[00:00:11]
IT IS MAY 28TH, 2024 AT NINE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, AND I WILL CALL TO ORDER THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION.
FOR THIS DATE, WE ARE MEETING AT THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS IN AUSTIN CITY HALL, WHICH IS AT 3 0 1 WEST SECOND STREET, AND WE HAVE A QUORUM OF THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL PRESENT, UH, MEMBERS, COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE WILL, UH, NOT BE ON THE D TODAY.
HE IS DEALING WITH A, UH, DEATH IN HIS FAMILY AND TAKING CARE OF SOME BUSINESS IN THAT REGARD.
SO HE WILL NOT BE WITH US TODAY.
THE MY, UH, THE ORDER THAT I WOULD RECOMMEND WE GO IN TODAY IS WE WILL TAKE UP A BRIEFING ON THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
WE WILL THEN TAKE UP ITEM 1 27, UH, WITH A PRESENTATION FROM THE LAW DEPARTMENT, AND THEN COUNCIL DISCUSSION, AND THEN WE WILL TAKE UP A PULLED ITEM.
IT WAS PULLED BY COUNCIL MEMBER CADRY, AND, UH, ALTHOUGH HE'S ABSENT, UM, HE'S PROVIDED, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER VELA SOME, UH, TECHNICAL QUESTIONS THAT HE WANTED TO GET ANSWERED ON THE RECORD.
AND THEN WE WILL GO INTO AN EXECUTIVE SESSION.
SO WITH THAT, UH, BUSINESS OUT OF THE WAY, I'LL RECOGNIZE, UH, ASSISTANT
[B1. Briefing on the implementation of the Climate Equity Plan and Environmental Investment Plan.]
CITY MANAGER BRUCE MILLS, TO SET US UP FOR OUR FIRST BRIEFING.I, I'M, I'M KIND OF SCREWING WITH TRY TO GREEN CITY MANAGER MILLS.
IS THAT BETTER? GREEN? THANK YOU.
IF ANYBODY, IF ANYBODY CAN'T TELL, I, YEAH.
LAST WEEK YOU HAD SPELL MY NAME.
IS IT GREEN? NOW? IT IS, YES, SIR.
SO, TODAY'S WORK SESSION BRIEFING, THIS IS GONNA BE AN UPDATE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UH, IN RESPONSE TO RESOLUTION, IT WAS PASSED, AND THE, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN.
SO PLEASE HERE, BE HERE TODAY TO, TO REPRESENT CITY MANAGER BROAD ACTS WHILE HE IS ON VACATION.
AND, UH, PLEASE PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, WHICH WAS ADOPTED BY COUNCIL IN SEPTEMBER OF 2021.
STAFF WITHIN THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY, THEY'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS PLAN AND THIS ADOPTION OF PARTNERSHIP WITH CITY DEPARTMENTS AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS TO ADVANCE THE CITY'S CLIMATE PLAN.
FOLLOWING THE CLIMATE EQUITY UPDATE, STAFF WILL TRANSITION TO PROVIDING A RESPONSIVE BRIEFING TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT RESOLUTION, UH, THAT WAS ADOPTED BY COUNCIL IN FEBRUARY.
SINCE FEBRUARY, THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY STAFF HAS WORKED WITH 17 CITY DEPARTMENTS AND COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE, TO DEVELOP A LIST OF POTENTIAL PROJECTS.
I'D LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE, UH, ZACH BAUMER, WHO'S GONNA BE PRESENTING HERE IN A MOMENT THAT THE CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER AND HIS TEAM FOR THEIR DILIGENT AND EFFICIENT DEVELOP AND THOUGHTFUL PROCESS TO BRING THIS FORWARD.
AT THIS POINT, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO ZACH TO, UH, GIVE US HIS PRESENTATION.
UH, I'M ZACH BAUMER, CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER.
SO, UM, AS THE ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER SAID, I'M HERE TO GIVE AN UPDATE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN.
SO WHAT I'M GONNA COVER IS, UH, FOUR, FOUR DIFFERENT PIECES TODAY.
FIRST, BRIEFLY, JUST TALK ABOUT CITY INVESTMENT IN CLIMATE ACTION THAT'S BEEN GOING ON FOR DECADES, AND TALK ABOUT, UH, CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UPDATE, JUST AN UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE AND HOW WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS.
THEN I'M GONNA BRIEFLY TOUCH ON THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT AND THE PURSUITS THAT WE'VE BEEN GOING AFTER AS CITY DEPARTMENTS OVER THE LAST COUPLE YEARS.
AND THEN FINALLY, I'M GONNA COVER THE, UH, THE RESPONSE TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN RESOLUTION FROM FEBRUARY.
SO, FIRST, UH, INVESTMENT IN CLIMATE ACTION, UM, IS NOT A NEW THING.
UM, OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND OUR DEPARTMENTS HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTING, UM, CLIMATE ACTION AND SPENDING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON CLIMATE ACTION.
EVERYTHING FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY TO PROTECTING LAND, TO INVESTING IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES, TO PROTECTING, UM, SIDEWALKS, BICYCLES, PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
UM, THE CITY HAS BEEN FOCUSED ON THIS FOR MANY, MANY YEARS.
SO, SO I STAND HERE TODAY SORT OF ON, ON THE SHOULDERS OF MANY, MANY PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTING, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE ACTION FOR DECADES HERE.
UM, AND I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT, IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, WE'VE ACTUALLY PROVIDED THESE NET ZERO SUMMARIES AS PART OF THE PROPOSED BUDGET.
SO, IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET DOCUMENTS FOR THE LAST COUPLE YEARS, WE'VE HIGHLIGHTED INVESTMENTS, UM, IN EACH BUDGET THAT, THAT SORT OF SHOW THE ONGOING CITY COMMITMENT TO, TO THIS CHALLENGE.
IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT, UM, THAT AS A CITY, WE HAVE A UNIQUE ROLE TO PLAY IN THE RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.
WE ARE REALLY ON THE GROUND WHEN,
[00:05:01]
AS THE CLIMATE CHANGES AND WE EXPERIENCE EXTREME WEATHER, WE AT THE CITY ARE HERE, ARE THE ONES THAT FEEL THIS FIRST.WE FILL IT IN OUR COMMUNITIES AND OUR PEOPLE IN OUR RESPONSE.
UH, WE CAN ALSO ACT, ACT MORE QUICKLY AND ACT MORE SWIFTLY THAN REGIONAL AND NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS IN RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.
UM, SO IT'S IMPORTANT WHEN WE'RE THINKING ABOUT PLANNING AND DECIDING WHERE WE'RE GONNA FOCUS OUR EFFORTS TO FOCUS, WHERE THE CITY CAN ACTUALLY DIRECTLY CONTROL WHERE WE CAN SPEND MONEY OR TAKE ACTION AND ACTUALLY CREATE A RESULT, BUT THEN ALSO BE THINKING VERY CAREFULLY ABOUT WHERE WE CAN INCENTIVIZE ACTION.
UM, BECAUSE THIS IS A COMMUNITY WIDE GLOBAL PROBLEM.
UM, WE DON'T HOLD ALL THE CARDS, RIGHT, LIKE PEOPLE MAKE INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS EVERY SINGLE DAY, UH, THAT AFFECT THIS PROBLEM.
SO, UM, WE JUST AS A CITY NEED TO BE COGNIZANT OF, UH, INVESTING IN THE RIGHT PLACES TO, UM, ENSURE CHANGE HAPPENS, BUT ALSO ENCOURAGE OUR RESIDENTS, UM, AND OUR BUSINESSES IN THE COMMUNITY TO COME ALONG WITH US IN THIS JOURNEY.
SO, JUST A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
UM, SOME OF YOU WEREN'T, UM, HERE WHEN, WHEN THIS CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN WAS ADOPTED, UM, THIS ACTUALLY, THE ORIGINAL CLIMATE PROTECTION PLAN RESOLUTION WAS 2007.
THERE WAS A FIRST EDITION OF A COMMUNITY CLIMATE PLAN THAT WAS ADOPTED BY COUNCIL IN 2015, AND THEN STAFF WORKED IN 20, 19, 20 AND 21 TO CREATE WHAT YOU SEE HERE, THE AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
SO THIS GOAL, THIS PLAN CONTAINS A GOAL OF NET ZERO COMMUNITY WIDE EMISSIONS BY 2040, WHICH IS AS BOLD AS ANY CITY IN THE COUNTRY, UM, TO, TO REDUCE OUR EMISSIONS AND, UM, ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THE FIVE, UH, FIVE SECTIONS THERE OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, THEY FOCUSED ON THE BIG, UM, EMISSION SECTORS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND THEN FINALLY, THIS, THIS PLAN HAS EQUITY IN THE TITLE BECAUSE WE WEAVED EQUITY THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS, TRYING TO PRIORITIZE PROGRAMS, INCENTIVES, UM, TO FOCUS ON LOW INCOME COMMUNITIES AND COMMUNITIES OF COLOR IN OUR RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE.
SO THIS PLAN WAS ADOPTED SEPTEMBER OF 2021, AND STAFF ACROSS, ACROSS THE CITY ORGANIZATION HAVE BEEN WORKING TO IMPLEMENT THIS PLAN SINCE THEN.
SO IN THIS PLAN, THERE ARE 17 GOALS AND 75 STRATEGIES.
IT'S A REALLY LARGE, COMPLICATED PLAN.
THIS IS JUST A, A SLIDE FROM OUR IMPLEMENTATION DASHBOARD.
IT WOULD TAKE ME ALL DAY TO GO THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ALL, EVERYTHING THAT'S IN THIS PLAN.
UM, SO IF, UM, ANYONE WANTS TO SEE ALL THE DETAILS ON EVERY SINGLE STRATEGY UPDATES, YOU CAN CLICK ON THE LINK THERE.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THIS FULLY BUILT OUT DASHBOARD THAT WAS BUILT BY MY STAFF AND, AND CITY DEPARTMENTS TO GIVE FULL TRANSPARENCY ON REALLY HOW ARE WE IMPLEMENTING THIS PLAN.
UM, JUST THE TAKEAWAY HERE IS THAT OVER 75% OF THE STRATEGIES IN THE PLAN ARE UNDER IMPLEMENTATION, AND WE ARE MOVING FORWARD.
ANOTHER REALLY IMPORTANT PART OF THIS PLAN IS THAT THERE ARE QUANTITATIVE TARGETS, RIGHT? THERE ARE 17 QUANTITATIVE TARGETS.
UM, ABOUT A QUARTER OF THOSE TARGETS WE ARE ON, WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS TOWARDS, AND ACTUALLY ON TRACK FOR SOME, WE'RE KIND OF IN BETWEEN AND IN THE MIDDLE.
AND THEN SOME OF THE, THE GOAL QUANTITATIVE GOALS HERE, UH, WERE OFF TRACK, UM, WHERE WE'RE ACTUALLY NOT SORT OF ON TRACK TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL THAT IS STATED BY 2030.
UM, SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO JUST BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT THIS.
AND, UM, TO ALSO, AS YOU'LL SEE AS WE GET TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN DISCUSSION, UM, MANY OF THE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS THAT ARE BEING PROPOSED AS GAPS, UM, WOULD GET US ON TRACK FOR SOME, FOR SOME OF THESE TARGETS THAT WE'RE NOT CURRENTLY MEETING.
SO, UM, SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE ACTIONS, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING, UM, BUT THE NUMBERS AND REALLY WHAT THE CAR, WHAT THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF OUR COMMUNITY IS, THAT'S REALLY WHERE THE RUBBER HITS THE ROAD.
AND THAT'S REALLY LIKE WHAT THE REALITY IS OF OUR, UM, OF OUR, UM, THE RESULTS OF OUR ACTIONS TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE.
SO THERE ARE BASICALLY SIX, UH, AREAS WHEN YOU LOOK COMMUNITY-WIDE AT OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT.
UM, TWO ARE COMBINED TOGETHER ELECTRICITY AND NATURAL GAS.
SO THAT'S ESSENTIALLY THE ENERGY THAT'S USED IN BUILDINGS.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE OVER THE LAST 12 YEARS, ENERGY THAT'S BEEN USED IN BUILDINGS, UH, THE CARBON EMISSIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT HAS DROPPED PRECIPITOUSLY, UM, PRIMARILY DUE TO AUSTIN ENERGY'S ACTIVITIES WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, AND SO FORTH.
UH, THE NEXT MAJOR CATEGORY IS TRANSPORTATION.
SO TRANSPORTATION EMISSIONS IS THE FOSSIL FUELS THAT ARE USED IN ALL THE CARS, TRUCKS, VEHICLES, ALL EVERYTHING THAT'S OUT THERE DRIVING AROUND EVERY DAY.
UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, THOSE EMISSIONS DROPPED DRAMATICALLY DURING COVID.
UM, THEY'RE SORT OF ON THEIR WAY BACK UP, BUT AREN'T ANYWHERE NEAR AS HIGH AS THEY WERE, UM, UH, BEFORE COVID HAPPENED.
AND THEN WE HAVE THREE SMALLER EMISSION SOURCES.
WE TRACK THESE BECAUSE THEY'RE REAL AND THEY'RE HAPPENING IN THE COMMUNITY.
UM, BUT WE HAVE LESS EFFECT OVER THESE THREE SECTORS.
SO, INDUSTRIAL EMISSIONS IS PRIMARILY EMISSIONS THAT COME FROM SEMICONDUCTOR FACILITIES IN OUR AREA THAT WE DON'T HAVE REGULATORY POWER OVER.
UH, REFRIGERANTS ARE THESE SMALL CHEMICALS THAT ARE IN, UM,
[00:10:01]
ALL THE AIR CONDITIONINGS, ALL THE REFRIGERANT, ALL EVERYTHING THAT, UH, USES A COMPRESSOR AND CREATES COOLING.UH, THIS CHEMICALS LEAK INTO THE ENVIRONMENT.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT WAYS, HOW CAN WE, UM, STOP THAT LEAKAGE AND SLOW THAT DOWN.
THERE'S SOME SMALL EMISSIONS ASSOCIATED WITH WASTE THAT'S, UH, EMISSIONS FROM LANDFILLS.
SO THERE, THERE ARE SOME OPEN LANDFILLS IN TRAVIS COUNTY.
THEY ALL CAPTURE AND DESTROY THEIR METHANE, BUT THEY'RE, THEY'RE STILL EMISSIONS.
SO WHEN YOU STACK THOSE BARS ON TOP OF EACH OTHER BATCH, THIS SHOWS OUR TOTAL COMMUNITY WIDE CARBON FOOTPRINT AND THE PROGRESS THAT WE'VE BEEN MAKING OVER THE PAST 12 YEARS.
SO WE FIRST STARTED TRACKING THIS WHOLE COMMUNITY CARBON FOOTPRINT BACK IN 2010.
UM, EMISSIONS FOR OUR ENTIRE COMMUNITY PEAKED IN 2011, UM, AND HAVE BEEN GOING DOWN EVER SINCE.
SO, UH, EMISSIONS HAVE GONE DOWN TOTAL IN TOTAL 25% OVER THE LAST 12 YEARS.
UM, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, GOING TO NET ZERO, THERE'S A LONG WAY TO GO, RIGHT? THE, THE GOAL LINE THERE IS THE GOAL LINE THAT WAS ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL, AND THAT'S ESSENTIALLY, UM, BY 2030, IT WOULD BE A 75% REDUCTION, UM, FROM, FROM OUR 2020, UH, WHERE THE GOAL LINE STARTS THERE.
SO, WHILE WE HAVE BEEN REALLY SUCCESSFUL, AND I THINK WE'RE, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE LEADING CITIES IN THE COUNTRY IN TERMS OF REALLY BRINGING EMISSIONS DOWN, THERE IS STILL A LONG WAY TO GO.
WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT THING TO TALK ABOUT IS IT'S IMPRESSIVE TO SEE EMISSIONS COMING DOWN, BUT AS WE ALL KNOW, OUR CITY'S BEEN GROWING.
