* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.
          [00:00:05]
          , 
          [CALL TO ORDER ]
AND WE HAVE QUORUM. 
          SO I'M CALLING OUR MEETING TO ORDER. 
          UM, I THINK WE'VE, WE'VE HAD, UH, MAYBE, MAYBE EVERYBODY'S BEEN HERE AT A MEETING, BUT I THINK IT WOULD NOT BE A BAD THING TO GO AROUND AND DO QUICK INTROS, UM, JUST TO HELP US GET FAMILIAR WITH EACH OTHER'S FACES, UH, MORE SO THAN WE ARE NOW. 
          SO IF EVERYBODY CAN JUST SAY LIKE, YOUR NAME, YOU KNOW, UH, WHAT COMMISSION, IF YOU'RE REPRESENTING A COMMISSION, AND THEN, UM, IF THERE'S A DISTRICT, UH, MAYBE WHAT DISTRICT YOU LIVE IN AND WHAT DISTRICT YOU'RE APPOINTED FROM, OR IF THEY'RE THE SAME. 
          JUST THAT. 
          UM, YEAH. 
          SO I'M KABA, UH, KABA WHITE. 
          I'M APPOINTED FROM THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION. 
          I LIVE IN DISTRICT THREE AND AM REPRESENTING DISTRICT TWO. 
          AND I'LL JUST FIRST PASS IT DOWN. 
          THE D FOR THE FOLKS IN PERSON. 
          ANNA. 
          UH, HEY EVERYONE. 
          UH, ANNA SCOTT. 
          I LIVE IN DISTRICT NINE, UH, BUT I AM A MAYORAL APPOINTEE. 
          WHAT ELSE WAS I SUPPOSED TO SAY? THAT WAS IT. 
          CHARLOTTE. 
          HI, UH, CHARLOTTE DAVIS. 
          I AM HERE REPRESENTING THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COMMISSION, UM, APPOINTED BY, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER HARPER MADISON, DISTRICT ONE. 
          I LIVE IN DISTRICT NINE. 
          I'M JOHN SALINAS. 
          I'M HERE FROM THE DESIGN COMMISSION, UH, AND I LIVE IN DISTRICT TWO. 
          I'LL PASS IT OVER TO YOU, RODRIGO. 
          I AM RODRIGO, I'M A MAYORAL APPOINTEE, AND I AM, UH, I LIVE IN DISTRICT ONE. 
          I'LL PASS IT TO AARON. 
          AARON GONZALEZ. 
          I LIVE IN DISTRICT NINE, UH, AND I'M FROM THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION. 
          AND I'LL PASS IT OVER TO CHRIS CAMPBELL. 
          THANKS. 
          UH, CHRIS CAMPBELL HERE. 
          I LIVE IN DISTRICT FIVE, AND I'M ALSO A MAYOR APPOINTEE. 
          AND I'LL PASS IT ON TO ANDY. 
          HI, ALL. 
          UH, I'M ANDY SMITH. 
          UM, I AM HERE FROM THE FOOD POLICY BOARD, AND I LIVE IN DISTRICT 10. 
          UH, AND I'LL PASS IT OVER TO PETER. 
          HELLO EVERYBODY. 
          I AM SERVING AS A, UH, PLANNING COMMISSION ALTERNATE FOR JOSHUA HILLER, UH, REPRESENTING DISTRICT EIGHT AND LIVING IN SPYGLASS DISTRICT EIGHT. 
          AND THEN I THINK THE ONLY PERSON LEFT IS CHRIS. 
          UH, AND MY LITTLE BOX IS BLOCKING YOUR LAST NAME. 
          I LOST IT. 
          NO WORRIES. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UH, CHRIS KIRK, HOME WITH THE AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH COMMISSION. 
          I LIVE IN MAINOR, SO REPRESENTING THE TRAVIS COUNTY PART OF AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH COMMISSION. 
          THANK YOU. 
          ALL RIGHT. 
          THANKS EVERYBODY. 
          AND COULD I, MAYBE JUST BY A QUICK SHOW OF HANDS, IF YOU ARE NOT PART OF A WORKING GROUP OR HAVEN'T BEEN PART OF ONE, UM, IN THE PAST, YOU KNOW, SEVERAL MONTHS OR YEAR, UH, CAN YOU RAISE YOUR HAND? OKAY. 
          SO WE HAVE A FEW FOLKS. 
          UM, I, I DON'T KNOW THAT THEY'RE ALL STILL MEETING. 
          THEY MIGHT, I, I DON'T THINK THAT THEY ARE. 
          UM, BUT AT SOME POINT WE'LL PROBABLY START BACK UP AGAIN. 
          SO IT, IT MIGHT BE GOOD TO GET CONNECTED WITH ONE OF THE CHAIRS OF THE WORKING GROUPS. 
          WE HAVE, UH, SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS, AND THAT ONE'S ME, UH, CONSUMPTION, WHICH INCLUDES KIND OF WASTE ISSUE AS ISSUES, AS WELL AS LIKE EMBEDDED CARBON ISSUES. 
          AND THAT'S ANNA. 
          UM, AND THEN TRANSPORTATION AND ELECTRIFICATION IS, UH, CHRIS CAMPO. 
          AND THEN DO WE HAVE A OH, RIGHT, A NATURAL SYSTEMS AT CHARLOTTE. 
          AND AGAIN, THEY'RE NOT ALL MEETING RIGHT NOW, BUT IT WOULD PROBABLY BE GOOD TO GET, UM, CONNECTED INTO ONE OF THOSE. 
          'CAUSE AS WE START BACK INTO THE NEXT ROUND OF BUDGET, UM, WE'LL RAMP THOSE BACK UP, WHICH IS ACTUALLY COMING SOONER THAN YOU MIGHT THINK. 
          OKAY. 
          LET'S GET INTO OUR AGENDA. 
          UM, DO WE HAVE ANYBODY, I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANYBODY SIGNED UP TO SPEAK, DO WE? OKAY. 
          SO 
          [1.  Approve the minutes of the Joint Sustainability Committee Regular Meeting on August 27,  2025. ]
FIRST UP, WE WILL HAVE THE MINUTES APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM OUR AUGUST 27TH MEETING. 
          WE SKIPPED SEPTEMBER, SO WE STILL NEED TO APPROVE THOSE. 
          MOVE TO APPROVE. 
          OKAY. 
          GOT A MOTION. 
          SECOND AND A SECOND FROM JOHN. 
          MOTION BY CHARLOTTE. 
          UH, JOHN'S OUR SECOND. 
          UM, ANY DISCUSSION OR EDITS THAT WE NEED ON THOSE? OKAY. 
          ALL IN FAVOR, RAISE YOUR HAND. 
          AND VARUN JUST JOINED TOO. 
          OKAY, GREAT. 
          UM, OKAY. 
          THE MINUTES ARE ADOPTED. 
          UH, VARUN, WE DID A, A QUICK ROUND OF INTROS. 
          DO YOU WANNA JUST 
          [00:05:01]
SAY WHO YOU ARE? YOUR COMMISSION, YOUR DISTRICT? SORRY. 
          HEY, CAN YOU ALL HEAR ME? YEP. 
          UH, YEAH. 
          I'M VARUN, UH, I'M REPRESENTING THE, UM, URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION. 
          UM, AND I'M THE DISTRICT SEVEN APPOINTEE, ALTHOUGH, UM, TECHNICALLY I, I NOW LIVE IN DISTRICT THREE, SO, OKAY, WELCOME. 
          UM, JUST IF YOU WANNA GET CONNECTED WITH, UH, A WORKING GROUP, PROBABLY CHRIS, UH, CAMPO WILL BE, UH, I'M GUESSING WHERE YOU'LL WANNA ENGAGE IN TERMS OF TRANSPORTATION ISSUES. 
          OKAY. 
          LET'S KEEP MOVING. 
          UM, WE HAVE A PRESENTATION. 
          [2. Staff briefing regarding Green Infrastructure in the Right-of-Way. Presentation by Michelle ]
UM, I, I THINK A LOT OF FOLKS WILL BE, UH, PRETTY INTERESTED IN ABOUT GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE. 
          UH, MICHELLE, UH, MARKS WITH, UH, TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS. 
          I, I GOT TO SEE THIS PRESENTATION THE OTHER NIGHT AT THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION. 
          IT'S A GOOD ONE. 
          UM, LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING IT AGAIN HERE AND HAVING SOME CONVERSATION. 
           HELLO, COMMISSIONERS. 
          THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. 
          UM, AND THANK YOU CHAIR. 
          UM, YES, WE HAVE BEEN, UM, THIS, THIS MAY BE, UM, A, A RE REPEAT EXPERIENCE FOR SOME OF YOU. 
          WE HAVE BEEN OUT, UM, SHARING THIS WITH VARIOUS, UH, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS. 
          UM, SO, UM, HOPEFULLY IT'S ENTHRALLING AND EXCITING THE SECOND TIME AROUND. 
          UM, AS MUCH AS IT WAS THE FIRST. 
          UH, MY NAME IS MICHELLE MARKS TRANSPORTATION OFFICER WITH TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS. 
          UM, AND I AM EXCITED TO BE HERE TODAY TO, UM, ACQUAINT YOU WITH SOME OF THE WORK THAT THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY REVIEW PANEL OR THE TARP, UM, HAS BEEN DOING, UH, TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN KIND OF STREAMLINE AND FACILITATE THE PROVISION OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN OUR RIGHTS OF WAY IN AUSTIN, WHICH IS, UM, YOU KNOW, FRANKLY, SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH AS A CITY FOR MANY YEARS. 
          UM, SO I'LL SPEAK A LITTLE BIT, UM, ABOUT WHAT THOSE BARRIERS ARE HAVE BEEN HISTORICALLY, UM, AND SOME OF THE KIND OF CONCEPTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THE TARP HAS DEVELOPED FOR CITY LEADERSHIP, UM, TO ADDRESS THOSE BARRIERS MOVING FORWARD. 
          UM, THIS, THIS, UM, IS GONNA BE A SUMMARY OF KIND OF A FULL, UH, REPORT THAT THE TARP HAS PUT TOGETHER. 
          UM, THAT WORK WAS FACILITATED BY TRANSPORTATION, PUBLIC WORKS, UM, BUT VERY MUCH DEVELOPED, YOU KNOW, BY THE TARP. 
          THIS IS THEIR WORK. 
          AND THE CITY, UM, IS RIGHT NOW, UM, DIGESTING IT AND, UM, KIND OF REFLECTING ON HOW WE CAN BEST, UM, UH, REFLECT THESE TARP RECOMMENDATIONS IN OUR WORK PLANS MOVING FORWARD. 
          UM, SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, UM, JUST A, A WORD ON THE GENESIS OF THIS EFFORT. 
          UM, THIS WORK WAS CONDUCTED IN RESPONSE TO A COUNCIL RESOLUTION, UM, THAT PASSED IN 2024. 
          UM, AND THAT RESOLUTION ASKED STAFF TO, TO WORK WITH THE, THE TARP TO TAKE A DEEP DIVE AND, AND LOOK AT WHAT THE BARRIERS ARE IN AUSTIN TO THE INSTALLATION AND THE MAINTENANCE OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN OUR RIGHTS OF WAY. 
          UM, AND TO DO THIS IN A WAY THAT, UM, COORDINATES ACROSS DEPARTMENTS TO LOOK AT THE VARIOUS KIND OF ADMINISTRATIVE RULES AND DESIGN REQUIREMENTS AND PRACTICES THAT ARE SOMETIMES, UM, COMPETING WITH EACH OTHER INADVERTENTLY AND, AND HOW THESE KIND OF LAYERED REGULATIONS, UM, ARE CREATING BARRIERS. 
          UM, AND THEN FINALLY, TO DEVELOP SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOW WE MIGHT ADDRESS, YOU KNOW, THESE VARIOUS KIND OF CODES AND CRITERIA MANUALS AND OTHER KIND OF REGULATORY, UM, UM, ELEMENTS THAT ARE GETTING IN THE WAY OF THE PROVISION OF GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE. 
          AND WHEN I SAY GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE, YOU KNOW, WE RECOGNIZE THAT THAT IS, UM, A PRETTY BROAD TERM. 
          UM, AND IT CAN ENCOMPASS THINGS NOT ONLY STREET TREES, BUT RAIN GARDENS AND, UM, UH, AND, YOU KNOW, GROUND LEVEL LAND LANDSCAPING, FOR EXAMPLE. 
          UM, I WILL SAY THAT, UM, WHILE ALL OF THESE ARE IMPORTANT ELEMENTS, UM, IN AN URBAN SYSTEM, THE TARP DID MAKE, UM, A KIND OF DELIBERATE DECISION TO FOCUS THEIR ANALYSIS ON STREET TREES SPECIFICALLY. 
          UM, AND A FEW REASONS FOR THAT. 
          UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK EVERYBODY ON THIS COMMISSION IS WELL AWARE OF, 
          [00:10:01]
OF THE, THE VARIOUS KIND OF SYSTEMIC BENEFITS THAT STREET TREES PROVIDE IN OUR URBAN SYSTEM. 
          UM, AND, AND REALLY STREET TREES PROVIDE THE MOST BANG FOR THE BUCK WHEN IT COMES TO HEAT ISLAND MITIGATION, WHEN IT COMES TO KIND OF AIR QUALITY AND THE ABSORPTION OF, OF, UM, KIND OF POLLUTANTS AROUND US IN OUR KIND OF MICROCLIMATE WHEN IT COMES TO ABSORBING STORM WATER. 
          UM, AND, UM, ALL OF THE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, FRANKLY, UM, YOU KNOW, BROADER BENEFITS IN REGARD TO JUST PUBLIC AND MENTAL HEALTH. 
          UM, AND, AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT STREET TREES ALSO PLAY, UM, A, A, A SIGNIFICANT ROLE WHEN IT COMES TO TRANSPORTATION SAFETY AND ENCOURAGING KIND OF NON VEHICULAR TRANSPORTATION. 
          UM, IT'S PRETTY CHALLENGING TO, YOU KNOW, ASK SOMEBODY TO WALK TO A BUS STOP OR RIDE THEIR BICYCLE, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, IN UNSHADED 109 DEGREE WEATHER. 
          UM, SO THE STREET TREES PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN OUR ENVIRONMENTAL AND RESILIENCE SYSTEMS, BUT ALSO OUR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS AS WELL. 
          UM, SO AGAIN, JUST THAT BEING WHERE THE BANG FOR THE BUCK IS, AND, AND FRANKLY ALSO WHERE WE'VE STRUGGLED AS A COMMUNITY, UM, THAT THE TARP REALLY FELT LIKE IF WE ARE ABLE TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE BARRIERS TO STREET TREES, UM, WE WILL HAVE ACCOMPLISHED A HUGE WIN FOR OUR CITY. 
          SO THAT'S WHERE THE FOCUS IS ON THIS EFFORT. 
          UM, THE, THE TARP, UM, IS, IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH, UH, THIS GROUP, IT'S A RELATIVELY NEW GROUP, UM, ESTABLISHED BY CODE AND THEIR PURVIEW IS TO REALLY KIND OF OVERSEE AND ADVISE, UM, IN, UM, THE KIND OF REVIEW AND ADMINISTRATION OF, OF ADMINISTRATIVE CRITERIA MANUALS AND ADMINISTRATIVE RULES. 
          UM, SO IT REALLY IS BECAUSE MANY OF THE, THE BARRIERS THAT WE'LL BE DISCUSSING TODAY ARE FOUND IN OUR KIND OF ADMINISTRATIVE CRITERIA MANUALS, UM, A PRETTY APT, UH, GROUP TO PROVIDE INPUT ON THIS, THIS TOPIC. 
          UM, YOU'LL SEE THAT WITHIN THE TARP, IT'S A PRETTY LARGE GROUP. 
          THEY DID SELF DESIGNATE, UM, A GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE WORKING GROUP. 
          UM, AND THAT WORKING GROUP DID INCLUDE REPRESENTATIVES FROM MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THE DEPARTMENTS YOU SEE LISTED HERE THAT REALLY DO HAVE KIND OF A VESTED STAKE IN THE DECISIONS THAT ARE BEING MADE IN THE RIGHT OF WAY AND HOW WE ALLOCATE THAT SPACE. 
          UM, BUT ALSO HAD REPRESENTATIONS FROM THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY, UM, FOLKS FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR, UM, WHO HAVE EXPERIENCE TRYING TO NAVIGATE OUR DEVELOPMENT REVIEW PROCESSES AND REQUIREMENTS. 
          AND, UM, A LOT OF FOLKS, FRANKLY, WHO HAVE TRIED TO INCLUDE STREET TREES AS PART OF THEIR DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS AND HAVE COME UP AGAINST CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS AND HAVE FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE ABOUT WHAT THOSE ARE SPECIFICALLY. 
          UM, SO THIS TEAM, UM, PULLED TOGETHER TO COLLABORATIVELY IDENTIFY THOSE BARRIERS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. 
          AND AGAIN, THE BODY OF WORK THAT I'LL BE BRIEFING YOU ON TODAY, UM, ARE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEY'VE DEVELOPED FOR CITY AND DEPARTMENT LEADERSHIP. 
          AND AS I MENTIONED, THAT CONTENT REVIEW AND THAT DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW TO INTEGRATE THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS INTO OUR, UM, INTERDEPARTMENTAL WORK PLANS IS ONGOING AS WE SPEAK. 
          UM, A BIT ABOUT THE TARPS PROCESS. 
          UM, THREE KIND OF DISTINCT PHASES OF WORK, AS YOU'LL SEE HERE. 
          UM, THEY STARTED AS A KIND OF COLLECTIVE GROUP, UM, DOING A LOT OF DEEP DIVING INTO IDENTIFYING WHAT THOSE BARRIERS HAVE BEEN. 
          UM, AND THAT INCLUDED LOOKING AT THE REGULATORY BARRIERS AS I'VE, UM, ALREADY KIND OF DISCUSSED, BUT ALSO THE PERMITTING RELATED BARRIERS. 
          WHAT CHALLENGES, UM, ARE FOLKS, UM, UH, COMING UP AGAINST JUST WHEN IT COMES TO THE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW PROCESS AND OBTAINING A PERMIT, UM, TO, TO PLANT STREET TREES IN THE RIGHT OF WAY. 
          AND THEN FINALLY LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'VE CALLED PROGRAMMATIC BARRIERS HERE. 
          AND THESE ARE, YOU KNOW, CHALLENGES THAT MAY BE RELATED JUST TO THE WAY WE ORGANIZE OURSELVES, UM, AND RESOURCE OURSELVES AS A CITY. 
          UM, THEN WITH THAT ANALYSIS IN HAND, UM, THIS, THIS WAS, I'LL SAY, UM, YOU KNOW, A PRETTY COMPREHENSIVE TECHNICAL REPORT, UM, THAT IS, UM, APPENDED TO THE TARPS FINDINGS, UM, WITH THOSE BARRIERS IN HAND. 
          UM, WE THEN ENGAGED OUR CONSULTANT TEAM TO, UM, DO A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT SOME OF OUR PEER CITIES ACROSS NORTH AMERICA. 
          UM, AND THIS IS JUST AN, YOU KNOW, ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THAT WE'RE NOT THE FIRST CITY TO TRY TO, UM, FIGURE OUT HOW TO PUT STREET TREES, UM, ALONG OUR STREETS AND SIDEWALKS. 
          UM, SO THERE'S A 
          [00:15:01]
LOT TO BE LEARNED FROM, YOU KNOW, OUR PEER CITIES WHO HAVE, UM, HAVE OR ARE CURRENTLY CONFRONTING THE SAME TYPES OF CHALLENGES AS WE ARE. 
          UM, WITH THAT IN HAND, THEN THE TARP MOVE FORWARD WITH DEVELOPING THEIR RECOMMENDED ACTIONS FOR CITY CONSIDERATION. 
          UM, AND I'LL WALK YOU THROUGH WHAT THOSE ARE. 
          THERE ARE A, A TOTAL OF KIND OF 12 ACTIONABLE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEY'VE PROVIDED, AND THEY FALL INTO THESE CATEGORIES, KIND OF COLOR CODED HERE ON YOUR SLIDE, LOOKING AT OUR REGULATORY FOUNDATIONS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR HOW WE MIGHT IMPROVE OUR PROCESSES, UM, THE WAY WE APPROACH MAINTENANCE OF STREET TREES, UM, IN THE RIGHT OF WAY. 
          AND THEN FINALLY LOOKING AT HOW WE KIND OF APPROACH CAPITAL PROJECTS AND PLAN FOR STREET TREES, UM, AS A CITY. 
          UM, AND THEN REALLY QUICKLY BEFORE I KIND OF WALK THROUGH THOSE ACTIONS, ONE BY ONE, UM, THE TARP ALSO GAVE SOME THOUGHT TO, TO JUST KIND OF HOW WE PRIORITIZE, HOW WE MIGHT PRIORITIZE, UM, FOLDING THESE INTO WORK PLANS. 
          UM, YOU'LL SEE A BIT OF A KIND OF A WATERFALL RECOMMENDATION HERE. 
          THE THINKING IS, IS THAT IF WE'RE ABLE TO ADDRESS THOSE REGULATORY STRUCTURES, THE KIND OF FOUNDATIONAL, UM, RULES, UM, AS A GROUP GROUPING AT, AT THE, AT THE BEGINNING OF OUR EFFORTS, WE'LL THEN BE IN A PLACE TO SUBSEQUENTLY THINK, OKAY, HOW DO WE IMPROVE OUR, OUR, OUR PERMITTING AND REVIEW PROCESSES, AND HOW DO WE THINK ABOUT MAINTENANCE? AND THEN WITH THOSE SYSTEMS IN PLACE, WE'LL BE IN A POSITION TO THEN START TO GET PROACTIVE AND INTENTIONAL WITH HOW WE APPROACH OUR CAPITAL PROJECTS. 
          UM, SO A LITTLE BIT OF A, A PHASING RECOMMENDATION HERE. 
          UM, I'LL GO AHEAD AND JUST KIND OF AS BRIEFLY AS I CAN WALK YOU THROUGH THESE, UM, WITH THE CAVEAT THAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU ARE SEEING ON YOUR SCREEN HERE IS REALLY KIND OF A, A DISTILLATION OF, OF EACH OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS. 
          UM, WHEN, WHEN WE RELEASE THE REPORT IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS, YOU'LL SEE MUCH MORE DETAIL, FULL PAGE CUT SHEETS THAT REALLY WALK THROUGH THE CONSIDERATIONS, UM, AND KIND OF THE SUB RECOMMENDATIONS AND THE CONTEXT FOR EACH OF THESE. 
