[00:00:02]
IT'S NINE O'CLOCK ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 26TH, 2025, AND I'M ON A CALL TO ORDER THE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION.
UH, FOR THIS DATE, WE HAVE A QUORUM OF THE CITY COUNCIL PRESENT, AND WE ARE MEETING IN CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, WHICH ARE LOCATED, UH, AT CITY HALL 3 0 1 WEST SECOND STREET IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
UH, BEFORE WE START WITH OUR AGENDA, I GUESS THIS PROBABLY WAS PART OF THE AGENDA, THE ANTICIPATION THAT A BABY WOULD BE BORN TO ONE OF OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS, AND I'M PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT ON AUGUST 17TH, 2025, ISSA AHMAD CADRE WAS BORN, UH, EIGHT POUNDS AND 20.5 INCHES.
UH, SO WE WANT TO, SO THERE'S GOING TO, YEAH.
UH, REALLY THE BIG POINT OF ME BRINGING THAT UP IS COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE'S NOT GONNA BE WITH US THIS MORNING,
UM, AND, AND, UH, WE ARE ALL HAPPY, HAPPY FOR HIM, AND HAPPY THAT, UM, UH, THAT, THAT LITTLE BABY'S WITH US.
SO, UH, I WANTED TO BRING THAT TO EVERYBODY'S ATTENTION.
UH, WITH THAT, I AM GOING TO TURN TO THE CITY MANAGER MEMBERS.
WHAT WE'LL DO IS WE'LL TAKE UP THE BRIEFING ON B ONE BEFORE WE GO TO ITEM A 34.
UM, AND SO I'M GONNA CALL UP THE BRIEFING AND TURN TO THE CITY MANAGER.
WE GOT SOMEBODY SIGNED UP TO TALK RIGHT BEFORE WE HAVE ONE SPEAKER
[A34. A contract for Zilker Café concession management and operation for the Parks and Recreation Department with Legacy Hospitality and Entertainment Group LLC for an initial term of 5 years with up to two 5-year extension options for a total estimated revenue of $1,500,000 for Fiscal Year 2025 to Fiscal Year 2041 for the Operating Budget of the Parks and Recreation Department. Pulled by Council Members Alter and Ellis. (1 of 2)]
ON A 34.YEAH, WELL, WHY DON'T WE HAVE THE SPEAKER GO AHEAD AND SPEAK THAT WAY WE DON'T HOLD THEM HERE.
AND THEN, UM, I'LL, I'LL RECOGNIZE YOU.
AND SPEAKER'S NAME IS CHRIS FLORES.
I AM A RESIDENT OF DISTRICT 10.
I SWIM AT BARTON SPRINGS AND DEEP EDDY POOL.
MY REASON FOR COMING TO YOU TODAY IS ABOUT THE ZILKER CAFE.
I SWAM FOR MANY YEARS IN THE SUNRISE SHIFT AT BARTON SPRINGS.
AND SO I WALK BY THE ZILKER CAFE ALL THE TIME IN THE SUMMER OF 2023.
UH, ANOTHER WOMAN'S SWIMMER AND I ENGAGED IN MULTIPLE 3 1 1 CALLS BECAUSE THERE WAS A HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT IN THE REAR OF THE CAFE WHILE IT WAS SHUTTERED.
UM, WE TOOK PICTURES OF FOOD WASTE AND FECES THAT APPEARED TO ROLL DOWN THE HILL TO THE ELIZA SPRING FENCE LINE.
UH, IN NOVEMBER, 2023, I WROTE A LETTER TO DIRECTOR MCNEELY SHARING THESE PICTURES, BECAUSE COINCIDENTALLY, THERE WAS ALSO A GREASE TRAP LEAK THAT HAPPENED AT DEEP EDDIE POOL.
THE GREASE TRAP FELL OVER, A CAR HIT IT, AND THE GREASE LEAKED DOWN THE PARKING LOT INTO THE CITY SEWER SYSTEM, AND CARS DROVE THROUGH IT.
UM, WE WANTED MS. MCNEELY TO KNOW THAT THAT LOCATION SHOULD NOT HAVE FRIED BURGERS AND ACTUAL GREASE ADJACENT TO A SWIMMING POOL.
UM, AND, UH, IN MARCH OF 2025, I SHARED THAT SAME EMAIL WITH, UH, PART OF STAFF, MS. ROSETTI, WHO WAS WORKING ON THE ZILKER CAFE CONTRACT.
SHE WAS NOT AWARE OF THAT ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD OF GREECE AND POOLS.
UM, AT THE TIME, I ASKED HER IF IT WAS POSSIBLE TO, UM, PROTECT THE SALAMANDERS BECAUSE, UM, ZILKER CAFE SITS BETWEEN THE POOL SALAMANDER COMMUNITY, AND THE ELIZA SPRINGS SALAMANDER COMMUNITY.
SHE SAID SHE WOULD LOOK INTO IT IN JUNE, 2025.
THE PARKS BOARD VOTED, UH, ON THIS CONTRACT.
THERE WAS NO MENTION OF ANY ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE STUFF.
UM, THERE WAS NO REVIEW BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION, WHICH IN, IN MY CITIZEN HUMBLE OPINION SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED.
[00:05:01]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MA'AM.THAT CONCLUDES ALL SPEAKERS FOR TODAY.
[B1. Flood Readiness. (Jorge Morales, Director - Watershed Protection Department)]
UH, I WILL NOW REALLY TURN IT OVER TO THE MANAGER.UH, AND MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
UH, THIS PARTICULAR ITEM, UH, RELATED TO FLOOD READINESS, UH, IS VERY IMPORTANT, UH, TO US AS WELL AS OUR RESIDENTS.
WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE, GIVEN THE RECENT 4TH OF JULY FLOODS IN CENTRAL FLORIDA, IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR US TO COME TO PRESENT TODAY, NOT ONLY TO REASSURE, UH, OUR CITY COUNCIL, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY OUR COMMUNITY.
THAT FLOOD READINESS REMAINS A TOP PRIORITY FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
TO THAT END DIRECTOR JORGE MORALES, UH, FROM WATERSHED PROTECTION AND JIM REDDICK, UH, FROM HESO, WILL SHARE THE STEPS WE'VE BEEN TAKING TO PLAN, PREPARE, AND ENGAGE OUR COMMUNITY WHEN FACE, UH, WHEN FACING OUR NEXT FLOODS.
SO, DIRECTOR MORALES AND REDDICK, UH, FLOOR IS YOURS.
MORALE, MORALE, UH, WITH THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT MANAGER.
UH, HERE'S A QUICK OVERVIEW, WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE PRESENTING THIS MORNING.
THERE'S A VIDEO THAT WE PUT TOGETHER AT THE DEPARTMENT JUST TO TALK ABOUT WATERSHED.
THAT'S ONE OF THE QUESTIONS I ALWAYS GET.
WHAT DOES WATERSHED DO? SO, WE'LL START WITH A VIDEO JUST TO START THAT.
THEN I'LL COVER A LITTLE BIT OF FLOOD HISTORY.
'CAUSE AS YOU ALL KNOW, THERE'S QUITE A BIT OF FOLKS THAT MOVE TO AUSTIN ON A DAILY BASIS, AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND OUR HISTORY AS IT RELATES TO FLOODING.
WE'LL COVER SOME OF THE FLOOD CHALLENGES, THE PREPAREDNESS STRATEGIES THAT WE HAVE, INVESTMENTS TO DATE THAT THE CITY HAS DONE, AND OF COURSE, THE HOMELESS SECURITY, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, FLOOD RESPONSE.
UH, OUR DIRECTOR, RETIC WILL TALK ABOUT THAT TOO, AND WE'LL OPEN IT UP TO QUESTIONS.
WE ARE KEEPING IT AS HIGH LEVEL AS WE CAN, BUT FOCUS ON THE PROGRAMMATIC AREAS.
UH, I DID WANT TO SAY, UM, SAY THAT LAST WEEK OUR STAFF ALSO PRESENTED TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION HAD REQUESTED SIMILAR BRIEFING.
AND SO I ACTUALLY, AT THE LAST PAGE, I HAVE A RESOURCE PAGE THAT HAS A LINK TO THAT SIDE, IF ANYBODY IS INTERESTED, IF THEY HAD REALLY THOROUGH QUESTIONS THAT THEY ASKED US IN THAT MEETING AS WELL.
SO I'LL GO AHEAD AND START WITH THE VIDEO.
COULD WE COME BACK TO THAT? OKAY.
UM, AND I'LL TALK MORE ABOUT THE VIDEO ONCE WE TEE IT UP IN A BIT.
GO INTO THE HISTORY OF FLOODING.
SO, AUSTIN'S DEALT WITH FLOODING SINCE THE BEGINNING OF ITS TIME, SINCE AUSTIN WAS, UH, ESTABLISHED.
UH, WE LIVE IN CENTRAL TEXAS, WHICH IS FLASH FLOOD ALLEY.
UH, FOR THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW THAT WE HAVE THE HILL COUNTRY ON THE WEST SIDE, AND THEN WE HAVE THE GULF MOISTURE.
AND ALTOGETHER, IT CREATES SOME OF THE MOST INTENSE RAINS IN THE WORLD.
AND SO IT'S IMPORTANT FOR THE COMMUNITY TO KNOW THAT WE'VE ALWAYS DEALT WITH FLOODING.
SO FIRST, COLORADO RIVER FLOODING OF RECORD IS DATED 1869.
AND, UH, WE'VE HAD MULTIPLE FLOODS IN THE 18 HUNDREDS, 19 HUNDREDS.
UH, THEY EVEN BUILT THE DAMS. WE HAD TWO DAM FAILURES BEFORE WE ACTUALLY COMPLETED THE DAM THAT'S PROTECTING IT.
AND THE LAKE HIGHLAND LAKES ARE PROTECTING, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAVE BEEN PROTECTING FOR YEARS, UH, TO PROTECT.
AND WE SAW THAT IN THE 4TH OF JULY, AS THE DAM SYSTEMS WERE PUT IN PLACE, UH, WE WENT FROM, UM, 30 40% CAPACITY TO A HUNDRED PERCENT TO 90%.
SO IT SHOWS YOU THAT IT WORKS.
THERE ARE THERE TO HELP PROTECT THIS COMMUNITY.
UM, FLOODING ALONG SHOAL CREEK AND WALL CREEK HAS BEEN COMING OVER THE HISTORY AS WELL.
UM, MEMORIAL DAY FLOOD OF 1981, THAT WAS A PIVOTAL TURNING POINT FOR THIS COMMUNITY.
UH, WE LOST 13 LIVES IN CENTRAL TEXAS AND HERE IN AUSTIN, SPECIFICALLY IN THE SHOAL CREEK AREA.
AND THAT'S WHEN THE CITY BEGAN THE PROCESS OF CREATING AND INVESTING IN DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENT.
SO WE CREATED THE DRAINAGE CHARGE SHORTLY THEREAFTER, UH, THE DRAINAGE UTILITY WAS FORMED.
AND, UM, IN 1996 IS WHEN THE DEPARTMENT CAME TO BE THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT.
AS WE CURRENTLY STAND, UH, NOTED 20 13 20 ONION CREEK FLOODS.
BUT I WANT ALSO WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE THERE'S BEEN NUMEROUS OTHER FLOODS AS WELL.
FROM 2013 TO 2016, THIS COMMUNITY FACED MULTIPLE MAJOR FLOODS.
UH, AND IT'S, IT'S SOMETHING THAT JUST, IT'S BOUND TO HAPPEN AGAIN, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT CENTRAL TEXAS IS ABOUT.
IS THE VIDEO READY, SIR? IT'S THE VIDEO RADIO.
SO, SOME OF THE CHALLENGES, UH, THAT WE DEAL WITH IS ATLAS 14.
WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THAT FOR SOME TIME NOW.
THE RE REGULATIONS WE'VE UPDATED SINCE 2019 TO START, UM, ADHERING TO SOME OF THE INTENSITIES OF THE RAINS HERE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
BUT WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF REDOING ALL THE FLOODPLAIN MAPS IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
SO WE SHOW ON THE RIGHT SIDE THE MAPS AND THE STUDY AREAS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON.
AND, UH, WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF FINALIZING THOSE IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS.
THEY WILL BE COM COMPLETED AND UPDATED THROUGH FEMA PROCESS, WHICH TAKES A LITTLE BIT LONGER.
BUT THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AS SOON AS WE HAVE THE FINAL DRAFT MAPS, WE START REGULATING THROUGH THOSE RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND, UM, THE, THE FACTS ARE THAT WITH CLIMATE CHANGE, WE ARE SEEING MORE FREQUENT AND HEAVIER RAINFALL.
[00:10:01]
AS WE SAW THIS THIS SUMMER, AUSTIN GENERALLY HAS SHALLOW SOILS, AND THAT HAS HELPED CREATE SOME OF THIS RECORD RAINFALL, UH, RATES THAT WE'VE SEEN.10% OF THE LAND IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, UH, IS FLOODPLAIN OR SUBJECT TO FLASH FLOOD FLUSH FLOODING AS WELL.
UM, WE HAVE OVER 10,000 STRUCTURES, BUILDING STRUCTURES, COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL FOR OVER 400 ROADS THAT ARE PRONE TO FLOODING DURING A HUNDRED YEAR EVENT.
AND I JUST WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT THERE'S AN ECONOMIC IMPACT WHEN THESE FLOODINGS OCCUR.
AND SO A LOT OF THE INVESTMENTS WE HAVE DONE HAVE HELPED SAVE AND PROTECT SOME OF THOSE, UH, INVESTMENTS AS WELL.
WHEN WE TALK ABOUT FLOOD PREPAREDNESS, WE, THE STRATEGY REALLY FOCUSES ON MITIGATION, PREPAREDNESS, AND RESPONSE.
AND ON SOME OF THE PICTURES HERE, I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THE FIRST FESTIVAL WE HAD THIS APRIL IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE MAYOR, PORT FUENTES AND OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UH, THIS WAS AT LEE LEWIS CAMPBELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, AND IT WAS A GREAT SUCCESS.
AND WE PLAN TO CONTINUE TO DO THIS EVERY YEAR, BUT EVERY YEAR WE DO FOCUS ON FLOOD AWARENESS AS WELL.
AND WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO PROMOTE THAT FOR THE COMMUNITY AWARENESS.
SO WHEN IT COMES TO FLOOD MITIGATION, UM, ONE OF THE PRI PRIMARY TOOLS WE USE IS CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.
UM, JUST WANT TO NOTE SOME OF THE NOTABLE PROJECTS WE'VE DONE IN THE HISTORY OF AUSTIN WALL CREEK TUNNEL THAT HELPED RECLAIM ABOUT 28 ACRES OF DOWNTOWN FLOODPLAIN AREAS THAT ARE NOW BEING REDEVELOPED.
AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT'S HELPED PROTECT THIS COMMUNITY IN WALL CREEK AREA, UH, WITH THE FLOODS.
AND I'LL, I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT IN ONE OF THE EXAMPLES.
I'LL SHARE IN A LITTLE BIT THE ONION CREEK BUYOUTS.
UH, THESE WERE HOMES, UM, THAT WERE BUILT IN THE FLOODWAY AND, UH, EVENTUALLY, UM, HAD MULTIPLE FLOODINGS.
AND THE CITY ACTUALLY PURCHASED THOSE HOMES AND RELOCATED THOSE FAMILIES TO SAFER GROUNDS.
THE LITTLE WALNUT CREEK FLOOD RISK REDUCTION, ALSO KNOWN AS MERGE METALS.
THAT'S A PROJECT THAT'S ALMOST COMPLETE RIGHT NOW.
AND EVEN THOUGH WE HAVEN'T FINISHED THAT PROJECT, THE BENEFITS DURING THE 4TH OF JULY, WERE, WERE SHOWN BECAUSE SOME OF THAT SYSTEM ACTIVATED ALREADY.
WE'VE GOT BRAD SEAWOOD FLOOD RISK REDUCTION.
WE'RE IN PHASE ONE OF CONSTRUCTION RIGHT NOW, AND WE'VE GOT MORE PHASES TO COME ON THAT.
AND WE'VE ALSO DONE, UH, FLOOD WALLS.
THERE'S SOME IN CREEK BAND AND CRYSTAL BROOK.
AND SO THERE'S BEEN DIFFERENT STRATEGIES THAT THE CITY'S DONE FROM CIP PROJECTS TO PROTECT OUR COMMUNITIES.
UH, WHEN IT COMES TO REGULATIONS, THE FLOODPLAIN AND DRAINAGE REGULATIONS ARE VERY KEY PART OF OUR SUCCESS AS WELL.
WE STARTED, UH, THE CREEK ORDINANCES SINCE 1974.
WE FIRST STARTED REGULATING FOR THE 25 YEAR BACK THEN, AND THEN IN 1991, AUSTIN JOINED THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM, AND WE'VE BEEN REGULATING TO A HUNDRED YEAR EVER SINCE.
NEW, NEW DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS ARE REQUIRED TO DEMONSTRATE NO ADVERSE IM IMPACT, UH, FOR PRIOR TO CONSTRUCTION.
THAT'S PART OF OUR REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS.
AND WE ALSO ESTABLISH THE REGIONAL STORMWATER MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS BEEN AROUND SINCE THE EIGHTIES AS WELL.
THAT HELPS THE, THE CITY PROTECT.
ANOTHER AREA WE DO IS OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.
OUR DEPARTMENT OF WATERSHED PROTECTION, ABOUT 50% OF THE DEPARTMENT IS, UH, DIVISIONS THAT FOCUS ON OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE TO MAINTAIN OUR INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, WE ACTUALLY HAVE AN ASSET MANAGEMENT PROGRAM AS WELL, THAT HELPS US GUIDE US, UH, AT WHERE WE WORK ON OUR PROJECTS.
WE HAVE PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE MAINTENANCE DURING, BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER STORM EVENTS AS WELL.
UM, FOR EXAMPLE, JUST THROUGH JUNE OF THIS YEAR, WE'VE ALREADY RECOVERED OVER 10,000 TONS OF DEBRIS FROM THE DRAINAGE SYSTEM.
UH, WE HAVE PRO PROACTIVE INSPECTIONS OF OUR POND SYSTEMS, OUR STORM DRAIN INLETS, OUR BRIDGES, AND OUR CULVERTS.
WE ALSO HAVE A VEGETATION AND LAND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM THAT, UH, INVESTS OVER $3 MILLION IN THIS PROGRAM.
OVER 6, 650 STORM WATER ASSETS ARE CONTROLLED AND MANAGED THROUGH VEGETATION AS WELL.
WHEN IT COMES TO FLOOD PREPAREDNESS, UH, WE, WE HAVE YEAR ROUND COMMUNICATION ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES THAT WE DO WITH, WITH OUR COMMUNITY.
THIS INCLUDES PAID ADVERTISEMENT CAMPAIGNS, EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGE.
WE HAVE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS KITS WHERE THE RADIO FLASHLIGHT DOCUMENTS THAT WE DO IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HOMELESS SECURITY, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, AND PROVIDE THOSE TO THE COMMUNITY.
UH, THE FLOOD SAFETY VIDEO CONTEST IS SOMETHING THAT WE STARTED A FEW YEARS AGO WITH, UH, UM, MIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL KIDS.
AND IT'S BEEN OF GREAT SUCCESS AND CONTINUES TO EXPAND EVERY YEAR WHERE THE KIDS HELP SUBMIT PSA, UH, PUBLIC SERVICE SERVICE OFFICER VIDEOS.
AND THERE'S COMPETITION FOR THAT.
UH, LIKE I MENTIONED EARLIER, WE DID THE FLOOD SAFETY FEST THIS YEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME.
WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO THAT MONTHLY POPUPS AT EACH COUNCIL DISTRICT, WE ROTATE AROUND THE CITY.
