Wonder about Lakeway forclosures? Greg Delong has identified 40+ properties in Lakeway in forclosure. Greg is compiling an inventory of contact information and will be keeping an eye on these properties.
The Holiday Inn Express has made available a rendering of what the building will look like when complete. They will be going before the CBC to have the colors approved next Thursday. Here is a link to the rendering.
This weekend marks the end of the season for the Lakeway Pool. With school starting next week, there are no lifeguards available. Lake Travis ISD has inquired about terminating their contract with the City and have plans to move to Nitro.
School starts next week so be sure to watch your speed and be careful in the school zones.
That's all for today, more soon!
Thanks again!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
Need some Help, Week's Report, Drought
I normally don't use this blog to further charities but this is one of the exceptions. Our Assistant City Manager, Chessie Blanchard-Zimmerman and her husband Tracy are working to support the Green Beret Foundation. Here is their website. Please check out the site and help them help the troops and their families. I appreciate your generous support!
City Building Commission meets next Thursday at 9AM. Here is that agenda.
The Mayor and Assistant City Manager met with representatives of North Brooks Hollow and went over the revisions to the R-6 zoning ordinance. Hopefully most of the concerns are being addressed.
There was a meeting of the Hills POA and Flintrock Falls residents over traffic involving Jack Nicklaus Drive. It appears there are several opinions on how to handle the issues but not much agreement on any solutions. For now it appears that no cut through for either The Hills Residents or Flintrock Falls residents will be allowed!
The Men's Breakfast Club's speaker was Bob Rose, the LCRA meteorologist. His outlook was not very positive. It appears without some relief our area will be moving to Stage II restrictions. This could mean watering our yard only one day a week!
I notice that all of our medians are looking poorly because of the drought and the City has many of trees that are in a stressed condition. In contrast, the new plantings and beds around Lohman's and Lakeway Blvd. are a real improvement to the area landscape!
Thanks for all the support. Please email me if you would like to be added to my email list that I send out when blogs are posted. Stay cool and pray for rain!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
City Building Commission meets next Thursday at 9AM. Here is that agenda.
The Mayor and Assistant City Manager met with representatives of North Brooks Hollow and went over the revisions to the R-6 zoning ordinance. Hopefully most of the concerns are being addressed.
There was a meeting of the Hills POA and Flintrock Falls residents over traffic involving Jack Nicklaus Drive. It appears there are several opinions on how to handle the issues but not much agreement on any solutions. For now it appears that no cut through for either The Hills Residents or Flintrock Falls residents will be allowed!
The Men's Breakfast Club's speaker was Bob Rose, the LCRA meteorologist. His outlook was not very positive. It appears without some relief our area will be moving to Stage II restrictions. This could mean watering our yard only one day a week!
I notice that all of our medians are looking poorly because of the drought and the City has many of trees that are in a stressed condition. In contrast, the new plantings and beds around Lohman's and Lakeway Blvd. are a real improvement to the area landscape!
Thanks for all the support. Please email me if you would like to be added to my email list that I send out when blogs are posted. Stay cool and pray for rain!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Council Update, DeOme checks out St. Davids
Hello everyone! Mayor DeOme was unable to attend the Council meeting last night, he made an unexpected visit to St. Davids in Bee Cave. He is fine and at home and is expected to make a full recovery. I hear those kidney stones are really painful!
Here are the highlights from Council's agenda. Our financials continue to be a bright spot in Lakeway. We again were above budget in revenue and below budget in expense - both GOOD news!
Items 5, 6, and 7 were delayed until the next meeting at the Mayor's request.
Item 8 was approved to clean up ownership of a section of Hayden Ridge Lane - although the City has been maintaining the road, it appears it was privately owned by The Hills POA and now it is City ROW.
9. The City is authorized to hire a firm for collection of Municipal court fines and fees. The City has about $2 million outstanding that if pursued will net $700 - $800 thousand dollars. 30% will go to the collection agency.
