Travis County Commissioners Court
August 18, 2009,
Citizens Communication
>> citizens communication is next.
this item gives residents an opportunity to address the court for up to three minutes on any matter not on the agenda.
gus pena signed in.
mr.
mcdonald has signed in.
and don and judy holden have signed in.
we have six chairs available there.
and nathaniel booker signed in fourth.
>> okay.
>> so pena, mcdonald, holden, janice wilson has spoken already, right?
she was here on item no.
1.
is there another janice wilson, okay, ms.
wilson has spoken already.
jimmy castro, also.
>> good morning, judge.
Commissioners.
gus pena, I'm here briefly and appreciate the time you all have given us.
the rca, the request for council action I have given to you has to do with the dose of the anti-viral medication tamiflu and relinza used to combat the swine flu.
this action was taken two weeks ago at city council, just announced in washington d.c.
that they won't have as much swine flu vaccine ready, only 45 million instead of the 120 million doses.
so I would ask, because this has been brought up to me by members of the community that our own health authorities start early in the educational process and measures to be taken to prevent contamination and infect the h 1 n 1 swine flu.
we are going to be hit pretty bad, don't take it lightly.
number two, school starts for Austin independent school district starts on Monday, August the 24th.
i ask everybody that's listening to me, I said that before, last 24, 28 years, adopt a student or students to help purchase clothes, shoes, school supplies for the needy and less fortunate.
not everybody will be benefiting from the -- gathering school supplies, there's a lot of need out there.
august 24th, 25 miles an hour speed zones or lower.
i'mization call 972-5520 for appointments.
>> [speaking in spanish] shots fastens, shots for tots -- for teens, shots for tots.
get your immunizations, make sure they are current.
school district policy, state policy.
capital metro, Commissioner Gomez, I called nora, fred gillian's assistant last Monday, I believe it was last Monday for the public hearing for items such as a fair increase, nora and fred gillian, said oh, no the only topics that will be discussed will be the dillo, also swearing in of the new board members, well, come to find out fair increases were discussed and that capital metro meeting.
that's not acceptable, given errorrous information to the public, I think that's bad business practice.
not just me, it's thousands of people that want change at the capital metro system.
we need to get rid of fred gilliam, c.e.o./president, randy hume chief financial officer.
no transparency at the agency, there's a waste of taxpayer money there.
i will say it right now, for the record, it has to happen.
new blood has to be appointed or hired at capital metro.
it can't go on like this.
capital metro will -- the metro rail will not work as people are saying it's going to work.
it's not going to happen.
it's not beneficial for a lot of people in the city of Austin.
let me see.
oh, yeah.
as I spoke two weeks ago, three weeks ago, mr.
rowley had open heart surgery, a massive heart attack at -- at brackenridge hospital.
anyway, I would like to commend atlas spring and alignment, business on 3537 east seventh street, come coming and helping their family, not only their family, but all of the families in the communities.
they are from east Austin, I want to commend robert rangel, a lot of good job helping the people out there.
item 31, I won't speak to that judge, it's an agenda item
>> [buzzer sounding] about approving the expenditure for bilingual or translation, please approve it.
good expenditure, thank you very much, slow down, get our kids fed or ready for school Monday August the 24th.
thank you very much, have a good day.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
mr.
mcdonald.
>> good morning.
>> good morning.
>> my name is richard mcdonald.
i'm back.
i brought my map again.
my neighbors and I are here this morning to support Commissioner Davis and to represent a large group of residents from the hunters bend area that oppose the approval of the txi hornsby bend gravel mine permit application.
several thousand people live in the three subdivisions in various homes and farms directly adjacent to the proposed 2,000 acre and 10 to 20 year project.
opposition for this project has been unanimous.
with everyone that's found out about it.
since the permit application was filed last October, we have been promised by both Commissioner Davis and the t.n.r.
staff that this permit application would go to Commissioners court for approval.
as appreciative as we are for this chance to speak this morning, we are hoping that this isn't our only chance and we do hope to get a chance to argue our case for saving our neighborhood in the Commissioners court.