SO SINCE 2011, UM, OUR POPULATION IN, IN OUR BOUNDARY AREA FOR CALCULATING EMISSIONS HAS GONE UP BY 25%.
EMISSIONS HAVE GONE DOWN BY 25% IN THAT SAME TIME.
SO OUR PER CAPITA EMISSIONS ARE ACTUALLY DOWN 40% OVER THE PAST DECADE.
SO THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT, UH, STORY TO TELL, AND IT'S, AND I THINK REALLY SHOWS SUCCESS IN THE CITY'S COMMITMENT, OUR COMMUNITY'S COMMITMENT, UM, TO, TO ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE.
SO, UM, A LAST THING JUST TO SORT OF THINK ABOUT IN TERMS OF GOING FORWARD AND, UM, OUR CITY AND COMMUNITY-WIDE APPROACH TO ADDRESSING CLIMATE AS WE, AS WE MOVE INTO THE FUTURE, UM, MANY OF THE LOW COST CLIMATE ACTIONS HAVE ALREADY BEEN IMPLEMENTED.
SO MUCH OF THE SIMPLE THINGS THE CITY HAS ALREADY DONE, THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT ARE CHEAP, THE THINGS THAT HAVE REALLY EASY PAYBACKS, UM, THEY'VE ALREADY BEEN DONE.
UM, BUT AS YOU ALL CAN SEE IN THE WORLD AROUND US, NEW TECHNOLOGY IS EVOLVING VERY QUICKLY.
YOU KNOW, 10 YEARS ELECTRIC VEHICLES BARELY EXISTED 10 YEARS AGO, RE ME RENEWABLE ENERGY WAS VERY EXPENSIVE.
COSTS ARE COMING DOWN FOR THINGS.
SO KEEPING OUR EYE ON HOW THAT TECHNOLOGY'S CHANGING AND HOW WE INVEST IN THE RIGHT THINGS IS, IS IMPORTANT.
ON THE NEXT THING IS THAT COMMUNITY ACTION IS REALLY NEEDED TO SCALE.
UM, ONE OF THE HARDEST, UM, SECTORS TO REDUCE EMISSIONS IN AUSTIN, WHERE WE HAVE THE LESS LEAST DIRECT CONTROL, UH, IS TRANSPORTATION.
WHILE WE CAN PROVIDE, WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS PROVIDING, UM, A MUCH BETTER PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.
INDIVIDUALS MAKE THEIR OWN CHOICES ABOUT HOW THEY GET TO WORK, HOW THEY GET TO THE STORE, HOW THEY GET AROUND EVERY DAY.
UM, AND MUCH OF THOSE CHOICES ARE STILL FOSSIL FUEL BASED CHOICES IN CARS.
SO WE REALLY NEED TO WORK COMMUNITY WIDE TOGETHER, UM, TO, TO SCALE THOSE SOLUTIONS.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, UM, WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME AS WE SORT OF TRANSITIONED TO TALK ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN.
WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME THINKING ABOUT THE RANGE OF SOLUTIONS FROM ENERGY TO TRANSPORTATION, TO WASTE, TO PROTECTING NATURAL, NATURAL SYSTEMS. AND ALL THE ACTIONS ARE NEEDED TO GET TO NET ZERO, RIGHT? THERE'S NOT, WE CAN'T JUST FOCUS ON ONE THING.
THERE'S NOT A SILVER BULLET TO THE SOLUTION.
UM, WE NEED TO WORK FOR WORK TOWARDS MOVING ALL OF THESE, UM, ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS FORWARD IN THE COMING DECADES.
OKAY, SO TRANSITIONING TO JUST BRIEFLY, UM, TALK ABOUT THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT.
SO, INFLATION REDUCTION ACT WAS PASSED BY CONGRESS AND SIGNED BY THE PRESIDENT IN, UH, THE FALL OF 2022.
UM, THIS IS ESSENTIALLY THE LARGEST, UM, COMMITMENT AND THE LARGEST, UH, AMOUNT OF SPENDING, UM, AND SUPPORT THAT'S BEEN EVER BEEN IMPLEMENTED FOR CLIMATE ACTION IN THE UNITED STATES.
UM, SO THERE'S OVER $369 BILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING THAT WAS PASSED IN THIS, UM, IN THIS BILL.
UM, SO IT'S NOT JUST ONE PROGRAM, IT'S NOT JUST ONE TAX CREDIT.
AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE GRAPH HERE, THERE ARE MYRIAD OF PROGRAMS IMPLEMENTED AGAINST NUMEROUS DIFFERENT FEDERAL AGENCIES, AND THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT NOOKS AND CRANNIES WHERE THIS, WHERE THIS MONEY EXISTS.
SO, UM, BECAUSE AGAIN, THIS AFFECTS ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE CITY ORGANIZATION.
UM, OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY HAS BEEN COORDINATING OUR CITYWIDE RESPONSE TO, UH, TO PURSUE THIS FUNDING.
UM, WE TRACK AND COORDINATE RESPONSE TO ALL OF THE DIFFERENT GRANT OPPORTUNITIES.
WE'VE HIRED A CONSULTANT TO HELP.
UM, WE'VE DONE WORKSHOPS WITH CITY STAFF TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PREPARED.
UM, AND WE'VE PARTNERED WITH COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATIONS.
'CAUSE THERE ARE NUMEROUS PROGRAMS
[00:15:01]
IN THIS, UM, THROUGHOUT THESE OPPORTUNITIES WHERE IT REQUIRES COMMUNITY CONNECTION WITH, UM, WITH CITY ACTION.SO THIS IS JUST THE, THE VERY HIGH LEVEL SUMMARY, UM, OF EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN, UM, PURSUED OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST, UH, YEAR AND A HALF.
SO OVER $140 MILLION HAS BEEN AWARDED ACROSS THOSE FIVE PROJECTS.
WE ARE WAITING TO HEAR ON 320, OVER 323 MILLION, UM, IN GRANT SUBMISSIONS THAT WE'RE WAITING ON RESPONSES RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND BECAUSE OF THE TIMING OF THIS YEAR, WE EXPECT TO HEAR ON ALL OF THESE BEFORE, BEFORE THE FALL.
UM, SO THERE'S POTENTIALLY A LOT OF BIG WINS AND A LOT OF BIG, BIG FUNDING IN FOR, FOR PROJECTS THAT, UM, WOULD SUPPORT REDUCING EMISSIONS AND SUPPORT, UH, CLIMATE ACTION.
UM, WE ARE IN PROCESS OF WORKING ON $160 MILLION IN GRANT APPLICATIONS RIGHT NOW.
THESE WILL BE SUBMITTED OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT COUPLE MONTHS.
AND THEN FINALLY, THERE ARE A COUPLE THAT WE DIDN'T WIN.
SO 50 MILLION THAT WE, WE WEREN'T AWARDED.
SO THIS HAS BEEN A SORT OF ILLUMINATING PROCESS TO, TO PURSUE ALL OF THESE, UM, AND EXCITING BECAUSE IT REALLY, UM, BRINGS FUNDING WHERE FUNDING'S NEEDED.
OKAY, SO LAST PART OF THIS PRESENTATION.
SO IN FEBRUARY, YOU ALL PASSED RESOLUTION 20 24 0 2, 15 0 2 5, UM, WHICH REAFFIRMED THE CITY'S COMMITMENT TO NET ZERO EMISSIONS BY 2040.
IT ASKED, UM, CITY STAFF TO PREPARE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS OR PROGRAMS THAT WOULD IN FOUR DIFFERENT CATEGORIES, REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS, DECREASE WATER USAGE, AND IMPROVE WATER QUALITY AND DETENTION, ADVANCE SUSTAINABILITY OF CITY OPERATIONS, AND IMPROVE COMMUNITY RESILIENCE.
AND THEN IT ASKED, UM, FOR THE PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS THAT ARE RECOMMENDED, THINK ABOUT HOW WOULD THEY BE FUNDED? UM, WOULD THEY BE, COULD THEY BE FUNDED THROUGH UTILITY RATES AND FEES, GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES, GRANTS, OR GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS? UM, SO THE, THE RESOLUTION ASKED THAT ALSO ASKED FOR US TO GO LOOK THROUGH ABOUT, UM, 15 DIFFERENT, UM, PLANS THAT HAD BEEN ADOPTED BY DEPARTMENTS, DETERMINE WHERE THERE WERE GAPS, DETERMINE WHERE, UM, WE WEREN'T MOVING AS AS QUICKLY AS WE THOUGHT, AND ESSENTIALLY COME FORWARD WITH PROJECT PROPOSALS THAT WOULD MOVE THE NEEDLE AND WOULD REALLY HELP US MAKE PROGRESS IN THESE AREAS.
UM, IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT, UH, IT WAS CALLED OUT THAT THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE, WHICH IS A, A CITY COMMISSION THAT OVERSEES THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CLIMATE ACTION IN AUSTIN.
UM, IT RECOMMENDED THAT THEY DO A PUBLIC HEARING AND DO THEIR OWN SET OF RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON PUBLIC INPUT.
UM, SO WE, UM, WENT THROUGH A WHOLE PROCESS AND SUBMITTED, UH, TO COUNCIL A MEMO, UM, ESSENTIALLY SUMMARIZING THE STAFF RESPONSE TO THIS AND INCLUDED THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS LAST WEEK.
SO I'M JUST GONNA BRIEFLY WALK THROUGH THAT.
UM, SO THE RESPONSE TO THIS RESOLUTION, UM, THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY ESSENTIALLY STARTED CATALOGING, WHAT WERE ALL THE PLANS, WHAT WERE ALL THE GAPS WE GOT, AS IT WAS SAID EARLIER, 17 DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS TOGETHER.
WE WORKED TOGETHER TO ESSENTIALLY, UM, AGGREGATE PROJECT PROPOSALS, UM, DISTILL THOSE PROPOSALS, PRIORITIZE THOSE PO PROPOSALS, FOCUS THOSE, UM, AND WENT FROM A VERY, VERY WIDE LONG LIST OF POTENTIAL PROJECTS TO A MUCH NARROWER, SHORTER, MORE FOCUSED LIST, UM, OF, OF PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS AND INVESTMENTS THAT WOULD MOVE THE NEEDLE HERE.
UM, THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE WENT ON THEIR JOURNEY OF, UM, PUBLIC INPUT, CRAFTING THEIR OWN RESPONSES, AND THEIR RECOMMENDATION WAS, UH, WAS APPROVED ON APRIL 30TH.
SO ESSENTIALLY, ALL OF THIS HAS COME TOGETHER, UM, IN SUMMARY.
SO THE NEXT FOUR SLIDES ARE JUST THE HIGH LEVEL SUMMARY OF THE FOUR CATEGORIES OF, OF POTENTIAL PROJECTS, AND LISTED FROM LARGEST TO SMALLEST, SORT OF WHAT THOSE PROJECT PROPOSALS ARE.
UM, I'M NOT GONNA WALK THROUGH EVERYTHING, EVERY SINGLE ONE 'CAUSE IT'S IN THE MEMOS.
UM, YOU CAN ALSO SEE, UH, WE ADDED THIS LITTLE JSC TAG TO THE SIDE, THE LITTLE GREEN BUTTON THERE, THOSE HIGHLIGHT PROPOSALS WHERE THERE WAS AGREEMENT BETWEEN JOINT SUSTAINABILITY AND COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS THE STAFF RECOMMENDATION.
SO WHAT'S IN THE TABLE, UM, IS THE STAFF RECOMMENDATION.
UM, SO AS WE WALK THROUGH THESE, IF THERE ARE QUESTIONS AT THE END, WE HAVE, UH, STAFF MEMBERS FROM, UM, ALL THE DEPARTMENTS HERE THAT CAN ANSWER QUESTIONS ON ANY OF THESE PROPOSALS, IF YOU, YOU HAVE THEM.
SO SOME OF THE REALLY BIG ONES THAT WERE PROPOSED HERE WERE, UM, TWO DIFFERENT FACILITIES FOR AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY, UM, UM, MORE WEATHERIZATION AND EV CHARGING PROGRAMS FOR LOW AND MODERATE CUSTOMER CUSTOMERS FROM AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, AND MORE TRANSPORTATION, DEMAND MANAGEMENT AND SAFETY PROGRAMMING, UM, THROUGH TPW.
SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE BIG HIGHLIGHTED ONES.
BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE'S MUCH MORE, UM, ON WATER QUALITY, QUANTITY, AND LAND SUMMARY.
UM, IT SHOULD ALSO BE NOTED THAT THERE IS OVERLAP
[00:20:01]
IN THESE CATEGORIES, RIGHT? WHEN YOU PROTECT LAND, YOU INCREASE, UM, YOU PROTECT WATER RESOURCES, BUT YOU CAN ALSO SEQUESTER CARBON.UM, SO THERE'S NOT ANY ONE EXACT CATEGORY, PERFECT CATEGORY FOR THESE, BUT THERE'S OVERLAP IN ALL THESE.
'CAUSE THERE'S MANY ACTIONS AND PROGRAMS THAT THE CITY COULD, WOULD, UH, IMPLEMENT THAT WOULD REDUCE EMISSIONS, INCREASE RESILIENCE, INCREASE WATER CAPACITY ALTOGETHER.
UM, THE BIGGEST, UH, THE BIGGEST ITEM HERE, UM, AT THE TOP IS THE LAND ACQUISITION, UH, ITEM.
SO UPWARDS OF A BILLION DOLLARS TO PROTECT, UM, UPWARDS OF, OR MORE OF 20,000 ACRES OF LAND.
THAT'S A BIG ONE THAT COULD HAPPEN ACROSS MULTIPLE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS, UM, AND PROTECTING LAND, THE SOONER WE DO IT, UM, THE, THE, THE BETTER THE INVESTMENT IS GONNA BE LONGER TERM FOR US.
UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE'S A COUPLE OTHER, COUPLE OTHER BIG ITEMS HERE.
UM, PROTECTING TREES, CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS, CITYWIDE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN.
THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT WOULD, UM, INCREASE THE NATURAL SYSTEMS IN OUR COMMUNITY, UM, AND, AND PROTECT, UH, CLIMATE CHANGE.
UH, THE NEXT CATEGORY WAS COMMUNITY RESILIENCE.
UM, SO THESE ARE, THESE ARE STRATEGIES THAT PRIMARILY WOULD INCREASE OUR RESILIENCE AND A, UH, ABILITY TO ADAPT, UM, IN THE FACE OF CLIMATE CHANGE AS IT WILL AFFECT US.
UM, SO I'LL JUST TALK ABOUT THE FIRST TWO.
FIRST ONE IS TO ENHANCE CITY OWNED FACILITIES THAT ARE COMMUNITY FACING WITH BACKUP POWER, WITH BACKUP WATER, WITH ALL THE RESOURCES TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE OPERATIONAL WHEN, UM, IN TIMES OF NEED.
AND THEN THE NEXT ONE IS THE IDEA OF A NEW PROGRAM TO ESSENTIALLY PROVIDE, UM, GRANT DOLLARS AND INCENTIVES AND FUNDING FOR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL FACILITIES IN THE COMMUNITY TO HELP THEM BE MORE FIRE RESILIENT, REDUCE WATER USAGE, HAVE BATTERY STORAGE, MORE ENERGY EFFICIENCY, ALL THOSE THINGS.
SO, UH, HELP THE COMMUNITY BECOME MORE RESILIENT IN THEIR OWN FACILITIES.
UH, THE LAST CATEGORY WAS CITY OPERATIONS.
SO AS YOU CAN IMAGINE IN CITY OPERATIONS, UM, THE BIG THINGS ARE OUR FACILITIES AND OUR VEHICLE FLEET.
UH, SO THE FIRST ONE HERE IS A UNIFIED CITY FACILITIES OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE AND IMPROVEMENT PLAN TO HELP IMPROVE ALL CITY FACILITIES AND MAKE THEM MORE EFFICIENT.
