Travis County Commissioners Court
August 22, 2006
Citizens Communication
Several citizens have signed in. This item is to give the residents an opportunity to address the Commissioners court on any matter not on the agenda. Any matter not on the agenda for up to 3 minutes. And number one is phillip a. Dick and jeff Monday will be second. Do we have a working clock today? Working new clock. [laughter]
>> good.
>> good morning.
>> good morning.
>> I'm here this morning, my name is miss phillip a. Deck, I am here this morning to -- phillip a. Dick. I am here this morning to complain about some horrifying information that my son has written to me in his letters that's happening to him, which is abuse. They are beating him while he's in handcuffs on state prison unit michaels and not only that, as I have brought information up here before, and have shown you all that my son is really innocent of this 15 year drug possession case because he cannot be two places at one time on the same date. And I have been working very diligently, trying to get him released. Now, I am asking, once again, I'm reaching out, to my state representatives of the prison system, to please help me do something about this terrible thing that's happening to my innocent child. I really and truly want him home. I want him released. I would like for governor rick perry to step in. I have been constantly in contact with that office. Trying to get some help. I have been to senator barrientos's office constantly trying to get some assistance. I have been to non-profit organizations. I'm a student in school myself. A learning paralegal. We have uncovered all of the, you know, documents that I have presented to the -- to the people at school and we all are in agreements that my son is innocent, he shouldn't be in state prison. But to -- to go about getting him released is -- is very difficult because of the -- because of the files that are -- that were created. To accuse him of this. Now, I know because I was this to help supply the information. Not knowing that the file was going to be created to cause my son, you know, harm or anything. I am asking that -- that investigations of all be conducted as soon as possible and please let's go and get him released. You can, I want everyone to investigate to make sure and see that my son is innocent. But I want him out of harm's way. Let's release him first. Get him here to Austin, Texas, from out of state prison. Let's let him talk. Let's let this -- this -- this hearing or something take place, let's not just let him stay in state prison and be beaten to death while handcuffed but prison guards and -- [buzzer sounding] and gang members that they put up to attack my child. Thank you for your time.
>> thank you.
>> thank you, ms. Dick.
>> uh-huh. Jeff Monday is next, followed by gus pena.
>> good morning, Commissioners, my name is jeff Monday. I am here on behalf of the travis audubon society, one of the members of their board of directors. I am here to speak about the placement of the city of Austin's proposed water treatment plant on the cortana tract. The travis audubon society first has adopted a formal statement that is very prudent of the move of the site out of the bull creek proposed site. And I think where we are at this juncture, it should not be considered to be an either/or as the bcp scientific advisory said, framing the issue that way is like giving us a choice of do I cut off my right hand or my left hand, that's just not a choice. So travis audubon society is very approving of the move out of bull creek and believes that should be off the table for no further consideration in this dialogue. If it is the right hand versus the left hand, we are going to cut one, the lesser of the two evils, the less objectionable is cortana, but that does not mean it is without objection. The travis audubon society opposing the siting on the cortona site. This whole bcp is not just a voluntary feel-good thing to have park lands in our county. It is a federal hand date that these -- mandate that these governmental entities went through many years ago to create mitigation properties to allow development otherwise without federal regulation in the county. What we now see is one of the partners is starting to kind of flip flop around as we come near the tail end of the project. Travis audubon society items that the city, we would encourage you as their partner, to encourage them to spend a little more time in planning to look for a suitable site outside of the bcp. By bcp, balcones canyonland preserves property. That is mitigation property for compliance with a federal mandate, as a legally binding mandate to protect property for the golden cheeked warbler primarily, but on that permit is a 2,000-acre mandatory compliance requirement for the county and the city to create habitat for the black capped vireo. This proposed action by the city would take out one third of the currently existing occupied territories for black capped veer I don't want the city -- vireo. The city will wipe out the entire population, meaning the burden for the compliance falls to the county. The 2,000-acre permit requirement, this action by the city is really drown to public attention, the wholesale failure of the partners in the bcp to make that -- that 2,000-acre permit requirement. And the -- the bcp citizens advisory committee, scientific advisory committee both have adopted a formal position which we have advocated which is the two partners, governmental partners, the county and the city, should sit down and come up with a definitive plan of how they are going to comply with that 2000-acre requirement. [beeping] in short, I thank you for your time, would encourage you to sit down with your partner, the city, to formulate a definitive plan to comply with that 2,000 acres and get the plan before they just haul off and take this action. Thank you.
