE WITH THE RIGHT SPIRIT OF, OF ADDRESSING THE PROBLEMS THAT WE'VE EXPERIENCED IN OUR SYSTEM THAT HAS LEFT OUR SURVIVORS VULNERABLE, UM, AND THEIR NEEDS UNMET.

UM, AND ALSO LEFT OUR OFFICERS OFTEN WITHOUT THE RESOURCES THAT THEY NEEDED.

AND SO TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THE CONVERSATIONS THAT NEED TO HAPPEN IN ORDER FOR US, UM, TO FIX THE SYSTEM THAT'S LARGER THAN ANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE HERE WORKING ON IT, UM, WE HAD TO HAVE THIS COMMITMENT TO TIME, BUT ALSO THIS WILLINGNESS, UM, AND THIS EMOTIONAL, YOU KNOW, UM, MATURITY TO SAY WE HAVE TO INVEST IN DOING THIS THE RIGHT WAY.

AND THAT MAY TAKE A LITTLE BIT LONGER.

SO THANK YOU FOR THAT.

I ALSO WANNA, UM, THANK HANNAH FOR HELPING TO LEAD THE PROJECT AND FOR SHARING YOUR STORY.

UM, I THINK THAT WAS VERY POWERFUL TO START THAT WAY BECAUSE IT REMINDS US WHY WE'RE DOING THIS AND THAT THERE ARE, UM, YOU KNOW, INDIVIDUAL LIVES THAT HAVE BEEN IMPACTED IN SO MANY WAYS BECAUSE OUR SYSTEM ISN'T FUNCTIONING.

SO I THINK THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE ARE, WE ARE DOING THIS WORK, THE ADVOCATES AND THE SURVIVORS ARE HOLDING US ACCOUNTABLE, AND WE HAVE A COMMITMENT TO MAKE REAL CHANGE.

UM, BUT THAT'S GONNA TAKE SOME TIME.

UM, I DO WANNA START BY ASKING, UM, YOU KNOW, IF YOU CAN SPEAK, UM, TO WHAT YOU FORESEE AS THE FUTURE NEED FOR RESOURCES AND HOW COUNCIL CAN SUPPORT THOSE INVESTMENTS.

UM, TO SUMMARIZE IT BRIEFLY, WE'RE WE'RE COMING UPON A YEARLY PROCESS WHERE WE, UM, EACH UNIT IN THE DEPARTMENT DELIVERS UNMET NEEDS.

SO WE'VE IDENTIFIED THAT VEHICLE THROUGH WHICH TO DELIVER EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE ASKING US ABOUT.

UM, AND THEY INVOLVE A LIST OF, OF FUNDS THAT WE'LL NEED TO MAINTAIN, UM, THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT THAT'S BEEN ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL.

UM, AND, AND TO MAINTAIN THAT, THAT CO-PARENTING THAT WE'VE SPOKEN ABOUT WITH AN A P D MEMBER AND A NON A P D MEMBER.

UH, THE FUNDS ALSO FOR THESE INITIATIVES THAT WE FEEL ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

UM, AND ALSO,

[02:35:01]

UM, WE'LL DELIVER THOSE UNMET NEEDS.

WE ASK PLEASE FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN THOSE ITEMS. UM, AND SO, UH, THOSE WILL BE COMING SHORTLY IN THE FOLLOWING WEEKS.

AND JUST TO ADD TO THAT, UM, AS PART OF THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT CYCLE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE REALLY RIGHT NOW BEEN FOCUSED ON ESTABLISHING THE FRAMEWORK, GETTING THE TEAMS WORKING.

THIS NEXT STAGE REALLY IS TO DO SOME MATURING AROUND, UM, IDENTIFYING SPECIFIC BUDGETARY NEEDS FOR EACH OF THE SCOPE ITEMS AS WELL AS BETTER EXPECTATIONS AROUND TIMELINES.

AND SO BOTH OF THOSE ITEMS ARE SOMETHING THAT WE HOPE TO BE ABLE TO ARTICULATE, UM, MORE DEFINITIVELY IN OUR FUTURE UPDATES.

WE'RE, WE'RE, THE TEAMS ARE ACTIVELY WORKING ON THAT NOW.

WE'RE JUST NOT IN A POSITION TO BE ABLE TO PRESENT THE DETAILS AT THIS POINT.

