[0:01] Good evening everyone. It is now 6:30.
It is July 14th and it's time to start
[0:07] the regular city council meeting.
If you can all please stand with me
[0:12] as we send uh do the pledge of
allegiance. We have Gib Gibson Hilton
[0:17] here to do it with us.
>> Will you please join me for the pledge?
[0:22] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:27] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[0:33] justice for all.
Honor the Texas flag. I pledge
[0:37] allegiance to thee, Texas, one state
under God, one and indivisible.
[0:45] » All right, thank you Gibson.
Uh
[0:50] I just shot I got the picture.
Okay, awesome. Well, you got it right
[0:54] there in a different spot. So, thank
you. We appreciate you. You say say say
[0:57] it there with a lot of authority and
pride. So, thank you.
[1:04] All right, uh Chaplin Dale Burke was
supposed to be here for the invocation,
[1:08] but he is not here, so we will have
Councilman Lowe
[1:12] do the invocation for us, please.
[1:17] » Bow your heads, please. Heavenly Father,
we come before you with gratitude
[1:22] uh for the opportunity
to serve our community.
[1:26] Uh we ask your wisdom as we consider
decisions we make tonight.
[1:30] Help us listen with open minds and speak
with kindness.
[1:33] Guide this council to seek what is
right, fair,
[1:36] beneficial to the all of our residents
of these cities.
[1:40] Give us the courage to put our needs
above the uh com- above the personal
[1:44] interests and humility to work with
those
[1:48] that we disagree with.
We pray with our first responders, city
[1:52] staff, volunteers,
local businesses, and every family who
[1:56] calls Bastrop home.
May everything we do tonight bring glory
[2:02] and honor to your name. In your son
Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
[2:10] Thank you Councilman Lowe.
All right. Got a good sized house in
[2:15] here tonight. Welcome. Welcome.
All right. Um,
[2:19] we'll go through the our reports. Uh,
we'll do the mayor's reports. It's been
[2:23] a few weeks since we've had a council
meeting and so in that time I've been
[2:29] pretty busy but I won't hit you with
everything.
[2:32] But yeah, it's almost something on the
daily which I love. It's good. But um,
[2:38] just want to give um,
uh, congratulations to uh,
[2:44] to those students, adult students who
uh, graduated from the Community Action
[2:49] and Corporation of Central Texas Adult
Education Graduation Program. Uh, it's a
[2:54] GED program for adults or and they also
had ESL students in there as well.
[3:00] Uh, it was it was pretty nice to hear
their stories, uh, how they were over
[3:05] able to overcome the hurdles and some,
you know, it took them 15 years, 20
[3:10] years from teenage years to finally uh,
get their GED but it is a life long
[3:16] accomplishment for some. Uh, there was
even one one mother who came up to me
[3:21] um, in tears cuz she was able to
resonate with my story because about
[3:24] being an underdog and overcoming and
going the distance and and her son went
[3:29] through a lot to get there. So it was it
was pretty nice to see that and it's
[3:33] good to see people don't give up. Um,
also, uh, let's see.
[3:39] Um, we had the Bastrop County Emergency
Food Drive that has gone on for
[3:44] a little while. I was able to attend it
that same day.
[3:47] Um, think we have someone here to speak
on their behalf and so I won't spoil all
[3:52] of it, but um last I had saw together
the community
[3:55] uh raised almost 3,000 lb of food for
for the
[4:00] county of Bastrop for the pantry. So,
that was that was fantastic and it was
[4:04] great to be a part of that.
Um I want to give a little shout out.
[4:07] Y'all know I'm all about the kids. Uh I
want to give a shout out to our youth
[4:11] baseball team, the 8U team, uh for BYSO.
Um
[4:18] can't remember the full acronym. But
anyway, they're they're traveling um
[4:22] this year. They made the Little League
World Series. And so, if the community
[4:26] can get behind them and support those
young guys,
[4:29] um they got a real good team, real good
camaraderie. They played together for a
[4:32] while. I know they're just eight, but um
they stand a real good chance to go
[4:36] pretty far.
Um then we also had the 12U softball
[4:40] team. They finished fourth in the Little
League World Series. They didn't get to
[4:44] progress,
uh but um
[4:46] it's a lot of young young ladies on that
team that did a fantastic job. So, I got
[4:50] to spend some time with those kids and
wish them well and and really just uh
[4:55] see what they had going on.
Um
[4:58] then uh the week of 4th of July was a
super busy week. I'm sure we all have
[5:03] something that we did that week. Um I
know uh Councilman Lowe and uh Council
[5:10] Member Meyer, they joined me to
celebrate Michael Thomas. Uh he turned
[5:15] 98 and the the man looks young. He looks
like he's like 65, but he's um
[5:20] he's a World War II veteran, Korean War
veteran. Um went to the Senior Center to
[5:25] celebrate his birthday with him. Uh it
was a real good event. Um great group of
[5:29] folks. I got to get over there and get
to dancing with them on a Tuesday night.
[5:33] So, maybe when we don't have a council
meeting, I'll be able to to get over
[5:37] there with them.
Um and then as you know, we all
[5:40] celebrated uh the 4th of July here in
Bastrop with family on the Friday. And
[5:44] um Um,
the big bang celebration at the park.
[5:48] So, it was just a fantastic fun time in
the community for me uh being out
[5:52] amongst everyone, enjoying the people,
the vibes, the camaraderie, and watching
[5:57] our community go grow. So, uh I won't
take up any more time and I'll pass it
[6:01] on to Councilmember Fossler.
>> Thank you, Mayor. I'll do a report a
[6:07] look ahead report and announcement of
what's coming up. Uh for this Thursday,
[6:11] for Hunters Crossing residents, if you
live in Hunters Crossing or have a
[6:15] business in Hunters Crossing, come to
the convention center on Thursday, this
[6:19] Thursday at 6:30 p.m. It's a joint
meeting between the Hunters Crossing
[6:23] Public Improvement District, the Local
Government Corporation, and the Hunters
[6:27] Crossing Homeowners Association board.
It's regarding the maintenance and
[6:31] possible transfer of ownership of some
of the common areas. One of those being
[6:35] the parcel that the pool is on. So, I
expect to see some live wheeling and
[6:39] dealing in the moment at the convention
center. So, if you have any interests,
[6:43] um this is really going to be a special
night because all the interested parties
[6:47] are finally ready to resolve all these
lingering details. So, I expect an
[6:52] action-packed meeting on Thursday at the
convention center.
[6:55] Um this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,
there will be a memorial and exhibit at
[7:01] the Bridges Emporium for a beautiful
Bastrop County art artist that we lost
[7:05] in a tragic car accident a few days ago.
Um Yvonne Winter is her name, and um all
[7:12] proceeds from the exhibit will go to her
family, her very shocked family. She was
[7:18] a bright light and an incredible artist
and is very missed. So, Yvonne Winter is
[7:22] her name.
Um Coming up this weekend, also Friday
[7:28] is the Corvette Invasion. It starts
Friday night, and the the light show
[7:34] starts at 9:00 p.m. From 9:00 to 9:30,
it's called Lights, Camera, Corvettes at
[7:39] the convention center parking lot, and
then the um car show starts the next day
[7:43] at 9:00 a.m. with the awards at 1:00
p.m.
[7:47] Saturday night is the CASA fundraiser.
It's a sock hop and it's at the
[7:51] Smithville Recreation Center on Saturday
night. There are tickets available
[7:56] still.
Also Saturday night, it's the
[8:00] Film Alley's last stand-up comedy. It's
at 8:00 p.m. Scott Hardy is headlining.
[8:05] He's hilarious.
He's very funny. It will sell out soon.
[8:09] There are a few tickets left
but and they are on the Film Alley
[8:13] website.
And then next Wednesday, if y'all Have
[8:17] y'all heard about data centers?
There's a data center town hall being
[8:21] hosted at the Hampton Inn next Wednesday
at 6:30 p.m. It's hosted by the Bastrop
[8:28] County GOP, the Bastrop County
Democratic Party, the Forward Party, and
[8:33] the League of Independent Voters. So all
those parties are hosting this town hall
[8:38] and we also Texas Agriculture
Commissioner Sid Miller will be speaking
[8:42] at the beginning. So space is limited.
It's a big room but but please if you're
[8:46] interested, please come on the early
side cuz you don't if you want to be in
[8:49] the room then you don't want to be
you don't want to miss it. And then next
[8:52] Thursday is the volunteer and resource
fair at the Bastrop Convention Center
[8:58] for all of our boards and commissions
and also our community resources. So
[9:02] that's at the convention center next
Thursday 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Last one
[9:07] y'all.
Next Saturday, which is
[9:11] July 25th from 3:00 to 7:00 in downtown
Bastrop is our Christmas in July. It's a
[9:16] lemonade crawl and it's free but please
register on the Discover Bastrop
[9:21] website. Thanks y'all. I know it's a lot
but there's a lot of cool stuff going on
[9:25] even in this heat. Thank you.
[9:28] » All right. Thank you, Councilmember
Fossler.
[9:31] Councilmember Plunkett, let me guess.
>> Actually, I think I did hear something
[9:37] that she didn't include, but
>> Whoa.
[9:41] There was a There was a list, so
>> But, I could have missed it.
[9:44] » I thought she had everyone covered.
>> So, um
[9:48] Main Street uh
the first the two blocks of Main Street
[9:52] will I believe will be closed on
Saturday night uh after the Corvette
[9:56] invasion. Uh that's the
you know, bad news if you want to call
[10:00] it. The good news is all the winners
from the Corvette invasion will be
[10:03] parked out in front of the businesses
there. So, that'll be a cool way to see
[10:07] the cream of the crop.
So, uh does anybody know the times on
[10:11] that? I was looking it up, but I didn't
see it.
[10:14] Thank you, Michaela. 6:30 6:30 to 9:00
is when uh Main Street will be closed.
[10:19] » How'd you make your voice sound like a
microphone?
[10:23] Uh okay, there you go.
All right, thank you, Councilman
[10:27] Replogle. And Council uh Mayor Pro Tem
Kirkland.
[10:31] » So, Michaela, I got another question for
you. Who was responsible for the
[10:34] alternate layout at the Farm Street
Opry?
[10:37] » That was Carly Davenport.
>> Carly Davenport. Well, Carly Davenport,
[10:42] wherever you are, thank you. That was
fabulous.
[10:45] Uh the first Thursday of the month, I
was the master of ceremonies at the Farm
[10:49] Street Opry. One of my favorite
activities I get to do here on council.
[10:53] And uh the entire room layout was
different. They had moved the dance
[10:57] floor up close to the band, and it made
the entire activity much more
[11:01] interactive.
Uh you know, up on the stage, I loved
[11:04] seeing it all, and then the audience as
well got to kind of interact with the
[11:08] dancing as it took place. Instead of the
dancing being in the far back of the
[11:11] room in almost a unlit corner. So, uh I
think that that just added a tremendous
[11:17] amount of life uh and audience
participate participation, and then the
[11:22] two music guests were just uh absolutely
fabulous. So,
[11:26] great job uh to the team on that one.
And then uh yes, Corvette invasion
[11:31] Friday night, the lights thing the
Councilperson Foster mentioned, uh 9:00
[11:34] a.m. on Saturday at the Convention
Center,
[11:36] uh all day long we'll have uh Corvettes.
It's like 370 Corvettes. It'll be the
[11:41] biggest show uh of Corvette Invasion
we've had here in Bastrop, and it is the
[11:46] largest Corvette
uh show in the state of Texas. And I
[11:51] have a classic 1963 Corvette, and I will
be there in the It's called the C2
[11:57] class. It's the second body style of
Corvettes, and so you can stop by and
[12:01] say hi to me as well.
Thank you.
[12:03] » Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem Kirkman. Just
real quick before I get to you,
[12:06] Councilmember Meyer, um you just made me
think of something uh when you brought
[12:11] up staff. I just want to give a huge
shout-out to Warren Turner. He works
[12:15] with the water and wastewater department
here in Bastrop.
[12:19] Um
KXAN was here doing a report on the um
[12:22] newspaper, I mean on on the hospital,
and um he saw that they were broken
[12:27] down, and he decided to do a good deed
and pull over and give them a jump so
[12:33] that they could be on their merry way.
It allowed them to be able to break the
[12:36] story, and so I just want to say
Warren Turner, thank you
[12:42] for for being a good steward of the
community and being a helpful person and
[12:46] showing what Bastrop's all about. All
right, Councilmember Meyer.
[12:49] » Thank you, Mayor.
Uh among the 4th of July activities that
[12:54] um I attended, one was so special. It
was the uh Spirit of the Declaration of
[12:58] Independence concert at the Performing
Arts Center, uh performed by the Bastrop
[13:03] County uh Historical Commission, and it
was just amazing. The music and and the
[13:09] program were so heartwarming. It really
got you in the in the spirit uh for our
[13:14] two 250th uh birthday. So, that was
amazing. Also, following that was our
[13:21] Fame Days, and it was uh the night
before the big bang was the theme. It
[13:25] was on Spring Street, and I just want to
give a huge shout-out to Discover
[13:30] Bastrop for the FAME days, Friday Art
Music Entertainment, FAME, that's what
[13:36] that stands for. And there was such a
fun cake walk, and there was a hot dog
[13:40] eating competition, and just a lot of
fun things to get you in the mood for
[13:45] the next morning, which is one of my
favorite events of the whole year. It
[13:49] was the Pet and Pal's parade, where all
the animals of every kind that you can
[13:54] imagine, chickens, rabbits, dogs, you
name it, were all decorated for the 4th,
[14:00] and their owners all decorated. So, that
is one of my most favorite times in this
[14:05] whole city is the Pet and Pal's parade.
So, it was amazing.
[14:09] And after that, there were so many great
things going around town that everybody
[14:14] else has hit on. I just want you to be
aware of something happening this coming
[14:18] Saturday downtown at our museum on Main
Street,
[14:23] is Music in the Museum from 12:00 to
1:00, and they have amazing musicians
[14:28] there, bluegrass, every kind of music
that you could want to hear. And it's
[14:32] all relaxed, and it's so fun. So, please
try to make the museum
[14:36] this weekend, and I'm going to throw a
little teaser out because
[14:40] almost my favorite thing of this whole
year and the whole town is coming up the
[14:45] end of July and the 1st of August. It's
called the Bastrop Homecoming Rodeo. So,
[14:51] more on that at the next council
meeting.
[14:54] » All right.
>> Thank you, Council Member Meyer. Council
[14:56] Member Below.
>> Yeah.
[14:58] I wrote a song called What's Left for
Us, and
[15:02] I don't know. I look like I'm singing
that refrain.
[15:07] No.
I just want to talk about the Spring
[15:11] Fest. We went down to Spring Fest, and
that was a good time.
[15:15] I got to take my dog Lucky,
and he
[15:19] was getting acclimated. He did all
right, uh but it was a great event. Uh
[15:23] it was well attended
um and uh it was really a good time. So,
[15:28] uh I want to um
thank uh them for that. Um also, too,
[15:32] lastly, um
um our community thrives uh because of
[15:36] the people who help step up and shape
its future. If you want to make a direct
[15:39] impact on Bastrop's
and vibrant culture of Bastrop, I
[15:43] strongly encourage you to look at
joining a board or commission that's
[15:46] coming up.
Whether your passion is parks planning
[15:50] or historic preservation, there's a
place for you at the table. So, check
[15:55] out the current openings on the website
and see how you can get involved today.
[15:58] Thank you.
>> Thank you, Council Member Lowe. Yeah,
[16:01] Spring Festival was fun.
Um I knew the secret identity of
[16:05] Spider-Man, too. So.
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[16:10] » All right. Thank you, guys. Now, we're
on to our city manager's report.
[16:18] » If you guys are tired of talking about
it, imagine how tired we are of doing
[16:21] it.
Right, y'all?
[16:27] All right. So, um I want to start off
with acknowledging the 4th of July
[16:31] issue. Um we had some medical uh two
folks had medical issues down in the
[16:37] park that required medical attention.
And then we had communication issues.
[16:43] And so, yes, there was a delay in the
fireworks.
[16:46] Yes, there was a delay in the fireworks.
Folks left the park believing that we
[16:50] were done, and we were not done. Um
obviously, it's important to get folks
[16:55] to safety and get them the medical
attention they need. And so, for those
[16:59] of you that are upset, I'm sorry we
saved two lives.
[17:03] For those of you who understand, we
promise to be better next year.
[17:07] And we'll make it up. Uh we have a
surprise coming for homecoming, but I
[17:10] won't let that out of the bag.
And I do want to acknowledge um our
[17:15] missteps, staff's misstep, my misstep in
not creating a bigger 250th anniversary
[17:22] acknowledgement of this country's
birthday. We should have done better. We
[17:26] will be better, and we have addressed
the issues, and hopefully we don't ever
[17:31] have this type of misstep again to miss
such an important issue.
[17:37] City Council retreat coming up uh July
30th and 31st in Fredericksburg. We're
[17:41] going to meet with their city officials,
and we will be meeting meeting in a city
[17:45] facility. Um it's a day and a half
event. You'll be back in time for the
[17:49] rodeo, I promise.
Um I also want to address over uh the
[17:55] first part of June and leading into the
4th of July uh events, there was a lot
[18:00] of chatter on social media about what we
allow and what political organizations
[18:05] do and don't. And number one, I'm happy
to see that our our three parties, our
[18:09] independents, and our Democrats uh and
uh Republicans could come together
[18:14] finally on something they all dislike,
and that would have been the city of
[18:18] Bastrop. So, yay. Uh
let's acknowledge that it's possible to
[18:23] come together when you have a you know,
a joint dislike for other government
[18:27] agency.
Um but uh
[18:30] in our uh and in their defense, the city
wasn't foreseeing staff wasn't
[18:35] foreseeing what we believed was an
adopted policy. And as we dug deep,
[18:40] right, it's not an adopted policy. It is
going to come to the council. Um and I
[18:44] remind everybody that free access for
everybody, that means the Wicca people
[18:48] get to sit right next to the Catholics.
So, we'll we will work through that um
[18:53] to ensure that everybody has equal
access, and that it remains enjoyable to
[18:57] everybody who wants to participate, that
they don't have to be, you know,
[19:02] uh sidelined as they're trying to travel
through uh the event.
[19:07] Um we are uh discussing We have some
folks from our HLC group here. We are
[19:12] discussing a historic overlay on how we
further begin to protect historic
[19:17] Bastrop. We've made great strides. There
is a lot of work to do. The outside
[19:22] world continues to think Bastrop is
really cool, but in thinking there that
[19:27] we're really cool, they want to change
us.
[19:29] Um and so, you know, we as a city are
going to make a determination. Are we
[19:34] historic Bastrop or are we not? And so,
you have an item before you later on at
[19:39] these folks. I don't believe they're
going to wait till the end of the
[19:42] agenda. So, um we may either move it up,
Mayor, or let them speak as citizen
[19:46] comments.
Um you all missed a sit with Syl that
[19:51] happens tomorrow at 6:30 at the Road
House. And interestingly, you missed it,
[19:55] but you all show up. So, there you go.
And that's also a chance to just sit
[19:59] with me and and let me have it or
describe what we need, etc. And it is
[20:05] never a shortage of conversation. I'll
just say that.
[20:08] Um we do have Get Involved Bastrop,
which is uh Council Member Lo alluded
[20:12] to. We are looking for folks on our
boards and commissions. We have a lot of
[20:17] folks who are beyond their term, and
we've allowed them to stay on because we
[20:21] don't have another person to fill the
spot. So, I'm hopeful that we have a
[20:24] slew of applications and we get going.
And I'm going to turn it over to the
[20:29] Mayor who has a uh presentation or
discussion with Jack of Hearts.
[20:35] » All right. Thank you, Sylvia. All right.
So,
[20:38] um
just want to do a small brief
[20:42] introduction and then we'll have them
>> Come back to me after you're done.
[20:46] » Okay.
>> Yeah.
[20:47] » All right.
Um
[20:49] It's uh
two two guys I met a little while ago.
[20:54] Um they started up an organization, Jack
of Hearts. And they basically raise
[20:59] scholarship funds for students to help
them further their careers in the
[21:03] workforce or or education.
Um to hear their story of how they got
[21:08] started is pretty cool.
Um
[21:11] and you know um
From From what I've gathered from what I
[21:17] learned being around these guys really
really care about the community and and
[21:21] the younger generation.
Um
[21:24] And so
um
[21:26] Jack, he wanted to to speak on Jack of
Hearts.
[21:29] And um yeah, I'll just leave it at that.
Sylvia, did you want to say something
[21:33] before he comes to speak?
>> No, let him speak and then we'll come
[21:35] back.
>> Okay. All right. So, Jack, yeah, I'll
[21:38] I'll let you do all the introduction.
Justin?
[21:42] » Justin Wallace.
[21:50] Face you? Face them?
>> Yeah, you You can face us.
[21:53] » Face you?
>> Yeah. And then
[21:55] And so, if if if y'all can do us a favor
so the people on
[22:00] the radio, TV, video land will know who
you are if you can just introduce
[22:04] yourselves and tell us who you're with
and then
[22:07] then then go for it.
>> So, council and mayor, we appreciate the
[22:13] time to come in and speak with y'all.
More of the
[22:16] informative, not a complainant. Um
we do like to I'm Jack Prentiss with
[22:23] Jack of Hearts.
>> Justin Love with Jack of Hearts.
[22:26] » Jack Can y'all hit the microphone for
me, please? Just Cuz like we will hear
[22:30] it. We don't hear who We can't hear on
You know what I mean? So.
[22:33] » Justin Love with Jack of Hearts.
>> I'm Clayton Tissler, just a supporter
[22:39] and local resident.
[22:43] » So, just a little backstory, a little
history with Jack of Hearts. We're 5 and
[22:46] 1/2 years old.
Justin and I uh
[22:50] had a vision and a goal and decided that
we would start an organization that
[22:54] would be nonprofit to support and give
away scholarships to young men and women
[22:59] leaving Bastrop County High School
and would pursue trades.
[23:07] We're 5 years old this year being our
6th year, we've been blessed through the
[23:11] community and a lot of local businesses
to
[23:15] be
grateful that we've been able to give
[23:19] away almost 100 scholarships in 5 years
in our county.
[23:29] I believe for a a program that's 5 years
old, we're
[23:34] we're halfway through our 6th year and
to be able and blessed to give away a
[23:39] 100 scholarships, basically we're about
few just two away from that.
[23:44] In 5 years is is a small feat
when you look at around at our programs
[23:49] that are here in Bastrop County and the
other things and other organizations and
[23:54] what they do.
In this 5 years though,
[23:59] we have we've learned a lot, I can tell
you that.
[24:04] Doing business in Bastrop has been
amazing.
[24:08] At different times it is not
been easy.
[24:12] It's amazing to do business, but it's
not always been easy because of
[24:16] financial reasons.
Uh the biggest part of Jack of Hearts is
[24:22] supported through local businesses
and opportunities that Justin and I have
[24:27] created over these years to
do fundraisers.
[24:33] And in doing that, you know, it it puts
a small tax
[24:38] on a large problem in a small community.
We are just one group
[24:44] and then you add the Little League, you
add the high school, you add other other
[24:49] organizations that
it's probably not the right word, but we
[24:53] tax our community
with everyone else to help support our
[24:59] program.
And when you start doing that,
[25:02] it doesn't take long
and all of your smaller businesses in
[25:06] Bastrop,
that money goes pretty quick. Their
[25:10] their budgets are spread pretty thin.
