Travis County Commissioners Court
Tuesday, September 7, 2010,
Item 15
Number 15, receive briefing and take appropriate action regarding the formula one race track in southeast Travis County.
we appreciate the patience of those who have come down on this item.
we had hoped to reach it at 11.
we missed that target by a few minutes.
>> good morning.
joe gieselman with the transportation and natural resources department.
we asked richard suttle, who is the attorney for the formula one race track to come and make a presentation to the Commissioners court about the track.
tnr has some additional comments they would like to make, but otherwise just really a briefing about the track and what we can expect to happen over a period of years here.
with that I'll hand it over to richard.
>> I have a few notes and I will stand here if I k.
>> take a mic.
>> how about that one?
does that work?
>> go ahead.
>> members of the court, my name is richard suttle.
I'm with arm brift and brown and I represent the group that is bringing formula one and the united states grand prix to Austin.
thank you for having us here.
we appreciate the opportunity to give awe briefing.
I view this as probably the first of many meetings and briefings and times that we'll be before you.
formula one is one of the biggest sports in the world.
it's the most watched annual sport in the world.
as americans we really don't pay that much attention to it, but that is a fact.
it's only behind the olympics and world cup soccer.
and those events happen every four years.
it's watched in over 187 countries and on any given race there can be in excess of 520 million viewers of each grand prix race.
grand prix racing got its start in the early 1900's, but the world championship formula 1 that we know of today actually started in 1950.
in 2010 there were -- there will be 19 grand prix races held worldwide.
that's assuming korea gets their track done in time.
but there is not one currently in the united states.
that will change in 2012 when formula one and grand prix racing comes to Austin and Travis County.
so what will that mean for our region?
well, there are some from the state comptroller's office is they're looking at the economics that the event itself could mean a 300-million-dollar economic impact to our region.
historically race fans travel from around the globe to attend these events.
they generally stay several days, shopping in our local businesses, eating in our local restaurants, staying in our local hotels.
and that doesn't even include the 1200 plus staff members of each of the teams that participate in the race.
and the inexcess of 900 accredited media people who are accredited to cover formula one racing, and they also will come and spend the days here for the events.
it will create jobs, invent jobs, increase the tax base in the area.
it will generate a lot of sales tax, the various taxes that the various entities get.
I know that Travis County doesn't get to share in all those, but that's another issue.
but for the region it will be -- it's projected to be a very big economic impact.
in the spinoff benefits can't even be measured.
those include business recruitment.
what we've seen in other tracks around the world, I was in england and notice it had here that many businesses come and locate around these facilities because of the research and development opportunities.
and then there's also opportunity for other events to be held at this world class facility.
finally, one of the biggest impacts is it puts Austin and Travis County in the worldwide spotlight each year.
according to media management, the mere announcement of the formula one grand prix in Austin received more worldwide coverage, our area received more worldwide coverage than any other event or any other occurrence in our history.
so if you happen to watch, and I think the italian grand prix is this weekend, you have to get up at a god awful hour to watch it, but there's always several minutes of coverage about the area that it's held in and the attributes to that area.
so what is formula one racing?
most americans are familiar with it.
it's not an american sport, but I brought each of you a resource that I started with.
I'll hand it out.
I don't want you to take any offense by the title of this book.
it's what I started out with when I started learning about this sport.
and if you will look, there's cover -- if you look on page 3 of the book, the author says if you are reading this book, you are no dummy because formula one racing is a very complicated and technical sport and you can see this book is probably six, seven years old, but it's still a pretty good primer if you want to get interested in it.
formula one is the top category for automotive racing.
it's the pinnacle of design and technology.
much of the technology that we get for the cars that we drive comes from formula one racing.
the term formula means that there are strict limits on size, weight, power, tires, fuel, etcetera on these cars.
there's an exact form lay that you have to meet.
beyond that it's up to the teams to have to figure out how to work around these rules.
it's a heavily regulated sport and as the cars progress and get more advanced, the rules get tighter because what happens is you end up with jet cars flying around the track and they tighten it down for safety and racing reasons.
