Have you noticed the trucks and tent at the Lakeway Regional Medical Center? Wonder what's going on? Well, it turns out a TV series is being filmed there and at the coffee shop across the street. 11 episodes are committed for John Ridley's "American Crime". Here's a link to more information.
Did you notice the flag and rocks stacked up on 620 by Compass Bank? That was actually a person with some issues that was building a monument, nothing to do with the filming. It's gone now.
Council had their 1st Budget Work Session Monday and staff made a presentation on revenues. There was a lot of discussion on why we are under budget on revenues - mostly due to sales tax revenues being less than predicted and Building Development Services issuing fewer permits than expected. Since most departments are also under budget on expenditures, we are in pretty good shape overall. This session was primarily focused on revenues and our next meeting will be held on Monday, August 11th at 2PM.
There was a big public meeting at Bowie High School on Tuesday, July 29th where the SH-45 extension that would go around the South side of Austin was discussed. As expected, SOS and Austin City Council came out against the new road - I've come to the conclusion that they just don't want ANY roads. Think about this - if we build a NEW road and mitigate the environmental issues with new technology, it is much more environmentally friendly than adding lanes to existing roads that have NO environmental mitigation - and it would move significantly more traffic!
The Heritage Commission met in Special Session Thursday the 31st and voted to spend $500 for Ground Penetrating Radar use to attempt to locate actual graves near the Strahle cabin near Ladin Lane. They also voted to spend some money to clean up trees on the property around the Heritage Center.
ZAPCO meets next week in regular session on August 6th. Here is that agenda - should be a short meeting!
From Steve Jones:
HR reported that we currently have one job posting for City Secretary. We have received 47 applications for the City Secretary position. Three interviews have been scheduled for next week for the City Secretary position. The operator I position with the Parks and Recreation department has been filled. The candidate passed all background checks and will start on august 11. The two part time Facility Attendant positions have also been filled and the candidates have passed all background checks. Lastly, the background process was completed on our Police Officer I candidates and an offer was extended and accepted. His start date is Monday August 4.
Devin Monk attended the final session and graduated from the inaugural Certified Public Communicator course at Texas Christian University. Congratulations Devin!
Chief Radford reports:
Routine traffic stops led to the following charges being filed:
Minor in possession of tobacco
Possession of marijuana X 4
Of note: One of these traffic stops/arrests LPD officers and our K-9 discovered marijuana and $8,500 in cash concealed behind the glove compartment of the vehicle. The occupants are known prison gang members who were in the area looking for a house or duplex to rent. Both subjects were arrested and transported to central booking. This case is still under investigation.
Consumption of alcohol by minor
Possession of drug paraphernalia X 2
Possession of controlled substance
Officers assisted with a structure fire on Camino Arbolago. There were no injuries as a result of the fire that was started by a clothes dryer. Damage was limited to the area around the dryer.
Detective Proctor testified before the grand jury this week on a 4-year-old fraud case. She was able to get a true bill on this felony case, which estimated over $250,000 loss to the victim’s. Good work!
PD staff met with a company called ProQA. They provide protocols for dispatchers to follow during 911 calls. These protocols assist the dispatchers in covering all the requisite material in a timely and efficient manner. This allows the officers on the street to get the same information from each dispatcher regardless of experience. In addition, the dispatchers receive certification for their training and exposure to ProQA. The agency in turn can become accredited after a period of time with the system and a 95% or better rating with the third party auditor. This is a great opportunity for our City, for our PSAP and for our staff. The turnkey cost is minimal as CAPCOG (also known as the District) is paying for a large share of the implementation and training. We will be working with city staff, Univista and Tyler Technologies to move this project forward. More to come as this project takes shape.
Captain Crowder, our city emergency manager, met with representatives from the Hills, Travis County, and Travis County emergency management to begin planning our next emergency responder tabletop exercise. More to come as this develops.
BDS has been crunching a lot of numbers this week as a result of the budget work session Monday afternoon. Other than that, it looks like the Zoning Commission meeting next week will be light. The Rupen Drive zoning has been pushed out another month, as well as requests for a gas station at the northeast corner of Debba Drive and 620, and signs for the new Vibra Rehabilitation Hospital of Lake Travis. The only items left on the agenda are a new freestanding electronic marquee sign at the middle school on Bee Creek Road and continuing discussion of a code amendment pertaining to residential aircraft hangars.
I have spent much of my week working on the Flint Rock Road project. The plans are now 90% complete, and we are meeting with landowners to purchase right-of-way. The project is ahead of schedule, and we hope to award a construction contract before the end of this year and start construction in the first quarter of next year. I need Council approval for an exchange of property relative to right-of-way acquisition, and I plan to have a resolution to that effect on our next agenda.
At our next budget work session on August 11, we will discuss expenditures and some requested items that are not included in the current draft. We must also adopt a proposed tax rate. We also plan to have a sample of the ballot language for the November bond election for you to review and approve prior to calling the election at our regular meeting this month.
===================
This is a BUSY time for Parks and Recreation - Andra has played catch up and here are her reports for the last three months. Here are the reports - good info and GREAT job! April 2014, May 2014, June 2014.
Enjoy this BEAUTIFUL Saturday and be safe out there!
If you'd like to be added to my email list, please drop me a note! lakeway@bain.us
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
No comments:
Post a Comment