And in that process of doing business
[25:15] here in Bastrop, we use the Bastrop
Convention Center.
[25:19] We have since this year moved up on the
hill there to Mayfest Park and we have
[25:24] future goal to use and utilize the rodeo
arena.
[25:30] Our two events a year is our banquet
coming up July 25th, the weekend after
[25:35] the invasion of the Corvettes.
So, we want to get on that list.
[25:41] We We want to be mentioned on that one,
too.
[25:44] Uh
we have for 5 years from day one used
[25:48] the Bastrop Convention Center.
It's a great place. We've been blessed
[25:53] to put 5 to 800 people there
every year in July the 25th.
[25:59] And that's the same night that we give
away our scholarships.
[26:03] That's just one event. Then we have
another one in October that is Rednecks
[26:08] and Rockers. It's a barbecue cook-off
battle of the bands.
[26:12] Now that we've moved up here on the hill
in Mayfest Park,
[26:17] we have intentions of growing. And with
growing, we know that that's going to
[26:21] cost more money in the future.
Uh
[26:25] that cook-off is typically 2 days and we
are Our goal by 2028
[26:31] is to make it a 3-day music festival
with a barbecue cook-off.
[26:37] That's our second event. We do not give
away scholarships. That is just a help
[26:41] to support the scholarships that we give
away in July.
[26:45] Then at Thanksgiving, we've been blessed
to
[26:49] to help an organization that is no
longer going to be
[26:53] there. Justin and I, Jack of Hearts, our
crew, we're taking over that event. This
[27:00] year we were blessed to feed 350
families at Thanksgiving.
[27:05] Not only that, but we were blessed to
have the mayor there.
[27:09] You know, out of his day he'd come and
spend some time with us and and fix
[27:13] plates and run them out to cars and
things like that. So,
[27:18] it's nice to see
the community giving back to us and to
[27:23] be a part of what we're doing and to be
recognized at those times
[27:27] not for who we are, but for what we're
doing. Because we're going to do that
[27:32] with the city council or without. We're
going to do that with the community
[27:37] helping us or not. We're going to be
there to to help do what we like to do
[27:41] and what what feels great for us and to
help others that need it at a great
[27:46] time.
[27:49] I'm not complaining, but I will say that
to do these events and for us to grow as
[27:55] a non-profit,
and we are a true non-profit.
[27:59] We do not show up every day for Jack of
Hearts. Justin and I have full-time
[28:03] jobs. Jack of Hearts is a second
full-time job that does not pay a nickel
[28:08] to us.
So, when we're out there getting after
[28:12] it and
hitting up our community to help support
[28:16] us financially,
it puts a strain on a lot of things.
[28:21] To use the Bass Drop Convention Center
in the last 5 years, it's went from
[28:25] $3,200
to $3,900 this year. I just opened the
[28:29] invoice 2 nights ago.
And I laid that down and said, "Okay,
[28:34] that's
it's time to talk about it a little
[28:37] bit."
And in that process, we've learned
[28:43] we have security that would gladly
donate their time.
[28:48] They're not city They're not city
officials or city officers.
[28:53] This is the constable's department.
I would like for it to be a
[28:58] consideration. And I'm not sure that
this is even the correct place, but just
[29:03] as a
as I said, we're not here complaining.
[29:06] We're just here to
to help
[29:09] show
what we do and the places that we could
[29:13] use some help.
[29:16] Officers donate their time for our
events.
[29:20] And our future of using city facilities,
I understand that we're going to need
[29:24] more security for different events.
And when you look at the tax dollars and
[29:29] the dollars that we are bringing to
town, and then you look at the
[29:33] opportunities that we have to get some
help back from a donation,
[29:39] well, that's not that's not acceptable
right this minute.
[29:43] So, I'm hoping in the future that we as
nonprofit and other nonprofits, because
[29:48] it's not just us in this town that is
faced with this.
[29:53] A lot of us are. As a nonprofit,
I know others that I have sat and
[29:58] visited with.
They are facing the same issues that we
[30:02] are. We're a small community. We're
growing tremendously. Our businesses
[30:07] support as much as they can. So, when we
can get a break, we need one. If a
[30:12] constable's department can help do our
security,
[30:16] and they donate their time, these are
things that we would like to be
[30:20] considered in the future that would help
us tremendously.
[30:25] Lastly, before I
turn it over to Justin,
[30:29] I appreciate being in this town. Been
here 9 years.
[30:34] And in 9 years I've been doing this kind
of work for 5 years
[30:39] to give back to Bastrop.
[30:42] It is a blessing to give back to our
community.
[30:47] The people here are so acceptance. They
accept what we're there to for. We do
[30:53] our best to help anywhere we can as we
can.
[30:58] To give away 20 scholarships a year
at our banquet and to see those families
[31:04] and to be a part of what they are and
who they are and how we can interreact
[31:09] with them and change young men and
women,
[31:11] keep them here at home and help support
them
[31:14] to put back into our community, that's a
blessing.
[31:18] Little by little we're growing.
We have no intentions of going anywhere,
[31:24] but we don't want to be forced out of
town because we can't afford to do
[31:28] business here as a non-profit, either.
Now, in the future, as we grow and y'all
[31:34] are able to grow in in opportunities,
please consider
[31:40] as a non-profit that
we're doing our best.
[31:44] The keyword to that is no profit
because every dollar we take in in this
[31:49] town, we put back into this town through
small businesses and same families.
[31:55] Thank y'all for your time. I'm going to
let Justin have a turn here to talk and
[31:59] then Mr. Tischler is going to speak on
our behalf just from a little bit of
[32:04] knowledge of of what he knows of Jack
O'Hearts and his experiences with us.
[32:10] » Thank you, Jack.
Ladies and gentlemen, council members,
[32:16] thank you.
I moved here the summer of '88.
[32:20] I was 14.
I've been here ever since.
[32:24] I haven't left.
Some of you I know very well, Mr. Lowe.
[32:28] We know
We go way back.
[32:32] This is my home.
And what Jack and I have done the past
[32:38] 5 and 1/2 years is
pretty groundbreaking for a lot of in
[32:44] simplest terms.
Jack and I have known each other
[32:48] since he moved here. We threw darts
together in a dart league at the
[32:52] American Legion right up right up on the
hill.
[32:55] Slowly but surely we began to
develop a friendship and through that we
[33:01] had talked about well, what do you like
to do or how would you like to give back
[33:05] to this community cuz we've talked about
it for years. And I said, man, I'd I'd
[33:09] really like to do this.
At the same time he's been doing it for
[33:12] 20 some years in East Texas.
So we sort of do some ideas together and
[33:19] one night after darts we're sitting
there in the the back hall and
[33:24] he said, "Do you have any money?" I
said, "No, sir, I don't have any on me."
[33:29] Said, "Do you?"
He said, "No."
[33:32] I said, "Wait a minute.
You got a quarter?"
[33:35] Cuz I pulled out a quarter out of my
pocket.
[33:38] And uh he said, "Actually, I do." So we
do them on the table and at that very
[33:43] moment 50 cents later Jack of Hearts was
born.
[33:48] And that's how we started.
And we're not slowing down and we don't
[33:52] want to slow down.
We just want to keep doing the best that
[33:57] we know that we that we can
and we want to keep giving back to our
[34:00] community
and to these young men and women that a
[34:03] lot of
a lot of their teachers and their
[34:06] counselors they may not look at them the
same way that we do.
[34:09] They may see them as
different.
[34:12] We see them as hard working.
You know, they may see them as a problem
[34:18] child.
We might see them as a
[34:22] » mechanic
>> mechanic or a welder, truck driver
[34:27] electrician, plumber
everything that makes this country go
[34:30] around is because of these kids.
And some of these kids are
[34:35] wrenching on cars or working with their
uncles or their grandfathers who own a
[34:40] plumbing company or own a a mechanic
shop or are and they are a truck driver
[34:45] and they just want to do the same
things.
[34:47] Some of these kids may not be the best
academically,
[34:51] but their hearts are in the right place
and they know what they want to do for a
[34:54] future.
And that goes back to like what Jack and
[34:58] I have always talked about. We
we just want to leave this place,
[35:03] you know, we just want to leave this
this world a better place than than the
[35:07] way that we that than the way that we
found it.
[35:10] And that's what we're striving to do
with these kids.
[35:13] So again, thank you all for your time.
And I'm going to turn it over to Mr.
[35:17] Tishler
and he's going to conclude. Thank you.
[35:21] » Thank you, Justin.
[35:26] Mayor, council members, thank you for
giving us the opportunity to speak
[35:30] today. Um my name is Clayton Tishler.
I've lived in uh Riverside Grove here in
[35:35] Bastrop for the last 12 years and I was
honored when um Jack and Justin asked me
[35:40] to come speak on their behalf. Um I am
not a member of the organization. I am
[35:45] just a supporter that has been
supporting it for uh several years and I
[35:49] wanted to go over that experience with
y'all. Um my very first interaction with
[35:54] Jack of Hearts was in 2023 when my son
Billy received one of their scholarships
[36:00] and I'll never forget that day. They
didn't just award him the financial
[36:04] help, that also made him feel seen. They
made him feel valued. They showed him
[36:09] that Bastrop believes in its young
tradesmen and the future they represent.
[36:14] That scholarship gave him confidence and
direction and it showed me what kind of
[36:19] organization that Jack of Hearts is.
But now the real one came in with my
[36:24] second experience with them. It was just
as powerful. A local sheriff officer was
[36:30] injured in the line of duty and the
community came together to support him.
[36:35] Jack of Hearts didn't did not hesitate.
They stepped in with major support,
[36:39] time, resources, fundraising, whatever
was needed. They didn't ask whether it
[36:44] fit their mission, they didn't ask what
was in it for them. They saw simply saw
[36:49] a member of our community hurting and
said, "We're here."
[36:53] So, that moment told me everything I
needed to know that Jack of Hearts isn't
[36:56] just about tradesmen, they're about
Bastrop, they're about people, they're
[37:01] about stepping up when someone needs
help. Since then, I've seen them at
[37:05] fundraiser after fundraiser for families
facing medical crisis, for people who
[37:10] have lost loved ones, for community
members who simply need a hand. I've
[37:15] watched them donate their time, their
labor, their money. I've seen them
[37:19] quietly show up without being asked and
stay long after others have gone home.
[37:25] And then, every Thanksgiving, they host
meal for those in need. They make sure
[37:29] people who might not otherwise have a
warm plate or a warm place to be to have
[37:35] food. That's not just charity, that's
community.
[37:39] That's compassion and that's the heart
of Bastrop.
[37:43] Organizations like Jack of Hearts are
the backbone of this city. They fill
[37:47] gaps that government alone cannot fill.
They lift people up in ways that don't
[37:52] always make headlines and absolutely
change lives. And they're not alone.
[37:56] Bastrop has many nonprofits that do
incredible work every day.
[38:00] That is why I'm here today not to talk
about any specific issues, but to ask
[38:05] that we continue to support and whenever
possible reduce the burdens placed on
[38:11] the nonprofits that give so much of
themselves to this community.
[38:16] When we make it easier for the
nonprofits to operate, they can give
[38:19] more back. When we reduce unnecessary
costs, their impact grows. When we
[38:25] recognize and honor donated time,
donated services, and donated resources,
[38:30] we strengthen the very organizations
that strengthen Bastrop.
[38:35] Every dollar a nonprofit doesn't have to
spend on administrative or procedural
[38:40] requirements is a dollar that goes
directly back into helping the families,
[38:45] supporting youth, feeding the hungry,
and lifting up people in crisis. It's a
[38:49] dollar that goes back into Bastrop.
Jack of Hearts have shown up for this
[38:54] community again and again. My family is
living proof of this of the difference
[38:59] they make. Many families in this city
can say the same. I'm asking that we as
[39:04] a city continue to show up for them and
for all the nonprofits who make Bastrop
[39:09] a better, kinder, stronger pace place to
live.
[39:13] Thank you for your time and thank you
for your commitment to the people of
[39:16] Bastrop.
>> All right. Thank you, Clayton.
[39:19] Council, do we have any questions or
anything for these gentlemen?
[39:26] All right. Sylvia, you said you had
something.
[39:29] » Uh not related to this.
>> Okay. All right. Thank you, guys. We
[39:32] appreciate it.
>> Thank you.
[39:34] » Uh well, to the mayor and council
related to this item, I just want to
[39:38] clarify a few things. One, they're a
nonprofit, so they'd qualify for a 15%
[39:42] discount on the rate.
Um and two, we use a system called
[39:46] BadgeHire for police and uh patrol at
events. Um I think we've communicated
[39:53] that their sheriff's volunteer can go
through that system and put a cost of
[39:57] zero, uh and that can still happen in
that manner. There's just a process to
[40:03] make sure there is coverage at those
type of events where especially where
[40:07] alcohol is served.
[40:12] » Thank you. We appreciate that. That is
the uh first time that we've heard of a
[40:17] 15% discount.
>> Mhm.
[40:20] » Uh we've been using the the uh chamber
or the uh
[40:25] the convention center now for 5 years
and this being our sixth year.
[40:29] » Well, I'm verifying with staff whether
or not the price you were quoted
[40:33] uh was actually with or without the 15%
but I'll get with you guys in a minute.
[40:38] The staff member that you need to talk
to is back at the table. She'll come
[40:41] find you here just a second.
>> Well, thank you very much for uh
[40:44] letting us know that and
I appreciate y'all's time. Thank you.
[40:48] » Thank you.
[40:51] » Uh so I'll go quickly over um Buttonwood
from Wilson. I know Buttonwood is a
[40:55] topic of conversation for a couple of
folks on the internet, so I wanted to
[40:59] give you guys We installed 750 ft of new
water main. Oh, that's that's not 750
[41:04] in. That's 750 ft. New water main and
replaced five water services. We also
[41:09] made five sewer point repairs.
Um also on the water wastewater side, we
[41:14] are going to be doing smoke testing on
the July 20th, the week of July 20th,
[41:19] which is next week. So if you see smoke
coming out of some of your sewer
[41:23] connections in the front yard, please
don't freak out. We're doing that on
[41:26] purpose. The purpose of that is to um
identify areas where there are leaks and
[41:31] infiltration.
Um the boil water notice, you got that
[41:36] as soon as I got it this morning, has
been lifted. And I just want to remind
[41:40] everybody that a boil water notice is
standard when we lose pressure that
[41:43] quickly.
No contaminants in the water. Um and
[41:47] then, you know, addressing Mayfest Park,
we do have preparations underway for
[41:51] homecoming. The covers are scheduled to
be installed this coming Monday. The
[41:55] crews were laying the foundation this
week with installation next week for the
[41:59] bleachers. And so I'm hoping the rain
lets up enough that we can get that uh
[42:03] done. We will be putting together a
small group of volunteers for this
[42:08] weekend and next weekend to get small
stuff done, the painting of the pipes
[42:11] and things like we did last year, so.
That's what I have.
[42:18] » All right.
Thank you, Sylvia. Appreciate it.
[42:22] All right.
[42:24] On to agenda item 4D,
uh proclamation for park and recreation
[42:29] month.
[42:34] So, as you know, Bastrop has some really
nice parks. We have a awesome park and
[42:39] rec team and program,
and it's only going to get better,
[42:44] for sure. So,
[42:49] whereas parks and recreation is an
integral part of the communities
[42:52] throughout this country, including the
city of Bastrop, and whereas parks and
[42:56] recreation promotes health and wellness,
improving the physical and mental health
[43:00] of people who live near parks,
and whereas parks and recreation
[43:04] promotes time spent in nature, which
positively impacts mental health by
[43:08] increasing cognitive performance and
well-being, and alleviating illnesses
[43:13] such as depression,
attention deficit disorders, and
[43:16] Alzheimer's.
And whereas parks and recreation
[43:20] encourage physical activities by
providing space for popular sports,
[43:23] hiking trails, swimming pools, and many
other activities designed to promote
[43:28] active lifestyles, and whereas parks and
recreation is leading provider of
[43:32] healthy meals, nutrition services, and
education, and whereas park and
[43:36] recreation programming and education
activities such as after school time
[43:40] program,
youth sports, and environmental
[43:43] education are critical to children to
childhood development, and whereas parks
[43:48] and recreation increases a community's
economic prosperity through increased
[43:52] property values, expansion of local tax
base, increased tourism, the attraction
[43:57] and retention of businesses, and crime
reduction.
[44:01] And whereas parks and recreation is
fundamental to the environment
[44:05] environmental well-being of our
community, and whereas parks and
[44:08] recreation is essential and adaptable in
a structure infrastructure that makes
[44:12] our communities resilient in the face of
natural disasters and climate change and
[44:17] whereas our parks and natural recreation
areas ensure the ecological beauty of
[44:22] our community and provide a place for
children and adults to connect with
[44:25] nature and recreate outdoors.
and recreate outdoors.
[44:30] And now therefore I Ishmael Harris mayor
of city of Bastrop do hereby proclaim
[44:35] the month of July 2026 a park and
recreation month in witness whereof I
[44:39] have here on to set my hand and cause
the official seal of the city of Bastrop
[44:43] to be affixed on this 14th day of July
2026.
[44:51] Do we have someone here to accept this?
Where they at?
[44:54] Yeah, there they are.
I didn't see y'all back there.
[45:03] Why don't y'all come up here and
introduce yourselves?
[45:11] » Good evening mayor and council. Uh my
name's Jason Alfaro parks and recreation
[45:16] director for the city.
>> Hello, I'm Jocelyn Olivatous and I'm the
[45:21] parks and recreation manager for the
city of Bastrop.
[45:25] » All right.
We're going to take a a picture with you
[45:29] guys.
So photo op.
[45:51] » You guys should have held up your
shirts.
[46:26] » All right.
Um
[46:29] Michael, you said we have someone here
that wants to speak on the next
[46:32] proclamation.
>> Yes.
[46:33] » Correct.
All right. Um
[46:38] » Hot car awareness month.
>> Hot car awareness month.
[46:42] » Make your way up.
>> You can come up here.
[46:46] Hello. You don't have to be shy.
If you can just introduce yourself and
[46:50] tell us who you with.
>> me to speak after the proclamation or
[46:53] before?
>> Um
[46:55] you can speak before and then we'll do
the proclamation.
[46:58] » Okay. Um good evening, Mayor Harris and
council members. My name is Sai Lee
[47:02] Raja. I'm a rising senior, a youth
advocate, and the founder of Project
[47:06] Safe Ride, a national initiative
dedicated to preventing pediatric
[47:10] vehicular heat stroke and pet heat
stroke tragedies. I also serve on the
[47:14] Texas Heat Stroke Task Force working
alongside advocates across the state on
[47:19] this exact issue. Thank you, Mayor
Harris, for this proclamation and for
[47:23] recognizing Hot Car Awareness Month here
in Bastrop.
[47:27] This cause hits close to home for the
community in a very literal way.
[47:31] Bastrop isn't just a place people live.
It's a getaway. And a big part of that
[47:36] is the outdoors.
Families come from Austin, from Houston,
[47:39] from all over Central Texas to spend a
day at Bastrop State Park walking the
[47:45] trails through the Lost Pines, swimming
in Lake Mina, or paddling on the
[47:50] Colorado River.
That means long days outside, gravel and
[47:54] asphalt parking lots with little shade,
and cars sitting untouched for hours
[47:59] while everyone's off on the trail or
down at the water.
[48:02] Added events like the Bastrop Homecoming
and Rodeo, the farmers markets on Main
[48:06] Street, or Saturday at Lake Bastrop, and
you get cars packed full of coolers,
[48:12] kids, and sometimes the family dog
parked in direct sun for an entire
[48:16] afternoon. That's not a hypothetical for
us. That's a Saturday in Bastrop in
[48:20] July.
That's exactly why this awareness
[48:23] matters right here in this city.
We're not talking about an abstract
[48:27] public health issue. We're talking about
trailhead parking lots, our riverbanks,
[48:31] our neighbors, and visitors.
Heatstroke does not discriminate. It
[48:37] doesn't care if you're a lifelong
Bastrop resident or someone visiting for
[48:41] the first time to hike the Lost Pines.
It doesn't care if it's a child, a
[48:45] grandparent, or a family pet. What it
does care about is time and heat. And
[48:50] here in Central Texas during the summer
months, we have plenty of both.
[48:55] So, today isn't about a proclamation on
paper. It's a reminder to all of us.
[49:00] Look before you lock, check the
backseat, never leave a child or pet in
[49:04] a parked car for any moment of time, and
watch out for one another this summer,
[49:08] especially in high-traffic outdoor spots
like our state parks and riverfront
[49:13] where a quick trip to the water can turn
into hours.
[49:16] Thank you again to the mayor and council
for standing behind this cause, and
[49:18] thank you all for being here today.
>> Thank you for your What is your name
[49:22] again?
>> Saily Raja.
[49:25] Saily
Raja.
[49:26] » Saily.
>> Yes.
[49:27] » Okay. All right. Saily. Thank you,
Saily. That was wonderfully written. All
[49:32] right.
So, and we all know it does get hot. It
[49:35] doesn't matter. Like, it starts getting
hot in the springtime, and it doesn't
[49:39] stop till
November.
[49:46] All right. So, whereas pediatric
vehicular heatstroke is one of the
[49:50] leading causes of non-crash related
fatalities in vehicles for children
[49:54] under 15 with more than 1,000 lives lost
since 1998. And whereas a child's body
[50:00] temperature rises three to five times
faster than adults and death can occur
[50:05] when their core temperature reaches
107°. It's threshold that can be reached
[50:10] within minutes.
Whereas on a typical 70° day, the
[50:14] interior of a vehicle can reach 115° in
just 30 minutes and parking in the shade
[50:20] or cracking windows does not provide the
safe environment for a child or a pet.
[50:25] Whereas research shows that these
tragedies can happen to a caregiver
[50:30] regardless of educational personality
often triggered by a change of routine,
[50:35] sleep deprivation, or high stress. And
whereas check project safe ride founded
[50:42] by youth advocate Salee
Salee Raja serves as a virtual community
[50:49] initiative to empowerment empower
families with technology and reminders
[50:53] to eliminate these 100% preventable
deaths.
[50:58] Now, therefore, I Ishmael Harris, mayor
of the city of Bastrop, Texas and the
[51:02] Bastrop City Council do hereby proclaim
July 14th as hot car awareness day. In
[51:08] witness whereof, I have hereunto set my
hand and caused the official seal of the
[51:11] city of Bastrop, Texas to be affixed on
this 14th day of July 2026.
[51:17] Thank you again for bringing this
initiative and and fighting for this.
[51:22] So.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
[51:25] Would you like to take a picture with
them?
[51:26] » Oh, yeah. We're going to I'm going to
sign it. You will come up here. You open
[51:29] it up and we'll take a picture with you.
[52:01] » Thank you.
[52:09] Thank you.
[52:18] » You know by the way.
[52:21] » Yes.
All right.
[52:25] On to agenda item 5A discussion
workshops work sessions and briefings
[52:30] discussion local option election in the
city of
[52:34] Bastrop.
[52:42] » Good evening Mayor and Council.
Let me grab the clicker.
[52:53] So I wanted to take some time this
evening to discuss an item that's going
[52:57] to be brought to council at the next
council meeting and that's the local
[53:01] option election.
The last local option election was in
[53:04] 2005. So as you can imagine we have a
lot of new voters and some that are
[53:10] unfamiliar with what an local option
election is.
