Merry Christmas! +

Merry Christmas to all! It's been a slow week around the City it appears, and I have taken a job and now enjoy? full time employment and have not been around as much to stir up trouble (the staff seems to appreciate that!).

Join everyone for the Lake Travis Parade of Champions January 7th at the Hill country Galleria. Football, Volleyball, Golf, Tennis, the Band and the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program Honorees will all be represented! For more information click here!

From Steve Jones:

Another mediation was held with East El Paso regarding the Airpark South lawsuit Wednesday. We again failed to reach an agreement, but the developer did not dismiss our offer and is considering it further. We hope this will have a positive outcome for both the City and developer.

Monday, the FBI Assistant Agent in Charge of the Austin Field Office, Patrick Loll, (a new Lakeway resident) came to the Justice Center to recognize David Davis for his participation in an investigation.

The City is considering selling Rebel Park to some adjacent landowners and has mailed letters informing other residents soliciting any concerns. If this is accepted by Council, it would go to the Citizens for a vote in 2012 since it is public park land.

Don Stevenson (our new emergency management coordinator) and I met with Travis County Emergency Management Coordinator Pete Baldwin this week. Lakeway falls under Travis County’s emergency management plan “umbrella” so I wanted to introduce Don to Pete and establish a relationship between them. Pete educated us on the county’s plan, and how we fit in. He also helped Don understand the important elements of our local emergency management plan. Don is now drafting a scope of work for updating our plan and program elements such as training and practice events.

Our forester, Carrie Burns, has been attending local meetings of fire and emergency management officials aimed at developing programs to address the potential fire hazards we face from what they call the “wild land/urban interface.” I know that many of our residents are concerned about potential wildfires in our greenbelts and parks next to residences. Carrie is working to identify our most vulnerable neighborhoods and to introduce them to existing programs that teach residents how to prepare and protect their property against wildfire. If resources permit, and we get sufficient neighborhood participation, we are looking into organizing neighborhood events to remove debris and other fire fuel from selected areas of the greenbelts and parks, possibly including the bird preserve east of RR 620.

This week, DR Services installed the floor in our log cabin and started filling the spaces between the logs with mortar. It looks great. The floor is made of stones in a very rustic manner that was typical of cabins from the period. The mortar between the logs is made following a formula provided by the State Historical Commission that approximates the look and feel of the original material use in the cabin. We are making every effort to restore the cabin to its original condition. Today I was given an intact gun cartridge that was found in one of the cabin walls when workers cleaned away the old mortar. It appears to be an old .44 Henry Flat rim-fire cartridge that was used in Henry Repeating Rifles in the 1860’s and 1870’s.
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I hope all of you have a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Years Holiday!

I will not be posting next week unless something of interest comes up - enjoy the wet weather and I hope to see all of you next year!

Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us

CAVS take FIVE, Council, Jones Report

The BIG news of the day - Lake Travis Cavaliers make state history by winning the State Championship 4A title for a fifth consecutive season! They beat Waco Midway by a score of 22-7. It was televised nationally and was a GREAT game! Go Cav's!

Council will meet Monday in regular session at 6:30PM. Here is that agenda.

Council will take up a sale agreement and some license agreements and easements with the Lakeway MUD. The Final Plat for Serene Hills Phase 2E will be considered. Revisions to the noise ordinance will be considered.

The other items addressing multifamily zoning in the Highlands has been postponed.

From Steve Jones:

Council Member Alan Tye has been working hard on a Hotel / Motel tax and organizing a Commission to administer the funds collected if the tax is approved. Thanks Alan for your work on this project!

Shannon Burke, Chessie Blanchard and I met with the developer of Serene Hills this week to discuss the final plat of Phase 2E. The big issues is driveways that directly access Serene Hills Dr. This item will be on the agenda at Council Monday evening.

Staff is working on a purchase and sale agreement for a portion of Rebel Park - if Council approves this, it will have to go to the voters for approval at the May, 2012 general election. This will be on the January Council agenda.

A petition has been received from the residents on Porpoise Drive to reduce the speed limit on the road to 20 mph. State law allows a minimum of 25 mph and this request will go to Council in January also.

There is still interest in the former Exxon station. One is a potential developer that wants to put in a standard convenience store and I recently had an inquiry from a resident just returning from Afghanistan that would like to set up an auto repair shop. More on that as I hear it.

The Lakeway Activity Center has been honored for the second year in a row for excellence in programming by the Learning Resources Network (LERN), an international association in lifelong learning. Here is more information on that award. Congratulations!

Lakeway Police participated in a multi-agency debriefing of last Friday's event at Lake Travis Middle School and High School. Many lessons were learned. and they will be improving some of their plans for such incidents.

That's all for now, I hope everyone is looking forward to a Wonderful Christmas and Holiday Season!

Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us

News, School, ZAPCO

The big news of the week was the event at the Lake Travis Middle School. If you haven't heard, a maintenance person walked in on a man in the restroom and said he had what might have been a gun in a box. The man ran out after the maintenance person started yelling and disappeared. The school was locked down and the complete campus was searched and cleared. As of this time, the person has not been found. There was a combined effort from Travis County Sheriffs, Lakeway Police and Bee Cave Officers to get to the bottom of the issue. No one was hurt and no gun has been found.

The Lake Travis Cavs won another game Friday night by beating Pearland Dawson 45-14 and have moved to the Finals. They will play next Friday, December 16 in Cowboy Stadium against Waco midway to win an unprecedented 5th straight 4A State Championship! Go Cavs!

