Rain, Lake Level, Council, Editorial and More!

Well, it's Sunday and I'm behind!  First lets talk about the rain and the lake.  By my crude measurement standards, since September 1, we have received 14.31 inches of rain.  You can see daily information on my weather station.  Here is a link.  And to top that off, it's all of 78 degrees at 3 in the afternoon.  What a change!

Lake Travis in now at 657.45 - you can see the actual level at this link - https://hydromet.lcra.org/riverreport/ if your interested in the actual level.  That's up 3.58 feet from September 1.  There are no releases going on, don't need the power and aren't sending it downstream - good news!

Council met Monday evening - here was their agenda.  High on my list were items 6 and 7 where Council adopted the 2019 budget and tax rate.  Council lowered the tax rate to the effective tax rate - this means if your appraisal went up 5% or less, you will not see an increase in your City taxes.

8)  Zoning Change to C-1 Commercial, approved unanimously.
9)  SUP for Day Care, approved unanimously
10)  SUP Blue Sprig, approved unanimously
11)  SUP for Pure Wash, concerns with traffic in this area.  This is an interesting issue, the current permit is for a restaurant that would have more traffic than the proposed car wash - they would not have to come to council for a SUP unless they had a drive through.  Council went into executive session.  There was no conversation when council went back into session, there was a motion to approve with a second and then nobody voted for it so it was declined.  Interesting...
12)  The request for a revision of the preliminary plan was postponed at the request of the applicant because of the outcome of the previous item.
13)  Final Plat approved unanimously.
14)  Final Plat approved unanimously.
15)  SUP for Short Term Rental, approved , Bertram voted no.
16)  Facility Contract awarded, approved unanimously.
17)  After several comments disparaging the selection, Mr. Warren Bluntzer was approved.  
18)  Looks like we will be doing surveys and town halls to decide what the citizens want for the MUD property.  
19)  Proposed Survey work from engagement committee - approved by council unanimously.
20)  Sign ordinance - citizen input that several issues were unconstitutional, council went into executive session and whey they returned they tabled the sigh ordinance once again.

Consent agenda was approved unanimously.
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                 ****** Editorial ******
Lakeway is near and dear to my heart.  I have lived here for 30 years and was involved to some extent with the city for years before that.  We have grown.  My first experience here with community activity is when I worked to purchase the Airpark and was co-founder of Lakeway Airpark, Inc. to whom I deeded the property.  The amount that people want to make things better was astounding.  The quality of folks working for that institution is astounding.

There has always been differences of opinion on the political issues in Lakeway, it is expected when you have a community made up of successful people that have differing opinions.  But that is changing rapidly.  Instead of working together to come up with solutions, now it is common for attacks and lawsuits - my truck was keyed twice as mayor and my life was threatened.  This would not have happened 20 years ago.  When there are issues with political signs, now complaints are filed with the State instead of relaying that info to the person so they could fix the issue.  

There are two candidates for Council that I believe are interested in the welfare of Lakeway and are not just single issue candidates.  Glenda Foreman Engert and Betty Haley are those two candidates.  I believe they will work with citizens for the best possible result to enable the city to move forward and become a better place to live (if that's possible).  Neither are looking for a resume entry or prestige, they both have that already!  They have lived it and it shows in their life accomplishments.

What kind of people do you want to manage your tax dollars?  Someone that incurred tax liens or a judgement for non payment of debts?  I'd rather them not manage my funds.  I also have an issue with anyone making someones age an issue - even if its a joke its not ok.

I like the idea of having people in office that will take the job seriously and work for all 14,000 residents.   

         ****** End of Editorial ******

That's all for today - thanks for listening!  As always, send a note to lakeway@bain.us to be added (or removed) from my email list and I'll get it taken care of.

Have a great rest of your weekend and enjoy the predicted rainy week - we only have about 25 feet to go to get the lake filled up.  

Just for fun, here's a picture of a home for sale on Lake Travis - click on the picture for a larger view.






Thanks again for the support!  

Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us
Sky Pictures
www.skypict.com