Travis County Commssioners Court
March 16, 2004
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.
Items 1 & 14
Number 1 is a public hearing to discuss request to authorize the filing of an instrument to vacate a public utility easement, an undefined platted drainage easement across lot 2, block 3, Austin lake estates section 1, and accept the dedication of a replacement drainage easement. All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
>> good morning, carol joseph, t.n.r. The applicant simply wishes to vacate the public utility easement and the undefined drainage easement which they have since defined a new drainage easement with a professional engineers field. We've had some questions and complaints about dumping, and the applicant has taken care of that and is in the process of cleaning it all up and be ready to build a new house. Other than that, we have no issues associated with that.
>> would anyone like to give testimony during this public hearing? If so, please come forward. And if you would give us your name, we would be happy to get your comments.
>> my name is --
>> good morning.
>> have a seat and get comfy.
>> my name is barbara companyman and I live on the street of my niagra drive, 2909 directly across the street. I have been witness to over the past year and a half the way the property has been managed in that the first thing that was done was a clearing of trees and then a general burning where everything was put in a pile, dumped with gasoline and left to smolder for over a week. Since then there's been three -- three separate times where a lot of landfill was brought in without any county permits or any Travis County permits. There were always stop orders placed on the land and but yet more dumping would come in. At first, the first round of dumping was fairly clean landfill. But stop orders were placed, and then the second round was a lot more -- stop, red flags, I'm not sure what they are called, I'm not familiar with the technology. And then when I came back, I was gone for about three months and I came back and there was a lot more dumping on the property that even came up to the road. There's some in the road. And it's not clean landfill. And this morning before I came down here, I just stopped at the side of the road and pulled a few items out of the landfill that they are planning I guess to use. I don't know if they've ever had a permit to dump, but there are 20, 30, 40 truckloads of just debris in this lot right now. And I'm not sure if -- I haven't seen the plan or what they've planned to do, but my feeling is that when there is no disregard -- or when there is disregard for the laws and the legal procedures, disregard for the nature and the safety of the neighborhood by leaving a pile of smoldering timber for over a week, and I'm sure you could call the fire department in the neighborhood to see if there were any complaints registered because I have seen fire trucks out there a few days after the smoldering was there. I just call into question whether the intent of the people planning to develop or the developers that have been hired will follow whatever regulations or plans that they have set forth. And I don't know if you want to see just some trash that i've picked up, but it's -- it seems to be from other construction site debris. This is just at the edge. I mean there's wires, there's metal pieces, there's plastic bags, and if this is the landfill that they are planning to use, I don't think that -- that the neighborhood would be very happy about this.
>> now, this is -- this is a drainage easement we're about to vacate.
>> right.
>> because they are about to build on home on it?
>> a home antiseptic. What has happened is other people had been dumping in people's land and we cited them several times to clean up and they intend to do clean that out and build a proper clean -- they've gotten an engineer to design the proper drainage and be able to build a septic and a home.
>> the owners aren't the ones --
>> the dump. All the additional debris she's talking about.
>> excuse me, but one time when I saw dump trucks coming I went over and talked to the driver and I said I don't think that's legal to be dumping here and they said oh, yes, the builder who told us to come and bring this here said that it's fine. And they have -- I said, well, I don't think there's a permit. Oh, yeah, he's got a permit. If he's telling us to dump here, then he's got a permit. And at that point I went in and called to see if there was a permit for dumping and there was no permit for dumping so many dumploads came and so this is a professional operation, this isn't just somebody hauling their trash there, this is actual construction debris in dump truckloads full of piles. And so I just -- I would just like to know and have some kind of guarantee that whatever plans are going to be approved, since there has been total disregard for the process of applying for permits before huge amounts of landfill have been brought in, that whatever they are coming up with will be followed and there's some kind of regulation.
>> we're not really posted for that. What we're posted for is vacate one drainage easement and dedicate another one. This is really about the drainage out there. But your point is well taken. We can communicate that to the owner. In my view if there is a home for business on the property, the likelihood of illegal dumping continuing is probably less. This is not a dump site. There has been illegal dumping taking place there. But if there's a home or business there, my guess is it's less likely to happen. What's before us today is whether we vacate the drainage easement there now and dedicated another one. So it's the flow of water that this item is about.
>> I see. So they are wanting to change the natural flow of the water because the property is basically shaped like the end of a valley and it goes into a very deep valley as it goes down to the colorado river.
>> who knows the technical responses?
>> it would be fred. I'll get him over here.
>> why don't we have you check with the technical person about this, okay?
>> okay.
>> and we'll recess this item. Anybody else to give testimony during this public hearing? Okay. Then let's let you chat with the person in the know.
>> thank you very much.
>> we'll give you a opportunity to come back if there are further comments that we should receive today.
>> barbara, is it carmen?
>> my last name, coy -- k-o-o-y-m-a-n.