as Commissioner Davis knows we can bring out a crowd of support when necessary.
the information package we received at the county sponsored neighborhood meeting a few weeks ago had a lot of information, much of it having to do with the county's limited authority over development, ground water protection, noise pollution, et cetera.
the county, though, does have the authority to adopt rules to promote the general welfare of the county in a safe, orderly and helpful development in the unincorporated area of the county.
chapter 64, guidelines and procedures for development permits.
is the law we've been told from the beginning that would be considered in reviewing the txi permit application.
according to chapter 64, I'm not an attorney and don't claim to be, but I've asked a lot of people in the t.n.r.
to define this for me, until I get a definition, as I read it, chapter 64 says if a proposed use is incompatible with the existing and anticipated development or if the proposed use is incompatible with the comprehensive plan for the area, the permit can be denied.
i'm not sure of the legal veracity of this argument, but this is the argument that we would like to make, that this gravel project is incompatible with our residential family friendly historical prime agricultural and environmentally unique neighborhood that is hunters bend.
this court and the conservation development design manual defines mines and quarry as a knocksous use not appropriate in neighborhood areas, this holds true -- the
>> [indiscernible] parks and natural areas master plan is forward thinking and a much better choice than the txi plan to mine gravel for the next 20 years.
txi's mining project is not extra the compatible with Travis County's plan with hunters bends or compatible with the plans of thousands of residents that have lived in this area for years that have moved recently to buy homes in our county approved subdivision.
thank you.
>> thank you, mr.
mcdonald.
>> don and judy holden.
>> shortest powerpoint that you have ever seen.
three slides.
there's a paper copy.
>> okay.
you know, there's so many objectionable things about mining gravel inside the e.t.j.
it's hard for -- for me to focus on only one.
but I'm going to try.
i'm going to try to -- to discuss the environmental impact of -- of having the gravel mining operation in our neighborhood up there.
to make this argument I'm going to rely on -- on the Travis County green print.
and I've been told that you guys and your staffs have been helped out with this when the -- when the trust republic land was putting it together.
if that's true, I'm sure it is, I congratulate you for doing a very good job.
this first slide I've got here, I hope I don't have to -- yeah, here we are.
this first slide here is the -- the Travis County green print.
it's -- if you are not familiar with it, it's -- it's conservation priorities as -- as judged by -- by various people, various environmentalists and whatever.
shown as -- as function of where you are on the map.
you can see -- you can see the scale there.
the dark red is the really high priority stuff.
the -- the kind of orange is modest priority.
and -- and one thing that you will notice from looking at this Travis County green print is -- is there's not much red over there on the west side of the county.
the -- the western part of Travis County is a developed place, there's -- there's lots of parks, there's the highland lakes to -- for recreation purposes.
all your red, all of your red high priority stuff is over on the eastern side of Travis County.
as you see from this -- from this map.
so let me -- let me focus on that eastern side.
here's a blowup of the -- of the eastern side.
and -- and there's Texas 131, down through there.
if you -- if you look for really the biggest blob of the dark red stuff, the really high priority conservation property, it's down there at hunters bend.
it's the next bend downstream from -- from hornsby bend.
i labeled it for you there, hunters bend and it's -- it's not just hunters bend, but it sort of tails up the river there to webberville.
that's webberville just right up there where the -- where the river gets close to the road.
close to 969.
now, you might -- you might look at this and say, gee, I wonder where -- where txi's proposed project is on this map.
>> [buzzer sounding] there it is.
it just smashes out the very sweetest spot that we have got.
let me run that in and out one more time.
look at the biggest part of the red stuff there.
and there's -- she's going to show -- a little bit of this stuff that -- the thing that you see there is the same as this right here.
>> I will do it later.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
>> y'all signed one slip, but ms.
holden, would you like to give comments?
>> may I make a brief comment?
>> okay.
>> we live in here.
and all this terrain is agricultural.
and we --
>>
>> [indiscernible]
>> we --
>> get to the mic.
>> okay.
>> so they can hear you.
