Thursday, April 10, 2025, 10 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall
0:10 You are watching a meeting of the Austin City Council with Mayor Kirk Watson, Mayor pro, tim Vanessa
0:19 Fuentes, council members Natasha Harper, Madison, José velazquez, cheat, cheeto Vela, Ryan Alter, crystal lane, Mike Siegel, Paige Ellis,
0:42 zoe cadry, mark uchin, interim city attorney, debra thomas, city clerk myrna rios, and city manager tc broad n
1:01 well, good morning everybody.
1:02 It's 10 o'clock on April 10th, 2025, and I'm gonna call to order the meeting of the Austin City Council.
1:09 We're meeting in the City Council chambers, which are located in City Hall at 3 0 1 west second street.
1:15 You May wonder why, uh, this person's hovering over my shoulder.
1:18 Um, I have asked her to come up and so that we can start this meeting on a
1:23 very cheerful note, although there's some disappointment, of course, that we are, uh, having the last meeting where
1:31 myrna rios will be our city clerk, but she is retiring, and I wanted to bring her up
1:36 here so we could start off this meeting oh, <laugh>, by saying something nice about her and giving
1:44 her these flowers. And, and I just want to, for those that don't know, uh, you hear her
1:50 voice from time to time as she's calling folks out, uh, calling out names, uh, or if you
1:55 have a petition drive or you're somehow engaging specifically with the clerk's office, but you May not know
2:01 that really so much of the work of City Hall and that we do, uh, the business that
2:07 we do, she is a key part of, and I just want to mention a couple of things.
2:11 First of all, she's been with us for 23 years.
2:15 23 Years, and, and that's, that's a pretty special thing, and that deserves applause.
2:19 You're right, <laugh>.
2:25 Um, think about all that she does.
2:27 I, I just mentioned the kinds of things that she's involved in.
2:29 She's involved with not only the meetings that we have, but involved with municipal elections.
2:33 She's involved with the management of our boards and commissions, support services, records and information management, and countless
2:41 petitions that May come through.
2:44 Um, she has been, uh, recently very highly complimented by one of our council members who, uh, council
2:51 member Siegel, who has some special experience when it comes to petitions, and I've heard him, and that's
2:58 all we'll say, uh, but, but I've actually heard him, and we've all heard him say, uh, very
3:04 clearly that Austin, texas, because of myrna is kind of the, the gold standard for how those tho
3:12 those are dealt with and, and handled.
3:13 So, so we're, we, we appreciate that.
3:17 Keep in mind that part of the time that she's been clerk was also dealing with covid and
3:22 the, uh, the, the pan, the pandemic, and she helped work through that at a time when nobody
3:29 knew what we needed to do or how to go about doing anything, and she helped the city
3:34 get through that. Uh, including the creation of hybrid, uh, council meetings and the solutions that go along
3:40 with that. Uh, I've mentioned elections, uh, what she does with campaign finance reports and expanding our e-filing
3:47 system, what she's done with, uh, the petitions.
3:50 We've talked about creating a new council voting history on the open data portal, uh, the work with
3:55 the boards and commissions, and I, I want to say she has done the work that me, what
4:01 it means is the texas municipal clerks association has received consistently the achievement of excellence award honoring our
4:09 clerk's, office adherence, the federal, state, and local statutory requirements.
4:14 So I didn't thi this is her last meeting.
4:17 She is retiring officially at the end of the month.
4:22 Uh, we're gonna take a vote some point today, uh, on her replacement <laugh>.
4:29 Um, and, um, but, but in any event, uh, I, I just couldn't imagine us not starting this
4:37 day without saying a special and deep thank you to myrna reels.
4:42 Thank,
4:55 thank you.
5:03 Thank you all for honoring her.
5:05 So, uh, now we'll go back to, I, I've called the meeting to order.
5:10 Uh, we're, I'm gonna point out that, uh, typically this is where I say that in the order
5:16 of the day, I'm going to at some point read, uh, changes and corrections into the record.
5:22 But it just so happens that on this day, uh, when myrna is mirnas last meeting, there are
5:27 no changes in corrections.