>> if you will let my office know your number, we'll correspond with you with what all is going on with this.
>> thank you very much.
>> we've got one more person. Yes, sir, if you would just come have a seat. If there is anybody else here during this public hearing, please come forward now and what we request is that you have a seat, get real comfortable, give us your name and your comments. Yes, sir.
>> thank you. My name is bill glass. I'll be building a house a couple of lots down from the applicant for this easement. I reviewed the engineering plan this morning very quickly, and it looks like a professional engineer has made a plan that would divert the water appropriately off the site. I think with regard to what the court is looking at this morning, as one neighbor, I would, you know, gladly approve it if I were sitting in your chair. With regard to the concern of barbara a moment ago and your statement that the owner is taking care of the illegal dumping, it's not being taken care of. I don't know that that would impact your decision, but I did speak to the landowner, ms. Frances woodring in houston, and he's very concerned also about the illegal dumping. And I suspect that if you ask ms. Barbara to try to find some license plate numbers on those trucks as they dump, you might be able to -- she might be able to help the owner stop that illegal dumping. It's bad. It's on the road. It's a safety hazard. It hasn't been removed and the owner and the county should get on that project. It needs to be done. It's debris. I have some debris, some good, clean landfill I would like to give ms. Woodring in exchange for pushing some of that stuff off the road and i'll enter into a contract with her in the future if possible after you've approved the drainage changes.
>> I will meet with barbara and talk to her.
>> and you are welcome to participate in that conversation. Move to recess this item until they come back and give us the signal that it's ready. My guess is that -- my advice is get that within two or three minutes otherwise I think you are looking at 10:30. But if the issues are dealt with, 10:30 is fine. If we need to get more testimony during the public hearing and not delay them, the sooner the better.
>> yes. I'm hoping that fred walked over as we talked.
>> so we will recess this item on the public hearing until we get the word from staff that it's ready and that will be in the next few minutes or after 10:30.
>> second.
>> any more discussion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
let's call back to order the public hearing in number 1 involving the vacation of a public utility easement and rededication of another area. Dedication of a replacement drainage easement. Yes, ma'am.
>> carol joseph again. We've spoken with ms. Kooyman and I think we've addressed her issues. The main thing is once this easement is vacated, the owner will be able to build a house and a septic and she is going to be our eyes and ears to at least try and identify anything they see illegal being dumped and calling it into the county attorneys with the license tags. With that she was okay with everything else.
>> okay. On the illegal dumping stuff, especially if it's in the county right-of-way or the road, I mean we need to talk about the owners about that.
>> that's right. And we will. We have a permit on hold until this easement before they could be allowed to dump anything legally.
>> okay. Would anyone else like to give testimony during this public hearing?
>> move the public hearing be closed.
>> second.
>> all in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. The action item is number 14, and I move that we approve number 14 at this time.
>> second.
>> any more discussion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
>> thanks, carol. Ment, an undefined platted drainage easement across lot 2, block 3, Austin lake estates 9:45.
>> can I go 9:45.
>> can I go with you all?
>> number 1 is a public hearing to discuss request to authorize the filing of an instrument to vacate a public utility easement, an undefined platted drainage easement across lot 2, block 3, Austin lake estates section 1, and accept the dedication of a replacement drainage easement. All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
>> good morning, carol joseph, t.n.r. The applicant simply wishes to vacate the public utility easement and the undefined drainage easement which they have since defined a new drainage easement with a professional engineers field. We've had some questions and complaints about dumping, and the applicant has taken care of that and is in the process of cleaning it all up and be ready to build a new house. Other than that, we have no issues associated with that.
>> would anyone like to give testimony during this public hearing? If so, please come forward. And if you would give us your name, we would be happy to get your comments.
>> my name is --
>> good morning.
>> have a seat and get comfy.
>> my name is barbara companyman and I live on the street of my niagra drive, 2909 directly across the street. I have been witness to over the past year and a half the way the property has been managed in that the first thing that was done was a clearing of trees and then a general burning where everything was put in a pile, dumped with gasoline and left to smolder for over a week. Since then there's been three -- three separate times where a lot of landfill was brought in without any county permits or any Travis County permits. There were always stop orders placed on the land and but yet more dumping would come in. Rouf dumping was fairly clean landfill. But stop orders were placed, and then the second round was a lot more -- stop, red flags, I'm not sure what they are called, I'm not familiar with the technology. And then when I came back, I was gone for about three months and I came back and there was a lot more dumping on the property that even came up to the road. There's some in the road. And it's not clean landfill. And this morning before I came down here, I just stopped at the side of the road and pulled a few items out of the landfill that they are planning I guess to use. I don't know if they've ever had a permit to dump, but there are 20, 30, 40 truckloads of just debris in this lot right now. And I'm not sure if -- I haven't seen the plan or what they've planned to do, but my feeling is that when there is no disregard -- or when there is disregard for the laws and the legal procedures, disregard for the nature and the safety of the neighborhood by leaving a pile of smoldering timber for over a week, and I'm sure you could call the fire department in the neighborhood to see if there were any complaints registered because I have seen fire trucks out there a few days after the smoldering was there. I just call into question whether the intent of the people planning to develop or the developers that have been hired will follow whatever regulations or plans that they have set forth. And I don't know if you want to see just some trash that i've picked up, but it's -- it seems to be from other construction site debris. This is just at the edge. I mean there's wires, there's metal pieces, there's plastic bags, and if this is the landfill that they are planning to use, I don't think that -- that the neighborhood would be very happy about this.
