Travis County Commissioners Court
October 3, 2006
Citizens Communication
Now, citizens communication is next. This item is designed to give residents an opportunity to address the Commissioners court on any matter not on the agenda. And one outstanding Travis County citizen joe geiselman has signed in.
>> I am happy to announce that, yes, I'm joe geese he will men with the transportation and natural resources department. I'm happy to announce that last week Travis County was a co-recipient with the city of Austin in the 2006 conservation leadership award from the nature conservancy of Texas. The award program is to recognize the common commitment to protect and preserve the natural resources of this beautiful and diverse state. The award recognizes those whose leadership sets an outstanding example to others in the community to land conservation, restoration, employee involvement, environmental responsibility, environmental policy, public involvement, education, financial contributions and in-kind donations. And I think the nature conservancy was recognizing both the city and Travis County for their efforts in preserving the endangered species of the balcones canyonland habitat as well as setting aside open spaces for future generations in Travis County. I would just like to thank the nature conservancy for the award and this is the award which I will be passing back to the county judge to be shared with the county Commissioners.
>> put it up, joe. Let folks see what the award looks like. That was a lot of effort and hard work by the court.
>> there you have it.
>> that's the camera there.
>> thank you. The Travis County residents have approved bonds over the last nine or ten years and we require open space, parks, et cetera. And this award was based on many projects. So we receive that on behalf of the residents of Travis County as well as Travis County staff and Commissioners court. T.n.r. Will have this a few more days, then each member of the court can have it one day and give it back to the county judge who will hold on to it.
>> joe, have you guys written up anything for the website because that would be something appropriate to do on the front page.
>> thank you.
>> as a second communication, charles williams, our conservation coordinator, asked me to remind residents and the county employees that Wednesday, October 4th, that's tomorrow, is the change the light day energy star kickoff. And the goal here is to get 1,000 employees and residents to pledge to change at least one light bulb at home. But we want to you put the right kind in because if you do so, what you can do is reduce the energy that is used and prevent hundreds of thousands of pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. And this says over the life of a single compact fluorescent light bulb you can save an average of $30 or more electricity costs while preventing more than 450 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions. That's one light bulb.
>> and I've put mine in.
>> you put yours in and hopefully at least 1,000 other county employees, including managers and officials --
>> 999 more people.
>> thanks for taking the lead on that, Commissioner. Mr. Williams. Anybody else for citizens communication, that's to address the court on any matter not on the agenda. Then we will call up the consent items.
>> somebody in the back.
>> oops, I'm sorry, please come forward. We didn't get your -- mr. Ibarra.
>> doing an article on -- working on an article for several months on housing and how it affects the veterans that were involved in combat as well as non-combative issues and pertains to post-traumatic stress syndrome. The budget is all set. Is the final budget approved?
>> last week.
>> our concern for vet.org was housing. You know, definitely the numbers are wrong. Homeless in Austin has reached over the 8,475 mark, not 4,000 plus as the statesman said. News for the Travis County Commissioners court as of several weeks ago, according to my sources, Travis County now is housing 22% of america's homeless. Travis County is housing 22% or is involved of -- I couldn't believe the numbers and I thought it was -- they were fixed. No, they are not. Because of the climate for Austin and the hill country, those that do not find shelter for the last several months since katrina and now it's over a year having camping where no one sees them so they are the new invisible people. So that's why it was imperative when I came to you all about housing. About the number one thing when we talk about tourism in Austin, Travis County, the one complaint people from atlanta, new orleans say, as good and great as Austin is, why isn't there a 24-hour bus service to compete in the convention center market? That's the one reason why we don't get the big conventions. Our mass transit system doesn't run 24 hours a day. So you being on the board, hopefully in January the night owls can --
>> can stay out longer.
>> keep up the good work. It's been brought to our attention that aisd owns the property on oak springs and pleasant valley. They want 10 mill for the property. I am representing a group of folks who are -- want to start the island street neighborhood housing and electric cooperative. They already have verbal commitments from several bank sources and the cooperative bank up north who wants to pitch in on the idea. The target is providing housing for vets, combat it and non-combative, male and female. It used to be the senior citizens home. It's been vacant through the years. It would be a great idea for Travis County you all buy it. You get a better deal than 10 million. The roof needs at least $200,000 worth of work. It's in pretty bad shape. [buzzer sounding]
>> keep up the good work, gang.
>> thank you, mr. Ibarra. Anybody else for citizens communication?
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.
Last Modified:
Wednesday, October 4, 2006 4:29 PM