UM, AND THEN THE LAST ONE THERE IS TO ADVANCE THE DECARBONIZATION OF THE CITY FLEET, AS WELL AS BUILD OUT ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, ELECTRIC VEHICLES DO SAVE THE CITY MONEY LONG TERM, BUT THERE IS SOME EXTRA COST UP FRONT TO, TO FACILITATE THAT TRANSITION.
UM, AS WE WENT THROUGH THIS PROCESS, THERE WERE ALSO SOME OTHER PROJECTS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED, UH, WITH TRANSPORTATION, PUBLIC WORKS AND WATERSHED PROTECTION.
UM, ALL THE PROJECTS, THESE ARE FULLY LISTED OUT IN THE MEMO.
ALL OF THESE PROJECTS ARE IN THESE DEPARTMENTS, LONG-TERM CAPITAL PLANS.
THEY DO HAVE PLANS TO EVENTUALLY RAISE THE FUNDING AND EVENTUALLY TRY TO ACCESS ALL THE FUNDING TO FULLY IMPLEMENT THESE PLANS.
SO IT WAS UNCLEAR IF THESE WERE, UM, UNFUNDED OR, OR SORT OF TO BE FUNDED IN THE FUTURE, BUT WE INCLUDED THEM IN THE LIST ANYWAY SO YOU COULD SEE 'EM.
UM, SO ACROSS ALL OF OUR CONVERSATIONS WITH FINANCE AND CAPITAL DELIVERY AND ALL THE DEPARTMENTS IN, IN THIS PROCESS, UH, THERE WERE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FUNDING MECHANISMS, AND I'M NOT THE EXPERT ON THAT.
WE HAVE EXPERTS THAT CAN ANSWER MORE QUESTIONS ON THIS HERE TODAY.
UM, GENERALLY GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS AS WE, UM, DEFINE THESE THINGS AND TAG THEM IN OUR, UM, RESPONSE TO COUNCIL GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS CAN GENERALLY BE USED FOR LAND ACQUISITION PROJECTS FOR EAST WEST AGRICULTURAL LANDS.
THEY COULD BE USED FOR RESOURCE RECOVERY, WATERSHED, TRANSPORTATION, PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS, BUT THOSE WOULD ACTUALLY BE PAID BACK BY THEIR FEES AND NOT TAXES.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, UH, GENERAL OB OBLIGATION BONDS SHOULDN'T BE USED FOR WATER POWER UTILITY PROJECTS 'CAUSE THEY HAVE THEIR OWN REVENUE BONDING AUTHORITY THAT THEY RAISE, RAISE FUNDS WHEN THEY NEED THEM.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, ALL CAPITAL PROJECTS, THINGS THAT ARE BUILDINGS, INFRASTRUCTURE BUILT ENVIRONMENT THAT ACTUALLY NEED DESIGNS AND ENGINEERING DONE.
IT'S RECOMMENDED THAT ALL OF THOSE PROJECTS BE PART OF THE CITY PROJECT PROCESS FOR A FUTURE BOND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, UM, AND NOT BE RUSHED, UM, NOT BE RUSHED TO ESSENTIALLY GO THROUGH THEIR, THE FULL PROCESS, THE CAPITAL DELIVERY SERVICES PROMOTING.
UM, STAFF IS GONNA CONTINUE TO WORK ON CALCULATING MORE SPECIFIC COSTS, GETTING MORE SPECIFIC SCOPES WORK, QUANTIFYING EXACT ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS, UH, AND ANALYZING FINANCING OPTIONS.
SO IT WAS A HEAVY LIFT FOR STAFF TO CREATE THIS, THIS BIG LIST OF, UM, OF PROJECTS AND PROPOSALS, UM, AND MORE FININGS NEEDED TO MAKE SURE THAT THESE, THESE PROJECTS GET MORE SPECIFIC AND MORE ACCURATE.
UM, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE WORKING WITH FINANCIAL SERVICES AND LAW TO FURTHER VET POSSIBLE FUNDING SOURCES AND COMPLIANCE WITH THE CITY'S PO POLICIES AND LEGAL REQUIREMENTS.
SO AS, UM, SOME OF THESE PROJECTS AND PROPOSALS ARE PUSHED FORWARD, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO REALLY
[00:25:01]
BUCKLE DOWN WITH, WITH THEM TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, THE RIGHT FUNDING MECHANISM IS BROUGHT FORWARD.UM, AND IN TIME AS WE, AS WE PURSUE THESE.
UM, UH, THE NEXT THING THAT CAME UP IS, AS PART OF THIS PROCESS, THIS IS REALLY A, A TAKEAWAY FOR ME IS THAT, UM, IN OTHER LEADING CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, MINNEAPOLIS, PORTLAND, DENVER, UM, THOSE CITIES HAVE FIGURED OUT WAYS TO CREATE, UM, ONGOING SORT OF SUSTAINED FUNDING MECHANISMS TO FUND CLIMATE ACTION.
UM, SO, UM, WE JUST CALL IT A CLIMATE FEE HERE.
I'M NOT SURE WHAT THIS WOULD LOOK LIKE.
WE WOULD, AGAIN, NEED TO WORK WITH STAFF, UM, TO FIGURE OUT HOW COULD THIS BE CREATED.
BUT, UM, IT WAS JUST CLEAR THAT GOING THROUGH THIS EXERCISE TO DEVELOP ALL THESE NEEDS, UM, WAS AN IMPORTANT EXERCISE.
BUT IF WE HAD ACTUAL DEDICATED FUNDING AND COULD GO THROUGH A PROCESS EVERY YEAR TO KNOW THAT THERE WAS FUNDING WORK WITH OUTSIDE STAKEHOLDERS AND ACTUALLY SPEND DOWN THAT FUNDING LIKE IN AN ANNUAL CYCLE, UM, IT WOULD BE JUST A MUCH MORE SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO THIS INSTEAD OF PASSING BIG TARGETS, UM, IDENTIFYING GAPS AND THEN TRYING TO FILL THOSE GAPS, UM, OVER TIME.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, UM, CONTINUED COLLABORATION BETWEEN STAFF COMMISSIONS AND LOCAL EXPERTS REALLY IS KEY ON THIS.
UM, I THINK AS WE SAW THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE PUT FORWARD, UM, SOME FANTASTIC RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, AND THE MORE THAT WE CAN SORT OF ALIGN THESE RECOMMENDATIONS AND, AND, UM, PROJECT ANALYSIS, THE BETTER THAT WE'LL ALL BE GOING FORWARD TO, TO SOLVE THIS HUGE PROBLEM.
ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, SIR.
UH, I'M SURE WE'RE GONNA ASK SOME QUESTIONS, BUT IN FACT, IF, IF COUNSEL, IF YOU DON'T MIND, I WANT TO START AND ASK A COUPLE, BECAUSE I WANNA MAKE SURE I UNDERSTOOD THE, A COUPLE OF THINGS.
ONE IS, YOU'RE NOT MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS REPORT AND YOU, YOU'RE NOT PREPARED TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE TIMING AND SIZE OF ANY GEO BOND PROGRAM RIGHT NOW, IS THAT RIGHT? YES, WE ARE, WE ARE NOT.
THIS WAS ESSENTIALLY JUST A LIST OF PROJECTS AND POTENTIALLY HOW THEY COULD, THEY COULD BE FUNDED.
I JUST KINDA WANNA GET THAT OUT THERE SO THAT, UH, AS, AS WE CONTINUE THIS DISCUSSION ABOUT SOMETHING THIS IMPORTANT AND, AND CONTINUE TO WANT PUBLIC INPUT AND PUBLIC SUPPORT, UH, FOR IT, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS.
UM, AS YOU GO FORWARD ON THAT, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, THAT I HOPE YOU WILL, UH, CATEGORIZE AS YOU TRY TO DO THIS IS, UH, HELP FROM THE PROFESSIONAL STAFF PERSPECTIVE.
EVERYBODY THAT'S INVOLVED IN THIS, AND IT LOOKS TO ME LIKE EVERYBODY'S INVOLVED IN THIS.
UM, BUT, UH, AND I, AND I APPRECIATE THAT, BUT AS YOU, AS YOU BRING THAT FORWARD, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK THAT, THAT WE AS A COUNCIL ARE GOING TO NEED TO BE PREPARED TO TALK ABOUT AND, AND BE PREPARED WHEN WE VOTE ON SOMETHING, IS WHAT MIGHT BE THE TRADE OFFS OF A DEDICATED BOND PROGRAM.
SO, AND WHAT I MEAN BY THAT, UM, IS WE, WE ALSO GET REQUESTS FOR A, A MORE COMPREHENSIVE BOND PROGRAM AND THINGS THAT OUGHT TO GO INTO THAT.
SO WHAT WOULD BE THE INHERENT TRADE OFFS IF, IF YOU DETERMINE WHAT THE, THE, A DEDICATED GO PROGRAM LOOK LIKE? I GUESS ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING THIS, WHAT DO, WHAT GETS GI GIVEN UP? RIGHT? WHAT, WHAT, WHAT IS THE, THE, THE APPROACH? YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT POPS IN MY HEAD IS THAT WHEN THE, UM, UH, HOUSING PLAN WAS PASSED, UH, OR, OR, UH, A FEW YEARS AGO, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IT TALKED ABOUT IN TERMS OF, UH, BELOW 80% MFI, I THINK THAT WAS THE NUMBER THAT WAS USED.
IT MAY HAVE BEEN 60%, BUT I THINK IT WAS 80% IS HOW BIG WOULD WE NEED TO WHAT, WHAT WE, HOW BIG WE NEEDED TO GO.
AND THE BOND NUMBER WAS MUCH LARGER THAN WHAT WE'VE DONE, RIGHT? WE'VE HAD TWO PLUS, IF YOU COUNT THE, UH, PROJECT CONNECT MONEY, WE'RE STILL NOT AT THAT NUMBER, ASSUMING THAT'S WHERE WE WANT TO BE, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, SO AS YOU BRING THIS FORWARD, I WOULD ASK THAT THAT ALSO BE A PART OF WHAT WE LOOK, WE LOOK AT, UM, AND I, AND I, AND I, I'VE WRITTEN DOWN ADEQUATE CAPACITY HERE THAT THAT IS PART AND PARCEL OF WHAT I'M SAYING, I THINK IS WHEN WE, WHEN I TALK ABOUT THE INHERENT TRADE-OFFS, WHAT, WHAT ARE WE LOOKING AT IN TERMS OF ADEQUATE CAPACITY FOR OTHER ITEMS THAT MIGHT BE IN A COMPREHENSIVE BOND PROGRAM, UH, IN THE NEAR TERM.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT I, THAT I'D LIKE TO BRING UP IS, UM, WHETHER YOU GUYS CAN ORGANIZE THIS LIST OF PROJECTS AS YOU BRING IT FORWARD.
AND AGAIN, I'M NOT ASKING FOR IT TODAY 'CAUSE I UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHERE WE ARE TODAY
[00:30:01]
AND AND APPRECIATE WHERE WE ARE AND, AND WHAT YOU'VE DONE.BUT, BUT BRING US FORWARD A TABLE THAT SHOWS A PREFERRED OR RECOMMENDED METHOD OF FINANCE.
AND I SAW YOUR LAST SLIDE OR YOUR NEXT TO LAST SLIDE, BUT, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO, TO BE ABLE TO EYEBALL, AND I THINK AS WE TAKE THIS TO, AS WE TALK TO THE PUBLIC ABOUT THIS, THEY'RE GOING TO WANT TO EYEBALL WHAT WOULD FALL INTO THE CATEGORY OF UTILITY CIP OR GENERAL FUND CIP OR ENTERPRISE, UM, OR GENERAL FUND OPERATING BUDGET.
YOU KNOW, ALL OF THE DIFFERENT, UH, BUCKETS OF MONEY THAT GET UTILIZED AND WHAT THE RECOMMENDATIONS WOULD BE ABOUT WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO, WHERE YOU, WHERE THAT MONEY WOULD COME FROM.
UH, BECAUSE I THINK WHAT THAT WILL DO IS IT'LL HELP US ALL UNDERSTAND THE MAGNITUDE OF A, OF WHATEVER A GEO BOND PROGRAM, UM, WOULD LOOK LIKE IF, IF WE WANTED TO TRY TO DO ANYTHING OR EVERYTHING THAT THAT MIGHT BE IN THIS.
UM, IT WOULD ALSO, I THINK, SHOW US FROM AN ORGANIZATIONAL STANDPOINT, IE THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, WHAT AN ORGANIZATION-WIDE PROGRAM.
AND THIS IS GOING, THIS IS AN ORGANIZATION-WIDE PROGRAM, AS YOU'VE LAID OUT WHAT AN ORGANIZATION-WIDE PROGRAM, UH, HOW YOU CAN FINANCE THAT WITH A VARIETY OF, OF DIFFERENT FUNDING MECHANISMS. I NOTICED, UH, WHEN I READ WHAT HAD BEEN PRESENTED, AND THEN I NOTICED ALSO IN YOUR REPORT YOU TALK ABOUT ROAD PROJECTS.
WELL, DEPENDING UPON HOW, HOW YOU ANALYZE THIS, THOSE ROAD PROJECTS, THERE'S, THERE'S A WAY TO DO THOSE INDEPENDENTLY, RIGHT? AND SO I, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE, WE HAVE THOSE OVER IN, IN THAT.
AND, AND THAT ACTUALLY LEADS ME TO A QUESTION ABOUT WHAT IS, AS YOU, AS A SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER BRING THIS FORWARD? UM, OTHER THAN JUST SAYING CLIMATE AND RESILIENCY OR CLIMATE EQUITY AND RESILIENCY, WHICH ARE BIG WORDS.
AND, AND, AND BY THAT I MEAN, CARRY A LOT OF WEIGHT, BUT WHAT IS A WAY I, I'D LIKE TO HAVE Y'ALL RECOMMEND TO US A WAY FOR US TO, TO THINK THROUGH WHAT OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES ARE AS WE LOOK AT EACH ONE OF THESE PROJECTS AND INCLUDE IT IN THAT WOULD, WOULD BE THE FISCAL ASPECTS.
SO, SO WHAT ARE THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES, YOU KNOW, AS, AS WE MOVE FORWARD ON THESE? AND, AND, AND THAT WOULD HELP US, I THINK ALMOST WITH A DECISION TREE APPROACH WHERE, YOU KNOW, YOU ASK, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S THE HIGHEST PRIORITY? UM, AND YOU KNOW, AND I WROTE DOWN WHEN YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT LAND, WHICH IS A BIG ITEM, AND OF COURSE I'M, UM, I TAKE A LOT OF PRIDE IN THINGS.
I STARTED BACK A FEW YEARS AGO ON LAND PURCHASES, UH, FOR WATER QUALITY.
BUT YOU MENTIONED DECREASED EMISSIONS AND YOU ALSO MENTIONED INCREASED WATER RESOURCES.
UM, WELL, THERE'S OTHER THINGS TO THAT.
AND THERE'S, AND THERE'S OTHER THINGS THAT, THAT'S WHAT I SEE AS PART OF THE DECISION TREE IS WE START, UH, LOOKING AT THIS AND TRYING TO PARCEL OUT WHERE WE MIGHT WANNA SPEND MONEY.
WHAT ARE THE, THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES, WHAT ARE THE VALUES? WHAT ARE THE RESULTS WE GET FROM DIFFERENT ACTIONS? AND THEN THAT TAKES ME TO THE NEXT PART OF THAT.
BUT, BUT THINGS LIKE ON LAND USE, I, I REMEMBER WHEN WE WERE DOING WATER QUALITY, UH, OVER THE AQUIFER, ONE OF THE BIG THINGS THAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO THERE IS ACTUALLY DO SCIENTIFICALLY BASED ANALYSIS OF WHERE WE WERE GOING TO PURCHASE THE LAND TO GET THE BANG FOR THE BUCK THAT WE WANTED.
I THINK IT'S GONNA BE IMPORTANT FOR US AS, AS WE TALK ABOUT THESE NUMBERS AND THE SIZE OF THESE NUMBERS, THAT WE DO THAT AS WELL.
