Travis County Commssioners Court
November 25, 2003
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Item 1
Number 1 is a hearing to discuss a request to approve a temporary road closure of mckinney falls parkway in precinct 4 between the entrance station to mckinney falls state park and parks and wildlife road from December 3, 2003 through December 19, 2003 for the purpose of film production.
>> [ inaudible ].
>> all in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. Morning.
>> yes, sir. This item is for the closure of mckinney falls parkway near the bridge I believe south of the park and just north of burleson road. We asked the company to provide an engineering transportation detour plan which they have done, signed and sealed by a professional engineer. We've reviewed this. Have some minor adjustments, but we feel confident that this detour plan meets all the county requirements according to the mutcd, so we feel comfortable with this detour plan.
>> how much notice did we give residents?
>> [ inaudible ].
>> access was given to emergency service providers. And representatives from -- we have representatives from the school district here to testify.
>> okay.
>> what is the cost of this? Whenever we do things like add all of the rerouting and costwise, that's picked up by the user?
>> that's correct.
>> what amount would that have been here?
>> [ inaudible ]
>> if it's possible we try to close a lane for -- some of the lanes, but not all of them. But in some cases the road itself has to be closed to traffic, period. This is one of those closed to traffic, period.
>> it's my understanding, although there has been some discussion between the school district and the commercial company about a lane for school traffic. And i'll let the school district officials speak to that directly.
>> school district representative, it's the time to come forward. Give us your name and we'll be happy to get your comments. Yes, sir, right next to joe. He's not as tough as he looks. [ laughter ]
>> morning.
>> would you give us your full name and your association with the school district.
>> butter blanchard. I'm -- burt blanchard. It's nice to meet with y'all this morning. At this time am I to talk about the situation? Is that what --
>> yes, sir.
>> I have several points. We met three times on this situation, and we had some opposition to it. There are some problems with it. And we would like to work it out, if we could work it out. There are some problems as far as the school is concerned. We definitely would like to have them here, but would like to work it out, just for the record.
>> can you tell us what the problems are?
>> yes, sir. One of the problems is the main problem is that it will change the departure times. We have two different schools -- really three schools that will be affected by this. The major one is john peel, which is right next to -- right next to onion creek. And the school buses that we use -- that we use for hillcrest elementary have to start off at a certain time, and they're real close on scheduling. They go back and they do double trips. They go back and pick up other children. And if they can't use this traffic lane, it could delay it up to as much as anywhere from 30 to 40 minutes by going the extra five miles. It a big loop going down bee cave road. You're making a big circle during traffic time, and it could delay us as much as 40 minutes. If the parents cannot drop off their kids, if they can't drop them off, they will possibly put them on the buses that now they're dropping them off and the buses are scheduled according what we think is the usual ridership. And it could cause -- this is a could. Could cause extra overcrowding of the buses. We don't know that actual the -- don't know this until the actual time that we do this. If the buses are on time for the junior high, some of these students may not wait. They may not ride if you change the schedule. It takes alittle while to get them used to a schedule. If they're not on their regular schedule, they may not ride. Staff arrival, traffic congestion, everybody would have that problem. One of the major problems we would have is in the afternoon. In the afternoon you could have a bunch of students, because the buses didn't get back, you could have a bunch of students that -- approximately half the students, 300 of the students that would be delayed another 20 to 40 minutes that you would have to supervise because of the transportation -- because of the double routing of these buses. Half the buses will be affected by it. You have the impact on holiday activities, which is minimal. We could send out letters to the parent and let them know about that. That's a small impact. Insufficient time frame to notify the parents of the change. I don't know exactly when that was going into effect, but junior high students are not always the best to take their note home and let them know about it, and the parents won't know about it as well as we would like for them to know about it. And it will cause some concern for us at the school. If we have to detour to farm road 1625 and have some of our buses try to enter 183 from 1625 in the morning, if you've ever been down that road in the morning, it's a pretty tough issue without a light. That's a safety problem. And to overcome that safety problem we either have to go down 1625 and try to do that or try to go all the way down and make a double loop. That's how the 40 minute delay would be in there. Make a double loop so we come down bee cave or collins where we would be protected by a traffic light. As I said before, one half of the buses at the junior high will be affected and another part of that would affect the high school too. The high school schedule because those buses are scheduled to go back to the high school. So we have a double, triple routing that would cause a problem in three different schools. Since we really don't know how bad this will be until it happens.