>> thank you, mr. Monday. Mr. Pena is next. Mr. Pena will be followed by -- Ron wayland, waiting? Roway.
>> good morning, judge, Commissioners, I'm gus pena, my topics today are involving the budget and also capital metro. First of all, we don't acknowledge enough workers that are doing above and beyond the call of their duty. I would like to acknowledge kathy fowler, a very dedicated employee. You all know her from this office to your -- my right, your left, with the department of records and management. She -- sometimes the publishings in there, they are not supposed to be there, she guides them to the appropriate agencies and departments. These are the type of extra things that a great person and great employee does and should be recognized. Great interpersonal skills. Online [indiscernible] online bullying. The bullies are making threats online on make space. If you all have children, my space, all of these children log on to the computer and play computer games on there, but online bullying is a federal offense for my understanding. The reason I bring it here, it affects county and city budget, because you see a lot of these hood lumbers at gardner-betts, a -- hood loms at gardner-betts, we need intervention programs, law enforcement needs to be aware of this. I tried to speak to the superintendent, they failed to recognize there is a bullying problem at aisd campuses. Gang membership is increasing, you have more wannabes than you have gang members, they are the most dangerous because they want to prove themselves to the gang members. Capital metro, I'm sure you all saw this article, capital metro doubles projected surplus. This is a farce in itself, mom, I want to say hello before I forget. The reports of capital metro's pending financial distress may have been premature. When I was an investigator with the i.r.s., I have proof right here. We did have snafus, corrected them, no need for this. Somebody needs to be held accountable. You board members do their job. They can explain their problems as to why they come up with this type of report. They need more more, not the financial wherewithal to pay for these troubles. Another thing Commissioner Gomez the series 2,000 buses that fred the cfo, c.e.o. Is claiming that none of the public complain, we complain about it because the series 2,000 buses accelerate very slowly, cars coming in in front of it. My understanding is that one employee was fired because he refused to drive a 2,000 series bus because it could cause accidents. This individual should be reinstated if he or she hasn't been. We need to protect the driver and riders themselves. We support the drivers. Lucio and i, he's in high school, better be studying amigo, we have met a lot of good drivers, we should support them, they are professionals. Last item, we met in washington with the assistant or rather the under secretary's assistant of h.u.d. Also the veterans -- [beeping] I will wrap up. Many problems at the veterans needs are not being met here in Austin and Travis County. Word to the wise, please, work together with the veterans, we have problems here, veterans need job training, health care, et cetera. Anyway, I appreciate you all's work because I will say it again, I mean no disrespect, the city council does not have as many meetings as you all do. Keep up the good work, god bless you.
>> thank you. Mr. Waley is next, followed by mary arnold.
>> good morning, thank you for your time, my name is roy waley, I serve on the executive committee of the Austin regional group of the sierra club. I'm sure that you know the sierra club is the nation's oldest conservation and environmental group. And I'm here to talk about water treatment plant number 4. Cartana and bull creek. Bull creek has to be completely out of the plans, that has to be completely off the table. In regards to catana, at the environmental board meeting last week, we were told the city water department's plan seemed to be let's get started and hope for the best. That's never really worked out well. I don't think that should be part of our policy there. It doesn't seem to work. They did talk about the advances in technology, what we can't see in the future that will make this site even better. We don't have to have a crystal ball, we don't have to see into the future. We have to see what it's going to do right here and now and that is wipe out the central Texas Austin Travis County black capped vireo population. If technology is going to the March, we are going to have all of these advances, why don't we look at one of the other sites that they say is unsuitable at this time or not unsuitable, but not ideal.