SO I WOULD ASK THAT WHEN YOU ARE READY, BECAUSE GENERALLY THE INTERNAL UNMET NEEDS, UM, DISCUSSION HAPPENS, UM, BEHIND THE SCENES.

BUT I REALLY DON'T WANT THAT TO BE THE CASE FOR THIS.

UM, COUNSEL NEEDS TO SEE THAT SOONER.

THERE MAY BE INVESTMENTS THAT CAN BE MADE EARLIER THAN OCTOBER OF 24.

UM, YOU KNOW, THERE MAY BE, YOU KNOW, POLICY CHANGES THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN THAT WE CAN HELP ACCELERATE.

I KNOW THAT IN YOUR PLAN YOU HAVE QUARTERLY MEETINGS WITH COMMISSION ON WOMEN.

I THINK WE SHOULD PROBABLY PLAN ON A, ON A, ON A SESSION WITH THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL.

I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE RIGHT MONTH IS BECAUSE IT NEEDS TO BE THE RIGHT MONTH WITH YOUR CADENCE.

UM, BUT I THINK THAT WE DO NEED TO BE MADE AWARE EARLY AND OFTEN OF WHAT THE FINANCIAL, UM, RESOURCES OR POLICY CHANGES NEED TO BE FOR THIS.

UM, WHILE YOU'RE WORKING, I DON'T WANT TO ADD FURTHER FRUSTRATION OF, OH, WE HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER NINE MONTHS WHEN WE COULD HAVE STARTED ON THIS IF WE HAD $50,000, BUT THE RIGHT PERSON DIDN'T KNOW THAT WE NEEDED, WE NEEDED THAT TO MAKE THAT CHANGE.

UM, SO MAYBE WE CAN TALK, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT KIND OF WHAT, WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.

UM, ARE THERE ANY OTHER PENDING OR OUTSTANDING ISSUES THAT YOU WANNA MAKE COUNSEL AWARE OF AT THIS TIME? NO, I DON'T BELIEVE WE, WE THINK WE'VE COVERED, UM, YEAH, NO, I, I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S REALLY IT.

IT WAS REALLY, I KNOW IT'S BEEN A LONG WAIT TO GET TO THE STAGE TO REALLY PROVIDE AN UPDATE AFTER THE, THE YEARS OF HISTORY, AND SO WANTED TO GIVE YOU THAT THOROUGH UPDATE, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH THE HOPE AND INTENTION TO SET SOME CONTEXT FOR MEMBERS THAT HAVEN'T BEEN HERE OVER THE YEARS, UM, KNOWING THAT WE ANTICIPATE ADDITIONAL, YOU KNOW, BUDGETARY REQUESTS COMING, COMING IN THE FUTURE.

UM, AND I'M GLAD THAT YOU LIEUTENANT, THAT YOU MENTIONED THE NEED FOR A P D LEADERSHIP AND I SEE CHIEF GREENWALD, UM, BACK THERE.

I'LL BE TALKING WITH CHIEF HENDERSON I THINK NEXT WEEK AND UNDERSCORING THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS WORK, UM, WITH HER, BUT PERHAPS CHIEF GREEN GREENWALT, UM, YOU CAN TELL ME HOW YOU SUP YOU INTEND TO SUPPORT THIS EFFORT.

UM, THIS WORKS IF WE HAVE SUPPORT FROM THE TOP THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER.

I THINK THE, THE NUMBER ONE THING THAT WE CAN DO IS BE INVOLVED AND KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GOING THROUGH ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS AND ASK THEM WHAT THEY NEED, BE THERE TO SUPPORT THEM, NOT ONLY PHYSICALLY, BUT COME THROUGH WITH WHATEVER IT IS THAT THEY ASK.

IF THAT MEANS WE HAVE TO GO TO COUNCIL AND ASK FOR MORE MONEY, THAT MEANS WE HAVE TO FIND THEM A PHYSICAL SPACE.

WE HAVE TO MEND RELATIONSHIPS, FIX POLICIES, GET 'EM NEW CARS, GIVE 'EM A COMPUTER.

UM, WE CAN'T PUT ANY SORT OF BOX AROUND WHAT IT IS THEY'RE ASKING FOR.

THE, THE FOLKS BEHIND ME THAT ARE DOING THE HARD WORK ARE AMAZING.

