[00:00:03]
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE LAST REGULAR MEETING.HAS ANYONE HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT MINUTES THAT WERE SENT OUT TO US? MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.
GOT A MOTION AND A SECOND BY, UH, MOTION BY PERRY.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HAND.
ALL THOSE ABSTAINING NICHOLS ABSTAINS.
EVERYONE ELSE PRESENT VOTES FOR IT.
[2. Staff Briefing on Austin Civilian Conservation Corps Overview]
BRIEFING, UM, A STAFF BRIEFING ON THE AUSTIN CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS OVERVIEW, AND LOOKS LIKE WE'RE COMING IN REMOTE.AND IF YOU HAVE SLIDES, I THINK HE'S PROBABLY GONNA BE PULLING THOSE UP, BUT IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND JUST YEAH, INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND, UM, THEN GET TO YOUR SLIDES AND, UM, WE'LL GO FROM THERE.
I AM THE PROGRAM MANAGER FOR THE AUSTIN CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS, OR AC C C FOR SHORT.
JOINING ME TONIGHT ARE MEMBERS FROM OUR DIGITAL MEDIA TEAM WITHIN AC C C BEFORE WE, BEFORE WE EVEN MOVE ON, I WOULD LIKE TO ALLOW THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES.
UH, COULD WE GIVE FOLKS JUST A SECOND.
JENNIFER IS HAVING TROUBLE, UH, GETTING IN AND SHE'S ONE OF OUR PRESENTERS.
IS THERE JENNIFER, SARAH, ON, ON HOLD, PERHAPS? YEAH.
TAKE, TAKE, TAKE, TAKE A SECOND IF YOU NEED, UM, NEED THE TEAM HERE, TRY TO HELP HER ON THIS.
SO ARE WE, ARE WE WAITING FOR THE, THE, THE MAIN PRESENTER OR IS THERE ANY OTHER DOCUMENTATION Y'ALL COULD KIND OF START GOING THROUGH AND THEN WE CAN LOOP BACK IF SHE HAS A SECTION THAT WE SKIP? YES, ABSOLUTELY.
UM, OTHER, OTHER MEMBERS FROM MY TEAM, IF, IF YOU COULD JUST PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO INTRO READ, UH, TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
I AM A A C C C SPECIALIST WITH THE DIGITAL MEDIA TEAM.
UM, I'M ALSO A A C C C DIGITAL MEDIA SPECIALIST.
UM, AND I ALSO GO TO THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, UM, AS A SENIOR.
SO MY NAME IS KIMBERLY JUAREZ AND I'M THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE A C C C DIGITAL MEDIA TEAM.
HELLO, MY NAME JENNIFER CERDA.
HAD TO DO SOME STUFF, BUT IT GOT TO WORKING.
I'M PART OF DIGITAL MEDIA TEAM AS A SPECIALIST.
SO OUR VISION AND MISSION WERE DEVELOPED WITH OUR A C C C PROGRAM AND PARTICIPANTS INFORMED BY OUR GUIDED REPORTS THAT WE'LL TALK ABOUT LATER TO CREATE OUR MISSION AND VISION AND GUIDE FOR THE PROGRAM.
A C C C PARTNERED ALONGSIDE BUILD HUMANITY AND MEASURE.
THESE TWO ORGANIZATIONS ARE OWNED AND OPERATED BY PEOPLE OF COLOR TO STRONG TIES WITH COMMUNITIES
[00:05:01]
OF COLOR, AS WELL AS ANOTHER MIN MARGINALIZED GROUP.A C C C COLLABORATED WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE TO PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR DEFINING GREEN JOBS WITHIN THE LOCAL CONTEXT TO PROVIDE AN OUTLINE TO CURRENT AND FUTURE GREEN JOBS.
ADDITIONALLY, A PHOTOVOICE, WHICH WAS PROJECT TITLED JOBS AND CLIMATE ACTION IN AUSTIN, WAS ALSO CONDUCTED WITH PARTICIPANTS FROM VARIOUS H C C PROGRAMS. WITH UT PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO READ OUR MISSION AND VISION.
H C C C IS A PROGRAM THAT WORKS ACROSS DEPARTMENTS AND WITH EXTERNAL PARTNERS THAT CREATES AND SUPPORTS PATHWAYS INTO EMPLOYMENT.
WE CONNECT TO MISSION ALIGNED NETWORKS TO FORM A LARGER COLLECTIVE SHAPING AUSTIN'S GREEN WORKFORCE.
CURRENTLY WE HAVE SIX PATHWAYS AND MANY MORE SPECIALIZATIONS OR SPECIFIC PROGRAMS WITHIN THOSE PATHWAYS.
THESE SPECIALIZATIONS OR SPECIFIC PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR DECADES AND OTHER PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN NEWLY INITIATED.
CURRENTLY OUR PATHWAYS ARE NATURAL SYSTEMS, ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, RECREATION, DIGITAL MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS, UM, WHICH IS OUR GROUP MUSEUMS, UM, ARTS AND CULTURE AND ZERO WASTE.
WITH EACH PATHWAY, THERE ARE MANY COLLABORATORS, SUCH AS PARKS AND RECREATION, WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT, THE EQUITY OFFICE, AND THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY.
OUR NONPROFIT PARTNERS CURRENTLY ARE AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS, UM, AUSTIN YOUTH RIVER WATCH AND HUNGRY HILL FOUNDATION.
WITH THESE PATHWAYS, WE WORK TO SOLVE WORKFORCE GAPS AND TO CREATE BETTER PATHWAYS INTO FULL-TIME CITY JOBS WITH LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INTENTIONALLY AND SYSTEMATICALLY EXCLUDED, WE USE, UM, SOMETHING CALLED A RECIPROCAL CULTURAL CHANGE MODEL.
AS ACCC MEMBERS GAIN EXPERIENCE, DEVELOP AND CHANGE, UM, WORK TO CHANGE WORKPLACE CULTURE, CHANGE POLICY AND PRACTICES, AND CONTINUE TO BUILD OUT A NETWORK OF SUPPORT AND COLLECTIVE EFFORT WORKING TOWARDS THE A C C C VISION AND MISSION.
UM, A C C C MEMBERS AND SPECIALISTS OR TEAM LEADS ARE TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES WHO ARE HIRED INTO THEIR SPECIFIC PROGRAMS. THEY COMPLETE A CORE CURRICULUM THAT WORKS IN THAT WORKS TO INTEGRATE EQUITY, SUSTAINABILITY, HEALTH AND WELLBEING, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND EMPLOYMENT READINESS INTO DAILY WORK PRACTICES.
THEY ALSO GAIN EXPOSURE TO THAT CAREER FIELD BY CONTRIBUTING TO WORLD PROJECTS THROUGH HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE WHEN THEY RECEIVE ONGOING MENTORSHIP, PARTICULARLY AROUND THEIR NEXT STEPS INTO JOBS AFTER THEIR A C CCC TERM FINISHES.
THE SPECIALISTS ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED THE PROGRAM AND WHO SERVE AS TEAM LEADS FOR THE NEWER MEMBERS AND WORK TO DEVELOP AND EXPAND THEIR PATHWAYS.
SO NOW WE'LL LOOK AT SOME PICTURES, UM, FROM OUR DIFFERENT PATHWAYS AND PROGRAMS. SO AS YOU CAN SEE, MANY HAPPY FACES, MANY SMILES.
AND NOW I'LL PASS IT TO JENNIFER.
WE CONNECT MISSION ALIGNED NETWORKS TO FORM A LARGER COLLECTIVE TO SHAPE AUSTIN'S GREEN WORKFORCE.
CURRENTLY, WE ARE PART OF THE CITY AND EQUITIES NETWORK, GREEN WORKFORCE ACCELERATOR CITIES CONNECTING CHILDREN TO NATURE AND THE GREEN WORKFORCE COLLECTIVE.
H C C LEADERS AND THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION WILL SUPPORT A THIRD GREEN WORKFORCE ACCELERATOR PROGRAM THIS YEAR.
ORGANIZATIONS AND BUSINESSES WHO PARTICIPATE GAIN SUPPORT TO EXPAND THEIR CURRENT CAPACITY OR BUILD NEW PROGRAMS THAT CAN EMPLOY AUSTIN NINETIES, DEVELOP THEIR CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AND ADVANCE PO POSITIVE SUSTAINABILITY AND EQUITABLE OUTCOMES.
SO A C CCC HAS CHANGED THROUGHOUT THE YEARS, AND NOW WE'RE HAPPY TO REPORT THAT SINCE 2021, A CCC HAS EMPLOYED A COMBINED TOTAL OF 598 PEOPLE.
AND OF THAT FIVE HUNDRED NINETY EIGHT, A HUNDRED FOURTEEN OF THOSE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN OFFERED A POSITION AFTER THEIR TERM.
ADDITIONALLY, INDIVIDUALS, UH, WE WE HAVE 12 PEOPLE THAT WERE ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY TRANSITION FROM THE A C C C WORK MODEL AND NOW HAVE A FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT ROLE WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
SOME PROJECT OUTCOMES THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT IS THAT, UM, A CCC HAS OVER 85,000 HOURS OF NATURAL SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT, UH, MANAGEMENT ON PARKLAND, AS WELL
[00:10:01]
AS, UH, 1300 HOURS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAM, UH, PROGRAMMING WITH 3,700 PARTICIPANTS.WELL, WE HAVE SEEN SUCCESSES IN OUR PROGRAM.
WE STILL SEE MANY CHALLENGES TOWARDS OUR VISION AND MISSION.
WE HAVE OUTLINED SOME AREAS OF FOCUS, DISMANTLE SUPREMACIST SYSTEMS, SHAPE CHANGE IN WORK, CULTURES, AND SUPPORT LEADERSHIPS THAT REPRESENT THE COMMUNITIES WE LIVE IN AND COLLABORATE WITH.
IT IS A CHALLENGE TO WORK TOWARDS SYSTEM CHANGE AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE THINKING OF THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND NAMESAKE OF OUR PROGRAM.
THE C C C WAS RACIALLY SEGREGATED SINCE THE CONSERVATION FIELD HAS BEEN MAJORITY WHITE AND CONTINUES TO BE OUR PROGRAM WORK TO CHANGE THAT IN WHITE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURES IS CHALLENGING, RETAINING AND SUPPORTING LEADERS OF COLOR HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL AND HAS SEEN A SHIFT IN DEMOGRAPHICS FOR MORE RACIALLY DIVERSE PROGRAM LEADERS AND PARTICIPANTS, BUT ALSO SEEN CHALLENGES.
WHAT WE'RE DOING IN ASSIGNMENT WITH CITY OF AUSTIN EQUITY OFFICE EQUITY AND INCLUSION PROGRAMS AND MANAGERS NETWORK FOR THE SET OF STRATEGY AND EQUITY CURRICULUM AND TRAINING FOR ALL FOLKS OF OUR NETWORK PARTNERS, PARTICIPANTS TO YOUTH UNDOING RACISM WORKSHOPS.
A C C C WORK COLLABORATIVELY WITH PARKS AND RECREATION'S, EQUITY AND INCLUSION PROGRAM MANAGER TO DEVELOP AN ANTI-RACIST MENTORSHIP PROGRAM THAT SERVES A C C C, A LARGER PART TO CONTINUE TO REFLECT ON OUR PROGRAM WITH CRITICAL LENS TO BUILD MORE EQUITABLE PATHWAYS TO EMPLOYMENT AND STRENGTHEN NETWORKS OF SUPPORT FOR THOSE MOST IMPACTED BY CHANGE CLIMATE FROM PARTICIPANTS TO FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES.
SO WE CONTINUE TO CREATIVELY PARTNER ACROSS DEPARTMENTS AND NONPROFITS TO SUPPORT AND PLACEMENTS INTO NEXT STEP PROGRAMS. WE WANT TO STRENGTHEN FULL-TIME CITY JOB PLACEMENTS SUPPORT WITH HR.
WE NEED MORE SUPPORT WITH STAFF AND MENTORS WHO CAN HELP WITH PEOPLE WITH CAREER PLACEMENTS, IDENTIFY MORE VISION, MISSION ALIGNMENT PARTNERS FOR JOB PLACEMENTS, BETTER INTEGRATE INTERNET INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS.
LAUNCH A GREEN PATHWAY PRACTICUM COURSE FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH AUSTIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT OF CLIFTON CAREER DEVELOPMENT SCHOOLS AS A POINT OF ENTRANCE INTO H C C AND PARTNER PROGRAMS AND LAUNCHED THE THIRD ACCELERATOR PROGRAM.
UM, ANOTHER CHALLENGE IS AN OPPORTUNITY IS INVESTING IN PEOPLE AND PROJECTS THAT HAVE THE DIRECT IMPACT ON CLIMATE JUSTICE.
OUR NATURAL SYSTEMS TEAM IS VERY, OUR PATHWAY IS VERY CLEARLY AND DIRECTLY, UH, CONNECTED TO CLIMATE IMPACT THROUGH RESTORATION PROJECTS LIKE TREE PLANTINGS, INVASIVE REMOVALS, MAPPING PROJECTS, WILDFIRE FUEL MITIGATION, GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE, MAINTENANCE INSTALLATION.
UM, AND THEY COMPLETE A LARGE MAJORITY OF THEIR PROJECTS IN THE EASTERN CRESCENT, UH, OF AUSTIN.
BUT WE ALSO AT A C C C BELIEVE THAT ALL JOBS CAN BE GREEN, AND WE WORK TO EXPAND THAT NARRATIVE ON WHAT A GREEN JOB IS.
AND ACROSS ALL OF OUR PATHWAYS AND NETWORKS, WE WORK TO INCORPORATE PRACTICES IN, INTO OUR DAILY WORK LIVES OF WORKING SUSTAINABLY.
SO WE'VE WORKED WITH THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY TO CREATE A TRAINING MODULE THAT ALL PARKS AND REC EMPLOYEES HAVE, UH, TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES HAVE RECEIVED THIS YEAR.
AND OF COURSE, ALL OUR A C C MEMBERS TOO.
UM, IT'S STILL CHALLENGING TO TAKE A TRAINING INTO DAILY PRACTICES THAT CAN REDUCE OUR GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, BUT WE'RE WORKING ON THAT.
UM, WE'RE ALL SEEING THIS TEAM ALSO THAT YOU HAVE SEEN TONIGHT IS WORKING ON CREATING VIDEOS THAT CAN SHARE THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN IN A MORE EASILY UNDERSTANDABLE WAY AND CONNECTS WITH A BROADER AUDIENCE AND, UH, HELPS PEOPLE THEN LEARN HOW THEY CAN STEP IN AND SUPPORT WITH CLIMATE EQUITY GOALS.
UM, WE SLIGHTLY COLLABORATED WITH THE CLIMATE AMBASSADOR PROGRAM THAN IT HAPPENED LAST YEAR, AND WE'D LOVE TO SEE MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO COMBINE EFFORTS WITH THE AMBASSADOR PROGRAMS. UM, AND A CHALLENGE IS MEASURING OUTCOMES RELATING TO THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AND OUR LAND MANAGEMENT PLANS.
WE WANNA WORK WITH THOSE FOLKS TO BETTER INTEGRATE OUR DATA MANAGEMENT, WHAT WE COLLECT AND THAT WE'RE SAYING IN THE SAME WAYS.
UH, SO WE'RE GONNA WORK ON THAT THIS YEAR.
AND, UM, WE'RE INVESTIGATING HOW TO SUPPORT EXISTING CITY EMPLOYEES LIKE A PARD MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN OR A DRAIN ENGINE OPERATIONS TECHNICIAN IN WATERSHED, UH, TO DEVELOP MORE LAND MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION SKILLS, WHICH CAN SUPPORT THEM AND THEIR UPWARD JOB MOBILITY.
AND ALSO SUPPORT IN THE MANY MORE LAND MANAGEMENT FOCUSED JOBS THAT WE WILL HAVE, UM, COMING IN OUR FUTURE.
AND, UM, AT THE BOTTOM OF ALL OF THIS, UH, FUNDING, SUSTAINED FUNDING IS DEFINITELY AN OPPORTUNITY AND CHALLENGE FOR US.
UH, WE HAVE HAD ARPA FUNDING AND THAT WILL EXPIRE IN DECEMBER OF 2025, I'M SORRY, 2024.
SO WE WILL CONTINUE TO PARTNER WITH REVENUE GENERATING DEPARTMENTS TO, TO FUND OUR PATHWAYS, AND WE'RE WORKING ON, UH, COLLECTIVELY APPLYING TO SOME LARGE FEDERAL GRANTS, BUT WE'RE,
[00:15:01]
UM, STILL HOPING TO GAIN MORE SUPPORT AND WE'RE GONNA BE ASKING FOR A COUPLE FULL-TIME POSITIONS WITH SOME PERMANENT GENERAL FUND BUDGET IN THE NEXT COUNCIL BUDGET CYCLE.THANK YOU ALL FOR LISTENING TO OUR PRESENTATION.
SO NOW WE'LL GO AHEAD AND, UM, TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS.
UM, WHY DON'T WE START WITH SULLIVAN AND QURESHI.
UM, I THINK YOU GUYS WANTED MAYBE TO FRAME UP ANY, ANY COMMENTS YOU'VE GOT OR QUESTIONS YOU'VE GOT? WELL, YEAH, COULD YOU, UH, DAVE SULLIVAN, DISTRICT NINE.
UM, COULD YOU SAY A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT YOUR FUNDING, LIKE RIGHT NOW, UM, IS IT LARGELY NON-PROFIT, THIRD PARTY, OR WERE YOU A LINE ITEM IN THE 2023, UH, CITY BUDGET OR, YOU KNOW, COULD YOU EXPLAIN THAT A LITTLE MORE, SIR? EXCUSE ME.
SO THIS YEAR, FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR, THE, THE MAJORITY OF OUR BUDGET IS SOURCED FROM ARPA, UH, AS WE ALSO HAVE OUR BUDGET ONE-TIME STABILIZATION, UH, THAT IS HELPING US OPERATE THIS YEAR.