>> when does the christmas holiday start?
>> the christmas holidays start --
>> the 19th.
>> the 19th of December.
>> and it goes through?
>> goes through the sixth of January?
>> is somebody here from the production company? Can you do the production between those days?
>> our production is about two days -- stops about two days before christmas.
>> can you come up to the mic, please? Please come up and identify yourself. I appreciate that.
>> my name is john patterson, location manager on the movie. Our production is planning -- I live here in Austin, Texas. I live in west haven, 67646. Our production is planning on ceasing shortly after this scene. This is our final part of our production is this scene. So the crew would be broken for christmas and the percentage of the la crew, out of state crew would be sent home by that point, right after the 19th.
>> can I ask an obvious question? Did you ask to shoot the picture at that particular location before you even asked for permission to use the road?
>> we've looked at the site to see if it worked for production needs, set up a meeting with Travis County tnr and looked at the logistics and the probability of actually being able to shut that road down, seeing if there are better choices. We talked to also the Texas department of public transportation to see if they had any ideas and sent scouts into the field. So we looked -- talked to other property owners, talked to Texas parks and wildlife and got in conduct with the daily valley isd. What we've done is try to address these problems. There's a concrete plant that we have to allow access to. Texas parks and wildlife -- they have a new road. They don't have to use that. They can use the road they used formerly before that road was put in. And the mckinney falls state park, we're allowing entrance to mckinney falls state park from the south side. We talked about it and addressed their concerns and we're also in the same process with del valle isd.
>> when did those conversations again with del valle?
>> this is a short time line. Del valle, we contacted them about a week and a half ago. We attempted to previous to that.
>> you weren't shooting up until a week and a half ago?
>> no, we met with -- actually, I'm trying to remember our first meeting with tnr about two weeks ago. We went through the process of seeing if this is a possibility at all with the county. What the concerns to be addressed would be. At that point we started setting up meetings with all the property owners and entities in the area. And there was a slight delay. My main contact for the del valle isd wasn't available right then. I left a message on her cell phone. Then it was Monday, just only last Monday, that we finally got in contact and then a meeting was set for Friday, late, which not all participants would be there. So there was a delay. Our side was there. There was just -- we were just going through the process, seeing what the concerns would be, trying to address them. Some of which I think we've addressed most of the morning. And the afternoon there would still be something to see what we could do about. In the morning our initial plan was to see about full closure from the initial dates the third to the 19th of December. After meeting with del valle isd on Friday, seeing what the concerns were for buses getting students to that school and actually to both schools, to hillcrest and to the junior high, during our meeting I came up with, well, maybe we can let the buses through. Over the weekend, thinking more about it and talking to our producers and del valle independently came up with the same idea, which was let all traffic through, including parents who would be driving their students to work and staff getting to work to alleviate the delay of getting students there in the morning. Which our normal production day we would have crew out there i'd say about six a.m. Setting stuff up, waiting for first sun and start shooting right around seven a.m. So we lose two hours a day with this part of the concession. In the afternoons, I'm not expecting the same amount of delay on the roads that you would have during rush hour morning traffic. The bus routes are between 2:30 to four p.m. For the main -- they have other buses running for extracurricular activities and after school events, but that's the area where we would cause the delay. I think it might not be 20 minutes in the afternoon. I think it might be more like 10 minutes. It's a five-mile loop with two -- actually, three traffic lights, but not with the same amount of traffic on that road as you would have in the morning. And that's the area where we have not been able to resolve with del valle isd.