UM, OUR SUPPORT COMES IN THE FORM OF GIVING THEM WHAT THEY NEED AND THEN GETTING OUTTA THEIR WAY.

UM, I WILL, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS I'LL BE ASKING CHIEF HENDERSON IS ABOUT MEETING WITH THE SURVIVORS.

I WAS VERY DISAPPOINTED TO LEARN THAT CHIEF CHACON DID NOT FOLLOW THROUGH ON AN ELEMENT OF THE SETTLEMENT, WHICH WAS FOR THE CHIEF TO MEET WITH THE SURVIVORS.

UM, SO YOU HAVE AN UPDATE ON THAT.

UM, THERE WERE SOME LEGAL CONSTRAINTS, UM, THAT I, I, I CAN'T SPEAK TO THE EXACT DETAILS OF THAT DELAYED THAT PROCESS.

WE DO HAVE A MEETING ON OCTOBER 10TH, WHICH CHIEF CHACON, CHIEF HENDERSON AND MYSELF WILL ALL BE A PART OF.

I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT.

UM, I KNOW THIS IS SEPARATE FROM THIS PRESENTATION TODAY.

UM, BUT, AND I'M NOT SURE WHO THIS QUESTION IS FOR, BUT WE HAVE AN AGENDA ITEM FOR A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS GRANT, UM, FROM THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN INVESTIGATIVE PROJECT, WHICH IS GONNA ALLOW US TO HIRE FIVE RETIRED INVESTIGATORS WITH EXTENSIVE VIOLENT CRIME INVESTIGATION EXPERIENCE TO ASSIST THE A P D, UM, SEX CRIMES UNIT.

IS THIS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE DONE BEFORE AND DO WE SPEND ANY MONEY ON THIS OUTSIDE OF THE GRANT FUNDING? MS. KACHINA HERE, INVESTIGATION, THERE'S TWO.

I HAVE A HIGH LEVEL UNDERSTANDING, BUT SHE'S GONNA SPEAK TO THE DETAILS WAY BETTER THAN I CAN.

THE AWA AND THEN THERE'S ALSO, UM, AWA, SORRY, RIGHT.

AND THE END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, UM, GRANT IS OR NOT IS THEY'RE INVESTIGATORS.

IT'S INVESTIGATORS.

SO I THINK, DO YOU HAVE SOME INFORMATION ON THAT OR DO YOU COMMANDER RIGHT.

AND, AND SO, SORRY.

THERE IS, THERE'S TWO SEPARATE GRANTS AND THERE'S, UH,

[02:40:01]

THE STATE GRANT AND I CAN SPEAK TO THAT.

SO CORRECT.

IT'S $103,000.

WE'RE, WE'RE SEEKING AND ASKING, UH, FOR YOUR, UH, RESOLUTION TO APPROVE.

IT'S THE FINAL STEP IN MONEY, UH, GRANT MONEY FROM THE STATE, AND WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT.

IT'S A SEX CRIMES INTERVENTION PROJECT.

UM, WE WANT TO, UH, FOR ONE YEAR WITH THAT FUNDING IMPLEMENT A PROGRAM, UH, WHERE WE HOPE TO REDUCE AND MITIGATE, UM, ALCOHOL FACILITATED RAPES IN AUSTIN.

AND SO, UM, WE WOULD ACCOMPLISH THAT BY IDENTIFICATION OF AREAS OF TOWN.

WE WOULD DO AN EDUCATION TREATMENT COMPONENT WITH THE BARS, UH, TO EDUCATE THEM WHAT SIGNS TO LOOK FOR AND HOW SIMPLE INTERVENTIONS MIGHT INTERRUPT THAT, THAT CRIME.

UM, AND THAT VICTIMIZATION.

WE THEN ALSO WILL HAVE ANOTHER, UH, PART THAT RECEIVES, IN ADDITION TO THE, THE EDUCATION OF THESE, UM, RESTAURANTS ALSO, UH, UH, LAW ENFORCEMENT COMPONENT.

AND, UH, WE ARE, WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF DOING THIS WORK.

UH, WE OFTEN ARE VERY FRUSTRATED IN OUR WORK WITH SEX CRIMES THAT IT'S REACTIONARY.

IT'S HAPPENED ALREADY.

SO WE, WE ARE VERY EXCITED AND ASK FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN A WAY THAT WE MIGHT POSSIBLY REDUCE IT BEFORE IT EVER HAPPENS.