AND WE HAVE, UH, PARTNERSHIPS EXTERNALLY THROUGH, UH, AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS AND, UH, HUNGRY HILL AS WELL.
AND SO THAT'S, UM, WITH, WITH THOSE TWO, UH, ARPA AND OUR, OUR BUDGET, ONETIME STABILIZATION ARE, UH, IS GOING TO BE THE, THE BIGGEST BULK OF OUR FUNDING SOURCES THROUGHOUT THIS FISCAL YEAR.
UH, BUT THE, THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE, AGAIN, AS STATED IS, UM, GETTING US PAST DECEMBER, 2024, UH, BECAUSE THE, A LARGE CHUNK OF THAT FUNDING WILL GO AWAY AFTER THAT.
SO WOULD YOU LOOK TO GET SOME BE IN THE CITY BUDGET FOR FFY 2025? YES.
THAT, THAT IS A, A GOAL OF OURS.
UH, HOWEVER, IN THE, ON AN INTERIM BASIS, UM, WE ARE ALSO WORKING ON COLLABORATING WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT, UH, ARE, UH, FUND THAT CONTINUE TO GENERATE FUNDINGS, UH, FUNDING SOURCES.
UH, SO THAT WAY WE CAN PARTNER WITH THEM AND, UM, HOPEFULLY CONTINUE OUR OPERATIONS.
I WOULD ASSUME TOO, TRAVIS COUNTY WOULD BE INTERESTED, MIGHT BE ANOTHER SOURCE IN ADDITION.
WHAT, WHAT, UH, DEPARTMENT, JUST THE, THE ENTIRE COUNTY TOGETHER.
WELL, THE COUNTY DOES HAVE A PARKS DEPARTMENT.
THE COUNTY DOES HAVE A TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT.
THEY COULD PROBABLY, UM, THEY DO A LOT OF WORK OUTSIDE OF THE CITY LIMITS IN RURAL AREAS.
UM, SO THERE MAY BE OPPORTUNITIES BY GOING THROUGH THE COUNTY AS WELL AS THROUGH THE CITY.
ARE YOU REFERRING TO TIM SPRAYER WITH TRAVIS COUNTY? I DON'T KNOW THE INDIVIDUALS.
I, I KNOW A FEW INDIVIDUALS WITHIN TRAVIS COUNTY, BUT NOT THAT PERSON.
AND I'VE HAD SOME CONVERSATIONS WITH JOANNA.
UH, HAVE YOU APPROACHED ANY OF THE NONPROFITS LIKE, UH, AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION OR THE TRAIL FOUNDATION OR ANY OF THOSE ORGANIZATIONS FOR FUNDING? UM, WE HAVE TALKED TO THE, UH, TRAILS FOUNDATION, UH, AND WE ARE HAVING SOME MEETINGS COME UP WITH THEM.
WE HAVE NOT, SORRY, I'M HEARING MY AUDIO'S REALLY LOW.
UM, WE HAVE NOT YET TALKED TO AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION, BUT THAT'S A GREAT SUGGESTION.
UH, I ASK 'CAUSE THERE'S A, A LARGE AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION IS ONE THE, ONE OF THE LARGEST NONPROFITS IN THE CITY THAT SUPPORTS PARKS AND YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY 90% OF THE ACTIVITIES THAT YOU ARE INVOLVED WITH CONNECT IN SOME MANNER WITH PARKS AND, UH, I WOULD SUSPECT THEY WOULD LEAP ON THIS LIKE A DUCK ON A JUNE BUG.
UH, NOW I SAW SOMETHING IN HERE ABOUT, UH, ZERO WASTE AND, UH, I MAY HAVE MISSED THAT.
HOW DO YOU, WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON WITH REGARD TO ZERO WASTE? HOW DOES THAT FIT IN YOUR MISSION? I CAN JUMP IN AND SHARE ABOUT THAT.
UM, SO ONE OF OUR PATHWAYS ZERO WASTE, THE CURRENT PROGRAM SUPPORTED IS, UM, THROUGH THE FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT, COMMUNITY REFURB, UH, COMMUNITY, PERSONAL COMPUTER REFURBISHING.
AND THEY HIRED INTERNS TO TAKE CITY RETIRED DEVICES, REFURBISH THEM AND GET THEM IN THE HANDS OF NONPROFITS.
UM, THEY'RE GOING TO, WE CATALYZED FUNDING THERE AND THEY HAVE FOUND SOME FUNDING TO CONTINUE THAT INTERNSHIP MODEL.
NOW WE'RE TURNING TOWARDS, UH, AND THAT WAS A PARTNERSHIP WITH, UM, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY AS WELL.
[00:20:01]
ARE CONTINUING TO WORK WITH AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY AND THEY JUST GOT A LARGE GRANT TO SUPPORT THEIR, UM, OH, SORRY.IT'S CALLED THE, LIKE, I THINK THEIR FURNITURE REFURBISHING STATION.
UM, I'M MESSING UP THEIR NAME RIGHT NOW, BUT WE'RE WORKING ON FIGURING OUT, UM, FUNDING TO SUPPORT EMPLOYEES TO DO THAT AND HOPEFULLY, UM, MADELINE MORGAN WHO COORDINATES IT, SHE'S LOOKING TO WORK WITH HIRING UNHOUSED FOLKS TO BE IN THE REFURBISHING, UM, SECTOR.
UH, NOW I NOTICED YOU'RE WORKING WITH, UH, AUSTIN YOUTH WORKS AS WELL AND THESE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, UH, OVER HERE, I GUESS THIS IS ON SLIDE FIVE MAYBE.
UM, THESE ARE, I GUESS THESE PEOPLE ARE BEING, UH, PAID SOME AMOUNT OF MONEY, IS THAT CORRECT? UH, AND THE FUNDING COMES FROM THESE GRANTS THAT YOU'RE RECEIVING, RIGHT? THAT IS CORRECT.
THE FUNDING DOES COME FROM THE GRANT.
HOWEVER, WHENEVER WE PARTNER WITH AN OUT AN EXTERNAL PARTNER SUCH AS AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS, THEY DO NOT PROVIDE FUNDING FOR US.
UH, ESSENTIALLY WE'RE, IT'S, IT'S A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT WHERE, UH, THE PARKS REC DEPARTMENT, UH, CURRENTLY WE, WE HAVE A LANCE STEWARDSHIP CONTRACT THAT IS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN PARKS AND REC, UM, OUR WATERSHED DEPARTMENT AND OFTEN WATER WHERE WE, UM, DEDICATE AN, AN, AN AMOUNT OF FUNDS THAT GO TOWARDS THAT CONTRACT, WHICH, UM, HELP FUND THE PROJECTS THAT WE USE THROUGH AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS.
SO THEY IDENTIFY A PROJECT AND THEN YOU SUPPLY THE FUNDING FOR SAY AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS TO STAFF THAT PROJECT, IF I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU JUST SAID? YES.
LET'S GO BACK AROUND THE HORN HERE.
UM, ALRIGHT, UH, KRUGER, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? SURE, YEAH.
UH, MARIANA KRUGER, DISTRICT THREE, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
UM, I AM CURIOUS TO HEAR FROM ONE OF THE STUDENTS PERHAPS ON THE CALL ABOUT SOMETHING THAT YOU REALLY ENJOYED IN THIS PROGRAM IN THE LAST YEAR, OR AN ACCOMPLISHMENT THAT YOU'RE GONNA LEAVE THIS EXPERIENCE THINKING, OH, I'M REALLY PROUD OF THAT, AND THEN I HAVE A FOLLOW UP.
DON'T EVER BEEN VOLUNTEER AT ONCE.
AND, UM, I WOULD SAY LIKE IN THE BEGINNING I HAD LIKE AN INTEREST IN DIGITAL MEDIA A LITTLE BIT AND LIKE VIDEOGRAPHY A LITTLE BIT.
UM, AND I HAD TAKEN LIKE DOING A LITTLE BIT FROM THAT ENDED UP LEADING ME ON, UM, TO TAKE LIKE A DIGITAL MEDIA CLASS, UM, AT UT AND THEN, UM, IN THAT CLASS, LIKE I WOULD, UM, DO A LITTLE BIT HERE AND THERE WITH LIKE, UM, MAYBE LIKE A POSTER OR SOMETHING OF THAT SORT.
UM, AND I THINK NOW WHENEVER I LOOK BACK, UM, AND SEE HOW FAR I'VE COME AND LOOK AT THE THINGS THAT I'VE MADE NOW, I'M LIKE REALLY PROUD OF, UM, ALL THE WORK I'VE ACCOMPLISHED.
UM, LOOKING AT LIKE THE VIDEOS AND LIKE THE DIFFERENT GRAPHIC DESIGN, UM, THINGS AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
UM, AND JUST SEEING LIKE HOW MUCH I'VE LEARNED AND HOW MUCH I'VE GAINED.
AND THEN ALSO, UM, I FEEL A LOT MORE COMFORTABLE BEING ABLE TO SPEAK OUT AND ALSO LIKE FACILITATE, UM, DIFFERENT DISCUSSIONS BECAUSE I KNOW WE ALSO FACILITATED, UM, CERTAIN DISCUSSIONS THIS PAST SUMMER, UM, RELATED TO, UM, A CCC.
I LEFT A LITTLE PAUSE, SEE IF ANYONE ELSE WANTED TO JUMP IN, BUT GLAD TO HEAR THAT SHARED AND THAT SOUNDS AWESOME.
UM, NEXT QUESTION, I'M CURIOUS ABOUT HOW PRESIDENT'S BIDEN'S AMERICAN CLIMATE CORE MIGHT, UM, IMPACT YOU ALL WHERE THERE MIGHT BE DUPLICATION OR AN OPPORTUNITY TO COME TOGETHER.
AND WHEN WE'RE THINKING ABOUT PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE, I IMAGINE A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, PRESIDENT BIDEN'S PLAN IS STILL BEING FLESHED OUT, AND I KNOW YOU ALL ARE ALSO THINKING AHEAD TO THE FUTURE.
SO I'M CURIOUS HOW THAT PROGRAM IS PART OF YOUR FUTURE PLANNING.
[00:25:01]
UM, YEAH, IT'S SUPER EXCITING TO SEE THE CLIMATE CORE PASSED FEDERALLY AND THAT THAT WILL BE INITIATED.UH, WE'VE BEEN KIND OF KEEPING THAT HOPEFUL AND NOW THAT IT IS A REALITY, UM, THE AMERICORPS NETWORK RELEASED A PRESS RELEASE.
UH, OUR PARTNERS WITH US AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS OR PART OF THE CORE NETWORK, SO WE'RE TALKING WITH THEM OF HOW THAT'LL IMPACT THEIR EXISTING MODEL.
UM, WE WERE TALKING TO COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER WHO JUST SHARED SOME CONNECTIONS WITH, UM, TRAVIS COUNTY.
SO WE'RE CERTAINLY TRYING TO PLUG IN AND, UH, MOVE THAT MOMENTUM FORWARD TOGETHER.
AND THEN HOPEFULLY IF IT'S A FEDERAL ACT, THAT HOPE, UH, UM, POLICY THAT PER PERHAPS FUNDING WOULD COME THROUGH WITH THAT AS WELL, SINCE WE'RE ALREADY, UM, WE CALL OURSELVES AUSTIN CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS, BUT USING THAT OLD NAMESAKE, WE ALSO HAVE BEEN CALLING OURSELVES THE NEXT GENERATION CLIMATE CORPS.
SO WE SEE IT'S REALLY ALIGNED AND IT'S EXCITING.
SO IF ANYONE HAS ANY SUGGESTIONS AROUND IT, UH, HAPPY TO HEAR ANY CONNECTIONS OR, UM, STRATEGIES.
CHRIS, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? UH, YEAH, I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTION.
UH, YEAH, I MEAN, I HEARD THIS ON THE, UH, THE J S C, THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE, AND I WAS LIKE, YEAH, THIS STORY IS REALLY COOL.
I FEEL LIKE THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION, UH, SHOULD SEE THAT THERE ARE YOUNG PEOPLE TRYING TO DO STUFF AND WE'RE NOT JUST ALL LEAVING TRASH EVERYWHERE, IT'S JUST THE PEOPLE IN THE ILLA NO, I'M JUST KIDDING.
UH, YEAH, NO, I THINK, UH, YEAH, I'LL FOLLOW UP ABOUT SOME CONNECTIONS THAT CAN TRY TO HELP MAKE WITH Y'ALL TO HELP SORT OF PUBLICIZE THIS STUFF.
UH, AND UH, THIS IS COMMISSIONER BRISTOL.
UM, SO I'VE GOT A COUPLE QUESTIONS AND, AND THEN, UM, COUPLE COMMENTS.
UM, SO FIRST OFF, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE TALK ABOUT, UM, OFTEN IN THIS COMMISSION, UM, ARE OUR CREEKWAY AND, UM, AND THE TRASH, UM, THAT ENDS UP IN THERE.
AND OFTEN WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE, ESPECIALLY THE LEVEL OF PLASTICS THAT END UP IN THERE, UM, THAT BLOCK THE WATERWAYS AND, UM, AND LOOKING AT WHERE ARE THOSE SOURCES THAT IT'S COMING FROM.
UM, IN, IN, IN ONE OF THE PRESENTATIONS WE SAW THAT A LOT OF THAT TRASH, UM, COMES FROM DUMPSTERS NOT BEING CLOSED, AND THEN THE TRASH IS COMING OUT AND IT'S GETTING INTO THE CREEK WAYS AND IT'S HEADING, YOU KNOW, UM, AND, AND THEN IT CAUSES THINGS TO BLOCK UP, ESPECIALLY DURING, UM, FLOODING EVENTS.
SO, UM, TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT Y'ALL ARE DOING IN ORDER TO A CLEAN UP, UM, THE CREEK WAVES AND THEN B UM, MAYBE DOING SOME SORT OF EDUCATIONAL, UM, VIDEOS, WHICH YOU MENTIONED EARLIER ABOUT HOW CITIZENS OR, UM, EVEN BUSINESSES CAN DO A BETTER JOB TO MAKE SURE THAT THEIR TRASH DOESN'T, ESPECIALLY PLASTICS END UP IN THOSE CREEK WAYS.
I CAN CERTAINLY SHARE ABOUT THE FIRST ONE AND THEN PASS IT TO MY DIGITAL MEDIA TEAM TO TALK ABOUT VIDEO PRODUCTION.
UM, SO HOW WE'RE INVOLVED WITH KEEPING OUR CREEKS CLEANER AND REDUCING POLLUTION.
UM, THERE'S A COUPLE DIFFERENT WAYS IF YOU, I, I KNOW WE DON'T HAVE OUR VISUAL UP AGAIN, BUT OUR, UM, GRAPHIC THAT SHOWS THOSE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS. UH, AUSTIN YOUTH RIVER WATCH IS ONE OF OUR EXTERNAL PARTNERS.
AUSTIN YOUTH RIVERWATCH DOES A LOT OF, UM, WORKING WITH TEAMS ALL ACROSS AUSTIN AND THEY DO RESTORATION PROJECTS AND CREEK CLEANUPS AT, UH, SEVERAL SITES, UM, AROUND THE CITY.
AND THEY'RE WORKING TO EDUCATE YOUNG FOLKS, UH, WITH THAT.
UM, OUR NATURAL SYSTEMS TEAM, UH, JUAN AND I JUST WALKED TODAY WITH THE TEAM.
UM, THE FO ONE FOCUS IS ON GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND, UM, THAT TEAM HAS SUPPORTED IN CREATING A SYSTEM TO MAINTAIN THE EXISTING, UH, UH, GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE LIKE RAIN GARDENS, UH, ON PARKLAND.
SO MAINTAINING THAT, CLEANING TRASH, DEBRIS OUT OF THE INLETS AND OUTLETS SO THEY FUNCTION BETTER.
UM, AND THEN OF COURSE THAT WATER GOES INTO OUR STREAMS AND CREEKS.
AND HUNGARY HILL FOUNDATION ACTUALLY DOES A LOT OF PARK BEAUTIFICATION IN THE SPRINGDALE GIVENS AREA.
AND THEY, UM, THEY HAVE A BEAUTIFUL PROGRAM MODEL, UH, LED BY CHASE AND THEY'RE, THEY HIRE UNHOUSED FOLKS WHO ARE FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND THEY WORK TO CLEAN UP THE CREEKS IN THERE.
AND THEY WERE PARTNERING WITH WATERSHED TO DO SOME RESTORATION IN ADDITION TO TRASH CLEANUP.
SO THERE'S A VARIETY OF WAYS WE PLUG IN THROUGH THOSE.
UM, UH, SORRY, EDUCATION TEAM.
THEY LEAD PROGRAMS TO LITTLE KIDS ABOUT WHY CREEKS AND WATER AND OUR PLANTS AND ANIMALS MATTER.
AND THEY DO THAT THROUGH ACTIVITIES.
SO THEY TALK ABOUT LIKE, LEAVE NO
[00:30:01]
TRACE WHEN YOU'RE IN THE PARKS AND, AND HOW TO DO THAT.UM, AND THAT'S KIND OF THE MAJORITY OF THE BIG WAYS THAT WE SUPPORT OUR CREEKS.
AND I'M JUST SCANNING HERE TO SEE IF I MISSED ANYTHING, BUT OUR DIGITAL MEDIA TEAM HAS ALSO SUPPORTED WITH CREATING VIDEO MATERIALS TO SUPPORT THAT.
SO I'M GONNA PASS THAT TO A TEAMMATE WHO MAY WANNA TALK ABOUT THAT.
COULD I BY ANY CHANCE ALSO GET THE QUESTION, THE SECOND PART OF THAT QUESTION REPEATED? YEAH.
SO, UM, IS THERE A PLAN OR DO YOU ALREADY HAVE, UM, DIGITAL SEGMENTS THAT, UM, ARE ADDRESSING HOW PLASTICS, UM, OR TRASH IN GENERAL, BUT PLASTICS ESPECIALLY END UP IN CREEK WASTES.