>> it's still not getting to the point of my question. When did you all decide that that was the location that you wanted to use for this movie? Because you all had to -- came to see us two months ago to get information on our name and different things around the courthouse. Y'all were there at the ballgame, one of the first games at the university of Texas. So I'm a little perplexed why it is so late in the shooting of the movie that you are focusing on this particular location and it's become a rush job. How I wish it were that a detour only knocks only 15 minutes off. I believe the superintendent is correct in saying that's just not the case. It's bad traffic all the time. It's just Austin. So when did you guys figure out that mckinney falls parkway was the road?
>> about two weeks ago.
>> and why is it that at this late stage you are focusing on this --
>> we changed our script and film production. It's something we run into every now and then, which the idea changes. We see what we can do to fix it, see what we can do to suit the needs of the production, see what problems that's going to solve. And it's something that happens fairly often. It's happened on this movie. We have things that we did plan early, but things with the university of Texas, things with the governor's mansion, things and all of our locations changed a little bit. We saw what possibilities of are making it still work. We were caught by a couple of things. One is we had to look like a border. We're making it a border scene. So beyond the logistics of the road, which we needed a wide road with a median and a bridge, we also needed a backdrop that could look like the mexican border with the united states. And that bridge at mckinney falls parkway fit that.
>> and you need the school in the backdrop?
>> no. That length of road is where they close, the north side of the bridge and on the south side of the bridge during the day. We don't need the school, but we need the -- by needing the road, we would still affect the school.
>> you need the road in front of the school?
>> we would like to run it, but we won't block the traffic in front of the school on the north side. The whole problem here is accessing the school from the south, not from the north. So what we're doing by cutting -- by blocking mckinney falls parkway, we cause a detour around on gab real collins on to 183, on to burleson to make a loop.
>> what was your backup plan?
>> we've talked to the actual department of homeland security to use the border, but also we're going through a process and the first contact with del valle isd didn't sound as -- it was going to be quite the effect that it ended up being. We knew that there would be extra costs for rerouting the buses. That's money that's granted to them and money that they would have to somehow come up with for the extra mileage. It was only after discussing with actually having a long discussion with del valle that we saw what all the problems were. At that point that's when we wanted to solve those problems, which I think we solved the morning. The afternoon we could -- we'd like to do a few things. We'd like to -- if there are additional costs associated with this, assume those costs. And also see what we could do with del valle isd through an adopt a school program or something like that to make this worth the and make it more of -- let the community know that this inconvenience, which it is, is also benefitting the school district.
>> let's let y'all go to another room and try to work this out. I don't know if working with the court would be that -- but school is in session until December 19th, so kids, teachers, administrators, parents have to get to and from the schools. So we want to work with you, but at the same time I would think we would have to give the school district priority.
>> I understand.
>> but my recommendation to be to try to reach an agreement. And there is a conference room right across the hallway there. We can take the rest of the public comments during this public hearing, recess the public hearing, and when y'all are ready, if someone would come in and let us know, we'll call it back up. It's one of those deals where if there's no plan b, i'd be as flexible as possible on plan a. We are looking for the word agreement from both of you.
>> got you.
>> and I assume that the county's needs have been taken care of.
>> [ inaudible ]. How long did you actually need in this area to shoot? How much time were you really asking for?
>> about three weeks.
>> about how long?
>> three weeks.
>> at least three weeks?
>> yes. This is --
>> it's going to go beyond -- okay. I just wanted to know exactly -- in other words, had there been any cutoff on those points for you to get the full scale of impact of what you're trying to do within that three-week time frame, on could it be shortened? But I guess -- [ inaudible ].
>> it's a combination of construction and the actual filming. Our construction will actually take up some of the time also.
>> right. Were you about to answer any question? My question?
>> we have some things to talk about as well, so I will join the discussion there.
>> you expect us to take action today, I take it?
>> if you could.
>> also, judge, there is an agreement that's been prepared in draft form, which we are happy to amend. And that action needs to be taken -- thank you.
