At 5:30 p.m. Stratus Development made a presentation to council and the public on a proposed project on the remaining land they own West of the Oaks. Their proposal included a 350 unit apartment complex. In exchange they are willing to give the city 25 acres for parkland. The existing PUD allows them to build patio homes on their property - if they do that, they would use the entire property and the parkland would not be available to the city. Either way, they would be required to build a road across their property to connect Main Street. Question is, is a 25 acre park worth 350 apartments? The property is for sale for about $5 million - of course, if purchased, the road would still need to be built at a cost of about 2-3 million dollars. These are the kind of decisions council is faced with.
Council started at 6:30. Here is that agenda. If you would like to see backup documents from all items here is a link to that. Item 3 was a financial report by the City Treasurer. Here is a link to that page. As you can see, we are $923K ahead of budget on revenue and almost $457K under budget on expenses.
Council Member Trecker gave a report from the Fireworks Committee. They may have a location (High School Stadium) but have several hurdles to get over still. Cost is estimated at about $50K.
Items 6-7 adopted a budget and tax rate for 2018. Staff and Council worked hard to minimize expenses so the tax increase impact from the bond election could be lessened. We have a balanced budget. The tax rate accepted was $0.12711 for maintenance and operations and $0.04699 for a total tax rate of $0.17410. Although this is a small increase from last years rate, it is less than expected from the bond because of the significantly lower interest rate on the bond - we were also able to shorten the term from 30 years to 25 years that saved the city millions of dollars. Passed 7-0
Item 8 was acceptance of the "Guaranteed Maximum Price Proposal" from SpawGlass for the Police Station. The accepted price was $18,071,824.00. This means the price can go down but not up. We hope to start construction by the end of the year. Passed 7-0
Item 9 was an Interlocal agreement with Travis County Precinct 5 to provide warrant services. Costs are covered by payments from individuals the warrants are issued against. Constable's input warrant information into a database that is accessed when an id is run by a law officer. Passed 7-0
Item 10 was a Special Use Permit for operation of an O'Reilly Auto Parts. It will be located at 620 and Pheasant Lane. They also needed a variance on the property - ordinance requires a 1 acre lot for this type of business - the lot was about .04 acre short and went to the Board of Adjustment Wednesday. They approved the variance. Passed 7-0
Item 11 was another SUP request. This was from Serene Hills Ltd. to allow them to put an independent living facility above commercial buildings they have planned for property located at the North East corner of SH-71 and Bee Creek road. The property is already zoned for commercial and the SUP is only required for the independent and assisted living portion of the project. Passed 7-0
Items 12-13 were renewals of SUP's for Short Term Rentals. There were no complaints or reports and no comments. Passed 7-0
Items 14-16 were zoning and platting issues for the Police Facility property. All were passed 7-0.
Item 17 was somewhat controversial. There is an 18 acre property that is part of the 82 acre MUD property that Legend Communities has under contract. This property was previously zoned and is part of the Tuscan Village plan - it is and has been planned as a part of the Tuscan Village project - it will be a facility that includes independent living and assisted living. They were asking for an amendment to the existing PUD that included more height, parking ratio relief and reduced width of 11 feet on roads.
This was approved by ZAPCO with the request that the developer provide more information on the requests. A topo and traffic study was provided. The request of 60' height was reduced to 55' with a pitched roof, the parking restriction was granted - these units will only house seniors and the expectation they will have more than two cars per unit was unlikely and the road width was approved at 12' which is normal for this type of street. The terrain drop was 40' from one side of the property to the other and in my opinion 55' was not a significant issue. Council Member Hennagin made a motion to delay this amendment and it failed for no second. Jim Powell motioned for the above and it passed 4-2. This PUD amendment is only valid for this particular property.
Item 18 was held in executive session to discuss a settlement offer on property used in the Flint Rock Road project. No decisions were made.
Several citizens spoke about the deer management process the City has used to maintain a healthy deer herd. Since that meeting staff has had a conversation with their current Wildlife Management person, Dr. Lin Poor. He has been contacted to do a census in Lakeway and the city has no issue with that. Here is information from Dr. Poor that I found in a past Statesman issue.
Poor said the landscape of an urban area makes deer surveys considerably more difficult to perform, though surveys performed over several years might provide some generalized data.
“If they congregate between two houses, it’s difficult to see those animals, whereas when you’re driving or doing a mobile or spotlight count on a 3,000-acre ranch, there’s no place to hide other than in brush,” Poor said. “We do look at trend data in a five-year span … it might not be perfect, but you have some data and you will see a trend in that data, whether (the population) is going up or it’s going down.”
In a conversation with him, I'm told that he agrees with Lakeway's methods and would not suggest changing them.
The Council meeting adjourned at 10:45 p.m. - I think we set a record. I appreciate Council Member Bertram's attendance for part of the meeting - she had surgery the week before and made a gallant effort! Thank you!
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A new Baylor Scott & White clinic will open Monday in teh completed building on 620 at the hospital campus. Dr. DeWhitt along with Dr. Morper and Dr. Clor will share the new facility.
Lakeway Viewboints is taking reservations for their Distinguished Speaker Series - here is a link to a pdf with more information. Call the Lakeway Activity Center at 512-261-1010 to sign up. Programs are held on the 3rd Sunday in October, November, January, February and March. Costs are $90 for members and $110 for non-members. It looks to be a great series!