and they really don't resemble cars as we know them.
they race in excess of 200 miles per hour.
a formula one car can go from zero to 100 and back down to zero in six seconds.
and we always see a car, normal cars will go from zero to 60 in four seconds.
these go from zero up to 100, down to zero in six seconds.
we have open wheels, they have a central cockpit for one driver.
they're made of lightweight carbon fiber materials.
it's supposed to be a non-contact sport, so there's no bumpers or anything like that.
they're not supposed to hit each other, although occasionally they do.
they have front and rear wings to create down pressure so they can go through the track with a lot of down pressure and speed.
there's so much down force on these cars that at 100 miles per hour you can actually drive a formula one car on the ceiling.
it will stick to the ceiling.
>> it will do what?
>> if you could get a car at 100 miles per hour, the down force or the force on the surface, you can drive one on the ceiling.
it would stick to the ceiling at 100 miles per hour.
there are other race cars that are faster than a formula car, top in, but no car can compete on a lap basis because a car that can do more than 200 miles per hour has to slow down to go through the curves.
a formula one car slows down, but not much when you're at the curves.
when you're at a race it almost doesn't look real.
it looks like the slot cars that some of us grew up with with the little things that they follow.
formula one attracts the best and brightest mechanics, engineers, computer signists, aerospace engineers.
each team builds its car from the ground up, including the chassis.
a nascar car and even indy cars, they start with a certain number of people that make those and then they bolt stuff on.
these guys build their cars from the ground up, so there's a lot of technology involved.
it's a very technical sport.
each track around the world is unique.
and different race strategies are employed for each track.
a straightaway track, for instance, requires less down force.
as the car gets going faster and faster, the more down force, it actually slows down because it's being forced into the ground.
our track that you see here, this is the draft design, has a combination of straightaways and curves, which will make it more interesting for the race speculator as well as for the drivers and the teams. The other interesting thing about this track is it will have topography to it.
we're actually following the land where it's being built.
and what this diagram shows here is where the flag is started, that's the finish line.
you go uphill for the first start, make a hair pin turn, come downhill and what you see here are following the land on this track.
this is the main grand stand here.
there will be other grand stands that will be temporaries set up along with grass seeding where you can spread a blanket out.
so each race is different and each team find fien tunes and they work in wind tunnels and designing and getting the strategy ready for that race.
so how did we get formula one in the united states grand prix here in Austin and have it fly so far under the radar that most of us, all we knew about it is what we were reading in the newspapers?
well, topel hillman, an Austinite and former race car driver, he has about 25 years of experience in racing, remoting, marketing and consulting both on a global, national, regional level for races.
he landed the contract with formula one after fierce competition with other places in our country.
he did that mostly by hard work, mostly by stealth, mostly by out playing the other guys.
and then some of it was he has a 40 year relationship with a man named boerne eckelstone who is the head of formula one worldwide.
his father was responsible for bringing the grand prix to mexico for sometime.
and that relationship helped a lot.
some of you may know of tavo from his safe and sober program that as a race car driver he instituted to help teenagers else the importance of wearing your seat belt and not driving if you've had something to drink.
and that program actually won him a commendation from the president of the united states.
he did this without the large financial backing that some of his competitors have.
as you can imagine some locations seeking this spent millions on just chasing it and trying to woo the grand prix.
he was able to do it without that financial backing, which also enabled him to keep it somewhat quiet.
and if you can imagine it's similar to landing the olympics without having the huge pursuit costs at risk from either a local government or a state government.
so he was able to do that.
but part of it was he had to do it kind of on his own and without a lot of fanfare.
so why Austin, why Travis County?
well, if -- when you really break it down, it's the ideal location.
it's easily accessible from canada, both coasts of the united states, mexico and south america.
and many people come from all over the world to watch these races.
we obviously -- we all know these things.
it's obviously to us that we have great dining, food, great entertainment.