[53:13] So I wanted to discuss that with you
tonight. Um
[53:17] equally as important getting in front of
citizens so that they know what we need
[53:21] them to go to the polls for. I have
Medina Lewis from the county who she is
[53:26] going to help answer any questions if
I'm unable to.
[53:30] So what is a local option election?
And that is where the citizens
[53:36] are there able to have their voice heard
on alcohol regulation in the city um,
[53:41] whereas the state generally, um, makes
that decision.
[53:45] Um,
we have, you know,
[53:48] alcohol, um, licenses from top to bottom
in the city of Bastrop, and that's why
[53:52] it's so important.
So, some of the details about the local
[53:57] a lot option election is, um, as I
stated before, we had our last local
[54:02] option election in 2005.
So, since then the city has annexed
[54:06] land, and those annexed lands, they
retain their status. If they were dry
[54:11] before we annexed them, they remained
dry.
[54:14] Um, so, what we want to do is,
um, join in this countywide issue and
[54:20] try to get some uniformity across the
county. Um, the city of Smithville is
[54:24] also going to participate, as well as
the city of Elgin.
[54:28] Um, so, at the moment, um, the county
attorney is go- is going to draft some
[54:33] uniform, which which is important.
Anytime we have a countywide initiative
[54:37] like this, we want to make sure all
residents are voting on the same thing,
[54:41] and we can all accomplish Each city can
accomplish what they've set out to do.
[54:46] Um, another important detail is the
results of that election become
[54:49] effective the day that we canvass,
um, which is tentative for, uh, I
[54:54] believe it's November 10th.
So, um, another thing that's very
[54:58] important, um, the city of Bastrop, um,
I want to say unique, because the city
[55:02] of Bastrop's unique to me. Um,
they we have a city ordinance that
[55:10] requires, if you have a mixed beverage
permit, that you, um, also have a food
[55:14] and beverage permit. Um, so, that would
not be affected. Um, what also would not
[55:19] be affected is you have to maintain 60%
of your sales from food, um, rather than
[55:24] alcohol, so you don't cross that line
of, um, not being a restaurant anymore.
[55:29] Um,
it'll be a very simple for or against on
[55:33] the ballot for, um,
all all all beverages, including
[55:38] beverages or against um, the
legalization. So,
[55:42] um and it can basically be looked at as
an update to our corporate boundaries.
[55:47] So, um
what's most important is we're not
[55:50] taking anything away from our
businesses, but trying to give them more
[55:53] opportunity.
[55:56] So, this is a map of the city of
Bastrop.
[56:00] The yellow portion with the lines
through it is what was involved in the
[56:05] 2005 local option election.
And as you can see, the portions that
[56:09] are not shaded in, um that is they were
not included in an annex later. So, um
[56:15] it's very evident that we have some gaps
where your neighbor could have one set
[56:21] of rules and you have a different set of
rules. And so, we want that that
[56:24] fairness to be across the board. Um we
don't want um
[56:28] we want everyone to have the same
opportunity.
[56:32] So, right now the voting schedule as the
sheriff of the bureau will start um
[56:36] towards the middle of end of October and
run to the end of October with election
[56:41] day being November 3rd.
Um there are some pretty expansive
[56:45] voting hours.
Uh the location within the city of
[56:48] Bastrop would be the Bastrop Courthouse
Annex building. Um as you can see,
[56:52] there's also some
um other voting centers, Smithville and
[56:55] Elgin. Cedar Creek, too, I believe.
Okay.
[57:01] And uh that's it. Are there any
questions I can answer for you or have
[57:04] Ms. Lewis come up and and answer?
[57:08] » Uh I don't know who was first.
Council member Repke
[57:16] » Yeah, this is a this is a topic that
I've
[57:21] had to learn a lot about over the past
uh
[57:24] 12 13 years.
And um
[57:27] Texas
liquor laws are
[57:32] extremely archaic and
um
[57:38] there the
the threshold that you have to attain in
[57:45] terms of signatures normally with
Let me back up a little bit. We're given
[57:49] a huge opportunity here.
And
[57:53] it was
uh
[57:55] Representative Gerdes brought this
before the uh
[57:59] state legislature and got a carve out
for Bastrop County one time.
[58:04] So, it cost hundreds of thousands of
dollars to get a local option election
[58:10] for a city the size of Bastrop.
So,
[58:15] and that money doesn't go
to the county government, it doesn't go
[58:20] to the state government, it doesn't go
to the people, it goes to consultants
[58:25] who go around and bother people and get
signatures from them.
[58:30] And
you know, I don't know where they're
[58:33] from. Dallas, Austin, Chicago, I don't
know.
[58:37] Um doesn't matter cuz it doesn't go to
anybody in Bastrop County.
[58:42] The only thing Bastrop County residents
get from that is a bunch of phone calls
[58:47] and knocks on the door. And it's an
extremely laborious and expensive
[58:54] process to get it done because
and so
[58:58] the fact that we have an opportunity
just by calling this vote
[59:04] at city council and to fix this thing
for the whole county cuz right now the
[59:10] problem is
and it'll always be a problem as long as
[59:14] our county is growing
and who sees who sees that changing in
[59:17] the near future?
Um
[59:21] as we annex, as precinct lines move
everything
[59:26] anything that involves a division of the
uh of a political line of movement of a
[59:32] political line
will cause
[59:36] areas to be orphaned in a way that like
for example all these purple areas that
[59:41] you see on this map
and thank you for making that by the way
[59:45] Michael.
Um
[59:49] these are areas that can't
they can't be fixed
[59:54] except through a process like this. We
can't bring them up to where we are
[59:58] because it would cost so much money for
these the small number of properties to
[1:00:03] get fixed and then by the time you got
it done there'd be new areas annexed
[1:00:08] that would have to be done again.
So it's it's really a huge opportunity
[1:00:14] for us
countywide to go through and say
[1:00:20] everybody in the county has the same
rules.
[1:00:22] And if you want to make your rules
different in the city
[1:00:26] you can do that
but just don't don't put TABC in the in
[1:00:32] the driver's seat to fix it
or to enforce it. You can
[1:00:38] we can we can enforce it ourselves and
then if we don't like the way the rule
[1:00:42] is we can change it. But right now if we
if we change if we put a rule in
[1:00:47] here
with TABC like saying for example that
[1:00:51] we have like we have in the city which
I'm perfectly happy with uh
[1:00:55] that you can't have just a straight
mixed beverage permit you also have to
[1:00:59] serve food.
[1:01:02] If we ever decided that that wasn't a
good idea cuz there's a great
[1:01:05] opportunity for a
great economic development to come in
[1:01:09] but they need to have a mixed beverage
permit without food
[1:01:13] we can't do it. I mean we can but it's
tremendously expensive and time
[1:01:18] consuming.
And
[1:01:22] this makes it so that
if we want to if we have a law, we want
[1:01:26] to we want to make a law, we can make
it.
[1:01:28] We just have to enforce it. We don't
have we can't rely on TABC to enforce
[1:01:32] it.
I'm fine with that cuz really it's our
[1:01:35] police that enforce most of that stuff
anyway.
[1:01:38] And so
you know, let's let Bastrop be the one
[1:01:42] that decides what our rules are instead
of TABC because
[1:01:46] it's really really difficult to get
anything done through TABC.
[1:01:51] » Yes, it is.
[1:01:55] » Thank you, Council member Puckett.
[1:02:00] Council member Fossler.
>> Thanks for that, Kevin. I know you're
[1:02:04] intimately involved. My question for
you, Michael, does this cure this for a
[1:02:08] future annexations or will future
annexations still be orphaned?
[1:02:12] » Future annexations would still be
orphaned.
[1:02:14] » Will still be orphaned. It just kind of
fixes it for right for
[1:02:18] for right now.
>> If it passes in the county as well.
[1:02:20] We're assuming that everything passes.
>> Right.
[1:02:23] » But if it passes everywhere, then the
whole county would have the same rules.
[1:02:27] » Okay. Got you. Thanks.
>> Yes.
[1:02:31] But we would maintain the food and
beverage and all those.
[1:02:37] » Thank you, Council member Fossler. Mayor
Pro Tem Kirkland.
[1:02:44] » Wait. What question are we asking on the
election for instance? What
[1:02:48] » So, we're asking for citizens to vote
either for or against the sale of all
[1:02:53] alcoholic beverages including mixed
drinks.
[1:02:55] » Got it. Okay. And then what is the cost
to the city of Bastrop for this
[1:02:59] election?
>> So, the current estimate I have um and
[1:03:04] and I'll be honest and we do have the
lion's share of the cost is $36,649
[1:03:10] and some change.
>> And what is the county going to be
[1:03:13] paying for their part of the election?
>> I'll have to have Miss Adina Lewis come
[1:03:19] up to speak on that.
[1:03:31] » Hello Adina.
>> Hello.
[1:03:33] » Can you just please introduce yourself?
>> Adina Lewis, I'm the director of tourism
[1:03:37] and economic development for Bastrop
County. And I want to thank Kevin. Kevin
[1:03:41] has worked really hard on this. We've
been working on this project I don't
[1:03:46] know, Kevin, 15 years trying to get this
done. If we hadn't gotten the carve out,
[1:03:51] and I will get to your question, if we
hadn't gotten the carve out, we would
[1:03:55] have had to have had 10,241
signatures
[1:03:59] in order to do what we can accomplish.
And we've tried to get those in the
[1:04:03] past, and it's just it's an impossible
number. So, that's why we went to the
[1:04:07] legislature and we got this fixed. And
so, you have the ability to call an
[1:04:13] election without um having a petition
brought to you.
[1:04:19] The reason the cost is shared just like
our normal elections would be. So, it's
[1:04:24] prorated based on um
of course the state sets the days and
[1:04:30] times. So, that's set by the uh by the
state.
[1:04:35] But, our election would be
uh handled from a cost standpoint just
[1:04:41] like it is in any other election. So,
that's why it's prorated and the county
[1:04:46] certainly has their share. It's not on
there, but it would be run just like a
[1:04:50] normal election would be.
>> Can you get that number for me?
[1:04:54] » Yes, I can.
>> Okay.
[1:04:57] » I don't really know what the total um
cost of an election is. And this is an
[1:05:02] estimate. Um so,
we think this is on the high side. I got
[1:05:07] this from the elections office.
>> Yeah. No, I mean, if if for instance it
[1:05:12] was a price per voter and the county's
number was 70,000 or you know some
[1:05:17] number dramatically higher than what the
city of Bastrop is paying, then
[1:05:20] everything sort of makes sense even
though it sounds expensive and it is
[1:05:23] what it is. If the county was paying
$12 and we were paying 36,000, I would
[1:05:29] be going to the commissioner's court and
asking them to pay for it.
[1:05:31] » Absolutely.
>> So that's why I want to know.
[1:05:33] » Absolutely. It's just exactly the way we
normally run the elections.
[1:05:39] » Yeah.
>> I think Mayor Pro Tem Kirkland Michael
[1:05:41] can share our piece is proportionately
larger than Elgin and Smithville.
[1:05:45] » Right. And it's based upon the number of
voters, right?
[1:05:48] » Mhm.
>> Yeah, average voters, yeah.
[1:05:50] » And and that
allocation is is similar through
[1:05:54] anything that we do countywide. So this
isn't we're not being gouged for this
[1:05:58] one.
>> No,
[1:05:59] and and and if someone says that the
county number is you know $50,000, then
[1:06:06] then the then the data supports what you
just said and then I'm fine. But if the
[1:06:10] data doesn't support or that belief or
that I would share with you right now,
[1:06:15] then I have a problem with it. So that's
what I That's why I want to know. Is
[1:06:18] what that
>> wanting is the cost of the be total
[1:06:20] election and there's
>> the total election and the breakout of
[1:06:23] the cost.
>> Right. And there are several other
[1:06:24] entities besides the cities that have
things on the on the ballot as well. So
[1:06:29] they take a portion of the total cost.
>> Okay.
[1:06:33] » Thank you. Anything else?
>> Um
[1:06:37] Councilmember Fosler.
>> I do have another question. It's not for
[1:06:41] Adina, but thank you for coming and
speaking. Um is there for the special
[1:06:45] election
um in it's I guess it's not a special
[1:06:49] election. Is there anything else we can
add on the ballot? Is there anything
[1:06:52] else that would normally cost to have an
election that we could, you know what I
[1:06:57] mean? Like charter like is there
anything else we could put on that or is
[1:07:01] it total separate kind of election?
>> Uh I think for a charter election
[1:07:05] there's a charter committee that has to
be formed, etc. I mean, you could
[1:07:09] scramble to try to do it, but
>> Cuz the deadline's like August? Is it
[1:07:13] August for putting it on the November?
Okay, just
[1:07:16] » You have about 3 weeks to get it to get
the ballot. Yeah.
[1:07:19] » Just curious. Thanks.
>> We're ambitious. We're not crazy.
[1:07:27] » All right. Thank you, Council Member
Foster.
[1:07:29] Council, do we have any other discussion
for Michael?
[1:07:32] All right. Thank you, sir. Appreciate
the presentation.
[1:07:37] All right.
Now, we're on to We don't have any staff
[1:07:42] or board reports. Now, we're on to
citizen comments. As we move through the
[1:07:45] citizen comments, I know it's a few of
y'all that would like to speak on agenda
[1:07:49] item 9 I. Would you like to wait for
that agenda item or would you like to do
[1:07:53] it in citizen comments? I bet you want
to do it in citizen comments.
[1:07:59] All right. So, we will get to y'all.
Just give me one brief second. So,
[1:08:03] we have several people who emailed in.
Um and then we have some who've
[1:08:08] handwritten. And so, I'll go over the
ones who are emailed in real quick. Um
[1:08:15] Mariana Krueger, she um
well, she wishes to speak. Are you here?
[1:08:22] No?
Okay.
[1:08:25] Um
She um she's a non-resident. She's out
[1:08:30] of Austin, but she just wanted uh to
speak on caution regarding the water
[1:08:35] quality and supply threats coming from
Austin upstream and its planned Dog
[1:08:39] Head's developments.
[1:08:44] All right. Next, we have Judith Hoover.
She does not wish to speak. Uh it's
[1:08:50] pertaining to agenda item 9 I, historic
structure and site protection.
[1:08:56] Uh she would like to record her support
for this. Uh Thomas Hoover, he does not
[1:09:00] wish to speak, but it's on agenda nine I
uh historic preservation protections. Uh
[1:09:07] please record his support.
Um
[1:09:10] then we have uh
Gina O'Brien. She does not wish to
[1:09:15] speak. Uh this is uh
she opposes the
[1:09:20] intent to connect
uh 969 Black Eyed Burleson Crossing
[1:09:25] Plaza traffic through Riverside Grove at
Jessica Place or anywhere through
[1:09:28] Riverside Grove.
So, she opposes that happening.
[1:09:33] All right. Now, um
up first, as always,
[1:09:43] we have Rita Ward.
[1:09:51] » Um excuse me.
Rita Ward, Riverwood.
[1:09:55] » I I don't think they can hear you from
back there. You got to say it in the
[1:09:57] microphone, ma'am.
Thank you.
[1:10:00] » Okay, the first thing I want to do is
give a great big thanks to our park and
[1:10:05] recreation. Now, I left before all the
excitement uh took place. I left at
[1:10:10] 7:00, but before then, everything was
absolutely perfect, and they did a great
[1:10:16] big job. And I said, I thought they
ought to have uh uh a little raise in
[1:10:22] salary. They did so good.
But then the next thing that I want to
[1:10:28] think about it or thank is our police
department.
[1:10:34] They were out there in those
air-conditioned
[1:10:38] dark suits in that 100° temperature,
walking on up and down, making sure that
[1:10:47] everybody was safe, going this way,
going that away, making sure old ladies
[1:10:52] like me were on the right path.
And they did a great big job. We don't
[1:10:57] have but one here today, but let's give
her a hand.
[1:11:04] And the next thing I think that you
should consider is about our data
[1:11:09] centers and kind of take a a leaf out of
Taylor, Hutto, San Marcos
[1:11:16] and the Hill
uh county
[1:11:20] on what they are doing on kind of
putting a little hold on our
[1:11:26] uh data centers.
And this can be done.
[1:11:30] And we need to think about that. I did
investigate it and our money for our
[1:11:36] data center here is coming from
Amsterdam.
[1:11:40] Uh there's a lot of money coming in from
the Netherlands and another place. I
[1:11:45] don't know if it's a little town there
or if it's a group. It's AROL, I think
[1:11:51] if I remember correctly.
But
[1:11:55] we need to think about that. Also about
our town hall meeting, I'm sorry Sid
[1:12:00] Miller is not going to be here, but
there will be somebody to take his
[1:12:05] place.
And
[1:12:08] everybody should be there and let's get
together and see what we can do as a
[1:12:13] group. We're not We're We're Texans.
Let's forget about our politics. Let's
[1:12:19] be Texans. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Rita.
[1:12:27] All right. Next we have Trisha Silva
who would like to speak.
[1:12:48] » All right. Um
Good evening, mayor, council members,
[1:12:52] and our city manager. Um I just wanted
to come up and
[1:12:57] just pay gratitude to the city staff for
our collaboration on the summer food and
[1:13:04] fun drive. On behalf of Bastrop County
Emergency Food Pantry and Support
[1:13:09] Center, our staff, our board of
directors, and our volunteers, I would
[1:13:13] like to extend a heartfelt thank you and
gratitude for your continued support of
[1:13:19] our mission to nourish and serve our
neighbors in need. For the past 4 years,
[1:13:24] the city of Bastrop has led a summer
food drive that has made a meaningful
[1:13:29] impact on food insecurity across our
community. Through your collective
[1:13:34] efforts, a remarkable 11,045
lb of food have been donated, providing
[1:13:42] the equivalent of 21,759
meals for families, seniors, veterans,
[1:13:48] and children facing hunger. This year,
the campaign set an ambitious goal to
[1:13:53] collect 3,000 lb of food, and thanks to
the dedication and the generosity of the
[1:13:58] city leadership, staff, and residents,
you came incredibly close by collecting
[1:14:04] 2,824
lb of food. Congratulations on this
[1:14:08] outstanding achievement and the hard
work that made it possible. We're also
[1:14:13] especially grateful for the many ways
the city of Bastrop championed this
[1:14:17] effort, including hosting a collections
day at the Bastrop Convention Center,
[1:14:23] making the Touch the Truck experience
available,
[1:14:27] inspiring friendly participation
among city staff teams.
[1:14:33] These efforts not only helped to collect
food, but it also raised the awareness
[1:14:38] of the challenges many of our neighbors
face every day, and especially during
[1:14:43] the summer months. Your Your
demonstrates what it is what's possible
[1:14:48] when community comes together with
compassion, purpose, and shared
[1:14:53] commitment to helping others. Thank you
for standing with us in our mission and
[1:14:57] helping us to ensure no neighbor goes
hunger hungry during the summer. So,
[1:15:02] thank you all so much.
>> Thank you all.
[1:15:09] All right.
Up next, we have Cheryl Long.
[1:15:19] Please introduce yourself and your
address and you have 3 minutes.
[1:15:22] » I've lived at 1501 Church Street,
Bastrop, Texas for many decades. I live
[1:15:28] in a historic home.
I've kept it historic. It's on the
[1:15:32] original 2.75 acres. It has been a
struggle. I want to keep Bastrop
[1:15:38] historic.
I'm in support of 9 1
[1:15:44] Uh what I'd like to really talk about is
we are talking about our history.
[1:15:51] Our historic neighborhoods are being
threatened.
[1:15:54] Once they are gone, they're gone. We
cannot get them back.
[1:15:59] We really have no protection from our uh
state historical society. We have to
[1:16:05] protect our history.
We need to raise the penalties and
[1:16:09] consequences for any threat or damage to
our historic structures, landmarks, or
[1:16:15] historic sites.
Um so, I am in support in uh
[1:16:22] the issue of the 9 1 in raising the
penalty and consequences.
[1:16:29] » Thank you.
All right.
[1:16:32] Up next, we have Tommy Clayborn.
[1:16:41] » I'm uh Tommy Clayborn.
I was born here a long time ago.
[1:16:46] Uh so long.
But uh
[1:16:50] one side of my family's been in Bastrop,
Bastrop County for seven generations.
[1:16:56] The other side of my family's been in
Bastrop, Bastrop County for eight
[1:16:59] generations.
Um
[1:17:03] one of the house that I was born in
uh was probably one of the top the first
[1:17:08] five
structures in Bastrop that was built. My
[1:17:12] brother still lives in that house.
I've had property different properties
[1:17:17] in uh
that had historical backing. I had uh
[1:17:23] 1202 to 1206 Church Street, which is
a very historical street in Bastrop.
[1:17:30] And uh after I sold that property, it
wasn't long after I sold it that that
[1:17:35] house burned down.
And that's an historical that was the
[1:17:38] Sam K. Higgins house. It was
uh it was just something that was really
[1:17:44] really precious, but it's gone. Like
Cheryl said, once it's gone
[1:17:48] it's gone.
Um
[1:17:53] Another thing is like
whenever I've come up here, I don't come
[1:17:57] up here and speak very often, but I
always go to the plaque behind it, which
[1:18:01] is the preservation of the past and
progress for the future.
[1:18:06] So, if we don't do something right now
to take care of the past it's not going
[1:18:10] to be in here anymore.
One example I have of that
[1:18:15] is take our historic golf course.
Now,
[1:18:19] it's a long history and the with the the
golf course and how it came about and
[1:18:24] how it was maintained and everything.
I don't believe that the city council at
[1:18:29] that time did all they could do to
preserve that.
[1:18:34] Uh
there was a lot of controversy, but just
[1:18:36] nobody had any inclination. Now, what
I'm going to just request is something
[1:18:42] that's going to be real easy for y'all
because I saw how you you all reacted at
[1:18:48] the very first start of this meeting
when you talked right on down the line
[1:18:53] about what happened in Bastrop and all
the activities and things like that and
[1:18:59] the excitement and the positivity in
your voices carried through. I know that
[1:19:04] you're really really good at at
identifying what's going on in Bastrop
[1:19:09] and how it wants to keep on.
So, the only thing that I'm requesting
[1:19:13] is when things like this comes up
keep a very open-minded be open-minded
[1:19:19] and check into everything that's
happening into it. And like I said,
[1:19:24] that's that's an easy thing to do and it
helps our city because tourists come
[1:19:28] into our town for the historical factor
as much as anything. So, thank you.
[1:19:34] » Yes, sir. Thank you.
[1:19:37] All right.
Next we have Blake Kaiser.
[1:19:44] » Good afternoon. Blake Kaiser, I'm on the
Historic Landmark Commission.
[1:19:48] Recently, we have found out that the
national and state offer no protection.
[1:19:53] It's all
the weight is on the local. We're
[1:19:57] finding out our local doesn't have any.
We need for nine I to really consider
[1:20:03] something like I don't know $100 per
$1,000 of value as a fine. Right now,
[1:20:08] it's doubling of the demo fee and I
don't know what that is. 500 bucks
[1:20:12] maybe. So, that doesn't scare anybody
off. We need to make it where we're
[1:20:17] protecting our structures.
And I think the only way is a monetary
[1:20:22] fine.
And uh
[1:20:24] I'm sure we can come up with something
cuz we're losing right and left and
[1:20:28] before you know it, we won't have any.
That's all.
[1:20:33] » All right.
>> Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.
[1:20:37] All right. We have any more citizen
comments?
[1:20:39] » No, sir.
>> All right.
[1:20:42] Sounds good.