National Night Out (NNO) is October 3rd. If you are having a get together and want the Police to come by, call the admin number and get your request in - it's coming up soon. That number is 512-314-7590.
Please put your blue lights back out if you have taken them down. I should have lights if you don't have one available sometime next week - I will post more info when they come in. Thank you for supporting our local police!!!
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Sunday I attended a get together held by LTYA to learn about the County Bond and the School Bond - both Commissioner Daugherty and Dr. Lancaster were there to make presentations and answer questions. Next Wednesday I will be meeting with TXDOT's District Engineer, Terry McCoy. I will be trying to get some emphasis put on our issues on 620 including insuring that the environmental and engineering are continuing. I will also get an update on the signal at Dave Dr. I am also working on securing a 2 lane left at Main and 620.
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From the Chief:
Patrol/CID:
LPD Officers conducted 175 traffic stops, responded to 12 alarm calls, answered to 31 animal calls, handled 7 collisions, answered 28 suspicious circumstances calls and handled 101 other types of calls for service for a total of 354.
Routine traffic stops resulted in the following charges; Lakeway Arrest Warrant X 1, Possession of a Controlled Substance X 1, Open Container X 2, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia X 1.
Animal Protection investigated a report of an animal attack on Hurst Creek Rd. A female subject was walking on the recreational path and came upon a person walking a dog on a retractable leash. The female attempted to pet the dog and was bitten on the calf of her leg. After investigation the dog owner was issued a citation for animal attack and will appear in Lakeway Municipal Court.
Officers responded to Baylor, Scott & White in reference to a mental health evaluation. Officers were met by medical staff, who advised that a patient had overdosed and was intent on doing themselves harm. Officers interviewed the subject and completed an Officers Emergency Committal. The patient remained in the care of hospital staff for further treatment.
Officers responded to an Explorer St. address in reference to a disturbance call. Upon arrival officers learned that an argument was in progress between two family members. One of the subjects had a self- inflicted severe cut on their arm and had retreated into the home barricading themselves in a back room. Officers entered the residence and convinced the person to come out. The subject was treated by EMS and then transported to the hospital for the further treatment of the injury. The subject was admitted to the hospital for treatment, no charges were filed in this case.
Officers responded to a disturbance call on Green Terrace Cove. Upon arrival officers learned that a verbal argument had taken place between a woman and her boyfriend. After investigation it was determined that no charges would be filed. The boyfriend was asked to leave the residence and he complied.
A traffic stop conducted by Lakeway Officers for a stop sign violation resulted in four charges being filed for possession of a controlled substance. After investigation, it was learned that the driver of the stopped vehicle was in possession of cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine and other various pills and drug paraphernalia. The subject was arrested for multiple felony drug charges and transported to the Travis County Jail.
Detectives were assigned to investigate a report of a stolen vehicle in the 200 block of Canyon Turn Trail. According to the victim, a utility vehicle was stolen from a construction site. The keys were left in the unsecure vehicle, and the vehicle was found two days later several blocks away. Detectives are following up on the few available leads in the case which remains active.
Detectives were assigned to investigate a report of a Burglary of a Vehicle in the 400 block of RR620 South. According to the complainant, two subjects were seen on security cameras checking for unlocked vehicles at the complainant’s place of business. The suspects were able to steal unspecified items from an unsecured vehicle in the lot. Detectives are in the process of issuing a media release to help identify the suspects. The case is likely related to a string of BOVs in the Steiner Ranch subdivision which is being investigated by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.
Detectives were assigned to investigate a report of an Aggravated Assault (Family Violence) which was reported in the 2000 block of Medical Drive. According to the victim, she suspected her son has been poisoning her for an unknown amount of time. It was discovered the incidents have been taking place at the victim’s residence, which is located inside the City of Austin. The case has since been turned over to the Austin Police Department for further investigation.
Detectives responded to and assisted patrol officers with a series of vehicle burglaries in the Rough Hollow subdivision. As of 1:30 PM (9/21/17), six vehicles have been reportedly entered by a/an unknown suspect(s). None of the vehicles appeared to have been entered forcefully. Of note, one firearm has been reportedly stolen during the string of burglaries. Detectives have also been able to lift several fingerprints which will be sent to the DPS Crime Lab for analysis.
Detectives have also been assigned to investigate two separate incidents of computer scams. In both cases, the victim’s received notifications on their personal computers that their systems had been compromised by malware. The scammers convinced the victims to send money as a fee to repair the computers. However, the suspects do not work for a legitimate company and do not provide any legitimate services to the victims. Due to the nature of the crimes, Detectives are unable to locate or identify the suspects involved and the cases have been closed.
On Friday, 9/21, Chief Radford will receive the 2017 Diamond Leadership award from the Mothers Against Drunk Driving and TX DoT. During Chief Radford’s tenure, DWI enforcement has been a priority. The department has a “No Refusal” process so that violators may be better prosecuted by the county attorney’s office.
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That's all for now, it was a busy week. Congratulations to Chief Radford for the 2017 Diamond Award!
If you would like to be added to my email list send a note to lakeway@bain.us and I'll get you added. Have a GREAT weekend!
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
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