>> I would like to see it taking off. We are rushing into this. We have spent a lot of money that we are about to throw away. And I -- I look at Austin -- I'm a native Austinite. So I have seen a lot of changes here and I see the changes that are coming, we are going to have phenomenal growth in east Travis County. I don't understand why we are not looking at an east Travis County water treatment plant. Why we are even looking west where there are so many endangered species and so many environmental -- environmentally sensitive features, that's not to say that in east Travis County we don't do the same thing. But we don't have the same number of problems. And I would like to see us look east like councilmember jennifer kim wanted to do. I had hoped that you would go to the city council and say, look, we are partners here, let's work together. I hope that you will completely take bull creek off and do the same with cartana. I know that we need to move quickly, the sierra club is working on a water conservationist program right now, trying to work with the city to cut back on their peak water usage, when it's 109 every day, that's kind of hard to do. But ... It can be done. We do need to hurry [beeping] but we don't need to rush off the cliff. Thank you very much.
>> I guess the problem when you made the statement about east, I'm just going to tell you, east Austin, that part of the community is really adamantly said they don't want to be dumped on anymore. It's a continuation of being dumped on and that is the perception. Whether it's reality, but the perception does become reality. Very strong advocate of that community that's in my precinct. It's really been a lot of group heaval in the -- upheaval about being dumped on.
>> I agree. I don't advocate that at all.
>> I heard you bring it up. I wanted to make sure that it's a matter of record that the east Austin community and the east side has vehemently told me that they do not want to be dumped on anymore. Perceptions --
>> we are not engaging like this in citizens communication. I'm sorry. Thank you.
>> citizens communication by law gives us the opportunity to receive information from residents, y'all. We are hearing this item in spite of the fact that it's on today's agenda because several folk came down and sort of makes sense to go ahead and hear comments now because I don't know what time we will reach the item today. But ms. Arnold is next, she will be followed by dale bullock.
>> judge Biscoe, members of the Travis County Commissioners court, thank you for hearing us today. I have been working on water treatment number 4, since 1984, particularly in '85 when plans surfaced again. I'm dreadfully sorry that the communications between the citizens and the water utility broke down in a wall of silence. Things were going on well between March and September really. But after that, there was a wall of silence and we are shut out on any discussions about the alternative site selection that was going forward and -- and it's a shame that we have wasted all of those many months between October of 2005 and June of 2005. When the council decided on the cortana site. There was no notification to the public on June the 22nd to it would be considered. And in fact the alternative site study itself was not released to the Austin public until July the 21st. A month after the council had made their decision. So my request to you today has to too with -- with to do -- to do with a little bit of help with the public process. There is a state law, the parks and wildlife code chapter 26, that says that if -- if a governing body is to take some land that is -- that is used and designated as scientific area, wildlife refuge, park or whatever, that they are supposed to have a public hearing. City council has not yet had a public hearing on this issue. The public hearing under chapter 26 is used regularly when they want to put water and sewer lines through public parks. So the city knows how to do it. It requires newspaper notification three weeks in a row before the public hearing. I feel that the citizens of Austin need that opportunity in a public hearing setting to express their opinions about this public land that we voted on and bought for -- for the purpose of -- of preserving these birds and other endangered and threatened species. So I hope that you can help us on this and -- and allow us more time to -- to consider the alternative areas within the five mile radius of the original site. Which hopefully will stay off the table. Thank you all very much.
>> thank you, mary.
>> also, I'm sorry, the little Barton Creek area, I would prefer that it may be managed for endangered species but not made a part of the preserve because it seems to me that would be decreasing the amount of acreage that is ultimately conserved by double counting. Thank you.