Zapco met Wednesday, here is that agenda.

3. A Special Use Permit was issued to Philomena Rolands to operate a business from her home after much discussion.

4. The final plat was approved for Serene Hills Phase 2E after much dicussion and agreement that they will modify the direct access to lots on Serene Hills Dr.

5-6. The commission voted 4-3 to recommend against Multifamily Zoning in the Lakeway Highlands. This means Council would have to vote a super majority to grant this zoning (6-1 for).
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From Steve Jones:

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approved LCRA's request to cut back or cut off Highland Lakes water to downstream farmers next year if the drought does not imporve significantly - this was a unanimous decision. Here is the full release.

Sales tax revenue continues to be good news for Lakeway. While the increase in our current month revenue is modest at 2.8% over this month last year, our year-to-date revenue is up almost 11% over last year. I have attached a report from Tax Revenue Consultants, LLC with data from selected Travis County taxing jurisdictions for your reference.

Travis County recently performed a multi-way stop warrant analysis at the intersection of Flint Rock Road and Serene Hills Drive and determined that it meets warrants for a four-way stop. The county installed new stop signs on the Flintrock Road approaches to the intersection this week, and it is now a four-way stop. Previously only vehicles on Serene Hills Drive had to stop.

Paul Duncan is reviewing construction plans for the proposed Starbucks next to Wendy's and a plan for Recovery Ways, a high-end rehab clinic to be located at Rolling Green and Lohmans Crossing.
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If you haven't had a chance yet, be sure to go by and check out the Christmas Trail of Lights by the City Hall - it is fabulous! Thanks to the employees that put so much effort in this project every year!

Next week CBC will meet and it looks to be a busy day. Here is that agenda.

Did you know there is a new book out about Lakeway and it's history? Here is more information.

That's all for now - stay warm and enjoy the holidays - be safe!

Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us

Week End News

The Volunteer Appreciation Dinner was held Thursday evening at the Lakeway Resort Glass Pavillion - what an event! Thanks to all of the City volunteers that work hard to keep Lakeway the wonderful place to live that we all enjoy.

There were three awards presented, first was an unsung hero award to Ann Neighbors for her tireless work organizing the July 4th activities for many years. Thanks Ann!

Second, another unsung hero award went to Dr. Leigh Naftolin for his extradinary efforts in the recent County Bond issue that garnered about $14 million in funding for Flintrock Road and Bee Creek Road. Thanks Leigh! I'm sorry, I don't have a picture of Leigh for the blog.

Citizen of the year was awarded to Jim Anderson for his volunteer work for many years. The Anderson's moved here in 1990 and hit the ground running. Jim has been on many committee's and is currently Chairman of the City Building Commission. Thanks for all your service!

Lights On! has been cancelled this evening because of the rain. The lights will be on and you are welcome to enjoy the trail but there will be no vendors and Santa won't be there. Its a shame, this year the July 4th fireworks were cancelled because of a lack of rain and now the Lights On! celebration is cancelled because of too much rain!

The Lakeway Sing-A-Longs Present "Green Santa" this Sunday December 4th with two showings at 2:00PM and 4:30PM at the Activity Center. Bring a gift and enjoy the show! Get there early for a good seat, it's always crowded!

In case you haven't noticed, Lakeway has it's own Farmers Market! Sundays in the parking lot at 620 and Lakeway Blvd. from 9:00AM until 1:00PM you can pick up fresh produce, beef, chickens and other delights!

ZAPCO will meet next Wednesday at 9:10AM in Council Chambers. Here is that agenda. There main item of interest will be zoning for multifamily (apartments) in the Highlands. Be sure to attend if you have an opinion either way on this, I'm sure the commission will appreciate the input!

The Library is moving toward accepting a bid for construction of the new building. Currently they appear to be about $200,000 short of the funds necessary and are working to secure more donations and cut costs.

The Lakeway Police are holding the 2nd Annual Christmas Gala. This event is the main fundraiser for the Lakeway Police Memorial & Benevolent Foundation. The funds raised go towards scholarships, projects and equipment for the police department and its employees. Please join them for this exciting evening of fun, food and festivities! Here is a link to more information and ticket information.

From Steve Jones:

It appears that our community has been the victim of cybercrime. Credit and debit card numbers of many residents (including Joe Bain, myself, and other city employees) appear to have been electronically “stolen” from patrons of Flores restaurant in the past few weeks and used to make purchases throughout the country. Police have no reason to believe that the restaurant had any involvement in or knowledge of the fraud. The owner has been very helpful in supplying information and evidence.

One of our officers sustained a head injury this week when responding to a call. He was attempting to free a deer from an iron fence and fell face first into the fence causing the wound and the injury required some stitches. Let's wish him a speed recovery!

We are experiencing intermittent problems with traffic signals on RR 620. The problem appears to be with the controllers. Fortunately, TxDot has been responsive and is working to resolve the malfunctions.

This week we installed “profile stripes” (pained stripes with bumps in them) on the double white striping separating the recreation lane from the street on Hurst Creek Drive at Explorer and at Plum. We are evaluating the use of profile stripes to help keep vehicles out of the rec lane in these two dangerous curves. Cost permitting, we plan to use more of this type of striping on other rec lanes.

The Lake Travis High School football team is still in the hunt for a record setting, fifth-consecutive state championship. The Cavaliers play Cedar Park tonight in the quarterfinal game at DKR Memorial Stadium at the University of Texas. Go Cavs!
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That's all for now - keep dry and warm!

Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us