10. A resolution was passed to not impose a subscriber fee for operation of a Public channel since Lakeway does not have an entity to pursue this.
11. Lakeway Airpark South was denied R-1 zoning last October and is requesting reconsideration of their zoning ahead of the normal 1 year anniversary. This was granted, however there were questions about the new plan that will need to be answered.
12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 were all passed pertaining to Annexation and Zoning of property in the Highlands at the request of the developer.
17, 18, and 19 were all passed instituting new ordinances for Short Term Rentals in Lakeway.
20. A zoning code amendment addressing sexually-oriented businesses was passed unanimously.
21-22. Council spent a few minutes discussing and requesting additional information from Staff on the FY2012 budget. Since we intend to use the current tax rate of $0.1996 per hundred, no action was required.
The meeting ended a little before 8PM, well ahead of expectations because of the items that were deferred.
Thanks for the support! If you would like to be on my email list, simply send me a note at lakeway@bain.us and I will sign you up!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Here are the highlights from Council's agenda. Our financials continue to be a bright spot in Lakeway. We again were above budget in revenue and below budget in expense - both GOOD news!
Items 5, 6, and 7 were delayed until the next meeting at the Mayor's request.
Item 8 was approved to clean up ownership of a section of Hayden Ridge Lane - although the City has been maintaining the road, it appears it was privately owned by The Hills POA and now it is City ROW.
9. The City is authorized to hire a firm for collection of Municipal court fines and fees. The City has about $2 million outstanding that if pursued will net $700 - $800 thousand dollars. 30% will go to the collection agency.
10. A resolution was passed to not impose a subscriber fee for operation of a Public channel since Lakeway does not have an entity to pursue this.
11. Lakeway Airpark South was denied R-1 zoning last October and is requesting reconsideration of their zoning ahead of the normal 1 year anniversary. This was granted, however there were questions about the new plan that will need to be answered.
12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 were all passed pertaining to Annexation and Zoning of property in the Highlands at the request of the developer.
17, 18, and 19 were all passed instituting new ordinances for Short Term Rentals in Lakeway.
20. A zoning code amendment addressing sexually-oriented businesses was passed unanimously.
21-22. Council spent a few minutes discussing and requesting additional information from Staff on the FY2012 budget. Since we intend to use the current tax rate of $0.1996 per hundred, no action was required.
The meeting ended a little before 8PM, well ahead of expectations because of the items that were deferred.
Thanks for the support! If you would like to be on my email list, simply send me a note at lakeway@bain.us and I will sign you up!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Drought, Weekly Update ++
Its been hot and dry hasn't it! I was thinking about hitching a ride around the area in a friends plane for some pictures of the lake and just received this Youtube video made by the LCRA. Here is a link - it's really sad!
Here is a link to Don Gardner's tips for keeping your trees alive during this drought!
Triton Trial - Bee Cave and Uplands resident Kurt Barton's fraud trial started this week with testimony about the profligate spending of the company now known to have been a giant Ponzi scheme - Triton Financial. Leveraging relationships with several local Football stars, Barton is alleged to have embezzled over $50 million and is charged with fraud and numerous other offenses in this Federal case.
From Steve Jones:
The Village of The Hills wants to install a sidewalk along The Hills Drive from Trophy Drive To Lakeway Blvd. Part of it will be in our jurisdiction so they have submitted plans for review. It looks good and will be a nice improvement for our children who walk or bike to Serene Hills Elementary.
A drainage problem at 303 Duck Lake caused by a driveway installed 13 years ago should be corrected in a week or so. It appears the City failed to require a culvert under the driveway.
Paul Duncan (City Engineer) held a pre-construction meeting this week for the HEB wastewater extension in Serene Hills. Hopefully this indicates that HEB is getting serious about building at this location.
Residential building permits increased by 54.7% from this time last year. Our sales tax receipts are also up 28.7% over this month last year. Our local economy continues to show signs of good health!