WE, WE MAKE THAT A PART OF THE DECISION TREE, UM, GOING FORWARD.
YOU KNOW, JUST WHAT FACTORS GO IN, INTO, I MEAN, THE NUMBER ON LAND, I, I DON'T MEAN TO PICK ON LAND.
I, IN FACT THINK THAT OUGHT TO BE A HIGH PRIORITY.
BUT, BUT, BUT BECAUSE IT'S SO BIG, I THINK IS WHY IT JUMPS OUT AT ME.
HOW DID, HOW DID THAT NUMBER COME UP? I MEAN, WHAT WERE THE FACTORS THAT YOU WERE LOOKING AT THAT GOT YOU TO THAT SIZE NUMBER AND WHAT WERE THE VALUES THAT YOU PUT INTO THAT? I THINK IT'S GONNA BE IMPORTANT FOR US TO, TO, TO THINK ABOUT THAT AND ANALYZE IT.
UM, AND, AND I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE GET IT BACK, THAT WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS THAT IT'S AN ORGANI ORGANIZATIONAL WIDE SCAN OF, OF HIGHEST PRIORITY CLIMATE ACTIONS OR AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST.
I WANT US TO, I WANT US TO BE ABLE TO, TO TO KNOW WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE AS AS, AS
[00:35:01]
WE START, UH, MAKING DECISIONS.UM, YOU MENTIONED IN THE MEMO, OR IT WAS MENTIONED IN THE MEMO, THAT ADDITIONAL WORK IS NEEDED, PARTICULARLY AROUND A COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS, UH, IN, IN OF THESE INVESTMENTS IN COMPARISON WITH OTHER CITIES.
HAS THAT WORK STARTED? UH, IT IS NOT STARTED YET.
WHAT'S THE TIMELINE? UM, I THINK THE TIMELINE WOULD BE, UH, I THINK WE WOULD NEED TO WORK WITH COUNCIL AS TO WHAT THE TIMELINE IS.
AND HOW SPECIFIC DO WE GET WITH THAT, THAT COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS? WELL, YEAH.
AND, AND, AND I THINK THAT, THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING THE QUESTION.
SO THAT, AND THAT'S WHY I'M SAYING WHAT I'M SAYING ABOUT THE OTHER STUFF TOO, IS YEP.
THE SPECIFICITY, I THINK BECOMES SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT WHEN WE'RE MAKING, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW WE'RE GOING TO, WHAT BUCKETS OF MONEY WE MIGHT USE.
AND GO BACK TO THAT INITIAL QUESTION I HAD, WHICH IS, WHAT DO, WHAT ARE WE BALANCING HERE? WHAT ARE WE, YOU KNOW, WHAT DO WE GIVE UP WITH THAT, THAT, THAT SORT OF THING.
UM, HAVE YOU DONE ANY SORT OF ANALYSIS? AND I CAN'T IMAGINE THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO, BUT I WANT TO ASK THE QUESTION OF, OF, OF TAX RATE AND FEE INCREASES AS, AS YOU'VE LOOKED AT THIS? NO, THAT ANALYSIS HAS NOT BEEN COMPLETED.
THE, THE, THE FINAL THING, AND THEN I'LL, I'LL, I'LL BE QUIET ABOUT THIS, BUT, BUT I, I JUST, I'M TRYING TO THROW OUT IDEAS ABOUT HOW IT COMES BACK TO US SO THAT WE CAN PROCEED WITH RIGOR.
UM, AND THAT IS THE CLIMATE FEE.
I, I I, I, I MUST ADMIT, WHEN I SAW THAT, UH, MY, MY FIRST REACTION WAS, WHAT, WHAT DOES THAT, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? AND, AND HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT CREATING A NEW FEE AND MAKING SURE THAT IT'S, UH, APPROPRIATELY TIED TO WHAT IT IS YOU'RE COLLECTING THE FEE FOR? WHAT ARE THE, WHAT WHAT'S THE THOUGHT PROCESS ON THAT? WELL, WE WOULD OBVIOUSLY NEED TO DO A LOT OF WORK WITH, WITH LAW AND FINANCE TO FIGURE OUT HOW, HOW WOULD THAT ACTUALLY BE PROPOSED, UM, IN OTHER CITY CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
THEY ACTUALLY CREATED TAXES RELATED TO BUSINESSES.
I DON'T THINK THAT WE'RE PROPOSING THAT WE, THAT WE CREATE A TAX, UM, JUST BECAUSE OF OUR SITUATION WHERE WE, WHERE WE ARE, UM, UH, IN, IN MINNEAPOLIS, THE, THE FEE THAT THEY CREATED WAS LIKE AN ON BILL FEE CONNECTED TO, UM, LIKE UTILITY FRANCHISE FEES.
SO THE IDEA IS THAT IT'S SOMETHING SMALL, UM, BUT OVERTIME GENERATES OVER TIME, IT ADDS UP TO LAW.
AND, UM, AND HAVE YOU DONE ANY, HAS, HAS THE LAW DONE ANY SORT OF COMPARISON OF THOSE OTHER CITIES AND THE LAWS THAT WE OPERATE UNDER IN TEXAS? NOT YET.
BUT I THOUGHT THAT MIGHT BE THE ANSWER I JUST WANTED TO GET OUT THERE.
YES, MAYOR PRO 10, I APPRECIATE, BY THE WAY, I, I APPRECIATE ALL THE HARD WORK.
AND I APPRECIATE, UM, THE MAYOR'S, UM, CAREFUL QUESTIONING ON THIS.
SO, UM, THE ONE QUESTION THAT I WOULD ADD TO, UH, THE INFORMATION THAT I THINK IS STILL YET TO BE ASSEMBLED, MAYOR, IS HOW WE HAVE, UM, A BOND PROGRAM UNDERWAY.
AND, AND THAT WORK HAS NOT YET BEEN, UH, BEGUN.
HAVE YOU LOOKED AT HOW THAT WORK? BOTH WHAT IS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY, WHAT IS PENDING, AND THE TIMELINE FOR THAT AND THIS CONCEPT WITH THESE PROGRAMS? HAVE YOU WOVEN ALL OF THESE STRANDS TOGETHER TO GIVE US A FULLY COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT, AT WHAT THIS, UH, SPENDING AND THE EVENTUAL OUTCOMES WOULD LOOK LIKE? SO WE HAVE NOT YET, NO.
WE WERE JUST FOCUSED ON THE PROJECTS AND WHAT WOULD THE POTENTIAL PROJECTS BE.
SO THAT WOULD BE REALLY USEFUL TOO.
MAYOR, IN ADDITION TO THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU'VE ASKED, TO GET A SENSE OF WHERE WE'RE AT, WHERE WE ARE IN THE CLOSER TERM, AND THEN THE MEDIUM AND THE, THE, UM, FARTHER, FARTHER STRETCHES OF THE TERMS, THAT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL.
OTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT COUNCIL MEMBER RE UH, MORNING, ZACH.
I, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE THOROUGHNESS OF THIS WORK.
Y'ALL HAVE BEEN AT THIS FOR A WHILE, AND, UM, IT REALLY SHOWS, ESPECIALLY IN WHAT YOU PUT TOGETHER IN THE MEMO AND HERE TODAY.
KINDA WANNA LOOK BACK, UH, WHERE YOU STARTED WITH THE CLIENT EQUITY PLAN, THAT PLAN, AND I, I WAS NOT HERE FOR THAT, BUT MY UNDERSTANDING WAS, UM, THERE WAS A LOT OF WORK THAT WENT INTO CREATING THAT PLAN.
IT WAS, UH, NOT ONLY WORK THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY, BUT A LOT OF, UH, DATA, YOU KNOW, INFORMED DECISIONS.
CAN YOU TALK JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, FOR INSTANCE, THE 20,000 ACRE NUMBER THAT WASN'T JUST PICKED OUTTA THE
[00:40:01]
AIR, RIGHT? THERE WAS, THERE WAS SCIENCE BEHIND THAT.FOR THE, THE 20,000 ACRE NUMBER.
UH, THAT'S ACTUALLY ONE OF THE GOALS IN THE NATURAL SYSTEMS SECTION, UH, IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
AND YES, DURING THAT PLANNING PROCESS, WE ANALYZED, UM, DIFFERENT ACRES OF PROTECTED LAND AND INCREASING, IF YOU PROTECTED THE LAND AND INCREASED THE CARBON, UH, CAPTURE CAPACITY OF THAT LAND.
UM, WE, WE HAVE RUN THE ANALYSIS BEFORE ON HOW MUCH CARBON WOULD IT CAPTURE, UM, AND IT DOESN'T, UH, ZERO OUT OR NEGATE OUR, OUR TOTAL EMISSIONS.
BUT, UM, THE MORE THAT WE PROTECT, UM, AND THE BIGGER THAT WE CAN INCREASE THAT SORT OF NATURAL SYSTEMS, UM, CARBON CAPTURE WEDGE, UM, THE BETTER FOR THE LONG TERM.
SO, AND WHEN WE LOOK AT THE, THE PRESENTATION, I DUNNO IF THEY CAN PULL UP SLIDE NINE, BUT IT'S THE, THAT PROGRESS TOWARDS THE NET ZERO BY 2040.
UM, AND THE TROUBLING ELEMENT OF THIS SLIDE IS WE ARE FALLING BEHIND FURTHER AND FURTHER, RIGHT? IN 2021, WE WERE A LITTLE BIT BEHIND 2022 EVEN FURTHER.
AND I DON'T KNOW WHEN WE'RE GONNA GET THE 2023 DATA, BUT I'M GONNA ASSUME THAT NOTHING MIRACULOUS HAPPENED IN 2023, AND WE'RE GONNA BE ONCE AGAIN, EVEN FURTHER AWAY FROM WHERE WE NEED TO BE TO REACH OUR AGGRESSIVE TARGET.
AND YOU TALKED ABOUT HOW WE AS A CITY ARE AT THE FOREFRONT AND REALLY ARE SETTING SOME VERY AMBITIOUS GOALS.
BUT THOSE GOALS DON'T MATTER IF WE DON'T REACH THEM.
IF WE JUST SAY THAT'S WHAT WE WANT TO DO, THEN, THEN THERE'S NO BENEFIT THERE.
AND SO I THINK IT'S, IT'S REALLY CRITICAL.
YOU KNOW, WE, WE GO BACK TO, UM, A FEW SLIDES EARLIER, YOU, YOU TALKED ABOUT 75% OF OUR, UM, GOALS AND STRATEGIES WITHIN THE COMMON EQUITY PLANNER UNDERWAY.
AND THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND REALLY VALUABLE KNOWLEDGE.
BUT I THINK THAT NEXT SLIDE THAT YOU HAVE IS EVEN MORE ILLUMINATING, MORE MM-HMM,
AND SO, UH, WHEN THE SUB QUORUM THAT WE HAD PUT TOGETHER RELATED TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTMENT PLAN TOOK A LOOK AT THIS, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS WE WERE ASKING OURSELVES IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHERE ARE WE OFF TRACK? WHERE DO WE NEED TO, UH, HELP US CATCH UP? AND, UH, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE MAYOR MENTIONED IT, THE WORK THAT, THAT HE DID.
AND SO, I'M SO THANKFUL TODAY, 25 YEARS AGO THAT WE WENT OUT AND BOUGHT A BUNCH OF LAND TO PROTECT OUR, UH, WATER AND OTHER AREAS.
THAT WAS, WE, WE HAVE NEVER BOUGHT LAND AND SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT? I REALLY WISH WE HADN'T.
WE WERE ALWAYS SO THANKFUL BECAUSE I'VE DONE THAT PERSONALLY,
UH, WE, YOU, IT IS JUST, IT'S, IT'S SUCH A, AN ASSET THAT WE'RE ALWAYS GLAD WE HAVE AND WE FIND OURSELVES IN A REALLY, UM, ODD SITUATION IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN WHERE LATELY PRICES HAVE BEEN GOING DOWN.
THAT IS SOMETHING THAT ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS.
AND SO, UH, WE, WE AT AUDIT AND FINANCE HAD A DISCUSSION WITH PAR ABOUT THEIR LAND ACQUISITION BUDGET, OR AS IT RELATED TO THE, THE BOND PROGRAM THAT, UM, MAYOR PRO TE WAS TALKING ABOUT.
AND THEY'RE OUT, RIGHT? BECAUSE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE, THEY WERE, THEIR BOND PROGRAM WAS IN 2018, AND IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A SIX YEAR PROGRAM, WE'RE HERE IN 2024.
AND SO THEY HAVE SPENT THE MONEY THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO SPEND TO BUY LAND AND, AND AS YOU MENTIONED, BUYING IT FOR ONE, WHETHER IT'S PAR, WHETHER IT'S WATERSHED, IT HAS SO MANY PURPOSES ACROSS DEPARTMENTS AND ACROSS, UH, JUST THE COMMUNITY.
AND SO THAT IS ONE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE AS A, A GROUP REALLY HIGHLIGHTED AND WANTED TO PUT TO THE TOP BECAUSE IT IS CRITICAL AND WE, IT, IT IS ONE OF THOSE ALSO TO THE MAYOR'S POINT ABOUT WHEN WE LOOK AT SOMETHING BEING READY TO GO AND SCOPED OUT LAND IS, IS MUCH EASIER TO DO THAT.
WE, YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN A PIECE OF LAND BECOMES AVAILABLE AND DEPARTMENTS CAN, UH, ASSESS WHETHER OR NOT THAT FITS WITHIN THEIR NEED THERE, THERE'S NO BIG FOUR YEAR SPEND PLAN BEHIND IT, RIGHT? YOU, YOU BUY THE LAND AND, AND THEN YOU CAN, UM, START PUTTING THAT INTO THE PORTFOLIO, WHETHER IT'S JUST A LAND BANK OR TURN IT INTO SOMETHING, UM, USEFUL.
I WANTED TO, UH, REALLY DIVE INTO ONE OF THE GOALS, AND THAT IS IT'S GOAL NUMBER FOUR.
IT'S ACHIEVE WATER DEMAND OF 152,000 ACRE FEET PER YEAR.
UH, AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS OR AUSTIN WATER, BUT I'M CURIOUS HOW WE, WHEN WE PICKED THAT NUMBER, AND THAT WAS SOME YEARS AGO, I UNDERSTAND RIGHT NOW WE'RE IN THE 170 SOMETHING THOUSAND RANGE.
SO CLEARLY, UH, A BIT OFF WHY THAT NUMBER WAS, WAS PICKED AND, AND WHAT, WHERE WE ARE TODAY VERSUS THAT NUMBER.
[00:45:02]
THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT DISCREPANCY, OR THE EFFECTS, I SHOULD SAY, THAT DISCREPANCY JUST BEFORE, UH, THE DIRECTOR COMES UP.UH, AT THE TIME WHEN WE ESTABLISHED THAT GOAL, I'M, I'M ALMOST POSITIVE THAT WE LOOKED AT THE WATER FORWARD PLAN AND WHAT WERE THE LONG-TERM GOALS THERE AND TRIED TO JUST ALIGN THE GOAL WITH IT.
BUT GOOD MORNING, MAYOR, MAYOR PRO TEM COUNCIL.
I'M THE DIRECTOR OF AUSTIN WATER.
UM, THE GOAL OF 150,000 ACRE FEET, UH, I'LL, UM, I WILL GO BACK AND FIND OUT THE EXACT ORIGIN OF THAT NUMBER FOR YOU.
BUT IN GENERAL, I WOULD SAY THAT IT IS ABOUT OPTIMIZING OUR WATER USE, UM, REDUCING OUR WATER LOSS, AND, UH, AND REALLY, UH, INCREASING OUR RECLAIMED WATER USE.
IT'S ABOUT ALL OF THE PIECES OF THE WATER FORWARD PLAN AND OUR FUTURE STEWARDSHIP OF OUR WATER RESOURCES, UM, AND HOW THOSE DIFFERENT PIECES OF THAT JIGSAW PUZZLE COME TOGETHER.