          SO THERE IS GONNA BE KIND OF A LOT OF, UM, TECHNICAL BACK AND FORTH THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN HERE. 
          UM, BUT I WANTED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH JUST THE SUMMARY OVERVIEW. 
          SO IN THIS FIRST TRANCHE OF RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO REGULATORY FOUNDATIONS, UM, THE NUMBER ONE HERE IS A RECOMMENDATION TO UPDATE OUR TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA MANUAL, UM, TO MORE COMPREHENSIVELY REGULATE THE PROVISION OF STREET TREES IN OUR RIGHTS OF WAY. 
          AND THIS IS, UM, RECOMMENDING THAT WE REALLY TAKE AN APPROACH THAT STREET TREES ARE A COMPONENT OF THE SIDEWALK CORRIDOR PERIOD. 
          IF YOU'RE BUILDING A SIDEWALK, IT INCLUDES STREET TREES. 
          UM, SO THE TCM REALLY NEEDS TO GET MUCH MORE CLEAR ABOUT HOW THOSE STREET TREES ARE PROVIDED WITHIN THE SIDEWALK CORRIDOR, DIMENSIONALLY AND STRUCTURALLY, AND HOW THE UP THAT SIDEWALK DIMENSION INCLUDING, UM, INCLUSIVE OF STREET TREES, UM, WORKS COHESIVELY WITH THE ENTIRE WIDTH OF THE RIGHT OF WAY. 
          UM, SO THIS IS A STREET SCAPE EXERCISE. 
          UM, BUT, BUT MORE THAN THAT, UM, A RECOMMENDATION HERE IS THAT AS WE LOOK AT THIS KIND OF OVERHAUL OF THE TCM, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS IN OTHER, UH, DEPARTMENTS TO CLARIFY HOW NOT JUST EVERYTHING AT THE STREETSCAPE LEVEL IS WORKING TOGETHER, BUT HOW THOSE RIGHT OF WAY REQUIREMENTS ARE WORKING COHESIVELY WITH WHAT'S HAPPENING SUBGRADE AND OVERHEAD. 
          UM, SO SAID DIFFERENTLY. 
          WE CAN'T REQUIRE THINGS IN THE TRANSPORTATION MANUAL AT STREETSCAPE THAT CONFLICT WITH WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN ABOVE OR OVERGROUND IN REGARD TO SAY, UTILITIES. 
          SO ALL OF THESE ELEMENTS, UM, AND REQUIREMENTS FOR THE RIGHT OF WAY NEED TO COME TOGETHER AND CREATE A COHESIVE WHOLE IN THE TCM. 
          UM, MOVING ON TO RECOMMENDATION NUMBER TWO, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS FOLLOWS SOMEWHAT FROM RECOMMENDATION NUMBER ONE, AND THAT'S THAT WE NEED TO REALLY, UM, DO A, A COMPREHENSIVE UPDATE TO OUR STANDARDS MANUAL. 
          YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW, IF SOMEBODY WANTS TO PLANT TREE TREES, WE DON'T HAVE THOSE STANDARD DRAWINGS FOR, OKAY, HOW DO I PROVIDE MY TREE PIT? HOW MUCH SOIL VOLUME DO I NEED TO PROVIDE? HOW, WHAT ARE MY VARIOUS OPTIONS FOR PROVIDING THAT SOIL VOLUME? UM, WHAT SORTS OF IRRIGATION EQUIPMENT OR SOIL CELLS ARE PRE-APPROVED? UM, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE KIND OF STUMBLING IN THE DARK RIGHT NOW IF YOU'RE TRYING TO PROVIDE STREET TREES. 
          WE DON'T HAVE THOSE STANDARD PLANS AND SPECS. 
          UM, SO JUST PROVIDING THOSE IN OUR STANDARDS MANUAL IS 
          [00:20:01]
GONNA REMOVE SOME OF THE, THE FRICTION FOR APPLICANTS. 
          AND THEN NUMBERS THREE AND FOUR, THE, THE CONCEPT HERE IS THAT ALL OF THESE CRITERIA, MANUAL UPDATES ARE REALLY HAPPENING IN TANDEM BECAUSE AS I MENTIONED, THIS NEEDS TO BE A DIALOGUE, UM, BETWEEN WHAT'S HAPPENING AT STREETSCAPE SERVICE LEVEL AND ABOVE AND BELOW. 
          NUMBER THREE IS TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE UTILITY CRITERIA MANUAL AND LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO, UM, TO MAYBE GET MORE EFFICIENT WITH HOW WE ALLOCATE SPACE IN THE RIGHT OF WAY. 
          UM, SO FOR EXAMPLE, UM, RIGHT NOW, UM, WATER AND WASTEWATER, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIRES A NINE FOOT SEPARATION BETWEEN THOSE UNDER THAT UNDERGROUND INFRASTRUCTURE AND ADJACENT STREET TREES. 
          UM, SOMETIMES THOSE LARGE SEPARATION DISTANCES CAN, WHEN ADDED UP, PRECLUDE COME OUTRIGHT, THE PROVISION OF STREET TREES, THERE'S NO SPACE LEFT. 
          SO IF, FOR EXAMPLE, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, PROVIDING MORE, UM, CLARITY AND REQUIREMENTS IN THE TCM AND THE UCM SUCH THAT WE'RE GETTING THE SOIL VOLUMES WE NEED, SO TREE ROOTS AREN'T OUT SEARCHING DESPERATELY FOR WATER. 
          UM, IF WE'RE PROVIDING THE ROOT BARRIERS AND THE SOIL CELLS NEEDED TO SUPPORT HEALTHY TREES, DOES THAT PROVIDE US SOME LEVEL OF COMFORT TO REDUCE THOSE CLEARANCE REQUIREMENTS? THIS IS AN, AN ILLUSTRATED EXAMPLE, NOT A PROPOSAL, BUT THESE ARE THE TYPES OF, I THINK, CREATIVE OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE WANNA EXPLORE TOGETHER WITH OUR PARTNERS IN THE UTILITY DIVISIONS, UH, DEPARTMENTS, TO, TO LOOK FOR THESE, UM, SPACE SAVING OPPORTUNITIES. 
          WHERE CAN WE, UM, GET STRATEGIC? AND THEN NUMBER FOUR IS TO WORK WITH OUR COLLEAGUES, UM, TO, IN THE, UM, CITY ARBORIST OFFICE IN OUR URBAN FORESTRY TO UPDATE OUR, UM, EXCUSE ME, APPROVED STREET TREE SPECIES LIST. 
          UM, A COUPLE THOUGHTS HERE. 
          ONE IS CLEARLY WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR TREE LIST, UM, IS, YOU KNOW, LOOKING FORWARD TO, UM, A HOTTER, MORE ARID CLIMATE, AND THAT WE'RE SELECTING SPECIES THAT WILL THRIVE UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS. 
          UM, BUT ALSO WE WANNA TAKE, UM, I THINK MICRO CONTEXT INTO ACCOUNT HERE. 
          WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PUTTING THE RIGHT TREE IN THE RIGHT PLACE. 
          SO WHAT TREES, FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT SPECIES ARE APPROPRIATE FOR WHAT TYPES OF SOIL VOLUMES? HOW MUCH SPACE IN THE RIGHT OF WAY DO YOU HAVE AVAILABLE TO YOU? AND HOW SHOULD THAT BE KIND OF GUIDING YOUR SPECIES SELECTION? UM, WHAT ARE THE UTILITY CONSTRAINTS THAT, UM, ARE SURROUNDING YOUR, UM, YOUR PLANTING ZONE, BOTH BELOW AND ABOVE GRADE? AND AGAIN, WHAT ARE THE RIGHT SPECIES FOR THAT PARTICULAR CONTEXT? UM, YOU KNOW, WE DO, WE WANNA BE PLANNING LIVE OAKS UNDERNEATH OVERHEAD POWER LINES. 
          MAYBE NOT. 
          MAYBE, YOU KNOW, WE CAN GET MORE DIALED IN WITH OUR, UM, APPROVED TREE SPECIES LIST. 
          UM, AND THEN FINALLY, NUMBER FIVE, RECOMMENDATION HERE. 
          AND, AND THIS IS REALLY A PLACEHOLDER. 
          YOU KNOW, THE TARPS THINKING IS THAT MANY, MANY OF, OF THE CURRENT CHALLENGES WE'RE FACING CAN BE ADDRESSED WITH THESE VARIOUS CRITERIA, MANUAL UPDATES, UM, YOU KNOW, THROUGH AN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS. 
          UM, THE TARP DID ALSO KIND OF WANT TO LEAVE, UM, A POSSIBILITY OPEN THAT, THAT WE MAY WANT TO, UM, UPDATE CITY CODE TO REQUIRE STREET TREES AS PART OF SIDEWALK FRONTAGE IMPROVEMENTS, UM, AS SIDEWALKS THEMSELVES ARE REQUIRED TODAY. 
          AND THERE ARE MANY EXAMPLES OF PEER CITIES THAT, THAT DO KIND OF CODIFY THAT STREET TREE REQUIREMENT. 
          UM, SO IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE SEE ELSEWHERE, BUT AGAIN, NOT KIND OF THE, THE FOCUS OF, OF THE, OUR IMMEDIATE TERM EFFORT PER THE TARPS RECOMMENDATIONS. 
          UM, THE NEXT GROUP BEING HERE IS LOOKING AT PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS. 
          SO NUMBER SIX IS TO WORK WITH OUR COLLEAGUES AT, UM, AUSTIN, UH, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR DEVELOPMENT REVIEW WORKFLOWS AND TIMELINES ARE EVALUATING, UM, THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE RIGHT OF WAY AT AN EARLY PHASE SO THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT COMING BACK TO APPLICANTS, UM, YOU KNOW, TOO FAR DOWN THE LINE AND SAYING, OH, OH, OH, WHAT ABOUT YOUR STREET TREES? UM, AND IT REALLY IMPACTS SETBACKS, UM, AND EASEMENTS, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT CAN GET REALLY TRICKY. 
          BUT NOT ONLY THAT, UM, NOT JUST DOING IT EARLY, BUT CONDUCTING THAT RIGHT OF WAY ASSESSMENT, UM, IN A KIND OF COLLABORATIVE INTERDEPARTMENTAL FASHION. 
          UM, SO THAT THAT PROVIDES, UH, DEPARTMENT REVIEWERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS IN THE RIGHT OF WAY AND TO KIND 
          [00:25:01]
OF MAKE, UM, RECOMMENDATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS AS, AS ONE VOICE. 
          UM, I THINK ANYBODY WHO'S DONE THIS KIND OF WORK, YOU KNOW, ACKNOWLEDGES THAT NINE TIMES OUT OF 10 IF YOU HAVE A NON-STANDARD, UH, CONDITION, AND THERE HAS TO BE SOME KIND OF PUSH AND PULL AND NEGOTIATION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION. 
          SO WE WANNA SET UP INTERNAL TEAM STRUCTURES, UM, TO BE ABLE TO KIND OF HAVE THAT DISCUSSION, HEY, WHAT IF WE MOVE, YOU KNOW, THIS UTILITY CONNECTION OVER A LITTLE BIT, EXPAND THE SIZE OF THE PLANTING ZONE HERE, WHAT IF WE, UM, UH, DID THIS AND THAT? SO THAT REALLY NEEDS TO HAPPEN COLLABORATIVELY, BUT WITH CLEAR KIND OF DECISION MAKING AND ESCALATION PROCESSES, UM, IN HAND AND, AND PREDETERMINED. 
          AND THEN FINALLY, NUMBER SEVEN HERE IS, YOU KNOW, WITH THOSE REGULATORY, UM, CRITERIA, MANUAL, UM, REQUIREMENTS KIND OF MODIFIED AND THE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW SYSTEM, UM, UM, ALSO MODIFIED, THAT WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, AN IDEAL POINT TO START TO PROVIDE SOME KIND OF TRAINING AND EDUCATION, UM, NOT JUST EXTERNALLY TO FOLKS IN OUR DEVELOPMENT COM UH, COMMUNITY REGARDING THE EXPECTATION ABOUT WHAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN A SITE PLAN, NAMELY STREET TREES, UM, AND HOW, UH, BUT ALSO, YOU KNOW, INTERNALLY TO OUR OWN STAFF, UM, IDENTIFYING KIND OF WHAT'S NOW REQUIRED AND WHAT WE'RE EXPECTING TO SEE AND WHAT OUR PROCESSES ARE FOR, UH, MOVING THAT FORWARD THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT REVIEW PROCESS MAINTENANCE. 
          SO, UM, NUMBER EIGHT, UM, ELIMINATE LICENSE AGREEMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR STREET TREES. 
          UM, THIS IS, YOU KNOW, UM, ACTUALLY A, A, A, A BIG ELEMENT THAT WAS HIGHLIGHTED OVER AND OVER, UM, PARTICULARLY BY FOLKS IN THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY. 
          UM, CURRENTLY BECAUSE THE CITY DOES NOT HAVE THE RESOURCES OR CAPACITY TO MAINTAIN STREET TREES, UM, WE REQUIRE, UM, A PRIVATE DOCUMENTED LEGAL LICENSE AGREEMENT IDENTIFYING THE ADJACENT PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNER AS THE PARTY RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT, UM, THAT ITEM IN THE RIGHT OF WAY FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF THAT ITEM PROPOSED FOR THE RIGHT OF WAY. 
          AND IT'S NOT JUST REQUIRED FOR STREET TREES IF YOU'RE PUTTING UP, YOU KNOW, SOME SORT OF LIKE PUBLIC ART OR ANYTHING SPECIAL. 
          UM, THEN WE'RE GONNA REQUIRE, UH, AS OF TODAY A LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR THAT TO IDENTIFY WHO EFFECTIVELY OWNS AND MAINTAINS THAT THING, UM, WHEN IT'S NOT THE CITY. 
          UM, RIGHT NOW FOR STREET TREES, IT'S ONE OF THOSE KIND OF NON-STANDARD ITEMS. AND, UM, EVERY TIME SOMEBODY WANTS TO PROVIDE STREET TREES WITH THEIR PROJECT, IT REQUIRES THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT REVIEW AND, AND PERMIT AND PROCESS, WHICH IS SORT OF LIKE A WHOLE SECOND SITE PLAN, AND IT'S A HUGE DISINCENTIVE. 
          UM, SO WE WANNA JUST DO AWAY WITH THAT REQUIREMENT OUTRIGHT. 
          UM, WHICH BEGS THE QUESTION FOR NUMBER NINE. 
          UM, WHAT, WHAT WILL BE OUR PLAN THEN FOR MAINTAINING TREES IN THE RIGHT OF WAY? UM, YOU'LL SEE HERE THAT, YOU KNOW, THE TARP TAKES A, YOU KNOW, A FAIRLY KIND OF, UM, A A AGGRESSIVE AND, AND, YOU KNOW, HOPEFUL STANCE HERE THAT, YOU KNOW, IN AN IDEAL WORLD, THE CITY COULD MAINTAIN STREET TREES IN THE RIGHT OF WAY. 
          AND THERE ARE SOME CITIES WHO DO THIS. 
          UM, AND THERE ARE SOME BENEFITS TO THAT IN THAT, YOU KNOW, WE CAN MAKE SURE THE TREES ARE MAINTAINED PROPERLY. 
          UM, WE CAN SET UP REGULAR MAINTENANCE CYCLE, GET AHEAD OF STORM EVENTS. 
          UM, TH THERE ARE CERTAINLY BENEFITS, BUT THAT COMES, YOU KNOW, WITH A HUGE RESOURCE NEED AT A TIME WHEN IT'S PROBABLY NOT IDEAL FOR INTRODUCING BIG RESOURCE NEEDS. 
          UM, SO THERE REALLY ARE AN ARRAY OF OPTIONS THAT WE WANNA EXPLORE HERE AND EVALUATE AND KIND OF COST OUT AND RUN COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS ON. 
          UM, YES, YOU KNOW, CITY RUNNING MAINTENANCE IS ONE OF THOSE EITHER VIA CONTRACTS OR, OR CITY CREWS. 
          UM, BUT THERE ARE ALSO, YOU KNOW, OTHER CITIES WHO JUST UNIVERSALLY STIPULATE WITHIN CODE, UM, ONCE THAT THE ADJACENT PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF STREET TREES AND VEGETATION IN THE RIGHT OF WAY, ADJOINING THEIR PROPERTY. 
          UM, SO, YOU KNOW, THAT ALONE WOULD PRECLUDE THE NEED FOR HAVING TO KIND OF REINVENT THE WHEEL AND REVIEW EVERY STREET TREE VIA INDIVIDUALIZED LICENSE AGREEMENT REVIEWS. 
          UM, BUT THERE ARE SOME DOWNSIDES TO THAT AS WELL. 
          UM, YOU KNOW, MAY, IT COULD BE A BURDEN TO REQUIRE ADJACENT PROPERTY DONORS TO NOT ONLY PLANT THE STREET TREES, BUT TO MAINTAIN THEM. 
          AND THERE ARE SOME EQUITY CONCERNS THERE, AND HOW CAN WE MAKE SURE IT'S DONE PROPERLY? SO THERE'S A SPECTRUM HERE, AND THERE MIGHT BE A MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, UM, OPPORTUNITY HERE WHERE WE, YOU KNOW, WORK WITH FRIENDS OF GROUPS OR, 
          [00:30:01]
UM, HOAS. 
          SO AGAIN, WE WANNA EXPLORE ALL OF THE OPTIONS ALONG THAT SPECTRUM AND KIND OF FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GONNA BE, UM, THE BEST FIT FOR OUR COMMUNITY. 
          UM, NUMBER 10 HERE IS, YOU KNOW, THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE ARE GONNA START TAKING ON, YOU KNOW, SOME DEGREE OF MAINTENANCE. 
          WE REALLY NEED, UM, AN ASSET INVENTORY. 
          WE NEED A CITYWIDE INVENTORY OF, OF THE STREET TREE, UM, UH, COVER THAT'S OUT THERE NOW, WHERE OUR GAPS ARE, UM, AND WHAT THE CONDITION IS SO THAT WE CAN START TO SUPPORT KIND OF NEW MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONAL NEEDS. 
          UM, AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT YOU KNOW, KNOWING WHERE OUR GAPS ARE, WE CAN START TO PRIORITIZE CAPITAL PLANNING. 
          UM, SO NUMBER 11 IS TO START TO THINK ABOUT DEVELOPING A GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT PLAN. 
          UM, LOOKING AT WHERE OUR GAPS ARE. 
          WHAT, WHAT ARE OUR KIND OF INFILL PRIORITIES? UM, HOW MIGHT WE SET SOME TARGETS AND GOALS FOR THOSE? HOW DO WE START TO COORDINATE INVESTMENTS ACROSS DEPARTMENTS? FOR EXAMPLE, IF SOMEBODY IS RELOCATING UTILITIES, UM, CAN WE KIND OF PULL OUR RESOURCES AND EFFORTS TO RELOCATE THEM IN A WAY THAT ALLOWS FOR A NEW PLANTING ZONE? UM, SO HOW DO WE KIND OF GET PROGRAMMATIC ABOUT THOSE INFILL NEEDS? UM, AND THEN FINALLY, NUMBER 12, AGAIN, WITH ALL OF THESE SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES IN PLACE, WE'LL BE IN A GOOD POSITION TO START TO REALLY INCORPORATE STREET TREES AS BASELINE SCOPES, COPE ELEMENTS WHEN WE'RE OUT THERE DOING WORK ON CORRIDORS, WHEN WE'RE DOING BIG INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, STREET TREES ARE JUST PART OF THE PROJECT, UM, AS TRANSPORTATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFRASTRUCTURE. 
          UM, CERTAINLY THERE ARE KIND OF RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS THERE WHEN WE'RE EXPANDING OUR SCOPE, ESPECIALLY MOVING UTILITIES TO ACCOMMODATE FOR THAT NEW SCOPE ITEM. 
          THERE MIGHT BE TRADE-OFFS, RIGHT? ARE WE ABLE TO DELIVER FEWER SIDEWALK MILES IF THE SCOPE AND COST OF THOSE SIDEWALK IMPROVEMENTS IS GREATER? UM, SO THERE, THERE'S SOME DISCUSSION TO BE HAD HERE. 
          UM, SO THESE ARE THE 12 RECOMMENDATIONS. 
          AS I MENTIONED. 
          WE ARE KIND OF OUT SHARING THIS, LOOKING FOR KIND OF THOUGHTS AND FEEDBACK FROM OUR, OUR CITY, UM, COMMISSIONS. 
          WE DID BRIEF COUNCIL MOBILITY COMMITTEE ON THIS BACK IN SEPTEMBER, UM, WHERE WE ARE NOW, UM, CERTAINLY EXCITED TO HEAR WHAT KIND OF THOUGHTS AND INPUT YOU HAVE, BUT WE WILL BE SHARING A MEMO TO MAYOR AND COUNCIL TOWARD THE END OF THE MONTH AFTER THESE COMMISSION BRIEFINGS ARE COMPLETE. 
          IT MAY ACTUALLY PUSH INTO NOVEMBER, GIVEN THAT OUR LAST ONE'S ON THE 27TH. 
          UM, BUT WE'RE GONNA, UM, ARTICULATE WITHIN THAT MEMO, UM, KIND OF OUR INTERDEPARTMENTAL PLAN FOR INCORPORATING THESE INTO KIND OF THE NEXT FEW YEARS OF, OF DEPARTMENT WORK PLANS. 
          UM, SO, UM, WITH THAT I'LL PAUSE AND LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          WHO HAS ANY QUESTIONS? JEN, GO AHEAD. 
          THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. 
          I BELIEVE YOU'RE COMING TO THE DESIGN COMMISSION ON MONDAY, SO LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING THIS AGAIN. 
          UM, YOU KNOW, STREET TREES HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CONFLICT ON A LOT OF THE PRODUCTS THAT WE'VE SEEN, JUST BECAUSE OF THE AUSTIN ENERGY IS ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE A HUGE BARRIER TO GETTING A LOT OF THIS GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE DONE. 
          HOW HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE IN WORKING WITH AUSTIN ENERGY TO, TO GET THIS CREATED? HOW HAS THAT EXPERIENCE BEEN? YEAH, WE'RE, UM, IN KIND OF THAT DISCUSSION RIGHT NOW, AND, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT WILLING PARTNERS THERE. 
          I THINK EVERYBODY, UM, ACROSS DEPARTMENTS, AUSTIN ENERGY, AUSTIN WATER, UH, DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, PLANNING, WE'RE ALL GONNA HAVE TO BE AT THE TABLE. 
