The "Meet the Candidates" forum was held Wednesday evening - you can watch it here.
Early voting starts Monday, April 30. Here is a link to the Travis County sample ballot for the upcoming May 12th election.
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One of the things said at the forum was that the annexation of North Brooks Hollow was an illegal annexation. Here are the facts:
The City followed the legal requirements (per the City's attorney) for the annexation of several areas - one of which was North Brooks Hollow. There was a lawsuit filed by Mr. and Mrs. Cokins disputing this annexation in Travis County District Court. The Judge in the case dismissed the case at a Summary Judgement Hearing "with prejudice". This basically means the suit is dismissed and the plaintiff is barred from re-filing the suit. They have now appealed this ruling to the Court of Appeals.
The City has currently spent about $50,000 to date defending itself. This money will be paid from taxes collected - approximately $140,000 per year will be collected from all the newly annexed areas.
Hopefully with this additional information, you will be able to make an informed decision when you vote.
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Per Paul Duncan, Service King Collision Repair has received their site permit and have commenced construction at 1403 RR 620, just South of Oak Grove Plaza.
ZAPCO will meet on May 2, 2012 at 9:10AM - here is the agenda. Several items are delayed for a month, but it should be a full morning!
Steve Jones reports our year to date tax receipts are $1.314M. This is about 10% ahead of last year's receipts for the same period - this is good news!
Parks and Rec will meet at 5:00PM on May 2nd at City Hall. Here is that agenda.
Andra Dearing has also provided this weekly report. Here is a link.
That's all I have at the moment - more as I find out!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Special Edition!
Don't forget the "Meet the Candidates Forum" tomorrow, Wednesday April 25th at the Lakeway Activity Center, from 7 to 9PM. Get there early, I'm sure it will be a packed house!
Because of the "Open Meeting's Act" issues, the Forum will also be streamed live on the internet. You can click on the "Candidates Forum" Quick Link at the upper right of the blog page. Here is a link also. There will also be a link on the City's website.
This is going to be a very important election for your City. The incumbents, Dee Ann Burns-Farrell, Dave Taylor and Bruce Harris have donated many hours to Council work to be sure important issues are handled properly. They are all ethical and have no agenda other than to do what they feel is best for the City and it's residents. All have worked tirelessly both on the City Council and numerous other volunteer positions to insure the City continues on its path to remain financially stable and viable and work to insure City Services continue at an exceptional level.
I am hoping the readers of my blog consider this and are interested in keeping our grand City special for all the residents. They are being opposed by two other individuals.
One non incumbent candidate, Anita Cokins, currently has a lawsuit pending against the City - basically to nullify the annexation of North Brooks Hollow. The suit was dismissed by Summary Judgment, and now is being appealed to the District Court of Appeals.
The other non incumbent, Kay Sconci, has shown no interest in the City other than to be head of a group "Against Lakeway". Her neighborhood was also annexed a short time ago.
Please consider this and be sure to vote in the City Election. Early voting starts on Monday April 30 and ends Tuesday May 8. Election day is Saturday May 12, 2012.
Because of the "Open Meeting's Act" issues, the Forum will also be streamed live on the internet. You can click on the "Candidates Forum" Quick Link at the upper right of the blog page. Here is a link also. There will also be a link on the City's website.
-----Editorial-----
This is going to be a very important election for your City. The incumbents, Dee Ann Burns-Farrell, Dave Taylor and Bruce Harris have donated many hours to Council work to be sure important issues are handled properly. They are all ethical and have no agenda other than to do what they feel is best for the City and it's residents. All have worked tirelessly both on the City Council and numerous other volunteer positions to insure the City continues on its path to remain financially stable and viable and work to insure City Services continue at an exceptional level.
I am hoping the readers of my blog consider this and are interested in keeping our grand City special for all the residents. They are being opposed by two other individuals.
One non incumbent candidate, Anita Cokins, currently has a lawsuit pending against the City - basically to nullify the annexation of North Brooks Hollow. The suit was dismissed by Summary Judgment, and now is being appealed to the District Court of Appeals.
The other non incumbent, Kay Sconci, has shown no interest in the City other than to be head of a group "Against Lakeway". Her neighborhood was also annexed a short time ago.
Please consider this and be sure to vote in the City Election. Early voting starts on Monday April 30 and ends Tuesday May 8. Election day is Saturday May 12, 2012.
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In other news, if you will be out of town and unable to personally vote, here is a link with information on casting a ballot by mail.
