There seems to still be a lot of questions about the election. The city has not published an official statement because we are waiting on the Secretary of State to agree or disagree with the plan going forward. This afternoon we received news through our attorney from the Secretary of State's office that they concur with our method in determining length of terms for the successful candidates. Here is a link to the impact chart. This just gets us through the current election. We expect a written confirmation and an ordinance or resolution will most likely document this at a special meeting May 16th that is required to be called to canvas the election (certify the votes).
Council will have to determine if they want to stay with three year terms or go back permanently to two year terms. Either way there is no emergency to change the charter - let me explain. The three year terms were done for a reason. With three year terms, 2 council members are up for election every year. With two year terms three seats are up one year and four are up the next year. This means the council quorum can completely turn over every other year. The 2014 council felt that was a concern and voted for the change. Three year terms also means the city would have a majority election, 50% + 1 to win and could have run off situations. It also means a place system would have to be instituted for council members - this could be done with an ordinance, it would not require a charter change. Although the Charter Review Committee nor Council was advised of these issues at the time, both can be easily corrected. Eventually the charter would need to be changed to change the plurality v.s. majority statement, but the state constitution would over rule that anyway.
If it was desired to go back to two year terms, we would continue to pause the change to three year terms as we are now until we can change the charter - no real rush but it needs to be done.
---------------------------
ZAPCO met in regular session Wednesday. Here is the agenda and packet.
ZAPCO voted to table the appointments to the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee until next month. This causes another month delay in getting this committee off the ground - it was decided that ZAPCO and Council would appoint their members who would then select the 5 citizen members. Now that can't happen for at least another 2 months.
Sign alterations were approved for monument sighs at 801 RR 620.
Signs were approved for Belmont Village and locations were approved.
Item 8 was a variance that was approved to increase the allowable impervious cover to 60% for a business project in out ETJ.
Item 9 was a Special Use Permit for Lake Travis ISD to allow portable buildings at the new middle school on Bee Creek Rd. These will be allowed until the new middle school is open, hopefully in 2019. It's growing faster than they can build.
There was some clean up done on the STR ordinance on item 11.
Item 10 was a discussion on what a Fast Food Restaurant is. Why, you ask? Because the PUD that the Oaks is under restricts the Fast Food Restaurants to a total of 16,000 sq. feet. Depending on definition of "Fast Food restaurants" new requests could be denied. This was put into the PUD by then Deputy City Manager Chessie Zimmerman - my discussions at that time reflected the desire to get more real restaurants - sit down type establishments with table service.
It's been my experience as Council Member and Mayor that attending ZAPCO and CBC meetings is a good way to learn about what is going on in the city. It also gives you a good idea of what you will be voting on at council meetings - the whole picture. There were several important issues discussed at this meeting, although Council Member Haley and Massa were there to observe, there were no council candidates and the only mayoral candidate that attended was Sandy Cox.
------------------------
-------------------------
If you look to the far right of the picture, you can see the clearing done around one of the lakes on the property that Lakeway Plaza Partners have done - it is beautiful and I'm sure they have plans to keep it that way. Thanks Tom!
-------------------------
Steve Jones and I will be attending the CAMPO meeting next week to secure funding for the 620 improvements. We have also been working with CAMPO to get some alternate routes on their horizons. The 620 improvements will help, but the real fix is an alternate route either East of Lakeway or West of Lakeway.
-------------------------
Today is the official election day! If you didn't vote early, please get out and vote today. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Randalls, Serene Hills Elementary and the Activity Center. We have a GREAT city, well run, low taxes and many wonderful amenities. Out volunteers work hard to keep it that way and have for many years. Think about who has your best interests at heart, not those that want another line item on a resume.
--------------------------
From the Chief:
LPD Officers conducted 229 traffic stops, responded to 16 alarm calls, handled 23 animal calls, responded to 7 collisions, answered 15 suspicious circumstances calls, completed 2 mental health calls, and handled 137 other types of calls for service for a total of 429.
Routine traffic stops resulted in the following charges; Possession of a Controlled Substance X 1, Possession of Alcohol by a Minor X 1, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia X 2.
Officers responded to a Woodside Terrance address in reference to after-hours construction. Upon arrival, officers found a construction crew was operating at 3 a.m. without a permit from the city. The concrete pour was stopped and trucks were advised to vacate the area. One subject was issued a citation for a violation of city ordinance.
Week eleven of the Citizen’s Police Academy took place at the Lakeway Activity Center. Detectives and crime scene technicians taught them about working cases and then provided a scenario for them to solve. Participants collected evidence, and conducted interviews of the suspects/witnesses in an effort to solve the crime. The CID team comprised of Sgt. Brown, Detectives Howell, Kanzenbach and Proctor, and Crime Scene Techs Smith and DeVille were involved in teaching the course.
Sgt. Brown and Det. Proctor attended a three-day National Cybercrimes Conference where they participated in multiple training sessions covering topics such as collecting and analyzing digital evidence, preparing digital evidence search warrants, and other cyber-related investigative techniques.
CST Smith and TFO Brennecke completed another successful DEA Drug Take-Back program and collected 542 lbs. of expired medications.
*** UPDATE *** Detectives received notification from CPS regarding a possible Injury to a Child in the 1500 block of Lohman’s Crossing. According to the notification, a childcare employee grabbed a one year old child by his arms causing injury. Detectives collected additional evidence in this case, including video/audio footage of the alleged incident, as well as multiple statements. Following a review by the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, Detectives obtain an arrest warrant (Injury to a Child, Felony) for the suspect. Detectives are currently working with the suspect and her attorney to have her surrendered to the Travis County Jail.
Detectives were called out to the 200 block of Canyon Turn Trail to assist patrol officers with an incident of assault. Officers initially responded to the residence in reference to ‘suspicious circumstances’ and to assist EMS. Several subjects were located inside the residence including an unconscious female. The female was transported by EMS to an area hospital. Officers were later advised by Emergency Room staff that the subject had likely been assaulted and was listed in critical condition. Detectives located the male suspect at Baylor Scott & White – Lakeway and conducted an interview with him. During the interviewed, Detectives learned he was armed with a handgun. The firearm was seized as evidence without incident. Detectives worked in conjunction with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, and were able to obtain two arrest warrants for the suspect (Aggravated Assault, Felony & Unlawful Carrying Weapons, Misd.). The suspect was later apprehended at his residence without incident. Additionally, Detectives have obtained and executed a search warrant at the residence and collected additional evidence. The suspect remains in the Travis County Jail with a combined $255,000.00 bond.
===================
That's all for today, expect a special edition with voting results. Vote wisely and we'll hopefully know tonight.
Thanks for the continued support - if you have questions, email me. If you would like to be added (or removed) from my email list send a note to lakeway@bain.us and I'll take care of it.
Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
No comments:
Post a Comment