          UM, BECAUSE REALLY THE, THE GOAL HERE IS TO RECONCILE THOSE VARIOUS, UM, RULES AND REGULATIONS AND FIGURE OUT HOW, HOW, HOW THESE CAN WORK BETTER TOGETHER. 
          UM, SO THEY'VE EXPRESSED, UM, CERTAIN, CERTAIN WILLINGNESS TO BE AT THE TABLE WITH US, UM, AND LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT. 
          YEAH, THAT'S REALLY GOOD TO HEAR. 
          I THINK ANOTHER ISSUE THAT WE HAD SEEN AS A BARRIER, THAT THERE WAS A GENTLEMAN THAT CAME TO SPEAK WITH US ABOUT TRANS FROM THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT, UM, ABOUT SOME OF THE CONSTRUCTION WORK THAT WAS BEING DONE AT THE INTERSECTIONS AND TO MAKE THEM ACCESSIBLE AND ALL THE CONCRETE WORK THAT WAS BEING PUT IN AND, AND, UM, AT EACH SIDE OF THAT INTERSECTION, UM, WHEN WE ASKED ABOUT TREES, IT WASN'T ON THE RADAR. 
          AND HE, AND SO WHEN WE ASKED HIM, HOW DO YOU COORDINATE THAT REQUIREMENT FOR STREET TREES? AND IT WAS, IT WAS NON-EXISTENT. 
          AND, AND YOU KNOW, THE, THAT RESPONSE WE GOT WAS, WELL, 
          [00:35:01]
YOU KNOW, YOU CAN COME BACK AND PLANT TREES, BUT OUR COMMENT WAS, YOU GOTTA HAVE IRRIGATION. 
          AND IF YOU'RE NOT PUTTING THE IRRIGATION IN WHEN YOU DO THE CONCRETE, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO, NOW YOU'RE INCURRING MORE COSTS TO TEAR THAT CONCRETE BACK UP AND DO IT. 
          IT'S NOT THAT EASY. 
          SO HOW HAS THAT OR Y'ALL'S COMMUNICATION WITH VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO STREAMLINE SOME OF THESE PROCESSES BEEN? YEAH, THAT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION. 
          UM, YEAH, THE FOCUS HERE IS NOT JUST ON PRIVATE DEVELOPMENTS, IT'S ON CAPITAL PROJECTS TOO. 
          AND AS WE UPDATE THE TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA MANUAL, WE'RE GONNA NEED TO DIVE INTO THOSE, THOSE DETAILS. 
          SO HOW FAR BACK ARE YOUR SETBACKS AT THE CORNER FOR TREES WHEN YOU NEED TO PROVIDE KIND OF, UM, VISION CLEARANCE AND SITE STOPPING DISTANCE, FOR EXAMPLE, AND, UM, WHEN YOU'RE PROVIDING A TREE, YES, EXACTLY. 
          WHAT KIND OF IRRIGATION NEEDS TO BE PROVIDED? AND EVEN FURTHER TO THE POINT, UM, WHAT TYPES OF PROJECTS AT WHAT SCALE, UM, SHOULD BE TRIGGERING STREET TREES. 
          UM, BECAUSE A LOT OF THE TIMES, YOU KNOW, FRANKLY, IT'S NOT THE TREE THAT'S EXPENSIVE, RIGHT? IT'S MOVING THE UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE THAT MIGHT BE PRECLUDING THE TREE, UM, AND INSTALLING THE IRRIGATION. 
          SO WE NEED TO THINK, I THINK, STRATEGICALLY ABOUT THOSE TRIGGER POINTS FOR BOTH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC PROJECTS. 
          UM, AND THEN THAT KIND OF EDUCATIONAL COMPONENT WHERE WE'RE UPDATING FOLKS ON, ON THE NEW REQUIREMENTS, THAT'S GOTTA HAPPEN INTERNALLY AND WE NEED TO TALK INTERNALLY ABOUT HOW WE SET UP THOSE CAPITAL PROJECT REVIEW SYSTEMS TO MAKE SURE WE'RE CATCHING THAT. 
          YEAH, AND I THINK, I THINK EVEN AT A MINIMUM TO PROVIDE PROVISIONS FOR, IF YOU'RE NOT INSTALLING THE TREES, PROVIDE THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR IT. 
          SO ROUGH IN RIGHT? FOR THE ROUGH IN FOR THE, THE FUTURE IRRIGATION. 
          GREAT COMMENT. 
          GREAT COMMENT. 
          AND LEAVING A PLANTABLE SPACE FOR A TREE. 
          YEAH. 
          YES. 
          GOOD COMMENT. 
          AND I GUESS MY LAST COMMENT WAS, IS ABOUT, UM, LOOKING AT THIS AS ON THE PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT SIDE, NOT ONLY COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT, BUT ALSO ON RESIDENTIAL TYPE PROJECTS, IS YOU'RE LOOKING AT EVERYTHING, UM, ACROSS THE BOARD. 
          WELL, RIGHT NOW, THE TRANSPORTATION CRITERIA MANUAL, UM, ONLY REQUIRES STREET TREES ON LEVEL TWO AND ABOVE STREETS. 
          UM, SO THAT EXCLUDES RESIDENTIAL STREETS, WHICH ARE THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR STREETS. 
          UM, THERE WOULD CERTAINLY BE, YOU KNOW, SOME COST IMPLICATIONS TO ROLLING IN, YOU KNOW, WHAT PERCENTAGE OF RESIDENTIAL STREETS ARE OURS, LIKE 75% OR SOMETHING. 
          I MEAN, A LOT OF STREETS. 
          UM, SO THAT WOULD IMPACT A LOT OF FOLKS. 
          UM, SO I DON'T HAVE A SOLID ANSWER FOR ARE WE GONNA EXPAND EXISTING REQUIREMENTS? UM, MY GUESS IS PROBABLY NOT IN A FIRST WAVE. 
          YEAH. 
          UM, JUST, JUST FOR THE KIND OF FISCAL IMPACT OF THAT ON, UM, AFFORDABLE HOUSING. 
          SURE, YEAH. 
          UM, YEAH. 
          BUT UNDERSTANDING THAT THAT IS, YOU KNOW, AS THE HOME INITIATIVE GOT PASSED AND HOW WE WERE CREATING MORE DENSITY IN, IN A LOT OF THESE, UH, RESIDENTIAL, UH, NEIGHBORHOODS, ACCESS TO TRANSPORTATION, PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IS IMPORTANT, BUT IF WE CAN'T CONNECT THEM WITH SIDEWALKS AND SHADED SIDEWALKS AT THAT, YOU KNOW, IT IS, WE START REALLY SHOOTING OURSELVES IN THE FOOT. 
          SO IT IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT, UM, I'D BE, YOU KNOW, INTERESTED IN KIND OF DIGGING INTO A LITTLE BIT FURTHER. 
          UM, BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. 
          LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU ON MY DAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          , HAVE A QUESTION. 
          OKAY. 
          WE'RE GONNA DO ANNA AND THEN RODRIGO. 
          YEAH. 
          THANK, THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          CAN YOU, CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? AM I SUPPOSED TO TAKE THIS OFF? NO. 
          OKAY. 
          I WAS GONNA SAY OTHERWISE, WE'LL  MOVE AWAY FROM POOR KIBA. 
          UM, NO, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS, UH, SUPER IMPORTANT STUFF. 
          UH, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE THE COMMENT, UM, YOU KNOW, I WAS IN BALTIMORE CITY A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO WHERE THERE WAS ALSO A BIG, BIG PUSH TO, TO DO, YOU KNOW, TO ADD TREES AND TO DO IT IN AN EQUITABLE WAY. 
          AND, AND ONE OF THE WAYS THAT, THAT WE ADDRESSED THIS AT THE TIME WAS JUST HONESTLY FOCUSING ON A COUPLE SELECT NEIGHBORHOODS, YOU KNOW, FROM AN EQUITY LENS. 
          UM, THERE WERE, YOU KNOW, A NUMBER OF, OF CHALLENGES THAT I HONESTLY, I DON'T THINK WILL, WILL FACE HERE. 
          LIKE THERE'S, THERE ARE MANY NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE PEOPLE ACTUALLY DON'T LIKE TREES. 
          UM, YEAH. 
          UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK THE CONTEXT HERE IS IT'S DIFFERENT CLIMATE, A LOT, A LOT OF DIFFERENT CONTEXTS. 
          UM, BUT I, I THINK IT'S POSSIBLE TO, TO OVERCOME SOME OF THESE, THESE EQUITY ISSUES BY THINKING ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW, INITIALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, THE TRANSIT NEED IS THERE. 
          IT'S CLEAR. 
          I'M, I'M ABLE TO GET AROUND WITH A, A VERY RAMBUNCTIOUS TODDLER AND A BIKE EVEN IN LIKE THE HEAT OF THE SUMMER, BUT I CAN ONLY GO LIKE FOUR PLACES, YOU KNOW? UM, SO, SO REALLY IMPORTANT. 
          UH, I, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE'S CITIES THAT HAVE MANAGED TO, TO DO THIS, I THINK TO, TO RESPOND TO THE FUNDING CONSTRAINT. 
          I THINK PROBABLY THEY, THERE WAS SOME FOUNDATION MONEY INVOLVED AS WELL TO DO THIS. 
          AND THERE'S, YOU KNOW, A NUMBER OF NON-PROFITS AND LIKE YOUTH WORKER ENGAGEMENT. 
          [00:40:01]
UM, SO IT ALL THIS TO SAY ENCOURAGE Y'ALL TO KEEP THINKING ABOUT THE, THE, THE EQUITY PORTION OF THIS. 
          UM, BUT I THINK THERE'S, THERE'S FOLKS OUT THERE WHO'VE ALREADY DONE IT, SO I DON'T THINK IT REALLY REQUIRES INVENTING, REINVENTING THE WHEEL TO GET THE TREES UP. 
          BUT YOU PROBABLY KNOW ALL THIS . 
          SO THANKS, RODRIGO. 
          UNLESS MICHELLE, DID YOU HAVE RESPONSE TO THAT? YEAH, NO, THANK YOU FOR THAT COMMENT. 
          UM, APPRECIATE THAT. 
          ALL RIGHT, RODRIGO AND THEN CHARLOTTE. 
          YEAH, NO, I'M, I'M GLAD THAT WAS BROUGHT UP. 
          'CAUSE I THINK THAT SHOULD BE, UH, AN IMPORTANT PART OF RECOMMENDATION NUMBER 11, RIGHT? UM, IN TERMS OF THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT PLAN. 
          AND MY QUESTION WAS ABOUT NUMBER 11 SPECIFICALLY. 
          UM, DO YOU ALL HAVE THE RESOURCES NECESSARY IN-HOUSE TO DEVELOP THAT PLAN? AND WHAT WOULD THE ROUGH TIMELINE BE FOR DEVELOPING A PLAN LIKE THAT? BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S A CRITICAL FIRST STEP TO GET, UM, KIND OF MAJOR TREE PLANTING PROJECTS GOING AND OTHER GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS MM-HMM . 
          UM, AND INTEGRATED INTO LIKE THE BUDGET AND STUFF LIKE THAT. 
          SO YEAH, TWO PART. 
          DO Y'ALL HAVE THE RESOURCE TO DO THE PLAN AND HOW LONG WOULD THAT TAKE? YEAH, UM, WE HAVE THE STAFF CAPACITY TO, UM, CONDUCT THE ANALYSIS AND DO THE PRIORITIZATION AND DEVELOP PROGRAMMATIC TARGETS AND DO THE MAPPING. 
          UM, WHAT WE DON'T HAVE THOUGH, IS A VERY GOOD INVENTORY OF THE STREET TREES THAT ARE OUT THERE TODAY AND THEIR CONDITION. 
          AND WE REALLY NEED THAT TO REALLY BETTER UNDERSTAND WHERE THE GAPS ARE. 
          UM, SO, YOU KNOW, I, I WOULD SEE THAT INVENTORY AS A FIRST STEP AND, UM, AND, AND YOU'RE RIGHT, WE NEED THAT IN PLACE SO THAT WE CAN START KIND OF MAKING INFILL PLANS. 
          UM, BUT AGAIN, I THINK WITHOUT THE REGULATORY BARRIERS REMOVED, WE'RE GONNA COME UP AGAINST, YOU KNOW, THE SAME BARRIERS WE ARE TODAY OF, OH, WELL I CAN'T PUT A TREE THERE BECAUSE THERE'S A WATERLINE IN THE WAY AND THERE'S NOT ENOUGH SPACE. 
          AND SO WE REALLY NEED TO, THAT'S WHY YOU'RE SEEING NUMBER 11 PROPOSED US LATER IN OUR SEQUENCE. 
          UM, IF I HAD TO GUESS, YOU KNOW, THAT IT, THAT WORK COULD STILL JUST BE, BE A COUPLE YEARS OUT. 
          IS THERE, IS THERE ANY WORLD WHERE THAT, LIKE, WORK ON THAT PLAN HAPPENS KIND OF IN PARALLEL? 'CAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S A CRITICAL STEP TO ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTING AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S KIND OF , IT'S KIND OF AN URGENT PRIORITY GIVEN THE FACT THAT LIKE, WE HAVE TREES THAT ARE DYING GIVEN THE FACT THAT IT'S GETTING HOTTER. 
          UM, WE KIND OF JUST LIKE NEED TO MOVE. 
          SURE. 
          UM, I THINK WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO TAKE ON KIND OF SMALLER SECTIONS AT A TIME. 
          UM, SO FOR EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW, I, I BELIEVE LIKE, UH, FOLKS IN DOWNTOWN ARE INTERESTED IN DOING A DOWNTOWN STREET TREE INVENTORY THAT WOULD HELP, YOU KNOW, GET US THE DATA SET WE NEED TO GET STARTED. 
          AND WE COULD THINK ABOUT ROLLOUTS IN THAT WAY. 
          WE COULD GET CREATIVE. 
          UM, SO YEAH, UM, I CAN KIND OF ASK MY TEAM TO THINK CREATIVELY. 
          UM, YOU KNOW, I DON'T WANNA UNDERSELL HOW MUCH WORK THE CRITERIA MANUAL UPDATES ARE GONNA BE. 
          THAT'S GONNA BE A HUGE LIFT, A HUGE LIFT. 
          UH, HI. 
          UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          THIS IS, I'M SUPER GLAD THAT WE'RE DOING THIS. 
          I THINK, UM, MANY, MANY PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE, UH, WILL CITE THE, YOU KNOW, THE GREEN SPACES AS A, YOU KNOW, A KEY REASON THAT, THAT THEY LOVE AUSTIN. 
          I KNOW I DO. 
          UM, I I HAVE TWO QUESTIONS. 
          ONE IS I DID NOT SEE, UM, UH, URBAN FORESTRY ON YOUR, ON YOUR LIST OF DEPARTMENTS THAT YOU'RE WORKING WITH MM-HMM . 
          AND I KNOW, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THIS COMMITTEE HAD RECOMMENDED, UH, A COUPLE OF TIMES, UH, IT HAS BEEN A CITYWIDE TREE INVENTORY FOR LIKE TO COUNT ALL OF THE TREES EVERYWHERE. 
          AND I KNOW WE HAD A QUITE THE PRICE TAG ATTACHED TO THAT. 
          UM, SO NOT SURE WHERE, WHERE THAT'S, UM, KIND OF LANDED, BUT I JUST WANTED TO SEE IF, IS THAT PART, UH, A DEPARTMENT THAT YOU'RE WORKING WITH ON, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO, TRYING TO GET THOSE, THAT INFORMATION? A HUNDRED PERCENT AND THAT MAY, UM, JUST BE MY FAULT FOR NOT INCLUDING THEM ON THE SLIDE. 
          I SHOULD HAVE. 
          THEY'RE DEFINITELY PART OF THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE WORKING GROUP. 
          UM, BOTH CITY FOREST FORESTRY, UM, AND THE CITY ARBORIST BOTH. 
          SO WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH, UM, YOU 
          [00:45:01]
KNOW, PROBABLY KNOW EMILY KING, UM, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, REVIEWING THE, THE SCOPE OF WORK SHE PUT TOGETHER FOR THAT STREET INVENTORY AND KIND OF BASING OUR NEED OFF OF THAT PRE, UM, THINKING THAT SHE'S DONE. 
          MM-HMM . 
          PERFECT. 
          AND MICHELLE, I SAW, UH, I SAW IT LISTED THROUGH, UH, OUR OFFICE BECAUSE URBAN FORESTRY HAS NOW MIGRATED TO OUR OFFICE. 
          YES. 
          SO I'D LOVE TO CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION ABOUT THIS CITYWIDE TREE INVENTORY. 
          IT'S CERTAINLY ON OUR RADAR AS THEY JOIN OUR TEAM. 
          AMAZING. 
          GREAT. 
          UM, AND I GUESS THE, THE OTHER THING IS KIND OF A, A, UM, SPECIFIC THING, BUT IN THE CRITERIA, HAVE YOU BEEN HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THINGS LIKE, SO I LEARNED THAT THERE'S A THING OF, UM, MALE TREES AND FEMALE TREES AND ONE OF THEM TENDS TO DROP A LOT OF MESSY TYPES OF, YOU KNOW, FRUIT ON THE GROUND AND CAN BE MESSY. 
          AND THEN THE OTHER TYPE GIVES PEOPLE LOTS OF ALLERGIES. 
          AND SO, UM, A LOT OF CITIES HAVE, UH, HAVE PLANTED LOTS OF, AND I CAN'T REMEMBER WHICH ONE, BUT THE TYPE THAT TENDS TO CAUSE ALLERGIES MORE, SO. 
          SO IS THAT SOMETHING, I KNOW THAT'S VERY GRANULAR AND SPECIFIC, BUT YOU KNOW, ARE THOSE PART, PART OF THE CONSIDERATION SET AROUND YOU KNOW, WHAT TO DO? YEAH. 
          THAT'S THE LAST THING WE NEED HERE, RIGHT? ? UM, IN MY MIND, NO, THAT HAS NOT COME UP. 
          BUT WHEN WE ARE UPDATING THAT TREE SPECIES LIST, I'M REALLY GOING TO BE LIKE DEFERRING SOME OF THOSE THAT THINKING TO THE CITY ARBORIST WHO I AM SURE THAT IS ABSOLUTELY ON HER RADAR, UM, YOU KNOW, I KNOW SHE'S BROUGHT UP THIS UPDATED, UM, TREE SPECIES LIST AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO THINK ABOUT BIODIVERSITY AND HOW DO WE START TO INSULATE OUR URBAN FOREST AGAINST NEW AND EMERGING PESTS, UM, THAT WE'RE SEEING IN OUR COMMUNITY AND HOW DO WE PREVENT MONOCULTURE. 
          UM, SO JUST KNOWING THE WAY SHE THINKS THAT PROBABLY IS ON HER RADAR, . 
          AWESOME. 
          WELL THANK YOU SO MUCH. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANKS. 
          I JUST WANTED TO FOLLOW UP ON, ON RODRIGO'S CONVERSATION AND, AND, AND OFFER THAT. 
          I THINK LIKE FOCUSING TO GET THE TREE INVENTORY FASTER. 
          THE COMMENT I WOULD, I WOULD OFFER IS, AGAIN, IF YOU GO THROUGH THAT EQUITY LENS, YOU, YOU CAN ACTUALLY GET LIKE GREENERY COVERAGE, LIKE PRETTY FAST AND EASY. 
          LIKE THERE'S SOME PRETTY DIRTY, CHEAP AND DIRTY METHODS THAT YOU CAN GET TO GET TO GREENERY COVERAGE THAT TELLS US WHERE THE GAPS ARE. 
          UM, AND IF YOU OVERLAY THAT WITH, YOU KNOW, SOME OF YOUR, YOUR WHAT YOUR EJ SCREEN OR SOME TYPE OF EQUITY METRIC YOU TEND, WHAT I'VE SEEN DONE IN OTHER CITIES IS THAT YOU TEND TO POP UP PRETTY FAST WITH LIKE A COUPLE KEY THINGS. 
          AND SO, YOU KNOW, I WOULD, I HAVEN'T DONE THAT WORK FOR THE CITY, BUT UH, YOU KNOW, I WOULD ENCOURAGE US TO CONSIDER SOMETHING LIKE THAT THAT ALLOWS US TO SAY, HEY, LIKE, WE'RE PROBABLY NOT GONNA GET OUR $6 MILLION LIKE, YOU KNOW, TREE INVENTORY, BUT, BUT WE PROBABLY COULD SITTING HERE, PUTTING OUR HEADS TOGETHER PRETTY QUICKLY, GET TOWARDS WHAT ARE THE NEEDS, UM, AND ALLOW US TO GET GOING. 
          UM, AND I THINK THE GOOD NEWS IS MAYBE SOME OF THE SKILLSETS OR DEPARTMENTS OR WHATEVER REQUIRED TO DO THAT PROBABLY GO IN PARALLEL WITH THE TYPES OF FOLKS WHO KNOW HOW TO WRITE CODE OR I'M JUST ASSUMING THAT BECAUSE I CAN TELL YOU HOW TO DO THE FORM AND I CAN'T TELL YOU ANYTHING ABOUT HOW TO WRITE THE CODE. 
          UM, BUT YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO ECHO RODRIGUEZ'S COMMENTS THAT I THINK WE COULD, I'D ENCOURAGE YOU GUYS TO THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT HOW IT'S POSSIBLE TO, TO RATHER THAN THINK COMPREHENSIVELY AGAIN, FIND SOME, I WON'T SAY SHORTCUTS, BUT MM-HMM . 
          FIND SOME WAYS TO FOCUS IN AND, AND DO SOMETHING RATHER THAN HAVING TO BOIL THE OCEAN OR WHATEVER. 
          YEAH, I APPRECIATE THAT COMMENT BOTH OF YOU. 
          UM, YEAH, I, YOU KNOW, I KNOW EMILY AND HER TEAM PUT, PUT THAT RFQ OUT AND GOT SOME FEEDBACK, SO, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE, THERE COULD BE OPPORTUNITIES TO JUST TAKE SMALLER BITES INSTEAD OF A FULL CONDITION ASSESSMENT. 
          YOU KNOW, TO YOUR POINT, CAN WE, IF WE'RE OUT TO RUNNING LIDAR ANYWAY, CAN WE GET SOME, SOME LIDAR, OUR CANOPY COVERAGE IN THE RIGHT OF WAY? AND, UM, YOU'RE RIGHT, MAYBE WE CAN TAKE SOME SMALLER BITES. 
          SO LET ME TAKE THAT BACK TO THE TEAM. 
          I APPRECIATE THAT AARON. 