Texas has one of the strongest councilmember alvarez in the world?
and we're -- the state is home for more 500 -- fortune 500 companies than any other state.
formula one racing is a huge technological sport.
we're located within easy reach of san antonio, houston and dallas, which will also provide a draw, but also provide some of the support we need in terms of hotels and things.
we've had national recognition too numerous to list them all, but most of you know all the honors that we've gotten from kiplinger, forbes, msn and all publications that talk about what a great region we have.
we have great hotel availability, a great airport and the list goes on and on and on.
so it became apparent and formula one is excited to have it here in Austin.
so how do we do it?
well, tavo has partnered with the red mccomb's organization and with profit capital here in Austin for both the financial wherewithal and the business experience for success.
also during this process and before it was public, tavo had gone to the premier track designer and engineer, telce, which is a german engineering firm.
they've been involved throughout the process.
they're the world leader in track and test facility design in the world.
they'll be designing the tracks, the grand stands, the pit buildings, the team buildings and the other infrastructure.
they have extensive experience in the environmental sector so they understand Austin, they understand our environmental concerns.
charles brigance is our local engineer.
obviously we needed someone to interface with.
charles has been our local engineer that has been responsible for the -- making sure that we have the local compliance issues and translating the documents and he'll be helping process through both the city and the county on the various permits that we're going to need.
the location, I think most of you probably know, but on this map over here you see the location is just slightly southeast of the airport.
it's on -- it fronts on east of 130, fronts on 812, elroy and mcangus.
the airport is a critical component.
the formula one teams fly the cars, the tires, all the equipment, the fuel and everything in on jumbo 747's.
and one of the criteria is that you have to have a runway in excess of 12,000 feet and luckily ours is just over 12,000 feet.
so they can get the airplanes in and out.
we're in the process now as you can imagine there are lots of issues that go on when you want to do an event in a facility in this area and we're in the process of studying the traffic infrastructure needs and we've sought input from the state as well as we're in the process of talking to local traffic engineers and the traffic planners that were responsible for coming up with the traffic plan and silver stone, england for their grand prix.
>> [one moment, please, for change in captioners]
>> who would pay for the traffic improvements?
>> well, I think we would.
there would probably be widening of roads, various things, still studying those because it obviously does us no good to have an event that you can't get to.
>> when you go down there, 973, there's a severe s curve on sh 130, which you have ingress, egress off of that in that particular area before you go up through s.h.
130 going into the town of elroy.
so there is some significant, if you are going to pay for it, significant infrastructure improvements that's going to have to take place, especially on that end down there.
>> sure.
I'm familiar with another project, which is in this direction over here, as you probably are away, campo and the state have been looking at straightening out that s turn -- bringing william cannon across here and hooking up with 812.
I mean -- we think there's enough capacity with 130 and 812, we can start out by -- enough mobility to get in that way.
but as you can imagine --
>> [indiscernible] there will be
>> [indiscernible] as time goes on we will have to address them.
>> address them, okay.
the site is approximately 900 acres.
when you see on the map, that represents about 900-acres.
we currently have a site plan exemption from the city to allow us to go out and not to -- take 15-foot swaths for surveying and soil testing.
that's been going on.
one of the things that we have been doing as parted of the site plan that you will be reviewing, instead of paving acres and acres of parking, we are looking at the technology to be able to have grass parking in silverstone, england they don't pave all of the parking.
a lot of it is grass.
the first question what happens if we have a day like today, you better bring your four-wheel drive.
there's actually technology now that you can strengthen the turf, put materials actually in it, grow grass on it that will actually be weight bearing, hopefully we won't have that.
what we're doing that is counting that as impervious cover in terms of water quality and drainage, but esthetically as well as environmentally it's going to be a much better feel to have grass parking and not have paving that is only used important radically throughout the year.
>> they have more rain year round in england than we do here.
>> they do.
>> they have the opposite problem there.
>> in fact, we had a small meeting with some review staff at the city and one of the reviewers raised their hands.
you know, we have weather here in Austin, but what about when we have weather, what about grass parking.
one of the other staffers said I think we have weather in england, too, more than we have here.
they figured it out.
