Stratus, Council (Another Consultant) Blue Alert, Traffic News and More!

*****Weather*****

So, what do you think about the weather?  85° at the first of the week, 31° Thursday morning.  The temperature swings this year are amazing.  We got about half an inch of rain Tuesday morning.  Warming up to the 70's this weekend and then another freeze possible next week.  No snow yet....

The lake is doing real well this year!  It's been dropping lately because of the dry weather we've been having.  Need to get some real rain to fix the dry ground.  Travis is at 670.21 (11 feet below full) and was 670.48 a week ago.  We're still almost 10 feet above the average for this time of year.

******Another Stratus Sale*****

Beau Armstrong (Stratus Properties) has made another big sale.  After selling the "Oaks" in Lakeway for $114 million a few years back, he has now sold the block the "W" is on in Austin along with Austin City Limits and more to the Ryman Hospitality Properties for $275M.  Sound familiar?  They also own properties in Tennessee like the Grand Ole Opry.  The music business is booming in Austin - you just have to walk around the homeless and their mess to get there (and maybe ride a bike....).

*****Council Special Session***** 

Council met Monday in Special Session - here is that agenda / packet.  Here is a link to the video.

3)  They've been talking about medians through town on 620 for a year now as an interim solution to traffic issues.  I'm not sure what has taken so long but they are finally getting close to doing it.  Medians to be inserted from Lohmans to around Murfin road.  This will curtail the left turning movements along that route except for a couple of locations.  You can see more if you go to the packet - there are several diagrams there.  These medians will look like the median that was put in near Wendy's and the North Bound left turn onto Lohmans.  

This will be a significant change - you should look at the diagrams and will be starting around the end of May 2020.  The median will mimic the plan for turning ability planned in the major 620 widening project.  TxDOT is picking up the expense of this - it's really not too expensive (in the big scheme of things) and will go pretty quickly - there is a concrete truck that lays the median after the area is marked and prepared.

They need to go ahead and figure out how to make Main coming out of the Oaks a two lane left.  

4)  Wildfire Mitigation Project Update.  Significant amount of work done by volunteers (school) and also other citizen volunteer.  Lake Travis Fire and Rescue worked hard to support this project.  Andra is also applying for a grant through FEMA to help finance more of this project.

5)  Organization Development Study - Yep, another study.  Hire a professional to look at how the city does things - more money to consultants.  I guess we'll need to hire more folks and spend more money.  I'm amazed at how much the way the city does things needs to change.  Ms. Vance and Mr. Smith will be the liaison and the city is spending $50,000.

6)  More discussion on Article 28 amendments.  You've heard about Code Next in Austin?  This is kind of like that.  They feel they need to  change development codes and locations along with water quality items.  Some has been forced by some of the new Texas laws going into effect.  Other parts are by choice.  Do we need all this change?  Costs a bunch to do, especially attorney fees to write and re-write all the ordinances.

7)  Continuation on the Chapter 28 review.  There are significant changes being talked about.  Here's a link to the published changes.

8)  An Executive Session on Economic Development - a project Granite.  Nothing further after the ES.

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Did you get a "Blue Alert" Thursday?  I did, after much investigation it turns out it was an alert notifying the public of a manhunt for a person that shot and killed a police officer.

According to DPS, four criteria must be met to issue the alert:

• A law enforcement officer must have been killed or seriously injured by an offender.
• The investigating law enforcement agency must determine that the offender poses a serious risk or threat to the public and other law enforcement personnel.
• A detailed description of the offender's vehicle, vehicle tag, or partial tag must be available for broadcast to the public.
• The investigating law enforcement agency of jurisdiction must recommend activation of the Blue Alert to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

Here's a link to the story from a Houston station.

Suspect has been arrested in a Houston home without issue.

*****Wildlife Committee*****

The Wildlife Committee met Thursday evening.  Here is their agenda.  

4)  Report was given on the recent deer survey (third done) by Nick Kolbe.  Bottom line, Lakeway has about 1350 deer now per the survey.  I'm working on a copy of the survey and will publish it when I get it.  If this is correct and the deer reproduce at the normal rate of 35% per year, in two (2) years we will have 2500 deer.  The only predators in Lakeway are cars and an occasional coyote - much less than in the wild.

5-6)  Reports on TTT permit process and cost of management programs.

7-8)  Discussion on surveys and open houses.

There was a motion to re-institute the trapping process, get the necessary permits from the State and hire a trapper for next year.  It passed committee 4-2 in favor and will now go to the council.

*****More Traffic News*****

TxDOT started the RM 620 bypass project (Groundbreaking Dec. 11), RM 2222 is already under construction and the new bypass will make it even worse.  Hopefully the pain is worth it.  My concern is the traffic will move through that intersection much better but that will move the issues to other intersections.  TxDOT is working to make it better, we can help by driving defensively and staying off the phone.  I was coming out of Wendy's about a week ago and had to wait about a minute to enter onto 620.  In that time, I witnessed 7 people on their cell phones driving past me on 620.  This is not acceptable.  A little enforcement would make it happen!

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January 17, 2019

Have you heard all the concern about all the commercial space that is vacant around Lakeway?  There are plenty of folks looking for commercial space.  My intel is the Tai Spice location is already getting inquiries.  Maybe it's the owners of the properties - notice the "Rocco"s" location is still vacant - seems some are renting all the space they have.  If Tom lets me know, I'll announce who's going in - maybe a scoop!

*****City Building Commission*****

CBC only had one agenda item on their agenda.  It was to extend the permitted time on a home remodel on Vanguard St.  Extension was approved for 6 months.

*****Lakeway Directory*****

Have you signed up yet?  If not, click here to go to the sign up page and fill in the form.  Time is running out to get in the directory - it's a great service and is available in print and digital for your computer!  If your a business in Lakeway, consider an ad in the directory - great value - as little as $300 for a full year!  Here's a link to the main page.

*****Some Thoughts******

The City has spent Hundreds of Thousands of dollars in the last two years on attorneys - much of that is to revamp all of the ordinances that have served us well for 50+ years.  Is all that necessary?  Is it good for the City?  More consultants than ever, more committees - it seems a little much to me.  It means more tax dollars spent and higher taxes.  The meetings are so long I believe there is a disconnect with the citizens.  Is this moving forward?  I know I'm old, but I liked the way the city founders set this up.

That's all for today!  Get out and enjoy the great weather we are going to have, it will change!  Please consider a picture of your home or property!  Sky Pictures is there to get it done - email me at joe@skypict.com.

If you want to be added to my email list, send a note to lakeway@bain.us and I'll get you added.

Please forward the information to your friends!  They might like to see the Lakeway and area information too!

Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us