>> Mayor, before we get started on the
[1:20:45] citizen
on the consent agenda, can we move up
[1:20:48] one item for from individual
consideration? Mr. Peterson's been here
[1:20:52] for a little bit.
>> Yeah, yeah. No, that's what I was about
[1:20:54] to do.
So, before we go over consent agenda
[1:20:57] item
I would like to go to
[1:21:01] individual consideration
agenda item
[1:21:07] 9G.
Consider and act on a resolution
[1:21:11] 2026-107
[1:21:15] ratifying $2,000 $2,160
in waived fees for a funeral services
[1:21:21] for Willie Ruth Hodge.
Peterson.
[1:21:25] » Thank you, Mayor and Council. This is
actually ratification that has already
[1:21:30] occurred.
It was time sensitive and it was over
[1:21:34] the holiday weekend.
Miss Willie Ruth was the wife of Mr.
[1:21:38] Bill Peterson who served this council
for 6 years. So, I thought it was
[1:21:42] important to not just honor Mr.
Peterson's service, but her legacy.
[1:21:47] » Absolutely.
Council, do we have any discussion on
[1:21:52] this?
Motion to approve.
[1:21:54] » Second.
>> We have a motion and a second. All in
[1:21:56] favor?
>> Aye.
[1:21:57] » All opposed?
All right. Let the show that it passes
[1:22:00] unanimous. And and Bill, just know that
you're in our continued prayers. You're
[1:22:06] in our heart. Um
Miss Willie Ruth, she was a fantastic
[1:22:11] individual.
Um
[1:22:14] She never called me by my name, even
though I know she knew my name.
[1:22:18] Yeah. Y'all just I know for real, y'all.
She just
[1:22:22] CP's grandson. That's what she would
call me. Every time. Every single time.
[1:22:27] So, but that just, you know, my She
worked at the bus barn with my
[1:22:30] grandfather back in the '80s. And like
she was always greeting me with a smile
[1:22:35] as a kid, throughout childhood, as an
adult. Just an absolute living spirit.
[1:22:41] And I know she will be missed by many.
She was cherished by a lot and loved by
[1:22:44] a lot. And so,
Bill, our our thoughts, our heart, our
[1:22:49] prayers are with continue to be with
you.
[1:22:54] All right.
On to consent agenda item.
[1:23:01] All matters listed on the consent agenda
are considered to be routine by the city
[1:23:05] council and will will be enacted by one
motion. There will not be a separate
[1:23:09] discussion on these items. If discussion
is desired, that that item will be
[1:23:14] removed from the consent agenda and will
be considered separately.
[1:23:18] All right.
Council member Meyer.
[1:23:21] » Yes, I'd like to remove 8B, please.
>> Okay.
[1:23:26] Do we have any others? Council member
Lowe.
[1:23:29] » Yeah, I'd like to pull 8F, please.
[1:23:35] » All right, council members, do we have
any other items? No. All right.
[1:23:40] 8B, consider and act on a resolution R
number R-2026-100,
[1:23:46] approving participation in a limited
future local match and matters related
[1:23:51] thereto for the Capital Area Rural
Transportation System CARTS Mobility Hub
[1:23:56] proposal at the Bastrop Public Library
and Climate Pollution Reduction Grant
[1:24:02] CPRG activities as exhibited in exhibit
A.
[1:24:07] Viviana, hello.
>> Good evening, Mayor Council. Viviana
[1:24:11] Andres, assistant to the city manager,
I'm here to
[1:24:15] talk to you or answer any questions that
you may have about this item.
[1:24:19] » Thank you so much, Viviana. I do have
some questions and I have some concerns.
[1:24:24] » Yes, ma'am.
>> regarding e-bikes.
[1:24:27] » Okay.
>> And
[1:24:30] Prime concern is safety.
Considering how many
[1:24:35] increased accidents we're having, even
deaths from e-bikes.
[1:24:40] Concerned about regulations.
Who, what, when, where, why? Okay, so
[1:24:47] Who? We know what and when.
Where and why? So, those questions would
[1:24:52] be uh
Who are we serving in this? What is our
[1:24:58] target audience?
[1:25:02] Why? Because
Where are we going? You know, it's We're
[1:25:06] going from the post office to the museum
or you know those kind of things.
[1:25:11] Also, we do have an ordinance. I know
it's a 2021-06
[1:25:17] that does
have regulations on e-bikes, which they
[1:25:21] can't ride on the sidewalks. I'm
concerned about because I'm down at the
[1:25:25] parks a lot all the time.
I see people on walkers on the trails,
[1:25:32] especially the fishermans. Super
concerned about e-bikes being on in any
[1:25:36] of our parks.
Pedestrians being affected by the
[1:25:40] e-bike. Mainly safety, you know, it is
is what I'm saying.
[1:25:44] Um
Location. Where are they going? Where
[1:25:48] are they going to travel to?
Also, when they travel from point A to
[1:25:54] the dot to next place might be the
museum. What are they doing with those
[1:25:58] bikes? Cuz when I go to Austin or any
cities that have this, it's like litter
[1:26:03] all over the place and
I sure don't want that for our city.
[1:26:10] Think the age restrictions we have in
our ordinance, so that's good.
[1:26:14] And I realize but mainly that just the
questions I've asked about that if you
[1:26:19] could just
let me know what those answers are
[1:26:22] concerns or anything else would be
great. Thank you.
[1:26:25] » Yes, ma'am. Not a problem. So, just to
give you a high-level view and I won't
[1:26:29] take too long. This is very much a
concept that we kind of flushed out. So,
[1:26:33] today no plans have actually been
designed or anything like that. This has
[1:26:37] been in partnership with carts and it's
a concept of a mobility hub at the
[1:26:40] library. The hub includes a proposal of
a carts shelter
[1:26:45] along with some flat work improvements
and then also an e-bike station.
[1:26:50] Currently, the e-bike station at the
library slated for five bikes. It's five
[1:26:55] slots.
Now, that
[1:26:57] slot or the
bike station won't be filled with
[1:27:01] exactly five bikes. We'd probably have
just about three and then leave two
[1:27:04] available. The bikes themselves um
they're pretty interesting. They are a
[1:27:11] they're they're not dockless. They
require they're required to be docked in
[1:27:15] order to be charged. And the docking
mechanism is also the lock around it.
[1:27:20] Now, you did ask where. That's a great
question and honestly, you do have the
[1:27:24] right to be concerned cuz I will admit
that the way that other communities have
[1:27:28] rolled out e-bikes, I don't I think that
it was
[1:27:31] um too much too soon, right? So, this is
a very micro scale operation. It's um
[1:27:38] very constrained. It's a total of 15
bikes or a possibility of 15 bikes, but
[1:27:42] we probably won't have exactly 15 on the
street cuz once again, you want to leave
[1:27:47] a couple of the charging stations empty
so that if someone pulls up, they can
[1:27:50] charge. So, they're slated to be at the
carts location. So, that's the first set
[1:27:55] and that's where the first 10 are going
is at the carts on their private
[1:27:58] property. They've already received a
grant for some expansion at their
[1:28:02] current location and then the second
location would be here at the library.
[1:28:06] Now, of course, you're correct. We do
have an ordinance in place in chapter 12
[1:28:10] and the e-bikes would have to conform
with any aspect of that ordinance, which
[1:28:14] essentially states that they are
prohibited from being on sidewalks.
[1:28:17] They're restricted to being on streets.
They're not allowed to park
[1:28:21] on the streets unless there's a
specifically designated place on the
[1:28:25] street. Um there is some provisions for
parking on the sidewalks, but then you
[1:28:29] have very specific criteria for
clearance even if they park on the
[1:28:32] sidewalks. They have to have a minimum
of um
[1:28:36] within um they can't be within 8 ft of
building entrances, driveways, curb
[1:28:40] ramps, commercial loading zones, and
they have to leave at least 4 ft clear
[1:28:45] on the sidewalk if they were to be
hooked to like some of the we have some
[1:28:48] kind of um bike racks downtown. They
look like the old iron bridge, and
[1:28:51] they're like various colors. Now,
this is a pilot program in nature. The
[1:28:57] bikes are slated to go no more than 20
mph. They're slated to have a charge
[1:29:01] that lasts uh 30 to 40 mi.
It's an opportunity, but it's not a
[1:29:05] must, and my most important concern is
that it reflects the values of the
[1:29:09] community, and it's appropriate for the
community. So, we are I'm completely
[1:29:13] open to your feedback tonight, and
whatever you find permissible or not
[1:29:17] permissible. I also have Dana here from
CARTS. If you would like to hear from
[1:29:21] her, she can answer some of that. Now,
this is as I said before,
[1:29:25] very conceptual in nature. So, some of
the finer details such as like a
[1:29:29] recovery program that would need to be
organized between the city of CARTS
[1:29:33] hasn't been fleshed out or anything like
that because we're still very much
[1:29:37] walking through the feasibility of this
process. Um so, we would have to get
[1:29:42] into um maintenance and operations cuz
that's something to be considered
[1:29:45] because if we were to do something like
this, there has to be a maintenance
[1:29:48] component with the bikes. CARTS
themselves has done a lot of the
[1:29:52] legwork. They went and talked to um
Mike's Bikes, Jason with Mike's Bikes
[1:29:56] down at Fisherman's Park, and he's open
to the idea of some maintenance on the
[1:29:59] bikes. And then again, as I um mentioned
previously, it's the recovery program.
[1:30:04] These are GPS-located, and there is an
app that serves them. It's um
[1:30:10] And so, the app is very specific. Um it
would be mostly managed by CARTS, and
[1:30:14] it's Metro Mobility. And so, it allows
you to locate where the bikes are at so
[1:30:18] that we um aren't having them littered
on the streets. The idea is that they
[1:30:23] are supposed to be docked and charged.
And so, the other idea is too, if
[1:30:27] someone was to leave a bike somewhere in
the community, because you have to be um
[1:30:30] 18 years or older in order to rent a
bike, you can't be younger than 18.
[1:30:35] You have to put in your name, and you
also um you sign a a liability waiver,
[1:30:40] essentially stating that if any accident
or anything detrimental happens while
[1:30:45] you're on the bike, you assume full
responsibility, aka we're held harmless.
[1:30:49] So, that's important to the city, cuz we
don't want to be responsible for someone
[1:30:53] having a um being on an acc- or being in
an accident.
[1:30:56] Um so, there's that aspect. Um I do
think, and I would want to pursue with
[1:31:02] CARTS, if this even was to be something
that you guys would be in supportive um
[1:31:08] putting limitation or like a blocker, if
you will, on the app so that it they're
[1:31:12] restricted from renting, and they're
only allowed to rent during certain
[1:31:15] hours of operation. I'm not interested
in someone reading renting a bike at
[1:31:19] 8:00 p.m. at night, quite honestly. I
would like it to be during business
[1:31:23] hours, because that that is a safety
hazard, in my opinion. So, having some
[1:31:27] restrictions on the ability um to rent,
when they can access the mobile app. Um
[1:31:33] and then also um the trails um that
you're concerned of you should that
[1:31:37] rightly so, um that is prohibited. So,
they are actually not allowed to bike on
[1:31:41] trails, and they will be ticketed if
they're found biking on trails. Um with
[1:31:46] that, if it's okay, I would like to hand
it over to Ms. Dana Platt to just say a
[1:31:49] few words, and then of course, I'll be
back for whatever questions you have.
[1:31:56] » Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um my
name is Dana Platt. I'm the
[1:32:00] Communications Director for CARTS, and
um
[1:32:03] we're really excited at this project. Um
we're not trying to recreate Austin's um
[1:32:08] bike share system here in Bastrop. Um we
selected a Bastrop-size solution
[1:32:13] um that provides technology and security
that we need. Um it also keeps the
[1:32:17] system scalable, um and it can grow with
demand. So, it's literally five bikes at
[1:32:23] a docking station. Um
and we're hoping that that provides um
[1:32:28] with people traveling to and from the
CARTS station, it provides like a last
[1:32:32] mile for people. So, if people get to
the CARTS station and they want to come
[1:32:36] and visit downtown Bastrop, they're not
having to walk in the heat, walk around.
[1:32:39] They can get on a bike, zip over to
downtown, and then zip back, get on a
[1:32:43] bus, and get back into Austin or
wherever they're traveling from.
[1:32:47] Um we also think having um a spot at the
library and
[1:32:51] coordinating with the library, we think
this is something that would be great
[1:32:53] for tourism and for people around town
to be able to have those bikes to be
[1:32:57] able to ride around.
Um
[1:33:00] do you guys have any questions for me or
concerns? I'm happy to answer anything
[1:33:04] you guys may have.
>> All right.
[1:33:08] Mayor Pro Tem Kirkland.
[1:33:12] » I think this is a really exciting
opportunity for Bastrop. I think that a
[1:33:16] lot of um
people think that innovation only
[1:33:18] happens in the bigger major cities, and
um
[1:33:22] we were able to get some grant funding
for this to provide this service, and
[1:33:26] the cost to the city is going to be less
than a thousand a year for software. And
[1:33:31] that software is going to report where
the bikes are um traveling, you know,
[1:33:36] all of that information, where they're
going to and from. It's going to help
[1:33:38] with the GPS system, with locating them,
and things like that. There is a fine,
[1:33:43] too, so
basically, if you don't return that bike
[1:33:46] back to the docking system, you can get
up to a $200 fine, or if it's lost or
[1:33:51] stolen, it's a $2,000 fine. So, all of
this helps like deter people from just
[1:33:56] leaving bikes randomly on the streets.
Um, and it's also not like a free
[1:34:00] docking scooter system where they're
just going to pile up on the street
[1:34:03] corners or anything like that. They have
to actually go back to the docking
[1:34:06] station to get the bike charged and to
get their money back.
[1:34:12] » So, does uh KRT's have experience with
these five pod bike setups in other
[1:34:17] places?
>> So, this is like new and groundbreaking
[1:34:19] for us. So, we haven't been in the
e-bike um system. This will be our first
[1:34:25] This will be a pilot. So, initially
we're trying to pilot here, see how it
[1:34:29] goes, see how the city responds to it.
Um, so we've never done this before.
[1:34:34] » Okay.
So, then
[1:34:36] I mean, my next question is was going to
be in the ballpark of who is using these
[1:34:39] in other communities and you know, under
what conditions would people be using
[1:34:43] them. And you you mentioned uh using the
KRT's bus from the and then from the
[1:34:47] KRT's location coming to downtown and
then back to KRT's location. So, I can I
[1:34:51] guess I can see that.
Um, is there a cost to use the bike when
[1:34:55] someone wants to use it?
>> Yeah, there'll be a charge. We're not
[1:34:58] sure what the fee is going to be. It'll
be some something similar to our fees
[1:35:01] now, which are really inexpensive. You
know, riding a van will be $2.00 one
[1:35:04] way. So, it'll be something inexpensive.
>> Okay.
[1:35:08] » Um, and just as a personal note, like I
did travel out of the country um
[1:35:13] this summer and we were in Rome and they
had the Lime e-bikes around and and it
[1:35:18] was much easier to take those than to
take a cab or public transportation. It
[1:35:23] was much quicker, like my route would be
9 minutes instead of like 30, you know.
[1:35:28] So, they were very easy and these bikes
are The cool thing about these are is
[1:35:32] like you get them from the docking um
station and then they have a little
[1:35:35] lock. So, if you want to run over to the
store to you know, shopping that you can
[1:35:39] lock up your bike at a you know, a bike
lock and then you can go about your
[1:35:43] business. So, they're a little bit
different than the Limes and I think
[1:35:46] they're um a better fit for a smaller
community.
[1:35:50] » Uh
Madam Police Chief uh Vicky,
[1:35:54] question for you.
[1:36:02] Do we require helmets for these?
>> So, state law requires helmets for a
[1:36:07] certain age. I believe it's under 17.
Uh the city of Bastrop um off the top of
[1:36:13] my head, I haven't looked at it in a
long time. Um I don't believe they
[1:36:16] require them for anybody except under
the age of 15.
[1:36:19] » Okay. Okay. And um
>> It Now, that depends on the class of the
[1:36:25] bike, too.
So, e-bikes are regulated by different
[1:36:28] classes, one, two, and three, depending
on how fast they go, things of that
[1:36:31] nature.
>> Yeah, and these are 20 to 30 mph.
[1:36:34] » Which should be a class one, so they
don't require insurance or anything.
[1:36:37] They're treated like regular bicycles
for the most part.
[1:36:39] » Okay.
>> I think they top out at 20.
[1:36:42] » Okay. Well, that's just like with
motorcycles, you wouldn't you don't have
[1:36:45] to have a helmet.
>> we would
[1:36:47] in our campaign we would highly suggest
that
[1:36:49] » Yes. Yeah, recommendation, right?
>> Okay.
[1:36:53] Um
I I
[1:36:56] I think I would paint myself as
horrified if I saw people riding these
[1:37:00] on sidewalks, in the park,
>> Mhm.
[1:37:03] » uh or even up and down Old Austin
Highway on the sidewalk. Um
[1:37:08] and uh
I
[1:37:10] It it it
There's going to be some unintended
[1:37:13] consequence of this, and it's going to
end up costing money for enforcement.
[1:37:16] » I I believe and
again, I'm I haven't looked at it. I'm
[1:37:21] not familiar with this project. Um I
believe that uh we do not allow the
[1:37:26] motorized bikes in the parks to begin
with. Um from that city ordinance, I'll
[1:37:31] I'll go back and reread it and follow up
with you on it. And then as far as Old
[1:37:35] Austin Highway, they um they're treated
like regular bicycles, so they can ride
[1:37:39] them in the roadway as long as they're
legally riding them in the correct
[1:37:43] direction and two abreast and all that.
>> Yeah, last Sunday there was an e-bike
[1:37:47] going faster than I was Uh uh on Old
Austin Highway cuz I was following the
[1:37:52] speed limit.
>> Yeah, his bike goes 30 mph. I know who
[1:37:55] you're talking about. He's happy about
that bike.
[1:37:57] » Okay, got it.
>> He got it for a real good deal, too.
[1:38:00] » Got it. Excellent.
>> Well, and the other thing on these
[1:38:02] e-bikes is they are regulated as far as
uh power and again, off the top of my
[1:38:07] head, I believe it's either 740 or 750.
Um I don't believe these class ones
[1:38:13] reach that limit, but it's something I
can look into.
[1:38:16] » Okay.
Um
[1:38:19] Okay, I'll give floor. Maybe think of
some more things.
[1:38:22] » All right, thank you, Mayor Pro Tem
Kirkman, Councilmember Plunkett.
[1:38:25] » One thing I would also like to add is
that this I mean, the beauty if if you
[1:38:30] all decide that you would like to try a
pilot program. If you don't want to, I'm
[1:38:34] I am okay at the end of the day. But um
the infrastructure, it's it's nominal
[1:38:39] and the idea is that it's easy to remove
if if it's not something that works for
[1:38:43] Bastrop as well. If we were to decide to
try it out, so.
[1:38:46] » All right.
[1:38:49] » Um yeah, my question I guess kind of
revolves around how how it works. It
[1:38:55] seems odd
that it would be a for rent kind of a
[1:38:59] thing, but then
you couldn't leave it somewhere. I get
[1:39:04] um you would have to take it back to
where you got it from.
[1:39:07] And it seems like generally the purpose
would be to go somewhere. So
[1:39:17] » So you can rent it and it has That's a
good question. So you can rent it and it
[1:39:21] does have a charge of 30 to 40 miles,
which is about 2 to 4 hours. So you have
[1:39:25] a window where you can rent it, go
somewhere, find a bike rack, lock it up,
[1:39:30] go shopping or something like that, come
back to it, and then go put it back at
[1:39:34] the docking station. That's the idea
behind that, so.
[1:39:36] » could see them like, you know, going to
HEB and turn go turn around and coming
[1:39:40] back.
But
[1:39:43] thinking of like, okay, if you came in
on a CARTS bus to town
[1:39:48] and you were trying to get,
you know, the last mile home, you're
[1:39:51] talking about first mile, last mile,
then
[1:39:55] » I don't know that this would be a
solution for the last mile.
[1:39:58] » because you want to leave it at the last
mile, otherwise you
[1:40:01] » Correct.
>> just have to
[1:40:04] Yeah, okay.
[1:40:07] Okay.
>> Correct. I don't think that you would
[1:40:10] terminate your last mile at your end
point destination with the bike, cuz
[1:40:14] ergo you then cancel out the returning
to the docking station practice.
[1:40:17] » Right.
>> I I agree.
[1:40:19] » Okay.
>> Council member Myra, you have something
[1:40:23] else?
>> Yes, I do. So, I'm kind of real
[1:40:26] kind of going with Kevin because nobody
if I'm going to HEB, I'm going to take
[1:40:30] CARTS bus. And I'll tell you a lot of
people right outside on Spring Street
[1:40:35] take the CARTS bus to go to HEB.
So, I'm sure not going to ride an
[1:40:38] e-bike, but
I'm really kind of curious like, Dana,
[1:40:43] you said go around town, but we have
really two active blocks downtown and
[1:40:48] and Council member Plunkett is going to
back me up on this about
[1:40:52] even with the bikes, which I would think
it would have to be a requirement that
[1:40:58] those bikes have to go in a bike stand.
They cannot go anywhere else. But even
[1:41:03] with the bike stands,
we have areas on Main Street and and our
[1:41:08] Main Street right now is working on
decluttering
[1:41:13] this I don't
I would hope that we would not want to
[1:41:16] add to that problem of more clutter on
the two blocks that we have. And if
[1:41:21] again, if I'm going to go to the library
and I'm going to go to the museum, I
[1:41:25] don't understand taking an e-bike
for two blocks. So,
[1:41:30] I'm just trying to be practical on where
we going?
[1:41:34] » No, that's a good question. So, the way
that we kind of visualize it is let's
[1:41:38] say that someone comes to town for a
festival or a fair and then they find
[1:41:42] out about the e-bikes. They go rent it,
drive around town, look at some of the
[1:41:46] historic homes, look at just kind of I
mean I'd see it more of being just kind
[1:41:50] of a downtown or way to explore downtown
without having to be in your car and
[1:41:54] drive. You can look at some of the
beautiful historic homes. You obviously
[1:41:58] can't go on the trails or you'll still
get a ticket. Um, things of that nature,
[1:42:01] but um, you know, once again, this is
it's an idea, it's a concept, um,
[1:42:06] looking for y'alls feedback. If if we
feel like we're not ready yet, that's
[1:42:11] okay, too, you know. But it is it's a
unique idea.
[1:42:15] » So, on that note, too, I'm sorry, Mary.
I just had a couple other uh
[1:42:21] Who So, say that not but everybody's
going to follow the law because they
[1:42:25] don't.
Um,
[1:42:26] and they don't talk take them back to
the docking stations.
[1:42:30] How much does it cost to collect those
bikes? Like who's paying for that? When
[1:42:34] they just leave
>> So, that's a good question and that's a
[1:42:36] question that honestly I'd pose to Dana
and that we would have to negotiate
[1:42:40] would be that's the future negotiation
that we haven't gotten into, which is
[1:42:43] the finer details of what we would call
the recovery program, right? Because
[1:42:47] you're right, a human agent has to
eventually go recover I don't know if
[1:42:50] that's me like getting out and going get
it. I got a truck. I will do what I got
[1:42:54] to do.
Um, but we haven't quite ironed out that
[1:42:58] detail, but that is something No, that's
a serious question and that's someone,
[1:43:01] right? And yeah.