I think esthetically and environmentally that's going to be a much better situation.
we're anticipating our main access will be off of 812.
we're currently working with your staff on a campo road that -- that could bisect the site, the maja loop, which would also feed people into and help us disperse internally to the site.
>> working with the campo staff, did you say or our staff.
>> your staff.
well, what will happen is the decision will need to be made is that a public or private road?
and how we want to design and built.
and we are going to work with your staff on that.
>> going to work with our staff.
>> yes.
>> I'm sorry, I misheard you that you are already working --?
in my little pea brain we are working, we have actually turned in grading plans, but that's it.
we haven't turned in the actual site plan yet.
>> okay.
>> contrary to one of the local news outlets, we don't have a longhorn pipeline problem out here.
the longhorn pipeline is not on this site.
we do have pipelines.
we have two that right now would intersect the tract, we have been talking about various options to fix that.
they range from doing nothing to lowering them to routing them around the track completely, but we don't have an option that includes right-of-way on somebody else's land.
all of the options that we have will be on our silent only.
>> two gas lines or fuel line that goes to el paso?
>> gas line.
we have a 20-inch natural gas line and a three-inch liquid product line which I'm not sure what that is.
the three inch is the easiest one to move.
the 20-inch is the one that we are looking at various options, lowering it, leaving it alone or rerouting it around the track.
they essentially -- the gas line kind of comes across right here.
the three inch kind of comes down this way.
we intend to meet or exceed all of the drainage and water quality requirements of the various jurisdiction.
like I mentioned before, we submitted grading plans both to the county and city for review.
that's the first step and then as we get those reviewed, we will be turning in the actual site plans for the improvements, which will include some of the grand stands, the paddock areas, pit areas, parking that we do intend to pave as well as the parking that would be the grass parking.
so -- so what can you expect in the coming months leading up to the construction and the completion of the facility?
we intend to -- starting now, continue to dialogue with the county and the city and the state to make sure that the facility and the grand prix event are successful, that includes the processing of all of the necessary permits.
we will continue to meet.
we've actually had a meeting with the elroy association and the coalition of del valle neighborhoods.
out there.
we've had two preliminary presentations just to introduce and say we're going to continue to work with them because they're going to have continuing issues during construction and during events days, we're going to talk to them about opportunities for employment and participation in the process in this area.
we intend to park -- partner with the local school district, community college and the universities.
there are a lot of educational opportunities that come with formula one racing.
that doesn't seem exactly right.
I was in meetings with england where they are actually using the racing industry to keep kids in school to study engineering, math, science, computer engineering and --
>> keep them in school -- good deal.
>> sometimes a kid will say, you know, there's no need for me to stay in school, I'm going to go race or I'm going to go do something else with the cars.
you explain to them, you want to get this level, you have to have this education, the light bulb goes off, he or she can say yeah, I can do that.
I can wait this school out and do it to participate.
we're going to continue to explore and enlarge on the opportunities for local employment.
that includes for the construction, the events and other commercial activities such as the research and development that oftentimes follows these facilities.
there's opportunities for film and television production on the site, as well as music and workforce training.
we'll strive to achieve a high level of environmental compliance and -- and on the construction and the operation of the facilities.
in the end our goal is to have a world class facility out there that includes a business park, opportunities for film, opportunities for research and development and a great amenity and when people drive by that's what they talk about.
then they say oh, by the way, that's why the united states grand prix is held.
>> you brought up a point that I really want to explore a little more.
that is the opportunity for employment.
you have maybe right from the get-go, you probably have a -- have an emergence of -- I don't know how many because several categories that you have mentioned as far as employment opportunities.
but if you were to -- to put your arm around all of it, richard, can you -- can you off the outset, how many jobs do you think will be created -- I guess there would be staggered situations because you have construction, engineers, folks designing the vehicles, you would have just a whole lot of folks involved in this process.
so could you basically just give me just an inkling of ballpark, number one, the initial phase of this thing get it off and going from beginning to end, how many persons do you think will be employed in this endeavor.
and, number two, is looking at the sustainable employment because after the race is over and everybody go home and all of the folks go home that come to witness this, feel that there would have to be a continued employment opportunity, in my mind, to go on at this facility and -- and I really don't know what -- what that number is, you mentioned other venues, for an example that.
need to be a permanence I think as far as employment opportunities that we may experience here in Travis County.
can you maybe just give me a little overview of that just real brief like if you don't mind.