          UM, SO BACKGROUND, RIGHT? I HAVEN'T, UH, NECESSARILY BEEN INVOLVED WITH THIS TYPE OF POLICY DEVELOPMENT, BUT YEAH, I, I AM LOOKING AT THE ARC, UH, GIS INFORMATION FOR LIKE THE TREE CANOPY RIGHT NOW. 
          I DON'T KNOW IF THAT, UH, IF THE RIGHT OF WAY TREE COVER, LIKE CANOPY COVERAGE CAN BE ISOLATED. 
          UM, BUT I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH, UM, WHAT THE TWO OTHERS HAVE, HAVE MENTIONED AROUND, UM, I, AT THE VERY LEAST, IDENTIFYING LIKE CERTAIN CORRIDORS, POCKETS, NEIGHBORHOODS, UM, ESPECIALLY IF THERE'S GONNA BE LIKE CITY INVESTMENT, UM, IN THOSE PLACES TO TALK ABOUT HOW THIS WOULD ALIGN WITH THOSE GOALS AND MAYBE APPROACHING THIS FROM LIKE A, A BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE. 
          [00:50:01]
I DO THINK THAT LIKE SOME INFORMATION THAT I DIDN'T HEAR IN THE PRESENTATION THAT WOULD BE VALUABLE TO UNDERSTAND IS HOW CAN THIS, UM, INCREASE LIKE ECONOMIC BENEFITS FOR THE CITY. 
          UM, PEOPLE HAVE MENTIONED ABOUT HOW THEY CAN ONLY GO, YOU KNOW, A FEW PLACES DUE TO, UM, LIKE THE HEAT, THE HEAT THAT THEY EXPERIENCE WHILE BIKING. 
          UM, SO I DO THINK FROM LIKE A BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE, HOW WOULD THAT COVERAGE LEAD TO INCREASED, UM, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE VISITING DIFFERENT POCKETS OF, OF THE CITY AND IT MIGHT LEAD TO INCREASED BUSINESS. 
          UM, THE LAST THING THAT I WAS GONNA SAY IS THAT, UM, WHAT ALSO WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL, I THINK IN ANY FUTURE PRESENTATIONS, AND I KNOW THE CITY OF, UH, COUNCIL REQUESTED YOU TO KIND OF CONDUCT THIS SURVEY AND TO COME BACK WITH RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, UNDERSTANDING KIND OF WHERE THE, THE TREE COVERAGE GOALS ARE AND HOW THIS PROJECT WOULD ALLOW US TO HIT THOSE GOALS OR EXCEED THOSE GOALS, UM, PARTICULARLY FOR CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS. 
          THAT WOULD ALSO BE REALLY HELPFUL INFORMATION TO UNDERSTAND AS WELL AS ANY, UM, IMPACT THAT IT MIGHT BE TO REDUCE, UM, I, I FORGET WHAT THEY CALLED IT, BUT LIKE ESSENTIALLY THE HEAT EXPERIENCED IN, UM, THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS. 
          UM, I THINK THAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL INFORMATION. 
          SO HOPEFULLY ONE OF THOSE THINGS WERE, WERE OF HELP TO YOU. 
          THANK YOU. 
          APPRECIATE THOSE COMMENTS, ANDY. 
          UM, YEAH, THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          JUST WANTED TO ECHO, UM, WHAT CHARLOTTE HAD MENTIONED ABOUT, UM, SPECIES SELECTION. 
          AND, AND I UNDERSTAND THAT, THAT YOU'RE NOT DEEP IN THE WEEDS ON THAT, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL JUST TO, UM, LIKE I, I CAN APPRECIATE THAT THERE'S ALREADY A LOT OF COMPLEXITY HERE AND SOMETIMES WHEN YOU STACK EVEN MORE COMPLEXITY THAN THINGS HAPPEN EVEN LESS, BUT HAVING SOME, UH, GUIDANCE AROUND ESPECIALLY BIODIVERSITY, UM, GOALS, JUST RECOGNIZING THAT NOT ALL TREES ARE EQUALLY BENEFICIAL, UM, FOR, UM, FOR A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT FACTORS. 
          AND THEN ALSO JUST THINKING ABOUT WAYS, UM, UM, OR WHEN, WHEN SUITABLE THINKING ABOUT WAYS THAT, UM, TREES CAN BE USED FOR, FOR FOOD, UM, PRODUCTION, WHETHER THAT'S FRUIT OR NOT. 
          UM, AND THERE COULD BE SOME REALLY INTERESTING WAYS TO ENGAGE. 
          I THINK THERE WOULD BE A LOT OF INTEREST FROM COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND ENGAGING IN SOME OF THAT. 
          SO I DON'T KNOW THAT IT WOULD ALL REST ON THE CITY, BUT HAVING THAT, THAT LENS, UM, ALSO I THINK WOULD BE REALLY VALUABLE. 
          THANK YOU. 
          I, I NOTICED ON THERE, I THINK IT WAS NUMBER EIGHT, UM, WAS REMOVING THE, UM, KIND OF THE LICENSING REQUIREMENT AND THEN I THINK NUMBER NINE, WAS THE CITY TAKING ON THAT RESPONSIBILITY. 
          UM, IS IT SAFE TO ASSUME THAT YOU WOULDN'T, YOU KNOW, REMOVE THE PRIVATE RESPONSIBILITY BEFORE THE CITY WAS READY TO STEP IN? IS THAT WHAT YOU MEANT WHEN YOU HAD PHASED APPROACH ON THERE? YEAH, THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN AS A BUNDLE. 
          UM, BEFORE WE, UM, STOP REQUIRING LICENSE AGREEMENTS, WE GOTTA HAVE A PLAN. 
          UM, AND THE PLAN MIGHT BE, UM, SHORT TERM, MEDIUM TERM, LONG TERM. 
          UM, SO WE, WE NEED TO RUN THAT EVALUATION AND UM, AND, AND FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT IS. 
          UM, BUT THERE IS A, I THINK A DESIRE TO MOVE QUICKLY ON THE LICENSE AGREEMENT ISSUE. 
          I THINK IT'S, UM, A PAIN FOR EVERYBODY INVOLVED. 
          . 
          YEAH. 
          AND, AND SO I GUESS THINKING ABOUT, I MEAN, I'M DEFINITELY IN FAVOR OF THE CITY IF, IF WE CAN FIND THE MONEY TAKING THAT RESPONSIBILITY ON, 'CAUSE I DO THINK IT WOULD BE MORE EFFECTIVE. 
          UM, BUT ALSO, YOU KNOW, IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT HAS BEEN A COST THAT DEVELOPERS HAVE BEEN BEARING. 
          AND SO I WONDER IS THERE OPPORTUNITY THERE FOR INSTEAD OF THEM TAKING ON THAT RESPONSIBILITY, HAVING TO DO THE WORK FOR HOWEVER MANY YEARS, PAY A FEE TO THE CITY TO HELP FUND THAT? IS THAT WHAT PART OF WHAT YOU'RE ENVISIONING IN THAT TRANSITION? YEAH, THAT WOULD DEFINITELY BE PART OF THE KIND OF ANALYSIS IS, UM, I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA IS IS THERE SOME SORT OF LIKE MAINTENANCE FEE, UM, FOR PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT, UM, TO HELP SEED A MAINTENANCE FUND? I THINK THAT'S DEFINITELY ON THE TABLE. 
          YEAH. 
          AND, AND, AND, OKAY, THAT'S GREAT. 
          AND, AND JUST KIND OF ALSO THINKING ABOUT LIKE THE FEES THAT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE LIKE A TRANSPORTATION USE FEE, WE HAVE A DRAINAGE FEE. 
          UM, AS FAR AS I'M AWARE, THE ONLY THING FOR TREES IS LIKE AN OPTIONAL THING TO DONATE ON YOUR AUSTIN ENERGY BILL, WHICH I'M NOT. 
          DOES THAT GO TOWARDS MAINTENANCE OR IS IT TREE PLANTING? RIGHT. 
          THERE'S SOMETHING WITH TREES THAT YOU CAN 
          [00:55:01]
DONATE TO. 
          IT DOESN'T GO TOWARD THE RIGHT OF WAY  TO MY KNOWLEDGE, YEAH. 
          RIGHT AWAY. 
          OKAY. 
          SO IT DOESN'T HELP AT ALL FOR THIS. 
          SO I WONDER LIKE, I MEAN, I KNOW PEOPLE DON'T LIKE TO HEAR IT, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE PERHAPS THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT MAYBE IT'S PART OF THAT TRANSPORTATION USE FEE. 
          I DON'T KNOW. 
          UM, BUT TREES ARE AT LEAST POPULAR, SO IT MIGHT BE THE KIND OF THING THAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY WOULDN'T FEEL SO NEGATIVELY PERHAPS ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, CHIPPING IN TO, TO MAKE OUR STREETS MORE INVITING. 
          YEAH, I THINK THIS IS A, A TOPIC THAT CAME UP AT URBAN TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION. 
          UM, THINKING ABOUT WOULD, WOULD YOU ALL LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, THE CURRENT TOUGH OR, UM, IF, IF A NEW FEE IS APPROPRIATE, UM, YES, WE WANNA EVALUATE ALL OF THOSE OPTIONS, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT THE COST BENEFIT, WE'RE ALSO GONNA BE VERY CAUTIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING THAT'S GONNA INCREASE THE COST OF, OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AND, UM, YOU KNOW, ANY, AND WHEN WE, WE DEFINITELY WANNA THINK ABOUT YEAH, THE PERCEIVED AND REAL, UM, COST LOAD TO FOLKS AND FEE LOAD. 
          SO, UM, WE WANNA PUT ALL OF THOSE ON THE TABLE AND JUST DAYLIGHT, PRO CON, PRO CON, PRO CON. 
          UM, AND, AND I THINK THAT THOSE FEE OPTIONS SHOULD DEFINITELY BE PART OF THAT ANALYSIS FOR SURE. 
          OKAY. 
          YEAH, WE JUST GOT A, UH, PRESENTATION AT THE ELECTRIC UTILITY COMMISSION THAT WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, IN, IN INCLUSIVE OF, OF THE, A BUNCH OF FEES IN TERMS OF THE CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AND, AND KIND OF LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S NOT JUST REDUCING ELECTRIC BILLS, BUT WATER AND THE DRAINAGE FEE. 
          AND, AND IT DID, YOU KNOW, DOES MAKE ME THINK THAT POTENTIALLY YOU COULD TAKE A SIMILAR APPROACH. 
          SO THE, YOU KNOW, LOW INCOME RESIDENTS AND PERHAPS AFFORDABLE HOUSING BUILDINGS, LIKE, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD EXEMPT OR PARTIALLY EXEMPT CERTAIN SEGMENTS USING THAT SAME APPROACH THAT'S ALREADY BEING USED SEEMS LIKE IF YOU CAN GET A DISCOUNT ON DRAINAGE, WHY NOT ON YOUR TREE FEE, YOU KNOW, OR WHATEVER ELSE. 
          SO YEAH, GOOD COMMENT. 
          WHAT IS THE, HAVE YOU STARTED TO CALCULATE LIKE BALLPARK WHAT KIND OF MONEY WOULD BE NEEDED FOR THE CITY TO TAKE THIS ON FULLY? UM, I'VE ASKED MY TEAM AT, FOR URBAN FORESTRY TO START TO RUN THE MATH. 
          UM, AND UH, YEAH, IT'S, IT'S IN THE TENS OF MILLIONS A YEAR, UM, WITH, WITH, YOU KNOW, 30,000 FOOT LEVEL ASSUMPTION OF COURSE. 
          AND, UM, SO, UM, LIKE 20 MILLION OR BETWEEN 10 AND 20 IS, IS THE BACK OF THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN MATH. 
          OKAY. 
          UM, BUT EVEN THAT FEELS LIKE A BIG BITE RIGHT NOW. 
          . 
          I MEAN IT'S BIG, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS BIGGER THAN THAT. 
          SURE, SURE. 
          SO YEAH, I THINK, I THINK WE COULD START, WE SHOULD THINK ABOUT SOLUTIONS THERE. 
          OKAY. 
          UM, I HOPE I DIDN'T MISS, OKAY. 
          YES, THERE'S ANOTHER QUESTION. 
          GO AHEAD ANDY. 
          SORRY, JUST WANTED TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT NUMBER. 
          IS THAT FOR ANNUAL MAINTENANCE, IF IT WERE TO SHIFT OVER TO THE CITY THAT AT 10 TO 20 MILLION OR IS THAT FOR, UM, THE, THE PLANTING WORK MAINTENANCE? ARE THERE ANY OTHER HANDS THAT HAVE BEEN MISSING? IT'S A LITTLE HARD TO SEE SOMETIMES. 
          ANYBODY ELSE? ANNA? I JUST WANNA OFFER THE COMMENT THAT AS A, WHEN I WAS IN BALTIMORE AS A CITIZEN, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I FELT LIKE WAS REALLY EFFECTIVE IS THEY MADE IT VERY POSSIBLE TO, TO, AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN, TO GO OUT AND DO THIS WORK FOR YOURSELF. 
          AND AGAIN, I'M GUESSING THAT MIGHT NOT HAVE EVEN BEEN CHEAPER, BUT LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE IDEA THAT YOU COULD SURGE THIS IN LIKE A COUPLE KEY NEIGHBORHOODS AND THEN EMPOWER PEOPLE TO GO OUT AND DO THIS ON, ON THEIR OWN. 
          I'M GUESSING THAT THAT MATH, IF YOU'RE DIVIDED UP AMONGST ALL THE CITIZENS SHOULD COME UP WITH LIKE, SHOULD BE LESS THAN ONE TREE PER CITIZEN, RIGHT? AND SO I THINK THERE'S SOME EMPOWERED PEOPLE WHO DO REALLY WANT TO GO OUT AND, AND, AND, AND DO THIS, AND THOSE PEOPLE ARE RANDOMLY DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE CITY, NOT NECESSARILY IN ANY PARTICULAR TYPE OF NEIGHBORHOOD. 
          SO JUST, YOU KNOW, AS WE'RE THINKING ABOUT COSTS, I THINK BOTH FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF MAKING SURE PEOPLE FEEL INTERESTED IN THIS, I I ENCOURAGE YOU TO DO THIS IN A WAY THAT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO, TO FEEL OWNERSHIP. 
          UM, WHETHER THAT'S ICING ON THE CAKES SUCH THAT PEOPLE FEEL A PART OF IT, OR, YOU KNOW, REAL OWNERSHIP IN, IN THAT WE'RE RELYING ON CITIZENS TO DO THE WORK. 
          YEAH. 
          APPRECIATE THAT COMMENT. 
          I DON'T KNOW IF THAT GETS THE COST ON THAT. 
          YEAH, THAT IS  THAT'S A GOOD POINT. 
          I MEAN, I KNOW THAT LIKE WHEN IT COMES TO TREE PLANTING AND PER MAINTENANCE, THOSE EVENTS SEEM TO BE QUITE POPULAR, SO MAYBE THERE'S A WAY TO YEAH. 
          TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT. 
          I ALSO WAS WONDERING, UM, 
          [01:00:01]
ABOUT THE, UM, AUSTIN CONSERVATION CORPS. 
          IS THAT, UM, A POSSIBLE AVENUE FOR SOME OF THIS WORK TO HAPPEN THROUGH THAT PROGRAM? ABSOLUTELY. 
          YOU KNOW, WHEN I TALK ABOUT A SPECTRUM OF OPTIONS, YOU KNOW, THOSE PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES, UM, ARE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT SPECTRUM AND WE WANNA EXPLORE THAT. 
          UM, I KNOW SOME IDEAS, UM, THAT HAVE BEEN KIND OF PUT ON THE TABLE ARE WITH OUR NEW INFRASTRUCTURE ACADEMY, ARE THERE OPPORTUNITIES TO HELP TRAIN PEOPLE, UM, IN, UM, UH, KIND OF THE, THE WORLD OF ARBOR ARBOR ARBOR MAINTENANCE, , UM, YOU KNOW, MAKE SURE PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO, HOW TO TRIM AND PRUNE TREES CORRECTLY. 
          UM, AND CAN WE DEVELOP THOSE PARTNERSHIPS WITH, WITH THIRD PARTIES, UM, THE, YOU KNOW, IN OTHER CITIES THERE ARE FRIENDS OF TREES GROUPS, UM, THAT CERTAINLY WITH THE PLANTING, UM, BUT WILL HELP FOLKS, YOU KNOW, GET THE PERMIT THEY NEED TO, TO DO THE BIG, YOU KNOW, TREE TRIMMING AND PRUNING IN THE RIGHT OF WAY, UM, AND ASSIST PEOPLE WITH THAT PROCESS. 
          SO THERE IS THAT MIDDLE SPECTRUM WE WANNA EXPLORE. 
          GREAT. 
          SO, SO YOU MENTIONED THE INFRASTRUCTURE ACADEMY, BUT THEN THERE'S ALSO THE AUSTIN CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS, I GUESS. 
          DO YOU SEE THOSE BOTH AS POTENTIAL PATHWAYS? YES. 
          YES, FOR SURE. 
          OKAY. 
          UM, AND I KNOW AC CC JUST GOT ANOTHER NEW HOME OVER AT WATERSHED, SO, UM, YEAH. 
          THAT, THAT PROGRAM KEEPS MOVING AROUND, BUT IT'S STILL ALIVE. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          UM, THIS HAS BEEN GREAT. 
          I THINK WE'VE GOT ALL THE, THE QUESTIONS ANSWERED, SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION, UM, AND HOPE EVERYTHING GOES WELL AT COUNCIL. 
          THANK YOU. 
          APPRECIATE THE, THE FEEDBACK AND INPUT Y'ALL. 
          YEAH. 
          COME BACK SOON. 
          ALRIGHT, UH, NEXT UP 
          [3. Staff briefing related to response to Council Resolution 20241121-073 regarding Bird Friendly design. Presentation by Leslie Lily, Environmental Conservation Program Manager,  Austin Watershed Protection.]
WE'VE GOT A STAFF BRIEFING ON BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN. 
          THIS ONE'S GONNA BE LESLIE LILY, I BELIEVE THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION PROGRAM MANAGER AT WATERSHED. 
          WELCOME EVENING, UH, JOINT SUSTAINABILITY. 
          I, I CAN'T HEAR YOU. 
          I THINK YOU, OKAY. 
          THERE WE GO. 
          GOOD EVENING. 
          JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE. 
          THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING US THIS EVENING. 
          UH, MY NAME IS LESLIE LILY. 
          I AM THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION PROGRAM MANAGER AT WATERSHED PROTECTION AND I OVERSEE THE POLICY TEAM. 
          AND TONIGHT I'M GONNA TALK TO YOU ABOUT, UH, BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN. 
          THIS IS, UM, THIS HAS BEEN A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT WITH SEVERAL DIFFERENT CITY DEPARTMENTS, UM, INCLUDING, UH, LOTS OF HELP FROM OUR COLLEAGUES AT THE AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, GREEN BUILDING, UH, IN THE AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM. 
          UH, OKAY, HERE WE GO. 
          SO LET'S SEE IF WE CAN GET, THAT'S OKAY. 
          LOOK AT THAT GREAT LITTLE HUMMINGBIRD. 
          WE LOVE HUMMINGBIRDS. 
          OKAY. 
          SO, UH, LOTS OF DIFFERENT CITY UH, DEPARTMENTS HAVE PARTICIPATED, UH, LOTS OF STAFF FROM WATERSHED PROTECTION, AS I MENTIONED, THE AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT, AND ACTUALLY THERE'S SEVERAL MORE STAFF THAT HAVE PARTICIPATED, UH, FROM THE REVIEW SIDE OF THINGS. 
          UH, OUR BUILDING SERVICES DEPARTMENT, WHICH IS ACTUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR IMPLEMENTING OUR LIGHTS OUT ORDINANCE, UH, ANIMAL SERVICES, AND ALSO OUR PLANNING DEPARTMENT. 
          SO THIS RESOLUTION THAT WE ARE RESPONDING TO WAS INITIATED AND APPROVED BY CITY COUNCIL. 
          UM, OF NO, IN NOVEMBER OF LAST YEAR. 
          AND THAT WORK WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF A, HAD A HISTORY OF COMING OUT OF BOTH A, UH, RESOLUTION PROPOSED BY THE ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION, AND THEN ALSO THE LIGHTS OUT RESOLUTION THAT WAS APPROVED BY CITY COUNCIL IN 2021. 
          AND IN THE RESOLUTION THAT WE'RE RESPONDING TO THAT WAS APPROVED LAST YEAR BY CITY COUNCIL, IT DIRECTED STAFF TO DO FOUR THINGS. 
          AND THAT WAS TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON, UH, LIGHTS OUT AUSTIN, THE ORDINANCE THAT WAS APPROVED IN 2021, UH, TO DEVELOP A REPORT THAT EXPLORED THE INTEGRATION OF BIRD FRIENDLY BUILDING TECHNIQUES IN NEW, UH, LOW, MID, AND HIGH RISE BUILDINGS. 
          CONDUCT A FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS ON THE, UH, POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF NEW REQUIREMENTS 
          [01:05:01]
FOR BUILDINGS WITH BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN REQUIREMENTS, AND THEN SEEKING INPUT FROM STAKEHOLDERS, DEVELOPERS, ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS, AND THE PUBLIC. 
          AND THAT INCLUDES ALL OF YOU TONIGHT. 
          UH, SO WHY IS BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN IMPORTANT IN AUSTIN? SO, AUSTIN WAS DESIGNATED AS A BIRD CITY IN 2023 FOR GOOD REASON BECAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF VERY DEDICATED ENVIRONMENTAL FOLKS, OUR LOCAL AUDUBON SOCIETY. 
          AND THE REASON THAT IS, IS BECAUSE WE HAVE AN INCREDIBLE DIVERSITY OF BIRDS HERE IN AUSTIN. 
          WE SIT AT, UH, RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF NORTH AMERICA'S CENTRAL FLYWAY. 
          SO DURING, UH, MIGRATION IN BOTH THE SPRING AND THE FALL, WE CAN SEE MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF BIRDS FLY THROUGH AUSTIN IN ANY ONE NIGHT. 
          SO LAST WEEK THERE WAS A NIGHT, UM, WHERE THERE WAS OVER FOUR AND A HALF MILLION BIRDS IN TRAVIS COUNTY IN ONE NIGHT. 
          THERE'S AN AMAZING RESOURCE CALLED BIRD CAST THAT PROVIDES RADAR DATA AND ESTIMATES OF BIRDS FLYING THROUGH NORTH AMERICA. 
          AND ON A PRETTY TYPICAL PEAK MIGRATION NIGHT, THERE'S GONNA BE MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF BIRDS FLYING JUST THROUGH TRAVIS COUNTY. 