>> okay.
>> it works for us, but not for the recording.
>> oh, okay.
>> anyway, as you see, this gravel pit will surround us on two sides.
and the other side is the river.
okay?
we have lots of irrigation wells out here, typically they are -- they are 20 to 30 feet deep.
they are probably -- probably 15 or 20 of them in these pecan orchards.
800-acres of pecan orchards.
they are going to mine down to a level of 60 feet.
we're real concerned about what this is going to do to our 20-foot wells.
and they say oh, it won't bother .
they, but -- but -- it won't bother them, but it's hard to understand how it's not going to interrupt our water.
it's also our house water.
so that's what I wanted to say.
thank you very much.
>> you, too.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
>> nathaniel booker.
>> okay, first of all my name is nathaniel booker, I want to thank you for allowing us to speak on behalf of Austin colony subdivision and the other possibly he said four, but 60 other subdivisions in that immediate area.
we, when I say we, I'm talking about the retirees who are selling out there, first time homeowners, we are requesting your assistance to protect our children, our primary asset, which are our homes, this one of the most pristine areas in Travis County.
we are asking you to please vote yes on item 40 today.
and vote no to txi permit.
i want you to please remember we do not live in a bubble.
what affects us now will affect you later.
what we are asking you to do is please look at us and consider yourself as being where we are and help us to keep our area as nice as it is and for the future of all of Austin.
now, the one other thing that really bothers me, I have to say this.
henry cisneros moved into san antonio, san antone was a swamp.
he turned that swamp into what they called the river walk.
which is one of the biggest attractions in san antone.
we have the colorado river running right through our county.
we are doing nothing to protect it.
and we will pay for it later if you don't step up now.
thank you.
>> thank you.
>> thank you.
>> thank you, mr.
booker.
jimmy castro is next.
ben warmate please come forward.
ronnie reeferseed.
and adelle noel.
>> thank you, judge.
can you hear me okay?
>> yes.
>> good morning, judge Biscoe and Commissioners, I am jimmy castro, here to speak on my own behalf.
i do have slides to show you this morning.
all of the preparations have been underway for the participation of the aisd first day of school on Monday, August 24th.
there have been teacher trainings this summer, in-service trainings for the 5,400 teachers for the Austin independent school district.
especially for the 750 new teachers of the Austin independent school district.
the Austin employees have been helping with preregistration.
the classified workers making sure all of the school facilities and buses are ready to roll.
and the teachers have been working on all of the decorations in the classrooms in which the teachers have paid for it with their own money.
the Austin independent school district back to school bash is set for Saturday, August 22nd, 9:00 a.m.
to 1:00 p.m.
at the delco activity center.
aisd elementary school's back to school night, these dates are set by the schools.
aisd middle school back to school night is Tuesday, sent 1st.
aisd high school back to school night is Wednesday, sent 2nd.
this allows the time for the teachers to meet the parents and especially the parents to meet the teachers.
all drivers need to remember the school -- the school bus -- I'm sorry.
hold on.
all drivers need to remember, the speed in the school zones is 20 miles an hour.
and failure to observe the school zones speed may result up to a $250 fine.
all drivers need to remember the school bus law, which states to stop while school buses are loading and unloading students and failure to observe the school bus law may result up to a one thousand dollars fine.
among the most obvious, but forgotten items in the back to school list, is making sure your child's immunizations are up to date.
the Texas department of health regulations require that students be current with all required immunizations prior to the first day of school.
finally, another annual event is the Austin independent school district, 36th annual band jamboree set for September 9th at 10:00 p.m.
at the burger center.
one of the participating schools will include the anderson high school Marching band.
families are encouraged to join all the band parents in attending this Austin independent school district event, which will include some of the top rated bands, state-wide.
thanks, judge.
>> thank you.
>> thank you, mr.
castro.
>> long time, no see.
>> mr.
warmate.