>> first of all, there is a very expensive facility being built with private dollars.
very expensive.
it will be used for more than just the grand prix.
so there will be other events and other uses and other businesses.
I hesitate to give numbers, because if I give too low of a number everybody goes ho hum, if I say too high, they will say he's lying again.
>> that's why I said ballpark.
>> ballpark it's in the thousands both from construction and continued because -- what we don't have measured is what -- what are the spinoff jobs that come with the service providers that will be used to help maintain the facility during the year, operate other events.
if -- if other experience is -- is any indication, other businesses, will be wanting to locate here, which ends up being more jobs, so it's hard to say.
but all of the numbers that I have seen are in the thousands and that's not just temporary, but that's construction and then throughout the facility.
hopefully it's many thousands.
>> thank you.
>> so -- so I know that you are going to have continued questions and concerns.
I've heard them secondhand everywhere from the hallways of the summit at westlake to just out with other constituents.
I want you to know that at any time you can call me or e-mail me and I'll try to get answers for you.
like I said, I view this as the kickoff to many dialogues with you and your staff.
and I hope that we can earn your support, both for the facility and the event.
and at this point I'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have.
>> I have a few.
and -- and I don't know if they can be answered here today, but just to -- to give an overview of some of our concerns.
>> by the way, Commissioner, I have got amanda mauro is here with my office.
>> [indiscernible] the principals, charles burgance the local engineer had to leave.
I don't want you to think that I'm standing here and not taking notes of your questions because we have folks --
>> again, we are running late.
how do you want to do this, judge?
do you want to plow through?
>> if we plow expeditiously.
>> one of our big concerns of course is transportation.
county staff did a preliminary traffic evaluation indicating that the current roadway network surrounding it, considering f.m.
812 isn't on the campo plan for expansion, it's on elroy road, the two lane road.
we had many transportation conversations for the original subdivision plat for this piece of property when that was going to be roof tops on an average and sustained traffic pattern understand out.
now, this is not going to be average and it's not going to be distributed over time.
it's going to be in large chunks.
the large chunk that we are looking at is -- is -- indicates in just our preliminary rough guessing that there could be delays of upwards of 12 hours to accommodate transporting the numbers of participants and spectators in and out of the facility.
so -- so to address that, what kind of -- I hear from your presentation that there are some planning -- there is some planning going on currently with regard to the transportation and road improvements needed to -- to move folks in and out of this arena.
what are those planning efforts underway, when can we see the results of them, when will we start having conversations at the county level?
>> I can't give you an exact time because the engineers, we're still, one, picking our team and getting the best and brightest to look at this.
I would anticipate that -- that within -- it's hard to guess, but obviously within months, we're going to have an initial idea.
I've not heard the 12 hour delay factor.
I can tell you that --
>> of course, we were going on very rough numbers because from my understanding this is the very first time that we have gotten a conversation with you all and this project at all.
>> [laughter] so we were kind of working in the -- in the dark.
>> I understand.
I -- yes.
>> [laughter] imagine, you know, we have university of Texas, their ball games, from traffic management we are able to move people in and out of there.
we intend to do that similar kind of study, that similar kind of traffic management for a large event.
you mentioned the single family subdivision that was planned to be out there.
it's actually kind of interesting.
the engineers have all said to me it's less traffic doing what we're doing than what the single family subdivision was going to be, but you're right.
the peaking characteristics are much different.
we're going to put the best and brightest on that to figure out what it's going to take.
obviously, somebody flies over here from europe and they sit in their car for 12 hours, they are liable not to come back the following year.
we are well aware of that.
we know that we're going to have to get that fixed.