WE HAVE WORKSHOPS WITH THE COMMUNITY AND TRAINING THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AS WELL.
WE HAVE ALSO CONTINUED TO DO COMMUNITY, UH, ENGAGEMENT THROUGH MEDIA RELEASES, PRESS CONFERENCES, UH, INTERVIEWS AND SOCIAL MEDIA AS WELL AS IT RELATE TO FLOOD RESPONSE RESPONSE.
UM, EVER SINCE THE EIGHTIES, THE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN CREATED THE FLOOD EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.
THEY'RE PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST ROBUST, I WOULD SAY, IN THE, IN TEXAS
[00:15:01]
WHERE WE HAVE, UH, FOLKS MONITORING WHETHER 24 7, 365 DAYS, AND WORK WITH OUR PARTNERS AT HOMELESS SECURITY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT TO COMMUNICATE TO OUR COMMUNITY, UH, WHERE THERE'S RISK AND WHEN THERE'S RISKS.WE, UH, ALSO LAUNCHED THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT TEAM FOR THE WATERSHED DEPARTMENT A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, WHERE WE'RE REQUIRING EVERYBODY IN OUR DEPARTMENT TO GO THROUGH THE INCIDENT COMMAND SYSTEMS TRAINING.
SO WE'RE ALL FULLY TRAINED IN THAT.
AND, AND THIS YEAR, FOR THE FIRST TIME, WE ACTIVATED THE DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS CENTER AFTER THE MICROBURST IN, UM, ON MAY, THIS EARLIER MAY.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE FLOOD RECONNAISSANCE AND DEBRIS MANAGEMENT THAT DID WE DO DURING AND AFTER THE STORM EVENTS TO PREVENT FUTURE.
I MEAN, AS WE'VE SEEN THIS YEAR, YOU MAY HAVE ONE STORM EVENT AND THE NEXT DAY YOU HAVE ANOTHER ONE.
AND SO WE TRY TO ENGAGE IMMEDIATELY.
BUT THE NEXT TWO SLIDES, I'LL COVER THE TWO EVENTS.
UH, JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF INFORMATION FROM THE MICROBURST THAT OCCURRED ON MAY 28TH.
AS YOU ALL KNOW, THAT WAS A 30 MINUTE EVENT THAT REALLY HIT OUR COMMUNITY HARD, AND WE TOOK MONTHS TO RECOVER FROM THAT AS WELL.
SO OUR DEPARTMENT WAS AT OPCON LEVEL, SO WE DO FOLLOW THOSE GUIDANCE.
WORKING WITH HOMELESS SECURITY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, WE CLOSED EIGHT LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
UH, DURING THAT STORM EVENT, WE HAD OVER 35 FLOOD STRUCTURES IN THE COMMUNITY THAT FLOODED.
UM, WE HAD TWO OF OUR FACILITIES WATERSHED FACILITIES THAT WERE IMPACTED BECAUSE OF THE TREES FALLING AND THE ELECTRICITY.
AND, UH, BUT THANKS TO THE UPGRADES WE DID AFTER THE WINTER STORM U EVENTS, WE ACTUALLY HAD GENERATORS.
SO WE WORKED OFF GENERATOR BACK UP FOR, UNTIL WE GOT THAT RESOLVED AS WELL.
UH, AND WE WERE ABLE TO CONTINUE OUR MISSION WITHOUT HAVING IMPACTS, UH, FOR THAT, WE HAD ALMOST 300 SERVICE REQUESTS FOR THAT EVENT.
UH, WE HAD FIVE RECONNAISSANCE TEAMS THAT INVESTIGATED AREAS IN HIGH INTENSE RAINFALLS AND MET WAS IMPACTED COMMUNITY MEMBERS AS WELL AS WE WERE OUT THERE.
WE COLLABORATE WITH DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PROVIDING RESOURCES AND PROVIDING INFORMATION FOR FOLKS THAT HAVE TO REBUILD OR, OR RECOVER FROM THE STORM EVENTS AND THE FLOODING.
WE HAD OVER A THOUSAND TONS OF DEBRIS THAT WERE REMOVED FROM THE DRAINAGE SYSTEMS FOR THAT EVENT.
AND WE COORDINATED WITH AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY AND TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS WAS ALWAYS ENGAGED ON THESE EVENTS AS WELL FOR THE DEBRIS MANAGEMENT.
AND WE PARTICIPATED IN IMMEDIATE REQUESTS AS, AS THEY CAME UP FOR THAT EVENT AS WELL, TO KEEP, UH, OUR COMMUNITY INVOLVED.
AND THAT PICTURE YOU SEE THERE ON THE RIGHT IS, UM, OUR DEPARTMENT OPERATION CENTER IN ACTION.
WE ACTIVATED FOR TWO DAYS, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE COULD DO THE LOGISTICS FOR THE DEPARTMENT AND MAKE SURE WE GOT THE OPERATIONS GOING.
THE 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND, AS WE KNOW, WAS VERY DEVASTATING FOR CENTRAL TEXAS.
UH, WE DID GET INTENSE RAINS IN AUSTIN AS WELL.
AND SO I'M JUST GONNA COVER A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT HAPPENED HERE IN AUSTIN.
SO WE WERE AT OP COM, LEVEL THREE FOR THAT EVENT.
UM, IMPACTED SHOAL CREEK, BULL CREEK, WALL CREEK WALNUT, AND LITTLE WALNUT AND BOGGY CREEKS.
WE HAD 13 LOW WATER CROSSING THAT CLOSED THAT WEEKEND.
WE HAD FIVE FLOODED STRUCTURES AND ALMOST 200 SERVICE REQUESTS.
UH, THE RECONNAISSANCE TEAM INVESTIGATE AREAS WITH HIGH INTENSITY RAIN AS WELL, IMMEDIATELY AS AFTER THE RAIN EVENTS.
AND WE COLLECTED OVER 500 TONS OF DEBRIS FROM THE DRAINAGE SYSTEMS. UM, I JUST WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT PAUSE THERE, BECAUSE AS WE ALL KNOW THAT THE EVENTS HAD CATASTROPHIC IMPACTS IN OVER 130 LIVES WERE LOST IN CENTRAL TEXAS, IN THE HILL COUNTRY.
UM, BUT THIS EVENT JUST REMINDS US OF THE FLASH FLOOD ALLEY THAT I TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, AND THE IMPACTS THAT CAN HAPPEN OVERNIGHT.
UH, AND, UM, THAT'S WHY IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO BE HERE TO PRESENT AND SHOW THE COMMUNITY WHAT WE'RE DOING TO PREPARE.
I JUST, OH, MY PICTURE DIDN'T COME OUT.
I FORGOT HOW CREATIVE I WAS BEING WITH THIS SLIDE.
IT SHOWS YOU THE, THE CREEK FLOW.
UH, AND IT SHOWS YOU WHAT IT WOULD'VE HAPPENED IF WE DIDN'T HAVE THE TUNNEL.
SO THAT TWO LINES SHOWS THAT PREDICTIVE MODELING OF WALL CREEK TUNNEL.
AND SO HAD, UH, WE NOT HAD THE WALL CREEK TUNNEL.
WALL CREEK WOULD'VE FLOODED, AND WE WOULD'VE HAD TO CLOSE MULTIPLE ROADWAYS DOWN WALL CREEK FOURTH NINTH STREET AREAS.
AND FOR THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW, THE POLICE HEADQUARTERS PARKING GARAGE IS IN THE FLOODPLAIN.
AND WE'VE HAD FLOODING IN THAT, SO WE WOULD'VE BEEN EVACUATING.
AND SO INSTEAD OF BEING READY FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE, THEY WOULD'VE HAD TO BE WORKING ON PREPARING TO GET THEIR VEHICLES OUT OF THE WAY AS WELL.
SO THAT'S ALL PREVENTED THROUGH THIS INVESTMENT THAT WE DID IN THE WALLER CREEK TUNNEL.
SO THOSE DOTS AT THE BOTTOM, THOSE ARE THE ACTUAL STAGES BASED ON OUR TUNNEL DIVERSION.
SO YOU CAN SEE WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT WOULD'VE BEEN.
SO IT SHOWS YOU THAT THE INVESTMENTS MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
AND SO I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT GRAPH.
UM, INVESTMENTS TO DATE, UH, JUST WANTED TO FOCUS, UH, THE HISTORICAL SPENDING.
WE'VE DONE, WE'VE DONE, UH, BOND FUNDING UPWARDS OF 50 STORM PROJECTS SINCE 2001.
UH, 114 FLOOD PROJECTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED OVER OUR TIME, ALMOST $600 MILLION WORTH OF PROJECTS.
THE FUNDING SOURCES DO INCLUDE GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS, CASH TRANSFER FROM THE DRAINAGE UTILITY FUND, THE CHARGE THAT WE, THE RESIDENTS PAY, AND THE COMMERCIAL RESIDENTS, UH, COMMERCIAL FOLKS PAY AS WELL.
WHEN WE'VE ALSO BEEN WORKING ON GRANTS, AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE, THE DEPARTMENT ESTABLISHED A GRANT PART OF THE DEPARTMENT.
WE'VE BEEN GOING AFTER GRANTS TO HELP US, UH,
[00:20:01]
SUBSIDIZE SOME OF THE COSTS THAT WE SEE FOR THE PROJECTS.OUR 2018 BOND FUNDS HAVE BEEN SPENT DOWN NEXT YEAR, WE'LL BE COMPLETING THE BONDS THAT WERE ALLOCATED FOR THE DRAINAGE PROJECTS.
SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE ARE PRICE ESCALATIONS.
AS EVERYBODY'S SEEN IN CONSTRUCTION, POST PANDEMIC, AUSTIN BECOMES MORE COMPACT AND CONNECTED.
UM, THERE'S LITTLE OPEN SPACE.
SO WE DO PARTNER QUITE A BIT WITH OUR PARKS DEPARTMENT AND OTHER OPEN AREAS TO DO SOME OF THE FLOOD MITIGATION THAT HAS TO BE DONE WHEN WE DO LOCALIZED FLOODING TYPE PROJECTS.
UM, AND THAT'S A BIG PART OF OUR, OUR TOOLS.
WE CANNOT CREATE AN IMPACT BY FIXING ONE AREA AND PUSHING THE WATER DOWNSTREAM TO ANOTHER PART OF THE COMMUNITY.
AND SO THE OTHER CHALLENGE IS, THE OBVIOUS ONE IS LOWER GRANT FUNDINGS AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE HAVE AS WELL.
ON THIS NEXT SLIDE, I'LL TURN OVER TO DIRECTOR REDDICK.
MAYOR PROTI, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, UH, JIM REDDICK, DIRECTOR OF HE SSO.
UM, THIS IS MY FIRST OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO YOU AS A BODY.
SO I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE.
I'VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO EVERY ONE OF YOU.
UM, AND THE, AND THE SUPPORT THAT YOU'VE GIVEN, UH, IS MUCH APPRECIATED.
MR. MAYOR AS DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PER TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE 2 18, 4 18, EXCUSE ME.
UH, I APPRECIATE THE MANY MEETINGS THAT WE'VE HAD, UH, TALKING ABOUT THE STRATEGIES FOR ALERT NOTIFICATIONS, UH, THE PLAN OVERHAUL AND EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO TO MAKE SURE OUR PLAN DOESN'T JUST MEET STANDARDS, BUT EXCEEDS THEM AS WELL.
SO, UH, THE OVERHAUL IS IN PLACE, AND I'M REALLY EXCITED TO, TO ROLL THAT OUT, UH, AS A DOCUMENT, NOT JUST FOR US FROM A RESPONSE PERSPECTIVE, BUT FOR THE COMMUNITY AS WELL.
UM, SO MONITORING THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST PRODUCTS, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE DO, UH, ALONG WITH FUSE, UH, AND MANY OF OUR OTHER PARTNERS.
AND ONCE THEY START TO, TO GO IN A CERTAIN POSITION, UH, A CERTAIN DIRECTION, THAT'S WHEN WE CO-LOCATE WITH FUSE IN THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER.
UM, SO IF THEY'RE THERE, WE'RE THERE, IF THEY'RE THERE VIRTUALLY, WE'RE STILL IN TOUCH WITH THEM TO MAKE SURE THAT IF ANYTHING IS TO HAPPEN, WE'RE GOING TO ALERT, NOTIFY, UM, AND OTHERWISE MAKE SURE PEOPLE ARE, ARE INFORMED BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER A FLOOD EVENT, OR FROM HE'S PERSPECTIVE, ANY HAZARD, NATURAL, MANMADE, OR TECHNICAL.
UM, ONCE WE START TO, ONCE THE WEATHER SERVICE STARTS TO PREDICT, UH, EITHER, UM, WHETHER IT'S GONNA BE ALERTS, ADVISORIES, WARNINGS, UH, THEY'RE GONNA START HAVING CONFERENCE CALLS AND BRIEFINGS, UH, WHICH WE WILL CERTAINLY PARTICIPATE.
UH, AND AGAIN, DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, UH, WILL BE INVITED TO THOSE AS WELL.
UH, THAT WAY WE CAN HAVE OUR CONFERENCE CALLS ON HOW WE'RE GONNA POSTURE OURSELVES TO RESPOND SHOULD A POTENTIAL INCIDENT OCCUR.
IN TERMS OF NOTIFYING, OUR FOCUS IS ON MAKING SURE THAT WE OVER COMMUNICATE RATHER THAN UNDER COMMUNICATE.
SO ALONG WITH THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PRODUCTS THAT WOULD BE PUSHED OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
UM, IF THERE IS TIME PRIOR TO A FLASH FLOOD, UH, FOLKS MAY GET WARN CENTRAL TEXAS MESSAGES, LETTING THEM KNOW THAT THIS, THIS EVENT IS, IS MATERIALIZING, BUT OTHERWISE, IF NEED BE FOR LIFESAVING MESSAGES, WE HAVE THE WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM THAT'S THAT UNIQUE RINGTONE OR VIBRATION YOU GET FOR AMBER ALERTS, UH, SILVER ALERTS, AND THE LIKE.
UM, THE ONE CONCERN THAT, THAT I HAVE FOR THAT IS THAT OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, A LOT OF FOLKS HAVE BEEN OPTING OUT OF THE WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM, UM, TO WHICH I WOULD SAY IF WE CAN'T CONTACT YOU, WE, WE CAN'T ALERT YOU.
UM, THE GREAT THING ABOUT WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT IS THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY GIVE YOU PROTECTIVE ACTIONS TO TAKE.
UM, SO WE CAN GIVE YOU THE INFORMATION THAT YOU NEED AND ALSO A LINK TO GET MORE INFORMATION THROUGHOUT THE ACTUAL INCIDENT.
I AM PROUD, UH, PROUD TO SAY THAT WE ARE BECOMING AN ALERTING AUTHORITY.
UH, SO PREVIOUSLY WE HAD TO GO THROUGH THE COUNTY OR THE STATE TO SEND A WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT OR IPAS THE INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYSTEM.
UH, NOW WE HAVE THE TRAINING, WE HAVE THE CREDENTIALS, AND WE ARE SOON TO BE AN AUTHORIZED ALERTING, EXCUSE ME, AN ALERTING AUTHORITY, UM, THAT WE CAN SEND THE MESSAGES OUT BECAUSE SECONDS MATTER.
UM, AND SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO THAT WITHOUT MAKING ANY ADDITIONAL REQUESTS.
UM, AND NO SCRIPT SUBSCRIPTION IS NECESSARY.
IF YOU'RE WITHIN THE AREA THAT WE SET THE BOUNDARIES THAT, THAT, THAT RELY ON CELL TOWERS, YOU'RE GONNA GET THAT MESSAGE.
AND IF WE DEFINE A CERTAIN PERIOD, EVEN IF YOU WEREN'T THERE FOR, UH, THE INITIAL INCIDENT, IF YOU ENTERED THAT PERIMETER WITHIN THE TIMEFRAME THAT WE SELECT, YOU'LL STILL GET THAT MESSAGE ONCE YOU ENTER THAT PERIMETER.
WE DO USE WARREN CENTRAL TEXAS, AND AFTER THE LIFESAVING, UH, ALERTS THAT WE WOULD SEND THROUGH WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT, WE WOULD SEND UPDATES THROUGH WIRE, UH, WARREN CENTRAL TEXAS.
BUT THAT DOES REQUIRE SUBSCRIPTIONS.
AND AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, A LOT OF FOLKS DON'T SUBSCRIBE.
UM, SO THAT'S, THAT'S ANOTHER THING THAT WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO ADDRESS THROUGH, THROUGH CAMPAIGNS, THROUGH YOUR NEWSLETTERS, UH, AND OTHERWISE JUST MAKING SURE THAT FOLKS, UM, TAKE THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM JULY, UH, THE JULY FLOODING AND, AND REALLY APPLY THEM HERE SO WE CAN HAVE THOSE
[00:25:01]
CRITICAL DISCUSSIONS ON HOW WE'LL ALERT FOLKS, UM, WHEN THE TIME COMES.AND THE LAST, UH, THE LAST BULLET IS, IS REALLY REMAINS TO BE SEEN WITH THE SENATE BILL.
TWO, IN TERMS OF THE DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY, UH, THE MAYOR AND I HAVE HAD CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE DELEGATION OF, UH, THE AUTHORITY TO SEND OUT A MANDATORY EVACUATION.
UM, AGAIN, WHEN LIVES ARE ON THE LINE, UH, IF FOR SOME REASON THE DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS UNAVAILABLE, HAVING THAT ABILITY TO PULL THAT TRIGGER TO GET FOLKS OUT OF HARM'S WAY IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE, UH, WORKING ON.
BUT AGAIN, SENATE BILL TWO MIGHT, MIGHT ANSWER THAT QUESTION FOR US.
SO I THINK THERE'S MORE TO COME ON THAT.
UM, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, UH, YOU MAY HAVE, MR. ROSS, THIS LAST SLIDE, THIS LAST SLIDE JUST HAS LINKS TO SOME OF THE RESOURCES THAT JIM JUST SPOKE ABOUT.
AND, UH, SOME OF THE SITES THAT WE'VE CREATED.
UH, ONE STOP SHOP IS THE ATX FLOOD SAFETY.COM THAT HELPS YOU UNDERSTAND IT'S GOT RESOURCES WITHIN THAT SIDE OF WHAT YOU CAN DO BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER, UH, STORM EVENTS.
UM, AND ONCE AGAIN, I MENTIONED EARLIER THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION.
I PUT THE LINK THERE FOR ANYBODY THAT'S INTERESTED IN, UM, ALMOST TWO HOUR BACK AND FORTH QUESTIONS, UH, RELATED TO FLOOD PREPAREDNESS AS WELL.
AND WITH THAT, WE'LL OPEN IT UP TO QUESTIONS, AND I THINK WE HAVE THE VIDEO.
LET'S DO THE VIDEO REAL QUICK.
AUSTIN'S WATERSHEDS ARE THE LANDS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO AND SUSTAIN OUR CREEKS, LAKES, SPRINGS, AND THE COLORADO RIVER.
EACH TIME RAIN FALLS ON OUR CITY, IT FLOWS THROUGH A VAST NETWORK OF BUILT AND NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND INTO OUR WATERWAYS.
RAIN FEEDS THE BEAUTIFUL PLACES THAT MAKE AUSTIN SPECIAL, PLACES WHERE WE CAN SPEND TIME WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY, EXPLORE NATURE, COOL OFF AND RELAX, BUT RAIN CAN ALSO PICK UP POLLUTANTS, ERODE CREEK BANKS AND FLOOD HOMES AND BUSINESSES.
THE CITY'S WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT FOCUSES ON HOW RAINWATER MAKES ITS WAY ACROSS AUSTIN'S LANDSCAPE.
OUR DEPARTMENT PROTECTS LIVES, PROPERTY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT BY REDUCING THE IMPACTS OF FLOODING, EROSION, AND WATER POLLUTION.