Annexation Update:
Last week, staff sent copies of the proposed amendments to the R-6 Zoning district and floodplain ordinance to representatives of North Brooks Hollow and Travis Oaks Trails. This week we received communications from attorneys representing both groups. The process will move along as directed by Council in the June meeting. In September, the agenda will include action items for adopting the proposed amendments and annexing the North Brooks Hollow area.
__________________
Here is the Agenda for Monday's Council meeting - there are many action items and I expect the meeting will run long.
The tenth annual Lakeway Photo Festival is coming up in November. Here is a link to more information!
And finally, although the Transitional Medical Center (behind the Post Office) seems to be nearly complete, the latest information I have is that it will open sometime in 2012.
Thanks for all the letters of support! More as I find out!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Here is a link to Don Gardner's tips for keeping your trees alive during this drought!
Triton Trial - Bee Cave and Uplands resident Kurt Barton's fraud trial started this week with testimony about the profligate spending of the company now known to have been a giant Ponzi scheme - Triton Financial. Leveraging relationships with several local Football stars, Barton is alleged to have embezzled over $50 million and is charged with fraud and numerous other offenses in this Federal case.
From Steve Jones:
The Village of The Hills wants to install a sidewalk along The Hills Drive from Trophy Drive To Lakeway Blvd. Part of it will be in our jurisdiction so they have submitted plans for review. It looks good and will be a nice improvement for our children who walk or bike to Serene Hills Elementary.
A drainage problem at 303 Duck Lake caused by a driveway installed 13 years ago should be corrected in a week or so. It appears the City failed to require a culvert under the driveway.
Paul Duncan (City Engineer) held a pre-construction meeting this week for the HEB wastewater extension in Serene Hills. Hopefully this indicates that HEB is getting serious about building at this location.
Residential building permits increased by 54.7% from this time last year. Our sales tax receipts are also up 28.7% over this month last year. Our local economy continues to show signs of good health!
Annexation Update:
Last week, staff sent copies of the proposed amendments to the R-6 Zoning district and floodplain ordinance to representatives of North Brooks Hollow and Travis Oaks Trails. This week we received communications from attorneys representing both groups. The process will move along as directed by Council in the June meeting. In September, the agenda will include action items for adopting the proposed amendments and annexing the North Brooks Hollow area.
__________________
Here is the Agenda for Monday's Council meeting - there are many action items and I expect the meeting will run long.
The tenth annual Lakeway Photo Festival is coming up in November. Here is a link to more information!
And finally, although the Transitional Medical Center (behind the Post Office) seems to be nearly complete, the latest information I have is that it will open sometime in 2012.
Thanks for all the letters of support! More as I find out!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Travis County Bond, Council Results
I have received word that the projects City needed were included in the Bond procedure. Both the Flintrock Road Construction and the Bee Creek Road Construction made the cut. From what I understand, many items previously cut were also included. The total bond package is a little over 200 million dollars. The Bond election will be in November this year.
Council met Monday at 2PM, here is that agenda. There was a work session on the FY 2012 City budget. Following a presentation by City Manager Steve Jones, the budget was discussed. The plan is to keep the tax rate at $.197 per $100 of evaluation - the same as last year. It appears that many items deferred from the last 3-4 years can be addressed in this budget.
An amendment was passed to amend the FY 2011 budget to allow use of unused funds.
Next Monday, Council will meet in regular session at 6:30PM. Here is that agenda. I expect this meeting will run long - there is a lot on the agenda.
CBC meets tomorrow, August 11, 2011 at 9AM. Here is that agenda.
More soon!
Thanks for the support!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Council met Monday at 2PM, here is that agenda. There was a work session on the FY 2012 City budget. Following a presentation by City Manager Steve Jones, the budget was discussed. The plan is to keep the tax rate at $.197 per $100 of evaluation - the same as last year. It appears that many items deferred from the last 3-4 years can be addressed in this budget.