AND WHEN, UH, YOU KNOW, THE MAYOR'S TALKING ABOUT A COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS BEFORE WHEN, AND Y'ALL ARE UNDERGOING YOUR WATER FORWARD UPDATE RIGHT NOW.
AND SO I'M CURIOUS, AS YOU LOOK AT THE VARIOUS OPTIONS BEFORE YOU, UH, I KNOW BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I'VE LOOKED AT THOSE CHARTS IN THE BACK OF WATER FORWARD, IT'S INCREDIBLY DETAILED AND, AND CLEARLY A LOT OF WORK WENT INTO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS.
SO I'M CURIOUS WHERE Y'ALL SEE THE BIGGEST, UH, BANG FOR THE BUCK OR, OR WHERE WE SEE THE BEST, UH, WATER SAVINGS BASED ON THINGS WE CAN CONTROL, RIGHT? IF WE COULD JUST TELL EVERYBODY TO STOP DOING, YOU KNOW, 20 MINUTE SHOWERS, THAT MIGHT BE GREAT.
BUT THINGS THAT WE HAVE CONTROL OVER WHERE YOU SEE THE, THE GREATEST, UH, BANG FOR OUR BUCK, LEMME JUST SAY THIS, HIS LAWYER, I DON'T EVEN ADMIT,
UH, SO THE WATER, AS YOU MENTIONED, THE WATER FORWARD PLAN HAS A LOT OF DETAILED, UM, MATH AND SCIENCE THAT GO INTO IT WHERE WE LOOK AT, UH, THE WHOLE, UM, RANGE OF WATER STRATEGIES ON BOTH THE DEMAND SIDE AND THE SUPPLY SIDE, AND WE ASSIGN YIELDS TO THOSE.
SO IF WE CAN REDUCE DEMAND, THAT'S A YIELD, THAT'S WATER WE DON'T NEED.
IF WE PRODUCE ADDITIONAL SUPPLY, THAT'S ADDITIONAL WATER THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO US.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE LOOK AT, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK TO, UM, DEVELOP WHAT WE CALL A DISAGGREGATED DEMAND MODEL.
SO THAT BASICALLY LOOKS AT ALL OF THE DEMANDS IN OUR COMMUNITY AND SLICES IT UP BY WHAT PEOPLE ARE USING THE WATER FOR.
AND SO YOU CAN LOOK AT THAT PIE CHART AND SEE THAT, UM, OUTDOOR WATER USE IS PROBABLY OUR BIGGEST OPTION FOR REDUCING OUR, OUR WATER DEMAND.
UH, AND SO THAT'S A LOT OF OUR STRATEGIES ARE REALLY LEANING INTO, UM, LANDSCAPE TRANSFORMATION, INCREASING RECLAIMED WATER, ONSITE WATER REUSE, UM, THOSE, THOSE STRATEGIES TO REDUCE OUR WATER DEMAND.
I, I THINK THAT COVERS MY, MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU.
I'LL LET YOU OFF THE HOOK, UH, AND, AND BRING ZACH BACK, BUT YEP.
UM, SORRY, I'M JUST SCROLLING DOWN HERE.
I HAD A, A NOTE TO MYSELF WHEN WE GOT TOGETHER ON THE, ONCE AGAIN, OUR SUB QUORUM FOR THIS, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU HAD A VERY THOROUGH CHART THAT, THAT SHOWED, UM, YOU KNOW, THE MANY VARIOUS AREAS WHERE WE NEED TO MAKE THOSE INVESTMENTS, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE, THE FUNDING OPTIONS THAT GO INTO THOSE.
UH, WE WANTED TO TRY TO HELP YOU AND, AND THE DEPARTMENTS, UH, HELP, HELP YOU HELP US HONE IN A LITTLE BIT ON SOME OF THEM.
AND SO, AS, UH, WE PUT OUT ON FRIDAY ON THE MESSAGE BOARD AND, AND SHARED WITH THE CITY MANAGER, UH, A LIST WITHIN THAT LIST OF HERE ARE SOME PRIORITIES THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO HELP US DO SOME OF THAT ANALYSIS THAT THE MAYOR WAS TALKING ABOUT EARLIER OF REALLY GET INTO, UH, MORE OF THE DETAILS OF THESE, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTANDING THAT WE CAN'T DO EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW, BUT WE CAN GET MORE FOCUSED AND FIGURE OUT WHAT THESE TYPES OF INVESTMENTS MIGHT LOOK LIKE, WHAT THEY MIGHT COST, LIKE, WHAT THEIR IMPACTS WOULD BE TO WHETHER IT IS A, A BOND AND, AND THE TAX RATE.
AND IT IS A BOND SUPPORTED BY A FEE, UM, UTILITY RATES AND, AND REALLY HELP US ARRIVE AT A, A MORE INFORMED DECISION, UH, AS WE GET TOWARDS THE BUDGET.
AND SO, UH, I, I IMAGINE YOU'VE, YOU'VE SEEN THE LIST, BUT I JUST WANT TO, YOU KNOW, HIGHLIGHT THAT, THAT WE BELIEVE THERE ARE PROJECTS, AND I'VE SPOKEN WITH SOME OF THESE DEPARTMENTS, UH, WITHIN,
[00:50:01]
UH, THAT WOULD BE COVERED BY SOME OF THE THINGS ON THE LIST HERE THAT, THAT THESE FALL INTO, UH, PLANS AND, AND PROGRAMS THAT ARE NOT JUST, UH, THINGS THEY'VE THOUGHT ARE JUST IDEAS THAT THEY AMUSED ABOUT, BUT THAT THESE ARE PART OF PLANS THAT, THAT ARE ACTUALLY IN THE WORKS.AND SO WE'RE NOT STARTING FROM SCRATCH, I GUESS IS WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY.
AND SO LOOKING FORWARD, WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO DO IS FIGURE OUT WHAT IS READY NOW.
YOU KNOW, WE TALKED ABOUT LAND.
I THINK LAND IS SOMETHING THAT IT'S OUT THERE.
IT IS, IT IS A, I I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY ABUNDANT, BUT IT'S NOT AS ABUNDANT AS, UH, WE WOULD LIKE.
AND SO I THINK WE NEED TO REALLY ACT NOW AND ACT QUICKLY, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE MARKET IS IN OUR FAVOR TO ACQUIRE LAND FOR THIS CITY.
BOTH, YOU KNOW, FOR A HOST OF REASONS.
AND SO, UM, HELPING US FIGURE OUT WHAT WOULD BE THE RIGHT SIZE BITE AT THAT APPLE.
YOU KNOW, IF 20, IF 20,000 ACRES IS OUR ULTIMATE GOAL, WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO OVER THE NEXT COUPLE YEARS, UH, TO REALLY ACHIEVE OR, OR SET US ON A PATH TO ACHIEVE THAT GOAL? UH, I KNOW THERE ARE A LOT OF, UH, FLOODING ISSUES AS IT RELATES TO DISTRICT TWO, DISTRICT FOUR.
WE'VE SEEN, UH, I STILL REMEMBER THAT VIDEO OF THE PERSON WHO CAME AND, YOU KNOW, THREE FEET OF WATER IN THEIR HOME.
THESE ARE ISSUES THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS AS A COMMUNITY.
AND SO WHERE DO, UH, WE NEED TO MAKE INVESTMENTS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ON TRACK THERE.
AND I KNOW, UH, WATERSHED PROTECTION HAS SOME, UH, IDEAS AND PLANS IN THE WORKS THAT, THAT HOPEFULLY CAN BE FULLY SCOPED OUT.
AND SO, UH, WE, WE HAVE COME TOGETHER AND REALLY PUT THIS OUT THERE AND INVITE EVERYBODY ELSE IF THEIR PRIORITIES TO DO THE SAME, BUT, UH, LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU ON HELPING US GO THROUGH THIS LIST AND FIGURE OUT WHAT'S READY, WHAT'S NOT.
AND THEN FOR THINGS THAT ARE NOT BOTH WITHIN OUR LIST AND, AND THE PRIORITIES YOU LAID OUT, WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS 2026 PROGRAM AND SOME OF THESE, UH, HOW CAN WE INTRODUCE THAT TO THAT CONVERSATION? UM, AND THEN LASTLY ON THE, THE FEE QUESTION, WE ARE IN A, A DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCE THAN DENVER OR PORTLAND.
UH, WE DON'T HAVE CERTAIN TOOLS AVAILABLE TO US.
AND SO WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BE CREATIVE AS A, AS A BODY OF WHAT WILL IT REQUIRE FOR US TO FREE UP GENERAL FUND, RIGHT? ULTIMATELY, SO MANY OF THESE THINGS ARE NOT CAPITAL PROJECTS THAT CAN BE BONDED, AND WE'RE GONNA NEED TO FIND REVENUE, AND WE HAVE VERY LITTLE OF IT RIGHT NOW.
UH, SO WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT KIND OF, WHAT'S THE MAGNITUDE ON AN ANNUAL BASIS THAT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL TO, TO REALLY SET US ON THAT PATH WHERE YOU MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE BIT ADDS UP OVER TIME.
AND SO I, I WANT TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE, NOT ONLY WHAT IS LEGALLY AND LEGAL LEGALLY FEASIBLE, BUT WHAT WILL MEANINGFULLY MAKE A MARK.
AND, AND I'LL END ON THE LAST ITEM THAT, YOU KNOW, WE TALK ABOUT THE BOND PROJECTS ALREADY IN PLACE.
WE HAVE A LOT OF TRANSPORTATION MOBILITY RELATED BONDS, AND SO MANY OF THOSE PROJECTS BY THEIR VERY NATURE ARE CONCRETE INTENSIVE.
AND SO THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE FELT AS A GROUP WAS REALLY IMPORTANT TO INVESTIGATE IS, AND I, I REALLY LOVE THAT THE JSC PUT THIS OUT AND, UH, I, I CAN'T REMEMBER, I THINK Y'ALL MENTIONED SOMETHING AS WELL, BUT HOW CAN WE MAKE THAT LESS ENVIRONMENTALLY IMPACTFUL? MM-HMM.
AND SO IF WE WERE TO CREATE SOME KIND OF, WHETHER IT'S LOW CARBON CONCRETE FUND OR OTHER WAY TO BRIDGE THE GAP IN THERE, IF WE, YOU KNOW, IF WE WENT TO, UM, ONE OF THESE PROJECTS AND SAID, HEY, WE WANT YOU TO USE LOW CONCRETE OR LOW CARBON CONCRETE FOR THIS SIDEWALK.
THEY SAY, WELL, GREAT, BUT IT COSTS AN EXTRA $5 MILLION.
IF WE HAD THAT RESOURCE AVAILABLE TO HELP BRIDGE THAT, WE KNOW THIS, THIS SPENDING IN THESE BUILDING IS, IS GONNA HAPPEN OVER THE NEXT, UH, FIVE YEARS OR SO.
WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE PROJECTS WE CONTROL AND MAKE THEM MORE CLIMATE FRIENDLY AND MORE RESILIENT.
SO, UH, THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE ALL FELT VERY STRONGLY ABOUT.
AND SO I REALLY WANNA WORK WITH YOU AND CAPITAL DUTY SERVICES TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE MIGHT GET AT THAT PARTICULAR PROBLEM.
SO I'VE TALKED ENOUGH, I REALLY APPRECIATE Y'ALL'S WORK AND TIME AND, UM, I LOOK FORWARD TO THE FUTURE WORK TOGETHER.
THANK YOU COUNCILOR BAILOR, JUST A QUICK, UH, QUESTION ON, UH, REGIONAL WATER DETENTION, UH, FACILITIES AND, AND DEVELOPING THOSE.
UH, I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, RYAN ALTAR MENTIONED THE, THE FLOODING UP ON, UH, MES MEADOW, UH, AND THAT THERE'S ALREADY A
[00:55:01]
PROJECT IN PLACE TO, TO FIX THAT.IT'S, IT'S, IT'S IN, IT'S GETTING, UH, UH, CONSTRUCTED, UH, RIGHT NOW.
BUT, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE FEATURES WAS JUST DIGGING OUT BASICALLY A DEEPER KIND OF WATER DETENTION AREA THAT, THAT WOULD HELP A LOT WITH, UH, UH, CONTROLLING THE FLOODING.
AND AGAIN, IN, IN TERMS OF THE, ALL OF THE ZONING THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THESE KIND OF WATER DETENTION PONDS.
UH, I'M NOT EVEN SURE IF THAT'S THE RIGHT WORD FOR 'EM, BUT THEY'RE JUST KIND OF LITTLE SPOTS THAT A PROPERTY OWNER HAS TO BUILD TO, UH, UH, DO SOME KIND OF WATER DETENTION.
BUT AGAIN, IN MY DISCUSSIONS WITH JUST PROPERTY OWNERS AND ENGINEERS, AND THAT'S OFTEN SEEN AS A LESS EFFECTIVE WAY TO CONTROL FLOODING.
AND THAT THE BETTER WAY WOULD BE LARGER, MORE KIND OF REGIONAL WATER DETENTION, ESSENTIALLY WE'D BE BUILDING LAKES, UH, THAT, THAT'S MY UNDERSTANDING TO KIND OF CAPTURE FLOOD WATERS AND HOLD THEM AND, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, PROTECT PLACES.
I WAS JUST WONDERING IN TERMS OF THE, OF, OF OUR PLANNING, WHERE ARE WE ON ON ON THOSE TYPES OF PROCESSES? MM-HMM.
COUNCIL MEMBER, JORGE MORALES, DIRECTOR OF THE WATERSHED PROTECTION.
SO WHAT YOU SPEAK OF COUNCIL MEMBERS, THE REGIONAL STORM WATER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, IT'S A PROGRAM WE'VE HAD OVER 30 YEARS, AND IT IS BASED ON WATERSHEDS AND IT IS BASED ON DEVELOPMENT.
AND WE DO REGIONAL PONDS THAT IN, INSTEAD OF BUILDING THOSE PONDS, THEY WILL PAY A FEE IN LIEU OF, AND THEY CONTRIBUTE TO THAT.
AND SO THAT PROGRAM'S ALREADY IN PLACE AND WE DO IT, UM, THE SMALLER SCALED PONDS AND LOCALIZED FLOODINGS A DIFFERENT SITUATION.
AND, UH, AS WE WORK THROUGH THE RECENT CHANGES TO THE CODE, WE ARE WORKING TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE DO THAT AND SIMPLIFY THAT.
MM-HMM,
AND WE, WE'VE, UM, MAPPED, MODELED THE SYSTEMS. WE UNDERSTAND WHERE THERE'S CAPACITY AND WHERE THERE ISN'T.
AND SO EVALUATING, BUT THAT'S MORE, UM, LOCALIZED AND IT'S A DIFFERENT PROGRAM.
AND WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING LIKE SMALL SCALE REGIONAL DETENTION POND LIKE YOU'RE REFERRING TO.
WE, IT'S FOR THE LARGER STUFF, FLOOD MITIGATION.
AND IN TERMS OF THE LARGER, UH, UH, DETENTION PONDS THAT, YOU KNOW, BUILDING NEW, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, WHERE ARE WE ON THAT? IS, IS THERE, IS THE FEE IN LIEU, IS THERE ENOUGH MONEY THERE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH, UH, A PROJECT? IF NOT, IS THERE KIND OF ANY ANTICIPATED KIND OF TIMELINE FOR, FOR THAT TO BE, UH, UM, UH, AVAILABLE? ANY SENSE OF THAT? YES.
UH, WE, WE ACTUALLY HAVE A PROGRAM, SO WHAT I CAN DO IS FOLLOW BACK UP 'CAUSE THAT'S A LOT OF DETAILS.
SO I CAN PROVIDE YOU THE PROJECTS WE'VE DONE, THE ONES THAT ARE IN THE WORKS AND HOW WE USE THOSE FUNDS.
'CAUSE THEY'RE NOT ALWAYS NECESSARILY LARGE PONDS.
THERE'S DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE DO IMPROVEMENTS WITH THE SAME RSS AND P FEE.