WE DO THIS THROUGH CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS TO IMPROVE INFRASTRUCTURE REGULATIONS TO PREVENT FUTURE PROBLEMS AND PROGRAMS TO ADDRESS CITYWIDE NEEDS.
LET'S GO ON A QUICK TOUR OF SOME DIFFERENT WAYS THAT OUR DEPARTMENT HELPS TACKLE WATERSHED PROBLEMS. MY NAME IS KELLY RICH AND I'M AN ENGINEER WITH OUR STREAM RESTORATION PROGRAM.
WE'RE STANDING IN FRONT OF AN ERODING CREEK CHANNEL, NEAR COLONY PARK IN EAST AUSTIN.
OUR CONSTRUCTION CREWS ARE WORKING TO STABILIZE THE BANKS AND IMPROVE THE CONVEYANCE OF WATER TO HELP REDUCE THE THREAT OF EROSION AND FLOODING FOR NEARBY HOMES.
MY NAME IS TANYA MEYER RAMIREZ, AND I'M A TEACHER FOR THE EARTH CAMP PROGRAM.
EARTH CAMP IS A FOUR DAY HANDS-ON SCIENCE PROGRAM FOR AUSTIN'S FIFTH GRADERS.
STUDENTS GET TO INVESTIGATE THE WATERSHED IN A LOCAL PARK TO LEARN HOW HEALTHY LAND RESULTS IN A HEALTHY CREEK.
THEY CHECK WATER QUALITY IN THE CREEK BY LOOKING FOR INSECT LARVA, LIKE THIS GUY HERE, AND EXPLORE A CAVE TO SEE HOW WATER TRAVELS UNDERGROUND ON ITS JOURNEY INTO THE EDWARDS AQUIFER.
STUDENTS LEARN AND PRACTICE PERSONAL ACTIONS THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO CLEANER CREEKS AND SPRINGS, SUCH AS GARDENING WITHOUT CHEMICALS LIKE COMPOSTING, PUTTING WASTE IN ITS PLACE, AND PLANTING NATIVE PLANTS.
MY NAME IS HAKI AND I WORK IN A FLOOD EARLY WARNING SYSTEM.
WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR WATCHING THE WEATHER 24 7, MAINTAINING AND MONITORING A LARGE NETWORK OF RAIN AND STREAM GAUGES AROUND THE CITY, AS WELL AS LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
WHEN A STORM COMES, WE ACTIVATE STUFF TO MONITOR, CLOSE AND REOPEN THE LOW WATER CROSSINGS ACROSS THE CITY.
ABOUT 75% OF FLOOD RELATED DEATHS IN TEXAS OCCUR IN VEHICLES.
SO MONITORING AND CLOSING LOW WATER CROSSINGS HELPS TO KEEP OUR COMMUNITY SAFE.
HI, MY NAME IS CLAYTON WEST AND I'M AN ENGINEER WITH THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT.
WE'RE STANDING HERE IN BATTLE BEND PARK IN SOUTH AUSTIN.
WE RECENTLY COMPLETED A PROJECT HERE TO ENHANCE THE PARK, RESTORE THE HEALTH OF THE CREEK, AND HELP IMPROVE WATER QUALITY.
MOST OF THE TIME, THIS NEW PLAY FIELD BEHIND ME CAN BE USED FOR SOCCER, FRISBEE, OR OTHER TYPES OF RECREATION.
BUT WHEN IT RAINS, THIS FIELD WILL FILL UP WITH STORMWATER AND SLOWLY FILTER OUT THE POLLUTANTS AS IT DRAINS TO KEEP CLEAN WATER FLOWING DOWNSTREAM.
I'M WITH THE WATERSHED DEPARTMENT.
I'M AN EQUIPMENT TECH ONE WITH THE CCTV UH, SECTION.
TYPICALLY WHAT WE DO IS WE LOWER OUR, OUR ROBOTIC CRAWLER INTO A STORM DRAIN OR INTO A MANHOLE, WHICHEVER JOB WE'RE NEEDED TO DO FOR THE DAY.
AND WHAT WE'RE CHECKING FOR IS THE INTEGRITY OF THE PIPE, THE CONDITIONS, IF THERE'S A COLLAPSE, OR IF THERE IS ANYTHING, UM, THAT IS ABNORMAL.
WE'RE LOOKING TO SEE EXACTLY HOW EVERYTHING IS SUPPOSED TO FLOW AS FAR AS THE STORM WATER.
I'M ON THE WATER QUALITY COMPLIANCE TEAM.
OUR INVESTIGATORS RESPOND TO REPORTS OF POLLUTING DISCHARGES, SUCH AS ILLEGAL DUMPING, HAZARDOUS AND NON-HAZARDOUS SPILLS.
24 HOURS A DAY, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, WE ENSURE EFFECTIVE RECOVERY OF POLLUTANTS FROM THE ENVIRONMENT.
EXAMPLES OF POLLUTANTS WE ENCOUNTER INCLUDE
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PESTICIDES, ANTIFREEZE, PAINT, MOTOR OIL, AND GREASE.LAST YEAR, WE RECOVERED OVER 6 MILLION GALLONS OF POLLUTANTS FROM THE ENVIRONMENT, PREVENTING ALL THAT BAD STUFF FROM ENDING UP IN OUR CREEKS AND S LAKES.
MY NAME IS ERIC BROWN AND OUR TEAM REVIEWS DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS FOR COMPLIANCE WITH AUSTIN'S STRINGENT ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS.
WHEN A NEW DEVELOPMENT IS PROPOSED, WE GO OUT AND VERIFY THAT SENSITIVE ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES LIKE WETLANDS, SEEPS, SPRINGS, RIM, ROCKS, BLUFFS, SINKHOLE, AND CAVES ARE BEING IDENTIFIED AND PROTECTED FROM NEGATIVE IMPACTS.
MY NAME IS MARIA REINHARDT AND I'M A WETLAND BIOLOGIST.
WETLANDS ARE MY PERSONAL FAVORITE OF THE FEATURES WE PROTECT BECAUSE OF THEIR BEAUTY, DIVERSITY, COMPLEXITY, AND ECOLOGICAL BENEFITS.
THIS WETLAND BEHIND ME NOT ONLY HELPS IMPROVE WATER QUALITY BY FILTERING OUT POLLUTANTS, IT ALSO STORES CARBON TO HELP FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE, PROVIDES HABITAT FOR PLANTS AND ANIMALS, RECHARGES GROUNDWATER, AND HELPS REDUCE FLOODING AND EROSION DOWNSTREAM.
PROTECTING THESE UNIQUE FEATURES HELPS PRESERVE THE HEALTH AND FUNCTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT FOR GENERATION OF AUSTINITES TO ENJOY, TO ADAPT TO NEW CHALLENGES AND BETTER SERVE OUR RESIDENTS.
WE ARE PREPARED TO CREATE RAIN TO RIVER, A STRATEGIC PLAN TO PROTECT AUSTIN'S CREEKS AND COMMUNITIES, AND WE NEED YOUR HELP.
OUR DEPARTMENT WILL USE THIS PLAN TO SET GOALS, PRIORITIZE WORK, AND GUIDE OUR DECISION MAKING.
VISIT RAIN TO RIVER ATX.COM TO SHARE YOUR VISION.
CAN WE GO BACK TO THE SLIDE DECK REAL QUICK? I JUST WANTED TO GO TO THE LAST PAGE JUST TO PLUG THIS, UH, AS, AS THAT VIDEO WAS CREATED TO INFORM OUR COMMUNITY WHAT WATERSHED DOES AND GET FEEDBACK FROM THEM, WE'RE IN THE FINAL STAGES OF RECEIVING.
AND SO, UM, THIS SITE IS WHERE PEOPLE CAN GO AND FILL OUT THE SURVEY THAT COMPLETES ON SEPTEMBER 15TH.
BUT IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO, UH, UPDATE OUR STRATEGIC PLAN THAT HASN'T BEEN MODIFIED IN 10 YEARS.
AND WE ACT, THE ORIGINAL ONE WAS CREATED IN 2001, UH, WHEN WE WERE HALF THE SIZE.
AND SO IT'S IMPORTANT TO TAKE CLIMATE CHANGE AND POPULATION GROWTH AND ALL THAT INTO ACCOUNT AS WE UPDATE OUR PLAN.
SO WAS THAT WE'LL OPEN IT UP TO QUESTIONS.
BY THE WAY, UH, WATERSHED PROTECTION WAS OUT AT THE PARADE ON SATURDAY, AND I'VE GOT TWO GRANDDAUGHTERS THAT ARE GONNA BE SUPPORTING WATERSHED PROTECTION TATTOOS VERY SOON.
I APPRECIATE THE RECOGNITION AND, UH, I HOPE YOUR LUCK IS BETTER THAN MY AND ONE OF THOSE, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN SWAG TATTOOS ENDED UP ON A NECK.
I GOT A CALL FROM A PRESCHOOL ONE TIME, SO GOOD LUCK WITH THAT.
UM,
IF FOR NO OTHER REASON, I'LL BE HONEST WITH YOU, YOU EVEN INTERNALLY, I DON'T THINK EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AUSTIN WATER AND WATERSHED.
UH, SO THANK YOU FOR OFFERING THAT CLARITY.
I THINK IT'S ALWAYS IMPORTANT FOR FOLKS TO START, UH, AT LEAST KNOWING WHO DOES WHAT AND WHO DOESN'T, UH, DO WHAT.
SO, TO YOUR POINT, I WON'T BELABOR IT.
THAT STORM, IT REALLY KICKED UP A LOT OF QUESTIONS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND, UH, ODDLY ENOUGH, MY QUESTION IS TO TURN A QUESTION ON YOU, I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT WERE THE MOST PREVALENT CONCERNS? UM, AND IF YOU'RE ABLE TO REALLY DELINEATE DOWN TO DISTRICT ONE, WHAT WERE THE MOST PREVALENT CONCERNS YOU RECEIVED? I'M WANTING TO KNOW, BASICALLY IF WE WERE HEARING THE SAME THINGS AND MAKING CERTAIN THAT MOVING FORWARD, UM, THAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT FOR MY SUCCESSOR AND BEYOND.
YOU KNOW, WHAT KIND OF THINGS WE NEED TO BE BUILDING INTO INFRASTRUCTURE DISCUSSIONS, BOND CONVERSATIONS, PUD CONVERSATION, TOUR CONVERSATIONS.
WHAT THINGS DO WE REALLY NEED TO FROM AN INFRASTRUCTURE AND FRANKLY, UM, AS BUDGETS GET TIGHTER AND TIGHTER.
THIS LAST ONE WASN'T SQUEAKER.
SO AS BUDGETS GET TIGHTER AND TIGHTER, MAKING CERTAIN THAT WE PUT PROTECTIONS INTO PLACE NOW FOR INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS WE KNOW WE'LL HAVE IN THE FUTURE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR QUESTION, COUNCIL MEMBER.
AND I'LL, I'LL RESPOND AS IT RELATES TO THE WATERSHED, AND I'LL LET JIM SPEAK TO THE LARGER.
SO THIS EVENT HAD A LOT OF WINDS DAMAGE AND, AND HAIL, AND BESIDES THE FLOODING AS WELL, RIGHT? AND SO FROM A FLOODING STANDPOINT, WE HAD SYSTEMS THAT GOT CLOGGED, SO WE SENT OUT CREWS OUT THERE, AND SO WE WE'RE VERY PROACTIVE IN TRYING TO KEEP IT MAINTAINED, BUT DEBRIS IS GONNA WASH UP ON SYSTEMS AND WE JUST HAVE TO GET OUT THERE AND RESPOND TO IT.
SO, UH, THE INTENSITY WAS SOMETHING WE HADN'T SEEN IN A LONG TIME.
UH, THE LEVEL OF INTENSITY OF THE AMOUNT OF RAIN THAT ACTUALLY FELL IN THAT PART OF TOWN.
SO SOUTH AUSTIN IS WHERE I LIVE, IT WAS SUNNY, AND I'M GETTING CALLS FROM OPERATION ASSISTANT DIRECTORS THAT WE'RE FLOODING IN NORTH AUSTIN.
AND SO JUST MAKING SURE THAT COMMUNITY AWARE THAT THESE, THE EVENTS WILL CONTINUE TO HAPPEN AND MAKING SURE THAT IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET OUT IN THE ROADWAYS NOT TO BE OUT THERE.
SO WE DO PART OF EDUCATION AS PART OF IT, BUT FROM AN INFRAS INFRASTRUCTURE STANDPOINT, IT DID HIT SOME OF THE SAME AREAS IN SHO CREEK, WATER CREEK THAT ARE VERY OLD INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND SO WE'RE JUST GONNA HAVE TO CONTINUE TO UPGRADE THOSE SYSTEMS, UM, THROUGH THE PROCESS, THE ASSET MANAGEMENT PROGRAM THAT WE'RE DOING, THE CIP PRIORITIZATION THAT WE HAVE.
AND SO THAT JUST COMES WITH TIME, MONEY, AND, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO WHAT WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW.
UH, DOES, DOES THAT COVER EVERYTHING YOU WANT, COUNCIL MEMBER? NO,
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NOT EXACTLY.AND I THINK JIM WAS GONNA ADDRESS THE LATTER PART OF MY, UH, YES, PLEASE.
UM, SO THERE WERE A LOT OF LESSONS LEARNED FROM, FROM THIS INCIDENT, UH, IN JULY.
AND SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE, WE'VE SPOKEN ABOUT, AT LEAST INTERNALLY, OTHER INCIDENTS THAT HAVE OCCURRED NATIONWIDE, BECAUSE IF WE'RE NOT THEN, THEN WE'RE WRONG, RIGHT? WE WANT TO COMPARE OUR PLANS, UH, TO SEE HOW WE WOULD RESPOND DURING VARIOUS INCIDENTS AS THEY PLAY OUT ON, ON THE TELEVISION.
UM, I MEAN, FIRST AND FOREMOST, IT'S ALL ABOUT INFORMATION SHARING, RIGHT? INFORMATION SHARING INTERNALLY, HOW ARE YOU NOTIFIED AS A COUNCIL? HOW ARE THE STAKEHOLDER PARTNER AGENCIES NOTIFIED OF AN INCIDENT? AND HOW IS THE COMMUNITY NOTIFIED, UH, WITH WHAT PROTECTIVE ACTIONS TO TAKE? SO THAT'S, THAT'S FIRST AND FOREMOST OUR BIGGEST PRIORITY, OUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY THROUGH, UH, FROM THE JULY, UH, INCIDENTS.
NOW, IT, IT'S ALSO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF UNITY, OF EFFORT, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE ESTABLISHING OUR GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR AN OPERATIONAL PERIOD, HOWEVER LONG THAT IS, 6, 8, 12 HOURS, WHATEVER IT IS.
AND THEN AGAIN, CONVEYING THAT TO THE COMMUNITY, WHETHER IT BE THROUGH PRESS CONFERENCES OR JUST, YOU KNOW, GIVING THEM PUBLIC FACING, UH, MAPS OR TOOLS, COMMON OPERATIONAL PICTURE TOOLS.
SO WHEN WE SAY WE'RE DOING SOMETHING THAT CAN BE TRACKED AND, AND MEASURED, UH, THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY, THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE TOOLS THAT WATERSHED PROVIDES BECAUSE THEY'RE PUBLIC FACING TOOLS.
SO THE INFORMATION THAT WE'RE GETTING IN THE EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTER, THE COMMUNITY CAN GET THAT AS WELL.
IT'S, IT'S OPEN SOURCE INFORMATION, UM, AND IT'S CRITICAL FOR EVERYONE'S DECISION MAKING PROCESS.
MA'AM, DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? IT REALLY DOES, RIGHT? AND, AND, AND IT'S, IT ALSO SORT OF EXTENDS ANOTHER SORT OF INTERNAL INQUIRY I'M HAVING, WHICH IS HOW DO WE FORTIFY, WE'VE BEEN HAVING THESE DISCUSSIONS SINCE I CAME ABOARD, AND IT'S SOMETHING I REALLY APPRECIATE.
YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN HEARING A LOT OF FOLKS TALK ABOUT HOW WE NEED TO REALLY GET COMMUNITIES MORE RESILIENT WITHIN THEMSELVES.
UM, THERE, THERE WILL NEVER BE AN APPROPRIATE AND SUFFICIENT RESPONSE, UM, WITHOUT THAT BEING AT THE CORE, THE FOUNDATIONAL COMPONENT BEING OUR, AS A MUNICIPALITY, INVESTMENT IN COMMUNITIES BEING BEYOND RESILIENT AND ANTI-FRAGILE.
UM, THAT WAY THESE VOLATILE SORT OF SHOCKS EVEN REALLY SHOCKING, SURPRISING.
I MEAN, COUNCIL MEMBER VELA AND I WERE ON OUR WAY TO A, A WORK THING, AND WE COULDN'T, WE LITERALLY COULDN'T PARK THE CAR AND COULDN'T DISEMBARK FROM THE VEHICLE BECAUSE OF THE LEVEL OF WATER BETWEEN THE STREET AND THE ENTRY POINT TO THE PLACE WHERE WE LANDED.
AND TO YOUR POINT ABOUT STOPPING, BECAUSE IT HAPPENED SO QUICKLY, THERE WAS A DROP OF RAIN THAT APPROACHED OUR EXIT FROM MY PLACE, AND WITHIN LESS THAN A BLOCK WE COULDN'T SEE.
AND SO REALLY THAT EDUCATIONAL COMPONENT IS SO CRITICAL WHEN, WHEN IT HAPPENS THAT QUICKLY AND IT LOOKS LIKE THAT JUST STOP.
AND SO MY HOPE IS THAT A LOT OF PE FOLKS DID THAT, BUT I REALLY APPRECIATE THE EMPHASIS ON EDUCATION.
I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT YOU GUYS RECOGNIZE HOW HARD CERTAIN DISTRICTS GOT HIT.
SO WHEN I'M CALLING FOLKS AND SAYING, THERE'S A HAILSTORM IN THE PECAN SPRINGS NEIGHBORHOOD RIGHT NOW, I'M CERTAIN YOU GUYS HAVE SEEN THE VIDEO OF A FOOT TALLER OR MORE A HAIL, YOU KNOW, IN NORTHEAST AUSTIN.
UM, BUT I, I REALLY WANT TO, TO YOUR POINT, GO BACK TO HOW DO WE PREEMPT THESE THINGS? YOU MADE MENTION OF DEBRIS, FOR EXAMPLE.
HOW DO WE PREEMPT THE DEBRIS BEING PRESENT TO CLOG SYSTEMS THAT ARE CRITICAL IN THIS TIME OF EMERGENCY? THERE WAS ANOTHER THING THAT MADE ME THINK ABOUT SORT OF LONG, FROM A LONG TERM, LONGER TERM RATHER PLANNING PERSPECTIVE.
UM, I WAS THINKING ABOUT, UH, WHEN YOU GUYS DO THAT PEER COMPARISON THING ABOUT INFORMATION SHARING.
I JUST, I REALLY WANNA, FOR OUR PURPOSES WITHIN MY OFFICE AND WITH MY COLLEAGUES, HOW DO WE DO A BETTER JOB OF LEANING ON PEER CITIES TO GLEAN FROM THEM HOW THEY DO A GREAT JOB OF INFORMATION SHARING? I WILL SAY THIS, UM, THE INFORMATION SHARING FELT REALLY SUBSTANTIAL AND COMPREHENSIVE TO ME THIS TIME.
IT FELT LIKE WE MET THIS EMERGENCY WITH AS MUCH, YOU KNOW, REALLY EFFICIENT AND PROMPT RESPONSE AS WAS POSSIBLE GIVEN THE VAST AND UNEXPECTED IMPACT.