>> And and one
[1:43:05] thing that I think is kind of easy to
and it would be much easier for our
[1:43:10] police to have guidelines on it if cars
are allowed, e-bikes are allowed. If
[1:43:15] cars aren't allowed, e-bikes aren't
allowed.
[1:43:17] » Fair.
>> Cuz that just seems to make sense to me.
[1:43:20] And that way it prevents them from
uh the safety aspect would
[1:43:25] be much uh higher, higher safety.
Uh
[1:43:30] and I'm still not sold on it because
because of the congestion downtown, I
[1:43:35] just I just think we just really can't
It's a great op- I get the opportunity,
[1:43:41] I get the grants, I get us only
only that amount. I just don't want to
[1:43:45] add to problems that we're already
having and make that worse by uh
[1:43:52] thinking, you know, this. I
And I get it, you know, in Rome, yeah,
[1:43:55] that's cool, but in Basalt, like Rome's
a little bigger.
[1:44:00] We have a lot more going on there. I
just I know it's it's been done in
[1:44:05] places. I don't want to make the mistake
>> Sure.
[1:44:09] » of doing something uh that we're going
to regret that's going to cause more
[1:44:12] problems. Um
So, that those are my concerns.
[1:44:15] » Absolutely. Absolutely.
>> Mayor Pro Tem Kirkland.
[1:44:22] » Yeah, talking about recovery, how much
do they weigh?
[1:44:25] » That's actually a good question that I'm
not quite clear on, but um I do have the
[1:44:29] specs. Um so, I can I can figure that
out. I have the specs.
[1:44:32] » it's going to be heavy enough to where
you can't just toss it in the back of a
[1:44:35] pickup truck with one person.
>> I'd probably have like a little dolly,
[1:44:38] like a little roll out thing that I'd
have to like roll up.
[1:44:40] » Um you know, just one thought is uh were
we to move forward with this, um
[1:44:46] I think it'd be appropriate to put uh
kind of a sign at the locations both at
[1:44:51] Cart and if if we're to do it at the
library
[1:44:54] that talks about that it's forbidden to
ride uh within the park trails and, you
[1:44:58] know, things like that.
>> Agreed.
[1:45:00] » You know, before forbidden to ride on
sidewalks per city ordinance, that kind
[1:45:03] of stuff because I don't know that
anyone would know that or even assume,
[1:45:07] you know, that
>> Yeah.
[1:45:08] » Yeah, they they'd probably, you know, I
can assume that they'd want to come
[1:45:12] downtown and then park their bike out in
front of a establishment which alludes
[1:45:17] to the clutter, right? But just they can
they can park and then kind of just
[1:45:21] stroll and
you know, we definitely You want that.
[1:45:27] » And maybe it would be I mean if this was
to be something that we're interested in
[1:45:32] I mean
if if we want to encourage good behavior
[1:45:35] some of that might look like
removing opportunities for bad behavior
[1:45:40] aka I know that we have those bike racks
down on Main Street maybe we relocate
[1:45:45] those to
an appropriated actual parking lot right
[1:45:48] that has
I don't know a space or something so
[1:45:51] that we're not encouraging I mean cuz to
me you know people are going to just
[1:45:55] follow the
path of least resistance right which is
[1:45:59] I'm on an e-bike I see a bike rack of
course I'm going to park there you know
[1:46:02] I'm going to think so maybe eliminating
like I said some of those options so
[1:46:06] that it's not attractive to park right
on Main Street or on our streets that we
[1:46:10] really want um pedestrian traffic to
feel safe we want it people to feel safe
[1:46:15] when they're eating out on the eateries
that are on the sidewalk things of that
[1:46:19] nature I would not want someone having
someone zoom by on a bike I have a small
[1:46:25] child so I feel like what are you doing?
>> And I want to say one thing the app you
[1:46:29] can also there's geo fencing
>> Microphone.
[1:46:31] » There's geo fencing on the app so there
are places that you can put around town
[1:46:35] that if you don't want the bikes to
access
[1:46:37] » And lock up the wheel?
>> Yep.
[1:46:40] Yeah and you can also on the bike pods
you can put like times of operation and
[1:46:45] things like that and I would assume that
there would be a huge educational
[1:46:48] campaign hopefully partnered with the
city that we could you know introduce to
[1:46:53] the community put it on our website you
guys' website be a policy like all this
[1:46:57] stuff we're still trying to figure it
out and you guys are like one of the
[1:47:00] communities that are on the forefront of
like transportation and the 10 counties
[1:47:03] that I serve we have the most
transportation here we have our micro
[1:47:07] transit we have commuter routes um we
have a lot of different things that we
[1:47:11] don't have in other communities so we
always like to think of you guys as a
[1:47:14] test bed and um so that's why I wanted
to share this
[1:47:17] » So here's the the geo zone if you pass
it you're going to wish you would have
[1:47:21] got the helmet.
>> Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[1:47:24] No, but actually your um sheriff brought
that up, so um yeah.
[1:47:29] Police chief. Yes. So, I wanted to
remind you guys that. Yeah. All right.
[1:47:32] Thank you. Council member Faulkner.
Thank you. And thank you for saying that
[1:47:37] that we are on the forefront of
transportation. I didn't realize that
[1:47:40] because as a bike rider, like I don't it
doesn't seem like it's super bike
[1:47:44] friendly. So, I would like us to stay on
the forefront of transportation. I
[1:47:47] support this.
Um totally. Tell me about the pilot. So,
[1:47:51] if it's a pilot program, like does that
mean like we're building in like in a
[1:47:56] year we'll look at the data and then
we'll decide at that time to carry on
[1:48:01] like every year. That's how it's kind of
programmed to be. Yeah, it's limited in
[1:48:04] nature, right? And it's limited as long
as it works for the community and that's
[1:48:07] going to be through an assessment. So, I
mean I if this happens, right? Someone,
[1:48:13] probably me, will have to be tracking
number of incidents, right? number of
[1:48:17] times a bike was called so that we start
to have data points of is this actually
[1:48:21] working out or is it, you know, truly a
nuisance to the community? And then if
[1:48:25] so, present that data to court a court
and I don't think that they would have a
[1:48:29] problem understanding that we tried it.
It didn't work. Um
[1:48:34] onto the next, you know, um innovation.
Okay. Cool. I I mean I 11 years ago I
[1:48:41] hauled my bicycle here and rode around
looking town several times. That's how I
[1:48:45] explored downtown and decided where I
wanted to live because it's such a nice
[1:48:50] pace.
Um it's different than walking and it's
[1:48:53] different than driving and it is still
my preferred method whenever I can get
[1:48:56] away with it. So, I think it's awesome
for exploring town at a nice
[1:49:01] for me safe pace um that like works
well. But I I would love to have the
[1:49:04] data. I would love to go forward with
this and then,
[1:49:07] you know, look at the data for a year
and a year from now and see how it
[1:49:10] works. But I'm all for it.
[1:49:14] I don't know which one of y'all hit the
clicker first. So, we'll go with
[1:49:17] Councilwoman Meyer.
>> Thanks. So, if if we decide to move
[1:49:21] forward with this, I would definitely
want to stipulate, I hope we want to
[1:49:28] stipulate some things
for sure.
[1:49:31] Uh where the bikes have to be racked.
>> Yes, ma'am.
[1:49:36] » And
the thing about the cars, only where
[1:49:39] cars cars go. And you already said the
trails, so that's taken care of and we
[1:49:42] know we can't can't do the sidewalks and
you'll work out um
[1:49:47] because if the cost would be prohibitive
to collect the bikes, then that would
[1:49:51] kind of defeat the whole thing, too. But
I just want us to be
[1:49:55] if we go forward, I want us to be as
careful and have as many stipulations of
[1:49:59] safety and and also concern for what we
are as a city, you know, and who we are
[1:50:05] as a city. And that would yeah, just
let's just don't approve without having
[1:50:11] those concerns in there. That would be
my thing.
[1:50:14] » Councilwoman Meyer, my my concern,
having come from cities who have all of
[1:50:20] the scooters and all of the
extra and who have RTAs and have all
[1:50:26] lots,
my preference would be CART's contract
[1:50:31] with a subcontractor who does the pickup
and who does all of that. That is not an
[1:50:36] onus that should be on city staff
because my experience has shown there
[1:50:41] will be a question as to whether it was
it picked up, wasn't it picked up, was
[1:50:45] it picked up by the city, did it grow
legs and walk away, did the city staffer
[1:50:49] take it, did they give it to their
friend, did they let their friend ride
[1:50:52] it, did they charge it at the right
charging station, did it end up in the
[1:50:55] bay, did it end up in the river, did it
end up you might have put a geo fence,
[1:50:59] but we forgot to include the water.
Well, we didn't think they were going to
[1:51:02] go in the water. Well, you know, you
never really know with people and I am
[1:51:06] speaking of experience. I am that's been
me
[1:51:11] when the company didn't come pick them
up, guess who had to come pick them up?
[1:51:15] My staff had to get in the trucks, the
public work trucks, and go pick them up.
[1:51:20] Um and so, my preference really is if
CARTS wants to wants us to be the guinea
[1:51:25] pig, which I'm all for, um I would say
we start with a smaller number, and they
[1:51:30] have a contract that they manage, and we
are not liable for any of the crazy, and
[1:51:35] there has to be some
um
[1:51:39] penalty associated to CARTS and/or the
contractor if they don't pick it up.
[1:51:43] Like like what is that? Do we get to
bill back
[1:51:46] what we need to pick up, etc. And you
know, I'm I'm happy I always tell you
[1:51:50] guys I'm happy to be on the cutting
edge. I don't ever want to be on the
[1:51:53] bleeding edge, because that bleeding
edge turns out to be a bill the
[1:51:57] taxpayers have to pay.
>> Well, Sam,
[1:52:00] » That that being said, thank you so for
that, cuz I sure don't want you going
[1:52:04] around picking these bikes up, Debbie.
So, that's totally out of the question.
[1:52:09] So, I think that totally makes sense on
on the recovery. And I'm all about
[1:52:13] bicycles, but I'm about the bicycles
that are powered by these legs, you
[1:52:17] know?
So, I'm all about exercise and activity,
[1:52:20] which this is kind of a way not to do
that. So, it's certainly not cuz I'm
[1:52:25] against bicycles. It's just um the
concerns that I've said. So, I
[1:52:29] appreciate addressing all that.
>> Yeah, approach him. Go ahead.
[1:52:34] » Um one thing I would like to add is at
this point in the process, this is more
[1:52:37] of just a resolution of support of the
overall project. Those These finer
[1:52:41] details that we're talking about would
have to be clearly drafted and brought
[1:52:44] back for your approval.
>> Okay, great.
[1:52:47] So, another uh idea, especially in
regards to safety, if someone is
[1:52:51] breaking the rules, um
and they call the police department, and
[1:52:55] you know, there's some discussion on,
you know, I saw this guy was going down
[1:52:58] the the street, and he was riding on the
sidewalk, and he almost hit this little
[1:53:01] girl.
Um you know what would be amazingly
[1:53:03] helpful is, in effect, license plates,
but not actually on the back of the
[1:53:08] bikes. You could just do a a single
sticker. Uh you can use the from a uh
[1:53:13] uh boats.
Uh you they sell them at at Home Depot
[1:53:16] and those and they're the stickers that
go on the sides of boats. They're about
[1:53:19] that big. And so, you know, since
there's so few of them, it's literally A
[1:53:23] B C D E F, you know, and so then it's
like I saw bike G uh
[1:53:28] do this and uh hit that little girl over
there. And that would give us the
[1:53:33] opportunity for enforcement.
>> And who was riding the bike G and what
[1:53:37] time did it really happen and do we have
the correct information?
[1:53:40] » Well, agreed. At least someone has it
checked out.
[1:53:43] » was it 10 minutes after? We we had a
horrible accident in Sensei Valley. We
[1:53:47] didn't allow bikes on our trails and uh
a bike collided with a runner. A
[1:53:52] horrible accident. We didn't allow them
on the trails. There was a lot of Well,
[1:53:55] what time was it?
>> Yeah.
[1:53:57] » People use these trails all the time. We
know we're not supposed to have bikes on
[1:54:00] them and so
>> Yeah.
[1:54:03] But anyway, just the the idea of being
able to identify them quickly and easily
[1:54:07] with that, you know, 4-in sticker
uh with a single letter on it for the
[1:54:11] quantity we'll have would help with this
initial stage of
[1:54:16] you know, are people using them safely
and being able to identify them.
[1:54:20] » Yes, understood, Corey.
>> I was just going to say with
[1:54:24] with the app, like you have to put in
your information and so you'll have that
[1:54:28] person's information of who's riding
bike G or whatever. And then I was just
[1:54:31] going to ask you guys, do you already
like enforce like
[1:54:35] single citizens who have their own
electric bikes? How do they
[1:54:39] How do they ride there? Just with the
ordinance? Okay.
[1:54:42] » Yeah, ordinance 202106 and it addresses
scooters and e-bikes.
[1:54:46] » Okay.
>> And and I'm not sure how many we we have
[1:54:49] around the community. There are some
that I've seen.
[1:54:52] Um just very few of them.
Um
[1:54:55] and and like one of them has been parked
on the sidewalk in in front of an
[1:54:59] establishment before and I've had
somebody reach out to me about it and
[1:55:03] you know, like hey this is impeding but
I'm not sure how many we have in the
[1:55:07] community per se.
I think most people still like to like I
[1:55:11] do do a few of the community bike rides
and most people are out there pushing
[1:55:15] and pedaling.
You know.
[1:55:17] And not e-biking it so.
>> Well, some of the e-bikes I mean you
[1:55:20] still do have to like
>> Yeah, yeah, I mean I know that.
[1:55:23] Right, the one guy that John saw he he
shows up but like while he's patiently
[1:55:28] waiting he zips back and
>> forward to show everyone how fast his
[1:55:31] bike goes.
>> Yeah.
[1:55:35] And then Sylvia, I just did have a
clarifying question. Like when you say
[1:55:38] less bikes, so less than 15 you would
want to waste smaller?
[1:55:42] I'd like us to start with five or
something manageable.
[1:55:46] » What what do you what do you what are
you thinking? Five to 10?
[1:55:49] » I feel like that's not enough.
To like start a program. Like I feel
[1:55:54] like it's not enough options if you have
five bikes and people take them then
[1:55:57] there's none available, you know?
>> Right.
[1:56:00] » But so when we had this discussion it's
also an opportunity there is other
[1:56:06] charging stations there also not just
for these rentals. And so it's also an
[1:56:11] opportunity for folks who own e-bikes
here.
[1:56:14] » To charge and take advantage and and get
there. So I think it creates an entire
[1:56:19] sort of community.
I mean if you guys want to go to 10, I'm
[1:56:22] okay going to 10 so long as the onus is
on you guys to collect and all that
[1:56:27] other stuff.
>> And I don't think we need to go more
[1:56:29] than 10.
Right.
[1:56:31] » Cuz there's five um bikes to a station
to a pod. So.
[1:56:36] » Okay.
So I think five and five would would be
[1:56:40] a good start. I know you want to do a
pilot program but um
[1:56:45] we're we're
No, my ears not to every street.
[1:56:50] But like we're not I'm not hearing the
demand or the cry for the
[1:56:55] the e-bikes per se.
Um I think
[1:56:59] you'll you'll have people who who are
supportive and people who aren't. Um
[1:57:04] just my thoughts, more people are going
to be, you know, like, "Hey,
[1:57:07] having the same concerns um where
they're allowed to be ridden at, where
[1:57:12] they're allowed to be parked at.
Um I think it is a good idea to
[1:57:17] to have allow people to zoom through
town, zip through town without having to
[1:57:21] pedal,
right, to look at the historic homes.
[1:57:24] But um
just throwing 15, 20 of them out there
[1:57:30] um is kind of a is kind of a whole lot.
Um
[1:57:34] if the program is meant to succeed, it
will succeed. And after a year of the
[1:57:39] trial program, then it it can it can
grow.
[1:57:43] Uh but I I I I believe that, you know,
given the opportunity to really see what
[1:57:48] it looks like with a small number is
better for for the community. If it's
[1:57:52] good, it's not going anywhere. Unless
you're going to lose lose your grant
[1:57:56] fund and because you don't have enough
out there. Outside of that, I think, you
[1:58:00] know, for our community what we're
trying to see, 10 is a good number.
[1:58:06] » Okay, I'll bring that back. We we just
have an opportunity to bring it, you
[1:58:09] know, now, which is great through the
>> Well, right. And but but
[1:58:12] » And I think that the like the e-cabs
when they were here, we they piloted
[1:58:15] those. Those were really successful,
too. I think that the town is like ready
[1:58:19] for something like that, you know. I
think they're
[1:58:21] » Uh I mean, I'm sure, maybe. But again,
with something like this this is
[1:58:25] something worth right trying. We don't
want to flood the streets with e-bikes
[1:58:29] and then not be successful,
>> Absolutely. And this is the way like
[1:58:33] Metro mobility, these bikes are way
scalable. They're really smaller and not
[1:58:38] like a big system like Capital Metro has
with the Lyft bikes.
[1:58:41] And that's why we kind of went with this
option. So, it's a little bit smaller.
[1:58:45] If it's successful, then it's easier to
add on to. So.
[1:58:49] I agree. Start small.
>> All right. Thank you.
[1:58:52] » Thank you.
>> All right.
[1:58:57] Oh, okay.
>> So, what you talked about the pilot
[1:59:00] program last year and year,
and if we find within 3 months that this
[1:59:05] is
absolutely not working for our town, can
[1:59:08] we go ahead and terminate then, or do we
have to go the full year?
[1:59:11] » Um I would be comfortable up Dana, I'm
going to let you know, I would be
[1:59:14] comfortable terminating then because I
don't want to persist in it it truly it
[1:59:18] has to work for the community. Um and
that's just where I stand.
[1:59:22] » Okay.
>> And and Viviane, I know I appreciate
[1:59:25] your um
being heading this because I know you
[1:59:29] have a huge concern for the community.
And I know that your um your priority
[1:59:36] is what works for our community. So, I I
appreciate you doing this, too. Thank
[1:59:40] you.
>> Yep, thank you. All right. Council?
[1:59:45] » So, I'll uh I'll make a motion. Um
first, I'll start by motioning to
[1:59:50] approve uh this item, but also to give
staff direction
[1:59:54] uh
to include uh sign at the pod at both
[1:59:59] locations specifying what areas are
off-limits,
[2:00:02] uh that we have simple license, you
know, plate type thing stickers on both
[2:00:06] sides for
uh identification of the bike when
[2:00:09] someone's riding it, that CARTS would be
responsible for retrieval of the bikes,
[2:00:12] and that they be geo-fenced
appropriately to keep them out of the
[2:00:15] parks.
[2:00:18] » Second.
>> They have a motion, do we have a second?
[2:00:21] » Yeah, I did a second.
>> I'd like to
[2:00:24] » Go ahead, counselor. Go ahead.
>> Can I ask for an amendment for your
[2:00:27] motion? So, and I I I appreciate those
inclusions, Mayor Pro Tem. Could we also
[2:00:33] include that they must be um
as we said,
[2:00:38] only docked in the either the docking
stations, which would be an amazing if
[2:00:42] they would bring them back, but only the
bike racks. They can't be
[2:00:46] » Okay.
>> left in you know, downtown we don't have
[2:00:48] any parking
So, please don't put them in a parking
[2:00:51] only the bike racks nowhere else in the
bike racks and only allowed to go where
[2:00:55] cars can go.
>> Okay.
[2:00:57] Okay, yes, I will accept that. Yes. All
right.
[2:01:02] Okay.
Okay.
[2:01:05] We have a motion, we have an amendment,
we have a motion and a second. All in
[2:01:08] favor?
>> Aye.
[2:01:10] » All opposed?
All right, consent agenda 8B passes
[2:01:13] unanimous.
All right. Consent agenda 8F.
[2:01:18] Consider and act on the resolution
number R-2026-86
[2:01:22] to award $30,000 hotel occupancy tax
incentive grant to Hyatt Regency Lost
[2:01:28] Pines Resort and Spa to secure the Nike
FY 29 North American Coaches Conference
[2:01:34] in September 2028.
[2:01:38] Hello, Michaela.
>> Hello.
[2:01:41] Do you mean the wait for what I got
pulled for?
[2:01:44] » Yes.
>> Okay, yes.
[2:01:45] » Oh, and I talked with Michaela about
this earlier. The staff report uh the
[2:01:49] fiscal impact section and every whereas
section
[2:01:53] and the grant is kept at 30,000, right?
But the resolution title clause says
[2:01:57] authorizing the use of hotel occupancy
tax funds in the amount of not to exceed
[2:02:00] $50,000. It's $20,000 discrepancy. So, I
just want to make sure that we're not
[2:02:05] exposed to a larger obligation than
necessary.
[2:02:08] » Yes, yes, the correct amount is 30,000.
So, there was an error in the
[2:02:13] What was that called again?
>> Resolution.
[2:02:15] » Reso- the top clause.
>> The yeah, the title clause.
[2:02:18] » The the title clause. There we go. I'm
learning new terms. Um so, yes, that did
[2:02:21] say 50,000. The correct number is
30,000. So, everywhere else in the staff
[2:02:26] report and the rest of the resolution
reflects 30,000
[2:02:30] not 50,000.
>> Yes. So, I just wanted to
[2:02:35] to clarify that make sure that was on
the record.
[2:02:39] All right.
[2:02:41] » Motion to approve.
>> Move to with
[2:02:43] uh
with the uh
[2:02:45] changing the 50,000 to 30,000 in the
title clause.
[2:02:50] Second.
All right.
[2:02:52] » Thank you.
>> Mayor pro tem Kirkland, do you have
[2:02:54] something to say?
>> Yeah, I just I want to point out the
[2:02:57] arithmetic. It's pretty simple, but
uh 2,081 room nights at $329 a night is
[2:03:03] 600 something thousand dollars.
And the hot funds that we will collect
[2:03:07] on that is roughly $48,000.
And so they're asking us to grant them
[2:03:13] in this
uh case 30,000 of that $48,000.
[2:03:18] Uh it's actually very unusual for us to
get hot fund requests that have a
[2:03:23] positive ROI.
Uh even something like Corvian invasion
[2:03:26] might be a one to 10, meaning we give
them 25,000 and we receive 2,500.
[2:03:31] » Right.
>> Uh
[2:03:33] and so uh it it anyway, uh this kind of
uh ask is extremely defensible because
[2:03:39] it actually has a positive ROI even
though we would be granting them funds.
[2:03:43] I just wanted to point that out because
it's
[2:03:47] compelling.
>> I also wanted to note if I can um
[2:03:50] Mayor pro tem Kirkland brought up to me
um previously I brought these forward to
[2:03:54] you guys and something that is very
important in the hot world is that we
[2:03:58] follow a two-part test, if you will. So,
the first part of when we kind of gauge
[2:04:02] these hot applications um is one that
they're directly impacting the hotel
[2:04:08] convention industry. So, this is
obviously doing that, but then it also
[2:04:11] falls under the second part and that
being category three, which is direct um
[2:04:16] promotion or solicitation to bring group
bookings into town. So, this this is
[2:04:20] falling under that category three as
well.
[2:04:23] » All right.
Thank you. All right, so we have a
[2:04:26] motion and a second. All in favor?
>> Aye.
[2:04:29] » All opposed?
All right, consent agenda 8F passes
[2:04:34] unanimous. Council, do we have any other
consent agendas that we like to pull?
[2:04:40] All right.