UM, AND THEN SHOWING WHAT THE RESULT IS OF THEM, YOU KNOW, CREATING BARRIERS, CREATING DAMS, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT CAUSE UM, CAUSE UH, WHEN THE WATER IS RUNNING, IT BACKS IT UP AND CAN CAUSE POOLING, UM, YOU KNOW, REDUCES THE AMOUNT OF FLOW, UH, WITHIN A CREEKWAY.
UH, CURRENTLY WE DON'T HAVE ANY VIDEOS, BUT WE DO HONESTLY WOULD LIKE TO MAKE SOME OF THOSE IN THE FEATURE.
SINCE A C C C, MOST OF OUR VIDEOS ARE MOSTLY BASED ON SPREADING THE WORD OF PEOPLE THAT DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT, HEY, WATCH THIS VIDEO.
IT'S MUCH MORE PLEASING TO THE EYE THAN LISTENING OR READING A BOOK.
SO MAKING VIDEOS ABOUT HOW TO AVOID ANY OF THESE TRASHES GETTING INTO OUR CREEKS WAYS TO TRY TO KEEP OUR PARKS CLEAN ARE DEFINITELY THINGS THAT A C C WANTS TO SUCCEED IN.
SO VIDEOS SHOULD DEFINITELY WE'LL BE IN THE PROCESS FOR THOSE.
AND AS AN EXAMPLE, ARLENE, DO YOU MIND SHARING A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR COLLABORATION AND VIDEO FROM WATERSHED AROUND FLOODING? UH, YES.
I WAS ACTUALLY GONNA ASK IF I COULD GO NEXT.
UM, YEAH, I DID A COLLABORATION WITH WATERSHED DURING THEIR COMPETITION FOR FLOODING, UM, SPECIFICALLY LIKE HOW THE FLOODING AND ONION CREEK HAPPENED A FEW YEARS AGO.
UM, I DID AN ANIMATION VIDEO OF LIKE, UH, TO STOP AND DON'T DROWN, UH, FOR THEIR COMPETITION.
ALSO, I WANTED TO ADD THAT I THINK THAT SUPPORTS LIKE THE OVERALL MISSION OF SUSTAINABILITY AND WE ARE WORKING, WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH, UM, THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY TO, UM, CREATE THESE VIDEOS THAT ARE ABOUT THE, UM, THE, UM, SORRY, UH, THE EQUITY PLAN, THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
THANKS Y'ALL FOR ALL THAT YOU'RE DOING.
UM, YOU'RE DOING GREAT WORK AND WE LOVE TO ALWAYS SEE THE NEXT GENERATION, UM, THAT'S COMING FORWARD.
AND SOMEDAY HOPEFULLY YOU'LL BE SITTING HERE AND TAKING QUESTIONS FROM SOMEBODY JUST LIKE YOU
OH, I WAS JUST, UH, KIND OF CURIOUS, UM, LIKE WHAT ARE SOME LIKE WAYS THAT YOU, UH, BRING IN DIVERSE, UM, DIVERSE, UH, LIKE I WAS CURIOUS IF YOU REACH OUT TO MAYBE HBCUS OR LIKE CERTAIN SCHOOLS THAT ARE LIKE, HAVE MORE OF A, UM, DIVERSE POPULATION OR LIKE HOW DO YOU KEEP THAT DIVERSITY? SO, YEAH, SO, UH, AC C C'S MAIN OBJECTIVE IS TO HIRE FROM WITHIN OUR, UM, WITH THROUGH WORD OF MOUTH, UH, BUT ESSENTIALLY IS TO HIRE PEOPLE OF COLOR AND TO FOCUS IN PRIMARILY FROM THE EASTERN CRESCENT SIDE OF TOWN.
UM, TRIPLE C'S MAIN MISSION LIKES TO FOCUS ON TRADITIONAL HAS BEEN RECRUITING TRADITIONALLY FROM THE EASTERN AUSTIN, UH, EAST SIDE OF AUSTIN, UH, PRIMARILY.
AND UM, YEAH, AND THEN FROM THAT IT'S BEEN, WE'VE BEEN RECRUITING FROM, UM, THROUGH WORD OF MOUTH ESSENTIALLY.
AND SOME, I'M SOME ADDITIONAL AND FROM, UH, IS IT OKAY TO ADD A LITTLE MORE CONTEXT TO THAT ONE? YEAH, PLEASE DO.
UM, UM, ADDITIONALLY WE DO PARTNER WITH, LIKE WE MENTIONED, CLIFTON CAREER AND DEVELOPMENT SCHOOL THAT IS IN THE EAST SIDE AND IT DOES SERVE STUDENTS FROM ALL OVER AUSTIN.
UM, BUT A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS, UM, BIPO OR BLACK, INDIGENOUS, UH, FOLKS OF COLOR OR LOW INCOME STUDENTS.
UM, AND WE ALSO WORK TO SUPPORT OUR, SOME OF OUR INTERNAL PROGRAMS THAT HAVE BEEN AND CURRENTLY ARE, ARE BLACK LED AND SERVE MOST OF BLACK KIDS KIDS.
UM, SO WE REALLY STRATEGICALLY WORK TO FIND, UM, PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY INTERESTED IN DOING
[00:35:01]
THE WORK AND SUPPORT AND GETTING RESOURCES TO THEM.SO LIKE EQUITY AND ACTION IS KIND OF HOW WE LOOK AT IT.
UM, AND MYSELF BEING A WHITE PERSON IN THE NATURAL SYSTEMS AND ED WORLD, IT IS STILL QUITE WHITE DOMINATED, PARTICULARLY WHEN WE LOOK AT THE LEADERSHIP, UM, AND HIGHER PAID JOBS.
SO WE'RE REALLY INTENTIONAL ABOUT, WE DO WANNA RECRUIT FOLKS INTO THESE JOBS, UM, FOLKS OF COLOR, BUT ALSO TOWARDS, UM, LEADERSHIP POSITIONS, NOT STOPPING AT THE ENTRY LEVEL POINT.
UM, ANOTHER THING I WAS KIND OF WONDERING ABOUT, WELL, WITH LIKE OUR GOVERNOR'S DIRECTIVE TO GET RID OF DIVERSITY AND EQUITY AND INCLUSION PROGRAMS AND ELIMINATING THE FUNDING FOR THAT, IF Y'ALL HAVE HAD ANY ISSUES WITH FINDING FUNDING SINCE HE'S IMPLEMENTED THAT WITH THE STATE.
WE PARTNER AND REALLY WALK HAND IN HAND WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S EQUITY OFFICE AND, AND ALSO OUR EQUITY AND INCLUSION PROGRAM MANAGER NETWORK.
UM, AND, UM, WE KIND OF FOLLOW THEIR LEAD AND ELEVATE WHAT THEY'RE ASKING FOR.
SO THANKFULLY WE HAVE NOT HAD THE IMPACT OF THE GOVERNOR'S DECISION, UH, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THE EQUITY NETWORK HAS VERY MUCH BEEN TALKING ABOUT AND AWARE OF.
UM, SO WE ARE GONNA FOLLOW THEIR LEAD AND, AND SUPPORT WHERE WE CAN, BUT WE'RE GOING TO KEEP DOING OUR MISSION ALIGNED WORK BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT MATTERS TO US AS A PROGRAM.
THANK YOU FOR DOING THE WORK THAT Y'ALL DO, GUYS.
A COUPLE LAST, UH, QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, BUT THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR, FOR COMING AND, AND SPEAKING TO US, UH, UH, TAKING THE TIME, BUT ALSO, UM, YOU KNOW, HAVING THE COURAGE.
SO, UH, YOU'RE, YOU GUYS ARE WELL ON YOUR WAY TO BEING GOOD LEADERS IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNITY.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IF WE ALL COULD EMAIL US OR PUT, GIVE US A LINK TO THE, THE ANIMATION VIDEO THAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT FOR ONION CREEK.
UM, IN PARTICULAR, THERE'S ONE, UH, EX COMMISSIONER THAT I THINK WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE THAT.
UM, AND, AND IF YOU GUYS DO THAT, THEN I'LL ASK ELIZABETH TO, TO DO SOMETHING FOR Y'ALL.
AND THAT IS TO SEND THEM THAT ANDREW KLIMAN REPORT THAT, THAT WE WERE REFERENCING.
THE, THE PLASTICS AND THE, THE, THE PROBLEM, THE, THE MAIN CULPRITS OF TRASH AND CREEKS.
UM, BECAUSE I THINK THAT IT, IT'S GOT SOME DENSITY TO IT, UM, BUT UM, I THINK IT IS A PRETTY GOOD TARGET FOR WHERE YOUR EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN COULD GO WITH, WITH KIND OF, UM, THE TRUE EFFECTS, UH, AND, AND THE MAIN SOURCES OF TRASH AND CREEKS.
'CAUSE IT'S ALWAYS FUN TO CLEAN IT UP, BUT IT'S, IT'S TRY TO, IT'S ALWAYS BETTER TO
UM, BUT THANK YOU VERY MUCH GUYS, UH, VERY MUCH APPRECIATE IT.
AND, UM, MY CONTACT RIGHT NOW IS ELIZABETH FUNK.
WOULD THAT BE A GOOD CONTACT TO EMAIL THAT VIDEO TOO? YES, THAT WOULD BE FANTASTIC.
AND IF IT'S AFTER THAT, THEN PROBABLY, UM, IN INCLUDE LIZ, UH, LIZ AS WELL.
JUAN, IT, IT, IT, IT WON'T HIT AN EMPTY INBOX, I PROMISE.
IS THE, IS THE, IS THE PURPOSE OF THAT
UH, THANK YOU GUYS, APPRECIATE, APPRECIATE Y'ALL'S TIME ON PREGNANCY.
UM, ALRIGHT, WE'RE MOVING ON TO, UH, THE
[3. Briefing on the “Reaching Austin’s Net Zero Goals via Housing Density”]
NEXT ITEM, WHICH IS AGENDA ITEM NUMBER THREE, WHICH IS A BRIEFING ON REACHING AUSTIN'S NET ZERO GOALS VIA HOUSING DENSITY.UM, AND IT IS A PRESENTATION BY TRANSIT FORD AND I BELIEVE YOU GUYS HAVE SOME SLIDES THAT HE ALREADY'S GOT.
IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND AS YOU YEAH.
COME, COME UP TO SPEAK, JUST INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND, UH, UH, YEAH, AND THE TABLE'S YS, SORRY BILL.
YOU THINK I WOULD'VE DONE THIS BEFORE KNOWN ABOUT THE MICROPHONE? THANK YOU.
UH, JUST, UH, MY NAME IS BILL MCCALLEY.
I'M THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF TRANSIT FORWARD.
WE ARE AN AUSTIN 5 0 1 C THREE WITH A MISSION OF EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT REGARDING TRANSIT PROJECTS IN GENERAL, BUT WITH A REAL FOCUS ON PROJECT CONNECT.
BEFORE WE START, I JUST WANNA PUT OUT A SPECIAL PLUG TO THE HUNGRY HILL FOUNDATION THAT WAS MENTIONED IN THE LAST PRESENTATION.
I LIVE ON THE EAST SIDE, UH, CHASE, THE GUY WHO RUNS IT IS LIKE, HE OPERATES THREE BLOCKS FROM MY HOUSE AND THOSE GUYS ARE OUT THERE EVERY MORNING AT SEVEN 30 CLEANING UP THE WATERSHEDS.
THAT'S A GOOD GROUP OF FOLKS THAT, THAT REALLY BUST THEIR TAILS TO BOTH COMBINE GIVING FOLKS WHO ARE ON HOUSE TO REALLY CHANCE TO GET MONEY WITH DOING SOMETHING GOOD.
SO JUST THROWING IT OUT THERE, UH, HE'S A GOOD GUY THAT'S DOING A GOOD PROGRAM.
UH, BACK TO OUR THING, TRANSIT FORWARD REALLY EXISTS TO DO EDUCATION, ENGAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY REGARDING PROJECT CONNECT.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE MADE OUR MISSION TO DO IS TO PUT OUT REPORTS BASED ON AREAS THAT INTERSECT WITH TRANSIT.
SO WE DID ONE, UH, LAST SEMESTER REGARDING THE NEGATIVE EXTERNALITIES OF TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND WE GAVE A PRESENTATION TO THAT WITH A STUDENT WE WORKED WITH, UH, TO THE URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION LAST MONTH.
THE OTHER PROJECT THAT WE DID, WE PARTNERED WITH ISABELLA PETERSON, WHO IS A MASTER STUDENT
[00:40:01]
AT THE L B J SCHOOL AT, UH, UT WHO DID A RESEARCH REPORT FOR US BASED ON HOW WE CAN REALLY WORK TO GET NET ZERO GOALS.I KNOW HERE IN AUSTIN WE, WE, WE CARE ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE.
THERE ARE SPECIFIC GOALS THAT I'M SURE YOU ALL ARE VERY FAMILIAR WITH, THAT THE CITY SET UP TO TRY TO GET REDUCTION IN GREENHOUSE GASES.
AND WE'VE ALWAYS BELIEVED THAT MORE TRANSIT AND MORE DENSITY NEAR TRA UH, TRANSIT STOPS IS PROBABLY THE BEST WAY TO GO ABOUT DOING IT.
BUT IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE PROOFED OUR WORK, WE HAD MS. PETERSON COME IN LAST SEMESTER AND SHE DID A, A REPORT.
SO SHE'S GONNA GIVE, UH, A SHORT PRESENTATION ON THIS POWERPOINT ON HER REPORT, WHICH YOU CAN FIND ON OUR WEBSITE, TRANSIT FORWARD.ORG.
THERE'S A CLICK TO REPORTS AND YOU CAN FIND BOTH THOSE REPORTS INCLUDING HERS THERE.
AND THEN I'LL LET HER PRESENT AND THEN I'LL CLOSE A LITTLE BIT AND WE'D BE HAPPY TO TAKE QUESTIONS.
MS. MILLER, EVERYONE LIKE BILL SAID, MY NAME IS ISABELLA PETERSON, MASTER STUDENT AT THE L B J SCHOOL HERE IN AUSTIN.
I'M REALLY EXCITED TO LIKE TALK ABOUT THE REPORT AND HOW WE BELIEVE AUSTIN CAN ACHIEVE NET ZERO VIA SPECIFICALLY HOUSING DENSITY IN TRANSIT.
YEAH, SO JUST TO OUTLINE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT TODAY, I WANNA GO OVER A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PROJECTIONS, CLIMATE PROJECTIONS FOR AUSTIN.
SPECIFICALLY HOW WE BELIEVE HOUSING DENSITY AND TRANSIT CAN HELP REDUCE THOSE IMPACTS BY REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
AND KIND OF PIVOTING A LITTLE BIT INTO THE SECOND HALF OF MY REPORT WHERE I LOOKED AT CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AUSTIN HAS IN PLACE WITH SPECIFIC ATTENTION TO THE HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION GOALS AND OUR EVALUATIONS OF THEM, AND THEN SOME RECOMMENDATIONS WE PULLED FROM THAT NEXT SLIDE.
SO TO BEGIN, ROUGHLY TWO THIRDS OF ALL CARBON EMISSIONS COME FROM CITIES AND TOWNS AND AUSTIN HERE SPECIFICALLY AMIDST ROUGHLY 10 MILLION METRIC TONS OF C O TWO ANNUALLY.
SO IF AUSTIN REALLY CONTINUES DOWN THIS PATHWAY, THERE'S GONNA BE A RISE OF AVERAGE TEMPERATURES, EXTREME WEATHER LIKE WE EXPERIENCED DURING WINTER STORM URI AND PROLONGED DROUGHTS THAT REALLY MAKE THE LIVES OF OUR TECHS AND RESIDENTS A LOT MORE DIFFICULT, ESPECIALLY ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL EQUITY AND ECONOMICS ASPECTS.
NOW, A LOT OF THIS IS PARTIALLY OUR FAULT IN TERMS OF HUMAN DRIVEN ACTIVITIES, ESPECIALLY IN RELATION TO CARS, UM, INCREASED, UH, ELECTRICITY USAGE.
BUT THERE ARE WAYS TO MITIGATE THOSE ISSUES.
AND ONE OF THE WAYS WE THINK IS A GOOD OPTION HAS BEEN TALKED ABOUT BY SCHOLARS SUCH AS AT THE BERKELEY INSTITUTE, IS THROUGH LOOKING AT HOUSING DENSITY AND INCREASED TRANSIT.
SO LIKE I MENTIONED, ONE OF THOSE MITIGATION PRIORITIES THAT WE SHOULD BELIEVE OPTIONS TO REALLY FOCUS ON IS HOUSING DENSITY.
IN A QUICK SUMMARY HOUSING ESSENTIALLY IS THE, UM, DEVELOPMENT PER ACRE OF THAT A PLA LAND HAS BASED ON THE CERTAIN REGULATIONS, ZONING REGULATIONS THAT THAT AREA IS ALLOWED TO HAVE.
NOW ONE OF THE AREAS THAT WE HAVE IS SINGLE FAMILY ZONING AND THAT CAN OFTEN BE THE MORE RESTRICTIVE TYPE OF ZONING IN TERMS OF BEING VERY CONSTRAINED ON WHAT BUILDINGS ARE BEING BUILT IN THAT SECTION.
WHILE MIXED USE ZONING REALLY ALLOWS US TO MERGE BOTH RESIDENTIAL AND UM, COMMERCIAL ENTITIES SUCH AS APARTMENT BUILDINGS NEXT TO GROCERY STORES, NEXT TO SMALL BUSINESSES, REALLY INCREASING THAT WALKABILITY THAT A COMMUNITY CAN EXPERIENCE, THEREBY DECREASING THEIR RELIANCE ON CARS AND THUS LOWERING THE, UM, THE GREENHOUSE GAS FOOTPRINT, THE CARBON FOOTPRINT THAT A CERTAIN COMMUNITY HAVE.