          UM, WE CAN SEE IN TRAVIS, NOT JUST IN TRAVIS COUNTY, BUT WITHIN 60 MILES OF AUSTIN, OVER 400 SPECIES OF BIRDS. 
          IT'S INCREDIBLE THE AMOUNT OF DIVERSITY THAT WE CAN FIND HERE. 
          WE'RE IN A REALLY SPECIAL PLACE IN CENTRAL TEXAS WHERE WE HAVE THIS CONVERGENCE OF TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF HABITATS, THE EDWARDS PLATEAU, AND THEN THE BLACKLAND PRAIRIE HABITATS. 
          SO IT SUPPORTS A LOT OF DIFFERENT, UH, TYPES OF BIRDS, AND IT IS ALSO A REALLY PREMIER DESTINATION FOR BIRD WATCHERS. 
          AS YOU CAN SEE, WE'VE GOT OUR LITTLE GOLDEN CHEEK WARBLER PICTURE HERE. 
          PEOPLE COME FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO CHECK THIS OFF ON THEIR LIFE LIST WHEN THEY'RE LOOKING, UH, TO GET MORE WARBLERS ON THEIR LIST. 
          AND BECAUSE OF THE CONTRIBUTION OF BIRDING, YOU KNOW, IT GENERATES A LOT OF MONEY NATIONALLY. 
          US FISH AND WILDLIFE DID AN ECONOMIC IMPACT ANALYSIS SHOWING THAT, UM, BIRDING CONTRIBUTED $279 BILLION NATIONWIDE, ANNUALLY, AND THAT GENERATES, UH, MORE THAN $5 BILLION IN TEXAS, UM, IN ECOTOURISM AND OTHER BIRDING RELATED ACTIVITIES. 
          SO IT'S IMPORTANT, YOU KNOW, IT'S A, HAS A BIG ECONOMIC DRIVER AND A BIG DIVERSITY IMPACT. 
          SO WHAT IS THE PROBLEM AND WHY DO WE CARE ABOUT BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN IN PARTICULAR AS IT RELATES TO BUILDINGS? WELL, BIRDS, BECAUSE OF THEIR PHYSIOLOGY AND THEIR ABILITY AND THE PLACEMENT OF THEIR EYES, THEY ARE NOT VERY GOOD AT PERCEIVING GLASS. 
          AND SO THEY COLLIDE WITH GLASS DURING THE DAYTIME BECAUSE THEY, UH, PERCEIVE IT AS, UH, NAVIGABLE SPACE, EITHER WHEN IT'S TRANSLUCENT THAT THEY CAN, UH, FLY THROUGH IT, OR THE REFLECTED HABITAT BEHIND OR ADJACENT TO A BUILDING APPEARS AS IF IT'S A SPACE THAT A BIRD CAN FLY INTO. 
          AND THIS IS AMPLIFIED BY PROBLEMS WITH, UH, ARTIFICIAL LIGHT AT NIGHT OR LIGHT POLLUTION, WHICH, UM, ATTRACTS BIRDS THAT ARE MIGRATING. 
          BIRDS TYPICALLY MIGRATE DURING THE NIGHT, AND THE LIGHT POLLUTION THAT OCCURS, UH, FROM CITIES AND BUILDINGS WILL ATTRACT MIGRATING BIRDS, DISORIENTING THEM AND, AND DRAWING THEM INTO URBAN SPACES WHERE THEY THEN BECOME CONFUSED AND COLLIDE WITH, UH, GLASS AT BUILDING SURFACES. 
          SO, UH, BUILDING COLLISIONS, UH, CAUSE AN ESTIMATED 1 BILLION BIRDS DYING EVERY SINGLE YEAR, WHICH IS QUITE IN NORTH AMERICA, UM, WHICH IS QUITE A LOT. 
          ABOUT 2 BILLION BIRDS ARE ESTIMATED TO, UH, MIGRATE EVERY SINGLE YEAR. 
          NOT ALL BIRDS MIGRATE, SO WE'VE GOT A LOT OF RESIDENT BIRDS, UM, BUT THAT IS A LOT OF BIRDS AND THE DECLINE OF BIRD POPULATIONS IS WELL DOCUMENTED, AND THIS IS A, A, A LARGE CONTRIBUTING FORCE. 
          SO WHAT ARE SOME SOLUTIONS THAT WE CAN IMPLEMENT TO HELP, UH, DETER BIRD COLLISIONS? THE PRIMARY ONE IS GLASS STRATEGIES. 
          SO THERE'S LOTS OF DIFFERENT, UH, TREATMENTS THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO GLASS TO REDUCE, UH, BIRD COLLISION. 
          THAT INCLUDES, UM, YOU KNOW, SOLAR SHADING, ACTUAL PHYSICAL, UH, TREATMENTS LIKE, UH, EXTERIOR SCREENS, UH, SHADING, STUFF LIKE THAT. 
          OR THERE IS TREATMENTS THAT ARE USUALLY DONE ON COMMERCIAL GLASS. 
          IT'S UV COATING, GLAZING, I MEAN, ETCHED AND FRITTED GLASS PATTERNS. 
          AND THOSE PATTERNS HAVE TO FOLLOW A PARTICULAR SIZE. 
          SO THERE IS A DEFINED SIZE, A TWO BY TWO RULE, AND THAT TWO BY TWO RULE IS DEFINED BY OUR SMALLEST MIGRATING BIRDS, WHICH ARE HUMMINGBIRDS. 
          AND THEY'RE PARTICULARLY IMPACTED BY, UH, COLLISION WITH, UH, GLASS BUILDINGS. 
          SO ON THE RIGHT YOU CAN SEE JUST A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT EXAMPLES OF KIND OF DESIGNS. 
          AND THE ONE ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT IS ACTUALLY THE GOOGLE SALE BUILDING THAT IS JUST A COUPLE BLOCKS AWAY FROM HERE. 
          THEY'RE ONE OF THE FEW BUILDINGS THAT HAVE IMPLEMENTED THESE KIND OF, UH, TREATMENTS ON THEIR, UH, ON THE GLASS OF THEIR BUILDING. 
          SO WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, BIRD 
          [01:10:01]
FRIENDLY DESIGN, WE'RE ALSO TALKING ABOUT LIGHTING. 
          AND WE DO ALREADY HAVE A LOT OF, UM, UH, REGULATIONS RELATED TO LIGHTING, BUT THERE IS MORE THAT WE CAN DO TO REDUCE LIGHT POLLUTION. 
          IT'S, YOU KNOW, FOR EXTERIOR LIGHTING, IT'S ELIMINATING UPLIGHTING USING FULLY SHIELDED FIXTURES, THAT DIRECT LIGHT DOWNWARD VO UH, AVOIDING EVENT SEARCH LIGHTS. 
          UM, MIGRATING BIRDS REALLY WILL BE DRAWN INTO URBAN SPACES THAT HAVE BIG, UH, EVENTS, SEARCH LIGHTS KIND OF POINTING UP INTO THE SKY, ALSO HAVING LIGHTING ON TIMERS AND LIGHT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS THAT WILL TURN OFF LIGHTS WHEN THEY'RE NOT IN USE AT NIGHT OR ARE ON, UH, UH, MOTION ACTIVATED SYSTEMS. ADDITIONALLY, ALL OF THESE THINGS AND DARK SKY LIGHTING IS BENEFICIAL TO BATS, AND WE'VE GOT QUITE A LARGE URBAN BAT COLONY HERE, UH, AND ON THE CONGRESS BRIDGE. 
          AND THEY ALSO BENEFIT, UH, LOTS OF OTHER, UM, ANIMALS AND WILDLIFE, AND THEY ACTUALLY BENEFIT THE REDUCTION IN LIGHT POLLUTION BENEFITS US TOO. 
          ANOTHER THING THAT CAN, UH, HELP REDUCE, UH, THE IMPACT OF LIGHT POLLUTION IS USING WARMER LIGHT BULBS. 
          SO INSTEAD OF USING THESE BLUE OR WHITE COLORED, UH, BULBS, WHICH ARE THE HOTTER, YOU KNOW, UH, TEMPERATURES, UH, OR THE, LIKE HIGHER KELVIN TEMPERATURES, YOU USE THE LOWER KELVIN TEMPERATURES, WHICH ARE ACTUALLY REPRESENT THOSE WARMER COLORS, THE YELLOWS, THE ORANGES, AND THE REDS. 
          THEY HAVE LESS OF AN IMPACT ON WILDLIFE, UM, IN TERMS OF DISORIENTING THEM. 
          AND THEN WITH INTERIOR, UH, LIGHTING, THERE CAN BE PROGRAMMED AUTOMATIC CONTROLS IN YOUR BUILDINGS AND WINDOW TREATMENTS THAT REDUCE THE TRESPASS OF LIGHT FROM INSIDE INTO THE EXTERIOR SPACE. 
          AND THEN SCHEDULING JANITORIAL SERVICES AROUND DAYLIGHT HOURS. 
          THAT IS ACTUALLY A PART OF THE LIGHTS OUT ORDINANCE THAT'S CURRENTLY IN EFFECT AND GETS USED BY OUR BUILDING SERVICES DEPARTMENT DURING PEAK MIGRATION. 
          UM, WHEN WE WERE DOING THIS REPORT AND DEVELOPING, UH, THE CONSIDERATIONS THAT WE ARE PLANNING ON BRINGING FORWARD TO CITY COUNCIL AND THAT WE'VE LAID OUT IN THE REPORT THAT WE PROVIDED IN BACKUP, WE INTERVIEWED A LOT OF OTHER CITIES. 
          SO FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS, THERE HAVE BEEN LOTS OF NEW ORDINANCES THAT HAVE BEEN PASSED BY CITIES ALL OVER NORTH AMERICA, AND WE INTERVIEWED SIX DIFFERENT CITIES. 
          AND NEW YORK AND ARLINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA IN PARTICULAR WERE INTERESTING BECAUSE NEW YORK IN 2021 PASSED A PRETTY SWEEPING AND HUGE ORDINANCE THAT, UH, REQUIRED THAT A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THEIR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS, WHICH IN NEW YORK IS ALL OF THEIR BUILDINGS, UH, REQUIRED THAT 90% OF THE FIRST 75 FEET OF NEW BUILDINGS HAVE BIRD FRIENDLY MATERIALS. 
          AND THAT STRUCTURES THAT ARE HIGH RISK LIKE GLASS AWNINGS OR HANDRAILS, OR THE GLASS THAT MIGHT BE AROUND SOME GREEN ROOF AREAS, WOULD ALSO HAVE TO HAVE BIRD FRIENDLY MATERIAL. 
          AND THAT, THAT THREAT FACTOR. 
          AND THE THREAT FACTOR IS A PERFORMANCE RATING THAT DEFINES HOW WELL A, UH, GLASS IS RATED TO REDUCE BIRD COLLISION. 
          THAT THAT THREAT FACTOR WOULD BE 25 OR LESS. 
          IN ARLINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA, THEY HAVE A VERY INTERESTING, UH, ALTERNATIVE TAKE, WHICH IS ACTUALLY A VOLUNTARY DENSITY BONUS INITIATIVE. 
          SO SIMILAR TO OUR GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM, THEY HAVE A GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM THAT IN EXCHANGE FOR COMPLYING WITH THEIR GREEN BUILDING REQUIREMENTS, THEY PROVIDE DENSITY BONUS, AND THEY HAVE A VERY HIGH PARTICIPATION RATE IN THIS DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM, ONE OF THE FEW VOLUNTARY PROGRAMS IN THE COUNTRY THAT'S REALLY EFFECTIVE. 
          AND THE WAY THAT THEY REQUIRE THEIR BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN IS FROM FACADES STARTING AT EIGHT FEET ABOVE GRADE TO 36 FEET WITH A MAXIMUM WEIGHTED AVERAGE OF A THREAT FACTOR OF 15. 
          AND THEN THERE'S SOME EXCEPTIONS. 
          UM, THEY ALSO INCLUDE OUTDOOR LIGHTING REQUIREMENTS AND, UH, NON-COMPLIANT PROJECTS DO HAVE A WAY TO, UH, UH, PROVIDE, UH, VARYING FROM THE REQUIREMENT. 
          OKAY. 
          SO WHAT DOES BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN LOOK LIKE IN AUSTIN RIGHT NOW? WELL, IN OUR AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM, THERE ARE SIMILAR TO LIKE LEAD RATING, THERE ARE DIFFERENT MEASURES THAT AN APPLICANT CAN COMPLY WITH TO GET THEIR RATING SCORE. 
          THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ZONING IN AUSTIN THAT REQUIRE A BUILDING, HAVE A GREEN BUILDING RATING, INCLUDING OUR PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENTS. 
          SO ALL OF THE BUILDINGS IN A PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH A TWO TWO STAR RATING, AND THEY, THOSE BUILDINGS CAN CHOOSE TO USE GREEN, UH, BIRD COLLISION DETERRENCE CRITERIA AND LIGHT POLLUTION REDUCTION CRITERIA AS A PART OF THEIR RATING. 
          SO WE HAVE ALREADY DEVELOPED, AUSTIN ENERGY HAS ALREADY DEVELOPED CRITERIA THAT IS WITHIN 
          [01:15:01]
THE REALM OF, YOU KNOW, COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS IN AUSTIN. 
          AND WE ALSO HAVE GLASS AND LIGHTING REQUIREMENTS IN OUR LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, BOTH IN OUR SITE DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS, IN OUR BUILDING DESIGN STANDARDS IN THE HILL COUNTRY ROADWAY OVERLAY. 
          AND THEN IN SEVERAL OTHER ZONING DISTRICTS, THERE ARE ALREADY LIGHTING AND GLASS GLAZING REQUIREMENTS, REFLECTIVITY REQUIREMENTS. 
          SO THESE KIND OF REGULATIONS DO ALREADY EXIST IN OUR LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE. 
          WHEN WE WERE THEN CONSIDERING WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE FOR AUSTIN TO POTENTIALLY ADOPT REQUIREMENTS LIKE SOME OF THE OTHER CITIES HAD DONE? WE, IN OUR FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS, TALKED TO A LOT OF MANUFACTURERS TO UNDERSTAND THE COST OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF PRODUCTS AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET. 
          WE TALKED TO OUR REVIEWERS AND WE DID A, A LOT OF KIND OF PLAYING OUT WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE, WHAT IT WOULD COST FOR REGULATIONS TO BE IN EFFECT IN AUSTIN. 
          AND AFTER TALKING TO SEVERAL MANUFACTURERS AND LOTS OF ARCHITECTS, WE, YOU KNOW, CAME UP WITH A, A GENERAL PER SQUARE FOOT COST WHERE STANDARD UNTREATED GLASS IS GONNA RANGE ABOUT 12 TO 15, UH, DOLLARS A SQUARE FOOT FRITTED GLASS, WHICH WAS ONE OF THE TREATMENTS THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO COMMERCIAL GLASS IS IN THE 15 TO 25 RANGE, ETCHED IN THE 25 TO 35 AND ULTRAVIOLET COATING THE 32 TO 45 RANGE. 
          NOW, I WILL PROVIDE A CAVEAT THAT THESE DO HAVE A BIG, THE, THE MANUFACTURER OF THESE GLASSES IS HUGELY IMPACTED BY THE PLANTS THAT MANUFACTURE AND CREATE THESE GLASSES. 
          AND RIGHT NOW A LOT OF THIS HAS TO BE SHIPPED TO CANADA, BUT IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT A NEW PLANT IS ACTUALLY BEING BUILT IN HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, WHICH WOULD REDUCE THE COST OF, UH, ET GLASS. 
          UM, ALSO IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT NOT ALL SURFACES OF EVERY PIECE OF GLASS THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED TO COMPLY WOULD HAVE TO BE TREATED. 
          SO MOST WINDOWS, THERE'S MULTIPLE PANES OF GLASS THAT ARE REQUIRED IN THE, THE BUILDING OF THAT WINDOW UNIT, MAYBE ONE, MAYBE TWO, MAYBE THREE, AND ONLY ONE SURFACE OF THE GLASS WOULD REQUIRE THIS TREATMENT. 
          ADDITIONALLY, THERE'S NOT ANY ORDINANCES OR ANY REQUIREMENTS OR REALLY ANY SUGGESTIONS THAT THERE SHOULD BE MORE THAN A HUNDRED FEET FROM GRADE OF GLASS TREATED. 
          SO THE ACTUAL COST FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL PROJECT, IT REALLY DOES VARY, AND IT'S HARD TO FULLY DEFINE WHAT IT WOULD COST LIKE ACROSS THE BOARD. 
          ALL OF THE CITIES THAT WE INTERVIEWED HAD DIFFERENT FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS. 
          NEW YORK SAID THAT IT WOULDN'T REALLY HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON THE COST OF THEIR BUILDINGS. 
          BERKELEY ON THE OTHER HAND, SAID IT WAS VERY COMPLICATED, AND IT WAS SUCH A CASE BY CASE BASIS THAT THEY COULDN'T MAKE, YOU KNOW, A, A DEFINITIVE, UH, STATEMENT ACROSS THE BOARD OF WHAT IT WOULD COST. 
          BUT WE DID A GET A SQUARE FOOT COST FOR THE GLASS ITSELF. 
          WHEN IT COMES TO LIGHTING, HOWEVER, LIGHTING IS REALLY AN INFORMED DECISION BECAUSE THE LIGHTING MATERIALS, THE LIGHTING, UH, PLANS THAT ARE MADE CAN BE DONE IN SUCH A WAY THAT WITH CURRENT AND, YOU KNOW, STANDARD, UH, LIGHTING FIXTURES, IT CAN BE DONE WITH WHAT IS ON THE MARKET AND WHAT IS ALREADY TYPICALLY USED. 
          IT'S REALLY JUST AN INFORMED DECISION MAKING, UH, SOLUTION THAT CAN BE DO THAT CAN BE INCORPORATED. 
          AND ALSO THE INTRODUCTION OF AUTOMATIC LIGHTING CONTROLS, WELL, WHEN YOU TURN OFF THE LIGHTS, COSTS LESS MONEY. 
          UM, ONE OTHER THING THAT I WILL SAY IS, AND I'LL JUST GO BACK REALLY QUICKLY, ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT TREATMENTS, THE FRITTED, THE ETCHED, AND THE UV LIGHTING, THERE WAS A STUDY DONE BY A FIRM IN, IN NEW YORK THAT DID A BOX STUDY EXAMINING THE ENERGY EFFICIENT, UH, UH, THE USAGE OF EACH ONE OF THESE TREATMENTS. 
          AND THERE WAS A REDUCTION IN ENERGY, UH, REQUIREMENTS FOR EACH ONE OF THESE TREATMENTS COMPARED TO THE STANDARD UNTREATED GLASS. 
          SO THERE ARE A LOT OF BENEFITS BEYOND JUST THE BIRD COLLISION DETERRENT PROPERTIES THAT THESE TREATMENTS THAT THESE, UM, THESE PATTERNED, UH, TREATMENTS ON THE WINDOWS PROVIDE WHEN IT COMES TO FEASIBILITY WITH, UH, REVIEW AND INSPECTION, WE DID A COUPLE OF COMMERCIAL PLAN, UH, REVIEWS WITH OUR DSD BUILDING PLAN EXAMINERS TO LOOK LIKE WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK, LOOK TO SEE HOW IT WOULD AFFECT THEIR REVIEW TIMES. 
          AND WE, AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING STAFF SAT DOWN AND WE EXAMINED A BUILDING AND USED A, YOU KNOW, USED THE CRITERIA THAT WE MIGHT SUGGEST IN A REGULATION THAT WOULD APPLY TO CITY BUILDING. 
          AND WHAT WE 
          [01:20:01]
FOUND WAS THAT COMM COMMERCIAL PLAN REVIEWERS, THEY ALREADY LOOK AT THE FACADES IN THE GLASS OF BUILDINGS FOR COMMERCIAL PLANS THAT ARE OVER 10,000 SQUARE FEET. 
          SO THEY'RE ALREADY LOOKING AT THAT PARTICULAR COMPONENT OF A BUILDING. 
          AND IN OUR LITTLE EXERCISE TO INCLUDE BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN REQUIREMENTS, UH, IT SEEMED PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD FOR BUILDINGS THAT ARE IN EXCESS OF 10,000 SQUARE FEET TO HAVE THIS ADDITIONAL COMPONENT REVIEWED. 
          UM, AUSTIN ENERGY, LIKE I SAID, THE GREEN BUILDING STAFF ARE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH THE REVIEW CRITERIA SINCE THEY ALREADY DO THAT AS A PART OF THEIR GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM. 
          SO THEY CAN PROVIDE INFORMATION AND TRAINING FOR ANY REVIEW STAFF THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED TO REVIEW THIS KIND OF, UM, REQUIREMENT. 
          AND THEN LASTLY, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S INTERESTED IN SOMETHING THAT I FOUND PRETTY INTERESTING IN EVERY, IN EVERY CITY THAT WE INTERVIEWED RELATED TO HOW COMPLIANCE IS DETERMINED, IT REALLY WAS ON A COMPLAINT BASED BASIS. 
          SO IF A BUILDING IS, YOU KNOW, THEY CHANGE THEIR LIGHTS OR THEY REPLACE ALL OF THEIR GLASS, IF THERE IS COMPLAINTS, THEN THAT'S HOW THEY, UH, DEAL WITH COMPLIANCE. 
          SO WE UNDERSTAND THAT THAT IS, THAT'S JUST THE, THE INDUSTRY STANDARD ACROSS ALL OF THE CITIES THAT HAVE THESE ORDINANCES IN PLACE. 
          NOW, WE ARE, UH, WE'VE DEVELOPED SOME INITIAL STAFF CONSIDERATIONS FOR OUR RESPONSE TO THIS RESOLUTION, AND THEY KIND OF BREAK DOWN INTO THREE DIFFERENT COMPONENTS. 
          ONE IS, UH, AN AMENDMENT TO OUR LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE, SUCH THAT COMMERCIAL AND MULTIFAMILY BUILDINGS EXCEEDING 10,000 SQUARE FEET WOULD BE REQUIRED TO MEET BIRD SAFE DESIGN PERFORMANCE STANDARDS AS MEASURED BY A MATERIAL THREAT FACTOR RATING OF 20 OR LESS FOR BUILDINGS UP TO A HUNDRED FEET FROM GRADE. 
          AND THAT THOSE BUILDING WOULD ALSO BE REQUIRED TO IMPLEMENT DARK SKY LIGHTING REQUIREMENTS. 
          AND THAT WE, IN COLLABORATION WITH, UH, THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, WOULD DEVELOP A POTENTIAL WAIVER OPTION FOR DEEPLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS. 