ONE LAST QUESTION, AND THIS MAY OR MAY NOT BE FOR YOU GUYS, UM, 'CAUSE IT MAY BE BROADER THAN A WATERSHED QUESTION, BUT I GOT A LOT OF QUESTIONS AND A LOT OF CONSPIRACIES FROM OUR CONSTITUENTS.
FOLKS WERE LIKE, WHY WON'T THEY NAME THE STORM THOUGH? HUH? WHY WON'T THEY CALL IT A TORNADO? WHY WON'T THEY SAY IT'S A, WHAT'S THE DEAL? WHAT ARE WE HIDING HERE? AND SO, FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, IF AND WHEN WE HEAR THOSE TYPES OF MURMURS AND YOU GUYS HEAR THOSE TYPES OF MURMURS, UH, A GOOD FRIEND AND STAFFER SAYS, WHEN PEOPLE DON'T HAVE GOOD INFORMATION, THEY MAKE UP MONSTERS IN THE DARK.
AND SO JUST MAKING SURE THAT YOU KNOW, WHEN AND IF WE ALL COLLECTIVELY HEAR THOSE KINDS OF THINGS, THAT WE REALLY ARE MAKING SURE PEOPLE HAVE GOOD INFORMATION TO MAKE GOOD
[00:40:01]
DECISIONS, AND TO NOT BE UNNECESSARILY AFRAID.IT WAS ALREADY SINGULARLY TERRIFYING.
THEY DIDN'T NEED THE ADDITIONAL LAYER OF FEAR BECAUSE OUR COMMUNICATION WAS SORT OF CLOSE TO THE VEST IN TERMS OF WHAT WE CALL THAT STORM.
THANK YOU GUYS FOR, UH, UH, FURTHER PRESENTATION.
THANK YOU MAYOR PRO TIM, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER DUCH.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, I WANNA PICK UP ON ONE OF THE THREADS THAT YOU MENTIONED IN YOUR QUESTIONS, UH, REGARDING THE COMMUNITY'S ROLE AND OUR DISASTER RESPONSE.
AND I THINK, UH, DIRECTOR REIG, IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO SHARE WITH, UH, WITH OUR COMMUNITY THE ROLE OF THE AUSTIN RESILIENCE NETWORK.
I BELIEVE THEY NOW HAVE A FORMALIZED ROLE AS PART OF THE CITY'S EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND DISASTER RECOVERY EFFORTS, AS WELL AS IF YOU COULD TOUCH ON ANY, UM, ROLE THAT THEY MAY HAVE PLAYED IN THE, IN THE MAY INCIDENT THAT WE HAD.
UM, FIRST, THE, OUR APPROACH IS THAT WE DON'T PLAN FOR THE COMMUNITY WE PLAN WITH.
UM, AND SO WE'VE REACHED OUT TO NUMEROUS COMMUNICATION, UM, EXCUSE ME, COMMUNITY, UH, ORGANIZATIONS, VOLUNTEER AND OTHERWISE, UM, AND, AND GIVING THEM ACCESS TO OUR PLANS BECAUSE WHAT WE ULTIMATELY WANT TO DO IS POST THEM ONLINE, UM, SO EVERYONE CAN SEE 'EM.
THERE WAS A REALLY GOOD BOOK BY AMANDA RIPLEY CALLED THE UNTHINKABLE, THOSE WHO SURVIVED DISASTERS AND WHY.
AND IT'S, IT'S NEVER ENOUGH TO JUST TO TELL PEOPLE WHAT TO DO WHEN A DISASTER OCCURS.
IT'S TO EXPLAIN THE HOWS AND THE WHYS, AND YOU HAVE TO DO THAT WAY BEFORE THE DISASTER.
SO THAT'S OUR APPROACH IS TO GET THE, THE COMMUNITY INVOLVED EARLY AND OFTEN BECAUSE WE SEE THEM AS A PARTNER, UH, NOT SOMEONE, NOT SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING FOR.
UM, NOW THE, THE AUSTIN RESILIENCE NETWORK, UH, IT WAS DURING THE MICROBURST, THE AFTERMATH WHERE THEY REALLY GOT AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHINE.
AND IT'S ALL ABOUT MATCHING UP WHERE THE NEEDS EXIST FROM A MASS CARE PERSPECTIVE TO THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE PROM OR THAT ARE RESOURCED TO PROVIDE THAT ASSISTANCE.
SO IT WAS REALLY TARGETED, IT WAS REALLY EFFICIENT THROUGH THE CRISIS CLEANUP APP THAT THEY USED.
UM, AND IT'S ALSO DOCUMENTING THE WORK THAT'S DONE AND THE HOURS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
UM, BECAUSE IF IT EVER IS A DECLARED EVENT, THOSE VOLUNTEER HOURS HAVE A DOLLAR VALUE TOWARDS THE, THE CITY'S MATCH, UM, WITH ANY FEMA REIMBURSEMENTS.
SO, UH, AGAIN, THE AUSTIN RESILIENT NETWORK, WHEREVER THE NEED WAS, IT WASN'T IN JUST ONE COMMUNITY.
THE NEED WAS SPREAD THROUGHOUT.
AND HAVING THAT COORDINATION WITH, WITH ALL OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS, UH, ESTABLISHED THAT UNITY EFFORT SHARED SITUATIONAL AWARENESS OF WHAT THE NEED WAS AND, AND REALLY AN ORGANIZED WAY IN WHICH THOSE NEEDS WERE MET.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE COMMUNITY'S ROLES AND CONTRIBUTIONS DURING YES MA'AM.
YOU KNOW, ONE THING THAT I LEARNED, UM, AS PART OF, UH, THE JULY 4TH FLOODS WAS THAT WE, HERE IN AUSTIN, WE DO NOT HAVE, UH, ALERT SIRENS THAT GO OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF AN EMERGENCY.
SO CAN YOU TOUCH ON WHY THAT IS AND REALLY UNDERSCORE THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING SIGNED UP TO THOSE EMERGENCY ALERTS? AND JUST WANNA ALSO APPRECIATE THAT WE NOW ARE IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING THE AUTHORITY SO THAT THE CITY CAN THEN LAUNCH THOSE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION ALERTS.
BUT JUST KIND OF HAVE THAT DISTINCTION.
'CAUSE I, I WOULD'VE ASSUMED THAT WE WOULD HAVE ALERT SIRENS THAT WOULD GO OFF DURING A FLOODING EVENT, BUT THAT IS NOT THE CASE.
SO, SO AS IT PERTAINS TO SIRENS, THE REASON TO HAVE OR NOT TO HAVE THAT WAS CERTAINLY PRIOR TO, TO MY COMING HERE, BUT I DO KNOW THAT THEY'RE EXPENSIVE.
THE AUDIO TONE YOU HAVE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT HOW, HOW WIDE, WHETHER THAT'S A MILE OR A MILE AND A HALF, UM, UNINTERRUPTED BY BUILDING OR, OR, YOU KNOW, NATURAL, YOU KNOW, ENVIRONMENT.
UM, AND THEN YOU HAVE TO CALCULATE HOW MANY OF THOSE THAT YOU WOULD NEED FOR THE INITIAL PURCHASE.
AND THEN THE SUSTAINMENT OF, AND JUST THE ONGOING EDUCATION.
I'M NOT SAYING THAT'S NOT A, A GOOD SOLUTION.
UH, I THINK IT'S JUST ONE TOOL AMONG MANY.
AND IF, IF, CERTAINLY IF WE'RE ADDRESSING THE NEEDS OF VISITORS AS WELL, VISITORS AREN'T GONNA KNOW WHAT THE SIRENS MEAN.
I I COME FROM A REGION WHERE IT WOULD MEAN THAT THERE WAS AN ISSUE AT THE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT OR THE NEIGHBORING LOCALITY, IT WAS A SHOTGUN GOLF TOURNAMENT BECAUSE THEY, YOU KNOW, INITIATED A SIREN TO DO THAT.
SO IT COULD BE THAT DISPARATE IN, IN TERMS OF WHAT THOSE MEANS.
SO WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE CONSTANT, UH, REMINDERS AND EDUCATION.
I'M ORIGINALLY FROM OHIO, SO I KNEW WEDNESDAY AT NOON, TORNADO SIREN.
SO I THINK THOSE OF US WHO, WHO, WHO LIVE HERE WOULD ULTIMATELY GET IT.
BUT WITH THE WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERTS, UH, WE'RE ABLE TO GIVE SPECIFIC INFORMATION WITH THE WARREN CENTRAL TEXAS, WHICH, WHICH REALLY REQUIRES SUBSCRIPTIONS.
WE ARE ABLE TO GIVE YOU EXACT INFORMATION AND, AND LINKS TO GET MORE INFORMATION BASED ON THE INCIDENT.
THE FCC PRETTY MUCH REGULATES WHAT COULD BE SENT THROUGH THE WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM.
SO WE CAN'T USE THAT AS A, ON A CONTINUOUS BASIS.
IT'S GOTTA BE FOR LIFE SAFETY, PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES, OR AMBER ALERT OR A PRESIDENTIAL ALERT.
BUT WE CAN SEND FOLLOW UPS AND THAT'S WHAT OUR, OUR STRATEGY WOULD BE, IS TO SEND FOLLOW UP THROUGH WARREN CENTRAL
[00:45:01]
TEXAS SO EVERYONE IS INFORMED FROM THE, THE INCIDENT ONSET THROUGHOUT UNTIL IT'S, UNTIL IT'S CLOSURE.UM, NEXT MY QUESTIONS ARE FOR DIRECTOR MORALES, UM, COLLEAGUES, AS YOU ALL KNOW, BOTH ME AND THE MAYOR REPRESENT A COMMUNITY THAT HAS ENDURED THE TWO CATASTROPHIC FLOODS WITHIN THE LAST 15 YEARS, AND RECENTLY JUST LOST A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT FEMA GRANT THAT WOULD'VE HELPED FLOOD PROOF OUR POWER PLANT AND WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT.
UM, SO AS PART OF THAT EFFORT, YOU KNOW, I, WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN IS HOW IS THE CITY, YOU MENTIONED THE NUMBER OF LOW, LOW NUMBER OF GRANT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES.
HOW IS THE CITY ADVOCATING AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL TO RESTORE THESE CRITICAL FUNDING STREAMS AND OR WHAT OTHER ALTERNATIVES IS THE CITY PURSUING TO MAKE UP THAT DIFFERENCE? THANK YOU MAYOR PRO.
SO AS, AS YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A LETTER SENT OUT ON THAT FALWELL LANE GRANT TO, TO TRY TO REESTABLISH IT.
SO ADVOCATING THROUGH OUR INTERGOVERNMENT RELATIONS OFFICE, CONTINUING TO PUSH THAT WAY.
UM, WE ALSO GO AFTER OTHER GRANTS OUTSIDE OF, UM, THE WATER WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD HAS LOW INTEREST LOANS AND GRANTS AS WELL.
SO WE WATERSHED STRATEGIZING IN THAT WAY AS WELL.
BUT ULTIMATELY, A LOT OF THE FEDERAL FUNDING IS WHAT TRICKLES DOWN FOR SOME OF THESE PROGRAMS. SO WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO GO AFTER THE GRANTS THAT MEET OUR NEEDS, YOU KNOW, UH, BUT THAT'S PRETTY MUCH THE STRATEGY THAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW AS FAR AS PUSHING BACK, UH, SOME OF THE LETTERS THAT I GOT SENT, SIGNED BY THE COUNCIL AND THE MAYOR, UH, BACK TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
YEAH, I, I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO SEE KIND OF A ROBUST, PROACTIVE EFFORT TO PURSUE OTHER GRANT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES, EITHER AT THE STATE, REGIONAL, OR FEDERAL LEVEL FOR US TO NOT ONLY MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE OF WHAT HAPPENED, UM, AT FALWELL LANE, BUT JUST KNOWING OUR FLOOD MITIGATION NEEDS OVERALL.
UM, YOU'VE HIGHLIGHTED HERE THAT WE HAVE OVER $2 BILLION WORTH OF CAPITAL INVESTMENT NEEDS TO, UM, TO HELP IMPROVE OUR DRAINAGE INFRASTRUCTURE AND FOR FLOOD RISK REDUCTION OF THAT.
UM, YOU ALSO HIGHLIGHTED THAT OUR LAST BOND THAT WE WENT OUT FOR BACK IN 2018, UM, IS NEARLY DEPLETED AND WILL RUN OUT BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR.
CAN YOU REMIND US HOW MUCH THE BOND DOLLAR AMOUNT WAS BACK IN 2018 FOR OUR DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENT NEEDS? UH, THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION.
SO YES, THE NEEDS ARE GREATER THAN, THAN WE FUND, AND SO WE DO IT STRATEGICALLY THROUGH BONDS AND THE DRAINAGE UTILITY CHARGE.
UH, I BE, I DON'T HAVE THAT EXACT NUMBER IN FRONT OF ME, BUT I BELIEVE THE LAST BOND, UH, INCLUDED, UM, WATERSHED PROTECTION LANDS, AND IT ALSO INCLUDED DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS.
AND LET ME JUST LOOK BACK THROUGH MY STUFF HERE.
I HAVE HERE IN MY NOTES IT WAS 184 MILLION TOTAL.
UH, WITH 112 MILLION FOR DRAINAGE AND STORMWATER PROJECTS, YOU KNOW, OF, YOU DID AN ASSESSMENT CLEARLY KNOWING THAT WE HAVE $2 BILLION WORTH OF NEEDS THROUGHOUT OUR CITY, UM, WITH THAT UNDERSTANDING HOW MUCH OF THOSE NEEDS ARE FOR AREAS THAT HAVE ENDURED REPEATED FLOODING EVENTS AND ANY CONSIDERATION WHEN WE CONSIDER THE 2026 BOND PACKAGE, UM, FOR INVESTMENTS IN THOSE AREAS THAT HAVE HAD REPEATED FLOODING EVENTS.
SO WE DO HAVE A PRIORITY, UH, PROCESS THAT WE DO FOR OUR PROJECTS, BOTH LOCALIZED OR CREEK FLOODING THAT ARE RELATED TO FLOODING AND REPETITIVE FLOODING IS A BIG PART OF THAT FORMULA AS WELL, BUT THE DEPTHS OF INUNDATION AND, AND THE VELOCITY.
SO THERE'S DIFFERENT, UH, ENGINEERING FUNCTIONS THAT WE EVALUATE TO PRIORITIZE.
AND SO THAT'S PRECISELY WHY WE'RE UPDATING OUR STRATEGIC PLAN RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE SOME OF THESE PROJECTS CAN BE LARGE SCALE, AND SO IT TAKES TIME TO BUILD THAT FUNDING CAPACITY TO DO THOSE PROJECTS.
SO WE ARE, WE DO HAVE IT ON OUR WEBSITE, OUR, OUR STRATEGIC PLAN RIGHT NOW, AND IT SHOWS THE TOP PRIORITIES IN SO MANY OF THE PROJECTS THAT WE DO ARE PROJECTS THAT HAVE HAD NUMEROUS FLOODING EVENTS IN THE PAST.
UM, AND JUST GOING BACK TO YOUR GRANT QUESTION, I JUST WANTED TO EXPAND ON THAT BY THE WAY.
UH, WATERSHED DID ADD A GRANT COORDINATOR A FEW YEARS AGO.
UH, AND THAT'S HOW WE STARTED GOING AFTER GRANTS.
THE INTERGOVERNMENT RELATION OFFICE NOW HAS A DIVISION OF GRANTS THAT HELPS COLLABORATE CENTRALIZED THROUGH THE CITY OF OFFICES.
SO THE CITY IS CREATING THOSE RESOURCES TO CONTINUE TO GO AFTER THOSE FEDERAL AND OTHER GRANTS AS WELL.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M JUST TRYING TO GET A SENSE YOU KNOWING THAT OUR LAST BOND, UH, PROJECT OR PACKAGE FOR DRAINAGE WAS A HUNDRED AND 112 MILLION IN 2018, YOU KNOW, OUR NEEDS, UM, THAT WE HAVE THROUGHOUT THE CITY, HOW MUCH OF THOSE PROJECTS ARE READY TO GO, JUST NEED CONSTRUCTION FUNDING AT THIS POINT? SO WE DO HAVE MANY PROJECTS THAT ARE IN, IN DESIGN OR PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING REPORTS HAVE BEEN CREATED.
SO WE DO HAVE QUITE A BIT OF PROJECTS THAT ARE READY TO GO, UH, AS FAR AS JUST NEEDING MORE CONSTRUCTION FUNDS.
AND SO WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THE 2026 BOND PROCESS WITH THE, THE CAPITAL DELIVERY DEPARTMENT ON THAT PROCESS AND PUT PUTTING FORWARD OUR PROJECT NEEDS.
UM, COLLEAGUES, JUST WANNA UNDERSCORE, YOU KNOW, THIS PRESENTATION WAS VERY TIMELY AND APPRECIATE US RECEIVING THE UPDATE.
WE KNOW THE NEEDS OF OUR CITY AND ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENT AND HAVING BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE AND OUR CITY, THIS IS TOP OF MIND FOR ME AND OUR COMMUNITY.
I KNOW I'M NOT ALONE IN THAT EFFORT, SO
[00:50:01]
I REALLY HOPE TO SEE AS WE CONSIDER THE 2026 BOND PACKAGE A ROBUST INVESTMENT IN DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENT.THANKS, MAYOR PRO TEM, COUNCIL MEMBER DUCHEN, AND THEN COUNCILMAN VELA.
I WANTED TO BUILD FIRST ON SOME COMMENTS BY THE MAYOR PROM.
SO, UH, FIRST COUPLE OF QUESTIONS FOR DIRECTOR REDDICK ABOUT THE ALERTS.
UM, FIRST QUESTION IS, UH, ONE, I WOULD ASSUME A LOT OF THE CONTENT YOU WENT OVER REGARDING THE ALERT SYSTEM WOULD EQUALLY APPLY TO WILDFIRES OR OTHER KINDS OF EMERGENCIES TOO, RIGHT? YES, SIR.
UM, I'M WONDERING, DO YOU HAVE A SENSE WHEN IT COMES TO AT LEAST WARRENSVILLE, TEXAS, HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE SUBSCRIBED TO THAT SERVICE RELATIVE TO THOSE THAT ARE NOT SUBSCRIBED OR NOT GETTING ALERTS? IT'S A, IT'S A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE.
I MEAN, IF I WERE TO GIVE A GUESSTIMATE, I'D SAY, I MEAN, 20% IS PROBABLY OVER, OVER THE NUMBER.
THAT ARE, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE MAYBE AFTERWARDS TO TRY AND GET A MORE ACCURATE YES, SIR.
SENSE OF, 'CAUSE I'M JUST KIND OF WONDERING THE SCOPE OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE BETTER DO THERE TO GET PEOPLE OR THE COMMUNITY PROPERLY INFORMED REGARDING THOSE NOTIFICATIONS? YES, SIR.
UM, I'M ALSO WONDERING, INTERRUPT YOU COUNCIL MEMBER, ONE OF THE THINGS WE DO EVERY TIME WE, EVERY TIME WE HOLD A PRESS CONFERENCE, EVERY TIME WE DO ANYTHING TO TALK ABOUT WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN, UH, WHAT'S COMING UP, WHAT WE ANTICIPATE, UH, WE SAY IT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN, UH, THROUGH A TXN AND, AND TRY TO COMMUNICATE IT THROUGH THE, THE MEDIA.
AND, AND FRANKLY, MY READ HAS BEEN THAT THE MEDIA TV IN PARTICULAR HAS DONE A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF PUSHING THAT INFORMATION OUT.
UM, THE DIRECTOR AND I HAVE TALKED A NUMBER OF TIMES ABOUT HOW WE, HOW WE GET THAT EVEN MORE.
