Travis County Commissioners Court

May 15, 2012 - Item 6
Agenda

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Number 6, consider and take appropriate action on the Draft Colorado River Corridor Plan and recommended amendments.

>> good morning, judge and Commissioners.
steve manila from t.n.r.
joining me is randy nicholson and charlie watts and you possibly tom weber to answer any questions.
the colorado river corridor plan is one that's been worked on through an agreement withc lcra, the city of Austin.
it involves about 30,000 acres of land in southeast Travis County.
and it also has involved an awful lot of communication with the public and at the court.
we've had public hearings, public meetings on site, workshop a few weeks ago trying to address all the questions that have come up as best we can.
so what I would like to do is we're at a point where we would like to recommend approval of it subject to incorporation of some amendments in your backup, but I would like to give randy to give a brief overview what the plan is about and how we got to where we are and answer any questions you might have.

>> I would like for randy to tell us the significance or just explain the many amendments that are recommended.
most of them seem to be sort of insignificant.
are they just cleanup changes is this.

>> mostly clean up.
we did have conversation with existing property owners as relates to the roadway system.
so there are some changes this the roadway system that we're recommending that certainly recognize more appropriately some platted areas that were -- have been approved by the court but they have not been filed with the county assessor so they are approved plats but they are not -- they are paper plats.
and so we fail to recognize some of those early in our transportation planning and I think that was a key part of the public engagement process is we did go back and address those with the recommended amendments.
so we've got the roads aligned properly with those future lots and things that we just weren't aware of initially.
so that was a good -- a good conversation with help with the property owners there.
so also we had failed to provide for pedestrian access in a couple of areas that was added in our roadway system.
and I think the most contentious thing, of course, was with the campo center that I think most of the community recognizes the fact that that's a long, long-range project and so the intensity of that is kind of unknown.
so we still feel like that was best suited for that 130 corridor.
but yes, sir, most of the amendments are fairly straightforward other than those dealing with the transportation and assignments with existing property components.

>> so do the residents who gave those comments know that in response to their comments we are recommending these changes?

>> yes, sir.

>> okay.
thank you.

>> but again, the plan was a collaboration between Travis County, the city of Austin and lcra as well as the property owners.
and we did feel like our due diligence as regards to continuous updating of the community as the plan evolved, starting with the original meeting, town hall meeting with the community to kind of lay out the opportunities and constraints within the corridor, just to highlight a couple of those, the 38,000-acre corridor that western looking at from 183 over to the Travis County boundary, property -- county line, there was 11,000 acres of that that we recognize are in mining interest.
so over -- almost over a third of this corridor has potential mining issues in the future.
so obviously that kind of precipitated the initial effort I think with the court and the community out there to, you know, what is that going to do to us over the next 15 to 20 years.
so it has been, I think, a very well attended process by the public to help us engage them and go through this visioning type of process.
and not to say that everything was perfect as relates to the end result with some of the community, but I think they get a sense of collaboration that we're into this plan by all those involved.
and I think it's one of the first things that they recognize that hasn't been done before.
all the agencies working together to see if there are some better solutions and what is it going to look like 25 years down the road.
one of the things that I think that came up in the meeting was 75 years ago someone was looking at the colorado river and decided we might want to use it for a water source or a power source.
that was 75 years ago.
and so plans do take a long time to evolve, and so part of this backup comment that I made to you in the backup is long-term commitment by the court is certainly going to be required for any kind of plan implementation.
we certainly encourage the court to consider that as they move forward today.
but staff would like to thank all the people that participated and particularly the court for helping us support looking at this long-range area where this could be transformed significantly over the next 30 years.
I'd be glad to answer any questions or go through the goals of the plan in detail with you again this morning if you feel like that would be helpful.

>> questions?

>> second.

>> yes.

>> yeah, there are a couple of statements in the backup -- the backup is excellent.
I really appreciate the thoroughness of it.
a couple things that are cited, the plan was developed in part utilizing the campo 2035 plan and the center's concept.
do we have plans moving forward to identify with greater clarity the centers that we -- that Travis County expects in this-in this geographic region?

>> yes, yes, ma'am, yes, mist I think with the plan's approve, I think that is the first step for staff to start looking at the update of the campo plan, the 2040 plan.
we have two opportunities with this plan and then with our forthcoming land and water transportation plan.
both of those plans I think will be key components with the court to have staff move in a little bit different direction than what the current 2035 plan is as it particularly relates to the centers.
we certainly address this in this plan.

>> so the colorado river plan will be a subset of our land, water and transportation plan.

>> yes.
it will be an apenned dicks to that plan and hopefully we'll mail it in with the 2040 -- will meld in with the campo plan.

>> I'm glad to see recognition in our plan that the campo 2035 traffic modeling may be underestimating the level of growth that we expect to see out here, that our plan is preparing for a higher level of growth.
I think that is very, very wise.
also with regard to visioning for multimodal transportation that doesn't currently exist and also environmental resiliency in that -- in that riparian corridor.
just really amazing stuff.
I've learned so much from you all as you vision what this could be and how we could help make it that.
the that.

>> anybody here from the public who wants to say something, Commissioner Davis asks?
no takers, commerce.

>> okay.
well, let me say this to everyone.
I really appreciate this particular effort as far as planning for the future and especially this very critical, sensitive area that is really complex because it is a part of the future growth of this community.
and I'd like to thank Commissioner Gomez for being a big part of this, the meetings and things that were attended, working with the community again to make sure that we come up with something comprehensive to ensure that we will put our best step forward to bring about a better use of an area that I think is very, very unique in this community.
and, of course, fail not to mention the improvements just north of this particular car door, if you look at the -- corridor, if you look at the area we're suggesting in this corridor.
so this fm 969, to the north 183, to the east -- to the west, rather, fm state highway 71 to the south and, of course, the bastrop county line to the east.
which is a real big area, over 30,000 acres, per se, for us to look at.
it even has a -- an endangered species with the bald eagle in that area, a nest that was even found.
but on top of all of this, judge, the improvements that this court has elected to push forward, and I'm saying the improvements to 969, which we have approved moving forward making the correction to straighten that road from fm 3177, which is decker lane, all the way to hunters bend, which is the mouth and entryway to Austin colony.
which is a part of this also.
so the widening of this road, the safety improvements, looking in the future to take care of growth in this area I think is very paramount.
but it wouldn't have been able to happen if, of course, the staff and, of course, the Commissioners, Commissioners' staff, meeting with the community, working together the best we can to try to come up with something and have public input into this process I think is very critical.
and, of course, I really want to applaud everyone for the effort in the community for working with us on this, judge, for the many meetings we've had out there in the area.
and I'm really glad to move forward with this this morning.

>> second?
the that was a motion to approve, right?

>> yes, judge.

>> discussion on the motion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
thank you all very much.

>> great job.
thank you.
great job.

>> for those that want to get a copy of this or see it, how can they access it?

>> give us a little time, judge, to take all the recommended amendments and get those into the final form and they will post that on our external website and we'll also have some copies printed and made available at the library and all the Commissioners' offices should receive a final document.
it may take us probably a couple of months I think to get that buttoned up, but we should very hard copies in several location for the community to --

>> did you say in a couple weeks?

>> no, sir, couple of months.
the changes approved by the court we'll post those immediately.
but to actually have the final document printed and made available to the public, it will take us at least a couple months.

>> now, are we having our print shop print this?

>> yes, sir.
absolutely.

>> I thought mr. Manila had more clout than that.

>> we'll see what we can do to push that along, judge.

>> I'd expedite it if I could.
let's at least try to.

>> okay.

>> thank you all very much.
good job.

>> thank you.
great job.

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