>> [indiscernible] today, maybe we will have a chance to get some advice on that today.
>> mr. Bueller next, followed by jackie Davis.
>> good morning, my name is detail beulh, vice-president of 2222 cona, we represent thousands of homeowners along that area. Because of the nature of the cortana site we urge the Travis County Commissioners court to reconsider alternative sites to the cortana location for the city of Austin water treatment plant number 4. To continue to search for other locations for the following reasons. Number one, the city of Austin environmental board is on record asking that alternative sites be explored along with the list of conditions for any site being considered. This board had requested materials that they were not given as well as many unanswered questions from the consulting firm in this -- and this very much concerned us. Because of the very sensitive nature of this endangered specie this was habitat site within the bcp, the public hearing is required under the Texas parks and wildlife code section 26. This hearing has not been held and the public at large is mostly unaware of this pending action. Number 3 there is a difference of opinion as to whether public land purchased with bond money for a specific purpose can be used for another purpose, this should be thoroughly researched before any decision is made and the public should have opportunity to give its input. Number 4, upon hearing previous testimony from current and retired city staff, it was clear to me that disturbing this site is not in the best interests of the city of Austin, the neighborhoods along the 2222 corridor, nor in keeping with the purpose and intent of setting aside preserve lands with dedicated public bond money. When the support for this site was compared to cutting off one arm rather than the other, to me this is not strong support for this idea. I saw the faces that were being asked to make a choice between two totally unacceptable sites. Therefore the 2222 cona board recommends that the review process be reopened, additional sites be looked at and evaluated including the lucas site. Thank you for your time and your service to Travis County.
>> thank you.
>> thank you. Jackie Davis is next. And ms. Davis will be followed by melody leitel.
>> good morning, Commissioners, my name is jackie Davis.
>> good morning.
>> hi. I was a wildlife biologist for the city of Austin from 1993 until 2004. I have sent an e-mail expressing my opposition to building and water management on cortana, I have sent it to the city council and also to each of you Commissioner, I trust that you have received that. It details some of my qualifications, I won't go into that at this point. The stay with us is asking Travis County to join us in amending a section 10 a permit so it can build a water treatment plant, a major infrastructure on a portion of upper cortana, which is part of the balcones canyonland preserves, lands set aside in purpose tee for the -- perpetuity for the endangered species. They are saying it is a minor amendment, even the u.s. Fish and wildlife service is saying this is a minor amendment. However, there are several independent lawyers who believe this is a major amendment. It required a public hearing to discuss the approached action on the species. Also section 26 of the Texas parks and wildlife code requires a public hearing, which infrastructure on public parks and preserves is being looked at. City of Austin attorneys are saying this is not necessary. Yet a public hearing in accordance with the -- with the section 26 was being held to construct infrastructure on a city of Austin park called the [indiscernible] creek park. If section 26 applies to the [indiscernible] creek park, why does it not apply to putting infrastructure on the balcones canyonland preserves. What do the Travis County attorneys think about the applicability of section 26 to placing infrastructure on bcp lands? The common theme here, both with the major amendment and section 26, is the need to hold public hearings. Daily there are new developments coming to light regarding this controversial issue. Recently I heard that the landers school district school board had a contract to purchase 112 acres of the tract for high school. This is one of the alternative tracts in the controversial allan plumber report. Which is seriously flawed and biased. The reibland tract was a strong amount active to the original water treatment plant number 4 location. Can anyone imagine a high school at the top of the hill of highway 2222? This is one of the most dangerous hills in Austin with many horrific accidents. Can you imagine two or 3,000 students coming and going each morning and each afternoon. Many in their own vehicles? Perhaps Travis County officials could discuss with the Leander school district and see if better alternatives are available for the Leander high school -- [beeping] thus freeing up the reibland tract for the city of Austin water treatment plant. There is also the lucas tract to consider. With the potential to reconfigure the tract by altering the -- the configuration of the comanche peak trail so that there is -- there is an adequate acreage of 45 or 50 acres for the lucas tract. My whole point is that there is -- has not been enough public time and consideration given to this whole issue. Then there's the endangered species question. Most folks don't really pay attention to these issues. Even city council was led to believe that the cortana tract was much, much less sensitive. Environmentally than the upper bull creek tract. Whoa. I don't know who started this bit of information, but it's completely not true. The upper cortana tract currently have five breeding pairs, this population makes up one third of the breeding population of the balcones canyonland preserves. The other two-thirds of this population is on bcp lands managed by the Travis County transportation and natural resources department. Before this tract was [indiscernible] in 1995 to created habitat for the river place development to satisfy 10-a mitigation requirement, it was also [indiscernible] and even today it provides habitat for golden cheeked warblers. So the cortana tract is habitat for two endangered species, building the original water treatment plant on upper bull creek is potentially harmful to unlisted species.
