Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, July 27, 2010,
Item 13
Number 13. Consider and take appropriate action on the following items regarding the proposed acquisition of 27 lots in the gilbert lane subdivision in eastern travis county by austin habitat for humanity pursuant to a contract as a part of the travis county 2006, 2007 and 2008 community development block grant plan: a. Receive the results of the environmental assessment; b. Approve the posting of the findings of no significant impact and request for release of funds; c. Receive results of the public comments on the site location; and d. Approve site location. Ms. Moffat.
>> good morning, christie moffat, travis county health and human services. In py '06 program year 2006-2007-2008 we allocated $945,518 to austin habitat for humanity to acquire supports to be able to create affordable housing development. And so as a part of that, we have identified a property in eastern travis county and that property is to acquire 27 lots. We hired crestbow consulting services to provide an environmental assessment of that property. And i have to say a thank you to purchasing and also the t.n.r. For assisting us in getting this up to speed so quickly. They were able to do the environmental assessment in five weeks. So what you have in your backup is the 100 plus page document that indicates the requirements of h.u.d. To be able to move forward with a piece of property in doing this kind of project. So -- so i'm happy to say that we were -- we found that there were no significant impacts to the environment as a result of the proposed development. And so as a result of that, we would like to -- to request to post the notice that there were no significant impacts if we are to develop these houses on this land.
>> where will that notice be placed, posted?
>> what we will do is we traditionally post it in the newspaper. But because we are concerned about our time line, we're going to post it in -- in public places instead. So those places are going to be the seven travis county community centers.
>> all right.
>> we will post it on the website. We will also post it here at granger. And we will post it, i haven't gone out to look yet, but we will post it somewhere in a spot in the area so that people will have notice as well. That are in that area. And anywhere else that we can think of, we will put it out. So -- so if you have any suggestions, just feel free to let us know.
>> okay.
>> so the add that you heard, the posting that you have is also translated into spanish and so it will also be posted in spanish as well. I do have a correction. I apologize. I did not bring the backup that had the corrected date. The release of funds dates, on the posting, it has an august date and that actually needs to be september 3rd of 2010. So we're expecting release of funds from -- from h.u.d. On september 3rd of 2010, so people will have an opportunity to comments with h.u.d. Up until september 2nd. So --
>> move approval of a and b.
>> second.
>> to receive it and also to post it.
>> yes.
>> discussion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. And on c?
>> on c, we held -- we had a 30 day public comment period to receive comments on the location of the land. We received comment -- one written comment outside of the public comment period that was specifically related to increased traffic and the environment tall report that you -- environmental report that you received based on the number of 27 houses they did not feel that the increased traffic would be an issue, it would be very minimal. The other comments occurred here at the commissioners court public hearing on the 22nd of june. And those comments centered around wanting to make sure that the houses were available to single family households as well as multiple person family households which we answered at that time. Then there was also a concern about just living next to a habitat home. Based on the fact that we don't feel like we received any substantial comments that would keep us from moving forward with the project, at this time staff is recommending that the court approve the site to continue moving forward with the project. We are anticipating a closing date of september 10th, assuming everything continues to fall into place.
>> move approval.
>> second.
>> discussion? All in favor? That passes by unanimous vote. That was c and d.
>> yes, sir.
>> okay.
>> thank you very much.
>> thank you. When -- if the project gets started on time and everything goes accordingly, when we could expect the completion date for -- for persons actually to realize their home, when would that probably take place? Do we have any idea?
>> the way that habitat works, my understanding is that people are provided a choice of location. When -- so, you know, habitat provides them the list of lots that are available and then families get to choose. So we'll be coming back to you soon with an amendment to their contract, allowing them up to five years to be able to -- to be able to build that out. We assume that it will happen much sooner than five years. But again it is -- people have a choice to pick where they would like to live. And so it could be -- i mean, we could have a house built next year. It really is just dependent upon the interests of the families.
>> all built out.
>> right.
>> thanks.
>> thank you.
>> we need our planning and budget office here for item 15. We are ready for the third revenue estimate shortly thereafter, also.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, July 27, 2010 2:25 PM