>> good morning, my name is ben warmate, I'm president of
>> [indiscernible] development company, we are a local h.u.b.
firm here in Austin.
i'm here to talk about Travis County correctional facility in del valle.
we happen to be a sub-- a consultant to faulkner u.s.a.
we did the utilities for that project.
we completed that project about a year ago from our scope of work and still currently could not get paid.
we have tried everything to get paid.
we've gone beyond our contractual information in terms of supplying information that they demanded and we have done all that.
we still have not gotten paid.
i think that I brought this to Commissioner Biscoe's attention several, several months ago.
and -- and faulkner said that they was going to take care of it and it's been a year now.
and we're still waiting to get paid.
i'm just here to ask the court to please help us out.
i have never been on a job that I completed a year ago and still don't get paid.
i'm not sure what their problem is.
i understand they may have some problem, but -- but we don't have anything to do with that.
i'm just here asking how do we get paid.
>> why don't you give us a copy of your -- of your outstanding invoice.
>> yes, sir.
>> we will put it on the court's agenda next week and tell the faulkner reps to come down.
>> who do I give it to, sir?
>> just give it to me, that will be fine.
i spoke with marvin yesterday.
if you haven't gotten paid by next Tuesday, it will be on the agenda.
>> all right, sir.
>> we will pursue some of the alternatives.
i do remember chatting with you and there was a question about whether -- whether paperwork was explode or something like that.
anyway --
>> been completed a long time ago.
>> we will have it on the caught a's agenda for -- court's agenda to take action.
but we need that outstanding invoice as backup.
>> no problem, I will be glad to give it to marvin brice.
okay.
>> thank you,.
>> thank you very much.
>> mr.
reeferseed next, adelle noel, peter gulla has already spoken, here on item no.
1.
luis garcia.
is mr.
garcia here?
j.b.
huttleson spoke already on item no.
1.
glen atkinson spoke on item no.
1, too.
lynn meritt spoke on item no.
1.
glen atkinson, junior, spoke on item no.
1.
so maybe these are our last two.
good morning.
>> good morning, I'm ronnie reeferseed.
saying resist taking potentially deadly experimental vaccines, yelling yes our very own ever extrapolating ob/gyn dr.
ron paul takes another foothold this week, Thursday, the 20th of August, March -- dr.
paul's son, dr.
rand paul run for the u.s.
senate in kentucky, with campaign donations already topping $200,000, the money bomb is set to explode Thursday the 20th of August.
dr.
paul exposes expansion of tax funded entitlements a big part of the obama health scheme instead allowing health care professionals to take tax deductions from treating those who cannot afford to pay for it.
with this simple change doctors will once again be able to decide about treating all patients with the best of health care.
not money shuffling bureaucrats as they do in europe, for example.
before you character health care rationing is a key part of all socialized medicine by design.
big government intrusion in health care, decision making is the nightmare to avoid and emulate.
you can find this quote from scott buck, trying to reduce gun crime by rationing guns to law abiding citizens is as absurd as reducing drunk driving by rationing cars to non-drinkers.
a double barreled doze of dr.
paul including the senate bodes well for the survival of our constitutional republic.
a dr.
quote from dr.
rand paul.
the federal government must return to its constitutionally enumerated powers and restore or unailable rights.
america can prosper, preserve personal liberty without intruding into the personal lives of its zones.
sound familiar?
yes, this apple of wisdom does not fall far from the tree of liberty long espoused by dr.
rands paul's father dr.
ob ob Ron ball who by the way delivered over 4,000 babies.
he says if we leave our energy policy to the special interests in washington, we will never solve our energy problems.
our crisis stems from too much government intervention.
the solution requires allowing businesses and ideas to compete.
sound interesting?
you can learn more about it by visiting www.randpaul2010.com.
for more information about dr.
rand paul's run for the u.s.
senate and more on line you can read american free press dot net.
subscribe by dialing 888-6397, also visit info wars.com.
you can listen to the alex jones show from 11 to 3:00 p.m.
and 4 to 6 on Sunday afternoons, you can hear a rebroadcast on a perpetual loops.
stop the killing of innocent people, visit www.randpaul2010.com.
tell us at free pod --
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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:
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 3:07 PM