>> you are about a minute over.
>> the jollyville salamander. Also golden cheeks on its fringes, cortana has two endangered species, the original one one endangered and one unlisted. Pat was going to give me her three minutes if you don't mind. [indiscernible]
>> thank you.
>> I do hope that you consider this very, very seriously. Thank you.
>> thank you.
>> ms. Leitel is next, followed by bruce bigelow.
>> I'm melanie leitel, I'm a biologist hired by the bcp for several years, he resigned about a year after the program was moved out of the parks department and into the water utility. I strongly object to the building of a treatment plant on the cortana tract for more reasons than I can state in three minutes. I would really like to give you my biological reasons. What I am really here to talk about is the sheer outrageousness of the idea that the only two possibly sites for this plant are what have to be two of the most sensitive spots in the entire bcp. Give me a break. Those are the only two places this place can be built. I don't think so. This completely artificial either/or mindset has been created by the city's consultant's report. Which is highly subjective. It sets up this very highly subjective set of criteria and criteria which are in some cases flat out erroneous, for selecting the sites. This study has been widely criticized. I hope that you will examine the allan plumber consultant map that I just passed out and ask yourself, in this entire which muster colored area, titled area that meets all physical land requirements, could there be another place for this site? I know that Travis County suggested the lucas site, it was rejected out of hand at scientific advisory, I was there. After about two hours of consideration, one of the reasons offered for the rejection was that it had a road through the middle of the flat area. People roads can be reconfigured. And a project with a cash outlay of $956.6 million, almost a billion dollars, I think you might be able to find some funds to move a road. I urge you to reconsider, repropose the lucas tract. And I -- how much time do I have left? Do I have time to talk about the biological issues? I won't do it.
>> if you give them to us in writing, we promise that we will read them.
>> I will do that. I appreciate your time, thank you.
>> thank you.
>> the alarm didn't go off, but thank you. I would ask the court today -- I will ask the court today to delay action for a week anyway. So you have a little additional time to get us in writing whatever additional comments that you would like for to us consider. [ applause ]
>> thank you. Mr. Bigelow and you will be followed by bill bunch.