>> Move to approve the balance of the
[2:04:42] consent agenda.
>> And we have a ordinance.
[2:04:44] » an ordinance, sorry. Yes, sir.
[2:04:48] » Uh
All right.
[2:04:51] 8E, consider an act to approve the first
reading of ordinance number 2026-25
[2:04:57] of the City Council of Bastrop
Texas approving the fiscal year 2027
[2:05:03] annual service plan update including
provisions related to assessments for
[2:05:06] the Val Verde Public Improvement
District approving a fiscal year 2026
[2:05:11] through 2027 assessment role for the
district and to move to include on the
[2:05:16] July 28th, 2026 City Council consent
agenda for the second reading.
[2:05:25] Oh, I I We just had to read it. I We're
not calling you up. I just It's a It's a
[2:05:30] You're You're good. I just had to read
it because it's an ordinance. Now, if
[2:05:33] you want to come up here and brag about
it, then you come on up here, but we're
[2:05:38] good. Council?
>> Move to approve the balance of the
[2:05:40] consent agenda.
>> All right. We have a motion and a
[2:05:43] second. All in favor?
>> Aye.
[2:05:46] » All opposed? All right. That ordinance
passes unanimous.
[2:05:52] All right.
Council?
[2:05:55] The remainder uh agenda items
consent agenda uh 8A
[2:06:03] 8C, 8D
8G, 8H
[2:06:10] » My motion was for the rest of the
consent agenda.
[2:06:12] » Okay. I just want to just make sure
we're good. We have a motion and a
[2:06:15] second.
All right. All in favor?
[2:06:18] » Aye.
>> All opposed?
[2:06:20] All right. The rest of the consent
agenda uh pass unanimous. All right. On
[2:06:24] to agenda item nine, 9A, consider and
act on a resolution number 2026-110
[2:06:30] in support of Chief Monick
and her various accomplishments and
[2:06:34] contribution to the Bastrop Police
Department. Madam City Manager,
[2:06:38] » Uh thank you, Mayor. This is a staff
member who
[2:06:42] rarely likes to be in the limelight,
rarely. So, put her in the limelight
[2:06:48] right now and she's giving me looks to
kill and I'll hear about it tomorrow at
[2:06:51] the staff meeting. I just want you guys
to know that.
[2:06:54] Um Chief Saphanic was one of my very
first promotions when I got here and it
[2:07:00] was very clear that she was quite
capable, not only capable, but actually
[2:07:04] enjoyed the job.
Policing is often a very thankless job,
[2:07:09] even in as supportive a city as Bastrop
is. Our officers are there day in day
[2:07:16] out day in and day out in the heat, in
the cold, very much like our other first
[2:07:21] responders, except these folks, they
kind of take it in the shin quite a bit.
[2:07:25] They've got to deal with not only our
our local law enforcement, they've got
[2:07:29] to deal with transporting criminals,
etc. and I don't think they get thanked
[2:07:33] enough. There are very few female police
chiefs in the country. The number is
[2:07:39] growing, but obviously I am glad that
our police chief is a female and she
[2:07:43] leads a wonderful um team. So, some of
their highlights, she's had seven
[2:07:49] promotions since January 2025. That
means growing a good team from within.
[2:07:54] They've put in 12,578
training hours since January 2025 for
[2:08:00] their sworn personnel.
172 training hours since January 2025
[2:08:05] for her civilians.
Five new certification increases since
[2:08:10] November of 2025.
There's been a 77% increase in traffic
[2:08:15] stops in 2025 from 2024.
A 271.4%
[2:08:22] increase in grand jury indictments from
23 to 25 year over year.
[2:08:27] That's a testament to the work the
detectives do. That's a testament to the
[2:08:31] work the staff does to be able to get
the district attorney a good case to get
[2:08:35] the grand jury to indict. And her
turnover rate, it was very high when I
[2:08:40] got here. If you recall, we did some
some house cleaning. There was a lot of
[2:08:45] they and them conversation in the upper
leadership. She has turned that turnover
[2:08:49] turnover rate from 12% to 3%.
And so for that and her countless hours
[2:08:56] of dedication, I want to recognize Chief
Stephanie for her endless contributions
[2:09:02] to the Bastrop community.
[2:09:17] » Okay, just real quick before before you
say anything.
[2:09:23] So,
>> She's not a woman of many words. She's
[2:09:26] not a
>> Oh, I I know. This this I know. So,
[2:09:30] um
I don't recall when you started on the
[2:09:33] department here in Bastrop, but
um like 2020 right after COVID had kind
[2:09:40] of kicked off is when I first had the
opportunity to to have some engagement
[2:09:44] with you. I had been invited to uh
community meetings between
[2:09:49] um
different people in the city and the
[2:09:53] police department. Do you remember
those?
[2:09:55] » Yes, I do actually.
>> Nady was here, right? I actually got to
[2:10:00] um do a a whole police simulator where I
was um trying to save hostages hostages
[2:10:07] and and learn how to, you know, not
shoot people or engage. But anyhow, um
[2:10:12] at that time, you know, the conversation
was
[2:10:15] um you know, what can they do to improve
the relationships
[2:10:20] with people in the city.
And and know, and I'm truly grateful
[2:10:26] that you're still around, still doing
that. Well, like that's when I remember
[2:10:30] you being a part of the initiative. Do
you remember what I said to you way back
[2:10:33] then? Probably not. So,
um
[2:10:37] like I would see you see you around town
and what I said to you that day would
[2:10:41] would really help is if you smiled more.
>> Oh, yeah.
[2:10:45] » Because you you looked you looked so
serious and intimidating back then. And
[2:10:50] you smile a whole whole heck of a lot
more now.
[2:10:53] Um but I I truly am thankful uh for
everything you do, everything you do for
[2:10:59] the department. Um from my uh
experiences and conversations or just
[2:11:04] being around your officers, they all
truly enjoy you being here. They enjoy
[2:11:09] being up under your leadership. Um you
have been a tremendous asset to the
[2:11:14] department, to our city. Um and helped
make a lot of changes. Uh when things
[2:11:20] have been presented to you, you work
effortlessly and tirelessly to make
[2:11:24] things right, to get us the answers that
we need. I know you truly care. Uh I
[2:11:28] know you're not a lady of many words.
But um
[2:11:32] you know, you don't have to be at times
when it shines so bright in what you
[2:11:36] really care about. And so it's been a
pleasure knowing you over these years
[2:11:40] and getting to know you a little better.
And uh I really truly appreciate your
[2:11:43] leadership.
>> Thank you, Mayor.
[2:11:48] » Council member Meyer.
>> May I make you blush a little more
[2:11:51] there, Chief?
I just want to say rarely, rarely,
[2:11:55] rarely do do uh we ever get told 100
100% of the people that I've talked to
[2:12:02] that have ever mentioned you, 100%
have said how exceptional you are at
[2:12:08] your job. And I'm talking about from our
district attorney down to the people in
[2:12:12] this town that usually are not telling
me the best things about anything in
[2:12:17] this town, but come come you and and
then our chief of police, you are the
[2:12:22] exception and you are exceptional and I
just want to say thank you so much. We
[2:12:25] are lucky to have you and and we look
forward to many many many more years of
[2:12:30] you serving our great community. Thank
you.
[2:12:32] » Thank you, ma'am.
[2:12:36] » All right.
Council, do we have anything else?
[2:12:40] We should let her talk.
>> Yes.
[2:12:41] » Yeah.
>> Very few words. Uh
[2:12:44] well, I I I do want to say that I really
do appreciate and our department
[2:12:49] appreciates the support of council and
our city manager and the rest of the
[2:12:53] staff and the community, most
importantly the community,
[2:12:56] uh for our department and although I uh
I do appreciate the recognition, it all
[2:13:02] ultimately comes back to the people that
work within the department. Um and they
[2:13:07] also put forth all of their effort in
everything that they do. Now, there's
[2:13:11] always room for improvement and we all
know that, but um
[2:13:15] only when we fail can we also move
forward and learn from that experience.
[2:13:20] » Amen.
>> Um and so I do appreciate everything and
[2:13:23] especially the staff. Semper Fidelis.
[2:13:39] » All right. Motion to approve.
>> Second.
[2:13:43] » All in favor?
>> Aye.
[2:13:45] » All opposed?
All right.
[2:13:48] That uh
momentous appreciation is
[2:13:53] unanimously approved through council.
[2:13:57] All right. 9B, consider and act on to
approve ordinance number 2026-24
[2:14:04] providing funds for paying contractual
obligations incurred or to be incurred
[2:14:10] for one construction and designing,
acquiring, including acquiring land,
[2:14:14] easements, and right-of-way, and
equipment of city's water and wastewater
[2:14:17] system, including water, wastewater
plant number three, and two, payment of
[2:14:23] professional services in connection
therewith, including legal, engineering,
[2:14:28] architectural, and fiscal fees, and the
cost of issuing the certificates.
[2:14:33] » Judy.
>> Good evening, everyone.
[2:14:36] Hope everyone's doing well today.
>> Yes, ma'am.
[2:14:39] » We had a bond sale.
And I just wanted to remind everyone you
[2:14:44] just mentioned it.
The purpose of the bond is to plan
[2:14:48] an early development of a new wastewater
treatment plant to serve the ETJ area.
[2:14:56] And also to put in place some new water
technology that creates a revenue stream
[2:15:01] generating effluent and potable water
for sale to industry.
[2:15:07] And so, in attendance today, we have our
bond counsel, Bart Fowler, and our
[2:15:12] financial advisor, Dan Wig Miller, and
they're going to speak on the sale. And
[2:15:17] it went great.
>> All right, awesome.
[2:15:21] » Thank you, Judy.
Mayor and Council, as Judy said, the the
[2:15:26] sale went off this morning,
and the results are are before you.
[2:15:31] These CEOs were rated double A minus
stable outlook by Standard & Poor's.
[2:15:37] I think one thing to note, the bids all
came in as it shown just before 11:00
[2:15:42] a.m. this morning. Of the five bidders,
they had the option to bid with or
[2:15:48] without insurance, which would make them
a double A rating by virtue of
[2:15:52] insurance, but in this case,
two bidders chose not to do that, and
[2:15:58] that would be at their own cost. One of
those being the Baker Group, which meant
[2:16:04] a lower interest rate to the city of
4.434%
[2:16:09] Uh you may recall when you sold uh some
debt at the end of last year, the Baker
[2:16:14] Group was the buyer of that debt as
well, and part of what makes their bid
[2:16:19] so strong this time, like last time, is
uh their clients are local banks and
[2:16:25] regional banks that they really support
the city, see the quality of obligation
[2:16:31] that you're putting forth. And so,
again, it results in a a stronger bid,
[2:16:36] and and that's who we recommend to
accept the bid from today. Uh Bart
[2:16:41] Fowler is here to answer any questions
you have on the ordinance itself, uh but
[2:16:47] otherwise, the recommendation is uh to
accept the Baker Group bid within the
[2:16:51] ordinance if you choose to move forward.
>> Mayor and Council, I wanted to let you
[2:16:56] know that partner is First National
Bank.
[2:17:00] So, we talk about keeping things local,
we talk about putting your money where
[2:17:04] your mouth is, we talk about how you can
support the city.
[2:17:09] That's a prime example.
[2:17:15] » Council.
[2:17:18] » Motion to approve.
>> Second.
[2:17:21] » Uh motion and second, all in favor?
>> Aye.
[2:17:23] » Uh wait a minute, we have some comments.
Discussion. Council member Fausler.
[2:17:29] » I just had one question about the Can I
ask a question now even though we're in
[2:17:32] discussion?
>> Yes.
[2:17:33] » Okay.
>> Yes.
[2:17:34] » Um
if they did not choose to have the
[2:17:37] certificates insured, so they are
assuming all the risk, or what does that
[2:17:40] mean for I know I know it means a lower
rate for us, what does it mean for them
[2:17:44] and for
>> That is That means they're not using to
[2:17:47] elect a third-party insurance company
that would be um
[2:17:52] in the event of default or non-payment,
uh that they would be a layer in
[2:17:56] between. So, they're relying 100% on
this their their trust and confidence in
[2:18:01] the city to make your payments.
>> Okay, how often does that happen?
[2:18:04] » You know, when when there's an
opportunity to bid because the insurance
[2:18:08] companies get pretty aggressive and
don't charge a lot for that insurance.
[2:18:13] So, I think in this case you had three
that chose to bid with it
[2:18:17] because it was nominal in their mind,
but the Baker Group saw it as an
[2:18:22] opportunity to give that benefit back to
you all. So, it it's not super common to
[2:18:27] see some choose not to bid. I think it's
because the local bank
[2:18:32] » Okay, yeah, it seemed significant enough
to ask about. Thank you. Okay,
[2:18:38] » Mayor pro tem Kirkland, uh question uh
I guess for all the legal people in the
[2:18:43] room.
Um
[2:18:45] the
ordinance, is this an Yeah, it's
[2:18:49] probably an ordinance.
Um it has an underline for aggregate
[2:18:52] principal amount in section one in the
recitals. So, there's no actual number
[2:18:56] there. Do we need to state a number in
order for this to be legitimate?
[2:19:00] » So,
the with the bids coming in this
[2:19:03] morning, they were posted at $11
million.
[2:19:05] » Okay.
>> They bid within with a premium that they
[2:19:09] were paying in addition to that. So, the
par amount of bonds were adjusted down
[2:19:13] this morning to 10 million 885,
which will be the number that goes in
[2:19:18] there.
>> Okay.
[2:19:19] » And the um
proceeds will still be the 11 million
[2:19:23] that you need to fund.
>> Okay, but my question is is do we need
[2:19:27] to make a
uh
[2:19:30] in our motion, do we need to put that
number in or is it okay without that?
[2:19:34] » Sure, for the record I'm Bart Fellon
with McCall Parkerson Horton. It's a
[2:19:37] pleasure to see you all again. Uh that
document has been updated. Probably not
[2:19:40] in time to get it in your agenda packet,
but we do have that number included now.
[2:19:44] Uh typically in these situations when
numbers come in this morning, we don't
[2:19:46] get the we get the document prepared,
but not always inserted in your agenda
[2:19:49] packet. Uh I think the appropriate
motion would be to accept as presented.
[2:19:54] When Dan wrote over the numbers he just
described, that's part that could be
[2:19:56] part of your motion. So, if you say as
presented, uh that will include
[2:19:59] everything in the ordinance itself,
which has already been done, but it'll
[2:20:02] button it up, I think, for your motion
and action tonight.
[2:20:04] » Okay. And then, should we specify the
Baker Group in the motion?
[2:20:08] » It's in there as well. It's also in the
ordinance already. I think I think it's
[2:20:10] in section number
It's all been included.
[2:20:13] » Correct.
>> I believe it's in the dais for you.
[2:20:15] » Madam City Manager, yeah, we have this
right here.
[2:20:19] » It's a little bit lengthy.
What what is this section?
[2:20:24] » Oh, well, then that's not
No, we don't have it. But, um so, then
[2:20:28] uh in just to be clear on the motion, um
can we make it so that it is approved as
[2:20:35] presented
as a
[2:20:38] as an amendment?
>> Yes.
[2:20:41] Well,
who made the motion?
[2:20:46] » Was it me? Yes, you made the motion,
Council.
[2:20:48] » I'm sure.
>> Yeah, positive positive.
[2:20:52] You want us to hit the rewind on you?
[2:20:56] » Okay, cool.
[2:21:00] » I'll second.
>> Second came from Councilmember Lowe.
[2:21:05] » Mayor Mayor Councilmember Meyer made the
motion.
[2:21:08] » Oh, she did. Oh.
>> Yes.
[2:21:10] » all wrong.
We were all wrong.
[2:21:13] Rewind the tape. Man, we need instant
replay.
[2:21:16] » Yes, I will accept that. Yes.
>> Okay. Sounds good. Mayor Pro Tem
[2:21:20] Kirkland, you have anything else you'd
like to still on?
[2:21:22] » That's it.
>> Okay.
[2:21:25] All right, we have a motion and we have
a second.
[2:21:27] All in favor?
>> Aye.
[2:21:29] » All opposed?
All right, thank you.
[2:21:33] Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
All right.
[2:21:40] Let's see here. Agenda item 9C, consider
and act to approve Thank you, gentlemen.
[2:21:46] Um
consider and act to approve the first
[2:21:49] reading of ordinance number 2026-2
City Council of city of Bastrop, Texas,
[2:21:54] amending the operating and capital
budget for the fiscal year 2026 in
[2:21:58] accordance with the existing statutory
requirements, appropriating the various
[2:22:02] amounts herein as attached
as exhibit A, repealing all prior
[2:22:08] ordinances and actions in conflict
herewith, establishing an effective
[2:22:12] date, and move to include in the July
28, 2026 city council consent agenda for
[2:22:18] a second reading.
[2:22:23] » Judy Sandercock
>> Judy Sandercock
[2:22:26] » Finance director
>> We're ready for you again.
[2:22:28] » Thank you so much. And so, this is a
little housekeeping budget item that we
[2:22:32] need to get the budget on our
financials.
[2:22:35] And it was for the purchase of 804 Water
Street for 525k.
[2:22:41] And I did a little budget um
adjustment timeline. Uh February 9th,
[2:22:47] BEDC authorized the purchase. February
10th, it was the first reading here at
[2:22:53] council. March 24th, second reading. And
then we purchased on May 6th.
[2:23:02] I stand by for questions.
>> Council?
[2:23:06] All right. Would anyone like to make a
motion?
[2:23:09] » Motion to approve.
>> Second.
[2:23:10] » You have a motion and a second. All in
favor?
[2:23:12] » Aye.
>> All opposed?
[2:23:14] All right, passes unanimously. Thank
you.
[2:23:17] » Judy, appreciate it. All right, agenda
9D, conduct a public hearing
[2:23:22] to consider and act on the first reading
of ordinance number 2026-20
[2:23:28] to amend the chapter 10 of the code of
ordinances subdivisions shown in
[2:23:33] exhibits A through C A through C, and
move to include in the July 28, 2026
[2:23:38] city council consent agenda for the
second reading.
[2:23:41] Doc Kelly.
>> Mayor and council, thank you. What I
[2:23:44] want to be sure that Brittany and fellow
staff London O'Cole actually gets
[2:23:48] wrapped doing that. They
not able to make tonight, but they did
[2:23:51] all the heavy lifting on this
specifically Brittany on putting all
[2:23:53] this together.
Michael
[2:23:56] is part of this is this is part of the
BDC code updates we promised as we new
[2:24:00] things come in, questions come in, new
applications come in, we'll go back and
[2:24:04] tweak the code as needed based on
requests of the public, variances, etc.
[2:24:09] The purpose of these amendments is to
address different areas. This amend
[2:24:13] chapter 10 subdivision regulations
to address platting and subdivision
[2:24:17] administration issues of identified
during our code implementation.
[2:24:22] It provides clearer procedures and
reduce unnecessary platting barriers for
[2:24:25] existing developed properties.
Supports reinvestment in established
[2:24:29] areas and recognize Bastrop's older
development patterns.
[2:24:33] It also adds a commercial infill
platting exemption and a process for
[2:24:36] existing tracking one lot plats.
It also clarifies subdivision waiver
[2:24:41] procedures and distinguish them from
zoning variances.
[2:24:46] Exhibit Exhibit A, this is what we're
talking about commercial infill platting
[2:24:50] and these are basically what we have as
typical older city has. It's not the big
[2:24:54] areas around the boundaries. These
internal lots.
[2:24:57] It creates a platting exemption for
existing developed commercial tracks
[2:25:02] where no new lot lines are being
created, no boundary changes, streets,
[2:25:06] or public infrastructure upgrades are
required.
[2:25:09] It supports limited commercial
reinvestment again working with EDC and
[2:25:13] re-redevelopment
without requiring a full platting
[2:25:16] process where there is no subdivision or
infrastructure impact.
[2:25:21] Removes unnecessary procedures barriers
for small-scale commercial improvements.
[2:25:26] It maintains platting requirements for
projects involving new lots, boundary
[2:25:31] changes, public improvements, and
infrastructure upgrades.
[2:25:35] So that's on A.
B is working with existing track one lot
[2:25:40] plats.
Add to process for platting. again these
[2:25:43] are existing unplatted lots. Normally we
call this tracts.
[2:25:47] Either they do not meet current minimum
lot size or width standards. If you
[2:25:50] remember we came back and had a 1/3 acre
requirements. These are kind of existing
[2:25:54] infill lots that were never officially
platted.
[2:25:56] It again recognizes our old development
patterns where hopefully these lots kind
[2:26:01] of blend with existing lots in that
neighborhood
[2:26:03] where many tracts were created before
current subdivision and zoning
[2:26:07] requirements.
It
[2:26:09] allows existing tracts to be brought
into platted status without changing
[2:26:13] boundaries or further dividing the
property.
[2:26:17] It helps avoid unnecessary variances
while allowing reasonable use of
[2:26:20] existing properties.
That was on B and then this is exhibit
[2:26:25] C, subdivision waivers, renamed
subdivision where variances as
[2:26:31] subdivision waivers to better match
subdivision regulations.
[2:26:35] It clarifies that subdivision waivers
are reviewed by City Council
[2:26:39] while zoning variances are reviewed by
the ZBA, Zoning Board of Adjustment.
[2:26:44] Requires requested associate waiver
request to serve with a plat to be
[2:26:49] included in the same public notice as a
plat. So if somebody's requesting a
[2:26:52] plat, we need to add also add advertise
the waiver request.
[2:26:57] And it also ensures that surrounding
property owners and the public are
[2:27:00] informed of both the plat and the
requested waiver. So if there's a
[2:27:04] something out of the normal, the
public's also aware that applicant's
[2:27:07] request.
So that's kind of again a quick overview
[2:27:11] of that. I've pretty straightforward
again is cleaning up language, trying to
[2:27:14] work with existing field lots and get
them back in the system.
[2:27:20] Any questions?
[2:27:26] » Councilmember Fossler.
>> Thanks. I do have one question. I did
[2:27:29] not catch when I was reading
uh
[2:27:34] Yes, this one right here, for second
bullet.
[2:27:37] subdivision waivers go to council, so
zoning variances go straight to ZBA now.
[2:27:44] And they don't And zoning variances
meaning not zone change requests.
[2:27:48] » No, so what would be an example we've
again ZBA's again thank you all for your
[2:27:51] support. We're still trying to get full
members as touched on earlier. We've had
[2:27:54] a couple of them lot coverage, setbacks,
etc.
[2:27:57] » Okay.
>> So they're hearing specific to the facts
[2:28:00] over to requirements. Again, such as lot
coverage, setbacks, driveways, those are
[2:28:05] some of the recent cases.
>> will still come to us.
[2:28:07] » Yes.
>> After P&Z.
[2:28:09] » Yeah, it's just a variance to the
ordinance.
[2:28:11] » Thanks. I just wanted to understand.
Thank you.
[2:28:13] » And a subdivision waiver um to you guys
because the subdivision is a part of the
[2:28:17] platting process and the plat is
ministerial if it's automatically
[2:28:21] approved and normally a minor change to
a plat it is just that is an agreement
[2:28:26] that it's a ministerial process and it's
going to get approved.
[2:28:33] » All right. Council, do we have any more
statements, questions, comments?
[2:28:38] All right, do we have a motion?
>> Motion to approve.
[2:28:41] Oh, public
>> Okay.