>> now, this is -- this is a drainage easement we're about to vacate.
>> right.
>> because they are about to build on home on it?
>> a home antiseptic. What has happened is other people had been dumping in people's land and we cited them several times to clean up and they intend to do clean that out and build a proper clean -- they've gotten an engineer to design the proper drainage and be able to build a septic and a home.
>> the owners aren't the ones --
>> the dump. All the additional debris she's talking about.
>> excuse me, but one time when I saw dump trucks coming I went over and talked to the driver and I said I don't think that's legal to be dumping here and they said oh, yes, the builder who told us to come and bring this here said that it's fine. And they have -- I said, well, I don't think there's a permit. Oh, yeah, he's got a permit. If he's telling us to dump here, then he's got a permit. And at that point I went in and called to see if there was a permit for dumping and there was no permit for dumping so many dumploads came and so this is a professional operation, this isn't just somebody hauling their trash there, this is actual construction debris in dump truckloads full of piles. And so I just -- I would just like to know and have some kind of guarantee that whatever plans are going to be approved, since there has been total disregard for the process of applying for permits before huge amounts of landfill have been brought in, that whatever they are coming up with will be followed and there's some kind of regulation.
>> we're not really posted for that. What we're posted for is vacate one drainage easement and dedicate another one. This is really about the drainage out there. But your point is well taken. We can communicate that to the owner. In my view if there is a home for business on the property, the likelihood of illegal dumping continuing is probably less. This is not a dump site. There has been illegal dumping taking place there. But if there's a home or business there, my guess is it's less likely to happen. What's before us today is whether we vacate the drainage easement there now and dedicated another one. So it's the flow of water that this item is about.
>> I the natural flow of the water because the property is basically shaped like the end of a valley and it goes into a very deep valley as it goes down to the colorado river.
>> who knows the technical responses?
>> it would be fred. I'll get him over here.
>> why don't we have you check with the technical person about this, okay?
>> okay.
>> and we'll recess this item. Anybody else to give testimony during this public hearing? Okay. Then let's let you chat with the person in the know.
>> thank you very much.
>> we'll give you a opportunity to come back if there are further comments that we should receive today.
>> barbara, is it carmen?
>> my last name, coy -- k-o-o-y-m-a-n.
>> if you will let my office know your number, we'll correspond with you with what all is going on with this.
>> thank you very much.
>> we've got one more person. Yes, sir, if you would just come have a seat. If there is anybody else here during this public hearing, please come forward now and what we request is that you have a seat, get real comfortable, give us your name and your comments. Yes, sir.
>> thank you. My name is bill glass. I'll be building a house a couple of lots down from the applicant for this easement. I reviewed the engineering plan this morning very quickly, and it looks like a professional engineer has made a plan that would divert the water appropriately off the site. I think with regard to what the court is looking at this morning, as one neighbor, I would, you know, gladly approve it if I were sitting in your chair. With regard to the concern of barbara a moment ago and your statement that the owner is taking care of the illegal dumping, it's not being taken care of. I don't know that that would impact your decision, but I did speak to the landowner, ms. Frances woodring in houston, and he's very concerned also about the illegal dumping. And I suspect that if you ask ms. Barbara to try to find some license plate numbers on those trucks as they dump, you might be able to -- she might be able to help the owner stop that illegal dumping. It's bad. It's on the road. It's a safety hazard. It hasn't been removed and the owner and the county should get on that project. It needs to be done. It's debris. I have some debris, some good, clean landfill I would like to give ms. Woodring in exchange for pushing some of that stuff off the road and i'll enter into a contract with her in the future if possible after you've approved the drainage changes.
>> I will meet with barbara and talk to her.
>> and you are welcome to participate in that conversation. Move to recess this item until they come back and give us the signal that it's ready. My guess is that -- my advice is get that within two or three minutes otherwise I think you are looking at 10:30. But if the issues are dealt with, 10:30 is fine. If we need to get more testimony during the public hearing and not delay them, the sooner the better.
>> yes. I'm hoping that fred walked over as we talked.
>> so we will recess this item on the public hearing until we get the word from staff that it's ready and that will be in the next few minutes or after 10:30.
>> second.
>> any more discussion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote.
Last Modified: Wednesday, March 24, 2004 1:40 PM