AND, AND WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IS THERE A WAY THAT WE CAN MORE ROUTINELY PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION? AND, AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE ALL OF US TO JUST, EVERY CHANCE YOU GET, YOU MIGHT JUST PUT IT OUT IF YOU, IF YOU PUT OUT YOUR NEWSLETTER, MAKE THAT THE TOP OF THE NEWSLETTER AND, AND, AND THEN WHEN YOU HAVE DIFFERENT THINGS, JUST SO THAT, BECAUSE WE, WE HAVE SEEN PEOPLE AFTER EVENTS THEN SIGN UP.
BUT IT'S AS I SAID THAT AFTER EVENTS.
SO, UM, I'M GLAD YOU'RE BRINGING IT UP.
LET'S, LET'S ALL KINDA RECOMMIT TO THAT.
ONE OTHER THING THAT, UM, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IN TERMS OF INFORMATION TO Y'ALL AND, AND THE MAYOR PRO TIM TALKED ABOUT INFORMATION GETTING TO FOLKS IS, UH, HOW WE MIGHT USE THE MESSAGE BOARD MORE ROUTINELY SO THAT, THAT WHEN I'M GAINING INFORMATION BECAUSE OF THE ROLE I'M SUPPOSED TO PLAY IN ALL THIS, I GET IT OUT TO Y'ALL SO THAT YOU'RE THEN HAVING AS, AS ACCURATE INFORMATION AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET OUT.
BUT THAT WOULD BE ANOTHER WAY TO JUST ALWAYS REMEMBER IF WE'RE ANTICIPATING A RAINSTORM, BIG RAINSTORM, WE'RE ALL, WE ALL KNOW ABOUT IT, LET'S GET WARREN CENTRAL TEXAS.COM OUT THERE IN EVERYBODY'S MIND.
AND I, SORRY TO INTERRUPT YOU, BUT I JUST, I I WISH EVERYBODY WERE ON IT.
UM, AND, AND THEY, THEY DON'T, I THINK PART OF IT IS BACK TO WHAT, UH, REDDICK WAS SAYING, WHICH IS THAT THE IDEA THAT THEY GET THE, THEY GET AMBER ALERTS, THEY GET ALL THESE, AND, AND SO THEY, THEY, THEY, THEY SHUT DOWN ON THAT AND THEY TURN 'EM OFF.
BUT, BUT ON THINGS LIKE THIS, THIS, WE CAN TELL THEM HOW MUCH, HOW THIS IS DIFFERENT.
SO SORRY TO INTERRUPT, BUT I NO, THANK YOU FOR BUILDING ON THAT AND, AND YOU KIND OF ADDRESSED SOME OF THE THINGS THAT I WAS GETTING TO.
I MEAN, EVEN IF WE GOT, AND WE'VE TALKED ABOUT PUTTING THIS IN OUR NEWSLETTER OR CONTINUE TO DO THAT, THAT STILL WILL ONLY REACH ONE 10TH OF THE DISTRICT RESIDENCE.
SO TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT OTHER OPTIONS AND
NO, IT IS THAT, THAT'S PART OF OUR PROBLEM, RIGHT? I MEAN, YOU, YOU REALLY ISOLATED IT.
NONE OF US BLANKET THE WHOLE COMMUNITY AND SO WE HAVE TO DO IT.
A TXN HAS TO DO IT, UH, UH, SLIDES ON A TXN.
WE JUST EVERYTHING WE CAN, AND THEN WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO REPEAT IT WITH THE MEDIA.
SO YOU HEAR THAT MAN, BEN, DO YOU HEAR WHAT I'M SAYING?
AND TO YOUR POINT, I THINK PART OF IT IS ALSO, UM, WHATEVER THE DRUMBEAT WE GOT, AND ALSO IN RELATION TO PEOPLE ARE PROBABLY MORE RECEPTIVE WHEN THERE IS FLOODS, FIRES, THINGS THAT ARE TANGIBLE, WHETHER THEY'RE HERE OR ELSEWHERE, THAT WE CAN HATE TO USE THE WORD CAPITALIZE ON, BUT MAKE IT RELEVANT TO THEM.
UM, SO YOU RAISED A GREAT POINT THAT I WAS GONNA BRING UP ALSO, WHICH IS TO THE EXTENT THAT, UM, THE IDEA THAT THERE'S WHAT I MIGHT CALL OVER SIGNALING OR THE, DEPENDING ON HOW WE USE ONCE TO TEXAS OR THE WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERTS,
[00:55:01]
TO THE EXTENT THAT PEOPLE ULTIMATELY TUNE OUT.IS THAT A CONVERSATION YOU GUYS ARE HAVING? HOW ARE YOU ADDRESSING THAT? YES, SIR.
UM, SO IT'S A DELICATE BALANCE.
AND, AND TO YOUR POINT, YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE INFORMATION BEING SENT IS ACTIONABLE, UH, ACCESSIBLE, CERTAINLY TIMELY.
UM, BUT YOU DON'T WANT TO SEND TOO MANY MESSAGES.
AGAIN, I, I THINK ONCE YOU TELL FOLKS WHERE THEY CAN GO TO GET MORE INFORMATION, THEN WE'RE A LOT BETTER OFF INSTEAD OF JUST PING THEM, YOU KNOW, EVERY NIGHT, THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT, THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
SO ALERT FATIGUE IS CERTAINLY AN ISSUE.
WELL, I'M GLAD YOU GUYS ARE INCORPORATING THAT INTO YOUR STRATEGY.
UH, LAST QUESTION I'VE GOT IS REALLY REGARDING THE EVACUATION PLAN YOU GUYS, UH, ISSUED IN JUNE, AGAIN, I'M ASSUMING EQUALLY APPLIES TO THIS KIND OF EMERGENCY AS OPPOSED TO OTHER KINDS.
AND THEN I KNOW THAT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE WORKING ON TRYING TO REFORMAT THAT TO SOMETHING THAT'S MORE DIGESTIBLE FOR THE AVERAGE PERSON.
WHEN CAN WE EXPECT THAT? UH, END OF MONTH.
IT'S, AND, AND TO ME IT'S MORE CAPABILITY FOCUS THAN SCENARIO BECAUSE THE PROTECTIVE ACTION PLAN, UH, EVACUATION OR SHELTER IN PLACE WILL BE APPROPRIATE FOR FLOODING OR A HAZMAT INCIDENT OR WILDFIRE.
IT'S ALL ABOUT GETTING THE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE AWAY FROM DANGER.
AND SO IT, IT'LL BE APPLICABLE TO ALL THAT.
BUT, BUT TO YOUR POINT, SIR, IT'S, INSTEAD OF OF READING LIKE A TECHNICAL DOCUMENT, IT'S MORE DIGESTIBLE AND THAT'LL BE POSTED ONLINE AS WELL.
WE'LL LOOK FOR THAT IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS THEN.
ALRIGHT, LAST QUESTION IS FOR, UH, DIRECTOR MORALES.
I WAS JUST CURIOUS, YOU TOUCHED ON EARLIER THE UPDATE OF THE ATLAS 14 PLANS.
UH, WHAT'S THE TIMELINE ON THAT? WHEN CAN WE EXPECT THAT? SO WE'RE EXPECTING TO WRAP THOSE UP CITYWIDE IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS, SO WE'LL, WE'LL START FINISHING 'EM UP IN DIFFERENT THEORIES.
I THINK WE STARTED WITH THE ONION CREEK AREA, AND SO AS WE'RE FINALIZING QUALITY CONTROL AND GETTING IT TO FEMA, FEMA IS GONNA DO THEIR PROCESS, WHICH TAKE MUCH LONGER.
BUT ONCE WE HAVE THE DRAFT DATA THAT WE'RE THE CITY'S COMFORTABLE WITH, THAT'S WHAT WE'LL POST AND, AND REGULATE TOO AS WELL.
AND I SAW YOU BROKE IT DOWN INTO SECTORS AND YOU JUST TOUCHED ON YES.
IS THAT GONNA BE LAID OUT? IS THAT SOMEWHERE THAT WE CAN LOOK TO SEE? YES.
WE ACTUALLY HAVE A, ARE A, A WEBSITE THAT GIVES AN UPDATE ON, ON OUR PRO PROGRESS FOR THE ALL THE FLOOD PLAIN METHODS.
THEN WE'LL FOLLOW UP AND JUST GET THAT.
UH, I JUST WANTED TO, TO HONESTLY SAY THANKS TO WATERSHED AND, UH, CAPITAL DELIVERY FOR THE MES MEADOW, UH, IMPROVEMENTS.
UH, I, UH, HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TOUR THE PROJECTS AS IT WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION MULTIPLE TIMES.
UH, AND AS YOU SAID, IT'S NOT DONE YET, BUT IT WORKED VERY WELL, UH, OVER THE, THE RECENT HEAVY RAINS THAT WE'VE HAD.
UH, AND, UH, I, I WAS AT THE, UH, NORTH AUSTIN CIVIC ASSOCIATION, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING THE OTHER DAY, TALKING TO SOME OF THE RESIDENTS WHOSE HOMES HAD BEEN FLOODED A FEW YEARS BACK.
AND THEY WERE, UH, VERY HAPPY TO SEE THE, THE DRAINAGE, UH, FEATURES THERE WORKING VERY WELL.
SO I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANKS.
I KNOW THAT WAS A, A PROJECT THAT WAS STALLED AND ADJUSTMENTS WERE MADE.
IT WAS REBID AND IT'S, UH, PRETTY CLOSE TO, TO BEING DONE.
UH, I ALSO WANTED TO SAY THAT THE, THE FIELD WHERE THE, THE KIND OF THE DRAINAGE, UM, BASE IN THERE, UH, THAT IT'S BASICALLY SOME SOCCER FIELDS WHEN IT'S NOT WET AND A, A HUGE, UH, PLACE FOR THE, THE WATER TO, TO SIT AND, AND FILTER, UH, WHEN IT, UH, DOES RAIN.
IT IS A, A REALLY, A NICE COMMUNITY ASSET.
AND THAT IDEA OF COMBINING BOTH, UH, DRAINAGE AND COMMUNITY ASSETS.
I KNOW IT'S MENTIONED IN THE VIDEO THAT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, WHEN IT'S DRY, YOU CAN USE A FIELD LIKE SOCK FIELD FOR FRISBEE FOR WHATEVER YOU WANT.
UH, BUT WHEN IT RAINS, UH, THAT'S WHERE ALL THE, UH, FLOOD WATERS WILL GO AND, AND, AND STAY AWAY FROM THE HOMES.
UH, THERE, THERE'S JUST A LOT TO BE GAINED THERE, UH, THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
I KNOW THERE'S NUMEROUS AREAS THAT, THAT CONTINUE TO, UH, TO NEED THOSE IMPROVEMENTS.
SO, UH, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT THAT WAS, UH, EXCELLENT, UH, WORK THAT THE FLOODING ON MES MEADOW WAS REALLY ONE OF THE WORST, UH, MOST DIFFICULT TIMES I'VE HAD AS A COUNCIL MEMBER, YOU KNOW, DIRTY OR SO HOMES WERE AFFECTED, LOTS OF FAMILIES AFFECTED, VERY, VERY DIFFICULT, UH, AND, UH, APPRECIATE, UM, ALL Y'ALL'S WORK.
AND I ALSO JUST WANTED TO, TO, UH, TO, UH, THE MAYOR PRO TEMS, UH, UH, POINT ABOUT THE INVESTMENT AND, UH, THE COMING BOND.
UM, THEY COMPLETELY SUPPORT THAT.
I THINK THAT NEEDS TO BE A, A A, A GOOD PORTION OF OUR BOND FUNDING NEEDS TO GO TOWARD, UH, THESE, UH, WATERSHED IMPROVEMENT, FLOOD CONTROL IMPROVEMENTS, ESPECIALLY AS WE, UH, CHANGE OUR, OUR LAND USE PATTERNS.
UH, WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR LAND USE PATTERNS, BUT AS WE DO THAT, WE ALSO HAVE TO BE VERY CONSCIOUS OF, UH, FLOODING AND MAKING SURE, UH, THAT, THAT THE FLOOD WATERS ARE NOT AFFECTING OUR, OUR HOMES AND BUSINESSES.
SO, UH, I'LL BE VERY, YOU KNOW, SUPPORTIVE IN THE COMING BOND OF, UH, INVESTMENTS
[01:00:01]
IN, UH, IN, IN FLOOD CONTROL AND, AND FLOOD PROTECTION.ALRIGHT, MEMBERS, UNLESS THERE'S ANYBODY ELSE, I DON'T HAVE ANYBODY ELSE WE WANT TO THANK Y'ALL.
UH, AND, AND OBVIOUSLY TOP OF MIND MEMBERS THAT'LL
[A34. A contract for Zilker Café concession management and operation for the Parks and Recreation Department with Legacy Hospitality and Entertainment Group LLC for an initial term of 5 years with up to two 5-year extension options for a total estimated revenue of $1,500,000 for Fiscal Year 2025 to Fiscal Year 2041 for the Operating Budget of the Parks and Recreation Department. Pulled by Council Members Alter and Ellis. (2 of 2)]
TAKE US BACK TO, UH, ITEM A 34, WHICH IS A DISCUSSION OF THE, THE CONTRACT, UH, THAT WAS PULLED BY TWO MEMBERS.BUT I'M GOING TO, SO I'M GONNA LOOK TO COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS, AND THEN COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER BEFORE WE BRING ANYBODY UP TO SEE IF YOU WANNA SET UP WHAT YOU, WHAT YOU WANT TO, WHY YOU PULLED THE ITEM.
AND I'M NOT SURE IF STAFF HAS A PRESENTATION OR IF THEY JUST WANNA, WELL, JUDGE, JUST HAVE 'EM, I'M SURE YOU HAVE A QUESTION, BE ON CALL.
UM, IT WAS BROUGHT TO OUR ATTENTION THROUGH LOOKING AT THIS PROCESS.
UM, AND THIS IS ONE OF THE QUESTIONS I HAVE.
IT APPEARS ONLY ONE VENDOR APPLIED FOR THE ZILKER CAFE CONCESSION.
AND SO, AND THEY'RE NOT A LOCAL VENDOR.
AND SO I JUST WANTED TO KIND OF DIG INTO THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE.
I KNOW THAT IT WAS ADVERTISED, YOU KNOW, IN ACCORDANCE WITH ALL OF OUR PROCESSES AND WAS IN THE STATESMEN, UM, AND THAT THERE WAS LOCAL BUSINESS OUTREACH.
BUT I'M JUST TRYING TO DIG A LITTLE FURTHER INTO THE CAPABILITIES AND THE REALITIES AROUND TRYING TO SUPPORT OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY.
UM, NOT JUST WITH LOCAL VENDORS, BUT WITH LOCAL PRODUCTS BEING ON THE SHELVES.
I'M VERY WELL AWARE OF THE LONG HISTORY OF THE ZILKER CAFE.
ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO, UM, THE LAST CONTRACT ENDED, AND IT HAS BEEN VACANT EVER SINCE.
SO THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF INTEREST IN US GETTING THIS BACK GOING AGAIN.
UM, THE BUILDING HAD TO UNDERGO REPAIRS, AS WE HEARD FROM THE SPEAKER EARLIER, THERE MAY, THERE MAY BE SOME THINGS WE NEED TO CONSIDER AROUND, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE GREASE TRAPS AND THINGS LIKE THAT TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE ARE FUNCTIONING PROPERLY.
UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO DIG MORE INTO, YOU KNOW, HOW WAS THIS ADVERTISED? HOW MUCH OUTREACH WAS DONE TO LOCAL BUSINESSES, HOW MANY BIDS WERE RECEIVED? UM, I HAVE QUESTIONS JUST GENERALLY ABOUT THE COMMODITY CODE THAT THIS WAS LIKELY ADVERTISED TO.
HOW MANY OF THOSE BUSINESSES ACTUALLY DO WORK LIKE THE ZILKER CAFE? I THINK A LOT OF IT IS A VENDOR AND CATERING AND THINGS LIKE THAT, WHICH MAY SPREAD INTO OTHER SORTS OF CITY EVENTS, AND JUST THE LOCAL PREFERENCE FOR THE PRODUCTS THAT MIGHT BE ON THE SHELVES.
I'M VERY INTERESTED IN MAKING SURE THAT FOLKS THAT COME AND VISIT BARTON SPRINGS AND SWIM IN THE POOL AND HAVE THEIR KIDS PLAY ON THE PLAYGROUND ARE GETTING TO INTERACT WITH, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN PRODUCTS.
THINGS THAT WE CAN DO TO SUPPORT OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES AND, AND THE LOCAL COMMUNITY, UM, WHICH ARE OFTENTIMES SMALL VENDORS, RATHER THAN HAVING A NATIONAL COMPANY THAT MIGHT BE SUPPLYING NATIONAL BRANDS.
SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE QUESTIONS I JUST WANTED TO START WITH.
AND I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER AL ALTER ALSO PULLED THIS.
I'M NOT SURE IF HE HAD ANY ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS TO ADD.
UM, GOOD MORNING, CITY MANAGER OF BROAD NECKS.
GOOD MORNING, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS.
I'M CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER WITH THE FINANCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENT.
JOINING ME, UH, IS, UH, MATTHEW DERE.
HE'S DIVISION CHIEF OVER PROCUREMENT PROGRAMS, AND ACTUALLY HIS SECTION, UH, CONDUCTED THIS SOLICITATION ON BEHALF OF THE CITY.
UH, I ALSO HAVE WITH ME THE DIRECTOR FOR, UM, PAR DEPARTMENT.
SO, UH, AT THE, UH, REQUEST OF THE, UH, PAR DEPARTMENT, FINANCIAL SERVICES CONDUCTED A SOLICITATION FOR ZILKER CAFE MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS.
THIS IS A REVENUE GENERATING CONTRACT, SO IT'S NOT AN EXPENDITURE OF PUBLIC FUNDS.
THIS IS THE THIRD TIME THAT, UH, FINANCIAL SERVICES HAS SOLICITED THIS PARTICULAR CONTRACT, SOLICITATION WAS PUBLISHED ON FEBRUARY 24TH.
THE CITY'S, UH, ONLINE PROCUREMENT, UH, WEBSITE.
UH, IN ADDITION TO ONLINE PUBLICATION 227 REGISTERED VENDORS WERE NOTIFIED.
SOLICITATION DID INCLUDE, UH, BOTH LOCAL AND SMALL BUSINESS PREFERENCES VERY GENERALLY.
UH, THE SOLICITATION SCOPE, UH, INCLUDED, UH, UM, ALL OF THE, UH, STAFF AND EQUIPMENT NECESSARY TO OPERATE THE, UH, THE CAFE.
IT ALSO ADDRESSED MINIMUM OPERATING HOURS, UM, UH, MENU REQUIREMENTS, AS WELL AS A MARKETING PLAN AND OUTREACH, UH, REQUIREMENTS SUBJECT TO PART APPROVAL.
UH, IT ALSO INCLUDED ONSITE, UH, EMPLOYEES SUBJECT TO THE CITY'S MINIMUM, UH, EXCUSE ME, LIVING WAGE REQUIREMENT.
UH, ALSO REQUIRED SALES REPORT AND, UH, ANNUAL, UH, AUDITED FINANCIALS.
UM, REQUIREMENT ALSO INCLUDED A MINIMUM MONTHLY FEE PAID TO THE CITY, AS WELL AS
[01:05:01]
A REVENUE SHARE REQUIREMENT.UM, NAMELY THE, UH, THE SOLICITATION ALSO PROHIBITED THE SALE OF ALCOHOL ON THE SITE.
WE THEN, AFTER PUBLISHING THE SOLICITATION, WE HELD A PRE-OFFER CONFERENCE AND A SITE VISIT.
THERE WERE THREE PROSPECTIVE OFFERS IN ATTENDANCE AT THE MEETING.
NONE SUBSEQUENTLY CHOSE TO SUBMIT OFFERS UPON THE SOLICITATION, FIRST DUE DATE.