          SO JUST TO KIND OF GIVE YOU, UM, UH, AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE LANDSCAPE OF BUILDINGS THAT EXIST IN AUSTIN, THERE IS ABOUT 800,000 LOW-RISE BUILDINGS. 
          THERE'S ABOUT 18,000 MID-RISE BUILDINGS, AND THERE'S A COUPLE HUNDRED HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS THAT EXIST IN THE AUSTIN LANDSCAPE. 
          SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT COMMERCIAL AND MULTI-FAMILY BUILDINGS, A LOT OF THEM ARE GONNA BE LOW-RISE BUILDINGS, LOW RISE ARE LIKE ONE TO FOUR STORY BUILDINGS. 
          SO IF YOU CAN IMAGINE THESE REGULATIONS, THAT'S WHAT THE MAJORITY OF BUILDINGS, COMMERCIAL MULTIFAMILY WOULD HAVE. 
          THIS, THIS REQUIREMENT APPLIED TO THEM. 
          UM, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE BIG THINGS THAT WE THOUGHT ABOUT IS RESIDENTIAL OPPORTUNITY, LIKE RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS, SINCE THE CITY IS PRIMARILY MADE UP OF RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURES, HOWEVER, THERE ARE NO RESIDENTIAL PRODUCTS AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET FOR HOME BUILDERS TO BUILD THEIR HOMES WITH BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN MATERIALS. 
          SO ONE OF OUR OTHER CONSIDERATIONS THAT WE ARE PUTTING INTO OUR REPORT IS DOING A WIDESPREAD RESIDENTIAL EDUCATION CAMPAIGN WITH OUR ANIMAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT AND OUR ANIMAL PROTECTION OFFICERS WHO ARE ALREADY OUT IN THE COMMUNITY TALKING TO HOAS ABOUT THE ANIMALS, THE WILDLIFE, AND THE BIRDS THAT THEY ENCOUNTER. 
          AND SO THE LAST CONSIDERATION THAT WE ARE ASKING FOR SOME FEEDBACK TODAY IS, UH, YOU KNOW, AN UPDATE TO THE AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM. 
          SO THERE'S ALREADY AN UPDATE PLANNED FOR 2030, AND WE WANT TO WORK COLLABORATIVELY WITH AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, IN THAT 2030 UPDATE OF THEIR GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM TO PROPOSE ELEVATING BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN AS A CORE MEASURE. 
          NOW THAT WOULD, YOU KNOW, HAVE A, AN INTERESTING INTERACTION WITH ANY LAND DEVELOPMENT, UH, CODE REQUIREMENTS THAT MIGHT COME FORWARD. 
          SO THAT ONE IS, YOU KNOW, WE JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE WOULD BE, UH, COORDINATING CLOSELY WITH THEM ALONGSIDE COORDINATING WITH THEM WITH THE UPDATED GREEN BUILDING POLICY. 
          AND THAT IS THE POLICY THAT REGULATES HOW OUR CITY BUILDINGS ARE CONSTRUCTED. 
          UM, SO WITH THAT, JUST THIS IS THE TIMELINE THAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW. 
          WE HAVE ALREADY TAKEN THIS, UH, PRESENTATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION AND ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION. 
          WE ARE, UH, PRESENTING TO THIS COMMITTEE TONIGHT. 
          WE WILL GO TO DESIGN COMMISSION ON MONDAY. 
          UM, WE WILL THEN, UH, GO TO PLANNING COMMISSION AND DOWNTOWN COMMISSION IN NOVEMBER IN ADVANCE OF PRESENTING THIS TO THE CITY MANAGER AND CITY COUNCIL. 
          AND WITH THAT, THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS, HAPPY TO ANSWER THEM. 
          THANK YOU. 
          ALL RIGHT. 
          UH, 
          [01:25:01]
LET HOLD, GIMME A SECOND. 
          I'M TRYING TO, OKAY, WE'VE GOT, PETER, YOU CAN GO FIRST. 
          OKAY. 
          SO I HAVE A CLARIFYING QUESTION, UM, RELATED TO THE FACADES OF THESE BUILDINGS AND THE THREAT FACTOR, UM, I THINK, UH, WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF BUILDINGS, UH, TEND MORE TOWARDS FULLY GLASS FACADES OR MORE GLASS BEING INCLUDED IN THESE FACADES. 
          DOES THE THREAT FACTOR MEASURE THAT, UH, YOU USE, TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN, UH, THAT GLASS VERSUS MATERIALS? THE WAY I'M TRYING TO ASK THIS IS, CAN A BIRD TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FLAT WALL WITH GLASS IN IT OR FLAT GLASS WALL? THEY, THEY CAN. 
          SO OPAQUE MATERIALS LIKE A BRICK WALL HAS A THREAT FACTOR OF ZERO. 
          HOWEVER, UH, THE, THE, THE WAY THAT YOU GET, UH, A GLASS FACADE TO THESE DIFFERENT THREAT FACTORS IS USING THE PATTERNS OF FRIT, WHICH IS LIKE A PIECE OF CERAMIC THAT'S BAKED ONTO THE GLASS AND ETCHING, WHICH CAN BE DONE WITH ACID OR LASERS OR A UV COATING. 
          AND THAT MATERIAL IS SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN SEE, AND THAT'S HOW YOU, UH, AFFECT THE ABILITY FOR BIRDS TO SEE THAT SURFACE. 
          I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN AS A FOLLOW UP TO THIS, UH, TO KNOW A LITTLE BIT MORE WHY, UH, OUR BUILDINGS, OBVIOUSLY THERE IS SOME DESIGN OR, OR AESTHETIC PURPOSE, UH, THAT SOME OF OUR BUILDINGS HAVE TENDED TOWARDS THIS, UH, GLASS, MAJORLY GLASS FACADE, BUT WOULD BE INTERESTED TO SEE WHAT IS DRIVING SOME OF THAT, AND IF WE CAN MAYBE IT ON TOP OF ADDING THIS REQUIREMENT, OR IN LIEU OF ADDING THIS REQUIREMENT TO GLASS INCENTIVIZE, UH, DIFFERENT STYLES OF FACADES. 
          I HOPE THAT MADE SENSE. 
          I THINK THAT THERE, I MEAN, I LOVE THE IDEA OF INCENTIVIZING DIFFERENT FACADE TYPES. 
          OUR, I THINK OUR CENTRAL LIBRARY IS A REALLY GREAT EXAMPLE OF REALLY UNIQUE FACADES AND ACTUALLY HAS A LOT OF UNINTENTIONAL BIRD FRIENDLY FACADES BECAUSE OF ALL OF THE DIFFERENT METAL MESHES THAT ARE, UH, MADE OVER THE, THE LIKE LITTLE AWNINGS AND ALL THOSE, THE WAY OUR, OUR CENTRAL LIBRARY HAS A LOT OF REALLY UNIQUE DESIGN ELEMENTS. 
          SO INCORPORATING UNIQUE DESIGN ELEMENTS IS DEFINITELY A PART OF THE BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN CONVERSATION. 
          AND THERE ARE SEVERAL EXAMPLES OF UNINTENTIONAL BIRD FRIENDLY BUILDINGS BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN MADE WITH UNIQUE, UM, FACADE MATERIALS. 
          SO I, I'M ALWAYS IN FAVOR OF IT. 
          THE GLASS REFLECTIVITY DOES HAVE A PARTICULAR LOOK TO IT. 
          I THINK THAT IS REALLY A POPULAR IN AUSTIN, ESPECIALLY FOR THE HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS. 
          BUT AGAIN, WE'RE ACTUALLY NOT PROPOSING ANY CHANGES TO BUILDINGS THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, ABOVE A HUNDRED FEET. 
          AND A LOT OF PARKING GARAGES MAKE UP A LOT OF THE FIRST SEVERAL FLOORS OF THOSE HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS. 
           CHARLOTTE. 
          YEAH. 
          THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          THAT WAS SUPER INTERESTING. 
          UM, JUST A QUESTION ABOUT THE, THE HEIGHT MM-HMM . 
          LIKE SOME, YOU SAID SOME OF THE NEW YORK REQUIRES THINGS OVER 75 FEET, UH, OR THE FIRST 75 FEET, OR 90% OF THE FIRST 75. 
          LIKE WHEN THE BIRDS ARE MIGRATING, ARE THEY FLYING THAT LOW? LIKE WHY ARE WE DISREGARDING THE TALLER TREATMENTS? YEAH, BIRDS TREATMENTS, BIRDS WHEN, WHEN THEY'RE MIGRATING, THEY'RE, UH, THEY'RE FLYING AT LIKE A THOUSAND FEET. 
          SO THEY'RE WELL ABOVE THE, UH, THE HIGHEST BUILDINGS. 
          SO THEY'RE NOT INTERACTING WITH BUILDINGS UNTIL THEY COME DOWN INTO THE URBAN CORE. 
          THE AMERICAN BIRD CONSERVANCY IS THE ORGANIZATION THAT HAS DEFINED THE, THE, THAT A HUNDRED FEET AS THE BEST RANGE THAT REPRESENTS, UH, A MATURE CANOPY WHERE BIRDS ARE MORE LI MOST LIKELY TO OCCUR DURING THE DAY, WHICH IS WHEN BIRD STRIKES ARE GONNA HAPPEN, IS DURING THE DAY. 
          GOT IT. 
          THANK YOU. 
          YEAH, JOHN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION AND LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING IT AGAIN ON MONDAY. 
          YEAH, . 
          UM, MY QUESTION HAS TO DO WITH THE FRUITED GLASS AND IF THERE IS A REQUIREMENT OR IF IT'S PREFERABLE ON UNDERSTANDING HOW, YOU KNOW, THIS TYPICAL WINDOW SYSTEM HAS FOUR, UH, FOUR LITTLE, I GUESS, LEVELS OF 
          [01:30:01]
GLASS. 
          SO WHETHER THAT FRITTED GLASS IS ON THE SECOND, WHICH WOULD BE THE BACK OF THE FIRST PANE, OR THE FIRST OR THE FRONT OF THAT SECOND PANE. 
          YEAH. 
          UM, IF THAT'S A PREFERENCE OR IF THAT'S A, WOULD BE AN IDEAL REQUIREMENT. 
          THE NUMBER ONE SURFACE IS THE PREFERRED SURFACE FOR OKAY, SO THE OUTSIDE YEAH, THE OUTSIDE SURFACE. 
          YES. 
          THAT'S CORRECT ON, AND YOU TOUCHED ON THIS A LITTLE BIT WITH THE MID-RISE, UM, THOSE WINDOWS, TYPICALLY THEY GO INTO THE FOUR STORY MULTI-FAMILY STICK-BUILT MM-HMM . 
          UH, TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
          THOSE ALL COME IN ONE UNIT. 
          SO THERE'S NOT UNLIKE THIS, YOU KNOW, COMMERCIAL WORK WHERE YOU GET THE FRAMES PUT UP AND THEN YOU INSTALL THE GLAZING. 
          UM, SO IT'S HARDER TO GET A FRITTED GLASS FOR RESIDENTIAL STYLE OF UNITS. 
          YEAH. 
          IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY TO, TO PROVIDE ANY TYPE OF, I'LL CALL 'EM TEMPORARY DECAL TYPE, UH, MEASURES THAT COULD MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE 20 OR LESS ON THE, UH, MATERIAL THREAT FACTOR? YES, ABSOLUTELY. 
          SO THERE ARE A LOT OF, UM, AFTER LIKE RETROFIT MAT UH, PRODUCTS ON THE MARKET THAT INCLUDE LOTS OF DOTS THAT CAN BE INSTALLED, UH, AFTER THE FACT, THERE'S A LOT OF BUILDINGS THAT HAVE HAD A LOT OF REPORTED BIRD COLLISIONS, AND IN THEIR EFFORT TO MAKE THEIR BUILDINGS BIRD FRIENDLY, THEY DIDN'T REPLACE ALL THE GLASS. 
          THEY HAD AN AFTERMARKET OR, YOU KNOW, UH, A RETROFIT PRODUCTS THAT THEY PUT ON THEIR, UH, ON THEIR WINDOWS. 
          THE ONE BUILDING THAT WE HAVE THAT HAS A REALLY, UH, LOW THREAT FACTOR IS THE, UM, A, UH, THE, THERE IS THE, THERE'S THIS BUILDING AT THE AIRPORT, THEIR, UH, THEIR IT BUILDING, AND THEY HAVE ALL FACADES MEETING THREAT FACTOR 15 BELOW, AND THEY HAVE THE DECALS ON ALL OF THE LOWER WINDOWS THAT ARE NOT OPAQUE. 
          SO SOME OF THE WINDOWS ARE OPAQUE, AND THEN THE REST THAT ARE TRANSLUCENT HAVE ALL OF THE DECALS ON THEM. 
          AND IN THE REPORT WE HAVE SOME PICTURES OF THOSE DECALS. 
          YEAH, I THINK, I THINK IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR, YOU KNOW, THOSE MID-RISE BUILDINGS THAT HAVE THOSE RESIDENTIAL STYLE UNIT OR WINDOWS IN THEM. 
          ABSOLUTELY. 
          UM, MY, I GUESS MY THIRD COMMENT QUESTION, IT HAS TO DO WITH BIOPHILIC DESIGN AS WE BRIEFLY TOUCHED ON. 
          UM, OBVIOUSLY THAT'S GOING TO, YOU KNOW, CALCULATE INTO THIS 20, UH, THIS MATERIAL THREAT FACTOR, UM, ON THE OVERALL DESIGN. 
          UM, AND I'M, I'M ASSUMING EVERYTHING IT'S INCENTIVIZED AS WELL AS THE FRUITED GLASS OF, OF A BIOPHILIC DESIGN THAT WOULD NOT REQUIRE FRUITED GLASS, BUT THE DESIGN ITSELF OF THE BUILDING KIND OF COVERS THAT GLAZING. 
          RIGHT. 
          SO THERE ARE A LOT OF GREAT, BEAUTIFUL LIKE SHADE STRUCTURES MM-HMM . 
          THAT PROVIDE NOT ONLY BIRD COLLISION DETERRENT PROPERTIES, BUT SHADE THE BUILDING. 
          AND I THINK SOME OF THE EXAMPLES THAT EXIST ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, AND THERE'S A LOT OF PICTURES IN THE, IN THE REPORT AND MAYBE I'LL ADD SOME MORE OF THOSE PICTURES IN THE NEXT REPORT OF ALL OF THE DESIGN ELEMENTS THAT HAVE FACTORED INTO THESE BUILDINGS FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE AESTHETIC IMPROVEMENT. 
          AND IT JUST BEING A REALLY NEAT LOOKING BUILDING THAT'S ALSO DETERRING BIRDS FROM RUNNING INTO THE GLASS. 
          YEAH. 
          I THINK IF IT CAN BE, YOU KNOW, INTEGRATED INTO THE DESIGN ABSOLUTELY. 
          PRETTY SEAMLESSLY, IT'S A REALLY BEAUTIFUL FEATURE. 
          YEAH. 
          UM, WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF UPDATING OUR URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES AND THAT REALLY IS SPECIFIC TO THE DOWNTOWN AREA. 
          UH, BUT ONE OF THE GUIDELINES THAT WE DO HAVE IS ABOUT, I THINK, UP TO A HUNDRED FEET OF THAT BUILDING, UH, TO INCORPORATE BIRD FRIENDLY GLAZING OR BIOPHILIC DESIGN. 
          YEAH. 
          SO, UM, AND, AND I THINK THE BIOPHILIC DESIGN, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF, ALL OF THE ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS, I MEAN, I CAN'T EMPHASIZE ENOUGH THE REDUCTION IN ENERGY COSTS YEAH. 
          THAT ALL OF THOSE PROVIDE. 
          SO THERE'S MULTIPLE BENEFITS THAT ARE PROVIDED IN, IN DESIGNING FOR BIRD FRIENDLY BUILDINGS. 
          AGREED. 
          YEAH, I AGREE. 
          WELL, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION AND WE'LL SEE YOU ON MONDAY. 
          YEAH, THANK YOU. 
          SO IT SOUNDS LIKE DECALS ARE, IS THAT THE MAIN WAY THAT YOU CAN RETROFIT A BUILDING OR ARE THERE OTHER STRATEGIES? SO THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER STRATEGIES THAT ARE AVAILABLE. 
          UM, IF, IF YOU'RE A RESIDENT. 
          SO YOU COULD LIKE PAINT ON YOUR WINDOWS, YOU CAN STRING, UH, YOU KNOW, PUT LIKE NETTING IN FRONT OF THE WINDOW. 
          YOU CAN PUT SOLAR SCREENS, WHICH ARE ALSO, THERE'S AN INCENTIVE FROM AUSTIN ENERGY TO, UH, AN INCENTIVE TO PUT IN SOLAR SCREENS 'CAUSE IT REDUCES YOUR ENERGY COSTS. 
          AND THEY'RE ALSO VERY EFFECTIVE BIRD COLLISION DETERRENT MATERIALS. 
          UH, INSECT SCREENS ALSO ARE GREAT BIRD COLLISION DETERRENT MATERIALS. 
          [01:35:01]
THE DECALS ARE, WHEN YOU START LOOKING AT LIKE LARGER SCALE RETROFITS ARE THE MOST, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE THE EASIEST TO APPLY, BUT THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER KINDS OF WINDOW TREATMENTS, UH, LOTS OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF MATERIALS ON THE MARKET. 
          HOW LONG DO THEY LAST? SO THE, THE HIGHEST QUALITY LIKE DECALS ARE ABOUT 15 YEAR, UH, UH, TIME, LIKE LIFESPAN FOR THOSE. 
          THE TREATED GLASS THOUGH IS A PART OF THE GLASS BECAUSE IT GETS BAKED IN LIKE THE FRIT OR THE ETCHING. 
          OKAY. 
          AND SO, I MEAN, DO YOU HAVE AN ESTIMATE OF LIKE, ABOUT WHAT THAT WOULD COST, YOU KNOW, TO DO THE FIRST A HUNDRED FEET OF A, OF A FULLY, LIKE, OF A FULL FULLY GLAZED ONE OF THESE GLASS BUILDINGS? I MEAN, IT, IT REALLY DOES, IT REALLY DOES DEPEND ON HOW BIG THE BUILDING IS. 
          YOU KNOW, IT IS, AND IT DEPENDS ON THE MATERIAL THAT YOU USE, BUT WE HAVE THE PER, PER THE SQUARE FOOT COST. 
          SO IF IT'S ALL GLASS, YOU KNOW, THE, THE STANDARD I'M TALKING ABOUT DOING THE DECALING. 
          OH, THE DECALING, OH, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY. 
          YOU KNOW, HEARING THAT NO, THAT WE'VE GOT GOOGLE DOING THIS AND THEY'RE LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE ONE IT WAS, IT SEEMS LIKE WE HAVE A LOT OF GLASS BUILDINGS DOWN HERE. 
          MAYBE WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT. 
          YES. 
          SO THE, THE RETROFIT COST IS ABOUT, I THINK IT'S $12 A SQUARE FOOT FOR THE MATERIAL AND ABOUT 12 $15 FOR INSTALLATION. 
          OKAY. 
          ANNA. 
          YEAH. 
          AND FOLLOWING UP ON THAT, IF, IF INSTEAD YOU WANTED TO DO SOMETHING LIKE ADD, I DON'T THINK I'M USING THE RIGHT TERMS HERE, BUT LIKE, I THINK WHAT YOU'RE CALLING THE BIOPHILIC DESIGN, WHICH IN MY HEAD I'M THINKING ABOUT LIKE WOODEN CLADDING OR LIKE MOBI FROM LIKE THE MIDDLE EAST TYPE THINGS. 
          LIKE IF YOU WANTED TO PUT, I DUNNO, A BUNCH OF PLANKS ON SOME VERTICAL POLES, THIS PROBABLY HAS ARCHITECTURE WORDS IN IT, BUT LIKE WHAT ARE THE COSTS FOR DOING THAT, FOR EXAMPLE, LIKE, IS THAT OUTRAGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE? LIKE, IS THERE, IS NOBODY EVER GONNA LIKE, RETROFIT THESE GLASS BUILDINGS WITH THINGS ON THE OUTSIDE? SO IT'S LIKE NOT EVEN WORTH ASKING THE QUESTION, IS THIS LIKE A THING YOU HAVE TO BUILD FROM THE GET GO? UM, THE MOST COST EFFICIENT WAY IS TO, TO DO THE NEW CONSTRUCTION. 
          AND THAT'S, AND THAT'S WHAT WE ARE CONSIDERING. 
          WE'RE NOT, UM, NECESSARILY CONSIDERING THAT. 
          AND, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE RECOMMEND NEW REGULATIONS, THEY DON'T NECESSARILY REQUIRE THAT EVERY BUILDING, EVERY CONSTRUCTION IMMEDIATELY CAN COMPLY WITH IT. 
          IT'S JUST ALL NEW DEVELOPMENT AFTER THE PASSAGE OF A NEW REGULATION HAS TO COMPLY WITH THAT REGULATION. 
          SO IT WOULD BE GREAT IF THERE, IF THERE WAS A WAY TO INCENTIVIZE THE, THE ADOPTION OF RETROFIT BIRD FRIENDLY, UH, FACADES AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE WANT TO, TO INCORPORATE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE JUST MAKING ONE SINGLE CON, I MEAN, JUST A CONSIDERATION FOR CITY COUNCIL THAT WILL THEN, UH, PUT IT IN THEIR HANDS TO ACT ON, ON, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER THEY WANT TO DO WITH OUR RECOMMENDATION. 
          YEAH, DEFINITELY. 
          I REALIZE, UH, AND, AND YEAH, I'LL, I'LL COME BACK TO YOU PETER, UM, THAT, YEAH, WE'RE NOT GONNA REQUIRE SOMETHING OF BUILDINGS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN CONSTRUCTED, BUT AN INCENTIVE PROGRAM SEEMS, UM, PERHAPS LIKE A GOOD IDEA GIVEN THAT WE'VE ALREADY HAD A MAJOR BOOM IN GLASS BUILDING CONSTRUCTION HERE AND THEY'RE NOT GONNA GO AWAY ANYTIME SOON. 
          UM, PETER, SORRY. 
          SO I HAVE A QUESTION AS TO IF THERE'S ANY, UH, HAVE BEEN ANY STUDIES AS TO THE LARGER SCALE OF THIS, UH, AS WE HAVE NEW BUILDINGS POTENTIALLY IMPLEMENTING THIS, UH, BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN. 