BUT I CAN COME BACK TO THE COUNCIL WITH MORE DETAILS ON THAT.
IT'S AN, IT'S AN IMPORTANT DISCUSSION.
IT'S ONE THAT I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, ESPECIALLY HONESTLY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE, THE E TODD AND, AND THE DEVELOPMENT THAT WE'RE GONNA BE PUTTING IN.
UH, WE REALLY HAVE TO KEEP UP WITH THE PLANNING ON THAT TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE BALANCING ALL THE, THE DIFFERENT FACTORS.
BUT I, I LOOK FORWARD TO, TO SITTING DOWN WITH, UH, WITH YOU TO, UH, TO GO OVER SOME OF THESE, UH, THE, UH, ISSUES.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, MEMBERS, I THINK THAT WRAPS US UP.
UM, LET ME, ONE THING THAT COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER, AND THEN I THINK, UH, I WOULD ALSO PUT WHAT COUNCIL MEMBER BAILEY WAS JUST SAYING IN THE CATEGORY, AND I MEANT TO SAY IT EARLIER WHEN I WAS ASKING QUESTIONS, BUT WHEN YOU PUT TOGETHER THE, THE, WHAT I KEEP REFERRING TO AS A DECISION TREE, WHERE DOES IT DO THIS FOR US? DOES THAT DO THIS FOR US? THAT KIND OF THING.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK COMES TO, TO MIND, YOU KNOW, LAND IS ONE OF THE KEY ASPECTS OF THAT, OF, OF WHAT DOES IT DO BEYOND WHAT IS KIND OF THE IMMEDIATE THOUGHT, RIGHT? UH, FLOODING GETS MENTIONED.
AND, AND SO I HAD WRITTEN DOWN A NOTE THAT I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT, BUT AS, AS, AS YOU ANALYZE THIS PARTICULARLY BY THE DEPARTMENTS AND YOU LOOK AT WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT DOING, THAT DEPARTMENT, DOING TRANSFER STATION COMES TO MIND.
IS THERE A COMPONENT OF THAT THAT WOULD ADD TO THE QUALITY OF THE DAY TO DAY DIRECT SERVICE THAT THE CITY PROVIDES IN ADDITION TO THE BENEFIT OF SUSTAINABILITY AND, AND, UH, ADDRESSING CLIMATE.
BUT ONE OF THE KEY THINGS IS IF, IF YOU CAN DO THINGS WITH SOME OF THAT MONEY THAT GETS YOU LAND PURCHASE AND DIRECTLY ADDRESS THINGS LIKE FLOODING SO THAT YOUR, YOUR DEPARTMENT IS ABLE TO ACHIEVE OTHER IMPORTANT GOALS OF THAT DEPARTMENT, OR WE'RE GOING TO SPEND THAT KIND OF MONEY ON A TRANSFER STATION, IT GETS US A CERTAIN CLIMATE.
BUT WHAT DOES IT ALSO GET US? UH, AND I'M NOT SAYING IT HAS TO, I'M JUST SUGGESTING THAT PART OF YOUR ANALYSIS OF THE DECISION PROCESS OUGHT TO INCLUDE, IT ENHANCES THESE SPECIFIC
[01:00:01]
SERVICES TO OUR CITIZENS AS WE SPEND THAT MONEY AS WELL.SO, UM, I'LL, I'LL, I'LL END IT THERE BY, BUT, BUT SAY, YOU KNOW, THIS IS OBVIOUSLY AN EXTRAORDINARILY HIGH PRIORITY BY, UH, A NUMBER OF COUNCIL MEMBERS AND ME.
AND, UM, I APPRECIATE THE RIGOR THAT STARTED HERE, UM, AND THE RIGOR THAT WILL CONTINUE SO THAT WE'LL BE IN A POSITION TO MAKE THIS THE SORT OF DECISION I THINK, THAT OUR PUBLIC EXPECTS US TO MAKE ON SOMETHING THAT'S OF EXTRAORDINARY HIGH PRIORITY TO THEM AS WELL.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH, AND THANKS TO ALL THE STAFF THAT'S HERE TODAY.
UM, UH, WE'LL LET YOU GO BACK TO WORK.
[C. Council Items of Interest]
US TO THE NEXT ITEM, WHICH IS, UH, ITEM 1 27.UH, I POSTED ON THE MESSAGE BOARD LAST WEEK THAT WHAT WE WOULD DO TODAY IS WE WOULD HAVE A BRIEF PRESENTATION FROM STAFF, UH, THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT SO THAT IT WOULD BE ABLE TO TELL US IF YOU, IF YOU RECALL, THEY INDICATED THAT THERE WERE A NUMBER OF ITEMS THAT THEY BELIEVED COULD BE HANDLED, UH, BY WAY OF RESOLUTION OR ORDINANCE, WHICH WOULDN'T REQUIRE US TO MAKE A CHARTER CHANGE.
UM, WHAT THEY'RE GONNA DO TODAY IS THEY'RE GONNA BRIEF US ON THAT.
THE IDEA WOULD THEN BE THAT ON THURSDAY WE WOULD VOTE NOT ON WHAT GOES ON THE BALLOT, BUT WE WOULD VOTE INSTEAD TO HAVE STAFF BRING BACK TO US AT THAT JULY 18TH MEETING WHAT WE COULD THEN VOTE TO PUT ON THE BALLOT.
UM, AND, AND THAT WAY WE WOULD, UH, MAKE PERHAPS EXCLUDE SOME THINGS THAT CAN BE DONE BY ORDINANCE OR RESOLUTION.
THERE WOULD BE LANGUAGE THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO VOTE ON THAT WOULD BE PRESENTED TO US AT JULY 18TH MEETING.
THERE WOULD BE LANGUAGE THAT WE COULD THEN VOTE ON SO THAT WE WOULD HAVE A COMPLETE BALLOT AND WE WOULD KNOW WHAT WE WERE VOTING ON TO PUT ON THAT BALLOT.
SO THURSDAY'S VOTE WOULD BE, UH, I, I'VE START, I STARTED TO SAY NOTHING MORE.
IT'S STILL A BIG VOTE, BUT, BUT IT, IT WON'T BE TO VOTE TO PUT SOMETHING ON THE BALLOT.
IT WILL BE TO DIRECT STAFF TO BRING US BACK WHAT WE CAN THEN MAKE A COMPLETE VOTE TO PUT ON THE BALLOT.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? ANYBODY? NOW, I, I ACTUALLY THINK I CONFUSED MYSELF BY THE END OF THAT, BUT, UM,
UH, MAYOR, MAYOR PRO TEMAN COUNCIL MEMBERS.
I'M CAROLINE WEBSTER WITH THE LAW DEPARTMENT, AND THE PRESENTATION I HAVE TODAY DOES HAVE QUITE A FEW SLIDES, BUT I'M NOT GONNA GO OVER EVERY SINGLE DETAIL.
IT'S MORE SO THAT YOU HAVE THE INFORMATION, AND OF COURSE WE CAN SEND THIS TO YOU, UH, AFTER THE FACT AS WELL.
UH, SO AS THE MAYOR MENTIONED, WE WERE ASKED TO IDENTIFY WHAT ITEMS COULD, UH, BE PASSED, MAYBE BY RESOLUTION OR ORDINANCE OR POLICIES THAT YOU COULD ADOPT WITHOUT THEM ACTUALLY HAVING TO GO ONTO THE CHARTER.
SO I'LL BE GOING THROUGH THAT.
UH, AND THEN I'LL BE TALKING JUST BRIEFLY ABOUT, UM, SORT OF HOW WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO REDUCE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ITEMS THAT ACTUALLY GO ON THE BALLOT.
UH, YOU'LL REALLY GET, UH, THAT NAILED DOWN WHEN WE COME BACK.
IF YOU DO VOTE ON, UH, THURSDAY TO HAVE US COME BACK ON JULY 18TH, UH, WE'LL REALLY NAIL DOWN WHAT EXACT PROPOSITIONS THE WORDING MIGHT BE AND HOW MANY THERE WOULD BE.
AND THAT'S PART OF THE WORK THAT WE'LL BE DOING OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
SO, UH, TO START WITH, THIS IS JUST A VERY QUICK REMINDER OF WHAT THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION HAD RECOMMENDED.
THEY DID RECOMMEND NINE DIFFERENT, UH, ITEMS TO GO ON THE BALLOT AS POSSIBLE, CHARTER AMENDMENTS.
AND THEY ALSO IDENTIFIED IN THEIR REPORT THAT, UH, THEY ACKNOWLEDGED THAT SOME OF THESE ITEMS MIGHT NOT HAVE TO BE CHARTER AMENDMENTS, AND INSTEAD COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH A RESOLUTION OR AN AN ORDINANCE.
AND SO WHAT WE DID IS WE LOOKED AT WHAT THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION RECOMMENDED, AND THEN AT THE LAW DEPARTMENT, WE KIND OF TOOK ANOTHER LOOK AT THAT OURSELVES TO SEE WHETHER WE AGREED AND, AND WE DID ESSENTIALLY, SO OF THE NINE THINGS THAT THEY HAD RECOMMENDED, WE BELIEVE WE AGREE WITH THEM THAT FOUR OF THEM COULD BE DONE WITHOUT A CHARTER AMENDMENT ELECTION.
PRIMARILY, THESE ARE THINGS THAT ARE, WOULD BE WHOLLY NEW TO THE CHARTER AS OPPOSED TO THINGS THAT ALREADY EXIST IN THE CHARTER THAT WE'D BE HAVING TO MAKE CHANGES TO EXISTING LANGUAGE IN THE CHARTER.
MOSTLY THESE WOULD BE WHOLLY NEW THINGS, AND THEY DON'T NECESSARILY NEED A CHARTER AMENDMENT.
SO, FIRST OF ALL, THEIR, UH, RECOMMENDATION ABOUT HAVING AN ALPHABETIC ROTATION FOR PROPOSITIONS A THROUGH Z AS THE YEAR GOES BY THEIR RECOMMENDATION TO, UH, HAVE A NOTICE OF INTENT FOR FOLKS WHO ARE, UH, SUBMITTING, GOING TO SUBMIT A PETITION TO GET SOMETHING ON OUR BALLOT.
UH, THERE'S A NOTICE OF INTENT AND SOME REQUIREMENTS THEY WANTED TO ADD THERE TO ENSURE VERACITY OF THE PETITIONS AND INTEGRITY AND ET CETERA.
NUMBER FIVE OF THEIRS WAS ABOUT CONFLICTING BALLOT INITIATIVES.
WHEN WE HAVE TWO ITEMS ON THE BALLOT AND THEY BOTH PASS
[01:05:01]
AND THEY CONFLICT WITH EACH OTHER, WHAT DO WE DO WITH THOSE? AND THEN LASTLY, AN ORDINANCE ABOUT CONTRIBUTION LIMITS FOR RECALL PETITIONS.THAT'S SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE IN THE CHARTER.
IT CAN BE PUT DONE THROUGH AN ORDINANCE.
SO BASICALLY THESE WOULD BE THREE, UH, ORDINANCES AND A RESOLUTION.
AND THEN IT WOULD BE UP TO COUNCIL, OF COURSE, WHETHER YOU WANTED TO CONTINUE MOVING FORWARD WITH THOSE.
AND WE WOULD ASSIST WITH THAT PROCESS IF YOU DID WANNA MOVE FORWARD WITH THOSE, NOT THROUGH AN ELECTION.
THE NEXT ONES, WE BASICALLY FEEL THAT THE REMAINING FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION WOULD NEED TO GO ON THE BALLOT AS A CHARTER AMENDMENT IF YOU WANTED TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THEM.
SO THE INCREASE IN THE SIGNATURES THRESHOLD FOR PETITIONS.
THE, UM, CHANGING THE DATES OR REALLY CLARIFYING WHAT DATES THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS COULD BE HELD ON AS FAR AS OUR RECALL.
ELECTIONS, CHARTER AMENDMENT, ELECTIONS, UH, INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM.
SOME RECALL PETITION SIGNATURE THRESHOLDS.
AND THEIR EIGHTH AND NINTH BOTH HAD TO DO WITH CITY ATTORNEY RATIFICATION OF THE CITY ATTORNEY APPOINTMENT BY COUNCIL.
AND THEN DESIGNATION OF A, UM, SORT OF SPECIFIC TO COUNCIL ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY.
SO THOSE ARE ALL TOGETHER OF THEIR NINE RECOMMENDATIONS.
WE FEEL LIKE FIVE OF THOSE WOULD HAVE TO GO ON THE BALLOT FOR OUR STAFF CHARTER RECOMMENDATIONS.
WHEN WE WERE WORKING ON THIS PROJECT, WE SPECIFICALLY DID SEEK OUT THINGS THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE CHARTER AMENDMENTS.
WE DIDN'T, UH, WANT TO CONSIDER THINGS THAT WOULD, COULD JUST BE ACCOMPLISHED BY ORDINANCE.
SO ALL OF THE START, THE STAFF CHARTER RECOMMENDATIONS WOULD REQUIRE A CHARTER AMENDMENT IF YOU WANTED TO PROCEED WITH THOSE.
UH, SO IF YOU'LL RECALL, THERE WERE ABOUT 21 OR 22 DIFFERENT STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, HOWEVER, SOME OF THOSE ARE COULD BE WHAT WE CALL BUNDLED INTO A SINGLE OR INTO A, INTO A LESSER NUMBER OF PROPOSITIONS.
THE WAY THE LAW WORKS ON THIS IS THAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE, UM, EACH CHARTER AMENDMENT HAS TO BE ONE SUBJECT.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF CASE LAW OUT THERE ABOUT EXACTLY WHAT IS A SINGLE SUBJECT AND WHAT IS NOT.
AND ALSO THERE'S ALSO A REQUIREMENT THAT GOES HAND IN HAND WITH IT THAT SAYS THAT VOTERS MUST BE ALLOWED TO VOTE ON THE CHARTER AMENDMENTS SEPARATELY.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, WE HAVE 22 RECOMMENDATIONS FROM STAFF.
WE CANNOT MAKE THAT ONE BIG CHARTER PROPOSITION ON THE BALLOT WOULD HAVE TO BE 22.
OR IN THIS CASE, WE FEEL LIKE WE CAN BREAK THOSE.
UH, OR REALLY, ACTUALLY, I SHOULD SAY THE OTHER WAY, COMBINE THEM SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE AS MANY AS 22 STAFF RECOMMENDED PROPOSITIONS.
ONE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE CHARTER REVIEW COM RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING, FOR EXAMPLE, CITY ATTORNEY.
THOSE COULD BE CONSIDERED ACTUALLY ONE SUBJECT, BUT THEY'RE RECOMMENDED AS TWO SEPARATE ITEMS BECAUSE THEY'RE DOING DIFFERENT ENOUGH THINGS THAT, UM, THEY COULD BE CONSIDERED THINGS THAT YOU WOULD WANT VOTERS TO VOTE ON SEPARATELY.
SO THERE'S SOME DECISIONS THAT, THAT YOU ALL KIND OF HAVE TO THINK ABOUT AS FAR AS POLICY, WHETHER YOU WANT THOSE TWO RECOMMENDATIONS TO BE, BECAUSE THEY'RE ONE SUBJECT, THEY COULD BE A SINGLE PROPOSITION, BUT THEY DO DO SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THINGS.
AND SO YOU MIGHT WANNA KEEP THEM AS TWO SEPARATE PROPOSITIONS ON THE BALLOT.
SO IT'S JUST A, LIKE I SAID, WE CAN RECOMMEND AS FAR AS WHAT WE THINK WE CAN BE BUNDLED TOGETHER ON WHAT CAN'T, BUT THEN IT'S GONNA BE UP TO YOU ALL TO MAKE THOSE FINAL DECISIONS.
UH, THERE'S OTHER, UH, SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT STAFF RECOMMENDED ARE WHAT WE CALL NON SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES, WHERE BASICALLY ITEMS IN THE CHARTER ARE OBSOLETE DUE TO CASE LAW, DUE TO CHANGES IN STATE LAW.