THERE WAS ONE OFFER RECEIVED, UH, PRIOR TO THE CLOSING.
WE WENT AHEAD AND EXTENDED THE DUE DATE, PROVIDED ADDITIONAL NOTICE TO THE PROSPECTIVE OFFERS AFTER THE SOLICITATION WAS AVAILABLE FOR 39 DAYS.
STILL ONLY ONE OFFER WAS IN RECEIPT.
THAT OFFER WAS FROM LEGACY, HOSPITALITY AND ENTERTAINMENT.
FOLLOWING THE SOLICITATION CLOSE FSD CONDUCTED, UH, ADDITIONAL FOLLOW UP WITH THE PROSPECTIVE OFFERS, UH, RESPONSES RECEIVED FROM THEM, UH, INCLUDING CONCERNS WITH THE, UH, MONTHLY FEE AND THE REVENUE SHARE REQUIREMENT IN THE SUB STATION.
ALSO, THEY EXPRESSED CONCERN REGARDING THE SEASONAL NATURE OF THE CAFE LOCATION, UH, ADJACENT TO BARTON SPRINGS POOL, AS WELL AS THE OPERATIONAL DISRUPTIONS, UH, ASSOCIATED WITH MAJOR EVENTS, UH, IN AND AROUND THE AREA, INCLUDING ACL AND TRAIL OF LIGHTS.
THEY ALSO MENTIONED THE, UH, UM, PROHIBITION AGAINST, UH, ALCOHOL SALE AS BEING A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN THEIR DECISION NOT TO PARTICIPATE.
AFTER A REVIEW OF THE OFFER SUBMITTED BY LEGACY, UH, WE DETERMINED THAT IT WAS COMPLIANT AND THEREFORE, UH, SUBSEQUENTLY ACCEPTABLE TO PARD.
RECOMMENDED CONTRACT IS PRESENTED, WAS PRESENTED TO THE PARD BOARD ON JUNE 23RD, UM, WHICH THEY RECOMMENDED APPROVAL.
FSD NOW SUBMITS THIS CONTRACT, UH, ON THE AUGUST 28TH AGENDA FOR COUNCIL'S CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL.
UH, LIKE I SAID, PART IS WITH US THIS MORNING.
WE ARE, UH, AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE ABOUT THIS ITEM.
COUNCIL MORALES, I'LL, I'LL START WITH YOU.
DO YOU, YOU WANT TO ASK QUESTIONS NOW, OR? I DO.
UM, I GUESS I'LL START WITH, OF THE BUSINESSES THAT WERE NOTIFIED, DID YOU SAY THERE WERE TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY SEVEN, FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY SEVEN, FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY SEVEN BUSINESSES.
AND WHICH COMMODITY CODES DID THAT GO TO? WAS IT SPECIFICALLY THE CONCESSIONS, CATERING AND VEN VENDING? IT WAS, UM, THERE WERE, WAS IT THREE CODES? THREE CODES THAT WERE USED FOR THE SOLICITATION? UM, THE FIRST CODE WAS FOR CONCESSIONS, CATERING, VENDORING, VENDING, MOBILE, AND, UH, STATION.
THE SECOND CODE WAS FOR FOOD MANAGEMENT SERVICES.
AND THE THIRD CODE, UH, UH, MORE BROADLY MISCELLANEOUS SERVICES, NUMBER ONE, NOT OTHERWISE CLASSIFIED MISCELLANEOUS.
AND YOU SAID THERE WAS A PRE-BID MEETING OR SOMETHING WITH A SIMILAR NAME? CORRECT.
UH, UH, PRE-OFFER CONFERENCE IS A OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, UH, GO THROUGH THE CONTENTS OF A SOLICITATION WITH PROSPECTIVE OFFERS, ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT THEY HAVE, DETERMINE IF THERE ARE ANY, UM, UH, PROHIBITIONS OR, OR LIMITATIONS TO THEIR INVOLVEMENT THAT, UM, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO FIND OUT QUICKER THAN THROUGH THE WRITTEN, UH, Q AND A PROCESS.
IT'S JUST A, A, A WAY TO SPEED UP THE, UH, EXCHANGE WITH THE PROSPECTIVE OFFERS.
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PRE-OFFER CONFERENCE, UH, STAFF, UH, TOOK THE, UM, ATTENDEES TO THE ACTUAL SITE TO DO A WALK OF THE SITE AND, AND, UH, THE FACILITIES.
AND IF YOU CAN SAY HERE PUBLICLY, UM, WHY DID THOSE VENDORS NOT CHOOSE TO PURSUE MAKING AN OFFER? AND YOU CAN GET ME THAT OFFLINE IF IT'S SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANNA COVER HERE.
UM, I DON'T HAVE LIKE WHAT SPECIFIC, UH, VENDORS STATED AS THEIR INDIVIDUAL REASONS, BUT, UH, AS WE MENTIONED BEFORE, THERE WERE CONCERNS WITH THE, UM, UM, UH, SUBSTANTIALLY THE, THE PROHIBITION OF ALCOHOL SALES.
UM, SECONDARILY, THERE WAS CONCERNS WITH THE, UH, SEASONALITY OF THE OPERATIONS, THE LARGE EVENTS THAT OCCURRED THERE.
THERE WAS SOME CONCERNS WITH THE, UH, THE, THE FEE REQUIREMENT AND THE, THE, UH, UH, CONCESSION SALES SHARE BACK WITH THE CITY.
UM, AS FOR SPECIFIC CONCERNS AND, AND SPECIFIC PERSPECTIVE VENDORS, WE CAN CHECK OUR DOCUMENTATION AND SHARE THAT WITH YOU.
I KNOW THE CONVERSATION THE LAST TIME THIS CAME AROUND WAS VERY HIGHLY FOCUSED AROUND ALCOHOL SALES AND WHETHER OR NOT TO APPROVE THOSE.
I KNOW THERE WERE SOME FOLKS THAT WERE QUITE VOCAL ABOUT NOT WANTING TO ENCOURAGE ALCOHOL USE, ESPECIALLY IN, UM, PUBLIC AREAS AND WHEN PEOPLE ARE AROUND SWIMMING, WHICH CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS.
I I ALSO THINK THAT HAVING SOMEONE WHO IS LICENSED TO MONITOR AND TO SERVE ALCOHOL MIGHT BE BETTER THAN, UH, WHAT WE HAVE BEEN SEEING IN THE PAST, WHICH IS PEOPLE KIND OF BRINGING THEIR OWN AND NOT BEING MONITORED AND NOT HAVING SOMEONE WHO'S LICENSED TO BE ABLE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SPACE IS SAFE FOR EVERYBODY.
UM, BUT I KNOW THAT'S A CONVERSATION THAT PEOPLE HAVE VERY, UM, VERY STRONG
[01:10:01]
FEELINGS ABOUT.AND SO I, I RESPECT THAT THAT'S WHERE WE'RE AT TODAY.
UM, LET'S GO WITH THE, THE SUPPLYING OF LOCAL PRODUCTS.
IS THAT A CONVERSATION THAT THEY'VE PROVIDED INFORMATION ON, OR IS THAT A TO BE DETERMINED DISCUSSION? YEP.
WE'RE GONNA INVITE DEISHA COX, WHO WORKS IN OUR CONTRACTING OFFICE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, IF THAT'S OKAY.
UM, JUST BRIEFLY, WE HAD IN THE, UH, PREFERENCES FOR THE CONCESSION THAT, UM, THE PRODUCERS THAT EMPLOY SUSTAINABLE, OH, I'M SORRY, UH, SUPPORT THE LOCAL DIVERSE FAMILY AND COOPERATIVE OWNED SMALL AND MID-SIZE AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD PROCESSING OPERATIONS.
SO WE DID HAVE THAT AS A PREFERENCE IN THE SCOPE OF WORK.
BUT ACTUALLY KNOWING WHEN THEY, IF THEY ASSUME THAT SPACE AND START BUYING PRODUCTS, HOW DO WE VERIFY THAT THAT'S BEING ACCOMPLISHED? SO WE COULD ACTUALLY, THEY HAVE TO PROVIDE A MENU OF OPTIONS, AND SO WHEN THEY HAVE THE MENU, WE COULD LOOK AT THE MENU AND SEE THAT WAS A PREFERENCE.
IT WASN'T A REQUIREMENT UNDER THE SCOPE.
SO THERE'S NO HARD AND FAST NUMBER.
IF THEY GIVE YOU A, A LIST OF THE PRODUCTS THEY'LL SERVE AND 15% OF IT IS LOCAL, THERE'S KIND OF NO WAY TO KNOW NO.
THAT THEY'VE REACHED A THRESHOLD OR NOT? NO.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, THE, UH, THE REQUIREMENTS DO INCLUDE A, A, A PROVISION FOR THE, UH, CONTRACTOR TO PROVIDE A MENU, UH, BUT IT'S ALSO SUBJECT TO THE PAR REVIEW AND APPROVAL.
SO IF THERE'S ANY CONCERNS WITH THE CONTENTS OF THE MENU, PAR WOULD BE ABLE TO GET FEEDBACK AND MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO IT.
YEAH, I KNOW MY GOAL IS JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE'RE, WE'RE SUPPORTING LOCAL VENDORS AND THAT WE'RE LETTING SOME OF OUR SMALL BUSINESSES HAVE A SHOT AT GETTING THEIR PRODUCTS IN FRONT OF, UM, WHETHER THEY'RE TOURISTS OR PEOPLE THAT LIVE HERE, UM, TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PROVIDING THAT AVENUE.
UM, IT IS A PUBLIC SPACE, AND I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING WHAT WE CAN TO SUPPORT OUR, OUR LOCAL VENDORS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
UM, THE, THE SCORE THAT THEY GOT THROUGH THE MATRIX, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA, TYPICALLY IN, IN CONCESSION CONTRACTS, WHERE IS THE AVERAGE OF A SCORE WITHOUT HAVING ANYONE TO, TO BASE, YOU KNOW, ARE PEOPLE HIGHER OR LOWER GENERALLY THAN THE SCORE OF THE APPLICANT? UM, WHAT IS A NORMAL SCORE TO EXPECT? THAT IS A WONDERFUL QUESTION.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, IN OUR PROFESSION, IT REALLY DEPENDS ON THE EVALUATION COMMITTEE.
UH, SOME OF THEM ARE TOUGH CROWDS AND THEY WILL RATE, UM, VERY, UM, RIGOR, UH, RIGOROUSLY AND, UH, AND OTHERS ARE, UH, MUCH MORE WELCOMING IN THEIR RATING.
SO IT'S, IT'S, IT'S HARD TO REALLY, UM, DETERMINE AN AVERAGE.
UM, AND, AND, UM, LOOKING AT A SCORE, IT'S, YOU REALLY MORE WANT TO LOOK AT THE, THE RELATIVE, UH, POSITION BETWEEN THE OFFERS WITHIN THE SAME SOLICITATION.
SO IF THERE'S A LOT OF VARIATION WITHIN THE SAME SOLICITATION, THAT'S MORE INFORMING.
IN THIS CASE, WITH A SINGLE OFFER, IT'S HARD TO, TO DETERMINE THAT.
BUT ESSENTIALLY, WHEN WE DO RECEIVE A SINGLE OFFER, WE REALLY DIG INTO THE CONTENTS OF THE PROPOSAL AND, UH, MAKE SURE THAT IT IS, UM, UM, BENEFICIAL AND, UH, AND ACCEPTABLE TO THE CITY.
UM, AS WE MENTIONED, THIS IS THE THIRD SOLICITATION THAT WE'VE DONE FOR THIS PARTICULAR OPERATION.
THE LAST ONE THAT WAS DONE IN 2023 ALSO RECEIVED A SINGLE OFFER.
SO IT'S JUST A, UM, A SET OF, OF MORE CHALLENGING REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS PARTICULAR OPERATION.
UM, WE HAD THREE, UM, SHOW UP AT THE PRE-OFFER CONFERENCE.
NONE OF THEM, UH, DECIDED TO, UH, SUBMIT AN OFFER.
SO, UH, IT WAS GONNA BE A SMALL CROWD, UM, OF, UH, PROSPECTIVE OFFERS THAT WE, WE ANTICIPATED GOING INTO THIS ONE.
WE CERTAINLY WOULD'VE LIKED TO HAVE HAD, UH, ADDITIONAL RESPONSES, BUT, UM, AFTER EXTENDING THE DUE DATE AND STILL HAVING THE SINGLE OFFER, COMPARING THAT TO THE LAST SOLICITATION WITH THE SINGLE OFFER, UM, MADE SENSE TO GO AHEAD AND CLOSE AND EVALUATE AND MAKE SURE IT WAS ACCEPTABLE TO PAR.
AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION IS GOING TO BE ABOUT JUST FINANCIALLY FINANCIAL VIABILITY.
I KNOW THAT THEY'VE SUBMITTED INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR ABILITY TO RUN AN OPERATION LIKE THIS, BUT I'M CURIOUS OVER THE TERM OF THE CONTRACT, IF FOR SOME REASON THE FINANCIAL MECHANISMS CHANGE, OBVIOUSLY WE SEE COSTS ESCALATE LATELY, IS THERE KIND OF AN EXIT IF FOR SOME REASON ANY VENDOR IS NOT ABLE TO KIND OF MEET THE FINANCIAL THRESHOLD THAT PART IS REQUIRING OR IS FINANCIALLY FEASIBLE FOR THE COMPANY? UM, IS THERE A WAY FOR THEM TO BACK OUT? YOU KNOW, WE'RE SEEING A VACANT VENDOR SPACE HERE IN CITY HALL THAT'S BEEN LIKE THAT FOR A WHILE NOW.
AS MUCH AS WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THERE'S, UM, YOU KNOW, A VENDOR HERE TO, TO OPERATE THAT
[01:15:01]
SPACE, IT'S A REALITY THAT A LOT OF BUSINESSES ARE FACING IN AUSTIN RIGHT NOW.AND PARTICULARLY IN A, IN A CONCESSION OPERATION, UH, THERE'S CERTAIN AMOUNT OF UNKNOWN.
AND SO THAT'S WHY THE, UM, THE PROPORTION OF THE SHARE, UH, IS, IS KIND OF CRITICAL TO THE NEGOTIATION BETWEEN THE CITY AND THE CONTRACTOR.
UM, HOPEFULLY IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE ADJUSTED LATER.
UM, AND HOPEFULLY THERE'S ENOUGH, UH, REVENUE TO, TO MAKE IT MAKE SENSE FOR THE CONTINUATION OF THE OPERATION.
WE TRY TO HANDLE THAT INITIALLY BY SEGMENTING THE CONTRACT TERM.
SO THE INITIAL TERM IS FIVE YEARS.
THIS PARTICULAR AGGREGATE TERM FOR THE CONTRACT IS A INITIAL FIVE PLUS AN EXTENSION OF ANOTHER FIVE, AND ANOTHER EXTENSION BEYOND THAT OF ANOTHER FIVE FOR A TOTAL OF, OF 15 YEARS, HOPEFULLY WITH A MUCH LONGER, UH, CONTRACT.
A PER PROSPECTIVE CONTRACT TERM LIKE THIS, THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR, UH, ANY, UM, LOWER YEARS TO BE OFFSET BY, UH, UH, SUBSEQUENT HIGHER YEARS.
UM, BUT IF WE RUN INTO CHALLENGES, WE WILL HUDDLE UP WITH, UH, OUR COLLEAGUES AT PARD AND, UH, WE'LL MAKE ANY ADJUSTMENTS TO THE CONTRACT TO ENSURE THE, THE, UH, OPERATIONS OF THE, UH, OF THE FACILITY.
AND I'LL JUST, I'LL CLOSE BY SAYING, YOU KNOW, I PULLED THIS ITEM JUST BECAUSE I KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO MAKE SURE WE'RE GETTING THE CONCESSIONS AROUND THE ZILKER CAFE.
UM, THIS IS NO, UH, SLIGHT TO OUR FINANCE STAFF.
I KNOW THEY'VE FOLLOWED EVERYTHING, UM, IN THE EXACT PROTOCOL THAT THEY NEED TO, AND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE, THE VENDOR AND THE APPLICANT.
IT SEEMS LIKE THEY ARE PROVIDING A GOOD PRODUCT IN MANY DIFFERENT LOCATIONS.
UM, I JUST HAD QUESTIONS BECAUSE I WANNA MAKE SURE THIS IS A, A GOOD OPPORTUNITY AND A LAUNCHPAD FOR OUR LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES TO GET THEIR PRODUCTS IN FRONT OF WHAT IS A, A FANTASTIC PLACE FOR LOCALS AND TOURISTS TO LIKE, TO BE ABLE TO, TO ENJOY EVERYTHING THAT AUSTIN HAS TO OFFER.
SO I, I MAY JUST ASK A FEW MORE QUESTIONS OFFLINE, BUT WANTED TO FLAG THAT THAT'S WHERE I WAS AT ON THIS ITEM.
AND, UH, PIGGYBACK ON THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE KIND OF RAN INTO THIS A LITTLE BIT AROUND THE ART AT THE AIRPORT, RIGHT? SOMETHING THAT IS UNIQUELY AUSTIN WANTING TO REALLY ADVANCE OUR LOCAL ARTISTS.
AND, AND I THINK THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE VERY SPECIAL AUSTIN PLACES THAT, UM, WE REALLY SHOULD TRY TO HAVE THAT LOCAL PRESENCE.
AND I, AND, AND YOU DID, UH, I THINK LOOKING DEEPER AS YOU'VE IDENTIFIED, YOU KNOW, THIS QUESTION OF WHAT TYPES OF RESTRICTIONS WE'RE PUTTING ON THERE, PRIMARILY AS YOU IDENTIFIED THE ALCOHOL SALES QUESTION IS ONE THAT QUITE FRANKLY, I THINK WE SHOULD HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT.
IS THAT, IS THAT THE PARK, IS THAT, IS THAT A RESTRICTION BECAUSE OF THE PARK WIDE, OR IS THAT SPECIFIC TO THIS PARTICULAR SPOT? SO WE ACTUALLY DID GO TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND APPLIED FOR A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT OF THE SITE.
UM, IT SET THE PARAMETERS AND BOUNDARIES AROUND THE CAFE, AND THAT WAS DENIED.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE VOTE, BY ANY CHANCE? WAS IT CLOSE OR WAS IT OVERWHELMING? IT WAS SOMEWHAT OVERWHELMING.
AND WAS THIS RECENTLY OR YEARS AGO? AND I, I'M, I JUST AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE HISTORY.
WELL, IT IS A VERY DIFFERENT PLANNING COMMISSION TODAY THAN IT WAS IN 2021.
I WILL START WITH THAT, BUT, UM, SO MUCH HAS CHANGED.
YOU KNOW, I, I THINK ABOUT, FOR ANYBODY FAMILIAR BY DEEP EDDIE, THERE'S A, A VENDOR, IT'S NOT ON THE PREMISES, BUT POOL BURGER, IT'S RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET.
THEY SERVE FOOD, THEY SERVE ALCOHOL, UH, AND IT'S PACKED.
AND PEOPLE GO THERE AND THEY GO SWIM.
AND IT'S PART OF THE EXPERIENCE.
SOMETIMES WE ARE FACING, WE JUST WENT THROUGH A BUDGET PROCESS AND NOW THE LEGISLATURE'S TALKING ABOUT A 1% CAP.
WE ARE FACING INCREDIBLE HEADWINDS.
AND I'M NOT SAYING THAT THE ZILKER CONCESSION STAND IS GOING TO SOLVE OUR, UH, BUDGET WOES, BUT IF IT BRINGS MORE MONEY INTO THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, IF IT BRINGS MORE MONEY INTO THE CITY, IF IT BRINGS MORE PEOPLE WHO THEN GO TO THE POOL, IT'S EVERY, EVERY LITTLE BIT IS A HELP.