UM, WE, WE WOULD STUDY THIS TO FIND OUT IF, IF INDEED WHAT WE THINK WILL BE EFFECTIVE IS TRULY EFFECTIVE, AND WE WOULD STAND PREPARED TO, UM, UH, CREATE A PRODUCT WHERE WE COULD SHARE THAT WITH, UM, ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT AROUND THE STATE, UM, TO TRY TO, TO AFFECT IT STATEWIDE.

SO WE HAVE MORE RESOURCES MANY TIMES THAN THEY DO THE SMALLER COMMUNITIES.

I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT PROACTIVE APPROACH.

THE REASON I WAS ASKING IS IT SEEMED LIKE IT WAS A LOW DOLLAR AMOUNT THAT COULD MAYBE MAKE A BIG IMPACT, AND I WAS WONDERING IF WE WERE ALLOCATING ADDITIONAL DOLLARS BEYOND THE GRANT TO REHIRING SOME OF THE RETIRED INVESTIGATORS TO HELP THE SEX CRIMES UNIT AND IF THAT WAS A STRATEGY THAT WE WERE EXPLORING, UM, FURTHER THAN JUST FOR THE, FOR THE GRANT.

SO THE SPECIFIC GRANT THAT YOU ASKED ABOUT THE SARP PROJECT THAT THEY'RE WORKING ON, UM, HE ANSWERED THAT QUESTION WITHIN THAT CONTEXT, BUT WE HAVE I THINK THREE OTHER GRANTS THAT ARE GOING ON THURSDAY.

ONE IS A VOCA GRANT EXTENSION WHERE WE HOPE TO CONTINUE THE WORK OF THE RETIRED DETECTIVES AND THE INVESTIGATIVE WORK THAT THEY DO.

AND THEN, UH, TWO OF BOBBY GRANTS AS WELL.

SO I GUESS IT WAS THE RETIRED INVESTIGATORS.

I WAS JUST TRYING TO, TO PLANT THE SEED OF MAYBE WE SHOULD BE DOING MORE OF THAT AND USING SOME OTHER A P D MONEY RATHER THAN PAYING OVERTIME FOR OTHER THINGS THAT MAYBE WE WANNA INVEST THAT IN THE SEX CRIMES UNIT.

AND WE CAN, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT LATER.

I SURE WE'LL APPROVE THAT, UM, IN THE, UM, IN THE BUDGET OR IN THE AGENDA ON THURSDAY.

UM, JUST WANTED TO KIND OF FLAG THAT AS SOMETHING I THOUGHT.

THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA.

UM, WE HAVE TWO ITEMS THAT ARE RELATED TO THIS WORK.

ITEMS 47 AND 48.

SO JUST COULD YOU VERY BRIEFLY SPEAK TO WHAT THOSE TWO ARE COVERING? ONE IS RELATED TO THE PERF REPORT, ONE IS RELATED TO THE SETTLEMENT.

47 AND 48 ARE, UH, TWO DIRECT ITEMS OF SCOPE OUT OF THE 119.

UM, ONE IS, UM, A $100,000, UM, UH, CONTRACT FOR CASE REVIEW.

UM, THE INTENTION THAT WAS SET UP, UM, OVER A YEAR AGO WAS TO CONDUCT ANNUAL CASE REVIEWS ON A RECURRING BASIS.

AND SO THIS WOULD BE THE FIRST YEAR COMING OUTTA THAT PERF REPORT TO START THAT CASE REVIEW EXERCISE.

UM, THE SECOND ITEM HAS TO DO WITH AN INCREMENTAL AUDIT THAT WAS REQUIRED AS PART OF THE, UH, SURVIVOR LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT TERMS. UM, AND SO THAT CONTRACT IS UP FOR APPROVAL AS WELL.

AND AGAIN, THANK YOU TO THE TEAM AND, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALL GONNA HAVE TO BE A LITTLE BIT PATIENT AS THIS ROLLS OUT, BUT WE'RE ALSO GOING TO HAVE TO ROLL UP OUR SLEEVES AND HELP THEM INVEST.

AND I WOULD ASK, UM, CHIEF GREENWALD THAT, THAT YOU AND THE INTERIM CHIEF, UM, PRIORITIZE THESE ISSUES AS WE'RE, AS WE'RE LOOKING AT THE UNMET NEEDS.