[2:28:42] » Oh yeah, sorry. Thank you. Thank you cuz
it is
[2:28:44] So it's now now I'm
it's 6:58 and we're going to open up the
[2:28:48] floor for a public hearing. Do we have
anyone that like to speak?
[2:28:52] All right. Now we're going to close the
public hearing. Okay, council, do we
[2:28:56] have any further discussion before we
make the motion?
[2:28:59] All right. Do we have a motion?
And we have a second.
[2:29:04] » I'll second.
>> Second? All right.
[2:29:09] All in favor?
>> I.
[2:29:10] » All opposed?
[2:29:14] No.
All right, thank y'all.
[2:29:17] Sorry about that.
All right.
[2:29:21] Agenda item
9E, conduct a public hearing to consider
[2:29:26] and act on the first reading of
ordinance number 2026 as 23 to the city
[2:29:30] of council to amend chapter 14 of the
code of
[2:29:34] the master development code as shown in
exhibits AH
[2:29:38] and move to include in the July 28th,
2026 city council consent agenda for the
[2:29:43] second reading.
>> Dr. Allen.
[2:29:45] » Again, Mayor and Council, thank you.
Same as the previous items, this is
[2:29:48] ongoing cleanup by staff of stuff we see
as we go forward through implementing
[2:29:53] the new BDC.
Um,
[2:29:56] was again the original document was
adopted in April 14th, 2026, so I think
[2:30:01] it's pretty good turnaround. You'll see
it on a regular basis every couple
[2:30:05] months as we see stuff we need to bring
before you, P&Z and you,
[2:30:08] kind of cleaning things up.
Because the code is new, staff
[2:30:12] anticipated a need for periodic
amendments to clarify language, correct
[2:30:16] issues, and improve administration. And
again, I'm going to stress this is all
[2:30:20] done at staff level, no third party, so
no additional cost there.
[2:30:24] Staff is tracking variance
administrative relief requests, identify
[2:30:28] recurring issues,
and recommend targeted code amendments
[2:30:31] when appropriate.
Proposed amendments respond to specific
[2:30:35] application inquiries, including
residential driveways,
[2:30:38] accessory dwelling units, sign
regulations, permitted uses, notice
[2:30:43] requirements, and procedural
clarification.
[2:30:46] Infill provisions are proposed to allow
limited administrative flexibility for
[2:30:50] dimensional standards, helping new
development remain compatible with
[2:30:55] established neighborhood patterns. And
again, the keywords on the previous
[2:30:58] situation was these in fill lots we're
trying to work with on residential and
[2:31:02] commercial aspects.
[2:31:07] Um,
so here's some examples for sake of
[2:31:10] time. We had made two applications back
on the question a while ago, um,
[2:31:14] to exceed maximum impervious cover in
mixed use.
[2:31:18] Um, tabled, denied by ZBA, request for
second driveway on a residential lot on
[2:31:24] a similar circular or
Again, there's requirements that have to
[2:31:28] be met showing the justification of the
variance. In this case on the driveway,
[2:31:32] it was an issue with a
issue with line of sight, etc.
[2:31:36] Of June, we had a request to exceed
maximum size for an ADU in the rural
[2:31:40] zone and district on 120-acre property.
That's going to be at the July 16th
[2:31:44] upcoming meeting this Thursday.
And a request for a menu board to be
[2:31:49] electronic for fast food through,
specifically the new McDonald's.
[2:31:56] And then
amendment one, exhibit A, is pretty
[2:32:00] straightforward. What we did, if you all
remember part of our zoning, we really
[2:32:03] clarified this area as parks and open
space district intent. It's clarifying
[2:32:09] that that specific zoning category is
this city-owned property.
[2:32:13] It's not private parks within a
subdivision, privately owned by a
[2:32:17] developer or the HOA. So, this is really
just clarifying this parks and open
[2:32:21] space is this city-owned property.
[2:32:27] And also as kind of again, I'm going
fast, overlooking some stuff, it's also
[2:32:30] identified for future parkland
dedication.
[2:32:34] This is contextual infill development.
Of kind of gives us the flexibility to
[2:32:39] look again, the goal is to work with
these existing internal lots
[2:32:42] to allow certain dimensional standards
such as setbacks, lot size, lot width,
[2:32:47] frontage build lines, height to matching
existing neighborhood plans.
[2:32:52] Exception is to a minimum of 20%
adjustment to the code requirements
[2:32:57] and must be supported by comparable
neighbor nearby development patterns.
[2:33:02] Does not apply to impervious cover
because that affects drainage, density,
[2:33:06] flood plain, drainage, fire access,
building codes, easements, parkland
[2:33:11] dedication,
other improvements. Again, more life
[2:33:14] safety, drainage concerns.
Request that exceed the criteria created
[2:33:19] adverse impacts would also require ZBA
review through the appeal of variance
[2:33:23] process.
So, basically going back on this, what
[2:33:26] it does, if you have an infill lot,
it allows us to kind of work with the
[2:33:30] side setbacks, front setbacks based on
the neighboring property.
[2:33:36] C is just clarifying these different We
had school and nursery child care. We
[2:33:41] clarified these are for commercial
schools, nursery to child cares.
[2:33:45] And restricted our licensed child care
at home. There's these certain
[2:33:50] categories that the state require things
like six 12 or six less children that
[2:33:54] they're are permitted as a neighborhood
child. So, this basically identifying
[2:33:58] commercial from residential daycares.
[2:34:03] Driveway, this is the one that again we
had a case on and have had several
[2:34:06] discussions.
It updates the driveway standards to
[2:34:09] create a concrete concrete drive
approach for new connections to public
[2:34:12] right-of-way consistent with our design
manual. So, that's the portion from the
[2:34:16] street up to the property line.
But then again, once you get up on the
[2:34:19] property, it allows alternative driveway
surfaces on private property including
[2:34:24] asphalt, pavers, permit pavers,
stabilized gravel, crushed stone,
[2:34:29] decomposed granite or other all approved
weather surfaces.
[2:34:33] It provides more flexibility for
homeowners to park vehicles while
[2:34:36] maintaining standards for dust, erosion,
and material tracking.
[2:34:41] It allows up to residentials up to two
residential driveway access points when
[2:34:47] frontage and spacing requirements are
met. And basically that's a lot 70 ft or
[2:34:52] wider.
Includes similar circle driveways or
[2:34:55] circle driveways on larger lots.
Maintains a maximum combined width of 36
[2:35:00] ft and add current clearances
far from the B3 code. So, again,
[2:35:05] basically these lots that are 70 ft or
wider that want to do two driveways
[2:35:08] where there's two different points of
access or create a circular driveway
[2:35:12] under the current code we adopted only
allowed one approach. So, that that
[2:35:16] gives us option. Again, that was a one
of the previous variances that came up.
[2:35:24] ADU, this is kind of a always a fun one
to do because you look at different
[2:35:28] things. We had square footage, we had
these different categories. What we're
[2:35:32] proposing here removes the maximum
square footage
[2:35:35] cuz you have so many
variables of a quarter acre lot to 100
[2:35:39] acre lot.
Removes the maximum square footage for
[2:35:42] accessory dwelling units and instead
limits ADU to 60% of the dwelling
[2:35:48] primary primary dwelling size. So, we're
going to look at the footprint of the
[2:35:51] primary structure, total footprint, and
your ADU cannot exceed 60% of that.
[2:35:58] It provides more flexibility for larger
lots and larger primary homes while
[2:36:03] keeping the ADU accessory to the main
structure. Again, it's a key and ADU
[2:36:07] should be an accessory to the primary
structure and smaller in size and that's
[2:36:12] what we're proposing just a flat 60%.
Responds to a variance request while
[2:36:17] existing cap created unnecessary
limitation on large rural residential
[2:36:21] lot.
These ADUs still have to meet all the
[2:36:24] other requirements consisting of
parking, impervious cover, setback,
[2:36:27] utilities, and all other applicable
development standards, building codes,
[2:36:31] fire codes, etc.
[2:36:35] Menu board signs add menu board signs as
an allowable sign type for drive-thru
[2:36:40] establishments. All these new as we're
familiar with all these new restaurants
[2:36:43] and so changing things out and
it's electronic type of sign but it's
[2:36:47] really not a menu board I mean a sign.
You really can't see it from the street.
[2:36:51] Establishes standards for the size,
number, and location of menu board
[2:36:55] signs.
Allows electronic menu board to be meet
[2:36:58] extended again, we want to meet our dark
sky illumination.
[2:37:02] Uh
not oriented directly toward the public
[2:37:05] right away. Again, the intent is just
for a drive-thru for a menu.
[2:37:09] Provides clarity for applicants and
staff while maintaining limits on
[2:37:12] lighting, visible building, and signing
packs.
[2:37:18] And this one is going to clarify in
various procedures.
[2:37:21] Removes the requirements for ZBA
meetings to be held within 45 days of
[2:37:25] applicant submittal.
Allows various public hearings to be
[2:37:28] scheduled after applications are
completed.
[2:37:32] Um and notice requirements are met.
Provides staff time to review applicants
[2:37:37] requesting missing information. And
prepares items for ZBA consideration.
[2:37:43] Maintenance are regular monthly ZBA
meetings while complete applications
[2:37:47] generally scheduled within 4 to 5 weeks.
Continues mail notice to surrounding
[2:37:52] property owners and posted signs on the
property.
[2:37:55] But removes the newspaper notice
requirement.
[2:38:02] And this is a amendment eight, exhibit
H.
[2:38:07] Um up sta- updates zoning those
requirements to align with the recent
[2:38:10] Texas Local Government Code amendments.
It clarifies our timing for newspaper
[2:38:15] notice.
And mail notice before public hearings.
[2:38:19] Establishes development plan approaches
approvals require expire after 1 year if
[2:38:26] no building permit has been applied for.
Allows staff to closely inactive to
[2:38:32] close inactive development plan
application after 6 months with no
[2:38:35] applicant activity.
Help us sure delayed or inactive
[2:38:40] projects are reviewed for concurrent
conditions.
[2:38:43] Adopted standards and applicable
code updates.
[2:38:49] And let me go back. So, on this one, I
apologize real quick last minute. I put
[2:38:52] in front of you guys this other night.
We wanted to clarify some language. If
[2:38:56] you look at page three, and I tried to
tab them for you for sake of time.
[2:39:01] You'll see on page three, there was some
mis- clarification and the ordinance
[2:39:05] said one thing and the exhibit said
another thing. You see at the top of
[2:39:09] page three in red, Exhibit H provides
that site development plans in review,
[2:39:15] and there's the category of review and
issuance.
[2:39:18] Exhibit H also provides that site
development plans in review, such
[2:39:22] applications require expires if no
activity consisting of additional
[2:39:27] information being submitted submitted to
address the review commitments is
[2:39:32] received within a 1-year period. So, the
goal was not to close this any case out
[2:39:36] because they're not taking any activity,
but we have some that are like 2 or 3
[2:39:39] years old, they submit stuff, they never
follow through. So, we keep them up, and
[2:39:44] to clarify activity, we come up with a
review,
[2:39:47] and there's a comment address drainage,
address fire. Activity we'll see that
[2:39:51] applicant addressing
addressing that.
[2:39:56] It's not emails back and forth, we're
working on them. We need to see some
[2:39:59] true action. We give you responses,
respond to our responses again on
[2:40:03] drainage, setbacks, etc. So, that
clarifies that.
[2:40:07] You flip further back, you see in the
body of the
[2:40:10] document towards about four pages from
the back, we mirrored that language, so
[2:40:15] language matches in the ordinance, and
matches in the exhibit.
[2:40:21] And in the very last last page we added
for the far top left or under the box
[2:40:27] for review recommended. So, that's part
of the grammar that was caused that we
[2:40:31] tried to tweak for everybody.
[2:40:34] Any questions?
>> Councilmember Plunkett.
[2:40:37] » Yeah, I just real quick on Amendment 1,
I think it was the very top one. I
[2:40:41] didn't notice it when I was
reading it the first time, but
[2:40:44] » Okay.
>> Um
[2:40:47] you're talking about
Let's see.
[2:40:50] Explain Explain, I guess, the why we're
specifying that city-owned land rather
[2:40:56] than
uh parks, you know, dedicated that were
[2:41:00] like be
specific to a subdivision. I'm just I
[2:41:04] don't want to disincentivize
somebody else taking care of
[2:41:09] public
of a public benefit if if they're so
[2:41:13] inclined.
>> So, we have this existing zoning
[2:41:16] district of parks and open space zoning
that we're clarifying the definition of
[2:41:21] it. So, I I guess I can hear your
question is the goal of this category is
[2:41:26] that's this those areas are city of
Bastrop owned or lands dedicated to the
[2:41:32] city. That means it really identifies we
own that property. So, a neighborhood
[2:41:36] park with an existing plan development
district or in with a B uh uh
[2:41:41] R1 district, that would just be part of
that overall zoning, but it's owned by
[2:41:45] the HOA.
>> Right, but wouldn't that I I just want
[2:41:49] to make sure they still get credit for
>> do. They'll still get credit. The The
[2:41:52] intent is we had a category called civic
space. And so, it was a civic space for
[2:41:58] example, it was a park that's in an HOA.
Is it really civic space? Does everybody
[2:42:02] have access to it? Yes, they still get
credit for park land dedication. Yes,
[2:42:07] all of that. This is really this
category belongs to us.
[2:42:11] » Yeah. Okay. That's fine. I just want to
make sure we weren't
[2:42:14] » Yeah, no, we are not disincentivizing.
No.
[2:42:16] » Thank you.
[2:42:20] Then I'll move to approve.
>> We have a couple more comments. Yeah, we
[2:42:24] we got to have public hearing.
>> Oh, yeah.
[2:42:27] » Yeah, got you back.
[2:42:34] Council member Fossler.
[2:42:38] » I don't have any questions. I just want
to thank you. Thank you
[2:42:43] to Brittany and Chrissy and Coy and
yourself. Um thank This is exactly what
[2:42:47] we wanted. We wanted to see amendments
as soon as there was enough data. And
[2:42:51] so, I just want to thank you for being
so responsive to all the applicants
[2:42:55] going through the process and then also
for anticipating future difficulties and
[2:43:00] handling those right now. Thank you.
Like this document is alive. This code
[2:43:04] is alive. Thank you. It's exactly what
we needed. Appreciate y'all.
[2:43:09] » Mayor Pro Tem Kirkland.
Yes. So, the driveway requirements um
[2:43:15] this amendment came about because we had
a resident on in North Bastrop who
[2:43:20] stopped in front of my house and and
said that he had gotten a code
[2:43:23] enforcement letter
um because he had sort of I don't know
[2:43:27] built maybe it was pavers or maybe it
was just uh
[2:43:31] you know, crushed granite or something
and he was basically pulling up on his
[2:43:34] driveway and then pulling off to the
right side.
[2:43:37] And uh and so I started asking
questions. And so I guess I'm curious
[2:43:42] like how this fixes it. Um not Yeah,
yeah, I'm curious how this fixes it A,
[2:43:48] uh and then also B, what are we doing
with like
[2:43:51] you know, North Hill Street which
doesn't have concrete entrances to any
[2:43:55] of the houses because it's just goes
directly from asphalt to dirt.
[2:44:00] Uh and and so I guess part of my
question is is is this only for new
[2:44:04] development? It is and if it's only
okay.
[2:44:07] » No, it's for and and you're right uh
Mayor Pro Tem Kirkland. I I you brought
[2:44:11] up the issue with the driveway. I I
recall that one. Uh Judy Hoover had the
[2:44:16] issue with the circular drive. So, we're
addressing that one so long as there's
[2:44:20] not a visual obstruction. Um a lot of
these things are to address what exists
[2:44:25] and as infill is coming in, it can match
the built environment.
[2:44:29] » Well, and and I get how, you know,
infill
[2:44:32] you know, maybe you want to require
concrete to the in the right-of-way area
[2:44:37] up to the beginning of their house and
then or not their house but their
[2:44:40] private property and then they can put
whatever they want that's allowed here.
[2:44:44] And I see how we've expanded the list of
services to things besides concrete. I
[2:44:48] Yeah, I totally get that. But you know,
is this going to make houses that have
[2:44:53] been on Hill Street for decades you
know, illegal because they have dirt
[2:44:57] driveway coming off of a
city street with no curb and gutter.
[2:45:02] » No, those those should have always been
existing non-conforming.
[2:45:05] » Okay.
>> never have created a code enforcement
[2:45:08] issue and we we had some of that
conversation already.
[2:45:11] » Okay.
Um
[2:45:14] » Now, it does prevent somebody who's
building on Hill Street on a lot that's
[2:45:18] never been built on
from leaving dirt.
[2:45:22] » No,
and I and I don't have a problem with
[2:45:24] that. I
I'm just trying to see how this change
[2:45:29] fixed the the issue with the gentleman
who pulls up and off to the right of his
[2:45:34] driveway onto another surface if
you know, it's if it's not supposed to
[2:45:39] apply to people that are already
in a home why does this change fix it?
[2:45:44] And and if this change is supposed to
fix it
[2:45:47] you know, why does it not also do things
for people on Hill Street? That's kind
[2:45:50] of the nature of
>> So, first of all, he the the person that
[2:45:53] you're referring to should never have
had a code enforcement issue. Ever.
[2:45:57] Because he's existing non-conforming and
in the rest of the world Doc and I say
[2:46:02] this all the time. In the rest I'm
sorry, I have to laugh quietly about
[2:46:06] that. Because this is an alternate
reality sometimes. In the rest of the
[2:46:10] world flat work doesn't require permit.
And so long as you're within the
[2:46:16] confines of your lot and not causing
extensive drainage issues to somebody
[2:46:21] else, you're fine. And you can park
along that gentleman if I recall was
[2:46:26] parked along his fence at an angle and
that's how it worked. Totally fine. But
[2:46:30] what it did raise for us is you know
what, there are other people like these
[2:46:33] folks back here on Pine who use an
alternate driveway method because it's
[2:46:38] so narrow and they're just those
concrete pads. You know what, that's
[2:46:41] probably better for drainage. We should
probably allow that too. And let's not
[2:46:44] penalize folks for trying to number one,
be better, number two, match the built
[2:46:49] environment, and number three,
doing things we hadn't even thought
[2:46:53] about doing.
>> Mhm.
[2:46:55] Yeah. No, I mean, I think a third of us
up here probably don't have concrete
[2:46:59] drives,
including myself. So, I I I mean, I I
[2:47:02] get why that's useful for people that
are building new ones. So, but anyway,
[2:47:07] thank you.
>> He digresses.
[2:47:10] All right.
It is now
[2:47:15] 9:17. We're going to open the floor for
public hearing. Do we have anyone that
[2:47:19] would wish to speak?
No, we're going to close the public
[2:47:23] hearing.
All right, Council, do we have any
[2:47:26] further discussion?
>> Motion to approve.
[2:47:28] » We have a motion. Do we have a second?
>> We have a motion and a second. Council
[2:47:33] Member Myrick came with the second.
[2:47:39] All right, all in favor?
>> I.
[2:47:41] » I.
>> All opposed?
[2:47:43] All right. Now, we're on to the good fun
stuff. Agenda item 9F.
[2:47:49] Uh
consider and act on a resolution number
[2:47:52] R-2026
106 to conduct a feasibility study with
[2:47:57] the YMCA of Greater Austin to be
performed by Triangle 2 Inc. And just so
[2:48:02] y'all know, we're always working on
stuff, y'all. Just just like y'all have
[2:48:07] to be patient with us. When the timing
is right, we'll present things. But, we
[2:48:11] hear y'all, we see y'all, we have things
that we're concerned about. This is one
[2:48:15] of those items, Madam City Manager.
>> Exactly right. You guys have tasked me
[2:48:20] to go figure out how to make a rec
center happen, and
[2:48:24] resurrected conversations with the Y.
They're very interested. Part of that
[2:48:28] conversation is who, what, when, and
where.
[2:48:32] And um this is this is step one to a
longer goal of hopefully having a
[2:48:36] functional recreation center that is
partly managed by the Y. We all know
[2:48:42] those things are our tremendous asset
needs. Not just a need because the
[2:48:47] community wants it, but
they they fill a need of a wider area,
[2:48:53] not just the city, but folks in the
county because there isn't a larger
[2:48:56] space like that. But with that comes the
requirement for operational costs and
[2:49:01] again, the who, what, when, where and
why. And that's what this study aims to
[2:49:06] identify.
>> Yeah, I think it's great that
[2:49:11] we're having another look.
A lot of people don't know the the real
[2:49:14] deal, the real spiel behind the YMCA and
why it no longer is here.
[2:49:20] Some people claim they know and put
videos out there like they know what
[2:49:24] they're talking about, but they weren't
here and didn't know. And so
[2:49:29] it's just good to have this opportunity
to be able to revisit and start
[2:49:32] rebuilding the relationship. Hopefully
we can get somewhere. Hopefully it
[2:49:36] it
it shows that it's something that'll
[2:49:39] work for our community. So, counselor,
do we have any discussion?
[2:49:46] All right.
>> Motion to approve.
[2:49:48] » Second.
>> We have a motion and a second. All in
[2:49:50] favor?
>> Aye.
[2:49:52] » All opposed?
All right. Motion passes unanimous.
[2:49:57] Agenda passes unanimous. On to agenda
item 9H, consider and act on a
[2:50:02] resolution number R-20
26-109
[2:50:07] in the amount of $74,000 to conduct
phase two of the hospital feasibility
[2:50:12] study.
>> Thank you, mayor. Again, we conducted
[2:50:17] phase one of the hospital feasibility
study and we have our consultant with
[2:50:21] RTG available for
any questions. This essentially hones in
[2:50:26] on the service area. We we had a really
large service area that identified at
[2:50:31] least a 500 bed deficiency. If you
recall from the prior graphs, we also
[2:50:36] had a large swing. We had a lot of
geriatric
[2:50:39] and then we had a lot of new incoming
pediatric needs and the the gamut
[2:50:44] spread. And
phase two of the feasibility study
[2:50:48] number one helps us hone in on that and
number two also begins to have the
[2:50:53] conversations with the providers. We've
already reached out to Ascension Seton,
[2:50:57] have already reached out to the top four
providers, I'll remind you. Baylor Scott
[2:51:03] & White, St. David's, the Methodist
Hospital and Ascension Seton with
[2:51:08] Ascension Seton ranking at the lowest.
We do have a conversation with three of
[2:51:13] the four, have not been able to schedule
with the Methodist, but this item also
[2:51:20] engages RTG with some of those
conversations and those are
[2:51:23] conversations well above what
yours truly and your staff
[2:51:29] can do. Hospitals have CCN boundaries
also, who knew?
[2:51:33] So there's some intricacies that need to
be involved. There is some dollar amount
[2:51:38] in here, it's about $20,000 that we
programmed for public input.
[2:51:42] I don't know how much public input is
going to be required and quite frankly,
[2:51:47] I won't know that until we have
conversations with the hospital. Many of
[2:51:51] you have expressed the concern about the
hospital's going to do, what the
[2:51:55] hospital's going to do, why are you
bringing in public input? And the
[2:51:59] reality of that is we hone in to some of
those specialties that may be a
[2:52:02] conversation we need to have, especially
if there's a a tie among the hospitals.
[2:52:07] But we do have RTG on the line. She is
available, her name is Leanne Odom. Any
[2:52:13] questions that you have of me or her,
please feel free to shoot.
[2:52:17] » Hello Leanne.
[2:52:21] She can't hear me. Mayor Pro Tem
Kirkland.
[2:52:24] » Leanne?
>> There's a little bit of an echo.