AND, AND SO PLUS THAT BUDGET PROCESS MAKES US ALL WANT TO DRINK
UH, I THINK WE SHOULD REALLY TAKE A STEP BACK FROM THIS, THIS, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A POTENTIALLY 15 YEAR PARTNERSHIP.
AND, AND THE ALCOHOL QUESTION IS A QUESTION, BUT THE, THE REVENUE SHARE PIECE, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTANDING THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, DO WE HAVE THAT RIGHT? BUT LET'S GET THIS RIGHT.
AND, AND SO, UM, I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO DO A LITTLE MORE REVIEW WORK WITH, UM, THE PARKS DEPARTMENT AND, AND FIGURE OUT A, A, A FUTURE WHERE MAYBE THAT I'M SURE THIS APPLICANT WILL REAPPLY.
UM, BUT ARE WE, ARE WE REALLY GETTING IT RIGHT FOR THE LONG TERM?
[01:20:01]
UM, BECAUSE THIS IS, THIS IS A SPECIAL, A SPECIAL PLACE, A SPECIAL, UH, VENDOR RELATIONSHIP.AND SO I JUST, UH, I THINK WE SHOULD TAKE THAT A LITTLE EXTRA TIME.
SO I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT, UH, AND DEFER TO THE BODY FOR LATER.
COUNCIL MEMBER VELA, COUNCIL MEMBER DUCH AND COUNCIL MEMBER LANE.
I JUST WANNA AGREE WITH, UH, MY COLLEAGUE, COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN ALTER.
UM, I, WE ARE STRAPPED FOR REVENUES.
I THINK WE HAVE TO BE VERY ENTREPRENEURIAL.
UH, WE CANNOT JUST DEPEND ON, AGAIN, THE LEGISLATURE.
I THINK THEY PASSED, WHAT, A 1% CAP RIGHT? YESTERDAY.
WE'LL SEE WHERE THAT ALL ENDS UP.
BUT, UH, WE HAVE TO TAKE EVERY BIT OF REVENUE THAT WE CAN, AND WE DON'T HAVE A BUNCH OF OPPORTUNITIES, BUT WHENEVER THAT APPEARS, WE HAVE TO TAKE THAT REVENUE GENERATING OPPORTUNITY, UH, AND MAXIMIZE THOSE REVENUE GENERATING OPPORTUNITIES.
UH, AND AGAIN, THIS IDEA THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO DRINKING AT, UH, BARTON SPRINGS.
I MEAN, THERE'S PLENTY OF DRINKING AT BARTON SPRINGS
UH, AND, AND, AND YOU KNOW, THIS, AND AGAIN, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT BEER, WINE SALES HERE.
UH, I, I, I JUST, AND, AND TO THE POINT ALSO, AND AS Y'ALL NOTED, AND AGAIN, I THINK THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THAT I'VE BEEN ON THE DIETS FOR THIS DEBATE.
I THINK THIS IS THE THIRD TIME THAT THE DIETS HAVE HAD THIS DISCUSSION.
BUT THAT SEEMS TO BE, AGAIN, WE'RE NOT GONNA DO ANYTHING ABOUT THE, UH, ACL OR, OR, OR, UH, UH, UH, THOSE KINDS OF EVENTS CLOSURES.
UH, THE, THE LIMITING FACTOR IS THE ALCOHOL SALES.
AND, AND THAT'S, AGAIN, ANYBODY THAT'S BEEN IN THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS REALIZES WHAT A, A LARGE PROPORTION OF REVENUES AND PROFIT COMES FROM ALCOHOL SALES.
UH, IT IT VERY TYPICAL FOR ANY RESTAURANT AROUND HERE FOR VIRTUALLY ANY LOCATION IN AUSTIN TO HAVE A BEER AND WINE SALES.
WE DON'T SEE PROBLEMS WITH IT.
I MEAN, AUSTIN CROWDS ARE GENERALLY PRETTY, YOU KNOW, RESPONSIBLE, UH, ABOUT THESE KINDS OF THINGS.
AND AGAIN, WE WE'RE GONNA GET A BETTER SET OF VENDORS IF WE ALLOW, UH, THE ALCOHOL SALES, WE'RE GONNA GET ADDITIONAL REVENUE, UH, TO SUPPORT THE CITY AND ITS OPERATIONS.
AND I UNDERSTAND THAT THE COUNCIL OF, OF, YOU KNOW, 21, UH, MAY HAVE HAD A DIFFERENT VIEW ON IT, UH, AND THAT THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF, UH, OF 21 MAY HAVE HAD A DIFFERENT VIEW ON IT.
UH, MY SENSE WOULD BE THE SAME THAT THE CURRENT PLANNING COMMISSION, AND I'LL JUST SPEAK FOR MYSELF, BUT YOU KNOW, I WOULD ABSOLUTELY VOTE, UH, TO SUPPORT, UH, BEER AND WINE SALES AT ZILKER TO HELP GET A BETTER VENDOR THERE.
AND, AND AGAIN, THE, THE LENGTH OF THE CONTRACT IS ALSO A CONCERN.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE LOCKING IN A, A 15 YEAR PLAN, UH, THAT IN, IN A, WHEN WE'RE KIND OF HANDCUFFING OURSELVES AND THEN, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO LOCK IN A 15 YEAR, UH, CONTRACT, THAT, THAT I DON'T THINK WOULD MAXIMIZE THE BENEFIT TO THE CITY.
SO I WOULD BE SUPPORTIVE OF LOOKING AT THIS AGAIN AND ALLOWING, UH, THE, THE CONDITIONAL YOUTH PERMIT.
I WOULD BE SUPPORTIVE OF THE CONDITIONAL YOUTH PERMIT TO ALLOW, UH, ALCOHOL SALES AND, AND IF WE NEED TO GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, I HATE TO DO THAT BECAUSE THIS SPACE HAS BEEN EMPTY FOR SO LONG, AND IT JUST BREAKS MY HEART TO, TO GO THERE TO, TO BARTON SPRINGS AND SEE THE PLACE EMPTY AND, AND A COUPLE OF THE OTHER KIND OF VENDORS, ROS AND STUFF STANDING RIGHT OUTSIDE.
WE'VE GOTTA, I'D RATHER GET THIS RIGHT IN, IN SIX MONTHS THAN, THAN TO PASS A CONTRACT THAT, YOU KNOW, A FEW YEARS FROM NOW WE'RE GONNA REGRET.
COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON.
UM, I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS TO BUILD ON SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT HAVE EVER BEEN ASKED.
I'M GONNA ASK THIS TWO DIFFERENT WAYS.
ONE IS BASED ON, BASED ON HOW YOU'VE SEEN THE OFFERS AND PEOPLE WALK AWAY AFTER HAVING SOME OF THE PRE-OFFER CONFERENCES OVER THE YEARS, WHAT DO YOU, BASED ON WHAT YOU'VE SEEN, I'M NOT SURE WHO THE BEST PERSON IS TO, TO FEEL THIS.
WHAT'S EITHER THE BIGGEST BARRIER OR IF WE RELAXED A REQUIREMENT OF THE, PARTICULARLY WHETHER THEY'RE THE FOUR THAT YOU COVERED OF THE CONCERNS THAT WERE RAISED, WHETHER THERE'S SOME OTHER CONCERN THAT WE HAVEN'T TALKED ABOUT HERE, OR IT'S INDEPENDENT OF THE FOUR THAT WERE RAISED BY THE, UM, PROSPECTS.
IF WE RA, IF WE EITHER RELAXED A REQUIREMENT OR YOU COULD IDENTIFY A BARRIER, WHAT WOULD THAT BE? COUNCIL MEMBER, THE FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OFFERS THAT CHOSE NOT TO RESPOND, WE DID NOT SEE ANY FEEDBACK THAT, UM, POINTED AT, UM, TECHNICAL ELEMENTS OF THE COMPETITIVE PROCESS OR, UM, UH, CONTRACTUAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE CITY OTHER THAN THOSE
[01:25:01]
THAT WERE SPECIFIC TO THIS PARTICULAR OPERATION.I THINK YOU, YOU, IN YOUR DISCUSSIONS, YOU'VE KIND OF SEIZED ON, THE ONE THAT WE HEARD THE MOST ABOUT WAS THE, THE, UH, PROHIBITION ON ALCOHOL SALES.
THERE WERE SOME, SOME OTHER SECONDARY CONCERNS, UM, UM, BUT IT WAS PREDOMINANTLY THE ALCOHOL SEAL THAT, THAT, THAT WE HEARD ABOUT.
I WOULD DEFER TO, SINCE THOSE REQUIREMENTS ARE KIND OF OPERATIONAL NATURE AND KIND OF, AND COME FROM THE NEEDS PART, I KIND OF DEFER TO THEM TO EXPLAIN KINDA THE BACKGROUND AND THE WHY, BUT THAT'S WHAT WE HEARD AT, AT FINANCIAL SERVICES.
DOES THAT TRACK WITH EVERYTHING YOU ALL ARE FAMILIAR WITH AS WELL? YES.
UM, WE'VE HEARD OFTEN ABOUT THE LACK OF ABILITY TO SELL ALCOHOL AS A HINDRANCE TO THE BUSINESS, UM, JUST, UM, IN FOOD COST ALONE.
UM, THAT HELPS TO OFFSET SOME OF THOSE FOOD COSTS, ESPECIALLY IF WE'RE SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESSES WHERE IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE MORE EXPENSIVE FOR FOOD COSTS.
UM, WE HAD AWARDED A VENDOR IN 2019 WHO WE COULDN'T GET THE CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT, SO THAT CONTRACT GOT TERMINATED BECAUSE THEY SAID, SAID THEY COULDN'T AFFORD, YOU KNOW, WOULDN'T MAKE ANY MONEY IN THAT.
AND THEN AGAIN, WE HAD ANOTHER, UM, SOLICITATION.
AND AGAIN, THE VENDOR THAT WAS A WAS, UM, RECOGNIZED AS THE ONE SOLE VENDOR WHO DID, UM, SUBMIT.
THEY ALSO THEN AT THE END WHEN THEY REALIZED THEY COULDN'T SELL ALCOHOL, THEY BACKED OUT AS WELL.
THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING THAT.
I DO WANNA BUILD ON THAT POINT FOR A MOMENT, WHICH IS, UH, MY UNDERSTANDING FROM DOING SORT OF MATH FROM THE WAY THAT THIS HAS BEEN LAID OUT IN THE AGENDA IS THAT WE'RE POTENTIALLY FOREGOING ABOUT A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR OF REVENUE, UH, FROM PARD.
UM, AND I'M ASSUMING IF I EXPAND THAT, IF WE HAVEN'T HAD THIS FACILITY OCCUPIED FOR 10 YEARS, THAT'S ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS WE'VE LEFT IN THE TABLE.
IS THAT ROUGH MATH? RIGHT? HOW DOES ALCOHOL CHANGE THAT MATH? DO YOU HAVE A SENSE OF THAT? WE HAVEN'T HAD ALCOHOL CELLS AT THIS LOCATION, SO WE, WE CAN'T REALLY APPLY THAT.
BUT I CAN TELL YOU FROM THE ONE CONCESSIONAIRE WHO WE DID CONTRACT WITH, UM, IN THEIR PROPOSAL, THEY HAD DONE A PROFORMA AND THEY ESTIMATED ABOVE 150,000, AND THAT WAS IN 2019.
OH, AND JUST BEER AND WINE CELLS.
SO NOT THE DELTA OF 50,000, BUT 150 BEYOND THE A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.
THEY, THEY ANTICIPATED FIRST YEAR ONE 50, AND THEN BY YEAR FOUR ABOUT 200,000.
AND JUST ALCOHOL, BEER IN MIND.
I DO THAT IN A WEEK WITH WILD TURKEY.
WE NEED MORE OF YOU OVER THERE AT THE THAT'S RIGHT, THAT'S RIGHT.
WELL, THE WAY Y'ALL ARE TALKING, YOU'RE MAKING ME SO THIRSTY.
I'M NOT SURE I'M MAKE IT TO THE EXECUTIVE SESSION, BUT, UH, ALRIGHT, THE LAST QUESTION IS, I'M ALSO JUST CURIOUS REGARDING ALCOHOL SALES, WHETHER, UH, THERE HAVE BEEN ANY ISSUES RAISED REGARDING, UH, LIABILITY ISSUES SURROUNDING ALCOHOL THAT PART OR OTHER FOLKS HAVE, WHETHER THERE'S, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF DROWNINGS IN, UH, IN THE RIVER LATELY.
I'M CURIOUS IF THERE'S ANY CONNECTION OR CONCERN AROUND THAT.
CAN Y'ALL SPEAK TO THAT VERY BRIEFLY? WHAT I CAN SPEAK TO IS INSURANCE.
UM, SO OF COURSE THE CONCESSIONAIRE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE THE APPROPRIATE INSURANCE, UM, FOR, FOR ALCOHOL SALES PLUS THE OTHER INSURANCE REQUIREMENT UNDER THE AGREEMENT TO BE ON PARKLAND AND SERVING THE COMMUNITY.
YEAH, AND I THINK WHAT I WOULD ADD, JUST OPERATIONALLY AND PROGRAMMATICALLY, I MEAN, I THINK CERTAINLY AS, AS COUNSEL HAS DISCUSSED THERE IS MY BELIEF IS THERE'S LOTS OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION HAPPENING IN AND AROUND THE POOL.
I THINK WHEN WE ARE ABLE TO CONTROL AND BRING IN A LICENSED, UH, PROVIDER THAT'S ABLE TO REALLY MONITOR WHAT'S HAPPENING, I THINK THAT'S GONNA BE, WE'RE GONNA BE IN A BETTER SPACE.
UM, CERTAINLY OUR, OUR, OUR CONCERN WHEN FOLKS GO INTO THE POOLS IS GONNA BE LIFE SAFETY.
AND SO WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT IF THERE THIS WERE TO CHANGE AND WE ACTUALLY HAD ALCOHOL SALES, WE'D WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HAD A PLAN TO, TO MONITOR THAT MORE CLOSELY.
DOES THAT PLAN CURRENTLY EXIST OR IS THAT SOMETHING YOU DEVELOPED AFTER SECURING A CONTRACT THAT THAT WAS FULL OF ALCOHOL? RIGHT.
I THINK THAT THE PLAN WOULD HAVE TO START WITH WHOEVER THE VENDOR IS AND MAKE SURE, OBVIOUSLY THE LICENSING PROCESS HAS TO GO THROUGH THAT.
UH, AND, AND LOOKING AT WHERE SALES ARE GONNA OCCUR AND NOT OCCUR.
UM, BUT AGAIN, I MEAN, I THINK, I THINK, UM, WE CERTAINLY WOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT WE CAN MINIMIZE THE NUMBER OF FOLKS THAT ARE GOING INTO THE POOL THAT ARE UNDER THE INFLUENCE, AND WE'D HAVE TO WORK WITH THE VENDOR ON THAT.
THE LAST QUESTION THEN IS I JUST WANT TO CONFIRM THEN, THAT THERE'S NO ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATION INSURANCE OR OTHER REQUIREMENTS THAT WE WOULD BE BEARING AS PART OF SERVING ALCOHOL AS PART OF THE POTENTIAL AGREEMENT.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP WITH THAT.
[01:30:01]
THANK MY COLLEAGUES FOR BRINGING THIS FORWARD IN, IN WORK SESSION, AND I, I ALSO JUST WANTED TO SAY IF WE AS A BODY AND A CITY REALLY WANNA SUPPORT OUR HOMEGROWN BUSINESSES, UM, OUR BUSINESSES HAVE TOLD, OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES HAVE TOLD US VERY CLEARLY THAT THIS ISN'T SOMETHING THAT MAKES FINANCIAL SENSE FOR THEM.THEY REALLY HAVE NO OTHER WAY TO TELL US THAT.
AND SO I THINK IT'S INCUMBENT ON US AS WE'RE HEARING IN THIS DISCUSSION, TO DECIDE IF WE WANT TO REVISE THE TERMS IN A WAY THAT IT BECOMES SOMETHING THAT CAN GENUINELY BE A LOCALLY OWNED BUSINESS IN THERE.
AND I, FOR ONE, AM VERY SUPPORTIVE OF THAT.
UM, I'M ALSO OPEN TO, UM, REVISITING THE ALCOHOL DISCUSSION FOR SURE.
UM, HAVING RAISED A FAMILY IN CENTRAL TEXAS, THERE ARE MANY, MANY PRIVATE BUSINESSES WHO HAVE PROCEDURES IN PLACE THAT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN.
THERE AREN'T MANY WATER PARKS AROUND THAT DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO ALCOHOL.
AND BRINGING IT OUT IN THE OPEN SEAMS AND TO BE REGULATED AND PART OF THE CONTRACT CERTAINLY SEEMS LIKE A REASONABLE COURSE TO ME.
SO I JUST WANTED TO THANK YOU ALL FOR BRINGING IT FORWARD, LET YOU KNOW WHERE I STAND, UM, AND WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO SEE, UM, SOME REVISIONS THAT WOULD ALLOW A LOCAL CONTRACT TO BE SIGNED.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON.
UH, THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER LANE, YOU REALLY STARTED ON SOME OF, UH, WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SAY, AND I'LL JUST, I'LL KEEP IT BRIEF TODAY AND MAYBE EXTEND A BIT ON THURSDAY AFTER I ASK A FEW MORE QUESTIONS.
BUT, UM, IT SEEMS LIKE WE'RE ALL SORT OF SAYING THE SAME THING IN THAT CONSIDERATION AROUND ALL OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR ASSETS TO GENERATE REVENUE IS SIMPLY PRUDENT.
UM, HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT ALCOHOL, ALCOHOL, SALES, ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION, UM, YOU'RE STOCKING WILD TURKEY, SHOULDN'T MATTER
UM,
SO I'VE HAD A COUPLE OF OPPORTUNITIES IN DISTRICT ONE OVER THE SIX YEARS TO REVISIT ALCOHOL PROHIBITION CONVERSATIONS.
ONE WAS JUST OPEN CONTAINERS ON THE STREET, BUT FOR LIKE A SIX MILE RADIUS, YOU KNOW, THE SIX SQUARE MILES THAT CONSTITUTES THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL HERITAGE DISTRICT.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO OVERCOME THAT DISPARITY, THAT INEQUITY, UM, FOR PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO HAVE OPEN CONTAINERS WITHIN THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND ALSO SOME, YOU KNOW, ADJACENT TO COMMUNITIES, BUT COCKTAIL LOUNGES.
AND THERE WAS A, UH, RV PARK, UM, THAT OFFERS ENTERTAINMENT WHERE WE WERE ABLE TO REVISIT IT.
SO TO COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER'S POINT, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT AND PRUDENT, FRANKLY, FOR US TO REVISIT SOME OF THESE PROHIBITIONS REGULATIONS, REQUIREMENTS, CODING PROCESSES EVERY FOUR YEARS, FRANKLY, BECAUSE THEORETICALLY, YOU'RE GETTING NEW REPRESENTATION EVERY FOUR YEARS.
UM, I KNOW THERE'S SOME FOLKS THAT STICK AROUND FOR 12, GOD BLESS THEM, BUT EVERY FOUR YEARS AT THE VERY LEAST, YOU'RE GETTING SOMEBODY NEW ON THE COUNCIL THAT CHANGES THE MAKEUP OF THE BODY, THAT CHANGES THE MAKEUP OF THE BOAT.
TRUTH BE TOLD, YOU KNOW, GETTING A SIX TAKES A LOT OF MOVING AROUND.
SO I WOULD JUST SAY FOR LONG-TERM, GREATEST GOOD FOR HOW WE MOVE AS A MUNICIPALITY AND THE BODY, I THINK IT MIGHT BE PRUDENT FOR US TO JUST REVISIT SOME OF THESE RULES, DISCUSSIONS, ET CETERA, MORE FREQUENTLY.