UH, THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WERE ADOPTED IN THE CHARTER BEFORE WE WENT TO OUR TEN ONE SYSTEM, AND THEY'RE JUST OUTDATED.
THEY JUST DON'T APPLY ANYMORE.
AND SO WE FEEL LIKE QUITE A FEW OF THOSE COULD BE BUNDLED INTO BASICALLY JUST A CLEANUP, UM, BALLOT PROPOSITION.
AND SO THAT WOULD ACTUALLY TAKE CARE OF QUITE A FEW OF THE 22 OR 2122, UH, STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS.
NOT ALL OF THEM, BUT QUITE A FEW OF THEM.
AND SO THESE NEXT FEW SLIDES KIND OF GO THROUGH THAT.
I'M JUST GONNA GO THROUGH IT VERY BRIEFLY 'CAUSE YOU'LL HAVE IT TO LOOK AT IN YOUR OWN TIME AS WELL.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, THE DISPOSITION OF CITY PROPERTY THAT HAS, THAT'S A STANDALONE ITEM.
IT IS A CHARTER AMENDMENT IF YOU WANNA MOVE FORWARD, THAT HAS TO STAND ON ITS OWN ANNEXATION.
UH, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF ITEMS UNDER ANNEXATION.
WE FEEL LIKE THEY COULD BE BUNDLED UNDER A SINGLE SUBJECT.
WE ALSO FEEL LIKE THEY'RE CLEANUP ITEMS BECAUSE THEY'RE JUST REFLECTING WHAT'S THE CURRENT STATUS OF STATE LAW.
AND WE HAVEN'T EVEN BEEN ENFORCING WHAT OUR CHARTER SAYS BECAUSE IT CONFLICTS WITH STATE LAW.
THAT'S SOMETHING YOU SEE THE ASTERISK THERE, THAT ANYTIME YOU SEE SOMETHING WITH AN ASTERISK, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE THINK WE COULD JUST PUT INTO ONE SINGLE CLEANUP PROPOSITION.
WITH REDISTRICTING WE HAD ABOUT, UM, THESE THREE PLUS A COUPLE OF OTHER REDISTRICTING.
ALL OF THOSE COULD PROBABLY BE ONE BALLOT PROPOSITION.
THEY'RE ALL RELATED ENOUGH AND THEY'RE ALL DOING THINGS THAT ARE REALLY JUST KIND OF REFLECTING OUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE LAST INDEPENDENT REDISTRICT COMMISSION THAT WE FEEL LIKE NEEDED TO BE, UH, QUESTIONS THAT CAME UP THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE ANSWERS TO.
SO THIS COULD BE ONE SINGLE PROPOSITION AS OPPOSED TO
[01:10:01]
SAY, FIVE ELECTIONS, THE SAME THING.THERE'S, I BELIEVE, FOUR, FOUR TOTAL RECOMMENDATIONS UNDER THE ELECTIONS.
THREE OF THOSE ARE REALLY JUST CLEANUP.
THEY'RE THINGS THAT CONFLICT WITH THE STATE CONSTITUTION OR OTHER ASPECTS OF STATE LAW.
UH, THREE OF THOSE COULD GO INTO THE CLEANUP PROPOSITION, AND ONE WOULD BE A STANDALONE ITEM ON THE BALLOT, UH, CITY COUNCIL.
THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE A STANDALONE ITEM IF YOU WANTED TO TAKE OUT THAT.
THE THING IN THE CHART THAT SAYS YOU HAVE WEEKLY MEETINGS ON THURSDAYS, AS YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN YOUR LONGSTANDING PRACTICE TO HAVE THEM, YOU KNOW, EVERY OTHER THURSDAY ESSENTIALLY.
UH, SO THAT WOULD BE A STANDALONE ITEM.
SO GOING THROUGH, SAME SORT OF THING FOR, UH, FINANCE.
I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THAT TOPIC TO KNOW WHETHER THEY COULD BE BUNDLED INTO A SINGLE SUBJECT AND BE A SINGLE PROPOSITION.
UH, THAT'S THE KIND OF THING THAT, AND WHEN WE COME BACK TO YOU ALL, WE'LL BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU A BETTER ANSWER ON THAT AND PROVIDE YOU WITH BALLOT LANGUAGE, ET CETERA.
AND THEN SAME WITH THE LAST COUPLE OF ITEMS THAT ARE LISTED UP THERE.
A COUPLE OF THEM CAN GO IN THE CLEANUP, AND A COUPLE OF THEM WOULD HAVE TO BE STANDALONE ITEMS. SO ESSENTIALLY, DEPENDING ON HOW YOU ALL WOULD LIKE US TO PROCEED, AND AGAIN, YOU DON'T NEED TO DECIDE THIS BEFORE, UH, TOMORROW, BEFORE THURSDAY, WE CAN WAIT TILL JULY.
UH, BUT BASICALLY WE COULD END UP WITH MAYBE A TOTAL OF ABOUT 10 TO 12 PROPOSITIONS ON THE BALLOT AS OPPOSED TO THE 30 OR SO THAT HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED IF THEY WERE ALL LISTED OUT SEPARATELY.
SO THAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE OF, AS FAR AS THAT IS CONCERNED.
UM, AND SO AGAIN, WE'LL TAKE WHATEVER DIRECTION YOU'D YOU'D LIKE TO GIVE US.
AND ONE THING I WANTED TO MENTION, OF COURSE, IS THAT YOU ALL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO BRING YOUR OWN, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS, YOUR OWN SUGGESTIONS FOR CHARTER AMENDMENTS.
IF ANY COUNCIL MEMBER WANTS TO REACH OUT TO THE LAW DEPARTMENT, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO WORK WITH YOU ON WHAT WE THINK YOU KNOW, IS LEGALLY FEASIBLE, HELP YOU WITH BALLOT LANGUAGE, ET CETERA.
SO, UH, WE JUST WANTED TO, YOU KNOW, START WITH WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY HAD RECOMMENDED.
AND AGAIN, IF YOU WANNA MOVE FORWARD WITH THE ITEMS THAT DON'T NEED CHARTER AMENDMENTS, WE'RE VERY HAPPY TO HELP YOU WITH THAT AS WELL.
AND THAT'S ALL I HAD FOR TODAY.
CAST MEMBERS, YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS HAS ON RYAN? AL I HAVE A QUESTION AS IT RELATES TO THE BUNDLING, UH, ISSUE.
ARE THOSE THINGS THAT THEORETICALLY COULD BE BUNDLED OR ARE THOSE TWO DISCREET TO PUT TOGETHER? AND, AND I MAY BE ASKING YOU TO SKIP TO JULY 18TH HERE.
AND SO IF YOU'RE NOT READY TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, I'M OKAY.
SO I MEAN, I THINK IF YOU, FOR EXAMPLE, FOR FOR NUMBER THREE ABOUT THE NOTICE OF INTENT, ET CETERA, THE REASON THAT WE WOULD RECOMMEND THAT MAYBE BE DONE THROUGH AN ORDINANCE IS BECAUSE THAT'S AN IDEA THAT MIGHT NEED TO BE FLESHED OUT OR ADJUSTED SOMEWHAT.
WE MIGHT HAVE A NOTICE OF INTENT THAT'S BEEN DRAFTED, AND THEN AFTER WE GO THROUGH AN ELECTION OR TWO, WE'RE LIKE, OKAY, SOMETHING'S NOT WORKING HERE.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD CERTAINLY PUT THAT IN THE CHARTER.
THAT WAS THE INITIAL RECOMMENDATION OF THE CRC AND CONSIDERING THAT THEY ARE A SIMILAR TOPIC, I THINK THEY COULD BE BUNDLED AS ONE ITEM ON THE BALLOT.
IT'S JUST THAT WE WOULD RECOMMEND THAT BE DONE AS AN ORDINANCE RATHER THAN A CHARTER AMENDMENT.
AND, YOU KNOW, I'M THINKING ALSO, AND, AND CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND THAT AND, AND JUST TRYING TO THINK THROUGH MY MIND ABOUT WHAT, HOW, HOW CLOSE SOMETHING HAS TO BE RELATED.
UM, AND I, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE SEEN CERTAINLY HERE, AND ANOTHER, YOU KNOW, THE STATE DOES IT WHERE THEY PUT SOMETHING MORE ABSTRACT IN, WHETHER IT'S THE CONSTITUTION OR THE CHARTER, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A NOTICE OF INTENT, BUT THEN BY CHARTER WE SPECIFY WHAT THAT NOTICE ACTUALLY REQUIRES OR WHAT THAT NEEDS, RIGHT? SO YOU FLUSH IT OUT VIA AN ORDINANCE, BUT IT IS REQUIRED IN THE CHARTER THINGS, UH, OF THAT NATURE.
I'M JUST, AND YOU KNOW, SIMILAR LIKE THE RECALL PETITION NUMBER SIX AND NUMBER SEVEN, THE CONTRIBUTION LIMIT AND THEN THE THRESHOLD, YOU KNOW, ARE THOSE, THEY'RE BOTH ABOUT RECALLS, BUT THEY'RE BOTH ABOUT DIFFERENT THINGS AGAIN, SO RIGHT.
LIKE, ARE, ARE THOSE THINGS THAT MAYBE COULD BE JOINED TOGETHER? AND JUST THINKING IN TERMS OF LIMITING OUR NUMBER, AND I KNOW SOME OF THEM CAN BE BY, UH, ORDINANCE, WHICH IS GREAT AS WELL, BUT JUST TRYING TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THAT IN MY MIND.
I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD JUST HIGHLIGHT WHAT, IF ANYTHING, THAT WOULD MEAN FOR YOUR OFFICE DIFFERENT FROM TODAY? UM, I THINK, THANKS FOR THE QUESTION.
IT REALLY DO WOULDN'T CHANGE THE WAY WE OPERATE.
I MEAN, THE ROLE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY AND THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICES TO REPRESENT THE CITY.
WE REPRESENT ALL THE ELECTED OFFICIALS, THE APPOINTED PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, ALL STAFF MEMBERS.
I KNOW WE HAVE, I HAVE COLLEAGUES ACROSS THE COUNTRY THAT IT'S DONE BOTH WAYS.
[01:15:01]
COUNCIL OR APPOINTED BY THE MANAGER.UM, SOME PEOPLE THINK IT'S LESS POLITICAL TO BE APPOINTED BY THE MANAGER RATHER THAN THE COUNCIL.
SO THERE'S, THERE'S THAT, I'M SORT OF AGNOSTIC ABOUT IT PERSONALLY IF YOU'RE ASKING ME THAT, BUT OUR ROLE AS THE CITY ATTORNEY AND, AND OUR OFFICE WOULDN'T CHANGE.
UM, AS FAR AS NINE, HAVING A SPECIFIC LAWYER ASSIGNED TO THE COUNCIL, I, I WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THAT BECAUSE RIGHT NOW YOU HAVE ABOUT 60 LAWYERS WHO REPRESENT THE COUNCIL, AND YOU WOULDN'T WANNA LIMIT IT TO ONE PERSON.
UM, AND IN REALITY, HAVING ONE PERSON, ONE PERSON COULDN'T DO ALL THE WORK THAT WE DO FOR THE CITY COUNCIL.
YOU ALL HAVE LOTS AND LOTS OF QUESTIONS THAT ARE IMPORTANT, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO WORK ON THEM, BUT IT TAKES A LOT MORE PEOPLE THAN JUST ONE TO DO IT.
SO I, I, I THINK THAT'S SORT OF THE MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT WHAT OUR, OUR JOB IS.
AND CAN YOU REMIND US THE RECOMMENDATION CRC RECOMMENDATION FOR THE RATIFICATION OF THE CITY ATTORNEY APPOINTMENT? IN THAT SCENARIO? IN THAT PROPOSAL, THE CITY MANAGER MAKES A RECOMMENDATION FOR THE CITY ATTORNEY, AND THEN THE COUNCIL APPROVES IT.
COLLEAGUES, I WOULD LIKE FOR US TO EXPLORE HAVING AN OPTION FOR VOTERS TO CONSIDER HAVING THE CITY ATTORNEY DIRECTLY APPOINTED BY COUNCIL.
I KNOW THIS IS NOT A, A NEW TOPIC, FROST TONIGHT.
IT WAS ON THE BALLOT IN 2012 AND WAS NARROWLY DEFEATED.
I THINK IT WAS 50 PER 50 POINT SOMETHING VERSUS 49%.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, OUR CITY IS, IS MUCH DIFFERENT NOW THAN WE WERE 12 YEARS AGO.
UH, WE ALSO KNOW THAT THE STRUCTURE OF HAVING THE CITY ATTORNEY DIRECTLY REPORTING TO CITY COUNCIL, UM, IS, IS NOT UNIQUE IN DALLAS.
UM, THE TEXAS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE DID A SURVEY BACK IN 2010.
IN FACT, OUT OF, YOU KNOW, THE MAJORITY OF CITIES THINK OVER 70% OF CITIES, THE, UH, CITY ATTORNEY IS APPOINTED BY COUNCIL.
UM, AND, AND IN FACT, EVEN THE, THIS RECOMMENDATION OF HAVING IT, UH, BE RATIFIED BY COUNCIL, IN OTHER WORDS, HAVING THE CITY MANAGER MAKE THE APPOINTMENT AND THEN COUNCIL APPROVE THAT STRUCTURE.
ONLY 6% OF HOME RURAL CITIES DO.
SO JUST WANTING US TO HAVE, UM, CONVERSATION WITH OUR COMMUNITY, SINCE THIS WILL BE COMING BACK TO US IN JULY, UM, FOR OFFICIALLY TO BE PUT ON THE BALLOT, UH, REGARDING WHAT THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE, IF THERE'S INTEREST, UM, IN PUTTING THIS PROPOSAL TO THE VOTERS OF AUSTIN.
UH, REALLY I THINK IT WOULD BE JUST BRINGING US UP TO WHAT IS, YOU KNOW, COMMON, AVERAGE, UM, CITY GOVERNANCE FOR CITIES OF OUR SIZE.
COUNCIL MEMBER, ARE YOU FINISHED WITH YOUR PRESENTATION? YES, SIR.
COUNSEL, UH, I WANNA MAKE SURE WE GET EVERYBODY'S QUESTIONS OUT AND THEN PROCESS.
UM, SO ANYBODY GOT ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? UH, SO THE PROCESS WOULD BE, AND WHEN I, AND WHAT I WOULD SUGGEST IS THAT COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES, WHO, WHO IS SUGGESTING A DIFFERENT FORMAT, UM, FOLLOW UP WITH WITH THEM, SO THAT WHAT COMES BACK TO US ON JULY 8TH, JULY 18TH, UH, JULY 18TH, WOULD BE AN OPTION IF, IF COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE SOMETHING ELSE THAT THEY WANNA PUT IN THERE, LET'S GET IT TO STAFF.
LET'S TALK TO, UH, THE DESIGNATED LAWYER, UH, AND, AND, UM, YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT.
AND, AND GET, SO WHAT COMES BACK IS THAT OPTION WILL ALREADY BE THERE AND PREPARED SO THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO, TO, TO MOVE THROUGH THOSE.
UM, IF YOU HAVE THOUGHTS ALSO, UH, IN, AS THESE, AS, AS ADDITIONAL WORK HAS DONE, UH, LET, LET'S USE THE MESSAGE BOARD THE WAY WE'VE BEEN USING IT AND, UH, WE'LL GET ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO ADD? NO, SIR.
WELL THEN I THINK WE'VE COVERED THIS ITEM.
UH, WE'LL, I'M SURE WE'LL BE VISITING BETWEEN ON JULY 18TH, BUT WE'LL CERTAINLY SEE YOU ON JULY 18TH.
MEMBERS THAT WILL TAKE US TO, UH, A POOLED ITEM.
COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE PULLED ITEM NUMBER 11.
SO WHAT HE DID IS HE ASKED COUNCIL MEMBER VELA TO BE PREPARED TO ASK THE QUESTIONS THAT HE HAD WITH REGARD TO ITEM NUMBER 11.