>> I just, you know, to be clear, I think this is a very exciting international event and that could be an absolutely fabulous economic benefit to Travis County.
and eastern Travis County.
what I'm really after is a robust cost benefit analysis with an honest conference about who bears the costs who will enjoy the benefits.
which I don't believe we've had the opportunity to have at all.
we've had no conversation whatsoever, much less this honest conversation about who bears cost, who receives benefit.
with regard to that, I heard you say that your clients are anticipating paying for the design and the construction of the necessary roadway improvements.
>> well, and -- that is a broad statement.
we may disagree on what's required.
but obviously we're going to do our part to make sure that it works.
if the wish list comes back that we need to build another highway or this, that, the other, what I call the gives and gets balance starts getting out of whack and then we will have to have the discussion of if something is needed, in -- and who bears that cost may -- may depend on who actually thinks that it's needed to make the event a success.
>> I absolutely agree.
that conversation needs to happen and probably should have started before now.
considering all of the media attention.
>> we want to get good information so we're not operating without it.
>> can I just along those lines interject one other question.
to expand.
if -- since this is the first time that we've heard about it, we're talking about traffic and cost benefits analysis and who is going to -- how are those things going to weigh out between the players, we have already turned in a grading plan to the county and we know that you are trying to fast track it, when are these things going to happen?
>> well, as you can imagine, we're -- we're working as fast as we can, we're -- it's like drinking water from a fire hydrant.
we are confident that it's going to work out.
it's just one of those things.
it's going to work.
and so -- so we have no doubt in our mind, it's just a matter of having good information so that we can make good decisions.
obviously you don't want to spend a lot of money on a bunch of infrastructure that's not used but a few times a year and has to be maintained throughout when you can actually do it through other methods like traffic management or restriping or increased lanes within existing rights of way, those type of things.
we intend to work with your staff on those ideas.
I think a group of your staff has actually been up to fort worth to see that racetrack and how those facilities worked.
I know the state has been up there looking at that.
we've looked at it.
we're looking worldwide as well.
so I'll freely admit to you that this thing is going along in a -- in awn an unconventional path.
but internally there's a lot of money being spent from the private side knowing that it's going to work, knowing that we will do whatever it takes to make it work.
>> that's thrilling.
I so appreciate that.
I would like to know what the plans and the schedule are for acquiring the right-of-way necessary for the -- for the transportation infrastructure to support it?
>> well, right now, we don't -- we haven't identified any right-of-way that needs to happen immediately.
we think that there's -- for the roads that we have looked at, just preliminary, there's probably existing right-of-way that with the addition of a lane and traffic management we can make it work.
>> do you have an overall traffic management plan that you can share with us at that point?
>> I do not.
>> what plans -- has there been any traffic impact analysis done at this point?
>> no formal one, no, ma'am.
>> okay.
>> in terms of the environmental concerns, you spoke about the pipelines, I appreciate that, because that was a very large concern for us during the residential development subdivision plat that came through.
we are very well aware of those pipelines.
do you intend to -- to meet or exceed the city of Austin guidelines with regard to pipelines?
>> yes.
>> okay.
>> and the -- the facility, a portion of the facility or at least a portion of the site is in the floodplain.
how do you anticipate -- do you anticipate locating part of the facility in the floodplain?
>> we have -- part of the grading plan, this is where I wish charles was here, we may have small areas of floodplain that we may be encroaching on, but we took great pains to stay out of it.
we went to school on the previous subdivision that was approved out here.
and found all of the problems with it.
and have tried to avoid all of those issues in terms of the floodplain and the chromier.
we have met with varies folks including mr. Hilgers, well aware of all of those issues we are working around them --
>> do you intend to steer clear of having to do any kind of modification to the floodplain?
>> that's our goal.
there may be a small area that I'm not aware of the yet, but our goal is to not have to modify the floodplain.
in fact, you can tell on the site there's a large lake that we intend to keep.
and actually enhance.
I don't have a map that shows exactly where the facility is.
but if you are familiar with it, the power lines come across here.
most of the floodplain kind of comes in through here.
most of the track facility is on -- on this area of the site.
>> downtown anticipate having to get a clomer or anything like that.
>> I don't anticipate it.