>> anybody else to give testimony during this public hearing? If so, please come forward.
>> I move that we close the public hearing.
>> second.
>> sorry.
>> did someone have some comments? Okay. And you are one of the residents who will be affected by this?
>> [inaudible - no mic].
>> okay. This is a letter from the school district. Thank you very much.
>> my name is anne penn. I'm with the Texas film commission and office of the governor. I'm here in support of the production company. And in support of working something out so that everybody in the community is happy with the situation and benefits as well. Thank you for your time.
>> thank you.
>> meanwhile, see if they will let you into that meeting, ma'am? [ laughter ]
>> motion to recess the public hearing until we are notified that it is time to call this back up. We expect that to be within the next 30 minutes or so. That was seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. Opportunity for so.
>>
>> Item recessed.
>>
>> we recessed the public hearing number one this morning. Move that we call back to order the public hearing that we recessed.
>> second.
>> all in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. And, of course, the signal that I saw, an agreement has been reached, so if somebody could basically give us the terms.
>> okay. What we reached -- (indiscernible).
>> a little more volume.
>> we've started with the closure with the production company. We've coordinated with the school district's needs and for need of the road during certain times. So this is how it going to work: we start the -- (indiscernible). Until the second, all right? So they can start construction on their set during that period of time. We ooms asked for a couple of extra days at the end of this period in order to break down the equipment. So the closure comes to now the 21st. Within that period of time between the second and the first, it will be open to traffic, all traffic, between the hours of six a.m. And nine a.m.
>> give me those dates again.
>> that would be from the 2nd, which is Tuesday, to the 21st of December, which is Sunday. Now, there are some days where it would be totally closed. That would be weekend of the six the and seventh, the 15th and 14th, and the 20th and 21st. The road is totally closed then. In addition to that, it will be totally closed on Friday the 12th and Monday the 16th. It will be closed in the afternoon during that period between the 2nd and the 21st. So it's open except when it's totally closed, afterwards it closed. It's closed. All right. Now, in addition to that, the production company will pay the school district for the additional buses and drivers and monitors that are needed to supplement the students during the periods of closure. It will meet all the insurance requirements and whatnot that are required by the school district for that purpose. So they will be paying the school district for that additional transportation. There will be -- (indiscernible). They will notify the public on not only the alternate routes, but the days of the closure, whether it's partially closed or if it's fully closed. And what alternate routes to use. The production company will also provide and pay for the patrol officers needed at intersections to control traffic, not just at the beginning and end of the closure, but also other intersections that are expecting additional traffic. Finally, the production company has agreed to pay the adopt a school program $25,000 and Travis County $25,000 for transportation improvements and repairs in the vicinity of the closure. Now, this is all imbedded -- the travel provisions are provided in our license agreement. There will be a subsequent later agreement between the school district and the production company for the specific terms affecting the school district. But generally the road closure is based on the terms that I have just identified. Which are imbedded in the legal agreement and license agreement that they have drafted up.
>> is that money going to the general fund or the road and bridge fund?
>> generally what we have in mind is some trail repairs in the vicinity.
>> between mckinney and -- (indiscernible).
>> yes.
>> I thought the school district was going to get tommy lee jones to appear at a school assembly, but that's between y'all.
>> we're working on that. [ laughter ]
>> let us know.
>> how will it be determined as far as the notification of the different schedules that's set up for the road closure, how will that notice be disbursed? What will be the mechanism to make sure that you maximize that? How will it be done?
>> there is a press release, number one. We hope to get this actually readvertised in the newspaper.
>> that's one.
>> number two, message boards in the field. And number three, notice to the parents from the school.
>> okay. That was what I wanted to hear, that last one, because sometimes some thing slip through the cracks and the notice to parents I think is very critical.
>>
>> why don't we close the public hearing and call up the action item.
>> so move.
>> motion to close the public hearing, number one. All in favor? That that was seconded by Commissioner Sonleitner. 18 is the action item.
Last Modified: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 8:52 PM