SO I'M GONNA RECOGNIZE COUNCIL MEMBER VELA.
UH, MAYOR, THIS IS, UH, THE QUESTION IS PRIMARILY AROUND THE, UH, UH, PROPERTY OWNER ASSOCIATION TRANSITION THAT IS, UH, GOING TO BE HAPPENING SOON WITH REGARD TO THE MUELLER, UH, SUBDIVISION.
AND, UH, I GUESS THE, THE QUESTION WOULD BE THAT, IS THERE ANYTHING STAFF NEEDS TO DO TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PROPERTY OWNER ASSOCIATION TRANSITION HAPPENS, UH, THIS YEAR? AND, AND JUST TO GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT, UH, THIS IS, UH, WE'RE EXTENDING THE, UH, MASTER DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT IS PROPOSED, UH, FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS.
AND, UH, UH, MY SENSE IS THAT THERE'S AGREEMENT ON THAT, THAT THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN BECAUSE THERE'S STILL PROPERTIES THAT NEED TO BE DEVELOPED.
UH, BUT, UH, I BELIEVE THE PROPERTY OWNER ASSOCIATION
[01:20:02]
DOES NOT WANT THAT TO DELAY THE KIND OF TRANSITION OF THE, THE MAINTENANCE AND RESPONSIBILITIES AND WHATNOT, UH, OF THAT, THE TRANSITION OF THAT TO, TO THEM FROM, UH, UH, ELLA, GOOD MORNING COUNSEL, AND KIMBERLY OLIVAREZ, UH, DEPUTY CFO.UH, SO I'M GOING, WE'RE GONNA TAG TEAM THIS, UH, MYSELF AND GREG WEAVER FROM ELLIS.
SO THERE IS A TRANSITION COMMITTEE IN PLACE TO DIVE INTO THE, ALL OF THE VARIOUS COMPONENTS AS THE, AS MILLER NEARS COMPLETION.
UM, SO I'M ACTUALLY GONNA ASK GREG TO COME UP HERE TO TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT TRANSITION COMMITTEE AND WHAT KIND OF SCHEDULE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
AND THEN I'LL, I'LL COME IN AGAIN AFTER.
GOOD MORNING, MAYOR AND COUNSEL.
UM, SO I THINK THE QUESTION AT HAND, UM, WHAT WITH THE EXTENSION OF THE MDA, THERE WAS A, UH, UH, DESIRE TO HAVE THE PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION GET HANDED OFF TO THE HOMEOWNERS AND REALLY TO THE PROPERTY OWNERS.
IT'S BOTH RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL.
AND AS A PART OF THAT, WE'VE HAD THESE DOCUMENTS THAT HAVE EVOLVED OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS THAT HANDLES EVERYTHING.
YOU KNOW, THE POA HANDLES THE MAINTENANCE OF THE OPEN SPACE AND THE PARKS, AND THERE'S ACTUALLY THE ROW HOMES OUT THERE, WHICH ARE THE ATTACHED TO HOMES.
THERE'S ROOFS, THERE'S ALL KINDS OF THINGS THAT GO INTO 'EM.
AND SO OVER THE YEARS THEY'VE EVOLVED.
BUT WITH THAT, AS WE ARE FINALIZING, UH, THE TRANSITION, THERE'S A WHOLE BUNCH OF CLEANUP ITEMS AND IT'S KIND OF, SOME OF IT ARE KIND OF KNIT LEGAL, UH, LINE ITEMS OR ITEMS, BUT THERE'S OTHER ONES THAT HAVE SOME MATERIAL THINGS.
AND I THINK THE DESIRE, WE PUT A SCHEDULE TOGETHER THAT WAS REALLY STARTING IN MAY, WHICH WE'RE COMING TO THE END OF RIGHT NOW.
UM, BUT TO HAVE EVERYTHING FINALIZED IN NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, DECEMBER, I THINK THE DESIRE IS TO ACCELERATE THAT, YOU KNOW, TO PUSH IT FORWARD FASTER, WHERE WE COULD TELL US, DELIVER THE DRAFT DOCUMENTS TO THE TRANSITION COMMITTEE SOONER THAN WE ARE ANTICIPATING, WHICH, UH, THE FIRST DRAFT WE'RE GONNA DELIVER IN JULY.
WE MAY BE ABLE TO DELIVER THAT IN JUNE AS WE GET THE TRANSITION COMMITTEE.
AND THE TRANSITION COMMITTEE IS PRIMARILY HOMEOWNERS THAT THEY GIVE US THEIR COMMENTS BACK AND THEN WE GET EVERYTHING INTO THE CITY LEGAL DEPARTMENT.
SO IDEALLY, THE SCHEDULE THAT WE HAD HERE HAD THE GETTING COMMENTS, UH, OR, OR, OR PROVIDING IN JULY DRAFTS TO THE TRANSITION COMMITTEE.
I THINK WE'RE GONNA TRY TO PUSH THAT UP TO JUNE.
SO GET THAT OVER THE NEXT 30 DAYS, GET THEIR COMMENTS BACK, KIND OF JUNE, JULY-ISH, GET IT THEN INTO CITY STAFF, INTO LEGAL.
SO THE GOAL WOULD BE TO ACCELERATE THIS, AND I DON'T KNOW, YOU KNOW, THE EXACT TIMEFRAME, BUT IF WE COULD FINALIZE IT IN AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, UM, IN TIME FOR A NOVEMBER TRANSITION, WHERE THE BOARD MEMBERS WHO WON'T BE ELLA'S BOARD MEMBERS ANYMORE, IT'LL BE THE COMMUNITY AT MILLER, UH, THE, YOU KNOW, WHO ARE GONNA BE PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATIONS.
AND SO WE'LL MAKE THAT COMMITMENT TODAY.
I, I THINK WE NEED, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO HELP.
WE CAN, YOU KNOW, DO A LOT ON OUR SIDE.
WE NEED TO HELP, YOU KNOW, CITY LEGAL AND OTHERS, AND, AND KIM AND I SPOKE ABOUT IT EARLIER.
SO I THINK WE CAN ACCELERATE EVERYTHING TO GET EVERYTHING DONE FASTER, QUICKER, TO GIVE THE COMMUNITY MUCH MORE TIME TO BE ABLE TO REVIEW, HAVE FEEDBACK, HAVE A, A GOOD DIALOGUE BEFORE THAN THE NOVEMBER BOARD TRANSITION.
AND AS, UH, GREG WAS SPEAKING ABOUT THE, THE COMMENTS AND EVERYTHING, WHEN THEY COME BACK TO THE CITY, IT'S OUR, OUR LAW DEPARTMENT AND THEN REAL ESTATE TEAM, UM, WITHIN FINANCIAL SERVICES, THOSE ARE THE MAIN CITY FOLKS THAT ARE HAVING TO WORK THROUGH IT.
I, I, UM, COMMIT TO MAKING SURE MY REAL ESTATE FOLKS ARE, ARE MOVING THINGS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, AND THEN WE'LL WORK CLOSELY WITH THE LAW DEPARTMENT ON, ON THEIR ASPECTS AS WELL.
SO THERE'S A COMMITMENT FROM A CITY STAFF PERSPECTIVE AS WELL AS KALUS TO MAKE SURE THIS IS MOVING FORWARD AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
AND, AND AGAIN, UH, UH, UH, MY SENSE IS THAT THE, THE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, THE PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, UH, JUST WANTS TO KIND OF HIT THE GROUND RUNNING IN NOVEMBER AND JUST NEEDS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE RULES ARE AND THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY CAN GET THEIR MEMBERSHIP, UH, STRAIGHTENED OUT AND ALL THAT KIND OF STUFF FOR NOVEMBER.
AND I THINK THAT WAS JUST THE, THE, THE CONCERNS, THE TIMELINE AND MAKING SURE THAT WE CAN HAVE A SMOOTH TRANSITION IN NOVEMBER.
MAYOR KIM, THANKS FOR THE QUESTION ON THE MDA AND THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I DO HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU.
WHEN DO YOU THINK YOU CAN GET THE DRAFT, UM, BYLAWS TO THE PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION SO THAT THEY HAVE SOME TIME TO SPEND WITH IT? I KNOW THEY'VE, THEY'RE ANXIOUS TO SEE THAT DOCUMENT.
I'M GONNA, SO I'M, I'M GUESSING FOR MY TEAM HERE A LITTLE BIT
SO WE'RE AT MAY 28TH AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S KIND OF MIDDLE OF JUNE THAT WE HAVE SOMETHING IN A WRITTEN FORMAT, SO PROBABLY CALL TWO OR THREE WEEKS FROM TODAY, WE SHOULD
[01:25:01]
BE ABLE TO GET SOMETHING OUT.COULD YOU LET US KNOW WHEN THAT DOCUMENT IS TRANSFERRED TO, UH, THE POA FOLKS? YEP.
UM, THAT WOULD BE, ABSOLUTELY, THAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL.
WE'RE GONNA, YOU KNOW, BASED ON THE FEEDBACK WE'VE GOTTEN OVER THE LAST COUPLE DAYS, WE'RE GONNA REVISE THAT.
SO WE'RE HAPPY TO GIVE YOU A COPY OF THIS TOO.
SO YOU CAN SEE THE DEADLINE DATES WHEN WE PLAN TO GO TO AND PROVIDE THINGS TO THE TRANSITION COMMITTEE AND THEN, YOU KNOW, HAVE IT, UH, A TIMEFRAME TO GET COMMENTS BACK.
AND SO IT'LL OUTLINE EVERYTHING REALLY THROUGH THE END OF THE YEAR AS IT RELATES TO THIS.
'CAUSE I KNOW THAT THAT GROUP IS ALSO, UM, SETTING ITS SCHEDULE FOR ITS SELECTIONS AND TO TAKE ON THIS RESPONSIBILITY AND THERE WILL BE THAT KIND OF TRANSITION, IMPLEMENTATION OVERLAP THAT THERE WILL BE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME NEEDED TO KIND OF SETTLE IN AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THEIR NEW ROLE IS.
YEAH, NO, THAT'S, UH, IT SHOULDN'T BE A PROBLEM AT ALL.
YOU KNOW, IT'S ONE OF THESE THINGS ON THESE COVENANTS, YOU KNOW, YOU KIND OF TAKE, YOU KIND OF THE, UH, SQUEAKY WHEEL GETS A GREASE AND THESE ARE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN ON THE LIST FOR A WHILE AND NOW WE JUST GOTTA FOCUS ON IT.
AND IF WE COULD TELL US AND THE CITY TEAM JUST FOCUS ON IT, IT'S NOT DIFFICULT STUFF.
IT'S JUST PUTTING THE FOCUS AND ATTENTION TO GET IT DONE.
AND THERE'S WHAT 25 ACRES LEFT TO DEVELOP, IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT.
AND UM, WHAT WAS THE OTHER THING I WANTED TO ASK YOU? OH, YEAH, THE MILLER COMMISSION, AND I KNOW THAT'S NOT THE FULL NAME.
DOES THAT COMMISSION STILL SUNSET AT THE END OF 2024, OR WILL THAT HAVE ADDITIONAL, UH, LENGTH OF TOWN? UH, ASSUMING COUNCIL APPROVES THE DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT EXTENSION ON THURSDAY, THE COMMISSION WILL EXTEND WITH IT.
FOR THE, THE NEXT TWO AND A HALF YEARS TO THE MIDDLE OF 26, I THINK IT IS THREE AND A HALF.
20 TO THE END OF 26 TO THE END OF, BUT THAT'S, THAT'S KIND OF A WORSE, LIKE WORST CASE SCENARIO.
UM, BUT IT'S MORE, THEY WILL STAY IN PLACE AS LONG AS WE NEED.
SO EVEN IF WE'RE ABLE TO GET EVERYTHING WRAPPED UP BEFORE THE END OF 26TH, THEN WE WOULD END AT THAT POINT, WE WON'T LEAVE THE AGREEMENT ACTIVE JUST BECAUSE RIGHT, RIGHT.
SO NO LATER THAN CORRECT 2026, THAT'S THE CURRENT PLAN? YES.
JIM, ANYTHING ELSE ON THIS ITEM? YES, JUST ONE QUICK QUESTION.
I KNOW, UM, THIS PART OF TOWN, I CAN'T REMEMBER IF IT'S SPECIFICALLY TO MUELLER OR SLIGHTLY NORTH OF THERE, BUT I KNOW THERE'S SOME FOLKS THAT HAVE COME AND ASKED ABOUT TRAIL CONNECTIONS.
COULD YOU SPEAK TO ANY OUTSTANDING TRAIL CONNECTIONS THAT ARE STILL YET TO BE COMPLETED THAT ARE PART OF THIS MDA SINCE THAT'S OUR, OUR POSTING LANGUAGE? YEAH, NO, IT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
UM, AND THE, THE MAJORITY OF IT CALLED 95% OF THE TRAILS ARE BUILT OUT THERE TODAY, THE TAN HILL BRANCH TRAIL, WHICH IF IT'S OUT, UH, ALONG MANOR BOULEVARD, KIND OF BEHIND WHERE SAFE IS AND THE CHILDREN'S SHELTER IS, THERE'S A CONNECTION POINT OUT THAT THAT IS THERE THAT WILL GET FINISHED THROUGH THIS TRANSITION PERIOD AND THAT'LL BE THE FINAL CONNECTION POINT OF THE TRAILS OUT THERE.
SO THAT'S WORK THAT'S CONTEMPLATED IN, UH, AS PART OF THIS EXTENSION.
AND SO WHAT WOULD THAT, UH, DEADLINE EXPECTATION BE? IS THAT THE 2027 DATE WE SEE OR THE, THE TIMELINES WE TALKED ABOUT? NO, THAT, NO, THAT SHOULD BE PROBABLY END OF NEXT YEAR TO, IT MAY TRICKLE.
SO WHAT DO WE, WE'RE 24, SO IT SHOULD BE END OF 25, MAYBE TRICKLE IN A LITTLE BIT IN 26, BUT THAT'S, THAT'S, WE'VE RELEASED THE, THE WORK IS ACTUALLY BEING DONE ON ALL THE DESIGN ON THAT NOW.
SO THE TIMEFRAME, YOU KNOW, SUBJECT TO THINGS HAPPENING IN CONSTRUCTION, WHICH THEY DO, UH, IT SHOULD BE BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR, THAT SHOULD ALL BE COMPLETED.
THAT COMPLETES ALL OF THE ITEMS, UH, OTHER THAN THE EXECUTIVE
[E. Executive Session]
SESSION.SO NOW THE CITY COUNCIL WILL GO INTO A CLOSED SESSION TO TAKE UP ONE ITEM AND PURSUANT TO SECTION 5 5 1 0 7 1 OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE, THE CITY COUNCIL WILL DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO ITEM E ONE IN RAY, THE CITY OF AUSTIN, ET AL.
CAUSE NUMBER D ONE GN 24 0 0 1 0 64 IN THE 53RD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS, CONSOLIDATED WITH DIRTY MARTIN'S ET AL VERSUS MAYOR KIRK WATSON, ET AL CAUSE NUMBER D ONE GN 23 0 8 1 5 IN THE 455TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY, TEXAS.
UM, IF THERE'S NO OBJECTION, WE WILL GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION ON THIS ONE.
ITEM ANNOUNCED WITHOUT OBJECTION, UH, THE COUNCIL WILL NOW GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.
WHEN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION IS COMPLETE, UH, I OR THE MAYOR PRO TIM WILL COME OUT INTO OPEN SESSION AND IF THERE'S NO OBJECTION, WE WILL ADJOURN THE WORK SESSION OF
[01:30:01]
THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL.WE ARE NOW GOING INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 10:30 AM YEAH.
LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO ITEM E ONE.
THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL AT THIS WORK SESSION.
WITHOUT OBJECTION, THE CITY COUNCIL IS ADJOURNED AT 10:54 AM EVERYBODY HAVE A GOOD WEEK,