>> I understand from the various articles that I have read in the paper because that's been my only source up to now, there will be an asphalt mixing facility on site because of the necessity to have a continuous pour for the track.
>> that was one of the items that was news to me as well.
>> oh,?
>> the german engineers have been here, they visited the asphalt plants that we already have and they are confident that they can bring in the facilities from the existing plants and not have to do one out here.
it's interesting a track that the tolerances are -- are pretty -- pretty small.
and what they do is they do this track all in one continuous pour, so that there are no seams in it.
they are already contacting the various asphalt plants talking about the mixture and methodology of laying it out.
>> of course the county has no authority to regulate sound levels in the unincorporated areas of the county do.
we know what decibel levels will be generated by the use.
>> we do.
it's loud.
and the engineers are currently working on ways to mitigate that for the surrounding landowners.
there's -- there's the unavoidable impact of having a facility like this where you have sound but it's generally not for very many hours and not for many days in a row.
but we are -- we do have a sound engineer looking at it.
>> the third category, after transportation, and environmental, that I have concerns about is with regard to safety.
and I imagine that this is going to be quite a coordinated effort among many, many different governmental entities as well as private entities, of the governmental entities just to name a few ...
if we have to do extra lanes, homeland security, faa if there's any impact on -- on the -- on the airports or on helicopter usage, has this coordinated effort begun?
>> it -- it has not.
we're in -- doing an inventory of those.
this is literally the first public presentation that this project has had.
there's -- other than the neighborhood meetings of introduction.
this is the first briefing to a public entity that there's been.
but we will be contacting those and we know all of the way down to the tsa guys at the airport in terms of being able to do security, we're going to have to do something different on race weekend there because of the -- just the sheer number of people that will be coming in and out.
>> and of course one concern that we do have, since there is a large number of people going in and out, there are pipelines.
and I personally have not had the opportunity to research it, but I imagine that there are some considerations with regard to evacuation since the transportation -- I'm going out on a limb here perhaps, but it doesn't look to me that the transportation infrastructure is currently adequate for the usage, much less adequate for an evacuation if that becomes necessary.
is that figuring into your plans?
>> it is.
we figure -- we're figuring on between the security and -- and we think that there is adequate infrastructure to get people in and out, we think it will be a safe facility.
>> now, you had mentioned economic development impact to this -- of this project and that of course is of high interest to all of us.
have you -- have you done any impact analyses on economic development?
are there any -- are there any actual -- objective -- has there been any objective research with regard to this facility and this area in terms of it's likely economic impact?
>> no formal research, but our research by experience has been since this track was announced, this facility was announced, a funny story, it kind of got announced before we were ready for it to be announced.
and we were not ready and between the chamber and some of the various offices in the city, within an hour there were over 18,000 inquiries as to everything from business opportunities to hotel rooms for 2012.
so our -- what would be our intuitive research tells us that there's a lot of interest and if -- if 10% of that interest came to fruition, it's a big economic impact.
>> I would like to have the opportunity to see whatever objective analysis is done because, you know -- you know me.
the anecdotal --
>> Commissioner, I think if we stayed out of the reserve you would be okay.
>> but just any kind of -- hard number analysis.
>> sure.
>> of how formula one racing has impacted like communities.
indianapolis experience for instance.
I know that there are other communities internationally that are also looking at or have placed these tracks in recent years and to see what their actual experience of -- of spinoff businesses, and that kind of thing and jobs created would be very instructive, I think.
>> ground breaking is supposed to take place, according to the newspaper, I think in December of this year.
is that correct?
>> our engineers tell us in order to make a 2012 race, that we need to be moving dirt by December of this year.
>> December.
>> now, that doesn't mean that we have --
>> [laughter]
>> sorry.
>> I guess, richard, I guess -- that's a lot of still unanswered questions.
and it would be really -- really -- I was at a function just the other day, Friday I think it was, and folks were asking me about the formula one thing.
I said, well, I don't know anything about it except for what I read out of the newspaper.
of course this is the first exposure that I've had to a lot of things.