CBC will meet at 9AM Thursday Morning, here is that agenda.
More as I find out!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Council Update and More!
Lakeway City Council met in regular session last night - here is that agenda. If you would like to see what is in the Council Member's packets or books, here is a link to that information.
Here we go - Judge Madison made about a 15 minute presentation about the courts and gave an insite to the workings of the Lakeway Court. A Traffic Safety Initiative award for 2012 was presented to Mayor DeOme. Great presentation with lots of information! Thanks Judge Madison!
Items 6 and 7 pertain to funding for traffic signals at the new Lakeway Regional Medical Center (LRMC) and is a pass through from the developer to TXDOT. Passed 7-0
Item 8 was an application from Recovery Ways for a Special Use Permit for an Addiction Rehab Facility at the LRMC site. ZAPCO voted 7-0 to recomend against this SUP at their meeting last Wednesday. After many citizens and representatives spoke to Council, the Special Use Permit was denied with a vote of 7-0 against the permit.
An ordinance was approved establishing a Hotel Occupancy Tax for the City on agenda item 9. A visitors commission, agenda item 10 was postponed.
All of the plats and zoning were approved without issue (items 11-15) on a vote of 7-0 in favor.
Item 16 was an amendment cleaning up some issues with parks and parkland in the Subdivision Code - 7-0 in favor.
The meeting was adjourned about 9PM.
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The election is fast approaching - here is the sample ballot. Please vote for candidates that you feel will represent you in ALL city matters.
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The Joint Council Meeting was very interesting Saturday morning! I have to apologize, live to Austin's channel 6 is different than my live - it aired about 3 hours after the meeting. If you would like to watch the meeting and see what was said, here is a link! It was a packed house!
Lakeway Regional Medical Center's official ribbon cutting was held Monday April 16th at 10:30AM. This is a great accomplishment for the City and surrounding area, in a short period of time this piece of land has been turned into a majestic hospital that will undoubtably save many lives in the future! Congratulations!
Next week on Tuesday April 24th, there will be some lane closures on Lohmans and 620 for landscaping. Here is a link for more info!
Here is a link to an information sheet on What's Happening in Lakeway This Week, furnished by Rachel Wallace - Thanks Rachel!
That's all for now - more as it comes out!
Joe Bain
Lakeway@bain.us
Here we go - Judge Madison made about a 15 minute presentation about the courts and gave an insite to the workings of the Lakeway Court. A Traffic Safety Initiative award for 2012 was presented to Mayor DeOme. Great presentation with lots of information! Thanks Judge Madison!
Items 6 and 7 pertain to funding for traffic signals at the new Lakeway Regional Medical Center (LRMC) and is a pass through from the developer to TXDOT. Passed 7-0
Item 8 was an application from Recovery Ways for a Special Use Permit for an Addiction Rehab Facility at the LRMC site. ZAPCO voted 7-0 to recomend against this SUP at their meeting last Wednesday. After many citizens and representatives spoke to Council, the Special Use Permit was denied with a vote of 7-0 against the permit.
An ordinance was approved establishing a Hotel Occupancy Tax for the City on agenda item 9. A visitors commission, agenda item 10 was postponed.
All of the plats and zoning were approved without issue (items 11-15) on a vote of 7-0 in favor.
Item 16 was an amendment cleaning up some issues with parks and parkland in the Subdivision Code - 7-0 in favor.
The meeting was adjourned about 9PM.
================
The election is fast approaching - here is the sample ballot. Please vote for candidates that you feel will represent you in ALL city matters.
=================
The Joint Council Meeting was very interesting Saturday morning! I have to apologize, live to Austin's channel 6 is different than my live - it aired about 3 hours after the meeting. If you would like to watch the meeting and see what was said, here is a link! It was a packed house!Lakeway Regional Medical Center's official ribbon cutting was held Monday April 16th at 10:30AM. This is a great accomplishment for the City and surrounding area, in a short period of time this piece of land has been turned into a majestic hospital that will undoubtably save many lives in the future! Congratulations!
Next week on Tuesday April 24th, there will be some lane closures on Lohmans and 620 for landscaping. Here is a link for more info!
Here is a link to an information sheet on What's Happening in Lakeway This Week, furnished by Rachel Wallace - Thanks Rachel!
That's all for now - more as it comes out!