          IS THERE A, UH, CUMULATIVE EFFECT? UH, DOES IT ALMOST SORT OF EXPAND OUTSIDE? SO I'M THINKING IN A GEOGRAPHIC TERM, YOU MAY HAVE A BUILDING IN THE MIDDLE OF A NUMBER OF OTHER BUILDINGS THAT ARE, UH, USING THIS DESIGN AND YOU GATHER MORE THAN YOU WOULD OTHERWISE BECAUSE YOU ARE, UH, IT'S GOTTEN TO A CERTAIN POINT. 
          UM, I THINK I UNDERSTAND WHERE, WHERE YOU'RE GETTING AT. 
          SO WITH LEAD CERTIFICATION, YOU'RE REQUIRED, LIKE, SO LEAD HAS SOME PILOT CREDITS RELATED TO BIRD COLLISION DETERRENCE, AND THERE IS A MONITORING REQUIREMENT, UH, SAME WITH OUR AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING CRITERIA. 
          THEY MONITOR BIRD STRIKES. 
          AND SINCE THESE ORDINANCES AND REGULATIONS HAVEN'T BEEN AROUND FOR MORE THAN A COUPLE OF DECADES AND HAVE ONLY NOW STARTED TO REALLY GAIN A LOT OF MOMENTUM ENOUGH SO THAT IT'S HAVING PRETTY BIG IMPACTS ON LIKE THE MANUFACTURERS THAT PROVIDE THESE MATERIALS, THERE'S MORE DATA COMING OUT ABOUT WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AND THE MODELS 
          [01:40:01]
THERE. 
          THERE IS A REALLY, REALLY PRELIMINARY MODEL THAT SAYS HOW MANY BUILDINGS YOU HAVE OF THESE DIFFERENT TYPES WILL RESULT IN THIS MANY BIRD COLLISIONS. 
          SO IT'S VERY BASIC AT THIS TIME, BUT AS MORE DATA IS COLLECTED, AS MORE BUILDINGS HAVE MONITORING PROGRAMS FOR THEIR BIRD FRIENDLY BUILDINGS THAT WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE, I THINK AND ANSWER SOME OF THE QUESTIONS MAYBE THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE GETTING AT RELATED TO LIKE HOW IT IMPACTS REGIONS IN WITHIN A CITY. 
          AND I'LL ADD THE REASON WHY I THINK MM-HMM  IS THAT IF WE HAVE A CERTAIN LEVEL OF REGULATION THAT ONCE IT HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED ACROSS SAY, TWO OR THREE DECADES OF NEW CONSTRUCTION, THAT MAY ACTUALLY BE MORE RESTRICTIVE THAN WHAT WE NEED OR WANT BECAUSE WE'VE GATHERED THOSE CUMULATIVE EFFECTS. 
          UH, SO KEEPING AN EYE ON THIS, I'M SURE IS SOMETHING THAT YOU PLAN TO DO OR THAT THE CITY PLANS TO DO. 
          I JUST WANT TO KEEP THAT IN MIND AS WE GO THROUGH WITH, UH, IMPLEMENTING THIS KIND OF POLICY. 
          YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. 
          AND I THINK IT'S BEEN REALLY HELPFUL TO, UM, HAVE LOTS OF COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE OTHER CITIES THAT HAVE IMPLEMENTED THEIR BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN ORDINANCES. 
          UM, WE HAVE BEEN TALKING TO THEM QUITE A LOT AND THE AMERICAN BIRD CONSERVANCY, WHICH IS KIND OF A HUB OF A LOT OF THE INFORMATION, THEY ARE COLLECTING A LOT OF INFORMATION ON EVERY SINGLE ORDINANCE THAT'S PASSED IN NORTH AMERICA. 
          AND THEY'VE BEEN A GREAT RESOURCE TO KIND OF, YOU KNOW, TO, TO MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH THESE OTHER CITIES THAT ALREADY HAVE THESE PRACTICES IN PLACE AND WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE BECAUSE EVERYBODY'S REGULATIONS ARE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. 
          YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOME ZONING REGULATIONS OR THERE'S SOME FACADE REQUIREMENTS THAT, UH, PREVENT, YOU KNOW, BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN REQUIREMENTS ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF A BUILDING. 
          YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT UNIQUE THINGS THAT ARE, ARE IN THE OTHER ORDINANCES THAT HAVE BEEN APPROVED BY OTHER MUNICIPALITIES. 
          AND, UH, CONTINUING THOSE CONVERSATIONS HAS, HAS BEEN AT LEAST A REALLY BIG PART OF JUST DEVELOPING THIS INFORMATION IS MAKING THOSE CONNECTIONS. 
          BECAUSE THE BIRDS DON'T CARE WHAT CITY OR MUNICIPALITY YOU'RE IN, THEY FLY ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY. 
          THEY'RE LIKE, THIS WHOLE THIS IS, THIS WHOLE PLACE IS IS WHERE I FLY. 
          CHRIS. 
          YEAH. 
          A QUICK COMMENT AND THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS, IF, IF YOU'RE TRYING TO GET MORE, MORE BUYING, ESPECIALLY FOR THE EXISTING, UH, BUILDINGS, I THINK HAVING, UH, MORE AND, AND MAYBE THAT'S SOMETHING YOU ALREADY LIKE HAVE OR PLANNING TO DO, BUT HAVING MORE LIKE EXPLICIT IN TERMS OF, SINCE SOME OF THESE, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, LIKE MATERIAL BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGNS ARE, ARE MORE EXPENSIVE. 
          I KNOW YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THE, THE WINDOWS, BUT IF THOSE HAVE, YOU KNOW, UH, ENERGY SAVINGS, I THINK HAVING THAT MORE EXPLICITLY IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE USING THIS TYPE OF WINDOW, YOU'RE GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, 10 20%, UH, LESS ENERGY USAGE. 
          I THINK HAVING THAT WILL BE, WILL BE REALLY HELPFUL. 
          YOU KNOW, I, SO I REALLY WANT TO HAVE THAT INFORMATION. 
          WE HAVE ASKED SO MANY ARCHITECTS AND BUILDING MANUFACTURERS IF THEY CAN GIVE US SOME KIND OF MODEL THAT SAYS IF YOU HAVE THIS BIRD FRIENDLY MATERIAL THAT DOES SHOW IN A VERY SMALL CONTROLLED BOX EXPERIMENT THAT YOU REDUCE, UH, YOU KNOW, ENERGY SAVINGS, HOW YOU CALCULATE THAT AND THEN REPORT A, A NUMBER OF ENERGY SAVINGS. 
          AND WE HAVEN'T QUITE GOT ANYBODY TO SAY THAT THEY COULD GIVE US A NUMBER ON THAT. 
          YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, THE ENERGY UTILITIES AND OTHER CITIES, THEY'RE LIKE, WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO PRO PROVIDE THAT. 
          BUT THERE ARE BUILDINGS THAT HAVE IN INTEGRATED BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN, YOU KNOW, ON THEIR ENTIRE FACADE AND THEY ARE REPORTING THEIR ENERGY SAVINGS. 
          AND THOSE ARE UNIQUE BUILDINGS, YOU KNOW, WITH UNIQUE ENERGY NEEDS. 
          AND THEY'RE ALSO NOT IN TEXAS AND WE HAVE A, YOU KNOW, VERY HIGH ENERGY NEEDS. 
          SO IT IS A LITTLE, IT'S A, IT IS DIFFICULT TO REPORT THAT OUT IN THE REPORT. 
          I DO HAVE THAT, UM, THAT STUDY THAT SHOWS THE KIND OF REDUCTION IN ENERGY USAGE FOR THE DIFFERENT TREATMENT TYPES. 
          AND THAT'S, THAT'S AS CLOSE AS WE CAN GET RIGHT NOW. 
          'CAUSE I'VE ASKED THAT QUESTION TO A LOT OF PEOPLE TOO. 
          I'M LIKE, GIVE US A NUMBER. 
          WHAT IS THE, WHAT IS THE PERCENTAGE REDUCTION IN ENERGY USE? AND I THINK IT'S, IT'S QUITE COMPLICATED. 
          UM, SO, BUT I'LL KEEP ASKING THAT QUESTION 'CAUSE THIS IS A GOOD ONE. 
          SO THANK YOU FOR THANK YOU FOR ASKING THAT. 
          'CAUSE WE, WE DO WANNA KNOW THAT AT SOME POINT IT WOULD BE GREAT IF SOMEBODY COULD, COULD MODEL THAT FOR US, AARON. 
          YEAH, AGREE. 
          [01:45:02]
UM, YEAH, I'VE A QUESTION ABOUT PRIORITY ZONES. 
          SO, UM, I HEARD YOU EARLIER TALK ABOUT, UM, LIKE THE URBAN CORE, AS I UNDERSTAND IT BEING THE, UM, PRIMARY FOCUS OF LIKE THIS STUDY RECOMMENDATION. 
          UM, DO YOU DEFINE THE URBAN CORE AS LIKE DOWNTOWN OR JUST LIKE THE AUSTIN, LIKE CITY OF AUSTIN, LIKE METRO AREA? WELL, I, I DON'T KNOW IF I, IF I SAID THE URBAN CORE IS THE FOCUS OF THE WHOLE STUDY, I POSSIBLY MISSPOKE. 
          I MEAN, JUST KIND OF LIKE URBAN DEVELOPMENT, WHICH IS PRETTY MUCH EVERY BUILDING. 
          UM, SO ANY, ANY BUILDING THAT HAS GLASS ON? WELL, YES, ALL THE BUILDINGS, THE, THE LIMITS OF AUSTIN ARE THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT. 
          OKAY. 
          IT'S, I LIKELY MISHEARD. 
          IT'S OKAY. 
          UM, BUT THE, SO I WAS THINKING ABOUT ONE, THIS WHOLE CONVERSATION GOT ME INTERESTED IN BIRDING. 
          SO THERE'S THAT, UH, BIRD WATCHING. 
          GREAT. 
          SO, UM, THAT'S GREAT. 
          THERE'S A WIND THERE, BUT, UM, I WAS THINKING ABOUT LIKE PLACES LIKE COMMONS FORD AND LIKE KIND OF LIKE HIGH BIRD TRAFFIC AREAS OUTSIDE OF LIKE DOWNTOWN. 
          AND SO I'D BE CURIOUS IF IN THIS RECOMMENDATION, IF THERE, UM, IS ANY SORT OF LIKE GUIDANCE RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU HAVE FOR MAYBE DIFFERENT AREAS, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR THEM TO USE DIFFERENT MATERIALS BASED ON WHERE THEY ARE IN THE CITY, UM, DUE TO EITHER THE TYPES OF BIRDS THAT LIKE, FLY IN THAT AREA, THE VOLUME OF BIRDS THAT FLY IN THAT AREA, OR THE BUILDINGS THAT ARE, ARE MOST COMMONLY, UH, FOUND IN THOSE AREAS. 
          SO, UM, YEAH, JUST KIND OF A GENERAL QUESTION ABOUT THAT. 
          YEAH. 
          YOU KNOW, THAT IS, THAT IS INTERESTING. 
          AND I HAVE, UM, TALKED WITH AMERICAN BIRD CONSERVANCY AND SEVERAL OF THE OTHER, UM, CITIES THAT HAVE, YOU KNOW, LIKE SAN FRANCISCO TRIED TO DO SOMETHING SIMILAR WHERE THEIR ORDINANCE, WHERE THEY SAID, OKAY, IN THESE AREAS THERE'S A LOT OF HABITAT, SO WE KNOW THAT THOSE BUILDINGS CAN AND NEED TO HAVE THE BIRD SAFE FACADES. 
          AND THESE BUILDINGS OVER HERE ARE LIKE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF DOWNTOWN. 
          THERE'S LESS TREES, SURELY THERE'S LESS BIRDS. 
          AND WHAT THE MONITORING PROGRAMS IN THOSE CITIES THAT DID THIS KIND OF, UM, AREA BASED REGULATIONS FOUND THAT THEY WERE NOT AS EFFECTIVE, THAT JUST HAVING BLANKET REQUIREMENTS WITH THIS PATTERN THAT ALL BIRDS CAN PERCEIVE. 
          THIS TWO BY TWO PATTERN IS WHEN IT BECAME EFFECTIVE. 
          BECAUSE A HUMMINGBIRD MIGHT SEE A POLLINATOR SPECIES GROWING ON A GREEN ROOF AND THEY'RE LIKE, I CAN SEE THAT I'M GOING FOR IT AND THAT BIRD IS STILL GONNA BE IMPACTED. 
          AMAZINGLY, WE LIVE IN THIS REALLY COOL CITY THAT HAS ALL OF THESE URBAN, I MEAN THESE, UH, GREEN, UH, GREEN WAYS LIKE THE LADY BIRD LAKE, THE LOWER COLORADO RIVER JUST CONNECTS SO MANY DIFFERENT GREEN SPACES. 
          AND THERE, UM, FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, THERE'S, THERE'S, UH, SUGGESTIONS TO NOT DO THESE AREA BASED REGULATIONS TO KIND OF DO A SINGLE BLANKET BASED REGULATION BECAUSE OF THE, WHAT OTHER CITIES HAVE KIND OF FALLEN INTO AND IT NOT BEING AS EFFECTIVE. 
          ANDY, UM, YEAH. 
          UH, THANKS, THANKS ALSO FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          UM, I KNOW WE'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME TALKING ABOUT THE MATERIALS, UM, AND UM, MAYBE I MISSED THIS EARLIER IN THE PRESENTATION, BUT I KNOW THAT THE LIGHT, LIGHT POLLUTION IS, UM, OBVIOUSLY A HUGE FACTOR FOR KIND OF THE INITIAL DISORIENTATION AND ALSO SEEMS LIKE, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME EASIER, UM, UH, CERTAINLY EASIER RETROFITTING AND UM, AND INSTALLATION IN NEW PROJECTS, UM, MAKING THOSE ADJUSTMENTS ON SOME OF THE LIGHTING. 
          AND SO JUST CURIOUS, UM, HOW YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT PRIORITIZING THOSE, THOSE TWO GOALS, UM, KIND OF IN IN TANDEM OR INTENTION WITH ONE ANOTHER. 
          UM, THE, THE LIGHT POLLUTION AND THE, AND THE, UH, GLASS MATERIALS, UM, I THINK BOTH OF THEM ARE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT, UH, IN FACTORING INTO THE SUCCESS OF A PROGRAM THAT WOULD REDUCE BIRD COLLISION AND SUPPORT BIRD POPULATIONS. 
          LUCKILY THERE IS A LIGHTING, UH, STUDY GOING ON RIGHT NOW THAT WE HAVE BEEN COORDINATING WITH THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT A BIT ON THEIR EFFORTS TO DEVELOP, YOU KNOW, LIKE THEY'RE DOING A LOT OF OUTREACH ON, UH, WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO SEE PUBLICLY IN THEIR LIGHTING, UH, AREAS. 
          I THINK THE LIGHTING ACTUALLY IS A, IS A LITTLE BIT EASIER TO ACCOMPLISH BECAUSE SO, 'CAUSE IT REALLY ISN'T A BIG COST CHANGE, IT'S JUST AN 
          [01:50:01]
INFORMED DECISION. 
          AND SO MANY OF THE DARK SKY COMPONENTS ARE ALREADY REQUIREMENTS IN, UH, THE LIGHTING PLANS FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS. 
          SO IT'S A, IT'S A MUCH SMALLER DELTA BETWEEN WHAT WE ALREADY REQUIRE NOW AND WHAT WE COULD DO TO REALLY CREATE A MORE DARK SKY OR, UH, BIRD FRIENDLY NIGHTTIME SPACE. 
          YEAH, THAT'S GREAT. 
          'CAUSE I, 'CAUSE MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT IF THEY, IF THEY AREN'T BEING DRAWN TO THE LIGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE, THEN THERE'S MUCH LOWER DANGER OF THEM STRIKING GLASS. 
          RIGHT. 
          UM, IT, IT CAN BE A MUCH LOW, YOU KNOW, IF THEY ARE NOT DISORIENTED BY LIGHT POLLUTION, YOU KNOW, THEY'LL WAIT UNTIL DAWN AND THEY WILL SEE THE HABITAT THAT THEY WANT TO DESCEND DOWN INTO AND MAYBE AREN'T GONNA HAVE QUITE AS HIGH OF AN INTERACTION WITH, UH, THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THEY MIGHT HAVE, UH, COLLISION WITH GLASS. 
          SO IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT A HUNDRED PERCENT CLEAR THAT THAT IS, THERE'S LIKE, IT, THAT'S PERFECTLY HOW IT WORKS BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA STILL HAVE MIGRATING BIRDS THAT ARE IN FOR THE SEASON AND THEY'RE GOING TO FLY INTO AREAS THAT HAVE BUILDINGS. 
          SO IT'S, IT'S NOT GONNA COMPLETELY PREVENT, UH, OR, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT CLEAR EVEN WHAT REDUCTION IN LIGHT POLLUTION WOULD DO TO ELIMINATE BIRD COLLISIONS, BUT IT CERTAINLY SEEMS TO EXACERBATE THE PROBLEM. 
          THERE'S THIS VIDEO THAT, UM, AFTER, AFTER THE MEETING, I'LL SHARE A VIDEO THAT WE MADE OVER THE SUMMER, KIND OF AN INFORMATIONAL VIDEO ABOUT THE PRODUCTS FOR LIGHT FOR BIRD COLLISION DETERRENCE AND LIGHT POLLUTION. 
          AND THIS ONE SPOTLIGHT, UH, IN NEW YORK CITY IS SHOW LIKE, SHOWS HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF BIRDS JUST SWIRLING IN THE EVENT SPOTLIGHT NEXT TO THESE HIGH RISE BUILDINGS, WHICH IS JUST, YOU KNOW, AN EXAMPLE OF HOW MUCH THEY'RE ATTRACTED TO THAT LIGHT. 
          AND THEY ARE PROBABLY MIGRATING BIRDS AND THEY PROBABLY DON'T WANT TO BE IN THE EVENT SPOTLIGHT AND THEY'RE JUST KIND OF VERY DISORIENTED AND, AND UNSURE WHERE TO LAND AND JUST ATTRACTED TO THE LIGHT AND THEY'D, THEY'D PROBABLY RATHER BE MIGRATING TO A PLACE THAT'S NOT THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY. 
          YOU MENTIONED, UM, GETTING THIS, UH, SOME OF THESE CHANGES, UH, INTEGRATED INTO THE 2030 UPDATE TO GREEN BUILDING MM-HMM . 
          THAT FEELS FAR AWAY . 
          ABSOLUTELY. 
          UM, I'M CURIOUS IF YOU HAVE TALKED WITH THEM ABOUT DOING JUST A SMALL KIND OF INTERIM UPDATE ON THIS ELEMENT AS OPPOSED TO WAITING ANOTHER FIVE, YOU KNOW, YEARS TO, TO GET THAT IN. 
          UM, I THINK THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT GET UPDATED. 
          I THINK FROM THE AUSTIN ENERGY SIDE OF THE EQUATION, THEY RIGHT NOW SAID THAT THEY WOULD BE HAPPY TO COORDINATE AT THE PROJECTED UPDATE. 
          HOPEFULLY, UH, THERE MAYBE IS NOT, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY THERE'S NOT A NEED FOR AN UPDATE TO THAT BECAUSE WE WILL HAVE MADE MORE MOMENTUM OR MORE, UH, HEADWAY WITH A REQUIREMENT THAT DOESN'T REQUIRE THE GREEN BUILDING REQUIREMENT TO BE UPDATED. 
          SO, BUT WOULD THE, THE ORDINANCE THAT YOU'RE ENVISIONING, WOULD, WOULD THAT BE FOR ALL BUILDINGS OR JUST FOR LARGER BUILDINGS? IT WOULD BE THAT APPLY TO SINGLE FAMILY, IT WOULD NOT APPLY TO SINGLE FAMILY. 
          RIGHT NOW THERE IS NOT BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN CRITERIA FOR SINGLE FAMILY IN THE GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM AT ALL. 
          UM, IF THERE WAS AN INTEGRATION OF GREEN, OF BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN AND RESIDENTIAL, IT WOULD BE MORE EFFECTIVE IF THERE WERE PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FOR, UM, BUILDINGS TO, FOR RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS TO BE BUILT WITH PRODUCTS AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET. 
          AND RIGHT NOW THERE'S JUST NOT REALLY ANY COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE PRODUCTS FOR RESIDENTIAL BUILDING. 
          UM, SO LIKE YOU CAN'T GET THE SAME TYPES OF GLASS TREATMENTS OR CORRECT, YEAH, YOU CAN'T GET THE SAME KIND OF GLASS. 
          YOU CAN ONLY GET IT FOR, YOU KNOW, SOME RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS. 
          I MEAN, IF THEY'RE QUITE LARGE, LIKE SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL AND THEY USE EXPENSIVE COMMERCIAL GLASS, THEY CAN HAVE THAT PRODUCT AVAILABLE. 
          BUT THERE ARE NOT ANY GLASS MANUFACTURERS THAT HAVE AVAILABLE, UM, COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE RESIDENTIAL WINDOWS THAT HAVE THE SAME KIND OF TREATMENT ON IT. 
          OKAY. 
          SO PRETTY MUCH IT'S THE DECAL OPTION, IT'S THE DECAL ONLY OR, YOU KNOW, SOME OTHER UNIQUE, UH, KIND OF TREATMENT TO THE GLASS OR SHADING WINDOW COVERINGS, SOMETHING LIKE THAT THAT KIND OF IS A BARRIER BETWEEN THE GLASS. 
          AND SO THERE COULD STILL BE A REQUIREMENT POTENTIALLY 
          [01:55:01]
JUST WOULD NEED TO LOOK DIFFERENT THAN THE REQUIREMENT FOR CULTURAL BUILDINGS? YEAH, IT WOULD, IT WOULD NEED TO LOOK DIFFERENT AND MAYBE NOT BE, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHY WE'RE, THAT'S WHY WE WANTED TO COORDINATE AND MAYBE JUST KIND OF DO IT ON A TIMELINE WHERE THERE MIGHT BE MORE MATERIALS AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET BECAUSE THEY'RE JUST NOT, THEY JUST DON'T EXIST QUITE YET. 
          UM, SO I MEAN, I I WE'RE, WE WILL INCORPORATE THAT THE FASTER TIMELINE THAT COMMENT, BECAUSE I THINK THAT WOULD BE GREAT TO HAVE IT ON A FASTER TIMELINE TO JUST HAVE THE BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN CRITERIA BE UPDATED. 
          SO I DO, I DO APPRECIATE THAT FEEDBACK. 
          SO WE'LL, WE'LL DEFINITELY NOTE THAT BECAUSE I THINK IT WOULD BE GREAT TO HAVE THAT ON A FASTER TIMELINE TOO. 
          YEAH. 