I guess my concern is that if we're going to have ground breaking of course Travis County has to issue permits in this process, there ain't no doubt about it.
>> right.
>> the question that we are receiving, any way possible that we can expedite as much information form mallly -- funnel through our staff or Commissioners court or whoever, on this particular project.
especially specifics, we are getting specific questions and we don't have the answers.
if we're going to have ground breaking it appears we ought to have answers by then.
>> sure.
we're working as hard as we can on those answers.
the expediting process that we viewed was by doing this in a sequenced manner, we are expediting the grading plan for instance now, that's in review, though there are things that are specific to grading.
then we will bring in specifics as to the site development and also at any point there's going to be safety valves at various points.
the other way to do it is turn in a tack this thick, throw it -- stack this thick, throw it over to joe, say have at it.
we thought possibly the incremental approach would be an expedited and better way to do it.
>> who -- if we have o.c.a.
say, questions, recommend day, et cetera today, for advice, who should we send that to.
>> I would think if you send them to me, I can make sure that we get to the right place.
>> joe, do you have his contact information.
>> oh, yeah.
>> [laughter]
>> we also have a website.
I think --
>> what that?
>> www.unitedstatesformulaone- - formula oneunited states.com.
>> I have two more questions.
I don't mean to be a nudge, but --
>> [laughter] --
>> joe, we'll have to get your comments next week.
I mean, I do think if there is enough interest, we ought to have this back on the court's agenda again.
what's clear, though, is that we're early in the process.
they don't have the answers to a whole lot of relevant questions.
if we know where to send comments, additional questions, advice, recommendations, et cetera, I think that we ought to.
but I'm not sure that we are gaining anything with further discussion today.
if there is -- if there is continuing interest, though, then I think we ought to have it back on the court's ago did again next week.
joe indicated earlier that he had comments to give.
unfortunately there are three or four controversial issues that are on the court's agenda that we need to discuss this afternoon.
>> we will be happy to be here at every Commissioners court meeting with updates if that makes its easier.
>> that would be great.
>> maybe if you are willing to come back next week, what we can do is get you questions, recommendations in writing so if there is no answer at this points, we won't take a whole lot of time hearing that.
you can simply just indicate it to us.
that may be a better use of our time.
my problem is that I have to have lunch, plus -- we need to have a restful lunch so we can be energetic this afternoon.
the way we're going, though, we may well need another 45 minutes to an hour on this.
I guess the question is should we plan to have that next week or plan to have it at a later date when answers to some of these questions will be a lot more likely available.
>> obviously, I'll leave that to you.
I think between now and next week I would like to get with joe and his group to get their comments.
if that's possible.
and that will help us prepare and then if we get some from you --
>> there's emergency medical services, fire marshal's office, and e.m.s.
there, not only ground transportation units as as well as the need for star flight.
I'm just thinking if you get the -- many people at one event, then, you know, aquapalooza only had 20 to 40,000 people, we kind of geared up for that, luckily we did the right thing.
>> we actually have a medical facility planned on site.
both that will -- that will obviously for the race, formula one racing has a danger component to it, but it will also be for events, spectators and I think that it's going to enhance the e.m.s.
and medical capabilities in that area.
throughout the year as well.
>> so do we want to invite mr. Suttle back next week or two weeks from now?
or three weeks from now?
court?
>> I think that if they intend to break ground as quickly as they anticipate breaking ground, we probably ought to have them back next week
>> [laughter]
>> I would be happy to come.
we can schedule it and if we're not far enough along, we can be a five minute meeting or if we have more information, it can be longer, we will do whatever suits y'all.
>> you do plan to meet with joe gieselman.
>> I will.
>> between here and next week then.
>> yes.
>> that will probably --
>> okay.
>> > let's have it back next week, allow more time for a discussion.
I think we ought to get you in writing whatever we had that we think may require comments with the substance rather than yes or no.
>> people with the office can come down, we have other displays we can show you.
be happy to provide your offices with that information.
>> okay.
>> thank you very much for having us.
>> thank you.
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, September 7, 2010, 2010 6:54 PM