5:29 Uh, so we members, we've hit perfection.
5:32 So without objection, we will adjourn, um, in any event.
5:38 So, uh, we won't do that.
5:40 But then, uh, we're gonna go to our, uh, consent agenda in just a minute.
5:45 We will have the, uh, consent agenda, uh, speakers.
5:50 We will go through that.
5:52 After that, we will have some discussion and brief comments from counsel, and we will vote on the
5:56 consent agenda as close to 10 30 as we can.
6:00 I will recess the meeting of the Austin City Council, and I will call to order the board
6:04 of directors meeting of the Austin housing finance corporation, and we will conduct that meeting.
6:09 When that meeting is over, we'll adjourn it.
6:11 Uh, by the way, members on the consent agenda, there have been no items pulled from the consent
6:17 agenda. There have been no items pulled on item number 31.
6:22 However, I wanna point out that there is a new version four.
6:26 The motion that I will take on the consent agenda will include on item 31, version four.
6:34 Uh, we will go to the non-consent items.
6:37 Uh, we have an imminent domain item.
6:39 We will take it up, and then we will go to the public hearings.
6:43 Those public hearings are items 36 through 45.
6:47 36 Through 45. We will, uh, conduct the public hearings and act.
6:53 If you'll remember on all of those items we've previously held a public hearing.
6:59 This will be the second public hearing because of the, the, what they, what they relate to, and
7:04 we will then vote on them.
7:06 My intention would be that as we take the item up, we will conduct the public hearing, and
7:12 then we will have the vote.
7:14 My guess is that, uh, we will reset.
7:17 We will not recess, we will take up our noontime certain right at noon.
7:22 Um, we've got something special today.
7:24 Typically, we recess, uh, for live music, but today we're gonna hear from our poet laureate.
7:30 Um, I anticipate that what we will do is we, we will recess, however, after the 12 o'clock
7:36 time certain, uh, that typically is about 1230 to 1235.
7:40 It might be a little earlier today.
7:42 And then we will, uh, recess probably until one or one 10, but we'll announce that at the
7:49 time. And then of course, at two o'clock, we have our zoning as a time certain item.
7:54 So members, that's the order of the day.
7:56 Uh, without objection, what we will now do is we will go to the consent agenda, since, as
8:01 I've pointed out, there are no changes or corrections to read into the record, and we will go
8:06 to the consent agenda, and I will turn to our city clerk.
8:09 Remember, there's nothing been pulled.
8:11 So I'll turn to our city clerk and, uh, she will, um, hopefully, uh, help us through this,
8:17 uh, and, and has the experience to do it well, <laugh>.
8:21 Okay. Thank you very much again.
8:23 Thank you all. Um, the first speaker is bill bunch, item speaking for item number five, mr.
8:32 Bunch. Yes, can you hear me?
8:36 Yes, we can. Thank you.
8:39 Good morning, Mayor. Council members, thank you for your service to our community.
8:42 Bill bunch here with save our springs alliance, uh, longtime resident of district five.
8:49 Um, I'm speaking, I guess in favor of this item, which is to, uh, assign, it looks like
8:58 for a second time, a $5.4 million contract to, uh, finish building the zilker park, uh, maintenance barn replacement.
9:11 Um, I just wanted to point out that if you look at this memo, uh, it highlights yet
9:18 another, um, folly in zilker park.
9:23 Um, and there've been many, um, with the, the zilker train situation and the zilker park vision plan
9:31 being at the top of that list.
9:34 Um, on this one, they cut down a whole bunch of trees, uh, when they started the construction,
9:42 and then that's been delayed and delayed and delayed for years.
9:46 Now, uh, as is laid out in your supporting memo, um, they didn't need to do that.
9:53 They could have chosen a different site close by, that would've functioned just fine for, uh, the maintenance
10:00 barn, uh, replacement. Um, and for the life of me, I don't know why our parks leadership did
10:08 not do that. So I'm hoping for the best with our new parks director.
10:13 And just wanted to put this, uh, on your list for, uh, recognizing that we've had, uh, real,
10:21 serious problems in managing, uh, our flagship and soul of our city park, ker park.