SO THIS HERE IS A MAP DEVELOPED BY THE AL INSTITUTE USING THEIR COOL CLIMATE CALCULATOR THAT REALLY SHOWS AUSTIN'S SPECIFIC HOUSING CARBON, UM, US HOUSEHOLD CARBON FOOTPRINT BY ZIP CODE.
THE BLUE SECTION HERE IN THE MIDDLE IS WHERE THERE IS LOWER CARBON FOOTPRINTS AND THE RED SECTIONS ON THE OUTSIDE WOULD BE THE HIGHER RANGES OF THOSE HOUSEHOLD CARBON FOOTPRINTS.
THE THING TO HIGHLIGHT HERE IS THAT THE AREAS IN THE CENTERED AREA ARE USUALLY WHERE YOU HAVE MORE DENSE MIXED USE ZONING AREAS THAT LEAD TO THOSE LOWERING CARBON FOOTPRINTS.
ONE, BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE TO RELY ON CARS TO COMMUTE AS FAR TO GET TO THEIR DAILY NECESSITIES OR RUN THEIR DAIRY ERRANDS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE THAT HOUSING IS MUCH MORE DENSE, THE DARKEST BLUE IS A LITTLE BIT HARD TO SEE IN THE SCREEN.
BUT NEXT TO THAT WHITE SECTION THAT IS ACTUALLY AN AREA THAT INCLUDES A WEST CAMPUS THAT IS A REALLY GREAT EXAMPLE OF A SUPER WALKABLE COMMUNITY THAT HAS STACKED APARTMENTS WITH GROCERY STORES IN THERE THAT STUDENTS CAN COMMUTE THROUGHOUT WITHOUT NEEDING A CAR, ESPECIALLY ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS, ESPECIALLY COMPARED TO THE RURAL COUNTERPARTS.
WE SEE THE TOP LEFT CORNER THAT REALLY DARK RED WHERE THEY'RE REALLY HAVING TO USE A CAR TO GO INTO THE CITY TO GO OUT, RUN THOSE DAILY ERRANDS.
NOW WHEN RESEARCHING THE SLIDE, ONE OF THE THINGS IN ONE OF THE STUDIES THAT WE FOUND WAS CONDUCTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AND ONE OF THE THINGS THEY POINTED OUT SPECIFICALLY WAS THAT WE CAN'T RELY ON OUR NORMAL
[00:45:01]
DECARBONIZATION STRATEGIES TO GET US TO THOSE NET ZERO GOALS.WHAT THEY HIGHLIGHTED THAT WAS THAT JUST INCREASING RENEWABLES OR REDUCING RELIANCE ON NATURAL GAS ALONE WON'T GET TO THOSE CLIMATE PROJECTIONS THAT WE'VE MADE IN PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
THEY ACTUALLY HIGHLIGHTED THAT LOWERING OUR RESIDENTIAL FOOTPRINT, OUR FULLER SPACE, EXCUSE ME, AND ALSO INCREASING HOUSE AND DENSITY IS ONE WAY WE CAN BUILD LOWER CARBON COMMUNITIES.
AND THOSE WOULD BE THE COMMUNITIES YOU CAN SEE RIGHT AROUND IN THE BLUE IN THAT URBAN CENTER RIGHT NEXT TO THAT WHITE SPOT.
SO NOW TO PIVOT A LITTLE BIT TO THE SECOND HALF OF THE REPORT WHERE WE LOOKED AT THE AUSTIN EQUITY PLAN, I'M SURE Y'ALL KNOW A LOT ABOUT IT SO I WON'T GO TOO MUCH IN DEPTH, BUT THE THING THAT STOOD OUT TO US WAS THAT IN THEIR REPORT THEY ALSO HIGHLIGHTED THAT MOST OF THE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS COME FROM THE TRANSPORTATION AND ELECTRICITY SECTOR.
THAT'S KIND OF WHY WE DECIDED TO FOCUS ON THIS REPORT BECAUSE IT HIGHLIGHTED AND ONE OF THE CURIOSITIES WE HAD WAS BECAUSE WE KNEW THE TRANSPORTATION ELECTRICITY SECTOR WAS A BIG ISSUE.
WE WANNA SEE WHAT THE CITY IS DOING ABOUT IT.
SO BECAUSE OF THAT, THE HIGH GREENHOUSE GASES FROM THOSE SECTORS, WE WANT, AND WE KNEW THROUGH RESEARCH THAT WE FOUND MIXED USE ZONING WAS A SOLUTION THAT COULD BE USED TO HELP THAT HELP REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASES.
WE JUST TOOK THAT RESEARCH AND SAW THAT AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN HAD GOALS REGARDING HOUSING IN TRANSIT AND WE DECIDED TO LOOK AT AT LEAST THREE OF THEM AND SEE HOW THE STATUS OF THOSE REPORTS ARE.
SO HERE YOU CAN SEE THE THREE GOALS THAT WE DECIDED TO LOOK AT.
THE FIRST ONE BEING, UM, THE ASPECT OF DEVELOPING NEW NON-RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE CITY CENTER, THE SECOND BEING FOCUSED ON BUILDING MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS.
AND THE THIRD REALLY FOCUSING ON TRYING TO GET MORE OF THAT WALKABLE EXTRA COMMUNITY MOBILITY THROUGH PUBLIC TRANSIT, BIKING, WALKING, AND CARPOOLING.
NOW WHILE WE FOUND MOSTLY BY LOOKING AT THE REPORT AND THE GOALS THAT A LOT OF THOSE INITIATIVES WERE SUPER POSITIVE, WE FOUND THAT MOST OF THOSE GOALS WERE ACTUALLY OFF TRACK FOR THE HOUSING GOALS.
SIX OUT 11, THOSE WERE OFF TRACK.
AND REGARDING THE TRANSPORTATION AND LAND USE GOALS, SIX OUT OF 13 OF THOSE GOALS HADN'T BEEN BEGUN.
SO THEY HAVEN'T STARTED AND ZERO OF THEM HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.
NOW THAT WAS EVALUATED IN SPRING OF THIS YEAR SO THAT SOME OF THEM COULD HAVE STARTED OVER THE SUMMER.
SO THAT WAS UP TO DATE AS OF EARLY SPRING, MAYBE MAY OR APRIL.
SO THIS REALLY JUST HIGHLIGHTS THE ADDITIONAL ATTENTION WE NEED ON HOUSING SPECIFIC ISSUES AND, UH, TRANSIT WITH ATTENTION TO HOUSING DENSITY.
SO IT GETS TO KIND OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WE ARE ABLE TO PULL FROM THIS REPORT AND EVALUATING HOW HOUSING POLICY IS TREATED IN AUSTIN.
WE CAME TO THREE DIFFERENT CONCLUSIONS.
ONE, WE WANNA INCREASE HOUSING DENSITY TO REALLY ACHIEVE GREATER MOBILITY.
AND THIS IS WITH EMPHASIZING MIXED RESIDENTIAL ZONING.
THE SECOND BEING INCREASING THE USAGE OF CURRENT AND FUTURE TRANSIT SYSTEMS. THIS WAY IF WE ENCOURAGE CURRENT TRANSIT USE NOW, IT'LL BE EASIER FOR RESIDENTS TO TRANSITION INTO USING PUB, UH, PROJECT CONNECTS APPLICATIONS.
AND THEN LASTLY WOULD JUST BE EMPHASIZING THE EDUCATION ON HOUSING DENSITY BECAUSE THERE CAN BE CONCERNS ABOUT ITS IMPLICATIONS AND IMPORTANT THAT WE HIGHLIGHT THE BENEFICIAL IMPACTS THAT HOUSING DENSITY CAN HAVE ON REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
AND JUST REALLY CONCLUDE, I REALLY JUST WANNA EMPHASIZE THE BOTTOM LINE HERE.
THAT HOUSING DENSITY INCREASED WITH ACCESSIBLE TRANSPORTATION NEAR THOSE COMMUNITIES CAN REALLY ONE, HELP REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, LOWERING THE CITY'S TOTAL CARBON FOOTPRINT AND THEREBY ALSO ACHIEVING AUSTIN'S NET ZERO CLIMATE GOALS.
SO MR. CHAIR, IF I COULD JUST QUICKLY, UH, CLOSE WITH THREE NEW POINTS AND THEN MAKE A POINT OR THREE, THREE NEW EVENTS AND MAKE A POINT.
THE FIRST IS, UH, JUST TODAY I WAS ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND SAW THAT JULIE MONTGOMERY, WHICH IS MAYOR PRO TEM PAIGE ELLIS'S CHIEF OF STAFF, PUT UP A LINK TO, UM, A NEW WEBSITE THAT WAS PUT UP IN A JOINT COLLABORATION BETWEEN TEXAS A AND M UNIVERSITY AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND SHOWING THE RISK ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENT STATES IN TERMS OF OUR CLIMATE FUTURES.
AND ALMOST ALL OF TEXAS, INCLUDING A LOT OF ZIP CODES AROUND THE AUSTIN AREA, WAS AT VERY, VERY HIGH RISK OF VERY BAD THINGS HAPPENING AS THE CLIMATE CHANGE GETS BAD.
THE SECOND THING I'LL SAY IS WE KNOW THAT HERE IN AUSTIN, UH, WE ACTUALLY DID A POLL TRANSIT FORWARD BACK IN APRIL ASKING FOR WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT ABOUT PROJECT CONNECT, CONSIDERING ALL THE CHANGES AND EVERYTHING, AND ESPECIALLY AT THE TIME THE LEGISLATURE WAS LOOKING AT POSSIBLY MAKE US HAVING ANOTHER ELECTION.
WELL, WHAT WE FOUND WAS A COUPLE THINGS.
NUMBER ONE, AUSTINITES STILL STRONGLY SUPPORT PROJECT CONNECT BY AN ALMOST TWO TO ONE LEVEL, ALMOST EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ELECTION IN 2020.
WHAT SURPRISED ME THOUGH WAS THE REASON THE NUMBER ONE WASN'T A SURPRISE, IT WAS AFFORDABILITY.
THAT'S THE BIGGEST ISSUE PUBLIC POLICY-WISE IN THIS TOWN.
WE ALL KNOW THAT AND TRANSIT CAN REALLY HELP WITH AFFORDABILITY IN A VERY
[00:50:01]
CONCRETE WAY.HOWEVER, THE SECOND THING DID SURPRISE ME, WHICH IS I THOUGHT BECAUSE NOBODY LIKES SITTING ON 35 OR MOPAC, NO ONE LIKES ALL THE CONSTRUCTION GOING ON.
I THOUGHT TRAFFIC MITIGATION, WHICH TRANSIT DOES DO, UH, WOULD BE THE SECOND HIGHEST UH, PERFORMING QUESTION THAT WAS INCORRECT.
CLIMATE CHANGE WAS, I THINK PEOPLE ARE NOW STARTING TO REALLY SEE AND TASTE AND HEAR AND FEEL THE RESULTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE WHEN YOU SEE THE HOTTEST SUMMERS ON RECORD WHEN YOU HAVE TO GO TO A RESTAURANT AND OUR DROUGHT'S SO BAD THAT PEOPLE HAVE TO ASK YOU IF YOU WANT WATER, IF YOU GO OUT TO LAKE TRAVIS AND IT'S SO LOW, PEOPLE ARE SEEING IT.
AND SO WE KNOW THAT PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS A REAL THING.
THAT LEADS ME TO MY THIRD POINT THOUGH, AND THE THING THAT I DO FIND SOME CONCERN WITH, UM, JUST LAST MONTH, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT DON'T KNOW, LIKE MINNEAPOLIS ST.
PAUL IS CONSIDERED THE GOLD STAR STANDARD BEARER OF LIKE NEW ZONING AND GROWTH INITIATIVES.
THEY HAVE A LOT MORE DENSITY, THEY HAVE A LOT MORE TRANSIT.
I MEAN, THEY'RE DOING EVERYTHING THAT WE NEED TO DO TO BUILD GOOD CITIES THAT CAN ACTUALLY, AS MS. PETERSON POINTS OUT, LOWER OUR GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
WELL, THERE WAS AN ATTEMPT AND A SUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO CHALLENGE A LOT OF THOSE NEW HOUSING RULES THAT FOCUSED ON DENSITY AND TRANSIT AND IT WAS SUCCESSFUL AND IT WAS BROUGHT UP BY ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS.
AND THAT'S REALLY FRUSTRATING FOR US BECAUSE AS MS. PETERSON SHOWED UP, SHOWED US JUST PUTTING MORE SOLAR ON HOUSES, JUST REDUCING, UH, NATURAL GAS, THAT'S THAT'S NOT GONNA DO IT.
THAT'S NOT GONNA GET US WHERE WE NEED TO BE.
WE NEED MORE TRANSIT AND WE NEED MORE DENSE HOUSING NEAR TRANSIT BECAUSE HOUSING AND TRANSIT COMBINED THEIR NUMBERS ONE AND TWO IN TERMS OF GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS.
AND IF WE HAVE A SIMILAR SITUATION THAT HAPPENS HERE HAS HAPPENED IN MINNESOTA AND WE STOP MORE DENSITY AND STOP MORE TRANSIT, WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN? PEOPLE ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO MOVE OUT TO PFLUGERVILLE AND MANOR AND BUTA AND KYLE AND GEORGETOWN AND THEY'RE STILL GONNA DRIVE INTO AUSTIN.
SO YOU'RE GONNA STILL HAVE HOUSING THAT IS NOT AS GOOD AS GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION AND MORE CAR TRAVEL, WHICH MAKES THE PROBLEM WORSE.
SO MY MY CLOSING POINT IS THIS, IF WE'RE SERIOUS ABOUT THIS, LET'S NOT GO DOWN THE ROAD MINNESOTA DID, IF WE'RE SERIOUS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE.
AND IF YOU BELIEVE LIKE I DO THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS THE MOST CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH TODAY, WE NEED TO KEEP SUPPORTING PROJECT CONNECT AND WE NEED TO KEEP SUPPORTING THE HOUSING AND OTHER MIXED USE DEVELOPMENT THAT HAPPENS AROUND TRANSIT SO THAT PEOPLE CAN GET RID OF THEIR CARS, THEY CAN LIVE IN HOUSING THAT IS NOT GONNA BE, UH, AS EMITTING.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH, VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
WE APPRECIATE YOU AND WE'D LOVE TO STAND FOR ANY QUESTIONS Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE.
UH, AND I, I SPOKE TOO EARLY ON THE LAST ITEM, BUT IT WAS THIS ONE SULLIVAN THAT I WANTED TO GIVE YOU AND QURESHI THE FIRST BITE AT THE APPLE.
UH, COMMISSIONER QURESHI, DO YOU WANT TO GO FIRST? UH, YEAH, I'LL GO FIRST.
UH, YEAH, I MEAN I WAS THE ONE THAT RICK ME THE LAST ONE TOO, SO I WAS JUST LIKE, YEAH, I'M NOT MAD AT IT.
UM, YEAH, I APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION FOR SURE.
UM, I THINK WHEN WE TALK ABOUT DENSITY, YOU KNOW, IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT WE NEED ALL OF AUSTIN TO BE DENSE, NOT JUST THE EAST SIDE AND NORTH LAMAR, RIGHT? SO I THINK, UM, SOMEONE NEEDS TO TALK TO THE HOMEOWNERS, UH, ESPECIALLY ON THE WEST SIDE, UM, ABOUT THE POSITIVE ASPECTS OF DENSITY AND NOT HAVING TO DRIVE DOWN, YOU KNOW, MOPAC OR TWO 90 OR 180 3 OR WHATEVER, 360, RIGHT.
AND I GUESS FOR TRANSIT, YOU KNOW, UM, THE ONE THING THAT I THINK IS, UH, IMPORTANT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, MY CAR'S BEEN MESSED UP, SO I'VE BEEN HAVING TO TAKE, UH, THE BUS A LOT AND UH, YOU KNOW, I'VE STARTED NOTICING, YOU KNOW, WHEN IT COMES TO THE SUBURBS, YOU KNOW, WHAT PLACES HAVE UH, HAVE CAPPED METRO, RIGHT? AND, UH, WHAT PLACES HAVE, WHAT NOWADAYS WHAT CITIES DO IS THEY ENTER IN LIKE RIDE SHARING AGREEMENTS, RIGHT? SO LIKE ROUND ROCK AND PFLUGERVILLE, THEY HAVE PROGRAMS WHERE, UM, THEY CONTRACT OUT WITH LIKE A, A RIDE SHARING PROGRAM.
UM, I THINK ROUND ROCK USES ZTRIP AND I FORGET WHO PFLUGERVILLE USES, UM, WHERE THEY HAVE LIKE, YOU KNOW, SOMEWHAT SUBSIDIZED RIDES WHERE IT'S LIKE, YOU KNOW, $4 OR WHATEVER PER RIDE TO LIKE GET YOU FROM, YOU KNOW, PREDETERMINED BUS STOPS.
UM, YOU KNOW, AS FAR AS LIKE CAP METRO, I THINK ONLY, UH, LEANDER AND ROUND ROCK ARE LIKE THE SUBURBS THAT GOT CONTRACTS WITH CAP METRO FOR BUS SERVICE.
SO WHILE I DO THINK DENSITY IN THE, THE CITY'S CORE WILL HELP, I THINK ALSO TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET, YOU KNOW, MASS TRANSIT MORE, UH, ACTIVE AND MORE USED WITHIN, YOU KNOW, THESE OUTSKIRTS OF AUSTIN IS ALSO, UH, DEFINITELY, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE TALK ABOUT AFFORDABILITY, RIGHT? IS SOMETHING THAT THAT NEEDS TO BE EMPHASIZED ON A A REGIONAL LEVEL.
UM, I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF I HAD ANY QUESTIONS FOR Y'ALL.
I FELT LIKE I WAS JUST ON A SOAPBOX.
OH, BUT THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
COMMISSIONER, CAN I RESPOND WITH TWO QUICK THINGS? IS THAT, IS THAT COMMISSIONER? YEAH, SURE.