          ONE OF MY FRIENDS RECENTLY GOT LIKE THIS GREAT NEW WINDOW PUT IN AND THEN RIGHT AWAY STARTED HAVING BIRDS YEAH. 
          FLY INTO HER WINDOW AND SHE DID GO AND PUT SOME DECALS ON IT AND IT STOPPED THE PROBLEM. 
          SO, YOU KNOW, EVEN IF THAT'S THE SOLUTION, LIKE IF YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, I'M ASSUMING THAT LARGER WINDOWS ARE PROBABLY, THIS WAS DEFINITELY A LARGER WINDOW. 
          MAYBE THAT WAS WHY. 
          I DON'T KNOW. 
          BUT UM, YEAH, IT JUST BE, I THINK NICE TO HELP ACROSS THE SPECTRUM. 
          'CAUSE OF COURSE, ABSOLUTELY. 
          LIKE BIRDS RUN INTO ALL KINDS OF BUILDINGS, LIKE YES, THE BIG HIGH RISES ARE OBVIOUS TARGETS, BUT, UM, YEAH. 
          ALL RIGHT. 
          WELL I APPRECIATE WHAT YOU'RE DOING. 
          UM, DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS BEFORE WE MOVE ON HERE? OKAY. 
          OKAY. 
          I HOPE YOU'LL COME BACK AND TELL US HOW THINGS ARE PROGRESSING AND IF THERE'S A WAY WE CAN SUPPORT. 
          GREAT. 
          THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH. 
          APPRECIATE IT. 
          ALRIGHT, NEXT ON OUR 
          [4.  Discussion of 2026 Bond Process.]
AGENDA IS DISCUSSION OF THE BOND PROCESS. 
          I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE BRADEN, DO, DO YOU KNOW IF THERE'S ANY SORT OF PRESENTATION OR, OR ANYTHING? OR IS THIS JUST FOR ME TO KIND OF GIVE A BASIC UPDATE? OKAY. 
          UM, THIS WILL BE QUICK THEN. 
          UM, THE BOND ADVISORY TASK FORCE HAS REALLY KIND OF RAMPED UP ITS ACTIVITIES. 
          UM, WE HAVE WORKING GROUPS THAT ARE CURRENTLY DOING, YOU KNOW, I'D SAY THE BULK OF THE, THE WORK RIGHT NOW, WHICH IS GETTING INFORMATION FROM DEPARTMENTS AND ANYBODY FROM, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT ENTITIES, UH, THAT, THAT MIGHT THINK THAT WE SHOULD, YOU KNOW, CONSIDER OTHER PROJECTS THAT MAYBE AREN'T ON THE KIND OF CITY OFFICIAL LIST. 
          UM, AND REALLY, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO GATHER ALL THAT INFORMATION SO THAT WE CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS BACK TO THE FULL TASK FORCE, I THINK IN JANUARY IS WHAT IS ENVISIONED. 
          SO, UM, THERE'S, UH, YEAH, JUST I THINK A LOT OF ACTIVITY GOING ON RIGHT NOW. 
          UM, ONE THING THAT I, UH, THINK THE FOLKS HERE MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN, WE ARE MEETING ON MONDAY FOR OUR FULL, UM, TASK FORCE MEETING, WHICH IS HERE AT CITY HALL OVER IN THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ROOM. 
          UM, AT TWO O'CLOCK WE'LL BE CONSIDERING, UH, OR DISCUSSING A COUPLE THINGS THAT I, I THINK FOLKS HERE ARE INTERESTED IN. 
          ONE IS A RESOLUTION, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, I THINK VERY DIRECTLY REQUESTING GREENHOUSE GAS ANALYSIS FOR THE PROJECTS. 
          UM, HOPEFULLY WE WILL BE ABLE TO PASS THAT, BUT WE'LL DEFINITELY BE DISCUSSING THAT AND THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE IMPACT OF THE DIFFERENT PROJECTS IS. 
          AND I, I THINK JUST AS IMPORTANTLY, HOPEFULLY HOW SOME OF THOSE PROJECTS COULD BE, UM, DESIGNED IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WAY TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS IMPACT AND POTENTIALLY RE REDUCE COST AS WELL. 
          UM, SO WE'LL BE DISCUSSING THAT. 
          WE'LL ALSO BE DISCUSSING THE CRITERIA BY WHICH THE, UM, TASK FORCE IS GOING TO BE, UH, EVALUATING ALL OF THE PROJECTS, UH, YOU KNOW, TO, TO COME UP WITH A FINAL, YOU KNOW, KIND OF RECOMMENDED LIST FOR COUNCIL. 
          UM, ONE OF THE BUCKETS, THERE'S KIND OF FOUR BUCKETS THAT, THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE IN OUR DRAFT, UM, WHICH MIGHT CHANGE, BUT, BUT THE ONE OF THE FOUR IS BASICALLY CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL. 
          UM, SO THAT INCLUDES GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS RESILIENCE, UM, AS WELL AS THINGS LIKE REDUCING, UH, AIR POLLUTION AND PROVIDING LIKE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE. 
          UM, WE HAVE NOT YET, YOU KNOW, FINALIZED THAT LIST. 
          SO WE'LL BE DISCUSSING FOR INPUT AND ALSO INPUT ON, UM, WHAT THE WEIGHT BETWEEN THESE KIND OF FOUR CATEGORIES. 
          IS. 
          IT, IT COULD BE E EVEN 25% ACROSS, OR IT COULD BE, YOU KNOW, MORE IN ONE CATEGORY OR ANOTHER. 
          UM, 
          [02:00:01]
SO ANYBODY'S WELCOME TO, UH, ATTEND THOSE MEETINGS. 
          UM, THEY'RE ALSO, UH, RECORDED AND, AND AND POSTED, AND WE DO ALLOW FOR, FOR PUBLIC INPUT, UH, AT THE START OF THE MEETING. 
          SO IF ANYBODY'S INTERESTED THERE, YOU CAN, YOU CAN SHOW UP TO THOSE MEETINGS. 
          BUT I THINK, UH, PERHAPS JUST AS IMPORTANTLY, THE TASK FORCE HAS SCHEDULED THREE, UM, PUBLIC LISTENING SESSIONS COMING UP IN NOVEMBER. 
          AND I WOULD REALLY LOVE EVERYBODY'S HELP HERE TO GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT THOSE. 
          UM, THERE'S GOING TO BE TWO OF THEM ARE, UM, IN PERSON AND THEN ONE WILL BE VIA ZOOM. 
          SO HOPEFULLY THAT WILL ALLOW FOR, YOU KNOW, A PRETTY, UM, WIDE ARRAY OF FOLKS TO PARTICIPATE. 
          UM, THE TWO THAT ARE IN PERSON ARE BOTH, UH, KIND OF IN THE, UH, EAST, EAST AND NORTH NORTHEAST KIND OF AUSTIN AREA. 
          AND THE DATES FOR THOSE ARE, UH, SATURDAY NOVEMBER 15TH. 
          AND I CAN SEND THESE AROUND IN A, UH, EMAIL AS WELL. 
          THAT ONE WILL BE IN PERSON AT THE GUS GARCIA DISTRICT, UH, PARK ON RUNDBERG, UM, AT 5:00 PM THE SECOND ONE WILL BE ON NOVEMBER 18TH, THAT'S A TUESDAY. 
          IT'LL BE 6:00 PM VIA ZOOM. 
          AND THEN THE THIRD ONE WILL BE ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH IS 6:00 PM AND THAT'LL BE AT THE RUDY MENENDEZ REC CENTER ON CANTERBURY STREET. 
          AND THAT ONE AT, YEAH, AT 6:00 PM SO, UM, YOU KNOW, PART ONE OF THE CRI ONE, YOU KNOW, I MENTIONED THOSE FOUR BUCKETS OF CRITERIA. 
          ONE OF THE, THE BUCKETS IS, UH, COMMUNITY SUPPORT, RIGHT? FOR A PROJECT OR PROGRAM. 
          UM, BUT I THINK ALSO, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT STRATEGIES IS ALSO IMPORTANT. 
          AND BY THAT I MEAN, YOU KNOW, LET'S SAY WE'RE GONNA BUILD A, A LIBRARY. 
          ARE WE GONNA BUILD A LIBRARY TO THE MINIMUM STANDARD, WHICH IS LEAD SILVER? ARE WE GONNA BUILD THE LIBRARY TO THE HIGHER, YOU KNOW, LEAD PLATINUM WITH, YOU KNOW, LOW CARBON CONCRETE AND REALLY AIMING FOR NET ZERO LIFECYCLE EMISSIONS? UM, WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU THINK IS IMPORTANT, I ENCOURAGE YOU TO ATTEND ONE OF THESE LISTENING SESSIONS AND SPEAK UP. 
          UM, BUT ALSO PLEASE LET FOLKS KNOW, UM, AND THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE ON OTHER COMMISSIONS, IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU CAN LET YOUR HOME COMMISSIONS KNOW. 
          SO I'LL PUT, UM, I'M WAITING 'CAUSE ONE OF THEM, THE ZOOM ONE DOESN'T HAVE A LIKE EVENT LINK YET, BUT I HOPEFULLY THE CITY WILL GET THAT SET UP TOMORROW. 
          UM, AND I'LL SEND AROUND AN EMAIL AND WOULD, WOULD LOVE FOR EVERYBODY TO, YOU KNOW, DO WHAT YOU CAN TO GET IT OUT TO YOUR, TO YOUR NETWORKS AND ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO, TO COME. 
          AND OF COURSE, OBVIOUSLY LIKE THERE ARE THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON HERE FOR THE PAST YEARS THAT, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY CAN BE INCORPORATED. 
          SO IT'S AN OPPORTUNITY, I THINK FOR US TO ENCOURAGE ACTION, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, TRY TO GET SOME OF THE MONEY MOVING TOWARDS, UH, PRODUCT PROJECTS AND STRATEGIES THAT, THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT HERE. 
          SO I'LL PAUSE THERE AND IF ANYBODY HAS QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON ANY OF THAT. 
          OKAY. 
          I HAD A, UH, A COMMENT. 
          UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WOULD RECOMMEND, UH, CONSIDERING WHENEVER YOU'RE, YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT APPLYING THOSE, UH, PERCENTAGES FOR THE DIFFERENT CRITERIA WOULD, WOULD DEFINITELY BE GETTING INPUT FROM, FROM, YOU KNOW, OTHER FOLKS. 
          'CAUSE UH, I MEAN, THAT COULD BE PRETTY ARBITRARY WHETHER YOU'RE, YOU KNOW, GIVING MORE WEIGHT TO, UH, GREENHOUSE GASES COMPARED TO AIR POLLUTION. 
          SO I THINK GETTING KIND OF LIKE A FULL PICTURE OF, UH, THE PUBLIC'S PERSPECTIVE, I THINK WILL BE VALUABLE. 
          THAT'S A GOOD IDEA. 
          YEAH. 
          WE ARE GONNA, UM, HAVE, UH, SURVEYS AT THESE LISTENING SESSIONS, SO THAT'S, UH, A GREAT IDEA THAT WE, WE CAN ASK AT THOSE LISTENING SESSIONS. 
          UM, I THINK, ANDY, DID I SEE YOUR HAND? YEAH, I, I JUST WANTED TO PUT ON L'S RADAR, UM, AT OUR, UH, UH, UH, UH, FOOD POLICY BOARD MEETING EARLIER THIS WEEK. 
          UM, WE PASSED A RECOMMENDATION TO, UM, HAVE B TIFF LOOK AT, UM, UH, THE, OR HAVE CITY COUNCIL, UM, UH, BE AWARE THAT, THAT WE'RE GONNA BE PRESENTING TO, TO BTF ON FARMLAND PRESERVATION AND, AND HAVING, UM, SOME FUNDS, YOU KNOW, KIND OF LOOKING AT SOME OF THAT GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESILIENCY WORK. 
          AND SO, UM, WE JUST DID THAT EARLIER THIS WEEK, SO WE'RE GONNA BE PUTTING TOGETHER A PRESENTATION FOR THE WORKING GROUPS, UM, AT LEAST THE OPEN SPACES WORKING GROUP, 
          [02:05:01]
BUT ALSO, UM, WOULD LOVE TO, UM, BRING THAT, UH, RECOMMENDATION TO THIS GROUP AS WELL, UM, TO MAKE YOU AWARE OF, UM, OF THAT EFFORT AND, UM, AND KIND OF HOW IT TIES IN WITH THE, THE FOOD PLAN GOALS AS WELL. 
          SO, UM, DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT OUR COMMISSION IS, IS LOOKING AT, UM, HOW TO ENGAGE IT SERIOUSLY WITH THE B TIFF PROCESS, SO APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS ON THAT. 
          GREAT. 
          THAT'S, THAT'S GOOD NEWS. 
          I LOOK FORWARD TO THE PRESENTATION THERE. 
          AND YEAH, I MEAN, I THINK E EVERYBODY SHOULD YEAH. 
          TAKE, TAKE A LEAF OUT OF THAT BOOK. 
          UM, ALL OF THE WORKING GROUP MEETINGS ALSO ALLOW FOR, UM, BRIEF PUBLIC COMMENTS AT THE START. 
          SO, UM, IF YOU, IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU WANNA SHARE THAT IS, UH, YOU KNOW, AN OPEN INVITATION, UM, AND, AND WHEN I EMAIL AROUND, I'LL PROVIDE THE LINK WHERE YOU CAN SEE ALL THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORKING GROUP MEETINGS AS WELL AS THE FULL TASK FORCE MEETINGS. 
          UM, AND IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU TAKE YOUR TWO MINUTES AND PRESENT ON AND IT PEAKS THE INTEREST AND IT SEEMS POTENTIALLY ACTIONABLE, THEN, YOU KNOW, MAYBE YOU GET SCHEDULED FOR A, A BIT MORE TIME TO DO MORE OF A PRESENTATION. 
          SO, UM, YEAH, THAT'S AN OPPORTUNITY. 
          ANY OTHER THOUGHTS ON THIS? OKAY, GREAT. 
          THANK YOU. 
          ALL RIGHT. 
          OUR LAST AGENDA 
          [5.  Approve the 2026 annual meeting schedule for the Joint Sustainability Committee.]
ITEM IS OUR ANNUAL MEETING SCHEDULE FOR 2026 MOVE ADOPTION. 
          UH, OKAY. 
          YEAH. 
          THANK, THANK YOU FOR THAT. 
          WE'VE GOT A MOTION ON THE TABLE. 
          THAT'S ACTUALLY SECOND AND A SECOND. 
          ALL RIGHT. 
          NOW WE CAN HAVE DISCUSSION DO THIS PROPER, LIKE, THANK YOU. 
          CAN YOU ZOOM IN ON THAT? MM-HMM . 
          AWESOME. 
          OKAY. 
          SO WE DO HAVE A, A MOTION TO ADOPT, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM ANYBODY IF YOU, IF YOU SEE ANYTHING ON THIS THAT, UM, STANDS OUT AS PROBLEMATIC POINT OF PRIVILEGE. 
          THE, THE SHARED CONTENT IS NOT SHOWING UP  FOR OUR VIRTUAL COMMISSIONERS. 
          OH, INDEED, IT'S NOT. 
          UM, I CAN SEE THAT IT'S SHARED IN THE VIDEO, BUT I CANNOT SEE IT. 
          THERE WE GO. 
          THANK YOU. 
          NOW I DO SEE THAT ALL THESE DATES HAVE 2025 ON THE, UM, NOT GOING TO THE CALENDAR YET, OR I HAVEN'T WENT TO THE CALENDAR YET. 
          LIKE ARE WE SURE THESE ARE THE PROPER DATES FOR THE YEAR OF 2026? JANUARY 28TH IS A WEDNESDAY. 
          OKAY. 
          THAT'S A GOOD SIGN. 
          SO IS THE 25TH OF FEBRUARY, MARCH, FEBRUARY AND MARCH DAYS ARE ALWAYS THE SAME? YEAH, IT SEEMS LIKE EXCEPT, OKAY. 
          SO, UH, I THINK WE CAN JUST ASSUME THAT THESE ALL SHOULD SAY 2026, BUT OTHERWISE THE DATES ARE FINE. 
          UM, I DO SEE MAY 27TH THERE. 
          THAT IS, I THINK THE WEEK OF MEMORIAL DAY, AND I KNOW A WEEK THAT THERE ISN'T SCHOOL. 
          UM, SO I DON'T, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW. 
          THAT MAY NOT AFFECT THAT MANY PEOPLE, BUT THAT IS A WEEK THAT I MAY OR MAY NOT BE AROUND, WHICH YOU DON'T NEED TO SCHEDULE AROUND ME. 
          I JUST DON'T KNOW IF OTHER, IF THAT'S A BAD WEEK AND FOR A BUNCH OF PEOPLE, THEN WE COULD MOVE THAT MEETING UP TO THE PREVIOUS WEEK POTENTIALLY. 
          SURE. 
          ANY THOUGHTS ON, THAT'S NOT GREAT BY ME. 
          I, I'M ALSO FINE WITH IT AS IT IS. 
          OKAY. 
          I'M, I'M HEARING A LOT OF, OKAY. 
          EITHER WAY IT SOUNDS LIKE, DOES ANYBODY HAVE AN OBJECTION TO MOVING THAT ONE TO THE 20TH? IT'S A LITTLE MORE CHALLENGING FOR ME BECAUSE IT'S, IT, IT IS ALREADY. 
          UM, I HAVE ANOTHER COMMISSION MEETING THAT SAME WEEK, SO HAVING TWO IN A WEEK IS A LITTLE BIT BURDENSOME AND IT ONLY HAPPENS A COUPLE TIMES A YEAR. 
          BUT THAT WOULD BE AN EXTRA TIME. 
          OKAY. 
          SO WOULD YOU PREFER TO KEEP IT ON THE 27TH? MAY. 
          OKAY. 
          AND THEN I DON'T SEE, 
          [02:10:01]
LET'S SEE, MAY 20 OR APRIL 22ND, IS THAT EARTH DAY? OH, THAT'S FINE. 
          IT IS. 
          DO WE WANNA MEET ON EARTH DAY OR IS THAT LIKE A DAY THAT PEOPLE WILL HAVE EVENTS AND STUFF TO GO TO? CAN WE HOST A JFC OR EVENING? IT WILL BE AN EVENING. 
          IT SEEMS VERY ON BRAND. 
          OKAY, THEN WE'LL, WE'LL STICK WITH IT. 
          OKAY. 
          UH, IT SEEMS LIKE WE'RE GOOD WITH THIS. 
          SO, UM, MAY, MAY I MAKE A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT? PLEASE? I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT, UH, RECOMMENDING THAT WE CHANGE ALL OF THE DATES TO SAY 2026 INSTEAD OF 2025. 
          NO WAY. 
          , NO WAY. 
          UH, YEAH. 
          UH, MOTION MAKERS. 
          ARE YOU GOOD WITH THAT? EVERYBODY? I'LL, I'LL SECOND THAT MOTION. 
          OKAY. 
          ANY, ANY OBJECTION TO THAT AMENDMENT? OKAY. 
          SO THAT AMENDMENT IS ADOPTED. 
          UM, OTHER THAN CHANGING THE DATE, WE'VE NOT MADE ANY CHANGES. 
          SO THE MOTION ON THE TABLE IS TO ADOPT THAT LIST, BUT WITH THE CHANGE THAT EVERYTHING'S IN 2026, SINCE WE CAN'T GO BACK IN TIME, UH, I ALL IN FAVOR RAISE YOUR HAND. 
          OKAY. 
          THAT'S OUR SCHEDULE. 
          AND, UH, I DO RECOMMEND GOING AHEAD AND JUST PUTTING THEM ON YOUR CALENDAR. 
          OBVIOUSLY WE, WE SOMETIMES HAVE STRUGGLE WITH QUORUM, SO AS MUCH AS YOU CAN SCHEDULE AROUND THOSE DATES, THAT WOULD BE GOOD. 
          OKAY. 
          UM, ANY 
          [FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
REQUEST FOR AGENDA ITEMS FOR, UH, EITHER OUR NEXT MEETING OR SOON TO BE, YOU KNOW, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER TIMEFRAME? SO I WOULD JUST SAY, YEAH, EITHER NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, UM, LIKE MAYBE 10 TO 15 MINUTES TO PRESENT ON THAT, THAT, UM, LAND PRESERVATION, FARMLAND PRESERVATION RECOMMENDATION. 
          GREAT. 
          YEAH, CAN YOU PLEASE EMAIL ME AND CHARLOTTE? SURE. 
          AND ROHAN AND I GUESS MAYBE BRADEN AS WELL. 
          UM, SO THAT WE HAVE THAT LANGUAGE. 
          WE'LL DEFINITELY GET THAT ON THERE. 
          THANK YOU. 
          I WAS THINKING THAT PERHAPS FOR, UH, MAYBE FOR OUR NOVEMBER MEETING, WE MIGHT PUT ON OUR AGENDA KIND OF OFFICIALLY RECONSTITUTING OUR WORKING GROUPS AS WE PREPARE FOR BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS. 
          AS A REMINDER, UM, BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS FROM BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ARE DUE AT THE END OF MARCH, AND SO WE USUALLY DO TRY TO DO A FAIRLY ROBUST PROCESS HERE OF EVALUATING NEEDS AND, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO PRIORITIZE. 
          SO, UM, IT DOES TAKE A LITTLE WHILE. 
          UM, SO IF THAT, DOES THAT SOUND RIGHT TO FOLKS IN TERMS OF AT LEAST STARTING, GETTING STARTED ORGANIZING OURSELVES HERE AT THE END OF THE YEAR? YEP. 
          OKAY. 
          THAT MAKES SENSE. 
          I'M SEEING SOME NODDING, SO WE'LL PUT THAT ON AS A, AS AN ACTION ITEM TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE, UH, FOLKS THAT ARE STILL WILLING TO SHARE THOSE GROUPS AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THAT WE'RE ALL PLUGGED IN AND READY TO PARTICIPATE. 
          OKAY. 
          UM, IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE THAT COMES UP AS A REQUEST, PLEASE EMAIL THAT GROUP THAT I MENTIONED, BEST TO EMAIL US ALL SO THAT WE, THAT WE SEE IT. 
          THANK YOU. 
          WITHOUT OBJECTION. 
          OH, DID YOU HAVE A CHRIS, A REQUEST? NO, NO, I WAS JUST, UH, NODDING. 
          GOODBYE. 
          OKAY. 
          ALL RIGHT. 
          THERE'S NO OBJECTION. 
          WE'RE GOING TO ADJOURN. 
          THANK YOU. 
          SOUNDS GOOD. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THANKS EVERYONE. 
          THANKS EVERYONE. 
          BYE EVERYONE.
* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.