Joe Bain
Lakeway@bain.us
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Busy week! - Next Week Too
Lakeway MUD met in regular session Tuesday April 10th. Here is that agenda. Items 4-7 were passed after some discussion. Item 8 was dropped from the agenda because it was too vague. Item 9 included a presentation from the attorney that basically informed the incumbent Board Members that an attempt would be made to establish an agenda for the "Meet the Candidates" meeting, but with questions from the audience they would have to be careful about what was said. A Motion was made by Mr. Brewer for the incumbents to not attend the LCC "Meet the Candidates" and was passed 3-2.
Here is a link to the current MUD watering schedule.
The problem is that since the MUD is a 5 member Board, three incumbents at the forum would constitute a quorum, without a specific agenda, this would violate the "Open Meetings Act" and members could face criminal prosecution if a complaint was lodged with the Attorney General.
This same issue will affect the City Council incumbent candidates if any other Council Members or Mayor were to attend the forum. That is why you won't see Council Incumbents or Mayor at the forum.
I was able to get the City to contract for streaming video of the Candidate forum! If you look at the "quick links" at the top right of the page, there is a link for "Candidates Forum". It will be operational on the night of the Forum.
CBC met Thursday, April 12. Here is that agenda. All the waivers were granted (1-3). 128 Deerfield was granted their request to use 2" river rocks as per drawing. 504 Copperleaf was denied permission to use concrete blocks as a temporary driveway and was also denied a wavier to drive and park on the grass.
Item 8 was denied because of view blocking issues. The rest of items were all passed. Friday is Shannon Burks (Director Building and Development) last day. He is resigning to pursue other opportunities. I would like to wish Shannon all the best - he was good to work with and had the communities interests at heart.
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Saturday there will be a Special work session at Council Chambers from 10AM until 12 noon that will include City of Austin Council Members. Here is that agenda. This meeting is being held to get public opinion on the Austin Energy planned rate hike. Those citizens living in Lakeway will get the same rate hike as Austin citizens - a percentage of the money raised goes directly into the Austin General fund. Our Council disagrees with this approach. Those in the Austin Energy area should plan to let Austin City Council know of their feelings - please plan to attend and speak! Here is a link to more info.
This meeting will be televised on the Austin City Channel - I think it is 6 on Time Warner and 99 on u-Verse. Check it out! Should start a little before 10AM - see you there!
====================
Monday, April 16 City Council will meet in regular session. Here is that agenda. It will be a long meeting! A Special Use Permit request from Recovery Ways and the Hotel Occupancy Tax will both be addressed at this meeting. Several Zoning issues along with Road Improvement issues plus an ordinance establishing a Lakeway Visitors Commission will also be addressed.
That's all for now -
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Here is a link to the current MUD watering schedule.
The problem is that since the MUD is a 5 member Board, three incumbents at the forum would constitute a quorum, without a specific agenda, this would violate the "Open Meetings Act" and members could face criminal prosecution if a complaint was lodged with the Attorney General.
This same issue will affect the City Council incumbent candidates if any other Council Members or Mayor were to attend the forum. That is why you won't see Council Incumbents or Mayor at the forum.
I was able to get the City to contract for streaming video of the Candidate forum! If you look at the "quick links" at the top right of the page, there is a link for "Candidates Forum". It will be operational on the night of the Forum.
CBC met Thursday, April 12. Here is that agenda. All the waivers were granted (1-3). 128 Deerfield was granted their request to use 2" river rocks as per drawing. 504 Copperleaf was denied permission to use concrete blocks as a temporary driveway and was also denied a wavier to drive and park on the grass.
Item 8 was denied because of view blocking issues. The rest of items were all passed. Friday is Shannon Burks (Director Building and Development) last day. He is resigning to pursue other opportunities. I would like to wish Shannon all the best - he was good to work with and had the communities interests at heart.
===================
Saturday there will be a Special work session at Council Chambers from 10AM until 12 noon that will include City of Austin Council Members. Here is that agenda. This meeting is being held to get public opinion on the Austin Energy planned rate hike. Those citizens living in Lakeway will get the same rate hike as Austin citizens - a percentage of the money raised goes directly into the Austin General fund. Our Council disagrees with this approach. Those in the Austin Energy area should plan to let Austin City Council know of their feelings - please plan to attend and speak! Here is a link to more info.
This meeting will be televised on the Austin City Channel - I think it is 6 on Time Warner and 99 on u-Verse. Check it out! Should start a little before 10AM - see you there!