FIRST OFF, I'M ON THE HOUSING WORKS ADVOCACY BOARD, UH, HOUSING WORKS IS ON TRANSIT FORWARD BOARD AND I OFFICE WITH THEM, SO I SIT WITH THEM.
[00:55:01]
WHERE DENSITY IS OCCURRING.UH, I KNOW THAT THAT'S ONE OF THE BIG ISSUES THAT WE'RE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT WITH THE CITY'S EQUITABLE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT PLAN IS HOW TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN ACROSS THE CITY.
AND SO HERE YOU LOUD AND CLEAR AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE ARE TALKING ABOUT AND EQUITY IS BUILT INTO OUR MISSION STATEMENT.
SO WE AGREE WITH YOU ON THAT AND WE'RE WORKING ON THAT.
THE SECOND THING I WOULD SAY IS THIS, IN TERMS OF HAVING TRANSIT BE ABLE TO ACCESS FARTHER AREAS, ONCE YOU GET THE SKELETON BUILT, IT'S A LOT EASIER TO BUILD EXTENSIONS TO THAT.
AND I THINK WE HAD A LITTLE CELEBRATION A COUPLE WEEKS AGO WHERE WE HAD MAYOR WATSON SPEAK AND HE WAS BASICALLY SAYING, LOOK, THE BEST TIME TO HAVE BUILT TRANSIT WAS IN 2000 WHEN WE HAD THE FIRST ELECTION.
AND UNFORTUNATELY THAT FAILED BECAUSE IF THAT WOULD'VE SUCCEEDED AND YOU WOULD'VE HAD THE SKELETON, MAYBE WE'D BE TALKING TODAY ABOUT HOW TO GET TO MAYNARD, HOW TO GET TO GEORGETOWN, HOW TO GET TO KYLE.
BUT WE STILL HAVE TO DO THE BASICS AND THAT'S WHY I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO MAKE, MAKE SURE WE STICK THIS THROUGH GOING FORWARD.
'CAUSE IT'LL BE EASIER DOWN THE ROAD TO GET TO THE POINT THAT YOU SO INTELLIGENTLY BROUGHT UP.
AND THEN, YEAH, I THINK WITHIN THE CITY, I THINK THE CAP METRO PICKUP PLAN IS, UH, WELL, GOT REALLY TRIPPY FOR A SECOND.
UH, YEAH, THE, UH, I I'M NOT ENOUGH THINGS FOR THAT, THE WAY IT SHOWED UP
UH, YEAH, SO THE CAP METRO, UH, PICKUP APP IS, UH, REALLY GOOD.
AND ONE THING THAT A FRIEND TOLD ME THAT I DIDN'T REALIZE OFF THE BAT WAS THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, CITIZENS CAN ACTUALLY USE IT.
WELL, NOT JUST JUST PEOPLE RIGHT, THAT HAVE THE APP, THEY CAN ACTUALLY GO FROM A BUS STOP TO BUS STOP WITHIN ONE OF THE PICKUP ZONES, UH, FOR FREE.
SO THAT'S LIKE A REALLY POWERFUL THING FOR, UH, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE IN AUSTIN TO BE ABLE TO, TO USE IN, IN DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS.
AND I CERTAINLY HOPE THAT WE CAN, UH, EXTEND IT TO INCLUDE, UH, MORE OF AUSTIN AS TIME GOES ON.
WELL I'VE BEEN WAITING TO, UH, BRING THIS UP HERE.
I USE THE, UH, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY'S COOL CLIMATE TOOL, UH, FREQUENTLY TO EXPLAIN TO PEOPLE THE VALUE OF MORE HOUSING DENSITY.
IT'S NOT JUST TRANSPORTATION, BUT SHARED WALLS AND APARTMENTS AND CONDOS, UH, CONSERVE ENERGY.
SO IT'S A COMBINATION IN THE WHAT, WHAT THEY DO AT CAL BERKELEY.
IT'S A COMBINATION OF TRANSPORTATION AND THEN HOME ENERGY USE AND THEN ALSO CONSUMPTION WITHIN THE HOME, UH, LIKE PRO WHAT, WHAT KIND OF SHOPPING PEOPLE DO.
BUT IT DOES SHOW UP THAT IN THE MIDDLE OF CITIES, LIKE THE GREENEST SPOT IN AMERICA IS PROBABLY MANHATTAN BECAUSE THE RATIO OF HUMAN BEINGS TO MOTOR VEHICLES IS EIGHT TO ONE.
WHEREAS IN THE REST OF THE COUNTRY IT'S 1.1 TO ONE.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER WE CAN DO TO INCREASE MASS TRANSIT, UM, AND ALSO MICRO MOBILITY, BIKING, WALKING SCOOTERS, UH, PETTY CABS, ET CETERA, IS PART OF THE KEY TO GETTING TO A GREENER UM, CITY.
AND ONE WAY TO DO THAT IS TO HAVE MORE HOMES NEAR BUSINESSES, MORE HOMES NEAR BUS STOPS, MORE HOMES NEAR, UH, PLACES OF WORK.
SO I DIDN'T REALLY HAVE A QUESTION, BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS.
BRIER, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING? YEAH, I HAVE A QUESTION.
YOU MENTIONED THAT UH, MINNEAPOLIS ST.
PAUL HAD IMPLEMENTED SOME INCREASED DENSITY YEP.
THINGS, BUT THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS KILLED IT.
CAN YOU ELABORATE? UM, FROM THE RESEARCH THAT I HAVE DONE, THERE WERE PEOPLE THAT WERE CONCERNED WITH THINGS LIKE INCREASED TRAFFIC, BUT THAT ACTUALLY INCLUDED INCREASED PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC BECAUSE MOST OF THE DEVELOPMENT THAT HAPPENED IN THE LAST COUPLE YEARS WHEN THESE ZONING EFFORTS WENT INTO EFFECT WERE APARTMENT BUILDINGS WITH LESS PARKING.
I KNOW HERE IN AUSTIN, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO.
THE CITY COUNCIL JUST VOTED WHAT, A COUPLE MONTHS AGO TO REALLY GET RID OF PARKING MINIMUMS. AND I KNOW THEY'RE GONNA BE WORKING ON AN ORDINANCE HOPEFULLY BY NEXT SPRING THAT ACTUALLY MAKES THAT HAPPEN.
STILL GOTTA DEAL WITH FINANCING.
UH, I THINK SOME OF THE ISSUES WERE WITH BIRD MIGRATION.
UH, THERE WERE OTHERS ISSUES, LIKE I SAID, WITH TRAFFIC.
AND ONCE AGAIN, THAT WASN'T EVEN INCREASED VEHICLE TRAFFIC PER SE, IT WAS EVERYBODY.
AND THAT'S REAL FRUSTRATING FOR US AND IT'S FRUSTRATING FOR ME INDIVIDUALLY AS WELL BECAUSE WHEN YOU LOOK AT CLIMATE CHANGE, ISABELLA'S RESEARCH, THE, THE NUMBERS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.
WHEN YOU HAVE MORE DENSITY AND YOU HAVE MORE TRANSIT, YOU HAVE MORE EFFICIENT HOUSING AND YOU GET RID OF, YOU REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THAT ARE TAKING CARS.
THAT'S HOW WE GET TO GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION GOALS.
THAT'S THE ONLY WAY WE CAN REALLY DO THAT.
AND I KNOW THE CITY ACTUALLY HAS A GOAL, I THINK, OF GETTING TO A 50 50 MODE SHIFT OR MODE SPLIT BETWEEN DRIVING AND EVERYTHING ELSE BY, WAS IT 2039? I THINK THAT'S THE WRITTEN WE'RE GONNA GO WITH THAT.
WHAT'S THAT? WE'RE GONNA GO WITH THAT.
BUT WE'RE NOT GONNA GET THERE UNLESS WE HAVE THESE THINGS.
AND THAT'S WHY FRANKLY SIR, EVEN MORE SO THIS IS A BIG DEAL FOR US BECAUSE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS GOING
[01:00:01]
TO BE HOPEFULLY, UH, SUPPLYING ABOUT HALF THE MONEY FOR PROJECT CONNECT, THEY CARE ABOUT THIS STUFF AS WELL.AND THEY WANT TO SEE AN AVERAGE OF 35 HOUSING UNITS PER ACRE IN THE HALF MILE SURROUNDING TRAIN STOPS.
'CAUSE THEY KNOW THAT DENSITY'S IMPORTANT.
THEY ALSO WANNA SEE THINGS LIKE A VERTICAL MIXED USE STUFF SO THAT PEOPLE HAVE THE RETAIL THAT THEY CAN GET WITHOUT DRIVING, YOU KNOW, AND THEY ALSO WANNA SEE SOME EQUITY THINGS IN THERE AS WELL IN TERMS OF CAN YOU PUT CREDIT UNIONS IN THERE AND GROCERY STORES SO YOU DON'T GET FOOD DESERTS, THAT SORT OF THING.
BUT YEAH, THAT WAS REALLY FRUSTRATING AND I, I KNOW I, I MENTIONED THE MINNEAPOLIS ONE, BUT THERE ARE OTHER EXAMPLES ACROSS THE COUNTRY OF THESE TYPES OF HOUSING CHANGES BEING CHALLENGED BY PEOPLE THAT SAY THAT THEY'RE ENVIRONMENTALIST.
AND MY REBUTTAL TO THAT IS IF WE THINK THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL AND IT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HAPPENING AND THAT HUMAN BEINGS ARE HELPING TO CAUSE IT, WHICH I BELIEVE ALL THOSE THREE THINGS, IF WE KNOW WHAT THE SOLUTIONS ARE AND THOSE SOLUTIONS ARE MORE TRANSIT AND MORE DENSITY NEAR TRANSIT, IF WE'RE NOT DOING THAT, THEN WHERE ARE WE AT? AND, AND I REALLY THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT QUESTION WE NEED TO BE ASKING OURSELVES.
UH, BEING ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION, UH, WE HAVE SEEN A COUPLE OF THINGS PASS THROUGH HERE WHERE THE COUNCIL SEEMS TO BE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH INCREASED DENSITY THROUGH WAIVING CERTAIN ASPECTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.
AND SO THEY'LL SAY, YOU KNOW, WE WANNA MAKE IT AFFORDABLE HOUSING, WE WANNA MAKE IT DENSER, AND IN ORDER TO MAKE IT AFFORDABLE AND DENSER, WE WANT TO WAIVE REVIEW OF, YOU KNOW, THESE ENVIRONMENTAL RESTRICTIONS, WHICH PUT AN UNDUE BURDEN ON THE DEVELOPER.
AND WHILE I FULLY SUPPORT ALL THESE THINGS THAT YOU MENTIONED, UH, YOU KNOW, HAVING INCREASED RUNOFF WITHOUT THE NECESSARY ENVIRONMENTAL SAFEGUARDS TO ENSURE THAT YOUR TOXIC WASTE DOESN'T WIND UP IN YOUR NEIGHBOR'S YARD, I DON'T THINK IS NECESSARILY THE RIGHT WAY.
UH, I THINK THIS COMES FROM A MISPLACED PIECEMEAL APPROACH, AT LEAST IN THIS CITY.
IN SOME CASES, I THINK A MORE COMPREHENSIVE, WELL THOUGHT OUT APPROACH IS PROBABLY A BETTER WAY TO DO IT AS OPPOSED TO, UH, YOU KNOW, CHERRY PICKING RANDOM STRATEGIES TO ACCOMPLISH THE GOALS THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO.
JUST A QUICK COUPLE OF COMMENTS.
UM, FOR ONE, THANKS FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
I, I, I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH THE CONCLUSIONS YOU MAKE, AND I ALSO, JUST ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, I SHARE YOUR FRUSTRATION.
THERE ARE A LOT OF FOLKS IN AUSTIN WHO SEEM TO THINK THAT THIS IS A SMALL TOWN STILL.
AND REALLY THE REALITY IS TO BORROW A QUOTE FROM, UM, FROM BEAR WATSON.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE A BIG CITY NOW, AND WE HAVE BIG CITY CHALLENGES.
THAT'S GONNA TAKE A LOT OF WILL TO OVERCOME THE CONTINUED FIGHT AGAINST THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE REFORMS OVER THE LAST DECADE.
I MEAN, IT'S AKIN TO SWIMMING UPSTREAM.
SO WE'VE GOTTA, I'M REALLY, REALLY GLAD THAT THE CITY IS FINALLY MAKING THE STEPS THEY NEED TO, TO CREATE THESE GIANT TRANSIT NETWORKS AND TO INCREASE DENSITY AND DO THE RIGHT THINGS TO MOVE FORWARD AND GROW.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
UM, ISABELLA, HOW COOL THAT YOUR MASTER'S THESIS TURNED INTO SOMETHING SO UTILITARIAN.
UM, YEAH, I MEAN, I'M ENJOYING THE COMMENTARY.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT, YOU KNOW, THE QUOTE UNQUOTE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNITY IS NOT A MONOLITH, AND IT'S ALWAYS CONFUSED ME HOW, YOU KNOW, PRO DENSITY IS SEEN AS ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL AND I SEE THEM VERY MUCH BEING IN HARMONY TOGETHER.
SO I THINK THIS IS JUST AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE CON CONVERSATION TO HAVE.
UM, AND I'M CURIOUS, YOU KNOW, REFLECTING ON THIS NEW CITY COUNCIL THAT WE HAVE NOW, WHAT YOU ALL WOULD CONSIDER, LIKE TOP TWO WINS THAT HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED RECENTLY, LIKE, I CAN THINK OF A COUPLE, BUT THINGS THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, DENS OR JUST ALIGN WITH YOUR AGENDA.
AND THEN ALSO LOOKING TO THE NEXT YEAR FOR CITY COUNCIL, WHAT WOULD BE ONE OR TWO, YOU KNOW, PRIORITIES FOR YOU ALL THAT YOU THINK COULD REALLY HAVE THE GREATEST IMPACT ON THIS ISSUE? UH, THANK YOU MR. CHAIR AND COMMISSIONER.
I, I WOULD SAY THAT THERE'S FOUR ACTUALLY WINS FROM LAST YEAR THAT I CAN NOTE.
THE FIRST IS THE FAST TRACK PROVISIONS FOR PROJECT CONNECT, WHICH I ACTUALLY TESTIFIED BEFORE THIS COMMISSION, GOD, A YEAR AGO.
I'VE BEEN IN THIS JOB A LONG TIME.
UM, IT WAS AROUND THIS TIME LAST YEAR WE CAME AND GOT THAT DONE.
AND I THINK THAT'S REALLY GONNA HELP GET THROUGH SOME OF THE BUREAUCRACY THAT KEEPS A LOT OF TIMES AMERICAN TRANSIT FROM TAKING A LOT LONGER TIME
[01:05:01]
THAN, FOR INSTANCE, THERE A LOT OF PLACES IN EUROPE THAT GET FASTER.AND THEN THE THREE LAND DEVELOPMENT CHANGES MADE IN THE LAST, WHAT, EIGHT MONTHS.
SO YOU HAD THE PARKING MINIMUM REDUCTION.
I KNOW CITY STAFF IS WORKING ON TURNING THAT INTO AN ORDINANCE.
YOU HAD THE, UH, MINIMUM LOT SIZE ISSUE, WHICH CAME UP ONCE AGAIN, MORE DENSITY, ALLOWING FOR MORE PEOPLE TO BE NEAR TRANSIT STOPS.
AND THE THIRD ONE, AND PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT IN TERMS OF THE EFFECT IT'S GONNA HAVE IS THE RELAXATION OF COMPATIBILITY GUIDELINES.
UH, I KNOW THAT WAS ONE OF THE REALLY TOUGHEST THINGS THAT WAS IN FACE OF PUTTING MORE MULTIFAMILY, MORE V M U, UH, NEAR TRANSIT.
AND DID WE JUST GO OFF ONLINE? NO, THE SCREENS.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE RIGHT.
UM, SO I, I WOULD SAY THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE BIGGIES FOR US GOING INTO THE NEXT YEAR.
THE BIGGEST ISSUE IS HOW TO APPROACH THE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION.
I THINK THERE'S GONNA BE, AS, AS HARRIS POINTED OUT, THERE'S GONNA BE SOME ISSUES REGARDING EQUITY.
YOU KNOW, THIS TRAIN LINE IS GONNA GO FROM 38TH STREET DOWN SOUTH CONGRESS TO UL TORF AND ARRAY ON, ON RIVERSIDE.
AND HOW WE MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S, THERE'S SOME CONGRUENCE APPROACHES SO THAT EVERYONE'S BASICALLY DEALING WITH THE SAME SET OF RULES.
IT IS GONNA BE AN IMPORTANT DISCUSSION, RIGHT? BUT ALSO WE NEED TO MOVE AND THE APPLICATION THAT THE TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP IS GONNA MAKE TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THEY'RE GONNA START EVALUATING THAT IN JUNE.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REALLY LIKES OUR PLAN.
THE RIDERSHIP NUMBERS ARE GOOD.
UH, THE ENGAGEMENT THAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR WAS SOME OF THE MOST TOP-NOTCH I HAVE EVER SEEN IN TERMS OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
AND WHILE COMMUNITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY, A LOT OF TIMES DECIDED BECAUSE OF THE INFLATION ISSUE TO AX THESE INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMS, AUSTIN SAID, NO, WE'RE GONNA BE ADULTS.
WE KNOW THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE, AS WE KNOW, THAT WHEN WE PASSED THE BUDGET, WE DIDN'T KNOW INFLATION WAS GONNA GO WHAT IT WAS.
SO WE'RE GONNA FIGURE OUT HOW WE DO THIS.
RIGHT? AND THE COMMUNITY REALLY DID THAT IN SUCH A SUPERB, UNIFIED WAY.
I KNOW THERE WAS SOME ANGST WITH A LOT OF THINGS, AND THAT'S FAIR, BUT REALLY PEOPLE REALLY CAME THROUGH AND DID THAT.
