Lakeway Dr. will be closed at 8:00 AM so find your spot early.
Steve Jones and I attended the TML Legislative Wrap Up this week, it appears the Legislature wasn't able to cause the City too many issues. One of note, if we annex land up to a County road, we have to take the road. I see no further annexations in the near future so that shouldn't be a big issue.
ZAPCO met in regular session Wednesday - all items were passed without any issues.
Steve and I met with the new CEO of Lakeway Regional Medical Center, Philippe Bochaton on Wednesday afternoon along with the head of neurosurgery and an investor. Hospital bed counts are increasing, new doctors are coming in and they are hiring 20 more nurses. They plan on this hospital being the most modern and best equipped in Central Texas. More on this as it unfolds.
We also met with the new General Manager of Club Corps, Ron Woolard and are nearing completion of a purchase of the tennis courts near the driving range at Live Oak. This has been in the mill for a long time and I think it is finally moving ahead.
Lakeway and TxDOT are working together on a pilot landscaping project on Maul Hill on RR 620. Here is a link to lots more info.
I get a lot of questions about whats going into the "Oaks" and area around the new HEB. Here is a new updated document with more information.
From Steve Jones:
I would like to recognize some of our employees who have gone above and beyond to support the building department in the past few weeks. First, the building department personnel have worked nights and weekends in an attempt to keep up with the workflow. They have worked diligently under some hard conditions and unwarranted criticism. They truly deserve our appreciation. I also want to recognize Chessie Zimmerman, Wendy Askey, and Julie Oakley for stepping when they recognized a need and unselfishly filled the void. Their efforts made a huge difference in the department’s performance. The teamwork demonstrated by these employees is impressive, and we are fortunate to have public servants of their caliber working for us. I am sure there are others who also assisted, and they deserve our gratitude as well.
Mayor Bain and I attended a legislative wrap-up hosted by the Texas Municipal League. We learned of some changes in Texas law that will affect the city going forward. One notable change is that if a city annexes land adjacent to a county road, the city must also annex the county road. This could have serious implications for Lakeway in future annexations. We also learned that the state made provisions for using surplus court funds that were set aside for the Juvenile Case Manager program that we no longer operate. Unlike the state, that can collect funds for one purpose and use them for another, cities can only use special purpose funds for the purpose they were collected. The new law allows the city to legally use $35,000 that had been stranded in the JCM fund.
Mayor Bain and I met with the new CEO of Lakeway Regional Medical Center, Philippe Bochaton, and some of his board members this week. Mr. Bochaton informed us that the hospital has attracted a new group of renowned neurologists to anchor its neurology department. He also said that the number of patients has increased significantly in the past ninety days, and forty-four hospital beds were occupied this week. Lakeway is very fortunate to have one of the most modern and best-equipped hospitals in Central Texas with some of the most talented doctors in our area.
We met with Club Corp representatives this week to continue negotiations toward purchasing the Live Oak tennis courts. We should have a draft purchase and sale agreement for your consideration in a few weeks.
Our consultant on the performing arts center market and feasibility study, Janis Barlow, succumbed to pneumonia recently and the schedule has slipped a little. However, the study committee meets today and hopes to have the draft study completed very soon.
Finally, the owner of the self-storage units on Lohmans Crossing (at Lohmans Crossing and Lohmans Spur) has proposed replacing the old self-storage unit with a new one located on the other side Lohmans Crossing behind the new Schmitt’s BBQ restaurant. In its place, he would like to build a new office building. Unfortunately, that area is not zoned to allow a new self-storage facility, and staff could not assure him that rezoning is possible. To a large extent, the proposal would be an improvement to the area. The city could exchange an unattractive self-storage facility with a new office building and a modern, indoor, climate-controlled storage facility. Please let me know if this has any appeal to you. If so, I can inform the owner that Council may be open to discussing the idea.
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Next week will be busy too, we have a Council Work Session where we will discuss several issues, no action will be taken. Here is that agenda. I also have a meeting with Elgin and Manor on CAMPO issues on Wednesday, and the CBC will meet in regular session on Thursday - here is a link to that agenda.
That's all for now, enjoy the holiday and be safe - don't forget our electronic device law went into effect July 1st - remember "It Can Wait"!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
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