Council, Week Update

Council met in regular session Tuesday evening. Here is that agenda. In the "Citizens Participation", several folks spoke in approval of the City's action on the Rehab center issue of last week. Thank you for the support, it was a rough week (I was fired twice via email) and I think the City and Council have made some good decisions that will strengthen our ordinance to address issues like this in the future. Anita Cokins spoke again about her objection to the annexation of North Brooks Hollow.

An Ordinance was passed unanimously approving the General Election for the purpose of electing three Councilmembers. Dee Ann Burns-Farrel, Bruce Harris and Dave Taylor have all filed for re-election at this time. I will let you know if anyone else files - several packets have been picked up.

An Ordinance was approved authorizing the sale of Rebel and Sailfish Parks to adjacent property owners to be put on the ballot. These properties would be sold to adjacent property owners if approved by the voters.

Lakeway Highlands Section 7A was annexed at the request of the developer.

Item 8 was a request from the owners of Lago Acres to re-zone to R-6 from R-1. ZAPCO voted to not recommend this because of the R-1 properties around this property. Council agreed with this and voted unanimously to maintain the R-1 zoning.

Item 9 addressed issues with the existing Noise Regulations in the current ordinance. The changes allow for a requirement that commercial businesses obtain a Special Use Permit if there are complaints from citizens about any amplifed music or sound. This was also passed unanimously.

There was discussion about a proposed Hotel Occupancy Tax. I expect this will be discussed frequently in the next few months. The Chamber of Commerce and area Hotels are somewhat at odds on this and Council will be looking at ways to make this work and bring added value to our City. More to come on this soon.

Council went into Executive session to get a report on the lawsuit filed by Steve and Anita Cokins against the City regarding the annexation of North Brooks Hollow. As of this time, there was a hearing a few weeks ago where the judge dismissed the case. Since then, the City offered not to pursue requesting reimbursement for legal expenses from the Cokins if they agreed to not appeal the ruling. Since they decided to appeal, the City asked the judge to award legal fees - this was denied and the case is now going to the appellate court.

Chessie Blanchard-Zimmerman was appointed representative to the CAMPO Technical Advisory Committee - congratulations Chessie!

The CBC met on Feb. 23rd. Here is that agenda. I don't have all of the results and will try to post them later.
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There will be a City Council Workshop on Monday 2-27-2012. Here is that agenda. There will be no pubic input at this meeting but will be some interesting reports about issues your City leaders will eventually be addressing. Unfortunately, I will be in San Antonio and will be unable to attend.

Lakeway Municipal Court Wins Traffic Safety Award Again!

Presiding Judge Kevin R. Madison was notified on Friday, February 17, 2012, that the Lakeway Municipal Court will be receiving a Traffic Safety Initiatives Award from the Texas Municipal Courts Association. For more info click here!

Here is Andra Dearing's Parks and Rec. Weekly Report.

From Steve Jones:

Staff from Administration, BDS, Parks & Rec and Public Works met with Earl Foster, LMUD, and Debbie Gernes, WCID #17, to discuss current and expected water restrictions related to the ongoing drought. Both Districts are in the process of revising their restrictions and anticipate those revisions to be approved by their respective boards in March. As rainfall diminishes and the weather heats up, the Districts will likely cease permitting the filling of new pools, and the city can help by declining to grant permits for the construction of new pools during that time. Additional steps the city needs to take are to prioritize irrigation needs, review regulations regarding private wells and revise them if necessary, continue to educate the public about fire preparedness, and install rainwater collection systems for irrigation where possible.

Carrie Burns will begin meeting with neighborhood groups soon to inform them of ways to keep their homes and property safe from wildfire. She will be educating homeowner groups on a program promulgated by a consortium of national fire services known as Ready, Set, Go! This is the same program that is being promoted by City of Austin and Travis County fire and emergency management agencies. It teaches people about simple, but effective, things they can do to reduce their exposure to wildfire.

Andra Dearing passed her exam this week and is now recognized by the National Recreation and Parks Association as a Certified Parks and Recreation Professional. This is the most prestigious certification in the parks and recreation profession. It is a great achievement for Andra, and a credit to the city.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend - it looks like a beautiful day!

Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us