RIGHT? THEY LIKE OUR FUNDING STRATEGY, THE FACT THAT THE, THE TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP CAN USE THAT TAX FOR NOT ONLY CAPITAL AND BUILDING THIS STUFF, BUT ALSO OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE.
I, I USED TO BE A STATE LEGISLATOR IN NEW MEXICO.
I SAT ON A TAX COMMITTEE WHEN I HEARD ABOUT THAT WHEN I GOT HERE, I WAS LIKE, THAT IS GOLD STAR A PLUS.
BECAUSE IT'S GENERALLY EASY TO FIND MONEY TO BUILD THINGS.
RUNNING 'EM IS A LOT HARDER FOR THEM TO DO THIS AT THE SAME TIME.
AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT KNOWS THAT WHERE WE ARE LACKING IS IN OUR HOUSING DENSITY, AND THEY HAVE THOSE SPECIFIC METRICS THAT WE WANNA SEE.
AND WE DON'T, WE'RE NOT AS COMPETITIVE AS OTHER COMMUNITIES.
AND I ALSO AM WORRIED ABOUT THAT IN TERMS OF THE POLITICAL MAKEUP OF CONGRESS.
THERE'S GONNA BE SOME EFFORTS TO LESSEN MONEY IN TRANSPORTATION.
AND SO WE NEED TO BE COMPETITIVE.
AND THIS ISN'T AN ENVIRONMENTAL ARGUMENT, THIS IS JUST A MONEY ARGUMENT.
RIGHT? BUT WE NEED TO DO THAT.
SO HOW WE CHANGE OUR E OUR EQUITABLE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT PLAN TO ALLOW FOR MORE DENSITY IN A WAY THAT IS EQUITABLE AND ALSO FRANKLY WORKS IN SOME AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
THERE WAS A REALLY GOOD STUDY DONE IN SALT LAKE CITY WHERE THEIR LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM WAS SHOWN AS REALLY REDUCING TRAFFIC FOR A LONG TIME.
AND IT STILL IS, BUT AS AFFORDABILITY KIND OF GOT PHASED OUT IN SOME OF THEIR STOPS, THOSE PEOPLE THAT ARE GONNA BE IN THAT WORKING CLASS DEMOGRAPHIC ARE GONNA BE THE ONES THAT BENEFIT MOST FROM TRANSIT.
THEY, THEY CAN GIVE UP A CAR SAVING THAT $10,000 A YEAR IS GONNA BE A HECK OF A LOT MORE IMPACTFUL ON THEIR BUDGETS THAN SOMEONE WHO'S MAKING A LITTLE BIT MORE MONEY, RIGHT? SO HOW WE DESIGN THOSE SYSTEMS IN WAYS THAT WORKFORCE FOLKS CAN ACTUALLY LIVE AROUND THERE IS GONNA BE ONE OF OUR, OUR BIGGEST CHALLENGES.
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD? NO.
DID THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, MA'AM? I THINK, I THINK GENERALLY, I'M CURIOUS IF THERE ARE ANY SPECIFICS LIKE, JUST 'CAUSE I'M, I'M HEARING YOU WANT TO ADVANCE THE CONVERSATION AROUND, YOU KNOW, E T O D, WHICH I AGREE WITH.
AND MAYBE I'M ASKING SOMETHING TOO SPECIFIC, BUT
I HAVE MY OWN PERSONAL AREAS, BUT I'M NOT HERE AS, AS AN INDIVIDUAL.
I'M HERE REPRESENTING MY ORGANIZATION.
I KNOW THAT WE SPECIFICALLY AS A BOARD VOTED TO, UH, ENDORSE GETTING RID OF THE PARKING MINIMUMS. I KNOW WE SPECIFICALLY VOTED TO ENDORSE REDUCING THE COMPATIBILITY GUIDELINES.
SO THOSE SORTS OF THINGS WE HAVE SUPPORTED IN THE PAST AND WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO SUPPORT MOVING FORWARD.
I DO KNOW THAT, UH, WE HAVE MADE IT ONE OF OUR TOP GOALS TO ADVANCE THE CONVERSATION ON EAD.
I KNOW WE'RE HAVING A MEETING WITH SOME OF THE ADVOCATES AND SOME OF CITY STAFF.
UH, NEXT WEEK WE WILL BE, OUR, OUR STUDENT ACTUALLY THIS YEAR IS ISABELLA'S KIND OF ROLE FOR THIS YEAR IS A, A SENIOR AT ST.
EDWARDS AND IS GONNA DO HER HER THESIS, UH, HER SENIOR PAPER ON EQUITABLE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT,
[01:10:01]
FOCUSING ON WHAT SOME OF THE BEST PRACTICES ARE, HOW WE CAN MOVE FORWARD.AND I KNOW WE'RE WORKING WITH THE CITY TO BRING IN ONE OF THE CONSULTANTS THAT THEY HAVE TO HAVE PUBLIC MEETINGS ABOUT THIS.
THE MORE WE TALK ABOUT THIS AND THE MORE WE ENGAGE WITH THE PUBLIC SO THAT THEY'RE COMFORTABLE WITH THE DISCUSSION AND THEY FEEL INVOLVED, I THINK THE MORE COMFORTABLE THEY'RE GONNA BE MOVING FORWARD WITH SOME OF THESE CHANGES.
AND THAT'S REALLY WHERE WE SEE OUR ROLE.
BUT WE DEFINITELY NEED TO SEE IT MOVE FORWARD.
YOU KNOW, THE MORE THINGS WE CAN DO TO GET MORE HOUSING, MORE AFFORDABILITY, UH, AND MORE OF THESE VMU SO THAT PEOPLE CAN DRIVE LESS, THE MORE SUCCESSFUL THE TRANSIT SYSTEM'S GONNA BE, AND FRANKLY, THE BETTER ENVIRONMENTALISTS WE'RE GONNA BE.
HE ACTUALLY, UH, KNEW EXACTLY WHAT I WAS GONNA ASK ABOUT.
SO, AND, AND YOU KNOW, FOR A LONG TIME I HAVE HAD, UH, UH, AN UNOFFICIAL SLOGAN FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, WHICH IS ALWAYS 1975, SOMEWHERE IN AUSTIN.
I AM GLAD TO SEE THAT THAT IS SLOWLY CHANGING.
I, I WAS NOT HERE IN 1975, BUT I'VE ALSO HEARD THAT, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN WAS GREAT THE DAY YOU GOT HERE AND YOU NEVER WANTED TO CHANGE.
I'M ALSO GLAD TO KNOW THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY GROWING UP AND BECOMING A LARGE CITY.
I WAS HERE IN 1975, JUST BARELY
UH, THANKS FOR BEING YOUR KIND, UM, THANKS TO YOUR PRESENTATION.
I, I WANNA, UM, I WANNA SHIFT GEARS A LITTLE BIT.
SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TRANSIT, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, DENSITY NEAR THE TRANSPORTATION CORRIDORS, WHICH I'M ALL FOR A HUNDRED PERCENT.
UM, WHEN I LOOK THOUGH AT, UM, SORT OF OUR MODELS, IF YOU WILL, OF WHAT ARE SOME OF THOSE MIXED USE COMMUNITIES, I SEE SOME REALLY BIG FLAWS WITHIN THOSE.
AND THERE'S TWO THAT REALLY COME TO MIND.
AND IT'S THE TWO THINGS THAT PEOPLE WILL DRIVE AWAY FROM THEIR HOME FROM TO GO AND DO.
AND THE FIRST ONE HAPPENS NINE MONTHS A YEAR, EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I'M, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES TWICE A DAY.
AND THAT'S TO TAKE YOUR KIDS TO SCHOOL.
UM, WITHIN THE DOMAIN, FOR EXAMPLE, WHICH EVERYBODY TOUTS IS LIKE THE BEST, THE BRIGHT, THE SHINING STAR OF A MIXED-USE COMMUNITY.
UM, HOWEVER, THERE'S NOT A PARK AND THERE'S NOT A SCHOOL.
AND SO ANYBODY THAT'S LIVING THERE WITH THE FAMILY, UM, HAS TO ADDRESS HOW THEY'RE GOING TO GET THEIR KIDS TO SCHOOL, GET THEIR KIDS TO A PARK.
THERE IS A PARK THAT SOMEBODY POINTED OUT TO ME ONE DAY AND SAID, NO, THERE'S A PARK.
THERE IS A PARK FOR THE KIDS TO PLAY ON.
IT HAS A SYNTHETIC TURF, UM, LAWN.
SO THAT IS IN MY MIND, NOT EXACTLY A PARK.
SO, UM, THEN THE NEXT ONE IS THE MUELLER COMMUNITY, AGAIN, ALSO DOES NOT HAVE A SCHOOL.
THEY DID A GREAT JOB WITH THAT.
BUT IN ORDER TO GET TO THE SCHOOL, YOU HAVE TO DRIVE AWAY FROM THE COMMUNITY.
UM, AND THEN WE HAVE ANOTHER ONE THAT'S COMING ONLINE CALLED THE VAUGHN, WHICH IS OFF PALMER LANE.
IT'S NEW, IT'S JUST BEING CONSTRUCTED AND IT ALSO, UM, WILL NOT HAVE A SCHOOL ANYWHERE NEAR IT.
SO AGAIN, YOU HAVE TO DRIVE AWAY FROM IT.
UM, AND SO IN THINKING ABOUT HOW DO WE CREATE THESE MIXED USE COMMUNITIES THAT REALLY AND TRULY ARE, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING THAT FAMILIES WANT TO LIVE IN, YOU KNOW, THEN BECAUSE A FAMILY HAS TO MAKE A CHOICE BETWEEN DO I GO FOR THESE AMENITIES AND, BUT THE SCHOOL SYSTEM IS GONNA BE THE NUMBER ONE THING THAT THEY'RE CHOOSING, RIGHT? HOW DO THEY GET MY KIDS TO SCHOOL? WELL, IF IT'S EASIER TO MOVE OUT TO MAINOR OR, UM, YOU KNOW, LAKEWAY OR, YOU KNOW, A COMMUNITY THAT'S OUT IN THAT OUTER RIM BECAUSE IT'S EASIER FOR THEM TO GET TO SCHOOL BECAUSE THAT COMMUNITY HAS PLANNED FOR THAT SCHOOL TO BE WITHIN IT.
SO IN LOOKING AT THAT, I THINK, OKAY, HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT OUR DENSITY PLANS FOR FAMILIES? THAT'S FAIR.
AND I THINK THE OTHER THING THAT WE WANNA BRING UP AS WELL, THAT'S BEEN BROUGHT UP IN A LOT OF DISCUSSIONS WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT, IS WHEN YOU'RE DOING THOSE TYPES OF DEVELOPMENTS, CAN YOU DO MORE THAN ONE BEDROOM APARTMENTS OR ONE BEDROOM CONDOS SO THAT FOLKS WITH KIDS DO FEEL COMFORTABLE LIVING IN THOSE AREAS? I THINK THOSE ARE EXCELLENT POINTS.
I GUESS THE OTHER QUESTION I WOULD BRING UP, YOU KNOW, WHEN I SAW THE NEWS LAST WEEK OF PEOPLE GETTING INTO FIST FIGHTS DOWN IN CIRCLE C, I THINK, DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT WITH THE PICKUPS? MM-HMM.
UM, I, I'M JUST WONDERING, I, I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS, BUT WHEN I WAS A KID, WE ALL TOOK THE BUS, AND I GUESS THAT'S NOT A THING ANYMORE.
AND I'M JUST WONDERING, I MEAN, THAT WOULD BE A QUESTION I WOULD JUST ASK.
I DON'T HAVE ANY KIDS, SO I'M PROBABLY THE WRONG PERSON TO ASK ABOUT THAT.
BUT THAT, THAT WOULD BE A THING.
LIKE, HEY, YOU KNOW, TRADITIONALLY SCHOOLS USED MASS TRANSIT AND, AND ALL THE BENEFITS THAT WOULD COME WITH TO GET FOLKS, AND I GUESS THAT'S JUST NOT A THING ANYMORE.
BUT I WOULD ALSO SAY TODAY WAS ACTUALLY WALK BIKE ROLL DAY FOR A COUPLE OF THE SCHOOLS.
[01:15:01]
SOME PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY USING THE RED LINE LIKE I DID TO GET HERE TODAY, AND THAT WAS WONDERFUL.SO HOW WE DESIGN THE MULTIMODAL FACETS OF THIS STUFF IS IMPORTANT AS WELL, SO THAT EVEN IF THE SCHOOL ISN'T RIGHT IN THE NEW DEVELOPMENT, IF IT'S CLOSE ENOUGH THAT YOU CAN RIDE A BIKE, IF IT'S CLOSE ENOUGH, YOU CAN WALK.
THOSE THINGS NEED TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT AS WELL.
THE INPUT SOME WE WILL BRING UP.
YEAH, I THINK PROXIMITY IS ONE THING.
UM, I THINK SAFETY IS THE OTHER, UM, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOLS, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE PLANNING.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT, UM, HOW SOME OF THESE, UM, MIXED USE COMMUNITIES ARE PLANNED THAT TAKE IT RIGHT UP TO THE LOT, UM, YOU KNOW, TO THE EDGE AND SO THAT THE SIDEWALK IS RIGHT NEXT TO THE ROAD, THAT'S NOT EXACTLY THE SAFEST YEAH.
WAY TO GET YOUR HUMANS, UM, WHETHER THEY'RE CHILDREN OR ADULTS OR OLD SENIORS OR BLIND OR, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER, UM, THEY MIGHT BE, YOU KNOW, TO AND FROM, UM, THAT MIXED EXCUSE UNITY AND THEIR HOMES.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S ALSO, IT'S, IT'S TAKING ALL OF THESE THINGS INTO THESE COMPONENTS AND WHAT YOU'VE GIVEN US TODAY ARE WONDERFUL TOOLS TO THINK ABOUT AND ADD THAT IN AS WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY THINKING ABOUT, UM, CONSTRUCTING THINGS, YOU KNOW, UM, THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT AND DOING A BETTER JOB FOR THE HUMAN ENVIRONMENT AND CREATING THOSE INSTEAD OF JUST CREATING CAR ENVIRONMENTS, UM, WHICH WE'VE DONE A GREAT JOB AT.
BUT, UM, WE HAVEN'T ALWAYS DONE A GREAT JOB WITH CREATING SPACES FOR HUMANS.
AND MAN, WE APPRECIATE, FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THOSE, THOSE ARE THINGS THAT I CAN BRING TO OUR DISCUSSION POINTS AND WE CAN TALK WITH STAFF ON HOW WE PLAN THOSE.
I DO KNOW THAT, LIKE FOR INSTANCE, ZAZA WHO RUNS THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR PROJECT CONNECT HAS ALSO SITS ON THE HOUSING WORKS BOARD, HAS BEEN VERY VOCAL IN BRINGING UP IN OUR DISCUSSIONS THINGS LIKE THE GREAT STREETS STUFF THAT WAS DONE DOWNTOWN.
HOW THAT GENERALLY IS PRETTY GOOD.
CAN THAT BE EXPANDED? THOSE TYPES OF THINGS MOVING FORWARD.
BUT I THINK THE POINT OF THIS DISCUSSION WE'RE GONNA HAVE, AND I, AND THE ONE OF THE REASON I APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS IS HOW DO WE GET TO, YES, THERE ARE WAYS OF DOING THIS IN WAYS THAT SUPPORT FOLKS AND ARE ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE, BUT IF WE GO OUT THERE THINKING DENSITY IS JUST BAD WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE DATA, LIKE FRANKLY, WHAT I THINK HAPPENED IN MINNEAPOLIS AND ST.
PAUL AND, AND, AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNITY SHUTS THESE THINGS DOWN.
I JUST REALLY VIEW THAT AS GOING BACKWARDS IN TERMS OF FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE.
AND I JUST REALLY WANNA MAKE SURE THAT YOU ALL, UH, AND YOU ALL TALK TO PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMUNITY, IT'S WHY YOU'RE HERE, RIGHT? YOU NOW HAVE THE DATA TO SHOW FOLKS, HEY, LOOK, IF WE'RE SERIOUS ABOUT THIS, THESE ARE THE ONLY ANSWERS.
DO WE HAVE WORK TO DO? YES MA'AM, WE DO.
BUT LET'S, LET'S FIGURE OUT HOW WE GET TO YES.
AND WORK TOGETHER IN THAT WAY.
I THINK I, I JUST HAD ONE THING.
I GUESS ONE THING THAT I KEEP THINKING ABOUT IS LIKE, WHY SOME PEOPLE MAY BE RESISTANT TO IT IS BECAUSE LIKE, UM, LIKE WITH THE PROJECT CONNECT, IT WAS LIKE, OKAY, SOME PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE LIKE FORCED OUT OF WHERE THEY'RE LIVING BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT PROPERTY AND, AND WHATEVER BULLDOZE IT, RE REDEVELOP IT FOR IT.
SO, BUT THEN IT'S LIKE, PEOPLE ARE LIKE, WELL, I'M GIVING UP MY HOME AND I DON'T KNOW IF I'M GONNA BE ABLE TO BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO LIVE SOMEWHERE ELSE IN MY CITY, BECAUSE HOW MUCH ARE YOU GONNA EQUALLY ACCOMMODATE, SORRY, ME TO BE ABLE TO BUY A HOUSE THAT I COULD AFFORD HERE.
LIKE, YOU MAY BE GIVING ME LIKE 300,000, BUT THE MEDIAN PRICE IS LIKE 500 AND ABOVE.
SO IT'S LIKE, THEN YOU'RE STILL PUSHING THEM TO LIKE MANNAR OR BASTROP OR SOMEWHERE ELSE, AND THEY'RE STILL HAVING TO, SO IT'S ALMOST KIND OF ESCALATING THE PROBLEM STILL WITH PEOPLE HAVING TO GO OUT AND THEN COME ALL THE WAY BACK IN FOR WORK OR VISIT PEOPLE THAT THEY LOVE OR TO LIVE WELL, I MEAN, TO, UM, TO LIKE DO THINGS THAT THEY'RE USED TO DOING IN THEIR LIVES.