10:29 Thank you mr. Bunch.
10:31 You are also registered for item number 14.
10:35 You get two minutes.
10:39 Okay. Uh, thank you.
10:41 Yeah. Uh, bill bunch, again, item 14, this is to approve $5,000 payment from texas gas service to
10:54 build a temporary gas line, uh, and easement, allowing that across city watershed protection lands on the barton
11:04 springs edwards aquifer recharge zone, uh, down just, uh, north of the sh 45 corridor.
11:15 Um, I, uh, just wanted to point out that, you know, $5,000 doesn't even cover the cost of
11:25 your staff messing with this.
11:28 Um, that's, that's a ridiculously small sum.
11:32 Um, you shouldn't be giving away the farm here.
11:35 Uh, tgs keeps raising everybody's rates, um, and not cooperating with the community on different programs.
11:44 And I just would hope that, uh, if you're gonna approve this, and clearly it looks like you
11:49 are, that you would demand some, uh, honest and decent compensation for, uh, both the temporary construction easement
12:01 and the much longer term, but still, they're saying temporary easement for the, uh, gas pipeline.
12:09 Thank you for consideration.
12:13 Next item is members is item number 16.
12:16 And so, uh, officially I wanna call up, uh, legal because that relates to a lawsuit settlement and
12:23 have legal make a presentation to us.
12:29 Good morning, Mayor, Mayor prom council members.
12:32 I'm assistant city attorney isabel <inaudible>, and I'm here today to recommend that you approve a settlement payment
12:37 in a personal injury lawsuit that appears on your agenda.
12:40 As item number 16, we recommend that you approve a payment of $110,000 to settle the aid of
12:46 michelle lewis for city of Austin lawsuit.
12:49 This lawsuit relates to a December, 2022 car accident involving a transportation and public works vehicle where ms. Lewis seeks
12:56 payment for her injuries.
12:58 In exchange for the payment, the plaintiff will release any and all claims against the city from the
13:02 accident, and will also dismiss her lawsuit from filed in the district court of travis county.
13:08 The law department recommends that you approve payment based upon these terms.
13:12 I'm available for questions.
13:13 Great. Thank you very much.
13:14 Members, do you have any questions of legal counsel?
13:18 We appreciate that. Thank you very much.
13:19 Thank you. Okay, now we go on to item number 27, xenobi joseph.
13:33 Okay. Item number 30, holly reed and bill bunch, which is remote, and I'll go back to him.
13:41 Is ms. Reed here?
13:50 Bill bunch? Item 30?
13:58 Yes. Good morning. Um, can you hear me?
14:01 Yes. Am I up or is holly up?
14:03 You're up. Okay. Thank you.
14:08 Uh, bill bunch, district five, save our springs alliance, um, speaking in favor of the nomination of ted
14:18 eubanks to the parks board.
14:20 Um, I hope that y'all will recognize that many eubanks is an incredibly experienced, knowledgeable, uh, expert in
14:31 park and landscape planning and conservation.
14:35 Um, he's done a lot of work in Austin and across the country.
14:42 He's exactly the kind of person that we need on the parks board, someone who's willing to do
14:49 the, do the work, do the diligence, and provide, uh, honest and well-informed input, uh, and recommendations to
14:58 the council. Um, he's been nothing but professional through all this entire process, and, um, I hope that
15:06 you'll recognize that Council Member uchin, as all the council members should have the support of their colleague,
15:15 uh, when making appointments to our boards and commissions.
15:20 Unless somebody can really put into the public record a solid reason for why the person, um, has
15:28 some, uh, serious issues that would disqualify them from such a nomination.
15:33 Uh, I've heard nothing, nobody I know has heard anything, uh, to that effect that, that mr.
15:40 Eubanks is not a, uh, fantastic person to be serving on our parks board.
15:45 Thank you. Back in to in-person, robin rather, richard brimer, chris flores and carlos leon.
16:07 Uh, good morning. Uh, Mayor, Mayor, Mayor porto and council members.
16:10 My name is, uh, richard brimer.
16:12 I'm a 35 year, uh, resident of the city of Austin.
16:15 I currently reside in district six.