====================
Monday, April 16 City Council will meet in regular session. Here is that agenda. It will be a long meeting! A Special Use Permit request from Recovery Ways and the Hotel Occupancy Tax will both be addressed at this meeting. Several Zoning issues along with Road Improvement issues plus an ordinance establishing a Lakeway Visitors Commission will also be addressed.
That's all for now -
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Weeks Update!
I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather for Good Friday! It looks like our Easter weekend will just about be perfect!
Note the addition of a link (to the right) that give the voting information - dates, time, etc. Here is another link.
Last week was pretty quiet around the City except for the ZAPCO meeting. Here is a recap of that meeting:
ZAPCO met Wednesday 4.4.2012 at 9:10 AM in regular session with a packed house. Here is that agenda. All items were approved except the Special Use Permit for Recovery Ways.
Thanks to the Staff for the notes on all of the votes - click here to view.
That SUP was recommended to be denied by the commission. The CEO gave a presentation of the services they provide. There were many folks signed up to speak and the vast majority were opposed to the business being located in Lakeway and especially next to another school. There were a few speakers in favor of the business, I was disappointed that most did not mention they were either employed by Recovery Ways or were seeking employment with them.
The Commission debated after the information was gathered and voted unanimously to recommend Council NOT approve the SUP. Here is a clip of the motion and vote. I'll apologize ahead of time, you will need to turn the sound way up tho hear the motion.
In the local news, you might have seen an article on a drug bust in North Brooks Hollow. This happened a few weeks ago and is an ongoing investigation. It appears the US Assistant District Attorney has filed a forfeiture lawsuit in the U.S. Western District Court. Here is the article from the Lake Travis View.
The Meet the Candidates forum will be held at Lakeway Activity Center on April 25 from 7 to 9 PM. Apparently the forum will include not only the Council candidates but also the MUD candidates. Unfortunately, none of the incumbents NOT running for office will be able to attend because of possible Open Meetings Acts violations.
I have been able to talk the City into Streaming the "Meet the Candidates" forum that will take place on April 25th at the Activity Center. I will have more information and possibly a link for this as soon as it is finalized. GREAT news!
Last weeks Eggstravaganza was a huge success! Parks and Rec. reports an estimated 1,000 folks attended the festivities!
Next week on April 10th the Lakeway MUD will hold it's regular monthly meeting - here is that agenda.
Don't forget the Big Band Bash Monday at the Activity Center. Here is a link to upcoming events at the Activity Center.
Thanks to everyone for all the support! I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Weekend!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Note the addition of a link (to the right) that give the voting information - dates, time, etc. Here is another link.
Last week was pretty quiet around the City except for the ZAPCO meeting. Here is a recap of that meeting:
ZAPCO met Wednesday 4.4.2012 at 9:10 AM in regular session with a packed house. Here is that agenda. All items were approved except the Special Use Permit for Recovery Ways.
Thanks to the Staff for the notes on all of the votes - click here to view.That SUP was recommended to be denied by the commission. The CEO gave a presentation of the services they provide. There were many folks signed up to speak and the vast majority were opposed to the business being located in Lakeway and especially next to another school. There were a few speakers in favor of the business, I was disappointed that most did not mention they were either employed by Recovery Ways or were seeking employment with them.
The Commission debated after the information was gathered and voted unanimously to recommend Council NOT approve the SUP. Here is a clip of the motion and vote. I'll apologize ahead of time, you will need to turn the sound way up tho hear the motion.
In the local news, you might have seen an article on a drug bust in North Brooks Hollow. This happened a few weeks ago and is an ongoing investigation. It appears the US Assistant District Attorney has filed a forfeiture lawsuit in the U.S. Western District Court. Here is the article from the Lake Travis View.
The Meet the Candidates forum will be held at Lakeway Activity Center on April 25 from 7 to 9 PM. Apparently the forum will include not only the Council candidates but also the MUD candidates. Unfortunately, none of the incumbents NOT running for office will be able to attend because of possible Open Meetings Acts violations.
I have been able to talk the City into Streaming the "Meet the Candidates" forum that will take place on April 25th at the Activity Center. I will have more information and possibly a link for this as soon as it is finalized. GREAT news!
Last weeks Eggstravaganza was a huge success! Parks and Rec. reports an estimated 1,000 folks attended the festivities!
Next week on April 10th the Lakeway MUD will hold it's regular monthly meeting - here is that agenda.
Don't forget the Big Band Bash Monday at the Activity Center. Here is a link to upcoming events at the Activity Center.
Thanks to everyone for all the support! I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Weekend!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
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