SO I THINK THAT'S A BIG THING TO SOME PEOPLE BEING HESITANT TO THIS AND, AND COMMISSIONER, YOU'RE NOT WRONG.
AND I WOULD SAY THAT ONE OF THE OTHER BEAUTIFUL THINGS ABOUT PROJECT CONNECT THAT I FOUND IS THAT MONEY FOR ANTI DISPLACEMENT IS SOMETHING, NOWHERE ELSE IN THE COUNTRY IS HAPPENING.
IT'S JUST THIS, PEOPLE LOOK AT US AND WHEN I BRING THAT UP, THEY'RE LIKE, WHOA, THAT'S AMAZING.
'CAUSE YOU'VE TIED THOSE TWO THINGS TOGETHER.
SO I DO KNOW THAT, UH, THE CITY IS WORKING TO ACTUALLY BUY PROPERTIES AND MAINTAIN THEM AS AFFORDABLE ALONG THESE TRANSIT CORRIDORS.
UH, I HEARD A, AN UPDATE ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO FROM THE CITY HOUSING DEPARTMENT.
THEY'RE ACTUALLY MAKING PROGRESS DOING THAT.
THEY, THEY'VE, I THINK THEY HAD FOUR OR FIVE PROPERTIES THAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT.
THEY'RE ALREADY, THEY'VE ALREADY MOVED ON AND ARE THEN ADMINISTERING IN AN AFFORDABLE MANNER.
I WOULD ALSO SAY THAT I THINK IT'S EITHER THIS WEEKEND OR NEXT WEEKEND, UM, THE $20 MILLION THAT WAS SET ASIDE FOR PROGRAMS TO HELP PEOPLE IN THOSE CORRIDORS THROUGH THINGS LIKE JOB TRAINING, CHILDCARE, UH, UTILITY ASSISTANCE, ALL THOSE THINGS.
THEY, THEY'VE SIGNED ALL THOSE CONTRACTS AND THEY'RE HAVING A LITTLE FAIR, UM, ON THE EAST SIDE WHERE I LIVE TO TAR TALKING ABOUT HOW THEY'RE GONNA HELP.
[01:20:01]
GOOD AND WE NEED TO KEEP SUPPORTING THEM AND MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE DONE EFFICIENTLY, EFFECTIVELY, AND FRANKLY, SOONER RATHER THAN, THAN LATER.BECAUSE THE EARLIER WE START WORKING ON THIS, THE LESS IT'S GONNA BE IN EFFECT WHEN THOSE NEW LINES START HAPPENING.
I WOULD SAY THE SECOND THING TOO IS WE REALLY HAVE TO HAVE A DISCUSSION IN THIS TOWN THAT, THAT HARRIS REALLY POINTED OUT VERY, UM, EFFECTIVELY ON WHERE THIS DEVELOPMENT IS HAPPENING.
YOU KNOW, I, UM, I GOT INTO LEADERSHIP AUSTIN THIS YEAR, AND I REALLY LIKE IT.
AND THE CITY DEMOGRAPHER GAVE AN UPDATE ON AUSTIN FOR THE LAST A HUNDRED YEARS HOW GROWTH HAS HAPPENED.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS SHE POINTED OUT WAS ALL OF THE LAND USE DECISIONS THAT WERE BASED ON JUST STRAIGHT UP RACISM.
AND SHE TALKED ABOUT HOW PUBLIC HOUSING IN THE THIRTIES WAS, HEY, ALL THE PEOPLE OF HISPANIC ORIGIN HAVE TO LIVE IN SOUTHEAST AUSTIN.
ALL THE PEOPLE OF BLACK ORIGIN, YOU HAVE TO LIVE IN NORTHEAST AUSTIN, AND, AND THAT'S ONLY WE'RE GONNA LET YOU LIVE.
SHE ALSO SHOWED US A COUPLE OF FLYERS FROM HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS THAT ARE CURRENT NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE THERE'S A LOT OF LIKE DEEDED RESTRICTIONS.
AND ON THOSE FLYERS IT SAID STRAIGHT UP, WE ONLY SELL TO WHITE PEOPLE.
AND SO I THINK WE REALLY NEED TO HAVE A CONVERSATION IN THIS COMMUNITY ABOUT SOME OF THESE LAND USE DECISIONS, WHY THEY WERE MADE, AND IF WE'RE STILL DEFENDING THEM, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN SO THAT WE CAN HAVE FOLKS LIVING EVERYWHERE.
I DO THINK THAT'S A CONVERSATION THAT NEEDS TO GET UP BROUGHT UP.
AND LIKE I SAID, YOU KNOW, TRANSIT FORWARD REALLY BELIEVES IN EQUITY AND HAVING THESE DISCUSSIONS IS GONNA BE IMPORTANT, BUT YOUR POINTS ARE, ARE NOT WRONG.
AND I THINK WE GOTTA FIGURE OUT THOSE SOLUTIONS TOGETHER.
WE MOVE FORWARD WITHOUT, YOU KNOW, STOPPING THE PROJECT.
YEAH, AND I, I, I HAVE TO ADD TO THAT TOO.
I'M ON THE, UH, FINANCE AND RISK COMMITTEE FOR THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP, AND WE'RE MAKING VERY, UH, VERY CLEAR, UH, EFFORTS TO NOT DISPLACE ANYBODY.
AND THAT'S WHY THERE'S THIS BIG ISSUE OVER DIRTIES ON GUADALUPE BECAUSE RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET THERE'S APARTMENTS, SO WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO TEAR DOWN THE APARTMENTS WHERE PEOPLE LIVE OR MAYBE DISPLACE A BUSINESS? SO WE'RE NOT GONNA DISPLACE PEOP WHERE PEOPLE LIVE.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M VERY IMPRESSED BY THE FACT THAT THEY'RE BEING TRYING TO BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL ABOUT PREVENTING DISPLACEMENT.
AND I'M ALSO ON THE HOUSING INVESTMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE, AND I CAN BACK UP BILL ABOUT THAT, THAT WE ARE SPENDING SOME OF THAT DISPLACEMENT MONEY, RIGHT.
ANTI DISPLACEMENT MONEY NOW, UH, TO PREVENT DISPLACEMENT.
WELL, AND THEN THE OTHER FRUSTRATION IS IN OTHER STATES IT IS LEGAL FOR CITIES TO PUT SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS IN FOR NEW DEVELOPMENTS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
SO IN DENVER, FOR INSTANCE, IF YOU'RE GONNA BUILD A NEW DEVELOPMENT AROUND TRANSIT, I THINK, DON'T QUOTE ME ON THIS, BUT I'M PRETTY SURE THE NUMBER WAS, 15% OF THE HOMES HAVE TO BE OF AN AFFORDABLE NATURE.
AND TEXAS STATE LAW, FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, DOES NOT PERMIT THAT IT'S ILLEGAL TO DO THAT.
SO YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT CARROTS AS YOUR TOTAL WAY OF DOING IT AND, YOU KNOW, AFFORDABILITY UNLOCKED, WHICH IS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS THAT HAS HAPPENED.
I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, FORMER COUNSELOR NOW, CONGRESSMAN CASSAR, THAT WAS HIS BIG THING.
AND THAT'S BEING CHALLENGED IN THE COURTS.
AND I KNOW BEING ON THE HOUSING WORKS COMMITTEE, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT IS REALLY WORRIED.
IF THAT STOPS, HOW ARE WE INCENTIVIZING AFFORDABILITY TO REALLY DEAL WITH SOME OF THE PROBLEMS THAT YOU SO INTELLIGENTLY BROUGHT UP? AND THAT'S WHY WE NEED TO KEEP FIGHTING FOR AFFORDABILITY AS WELL.
UM, YEAH, I THINK, UH, YEAH, A LOT OF, A LOT OF GOOD QUESTIONS AND, AND COMMENTS.
UM, I, I WOULD KIND OF REITERATE SOME OF WHAT BRIMER AND, UH, KRUEGER SAID, AND THAT IS, UM, AS YOU'RE LOOKING TO THIS DENSITY, AND THERE, THERE WILL BE PEOPLE THAT SAY, WE DON'T WANT DENSITY BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT IMPERVIOUS COVER.
'CAUSE WE DON'T WANT STORMWATER RUNOFF AND THE DEGRADATION OF THE CREEKS.
UM, AND COMING BEFORE THIS COMMITTEE, THERE ARE EXAMPLES OF, SPECIFICALLY, I'M THINKING OF A HANDFUL OF KIND OF RETROFIT PROJECTS WHERE THEY'RE USING CREATIVE CUTTING EDGE ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS TO COME UP WITH BETTER WATER QUALITY RUNOFF THAN WHAT IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.
AND, UM, IT WOULD PROBABLY BEHOOVE YOU OVER THE NEXT SIX MONTHS TO HAVE SOME OF THOSE EXAMPLES IN HAND FOR WHEN THOSE QUESTIONS COME UP, BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S WHERE THE MAIN KIND OF SIMPLE OVERSIMPLIFICATION OF DEN IS BAD OR DENSITY IS GOOD, KIND OF FALLS APART.
BUT, UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATIONS AND, UH, REALLY APPRECIATE Y'ALL'S WORK.
ONE THING I'D LIKE TO BRING UP, UM, ARE YOU FAMILIAR, FAMILIAR WITH, UH, COLUMBIA, MARYLAND, THE TOWN? YES.
BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT SPECIFICALLY YOU'RE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE TOWN? IT'S A SUBURB OF DC I GREW UP IN WOODBRIDGE, VIRGINIA, SO COLUMBIA
OKAY, WELL, I SPENT FOUR YEARS IN COLUMBIA, MARYLAND, UH, BACK WHEN IT WAS FARMLAND, UH, THE COMPANY, THE, I FORGET THE NAME OF THE COMPANY RIGHT OFFHAND, BUT, UH, THEY
[01:25:01]
BOUGHT UP THE LAND AND THEY, IT WAS THE COUNTRY'S FIRST PLANNED COMMUNITY, AND THEY HAD A CONCEPT FOR THE WHOLE PLACE WHERE THEY HAD A, THE IDEA WAS THEY'RE GONNA HAVE WHAT, YOU KNOW, THE TOWN CENTER.THEY HAD WHAT THEY CALL VILLAGES, THEN THEY HAD, UH, WHAT THEY WERE CALLED, UH, COMMUNITIES.
AND THAT WAS A SMALLER SUBDIVISION OF A VILLAGE.
AND THE ORIGINAL PLAN WAS THEY WERE GONNA HAVE SIX VILLAGES, AND THEN EACH VILLAGE WOULD HAVE ONE OF THESE LITTLE COMMUNITY THINGS.
AND THE VILLAGE WOULD HAVE, THE VILLAGE CENTER WOULD HAVE LIKE A GROCERY STORE AND A HARDWARE STORE.
AND THE AMENITIES OF THIS, EACH LITTLE COMMUNITY SUBDIVISION WOULD HAVE LIKE A SEVEN 11 AND A GAS STATION AND MAYBE A, A CLEANERS AND THAT SORT OF THING.
AND WHILE IT WAS NOT WALKABLE IN THE SENSE THAT YOU CONCEIVE OF IT TODAY, IT WAS A VERY LOW IMPACT AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, IT WAS VERY DRIVABLE IN A VERY SHORT TYPE, YOU KNOW, DISTANCE TYPE OF THING.
THE OTHER THING THAT WAS VERY UNIQUE ABOUT IT WAS THAT, UH, IT WAS DESIGNED TO ALLOW PEOPLE OF MANY INCOMES TO LIVE IN THE AREA.
SO YOU HAD SOME HOUSES THAT WERE PLANTATION SIZE ALSO.
YOU HAD APARTMENTS OF MODEST MEANS SO THAT PEOPLE WHO WEREN'T WEALTHY COULD LIVE IN THE COMMUNITY.
YOU ALSO HAD CONDOS AND YOU HAD, YOU KNOW, A WIDE VARIETY OF PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT INCOMES.
YOU HAD SCHOOLS THAT WERE WITHIN THE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT WERE, YOU HAD EACH, EACH VILLAGE HAD AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL THAT WAS WALKABLE.
AND LIKE ONE OF THE COMMISSIONERS MENTIONED EARLIER, YEAH, EVERYONE COULD WALK TO THEIR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND TO THE MIDDLE SCHOOLS.
YOU HAD BUSES AND TO THE HIGH SCHOOLS, YOU HAD BUSES.
IN OTHER WORDS, THEY SAT DOWN AND THEN THEY HAD ALL THIS PLANNED, AND THEN YOU BOUGHT INTO THE WHOLE CONCEPT.
THEY HAD, UH, WHAT THEY CALLED THE COMM, THE COLUMBIA ASSOCIATION MANAGED OPEN SPACES THAT CONNECTED THESE AREAS, WHICH HAD PUBLIC WALKWAYS, YOU KNOW, UH, TRAILS IF YOU WILL.
THAT, UH, CONNECTED ALL THESE VILLAGES AND, AND THE VARIOUS COMMUNITIES WITH PLAYSCAPES AND THINGS BETWEEN THEM.
WE LIVED THERE FOR FOUR YEARS AT THE TIME, MY WIFE AND I JUST GOT MARRIED, AND WE BOUGHT A RELATIVELY MODEST HOUSE THERE.
AND IT WAS THE TYPE OF THING THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT, IT DIDN'T LOOK LIKE MANHATTAN.
AND I DON'T THINK ANYONE IN AUSTIN REALLY WANTS TO LIVE IN MANHATTAN, BECAUSE IF THEY DID, THEY'D ALREADY BE IN MANHATTAN.
SO I DON'T THINK ANYONE'S REALLY INTERESTED IN TURNING AUSTIN INTO MANHATTAN.
BUT I THINK MAYBE IF YOU LOOK AT A PLANNING STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPMENTS, THAT INCLUDES MIXED DEVELOPMENT WHERE YOU HAVE SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING, YOU HAVE APARTMENTS, YOU HAVE CONDOS, UH, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT TYPES OF THINGS THAT WOULD ENCOURAGE PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT INCOME LEVELS.
YOU HAVE PROXIMITY TO SCHOOLS AND THEN YOU ALSO PROXIMITY TO EXISTING BUSINESSES AS WELL AS PUTTING IN, UH, YOU KNOW, NEW BUSINESSES, PACKAGE STORES FOR, YOU KNOW, SEVEN ELEVENS, THAT SORT OF THING.
THAT WOULD BE AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO, YOU KNOW, SUPPLEMENT THE TYPE OF STRATEGIES THAT YOU MENTIONED HERE.
THE ADVANTAGE OF THAT IS THAT PEOPLE WOULD VOLUNTARILY MOVE INTO THESE THINGS AND THEY'D KNOW WHAT THEY GET BECAUSE PEOPLE FLOCKED TO COLUMBIA BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY WANTED.
YOU KNOW, KIND OF LIKE THE MUELLER DEVELOPMENT, RIGHT? LIKE PEOPLE WENT THERE BECAUSE HEY, THEY WANTED TO LIVE THERE AND PEOPLE CAME TO COLUMBIA, MARYLAND BECAUSE HEY, THEY WANTED THE LIFESTYLE AND THAT IT AFFORDED, AND IT WAS A MIXED, YOU KNOW, MIXED RACE, MIXED EVERYTHING COMMUNITY.
RESTON, VIRGINIA IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE SAME THING.
THIS IS AN ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY THAT CAN BE MADE TO WORK IF YOU CHOOSE TO IMPLEMENT IT.
THANKS, APPRECIATE YOUR PRESENTATION.
UM, I JUST WANNA POINT OUT ONE THING, LIKE AS, UH, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WERE MENTIONED ABOUT THE, UH, CHANGING THE MINIMUM LOT SIZE COMPATIBILITY STANDARDS, THE PARKING MINIMUMS,
[01:30:01]
THE WAY THE COUNCIL WORKS IS THOSE THINGS ARE PASSED BY THE COUNCIL, BUT THEN THEY GO TO STAFF AND THEN THEY GO COME BACK UP THROUGH THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT BASED ON THE TESTIMONY THAT WE'VE HEARD TODAY, WE SHOULD ASK, UH, TO BE ABLE TO WEIGH IN ON SOME OF THESE ORDINANCES BECAUSE THEY'RE PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL.
YEAH, I MEAN, I WOULD SAY LET'S BRING IT UP AT THE END.
REMIND ME, BUT LET'S BRING IT UP AND THEN WE'LL SEE IF YOU COULD A SECOND, AND THEN WE KIND OF GET SOMETHING ROLLING ON, ON THE AGENDA IN THE FUTURE FOR, UM, THAT I GUESS OKAY.
OFFICIAL REQUEST, RIGHT? UH, WOULD PROBABLY BE, WOULD BE ACTION, BUT WOULD BE OFFICIAL REQUEST.
SO IF YOU WERE TRYING TO SNEAK OUT EARLY, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED, YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE ALLOWED TO TODAY.
[4. Review and approve the draft 2024 Environmental Commission Regular meeting schedule.]
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FOUR, UM, REVIEW AND APPROVE HOPEFULLY, UM, THE DRAFT 2024 ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING SCHEDULE, UM, IT WAS POSTED.UM, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT IT? IT TRACKS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME OR SIMILAR TO THE, THE FIRST AND THIRD WEDNESDAYS, UM, STAFF, UH, HAS DONE A VERY GOOD JOB OF LOOKING AT POTENTIAL, UH, RELIGIOUS, UH, AND CULTURAL HOLIDAYS, UM, AND, AND HAS HIGHLIGHTED THOSE.
UM, ULTIMATELY KIND OF MY THOUGHT AND IDEA WAS WE STICK WITH THE FIRST AND THIRD WEDNESDAYS BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT FOR SO LONG, AND SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY KIND OF KNOW OF THAT CADENCE.
THEY'RE JUST NOW STARTING TO FIGURE OUT THAT WE'RE UP HERE INSTEAD OF CITY COUNCIL, UM, CHAMBERS.