UM, BUT ON ALONG THOSE LINES OF, UM, INCREASING ACCESS, YOU KNOW, PE OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE DO WHAT THEY DO TO GET WHAT THEY WANT, AND THAT'S WITH ALL THE THINGS, TO YOUR POINT, COUNCIL MEMBER VALA, PEOPLE GONNA DO WHATEVER THE HELL THEY WANNA DO WHEREVER THEY ARE.
HOWEVER, INCREASING ACCESS IS A REAL POINT OF CONSIDERATION TO COUNCIL MEMBER UCHIN POINT.
SO LOOKING THROUGH ALL THE POTENTIAL SAFETY RISK, ET CETERA, I DO WANNA BE REAL CAREFUL ABOUT CONFLATING DROWNING INCIDENTS, NOWHERE NEAR THIS WATER BODY SPACE, CITY ASSET WATER, BODY SPACE, THOSE THINGS HAVE NO APPLICABILITY HERE.
WE ALWAYS HAVE TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT LIKE ACCIDENTALLY DOG WHISTLING THINGS, YOU KNOW, AND HAVING PEOPLE GET SCARED ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE NOT A REAL THING.
SO FOLKS SAYING, OH MY GOD, IF YOU EXPAND THAT CONSIDERATION FOR THE NCCD, THERE'S GONNA BE SO MANY STRANGERS WHO PARK IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
GUESS WHAT, THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN.
20 PEOPLE WHO LIVE WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF THAT COCKTAIL LOUNGE, WALK TO IT AND GO BACK HOME.
GUESS WHAT? FIVE YEARS LATER, THAT THING YOU'RE AFRAID OF, IT NEVER HAPPENED.
AND ME BEING CAREFUL ABOUT THE WORDS I USE AND THE NARRATIVE IN WHICH I FRAMED IT WAS A PART OF WHY THINGS DIDN'T GET BLOWN OUT OF PROPORTION, WHICH IS, I THINK REALLY IMPORTANT.
IT'S WAY TOO HARD FOR US TO WALK IT BACK ONCE WE, YOU KNOW, SORT OF CATASTROPHIZE THINGS.
SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, TO MENTION THAT.
BUT I DO WANNA SAY ADJACENT TO THESE CONSIDERATIONS, THERE ARE THREE POINTS OF INTEREST THAT CAME TO MIND FOR ME.
ONE, UH, MY TEAM AND I WERE STILL WORKING ON OUR COMMITMENT AS A MUNICIPALITY, AND MOST ESPECIALLY, AND I KNOW SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, LIKE THIS MORNING THERE'S BEEN SOME ALCOHOL JOKES, BUT LET'S KEEP IT REAL.
SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER IS A REAL THING, AND IT'S BECOME MORE
[01:35:01]
PREVALENT AND WAY WORSE SINCE COVID.AND SO COMMUNITIES THAT WORK IN RECOVERY AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ISSUES, ESPECIALLY FOCUSED ON SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER, DON'T GET THE SUPPORTS FROM US THAT THEY NEED, FRANKLY.
AND SO WE REALLY NEED TO, IF WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE, YOU KNOW, TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO ENGAGE IN WHAT THEY CAN LEGALLY PARTICIPATE IN, I THINK WE ALSO NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT NOT EVERYBODY IS BUILT THE SAME AND HAS THE PROTECTIONS AGAINST OVERUSE OR MISUSE OR ABUSE, FRANKLY.
AND JUST MAKE SURE THAT WE KIND OF DOUBLE DOWN.
WE'RE, WE ARE KNOWN AS A DRINKING CITY, A DRUNKEN CITY, A COLLEGE DRUNKEN CITY, YOU KNOW, IN LARGE PART ACROSS THE NATION.
WE'RE KNOWN FOR A LOT OF THINGS, BUT THAT'S ONE OF 'EM, IN WHICH CASE, I REALLY WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE POINT AT WHICH OUR MUNICIPALITY SORT OF OWNS THAT.
BUT ALSO SAYS, BUT YOU KNOW, WHAT? THE CAPITAL CITY IS ALSO KNOWN FOR.
WE ARE THE NATIONAL TEMPLATE FOR SOBRIETY, HIGH SCHOOLS, FOR RECOVERY INVESTMENTS, FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INVESTMENTS.
UH, I'D LIKE FOR US TO BE ABLE TO MEET THAT CHALLENGE WITH THAT.
I'D ALSO LIKE TO SAY, YOU KNOW, I'M CONSISTENTLY AMAZED, SURPRISED, DISMAYED, DISGUSTED BY HOW INFREQUENTLY, UM, YOU KNOW, THE DISCUSSION AROUND SEXUAL MISCONDUCT IS HAD OPENLY WITHOUT STIGMA IN A MATURE WAY.
YOU KNOW, YOU SAY THE WORD INCEST OR PEDOPHILIA, PEOPLE GO RUNNING FOR THE HILLS.
BUT THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS A LOT OF FOLKS MAKING LAWS AROUND HOW WE HANDLE THAT DELICATE AND PROBLEMATIC SITUATION OF THE PEOPLE THAT ARE THE OFFENDERS, IN WHICH CASE THEY OFFEND THE DISCUSSION OR, OR THEY AVOID THE DISCUSSION.
BUT LET'S SAY IF WE'RE GONNA INCREASE ACCESS AT A PLACE WHERE, UM, FOLKS ARE SCANTILY CLAD AND POTENTIALLY COMPROMISED, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE ALSO HAVE ADJACENT DISCUSSIONS AROUND DATE RAPE AND HOW PEOPLE ARE GETTING HOME SAFELY, HOW, UM, OLDER MEN ARE ENGAGING AND INTERACTING WITH YOUNGER PEOPLE WHO ARE SCANTILY, CLA ALL THINGS THAT'LL CLEAR A ROOM.
I CAN, I'M GLAD I CAN'T SEE CHAMBERS, IT'S PROBABLY PEOPLE RUNNING OUT RIGHT NOW, BUT THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE SHOULD DISCUSS, UM, WHETHER WE WANT TO OR NOT.
UM, AND THEN THE LAST THING I, I'LL SAY, AND THAT'S ADJACENT TO THAT CONSIDERATION I JUST DISCUSSED, AND THAT'S ABOUT TRANSIT, TRANSPORTATION, MOBILITY, JUST MAKING SURE WE'RE PARTNERING WITH APPROPRIATE PARTNERS TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE ARE GETTING A HOME SAFE IF AND WHEN, UM, THEY DON'T MAKE THE BEST, UM, DECISION THAT DAY.
IT SHOULDN'T HAVE TO, UH, COST WHAT IT COULD IF, IF YOU DON'T GET RELIABLE, SAFE TRANSPORTATION HOME.
UM, AND SO ASIDE FROM THAT, UH, THE CONVERSATION AND CONSIDERATION AROUND EXPANDING ON, UM, CONDITIONAL USES, I, YOU KNOW, ALSO WANTED TO POINT OUT THAT IN TERMS OF CONSIDERATIONS FOR WHO FOR ELIGIBILITY, WHICH ALSO, YOU KNOW, WOULD PROBABLY AFFECT WHO APPLIED MY, UH, MY TEAM AND I, MOST ESPECIALLY SHARON MAY ON MY TEAM, YOU GUYS, A LOT OF Y'ALL KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, SHE'S THE PROPRIETOR FOR BABY GREENS, A REALLY SUCCESSFUL RESTAURANT BRAND IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, AND SERVED ON OUR FOOD POLICY BOARD FOR EIGHT YEARS.
SO WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT HAVING AN ASSET, SOME OF OUR HUMAN ASSETS, I HAVE AN EXPERT RIGHT THERE IN OUR OFFICE WHO'S BEEN ASKING OUR STAFF AND ASKING OUR FINANCE PEOPLE AND ASKING OUR REAL ESTATE PEOPLE.
BETWEEN THE TWO OF US, SHE AND I HAVE 30 YEARS OF ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPERIENCE.
SOME OF IT LEANING RESTAURANT AND A LOT OF IT LEANING SMALL BUSINESSES NEED ACCESS TO BRICK AND MORTAR.
AND SO WHEN WE HAVE THESE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT HOW WE UTILIZE BEST, UTILIZE OUR ASSETS AS A CITY, ONE OF THE UNDERUTILIZED ASSETS THAT WE'VE BEEN SORT OF ON THE QUIET TIP HAVING A DISCUSSION ABOUT IT, I'M HAPPY TO SEE SOME OF OUR COLLEAGUES MOVING IN THE DIRECTION OF LOOKING FOR A CATALOG OF ASSETS.
JUST SO YOU GUYS KNOW, WE'VE BEEN ASKING SINCE 2019, WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE STUFF WE ALREADY OWN? AND NOT JUST ASKING WHAT DO WE DO WITH IT, BUT MAKING REAL SUGGESTIONS.
AND I, I'LL, I'LL JUST PULL 'EM BACK OUT, LET'S CALL IT THROWBACK THURSDAY.
ON THURSDAY, I'LL PULL BACK OUT THE FOUR OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE PRESENTED WITH THE CITY THAT NEVER WENT ANYWHERE, INCLUDING, IF YOU GUYS TAKE A LOOK DOWNSTAIRS, FOXTROT, FOR EXAMPLE, I WON'T BELABOR IT, BUT THAT ONE WAS OURS IS OURS.
THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING WITH, WITH SOMEBODY THAT IS HOMEGROWN.
YOU KNOW, THINK ABOUT PARTNERING WITH AN A CC AND THEIR CULINARY PROGRAM, OR, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT SUCH A COMMITMENT BY WAY OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE ACADEMY.
ARE WE TAKING THE OPPORTUNITY TO USE OUR ASSETS TO TRAIN PEOPLE TO WORK FRONT OF HOUSE, BACK OF THE HOUSE, BE A GM AT A RESTAURANT? THAT'S A SIX FIGURE GIG, THAT'S A CAREER, NOT A DITCH DIGGING JOB.
SO I DON'T THINK THAT WE DO THINK AS BIG, BOLD, BROAD AS WE COULD AND CAN WITH OUR ASSETS, REAL ESTATE BEING ONE OF THEM.
AND I ALSO THINK WE INHIBIT OUR ABILITY TO OPEN UP A CANDIDATE POOL WHEN WE HAVE REAL SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.
SO LIKE, THIS DOESN'T SAY OPEN TO SOLICITATION BY RESTAURANTS, IT SAYS OTHER MANAGEMENT AND,
[01:40:01]
UM, CONCESSIONS.WHAT IF WE COULD, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY SINCE IT, IT LOOKS LIKE IT MAY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE PAUSED LONGER TO THINK THROUGH THIS LONGER, BUT THAT COULD OFFER AN OPPORTUNITY TO PUT A GREASE TRAP IN THERE THAT WOULD OPEN UP OPPORTUNITIES FOR WAY MORE APPLICANTS, LOCAL APPLICANTS WHO AREN'T MAKING FIVE STAR MEALS.
BUT YOU CAN'T EVEN GRILL A CHICKEN BREAST WITHOUT A GREASE TRAP PER BY WAY OF OUR RULES.
UM, ANOTHER THING ABOUT RULES AND, UH, REVISITING RULES, UH, FORMER COUNCIL MEMBERS WERE A PART OF, YOU KNOW, THE SPECIFIC RULES THAT MAKE IT SO THAT WE HAVE TO CHARGE MARKET RATE.
MAYBE WE DON'T HAVE TO CHARGE MARKET RATE FOR SPACES THAT WE OWN.
IF IT'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE A SUBSIDY OF SORTS FOR A SMALL BUSINESS WHO CAN'T QUITE MAKE THAT $9,000 A MONTH COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE, BUT OFFERS SOME REVENUE FOR THE CITY AND OFFERS THAT BUSINESS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SCALE UP AND THEN MAYBE HAVE SOMEBODY ELSE SMALL START THERE AT THE SMALL SPACE THAT HAS PERPETUAL AFFORDABILITY.
YOU KNOW, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS I DON'T THINK WE TALK ENOUGH ABOUT IN OUR DISCUSSIONS WITH AFFORDABILITY, COMMERCIAL AFFORDABILITY.
SO, LONG STORY SHORT, THIS ONE THING I THINK IS A REAL GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE FOUR OTHER LARGER, MORE LONG LASTING, IMPACTFUL DISCUSSIONS, UM, UH, DISCUSSIONS THAT AFFECT MULTIPLE THINGS, INCLUDING BUDGET CONSIDERATIONS AND HOW WE BEST UTILIZE OUR ASSETS.
IF YOU WANNA CLOSE AND THEN MR. VINO, HANG ON ONE SECOND.
WHY DON'T WE DO HIM AND THEN WE'LL LET YOU CLOSE.
MR. VINO, YOU LOOK LIKE YOU WANT TO TALK.
UH, THANK YOU MAYOR ED VINO, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.
UM, I DID WANNA, UM, JUST MENTION THAT FOR THE FOXTROT SPACE AS WELL AS THE LEASE THAT CAME TO, UH, COUNCIL A WHILE BACK FOR THE NEW CENTRAL LIBRARY SPACE, BOTH OF THOSE VENDORS ARE LOCAL VENDORS.
WE WENT THROUGH THE PROCESS, SO WE WENT THROUGH HERE TODAY AND PROVIDED LOCAL PREFERENCE POINTS.
THE OTHER THING I WANTED TO MENTION IS YOU SEE JAMES SCARBOROUGH AND HIS STAFF FROM CENTRAL PROCUREMENT HERE BECAUSE, UM, ONE OF THE RESOLUTIONS WE'RE WORKING UNDER IS, IS HOW WE HANDLE THESE CONCESSION AGREEMENTS.
AND ESSENTIALLY, UH, WE HAVE BEEN PROVIDED DIRECTION IN THE PAST TO HANDLE THESE LIKE TRADITIONAL CONTRACTUAL SOLICITATIONS, WHICH IS FINE THROUGH A CONTRACTUAL SOLICITATION.
WE CAN PROVIDE LOCAL AND SMALL PREFERENCE POINTS, AND WE DO UNDER STATE LAW, THOUGH THESE ARE NOT CONTRACTS, WE DO NOT NEED TO FOLLOW THIS PROCESS.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK STAFF WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS AS, AS YOU ALL ARE HAVING THESE DISCUSSIONS, IS LOOKING AT THESE AS REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS, WHICH THEY REALLY ARE.
WE'RE LEASING OUT A SPACE AND THERE ARE, UH, THERE'S FLEXIBILITY THAT WOULD BE PROVIDED TO US IF WE TREATED THESE AS A REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION IN TERMS OF PROVI BRINGING IN A LOCAL BUSINESS.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE IS A WHOLE LITANY OF STATE LAW WE HAVE TO FOLLOW WHEN WE TREAT THESE AS A CONTRACTUAL SOLICITATION, BUT WE DON'T NEED TO DO THAT.
AND SO I THINK THAT'S JUST SOMETHING I WANTED TO MENTION AS A LONGER TERM CONSIDERATION IS WOULD THIS COUNCIL WANT TO MOVE AWAY FROM WHAT PREVIOUS COUNCIL DIRECTION WAS AND ALLOW STAFF TO TREAT THESE AS REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION ACTIONS WHERE THERE'S A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO MARKETING THE SPACE AND A LOT MORE FLEXIBILITY IN TERMS OF WHO WE MIGHT WANT TO PUT INTO A SPACE.
UH, AND I THINK BOTH YOU AND KIM SHARED THAT WITH ME A LITTLE EARLIER.
AND I WOULD SUGGEST AT THIS POINT, AT LEAST, UH, STAFF, UH, WHETHER PROCUREMENT, UH, AND FINANCE, UH, MORE PARTICULARLY, UH, WE'LL RECONVENE, UH, DISCUSS HOW WE MAY WANT TO MOVE FORWARD, UH, CONSIDER WHAT WE WANT TO DO WITH THE ITEM, UH, THAT IS CURRENTLY SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY.
UH, AND THEN FOLLOW BACK UP WITH THE COUNCIL ON NEXT STEPS.
UM, I THINK EVEN FOR ME, IT TOOK A BIT OF A SURPRISING TURN TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS CONVERSATION HAS CHANGED IN PERSPECTIVE OVER THE YEARS.
UM, THE QUESTION I WOULD ASK IS IF COUNSEL WANTS TO TAKE UP THE IDEA OF, UH, CHANGING THE CUP PROCESS OR MAKING A PERMITTED USE FOR ALCOHOL TO BE ABLE TO ALLOW THE PROCUREMENT STAFF TO, TO WORK WITH THAT, WHAT STEPS WOULD I NEED TO TAKE? I THINK THE MANAGER JUST SAID HE'S GETTING READY, HE'S GOING, UH, IF I INTERPRETED THAT RIGHT, HE'S GONNA GET WITH, WITH HIS STAFF AND HE'S GONNA COME BACK WITH TO US WITH A RECOMMENDATION ABOUT WHAT THOSE STEPS MIGHT BE.
INCLUDING POTENTIALLY WITHDRAWING THIS ITEM FROM THURSDAY.
THAT, UM, IS THAT WHAT YOU SAID? YES.
UM, THIS HAS BEEN A VERY INTERESTING DISCUSSION AND I, IT SEEMS LIKE THERE IS A LOT OF ALIGNMENT ABOUT WHERE COUNSEL WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS PARTICULAR CONVERSATION GO, SO I APPRECIATE IT.
UM, WOULD APPRECIATE ANY EXPEDIENCY, AS I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF EYES ON, YOU KNOW, HOW LONG HAS THIS SPACE BEEN VACANT AND HOW CAN WE GET IT GOING AGAIN? THANK YOU.
[E. Executive Session]
THAT TAKES UP THE ITEMS THAT WE WERE GONNA DISCUSS[01:45:01]
AND, AND THE CITY COUNCIL WILL NOW GO INTO A CLOSED SESSION TO TAKE UP TWO ITEMS PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 5 5, 1 0 7 1 AND SECTION 5 5 1 0 7 2 OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE.THE CITY COUNCIL WILL DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES AND REAL ESTATE MATTERS RELATED TO ITEM E ONE, DISCUSSION OF LEGAL AND REAL ESTATE MATTERS RELATED TO THE ACQUISITION OF APPROXIMATELY 142.754 ACRES, INCLUDING BUILDINGS OF OFFICE SPACE, WAREHOUSE FACILITIES, PARKING GARAGES, AND STORAGE AREAS FOR AUSTIN WATER AND OTHER MUNICIPAL PURPOSES LOCATED AT 6,500 TRA CORE LANE.
PURSUANT TO SECTION 5 5 1 0 7, 1 OF THE GOVERNMENT CODE, THE CITY COUNCIL WILL DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO E TWO, DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO SB EIGHT 40, WHICH WAS PASSED DURING THE 89TH TEXAS LEGISLATIVE SESSION, AND ITS IMPACT TO MULTIFAMILY AND MIXED USE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT.
IS THERE ANY OBJECTION TO GOING INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION ON THE ITEMS ANNOUNCED? HEARING NONE, THE COUNCIL WILL NOW GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AT 10:45 AM FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.
WHEN WE'VE COMPLETED THE EXECUTIVE SESSION, UH, AT LEAST I WILL COME OUT AND WE WILL ADJOURN THE CITY, THE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION BECAUSE THAT WILL CONCLUDE ALL OF THE ITEMS THAT WERE ON THE AGENDA FOR THIS, UH, WORK SESSION FOR TUESDAY, AUGUST 26TH.
UM, IT IS 1255 AND THE CITY COUNCILS COME OUT OF CLOSED SESSION.
WE DISCUSSED REAL ESTATE MATTERS AND LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO ITEM E ONE AND LE UH, AND LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO ITEM E TWO.
THERE'S NO FURTHER BUSINESS TO COME BEFORE THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL AT THIS WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL.
SO WITHOUT OBJECTION, WE ARE ADJOURNED AT 1256.