>> thank you, judge, Commissioners, my name is bruce bigelow, administrative lawyer here in town, been here since '67. On June the 23rd I ready in the Austin american-statesman that the city of Austin is proposing to build this large water treatment plant on this cortana tract and so I chose to investigate and the investigation isn't good. First of all, the city utility for whatever reason ignored all of the due process that was set up to have involvement by the advisory boards and by the citizens. They didn't even tell the county what they were doing. And then they come after the fact on a backwards sort of way, go back through these commissions, environmentally, one of the commission members said I felt like it's a done to the back of my -- a gun to the back of my head. I have filed -- first of all, I sent a letter to the mayor and I was -- I guess it expressed some outrage that they could be doing a 900 million-dollar project in this matter. Then I sent a letter to find out what a mine amendment was, got back a letter from them that quotes from their handbook. A minor amendment includes something like moving a boundary. It doesn't talk about taking out 100% of the protected species that the plan was designed to build. I mean to probate. Protect. I wrote you a letter yesterday and it -- it brings up the consideration of chapter 26, I mentioned twice here. Outside of the case, out of the dallas court of appeals, it's a writ to deny. That means the Texas supreme court has approved that case as one of their own. It's very clear that chapter 26 is being violated by the city. They have to publish it. I notice three times in the newspaper that they have to have a public hearing and then they have to be able to make a finding. And that finding is that there's no feasible and prudent alternative to the use or taking of such land. And they have got to come up with that finding and if they simply evaluated the citizen comments that they have been receiving through the -- through the post decision process that they have gone through, they are a lot of ideas, there are a lot of people that are very knowledgeable that want to help in coming up with the best site. And -- anyway, I'm very strong in my opinion that chapter 26 does apply. I have cited the reason that I gave you a copy of it and -- and the best thing that the county could do right now for its partners is say slow down, let's start this over. Let's do it right this time. This is a $900 million project and we are taking out a huge amount of vireo protected species and the feds have got us in this arrangement for another 20 years. [beeping] thank you very much.
>> thank you.
>> thank you. Mr. Bunch.
>> thank you, judge, Commissioner, I'm bill bunch of save our springs alliance, I was one of the four original representatives on the formation of the balcones canyonland preserves plan started back in 1988. We had many years of process, a lot of scientific research that led to that. We don't need to duplicate that sort of process. But we do need to have some real meaningful public process to make this very important decision. I think there's -- there's incredibly broad consensus that moving the water treatment plant 4 site out of the bull creek preserve is a very important thing to do. Adding that 102 acres into that preserve, taking out a lot of the fragmentation that would go with that, has the effect of adding a lot more than just that 102 acres. And really would advance the goals of both the city and the county to complete the bcp in some timely process. Jumping into and being rushed into a decision to -- to just accept the cortana tract, however, is not -- is not the right way to go. There is no water emergency at the city. There's plenty of time for the city to engage the scientific communities, the conservation community, the entire community who is going to have to pay for this enormously expensive water treatment plant and the tunnel that has to be drilled down to the lake. So it really is an issue for all of your constituents who will be paying those water bills. I do want to encourage you to embrace the city as your partner in this process. And ask them to step back, engage the chapter 26 process, which you have heard, which I have litigated those issues before and this is clearly wildlife refuge land. Chapter 26 clearly applies. The city is suggesting that they have some reason why it doesn't but I haven't heard what that reason is. And can't imagine that -- that it actually is persuasive. But with that being so, again there's no water emergency here, there's an important decision for our community, I think as the previous speakers have said, there is a better site out there that doesn't force us to -- to intrude on one bcp preserve in order to -- to gain in the bull creek preserve area. So thank you for your consideration and your time.
>> thank you, bill.
>> thank you, mr. Bunch. Anybody else for citizens communication? Whether you signed in or not. Okay. Then thank you for your input. We will have that item in executive session probably this afternoon.
>> judge, under citizens communications, I would like to announce the ribbon cutting ceremony at this coming weekend at 10:30 a.m. At the kennedy ridge subdivision. As you know that was formerly before us a colonial that has been risen out of that particular state, we are having a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the drainage and road projects that we have accomplished out there. I would like to thank the voters of Travis County for allowing us to do these kind of things with the last -- with the 2001 bonds that -- that they have authorized us to use to take care of other -- other problems out at kennedy ridge subdivision. So those that would like to attend, it's at 10:30 a.m., this coming Saturday. Get it off 969 and cadillac drive, right beyond Austin colony. You turn there, we will be cutting some ribbon, celebration for the kennedy ridge folks. Thank you.
>> and not even a fee.
>> no, not a fee, judge. Free of charge.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, August 22, 2006 7:33 PM