BUT, UM, AND AS WE APPROACH SOME OF THESE DAY SPECIFIC, UM, CONFLICTS, WE MAKE SURE THAT APPLICANTS, UM, COMMENTERS OR, UH, THE GENERAL PUBLIC THAT WANT TO COME AND SPEAK ON ITEMS ARE AWARE OF THAT.
IF WE KNOW OF ONE THAT'S GONNA PARTICULARLY AFFECT A CERTAIN, UM, RELIGIOUS GROUP, THEN, THEN MAYBE WE PUSH THAT, PUSH THAT TO THE NEXT MEETING.
BUT WE TRY, WE TRY TO KIND OF, UM, GET AHEAD OF THOSE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, NOT MOVE THE SCHEDULE AROUND TOO MUCH TO DISRUPT THE, THE GENERAL FLOW OF FIRST AND AND THIRD WEDNESDAYS.
BUT WITH THAT, ANY THOUGHTS, DISCUSSION, IDEAS? I THINK THE SCHEDULE LOOKS PRETTY GOOD.
I'M, I MOVE TO APPROVE THE SCHEDULE AS POSTED.
UM, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE AGENDA AS POSTED? RAISE YOUR HAND.
UM, UH, WORKING GROUP COMMITTEE UPDATES.
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY COMMITTEE? WELL, LET'S GO TO THIS COMMENTER.
DO WE HAVE THE COMMENTER ON THE PHONE? ALL RIGHT, WE HAVE A COMMENTER.
UH, WE HAVE STEPHANIE SIMMONS, UM, SPEAKING ON NATIVE LANDSCAPING, NATIVE LANDSCAPING WITH THE WORKING GROUP.
IS THERE A, IS THERE A MINIMUM MINUTES TO THIS, ELIZABETH? SO YOU HAVE, YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES, STEPHANIE, WHEN, WHEN YOU'RE READY.
UM, YOU APPEAR TO BE MUTED ON WHAT I CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN, BUT, UH, HOPEFULLY YOU CAN HEAR US ALL RIGHT.
WELL, SHE'S BEEN HOLDING ON THIS WHOLE TIME.
SO LET'S DO, LET'S DISCUSS THE OTHER STUFF AND JUST KEEP ME POSTED IF, IF AND WHEN SHE STARTS TALKING, WE CAN, WE CAN JUMP TO HER.
UM, DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY UPDATES
[WORKING GROUP/COMMITTEE UPDATES ]
FROM YEAH, GO FOR IT.BREMMER, UH, LOOKS LIKE WE'RE GONNA HAVE A MEETING OF THE URBAN FORESTRY, UH, COMMITTEE THURSDAY, NEXT THURSDAY.
10, 10 O'CLOCK ACROSS THE HALL.
ANY OTHER UPDATES? I JUST HAVE A QUESTION.
I'M CURIOUS, LOOKING AT THIS LIST, WHAT THE, UM, THE ORG CHART, SO TO SPEAK, IS WE HAVE THE COMMISSION AND THEN I'M PICTURING COMMITTEES UNDERNEATH COMMITTEES OR WORKING GROUPS.
IN GENERAL, WE HAVE SEVERAL COMMITTEES, UM, THAT ARE A LITTLE MORE ORGANIZED AND STRUCTURED.
UM, AND THEY HAVE STAFF SUPPORT AT THEM, UM, IN PREPARATION FOR ATTENDANCE AND, AND
[01:35:01]
KIND OF FOLLOW UP.UM, THE WORKING GROUPS ARE USUALLY LESS FORMAL.
THEY DON'T HAVE STAFF SUPPORT, AND THEY'RE USUALLY SPECIFIC TO A CERTAIN ITEM OR A TOPIC, UM, THAT HAS A BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
ARE THE WORKING GROUPS FORMED AT UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF A COMMITTEE OR THE COMMISSION ITSELF OR EITHER UNDER, I I THINK IT'S EITHER BUT, BUT MOSTLY THE COMMISSION.
AND ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS? I'M, I'M NOT GONNA KNOW ANY ANSWERS 'CAUSE THAT'S ALL I KNOW ABOUT IT, BUT, UH, NO, NO.
UM, YEAH, THEY'RE USUALLY A LITTLE MORE DISCREET, LIKE KIND OF A TARGETED QUESTION THAT A COUPLE OF PEOPLE HAVE.
WELL, LET'S GO WORK ON THIS ON THE SIDE, THEN COME BACK TO THE COMMISSION, UM, KIND OF WITH, UH, CONSENSUS OR SOME KIND OF A DISCUSSION.
ANY OTHER UPDATES WHILE WE'RE WAITING ON STEPHANIE? ALL RIGHT, WELL LET'S, I GUESS LET'S TALK ABOUT FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. YEAH, WE CAN.
AND, AND THEN THAT'LL BUY STEPHANIE SOME MORE TIME OR SOME KIND OF DISCUSSION.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
ME NOW? YES, MA'AM.YOU GOT, YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? YES, MA'AM.
I'VE BEEN TRYING TO UNMUTE FOR A BIT.
I GUESS LET'S TALK ABOUT FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS AND THEN
WAIT, I THOUGHT YOU COULD HEAR ME.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? ELIZABETH FUNK WATERSHED.
I THINK WE CAN HEAR THE VIDEO IN THE BACKGROUND, SO MAYBE MUTE THAT AND WE, 'CAUSE WE COULD HEAR YOUR VOICE.
WE JUST ALSO HEAR A BACKGROUND.
AND IF THAT'S YOUR COMPUTER BETTER NOW TURN DOWN YOUR, TURN DOWN YOUR SPEAKERS AS WELL.
SO THE, SO THE ONLY AUDIO COMING TO YOU IS THROUGH YOUR PHONE? THAT'S CORRECT.
CAN YOU HEAR ME BETTER NOW? YES MA'AM.
AND HOPEFULLY I WON'T HEAR MYSELF IN THREE SECONDS.
YES, NO, WHENEVER YOU'RE READY, WE'RE READY FOR YOU.
THIS I AM STEPHANIE, UH, SIMMONS, AND I'M ACTUALLY JUST WANTED TO SPEAK TO YOU ABOUT, UM, THE NATIVE LANDSCAPING WORKING GROUP REGARDING THAT.
I LISTENED IN, UH, ON YOUR LAST MEETING, BUT HAD YOU SIGNED UP TO SPEAK.
SO I WANTED TO TALK TO YOU AND JUST BRIEFLY RAISE THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE H O A MANAGEMENT OF THE LARGE AMOUNT OF COMMON, UM, AREA LANDSCAPING THAT'S WITHIN THE CITY IS, CAN SOMEONE CONFIRM THEY HEARD ME? YES.
I'LL, I'LL, I'LL TALK OVER YOU IF WE'RE HAVING A HARD TIME.
I CAN HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR.
SO, UM, JUST A LITTLE BACKGROUND.
I'M, I OWN A HOME WITHIN AN H O A THAT'S IN, AND IT'S ONE OF THOSE GOING BACK TO THE TRANSIT FORWARD, UH, GRAPH OR MAP.
IT'S ONE OF THOSE RED CARBON FOOTPRINT AREAS.
UM, IT WAS SUBDIVIDED IN 1993 AND THE HOUSES WERE BUILT BY ROUGHLY ABOUT 2004.
SO IT'S CURRENTLY ZONED THE CURRENT ZONING, SINGLE FAMILY ONE AND SINGLE FAMILY TWO.
BUT WHAT THE CONCERN I HAVE IS THAT THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE EXISTING SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING IS 20 TO 30 YEARS OLD FOR BOTH THE INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE LANDSCAPING.
AND THIS INCLUDES, YOU KNOW, IT STILL HAS THE ORIGINAL IRRIGATION SYSTEM.
UM, NOBODY, YOU KNOW, NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
AND A PROFESSIONAL LANDSCAPE COMPANY HAS BEEN VOLCANO MULCHING.
SO ALL WE DO ARE REMOVE TREES, UM, AND WE STILL CONTINUE TO WATER INVASIVES AND TURF GRASS.
SO I WANTED TO RAISE THIS AWARENESS WITH YOU.
UM, I RE I RECENTLY SERVED, UH, AS A DIRECTOR ON THE BOARD FOR A THREE YEAR TERM.
AND I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT HOW THE CITY, UM, I DID NOT SEE HOW THE CITY IS APPROACHING THE EXISTING.
IS SOMEONE TRYING TO TALK? NO, MA'AM.
THE CITY IS ACTUALLY MISSING THIS VERY IMPORTANT PIECE OF THE CITY'S, UH, GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE I WOULD CALL IT.
UM, BECAUSE WE'RE, WHAT I COULD TELL IS THE NEW WORKING GROUP OR THE WORKING GROUP IS ADDRESSING FOR NEW HOMES, BUT WE NEED TO, AFTER BEING ON THE BOARD FOR THREE YEARS, THESE, UM, HOAS NEED HELP TO ACCOMPLISH THE SAME GOALS OR AT LEAST START WORKING TOWARDS THOSE GOALS.
UM, I KNOW THERE'S THE GROWN GROW GREEN OUTREACH, UM, WHICH WE'VE HAD COME IN, BUT I REALLY BELIEVE THAT WE NEED A MORE DIRECTED TARGET AS A CITY TOWARDS ASSISTING THE H O A BOARD, UM, BOTH BY AND PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
[01:40:01]
COMPANIES AND THE LANDSCAPE COMPANIES TO DO THE RIGHT THING.UM, BEING ON THE BOARD, I REALIZED THAT WHAT WOULD REALLY HELP IS IF THE CITY SORT OF MADE A GENERIC LANDSCAPE PLAN LIKE FOUR HOAS TO PICK UP AND GO FORWARD WITH AND SUBSTITUTE THEIR OWN LITTLE AREAS, BUT, UM, LIKE A TEMPLATE, UM, BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH ONE WAS GENERATED, IT SAID THE WORD SUSTAINABLE, IT JUST DIDN'T HAVE ANY SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES IN IT.
OR, YOU KNOW, HOW WE HAVE EVERY TWO YEAR IRRIGATION LAND AUDIT, WHAT MAYBE WE COULD DO A TWO YEAR, UM, LANDSCAPE AUDIT, WHICH IS REALLY JUST RECOMMENDATIONS ON IMPROVEMENTS FROM THE CITY.
UM, BUT IT FORCES THE ASSOCIATION'S BOARD TO LOOK AT IT IN A NEW LIGHT VERSUS, YOU KNOW, THE MANINA AND THE LIGHT GU ROOM AND ALL OF THE THINGS THAT ARE REALLY HAVE AN IMPACT.
AND THEY HAVE A LARGE AREA OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE SOMEHOW GET THOSE INCLUDED.
AND THAT'S WHAT I WANTED TO BRING UP.
AND WE HAVE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION HERE.
UM, YEAH, VERY, VERY GOOD COMMENTS.
UM, YEAH, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT'S NOT A BLIND SPOT, UM, FOR THE CITY OR FOR THE NEW WORKING GROUP.
AND WE'LL PROBABLY REACH OUT TO YOU WITH SOME ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, BUT IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION YOU WANT TO SEND US OR A SUMMARY EMAIL TO KIND OF KEEP THIS THING PUSHING FORWARD, PLEASE SEND IT TO ELIZABETH I, ELIZABETH FUNK.
UM, AND, UH, WE'LL KEEP TALKING.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
SIR.SO WHEN THESE ITEMS COME BACK, LIKE ALLOWING SMALLER LOTS, ALLOWING UP TO THREE RESIDENTIAL UNITS PER LOT, UH, RELAXING COMPATIBILITY STANDARDS AND, UM, RELAXING THE PARKING REQUIREMENTS WHEN THEY COME BACK OUT FROM REVIEW FROM THE, FROM THE, UM, CITY STAFF, I WOULD LIKE THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENDORSE THEM OR TURN THEM DOWN.
UM, AND, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHEN THAT WILL HAPPEN.
I MEAN, THERE IS, I I'VE SEEN A, A CHART SHOWING WHEN THESE THINGS ARE COMING, BUT THERE'S CREEPING THROUGH BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT RESOLUTIONS THAT THE CITY COUNCIL HAS PASSED.
YEAH, I MEAN, I, I THINK, I THINK MAYBE THE, THE ASK WOULD BE, UM, AND WE CAN SEE YOU, YOU KNOW, IF, IF YOU GET A, A SECOND AND IT GETS THROWN ON AGENDA, BUT LIKE AN A STATUS UPDATE AND RIGHT FROM, FROM STAFF ON KIND OF WHAT THE CADENCE OF THIS IS AND, AND, AND THEN WE COULD DO THAT UNDER, UM, A DISCUSSION OR A PRESENTATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION.
AND THEN IF YOU WANT TO BRING, OR SOMEONE WANTS TO BRING, UH, A MOTION FORWARD THAT SAYS, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE THESE ITEMS OR RIGHT.
WE, AS THEY'VE COME BEFORE US HISTORICALLY, WE NEED TO GET INVOLVED EARLY, UM, BECAUSE IT'S A LOT OF DIGESTING AND, AND WE NEED TO BE KIND OF JOGGING BEFORE WE'RE SPRINTING IS KIND OF MY EXPERIENCE.
I CAN CHECK INTO IT, BUT, UM, DOES ANYONE WANT TO, IF THAT, IF THAT'S A MOTION, IF IF WHAT YOU JUST SAID IS AMENABLE TO COMMISSIONER SULLIVAN? I WOULD SECOND IT.
I'LL I'LL FIND OUT THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TIMING FOR THESE THINGS AND, AND YEAH.
AND I GUESS IF, IF LIZ, I'M GONNA START USING YOUR NAME MORE OFTEN, I APOLOGIZE.
UM, YEAH, LIZ JOHNSTON, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS PLUGGED IN.
UH, WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPUTY ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICER.
UM, SO THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT DOES HAVE A REALLY GOOD CODE, UM, UH, UPCOMING CODE AMENDMENT WEBSITE WHERE IT TALKS ABOUT, UM, FUTURE CODE AMENDMENTS AND WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS AND, UM, WHAT SOME OF THE BIG ONES ARE.
AND WE CAN SEND THAT WEBSITE OUT TO Y'ALL AND IF YOU WOULD LIKE A PRESENTATION ON THAT, THEN WE WOULD BE HAPPY TO COORDINATE WITH STAFF FROM PLANNING AND OURSELVES.
SO I AM, THERE'S A CODE CABINET, UH, FOR IT.
IT'S A DEPARTMENTAL GROUP OF, UH, FOLKS FROM D DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS THAT TALK ABOUT CODE, CODE CABINET OR CODE AMENDMENTS.
SO I CAN ALSO, UH, SPEAK TO THE WATERSHED CODE AMENDMENTS THAT ARE UPCOMING AS WELL.
SO YEAH, I THINK THAT'D BE GREAT.
UH, TO, TO, TO HAVE THE, BASED ON WHAT WE'RE HEARING, KIND OF HAVE THAT PRESENTATION GIVE US, GIVE US THE HOMEWORK TO READ AHEAD OF TIME, UM, AND THEN KIND OF BRIEF US ON IT.
UM, AND WE CAN TRY TO GET ROLLED INTO IT.
AND I THINK IT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL TO KNOW WHICH ONES SPECIFICALLY YOU'RE MORE, MOST
AND I'LL, I'LL PUT TOGETHER SOMETHING AND I'LL SEND IT TO YOU GUYS AND I'LL CC YOU CHAIRMAN, THAT'D BE GREAT.
AND PETER, I'LL COMMISSIONER EINHORN
UM, WELL, I DON'T THINK WE HAVE A WHOLE BUNCH LEFT, BUT I DO WANT TO SAY, ELIZABETH, UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK.
UM, WE MAY NOT SEE YOU FOR A LITTLE WHILE AFTER THIS.
UM, UH, BUT TAKE THE TIME YOU NEED FOR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.
UM, WE WILL SURVIVE WITHOUT YOU.
[01:45:01]
UM, IT WON'T BE EASY, UM, ESPECIALLY ON OTHER PEOPLE, BUT, UH, BUT UM, WE WISH YOU ALL THE BEST.UH, SO THANK YOU ALL THE HARD WORK YOU'VE BEEN DOING.
ANYTHING ELSE, GUYS? IT'S GONNA BE FRIDAY THE 13TH,
I WANTED TO, TO THROW SOMETHING OUT AS A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM AND SEE, SEE WHAT Y'ALL THINK.
IT ACTUALLY SOMEWHAT SEGUES FROM WHAT STEPHANIE WAS SAYING, OUR, OUR CALLER.
UM, I'M CURIOUS ABOUT AUSTIN WATERS, UH, REBATE PROGRAMS THAT THEY HAVE FOR NATIVE PLANTING AND, AND CONSERVATION EFFORTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT BECAUSE I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE, THERE ARE MANY ISSUES WITH LAWNS IN THIS COUNTRY AND MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR IT TO BE TRANSFORMED.
AND I WASN'T FULLY AWARE THAT THERE'S MONEY ON THE TABLE THAT THE CITY HAS FOR FOLKS TO DO THAT.
SO PERSONALLY I'D LIKE TO LEARN MORE.
AND SAY, BECAUSE I THINK THAT THERE'S SEVERAL REBATE PROGRAMS FOR THINGS THAT ARE POSITIVE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
FOR EXAMPLE, UM, YOU JUST MENTIONED THE, THE LAWN ONE, UM, SOLAR, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE'S, IF WE COULD EVEN MAYBE KIND OF GET, UM, A PRESENTATION TOGETHER THAT HAD MULTIPLES OF THOSE, UM, TO KIND OF GIVE US A BIGGER PICTURE, A BETTER PICTURE OF HOW RESIDENTS CAN TAKE CARE OR TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THOSE, UM, I WOULD TOTALLY SUPPORT THAT.
I'M, YEAH, I'M VERY OPEN TO THAT.
LIZ, PLEASE PUT THAT ON FUTURE THINGS.
MAYBE RECORD TIME FOR ME FOR MY TENURE HERE.