Weather, Church Construction, Council Results and More!

*****Weather*****

Well, they say the rain's coming!   Not much so far...  We've had about .06 inch at this posting.  Cool through Friday with a slight warming trend towards the weekend.  We can really use some rain, Lake Travis is at 670.47, down about 11 feet from full.  The islands are starting to show near the dam.  You can check the current conditions at the 15th Tee of Live Oak - here's the link.

*****Lakeway Church Construction*****

Things are moving along at the Lakeway Church.  They started to pour the new Sanctuary foundation Monday.   Here's a link to a short video - Great day for the Church!

*****Council Results*****

Started out almost normally, Mayor Cox was ill and Mayor Pro Tem Higginbotham ran the meeting.

Many items were on the consent agenda, a citizen spoke against item 11 - Short Term Rental at 19 Casa Verde.  This opened a discussion - Council Member Vance was concerned that the neighbor (speaker) had not been notified because the address was not on the list.  Council Member Kumar finally asked for her name and it turned out the notice was mailed to their residence on file - (they did not live in the condo next door, just owned it).  

My concern on this item was it didn't appear most of the Council had read the ordinance they were ruling on, at least the questions indicated that there was not an understanding of the Short Term Rental ordinance.

Another person spoke about the Film Festival that is coming up, and gave the city passes.  Since they are worth in excess of $100 each, I believe the rules won't allow any official (or employee) to accept them. 

15)  Officer Hector Almaguer was honored for his 25 years of service.  Great guy, wish him all the luck in his future endeavors.

16)  After about a 15 minute presentation by Vicki Taylor, Heritage Committee Chair, after discussion, council eventually gave the go ahead to attempt to get a grant and also start the process to rehab the Liebelt Cabin.  Initially they need $9,845 for studies to be complete by May 2020 and if $50K grant is approved by LCRA there will be a 20% match requirement.  Approved unanimously.

17)  Rezoning was approved for 704 Serene Estates Dr. from residential to park.  This was tabled previously - unanimous.

18)  Amend Sec. 24.03.003 of the code to bring it up to date with updates from the State.  Passed unanimously.

19)  45 minute discussion on the new process required by State House Bill 3167.  Shortens the time available and changes current process.  Council seems to want to micro manage this process, why not let the Department Director make necessary changes and bring to council for approval.  There was even discussion of changing the ZAPCO meeting date because of the shorter time frame.  No action was taken.

20)  Grant application for Victims of Crime Act Formula Grant Program was presented by Chief Radford.  Resolution approved unanimously.

21)  Approved interlocal agreement with Bee Cave for their use of the Crime Victim Services Coordinator.  Unanimous.

22)  Amend Chapter 10 Ordinance to allow food trucks in the City.  Do we really want food trucks in the city?  I guess so, they approved it 5-1 with Council Member Smith opposed.  I think this was pushed by the Film Fest.  

What do you think?  One comment was "All of Austin has Food Trucks" - I'm not sure I want to be Austin.

23)  New citizen Survey, lots of discussion on how to get data from other sections of Lakeway.  Ms. Higginbotham went into the deer issue, they are wanting to survey the whole city on an issue that is only an issue in specific areas.  This evolved into a deer discussion.  No action was taken.

24) No one spoke at citizen participation.

25-30)  9:10 p.m.Executive Session.  Project Granite was mentioned again....Maybe they are going to spend the Hotel Tax to bring in more business and traffic.

31)  Council returned at 10:30 p.m.  No action or discussion was done.  Meeting was adjourned.

That's all for today, more as I find out.  Enjoy the soggy weather!  If you know someone that needs photos, send them to Sky Pictures!  If you would like to be added to my email list, send a note to lakeway@bain.us and I'll get it done.  Or just send me you thoughts, always like to hear other opinions.  

Joe Bain
lakeway@bain.us