An amendment was passed to amend the FY 2011 budget to allow use of unused funds.
Next Monday, Council will meet in regular session at 6:30PM. Here is that agenda. I expect this meeting will run long - there is a lot on the agenda.
CBC meets tomorrow, August 11, 2011 at 9AM. Here is that agenda.
More soon!
Thanks for the support!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Monday, August 8, 2011
Here's The Latest!
Today there will be a Special Council Meeting on the budget. Starts at 2PM and here is the agenda.
Staff is working with all the departments to draft a budget on the effective tax rate so there will be no tax increase. The goal is to fill frozen positions, catch up on deferred maintenance and include a cost of living adjustment in wages. It looks like this will be attainable since we are under budget for last year.
From Steve Jones:
Dave Taylor, Bruce Harris, Dennis Wallace and I attended the ribbon cutting for St. David's new ER at the Hill Country Galleria.
Time Warner Cable is going to change to the State Wide franchise agreement September 1st. We anticipate this will result in about a $120K increase in revenue in FY 2012.
The City did not overlay any streets this year to enable us to overlay Lohmans Crossing between Lakeway Blvd. and RR 620.
Shannon Burke:
The LRMC is moving forward with an expedited schedule for a Medical Office next to the Hospital.
Haythem Dawlett will approach ZAPCO and Council in September for approval of R-8 (apartment) zoning for a tract immediately West of the Highland Village amenity center.
________________
There is no new news on the Hospital behind the Post Office.
A draft of new amendments has been produced by staff for changes to the R-6 zoning. This is in response to the North Brooks Hollow annexation and addresses the issues brought up in public meetings.
The City of Lakeway has joined the "Stars for Our Troops" campaign. Here is a link to more information.
ZAPCO met last week and had a long agenda. Here are the high points:
3. Tug's BBQ sign was denied because of too many colors.
5. Lake Travis Library sign was denied because it was too large - almost 4 times permitted size.
8. Marina Village development permit was approved with the requirement that fencing and restoration of construction area.
9. A proposed amendment to Short Term Rentals was recommended.
All the rest of items were approved except items 16-20 that were postponed.
More after Council today - thanks for looking!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Staff is working with all the departments to draft a budget on the effective tax rate so there will be no tax increase. The goal is to fill frozen positions, catch up on deferred maintenance and include a cost of living adjustment in wages. It looks like this will be attainable since we are under budget for last year.
From Steve Jones:
Dave Taylor, Bruce Harris, Dennis Wallace and I attended the ribbon cutting for St. David's new ER at the Hill Country Galleria.
Time Warner Cable is going to change to the State Wide franchise agreement September 1st. We anticipate this will result in about a $120K increase in revenue in FY 2012.
The City did not overlay any streets this year to enable us to overlay Lohmans Crossing between Lakeway Blvd. and RR 620.
Shannon Burke:
The LRMC is moving forward with an expedited schedule for a Medical Office next to the Hospital.
Haythem Dawlett will approach ZAPCO and Council in September for approval of R-8 (apartment) zoning for a tract immediately West of the Highland Village amenity center.
________________
There is no new news on the Hospital behind the Post Office.
A draft of new amendments has been produced by staff for changes to the R-6 zoning. This is in response to the North Brooks Hollow annexation and addresses the issues brought up in public meetings.
The City of Lakeway has joined the "Stars for Our Troops" campaign. Here is a link to more information.
ZAPCO met last week and had a long agenda. Here are the high points:
3. Tug's BBQ sign was denied because of too many colors.
5. Lake Travis Library sign was denied because it was too large - almost 4 times permitted size.
8. Marina Village development permit was approved with the requirement that fencing and restoration of construction area.
9. A proposed amendment to Short Term Rentals was recommended.
All the rest of items were approved except items 16-20 that were postponed.
More after Council today - thanks for looking!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
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