[2:52:27] » Oh, there you go. I was just saying
hello. Mayor Pro Tem Kirkland has has
[2:52:32] something he would like to say.
>> Good evening.
[2:52:37] » So, I'm trying to find the right words.
So, I was one of the individuals that
[2:52:40] said a hospital's going to do what a
hospital's going to do. Um and uh I'm
[2:52:44] also enthusiastically in support of
doing things that we can to attract a
[2:52:48] hospital. So, I just want to be very
clear, you know,
[2:52:51] uh about that. Uh I also look at uh an
item like $74,000 and say, "Hey, you
[2:52:57] know, are we you know, do we need to
spend this? And is this the right thing
[2:53:00] to do?"
Um
[2:53:03] and so I I guess
uh you know, Sylvia, I knew that you had
[2:53:07] discussed having conversations with
um
[2:53:11] with various hospital groups. And And I
think what I was
[2:53:15] planning to say before you said some of
the things that you said was, you know,
[2:53:18] maybe we should hold off and ask them
what type of a study they may need. Cuz
[2:53:23] for instance, if we would go and spend
$40,000 on a study that none of them
[2:53:27] need. Like they all know what their
business is today.
[2:53:30] Um and know what kind of uh services
they would need to provide. I mean, you
[2:53:35] know, this is their business. They're
experts at it.
[2:53:37] Uh I I'm just
I'm wondering if there's another way to
[2:53:41] go about this that where we Like for
instance, you know, if we didn't approve
[2:53:45] the study tonight, you know, what
hospital opportunity are we likely to
[2:53:48] lose? And I don't even know if we would
know that. And maybe uh
[2:53:52] alternatively, two of the four hospitals
would come back and say,
[2:53:56] "Uh no, that particular study you're
planning on doing, we don't need help
[2:53:59] with that, but we could use help with
this other thing over here, which we
[2:54:03] didn't spend money on yet and is going
to cost us new money." And so I I guess
[2:54:09] I I I almost wish that we could talk to
them about is there any information that
[2:54:14] would be helpful in them making a
decision? And then using that input to
[2:54:17] go for a phase two.
>> Sure. Leanne has a She's got a very good
[2:54:22] and I'll just give you the short spiel.
They may want to provide a service that
[2:54:26] we don't feel is necessary. They may
want to provide a service that for
[2:54:30] whatever reason is duplicative in a very
nearby area because of their ability to
[2:54:35] move doctors. And I'm just looking at
the Baylor Scott & White model and quite
[2:54:39] frankly, the St. David's model where
there are cohorts of doctors that move
[2:54:42] along at each of the hospitals. And um
Leanne, will you will you chime in to
[2:54:48] some of that?
>> Yeah, yes, certainly, Sylvia. And
[2:54:52] certainly the the context here is that
as we did the input study, I'm sure the
[2:54:57] point being
and in further dialogue, you know, we
[2:55:01] kind of pointed out that there were
definitely
[2:55:04] unknowns. There's that community input
part and then, you know, the topic of
[2:55:10] hey, the hospitals are going to have
particular point of view under the
[2:55:14] table.
And that point of view could vary
[2:55:18] whoever from
as Sylvia said
[2:55:22] to what degree will they be duplicative
services
[2:55:27] from what they're already offering
nearby today.
[2:55:30] How much of the service is will be de
novo? Um what their strategy will be
[2:55:36] again, either expanding their own
services or what will be a competitive
[2:55:40] move for them.
And as we frame out all these different
[2:55:44] scenarios, that's when
the discussion that, you know, we had
[2:55:48] with Sylvia's team
is, "Hey, are you prepared to have these
[2:55:52] conversations with these different
healthcare entities?"
[2:55:56] Um and the and that's where our role
comes into this whole work. It's to
[2:56:00] serve, support and advise people in this
space.
[2:56:06] » I sent the council, I forwarded you an
email just now. It has some talking
[2:56:09] points, good information about the study
itself.
[2:56:21] » Thank you, Leanne. Mayor Pro Tem
Kirkland, do have anything else? You're
[2:56:24] still lit up.
>> Yeah, I know I am. I mean
[2:56:30] I don't know that my question is
answered.
[2:56:33] Uh that that it really does sort of
you know, like for instance
[2:56:40] if we did not do
if we didn't pay for this today
[2:56:45] um which hotel or hotel
which hospital opportunity would would
[2:56:49] not be available to us? And I don't know
that we even know the answer to that,
[2:56:53] which then causes me to be hesitant to
spend the money without
[2:56:58] I don't know, maybe having those
conversations with the the hot hospitals
[2:57:01] first.
>> So, and I'm not comfortable entering the
[2:57:04] conversation with those hospitals
without information. And so, I will you
[2:57:09] know, one of the questions that was
posed to me by the developer group the
[2:57:14] developer by the way has sat on some of
those boards and said which hospital is
[2:57:18] going to go vertical sooner. There's a
lot of hospitals who claim a market
[2:57:22] share to lock up that market share, but
you may not get a vertical hospital
[2:57:25] until 6 years from now. Oh, wow, didn't
know that. I thought everybody was
[2:57:29] interested wants to build right away
because Bastrop is the place. Um and
[2:57:34] then there is a question of ooh, there
may be some services that are already
[2:57:37] locked because of CCN so to speak
boundaries. Oh, didn't know that either.
[2:57:42] Um and so, there's some nuances to this
and and I'm totally comfortable and I
[2:57:47] think they are also if you guys say,
well, we're not going to open up the
[2:57:50] public comments until you get through
those negotiations because there is
[2:57:54] going to be some public input on what
are those services the hospital is
[2:57:59] offering to serve and do they match what
uh our own independent study has said we
[2:58:04] are needing here.
>> And you know, there's a a base bid for
[2:58:08] 40,000 and an additional 14,000 to
assist in discussion and negotiation
[2:58:13] with potential partners. And then the
possibility of an additional 20k. I
[2:58:18] mean, could we do it in a different
order? So, we do 14K to assist in the
[2:58:22] discussion and then,
you know, decide on what we would need
[2:58:27] to study for the 40K so that we know
that we're studying something that the
[2:58:32] hospitals would be able to use?
>> Well, I think A and B. I think the
[2:58:36] 54,000 is absolutely necessary from my
part and an independent study of what is
[2:58:42] our market. What is that service area
that we think needs to be best served
[2:58:47] with Bastrop being the best place it can
serve. So, if anything, I'd be
[2:58:51] comfortable with the 54 instead of the
74 with the the other 20 being at a
[2:58:57] later time.
>> Yeah, and if we I mean,
[2:59:00] once the story starts coming together
and people are making specific asks and
[2:59:04] we know that we're getting closer to
something and they make a request to do
[2:59:07] something like, yeah, I'm all on board
with that, too. I'm just trying to make
[2:59:10] sure that we're
>> Yep.
[2:59:11] » you know,
>> I understand.
[2:59:13] » Yeah.
>> And the item I'm quite
[2:59:16] I'll tell you, it it has a life of its
own
[2:59:18] » Yeah.
>> right now because we have an annexation
[2:59:21] item that's coming to you very soon,
probably at the next meeting, and then
[2:59:25] we have the plan development district
creation coming to the P&Z in the August
[2:59:32] timeframe. And in August, too, you guys
will be looking at the PID and the TIRZ.
[2:59:35] So, it it's a snowball effect that I'd
I'd like to have in line before we even
[2:59:41] get much further and and and pick a
dance partner.
[2:59:45] » Mhm.
[2:59:51] All right. Yeah, no, um
I agree with you, Mayor Pro Tem.
[2:59:56] Um
we don't we definitely don't want to
[3:00:00] have a um
just spending money uselessly and not
[3:00:03] having any results with it. Um I know
there are a lot of demands from the
[3:00:08] citizens.
You see the articles out like there's a
[3:00:12] lot of people that want it, but we
definitely need to make sure we have the
[3:00:15] right things set in in motion.
Um
[3:00:20] I just I know for one thing though, I am
looking forward to the day to where we
[3:00:25] can truly have someone say that they're
born and raised in Bastrop again.
[3:00:30] Huh? That hadn't happened in a long
time. So, maybe we can say for the first
[3:00:35] time in 35 years somebody's born and
raised in Bastrop. Right. So,
[3:00:40] All right. Well, counselor, do we have
any other discussion?
[3:00:46] » So, motion to approve item 9H with a
change in the dollar amount to $54,000.
[3:00:52] » Not to exceed.
>> Not to exceed $54,000.
[3:00:55] » Second.
>> All right, we have a motion and a
[3:00:57] second. All in favor?
>> I.
[3:00:59] » I.
>> All opposed?
[3:01:01] All right. Thank you, Leanne.
>> Thank you very much.
[3:01:06] » Thank you.
>> All right.
[3:01:09] On to agenda 9I.
>> Mary, you have some public
[3:01:13] » We need to
>> You have some public comments.
[3:01:15] » Yes.
Okay.
[3:01:17] » But yeah, we can move on to 9I.
All right, this is um
[3:01:23] the the folks that spoke at public
comments, they're members of the
[3:01:26] Historic Landmark Commission.
This item
[3:01:29] is a an item that we actually discussed
with legal for a little bit as we began
[3:01:35] trying to tackle how do we help stop
some of the oh, well, it was falling in
[3:01:41] on itself, you know, demolition.
I will tell you what I told the HLC. The
[3:01:46] city has been derelict in its duty from
enforcing the
[3:01:52] neglect portion.
The city gives landowners, historic
[3:01:57] marker landowners who have applied, we
give a certain dollar amount. We've not
[3:02:02] been inspecting that
for
[3:02:06] those property owners to keep up the
property. So, we have we have a lot of
[3:02:12] blame in this whole thing. And so, the
item in front of you is really
[3:02:17] addressing
what's in the local government code and
[3:02:21] codifying in in our code of ordinances,
which is 315.006,
[3:02:25] liability for adversely affecting
historic structure property.
[3:02:30] Sorry for the small font.
This section applies to those who don't
[3:02:34] go through our approved permit process.
If you come in and you go to the HLC and
[3:02:40] you go through the process and you have
the 6-month cooling-off period and
[3:02:44] anyway, folks go through the demolition
and it's approved, this doesn't apply to
[3:02:48] you if you go through the process. It
only applies to folks who
[3:02:53] decide to demolish without a permit,
demolish in the in, you know, at night
[3:02:57] and say, "Well, I had to do it because
it was a public health and safety item."
[3:03:02] It also allows the Texas Historic
Commission to file a civil action. It
[3:03:07] does not allow for double action. I
can't do a city civil action and a Texas
[3:03:11] historic civil action.
And there are some prerequisites we need
[3:03:15] to meet. They go hand-in-hand with
creating the historic district overlay.
[3:03:20] These properties need to be registered
down at the county courthouse. We've got
[3:03:24] to have a process in place that
identifies them.
[3:03:27] We have a loosely based process, but it
needs to get more formalized.
[3:03:33] And so, instead of accepting monetary
damages, this is the bigger piece, which
[3:03:38] is why you heard the Historic Landmark
Commission say, "Double the demolition
[3:03:42] fee is not enough, right?" They'll pay
500 bucks and and be okay, and that's a
[3:03:46] one-time fee.
This says the city may permit the liable
[3:03:50] person to construct using as many of the
original materials as possible a
[3:03:54] structure or property that is a
reasonable facsimile of the demolished
[3:03:58] historic structure or property or to
restore using as many of the original
[3:04:02] materials as possible.
Um and pay the cost of attorneys' fees,
[3:04:06] architects' and appraisers' fees, and
other costs related to the enforcement
[3:04:09] of this action.
So, it's got some bite,
[3:04:13] right?
Um the next item is it allows us to
[3:04:18] recover damage under the section, and
any damages that we recover have to be
[3:04:22] put in a historic trust. We can't just
go and and do that and spend the money
[3:04:27] in the general fund. There's a
protection of who and what those fees
[3:04:30] can be used for.
[3:04:35] So, happy to answer any questions.
[3:04:39] This is a tool that's been in the local
government code. We have not codified it
[3:04:43] um in our code.
>> All right.
[3:04:47] Council, we having any discussion?
All right, we have four citizens
[3:04:52] citizens who signed up to comment. Uh
three of them do not wish to speak, and
[3:04:57] one of them does. So,
um
[3:05:02] Ron Barkley,
uh
[3:05:05] he does not wish to speak, but he shows
support for agenda item 9A.
[3:05:12] » 9I.
>> I. I don't know where A came from. Thank
[3:05:15] you. Uh Sandra Barkley, she does not
wish to speak, but she shows support for
[3:05:19] agenda 9 item 9I.
Uh Robert Sanders, she does not wish to
[3:05:25] speak, but she shows support of agenda
item 9I. And we have here to speak with
[3:05:31] us tonight, Gary Moss, on agenda item
9I.
[3:05:37] Yes, sir, come on up.
Huh?
[3:05:39] » See the public hearing there?
>> No public hearing.
[3:05:43] » No, it's not a public hearing.
>> All right, here we go.
[3:05:46] Last, but not the least,
I'm opposed to this, and I'm going to
[3:05:51] tell you why.
It's an ad hoc kind of knee-jerk
[3:05:54] reaction to some of the things that's
been happening. The B3 code created all
[3:05:58] kinds of problems for us as we all know.
This is an extension of that.
[3:06:05] The historic landmark commission, I
believe is broken. I don't think they
[3:06:10] can
do the job they need to do with the
[3:06:13] tools they have.
As she's pointed out, this city needs to
[3:06:17] be
more inclusive on on the terms of the
[3:06:21] interaction with with the builders and
developers and things like that. That a
[3:06:27] lot of people don't realize that's who
you need to be working with.
[3:06:32] Demonizing these people coming to town
and buying these historic homes
[3:06:38] does no good at all, I don't think. And
that's a lot of what this is just going
[3:06:42] to do. You're just it's it's just
jumping a head, putting the you know,
[3:06:47] cart before the horse in this situation.
What we need to be really is
[3:06:50] concentrating on developing a system and
a mechanism to be able to
[3:06:55] help maintain those homes.
You can look and see how many homes are
[3:07:00] just falling down around here. And we've
let it happen.
[3:07:05] You know, and we need to stop that and
we need to actually stop demonizing the
[3:07:09] people coming in and buying them.
Look behind the shell station up there.
[3:07:13] That looks real nice, doesn't it?
There's nothing there.
[3:07:16] You know, you give that guy such a hard
time, he's maybe not going to develop it
[3:07:20] at all.
But I think we really need to
[3:07:24] the real problem
is is that
[3:07:28] you know, this is the national register
and the state register and then the city
[3:07:32] register. They
they can't do anything. It's on the
[3:07:35] city. It's on us
to develop some kind of program or some
[3:07:40] kind of
things that we can use that rather than
[3:07:47] using the certificate of appropriateness
for
[3:07:50] what these people can and cannot do.
You know, to build a house, you know, my
[3:07:56] house is my little house
I built that for $183 a square foot.
[3:08:01] Rebuilt it. The right next door I built
the one for $163 a square foot. It costs
[3:08:07] more to rebuild the older homes and
things like that and we need to be
[3:08:10] concerned about that.
And we need to come up with a way to to
[3:08:14] support that rather than these people
that come to these meetings, you know,
[3:08:18] like the people who come early and talk
about this thing before they even see
[3:08:22] what's on on the agenda here.
Makes no sense to me. You can bring 50
[3:08:26] people to Everybody's going to say,
"Don't tear down the house. Don't tear
[3:08:28] down the house."
The house may not be worthy. We need to
[3:08:32] come up with something. The city needs
to come up with a way of determining is
[3:08:36] it worthy or not worthy rather than
having people on the historic landmark
[3:08:41] commission try to figure that out cuz
they're not qualified to do it. I'm not
[3:08:46] qualified to do it without having the
ability to go in and inspect. We have
[3:08:50] inspectors. We inspect new construction.
We need to do the same thing like that.
[3:08:55] » Thank you.
>> Thank you, Gary.
[3:08:59] Council member Myer.
>> Thank you. So, Sylvia, let's clarify.
[3:09:02] We're not
saying the HLC's going in and inspecting
[3:09:06] houses, right? That's not what's going
to happen. This is a tool
[3:09:11] to prevent
uh what we're scared of.
[3:09:15] And I will say once
Bastrop is historical because of what we
[3:09:20] have. If we lose our identity, if we
don't have enough protection, which this
[3:09:25] does this helps with,
uh we're not going to have what we have.
[3:09:30] We're not going to have historical
Bastrop. Sure, you can rebuild
[3:09:33] something,
but it's not the same as the original,
[3:09:36] you know, it's just not. It's So, my
point is let's do all of it. Uh what you
[3:09:42] said, Sylvia, we need to go in and and
do way better than what we have about um
[3:09:47] the shape of the houses. So, let's do
that. Let's be proactive that way. Let's
[3:09:51] put language like this um
this says here for the consequences.
[3:09:56] Let's do all of it. It's not one or it's
like we got to get together and do all
[3:10:00] of this because to protect and preserve
what what makes us Bastrop,
[3:10:06] we're going to need all the tools in the
toolbox to use.
[3:10:10] » Um and I I will say I'm I'm sensitive to
um board member Moss. The thing about a
[3:10:16] historic home and what's necessary is
from a building code perspective, you
[3:10:23] know, Doc and his crew are going to go
in with what I'm going to say is a
[3:10:26] sledgehammer.
And these houses require a scalpel, not
[3:10:30] a sledgehammer. And so, when uh Doc and
his crew and and we may have to revisit
[3:10:36] this, when Doc and his crew go in and
go, "Oh, more than 50, you know, 51% is
[3:10:40] gone." That's a that's an okay to demo.
You know, maybe that needs to be 70% or
[3:10:44] 75%. We've got to come up with a
criteria, but there are several
[3:10:49] beautiful homes in this town. One of
them in particular has uh daylight and
[3:10:54] you know, plants growing through it. And
um
[3:10:58] you know, I can't provide a dollars
because we can't gift dollars, but you
[3:11:04] know, one of the things we've been
talking about is is if these property
[3:11:07] owners are willing to put those houses
in a trust um and when they pass,
[3:11:11] they're ours and you know, how do we how
do we work through legal with that and
[3:11:15] then also a historic preservation trust.
All of the all you're and you're right,
[3:11:19] it's not just one tool, it's all of
them. But um
[3:11:24] a lot of these houses are on one-acre
lots. And so, even our third of an acre
[3:11:30] requirement still it doesn't seem to be
big enough. Um
[3:11:34] so.
[3:11:37] » Mayor Pro Tem Kirkland,
Sylvia, have we had a case where someone
[3:11:41] has attempted well, has attempted or
demolished a house that was his a
[3:11:46] historic registered house.
>> You have one that was very close. That's
[3:11:51] that is what Mr. Mosby's referring to
the knee-jerk reaction to the house on
[3:11:56] Church Street.
>> But was he trying to get a demolition
[3:12:00] permit or was he going to try to take it
down without one?
[3:12:03] » He took down a structure on the site
without a permit and he had to pay a
[3:12:06] double double permit fee and he I think
just paid that yesterday.
[3:12:13] And so the fear was, okay, if he took
that building down without asking, what
[3:12:16] else is he going to take down?
>> It kind of falls into like the the where
[3:12:20] we were at with the trees and the Pearl
River.
[3:12:23] » There is a little structure at the back
of that house on Church and if you're
[3:12:26] driving by and you look at it, it looks
like it's in you know, it just looks
[3:12:29] like it's a shed. It doesn't look like
it is a you know, 1800 military academy
[3:12:35] house.
[3:12:39] » Okay. Uh yeah, I guess the thing then
that I'm hearing is that
[3:12:43] this has not yet been uh
uh
[3:12:48] broad problem. Like as in for instance,
the house behind the Shell station, uh
[3:12:53] it was not a historically registered
structure. He got a demolition permit.
[3:12:57] He
s- uh faced quite a bit of public
[3:13:00] opposition when he did, but it was what
it was. The house came down
[3:13:04] and this would not stop that.
>> That would not stop that. No. And this
[3:13:08] is really for folks who just don't want
to follow the rules. Right. You know, is
[3:13:12] it cheaper to pay a $500 fine
after the fact? So.
[3:13:17] » Yeah, got it. Okay, thank you. I was
just
[3:13:20] yeah, trying to get clarity on that.
>> All right, thank you, Mayor Pro Tem
[3:13:24] Kirkland. Council, do we have any other
discussion?
[3:13:27] Councilmember Fooshee.
>> Thanks. I'm reading I've read through it
[3:13:32] a few times, but I want to make sure I
understand. This is one of the remedies
[3:13:37] available to us is to uh
ask the not ask permit the liable person
[3:13:44] to construct as many of the original
materials. That's just one of the
[3:13:47] remedies possible.
>> Yes.
[3:13:48] » And so it's like
>> It's going to be up to the council. I
[3:13:52] mean, I can imagine a situation where
all the windows were sold or you know,
[3:13:58] you can ask them to use as much as
possible and that's really going to be a
[3:14:01] negotiated term between um
at some point staff, the council, and
[3:14:07] the applicant.
>> Okay, and then where is the civil suit
[3:14:12] part in the
>> Uh the civil suit is if it was a
[3:14:15] historical marker and the city does
nothing, the Texas Historical Commission
[3:14:19] can come in and take take the civil suit
action. In which case the city would
[3:14:23] step back.
[3:14:26] » Okay, and they would do
>> They would collect the money, put it in
[3:14:31] their own historic trust.
>> do the money. Okay, so we would choose
[3:14:34] money or
the verbs of rebuilding.
[3:14:38] » Uh yes, and the money we would choose
would be to build a replica.
[3:14:43] » Sorry, we take their money and we build
with original materials.
[3:14:46] » Or require them to
>> Or require them. Okay.
[3:14:49] So there are options on how to proceed.
It doesn't just automatically push into
[3:14:52] that.
>> Yep.
[3:14:54] » Okay.
[3:14:57] Okay, thanks.
>> And every one of these houses is
[3:15:02] unique. Um the church house for example
again driving by I went, "Oh,
[3:15:09] that
that's odd. That's a that's an odd
[3:15:12] house. It has the Greek influence.
Um but really when you go into the
[3:15:17] house, it also has a cuz I walked in the
house, trust me, I walked in the house.
[3:15:21] It has a bunch of additions to it. And
so, you know, to Gary's point and to
[3:15:27] Doc's point, it's very hard to go and
determine, "Okay, what's actually
[3:15:30] historical and and how do we save it?
And so
[3:15:35] this again really is just to prevent
people from going, "Oh, that doesn't
[3:15:38] look like a historic house. Okay, so
what? Take it down."
[3:15:42] Um especially if it has a marker and
only if it has a marker.
[3:15:47] » Councilmember Meyer.
>> Thank you. And to that point also uh
[3:15:51] Mayor Pro Tem, a really good point that
was brought up at one of our HLC
[3:15:55] meetings. Um someone and and let's just
take the Church Street house for an
[3:16:01] example.
Uh
[3:16:03] can go in and and and buy
and say, "Hey, no. Um
[3:16:09] that's going to cost way too much for me
to rehab this.
[3:16:14] Uh I want to I want to tear it down and
I want to subdivide this into three
[3:16:17] different lots and put new structures
in." However, when you have somebody
[3:16:20] like Judy Hoover that walked in the
house,
[3:16:23] whole different set of eyes on
preservation, said, "No.
[3:16:27] No, it's not. No.
Maybe for your pocketbook is too much.
[3:16:31] You know what I'm saying? But it is
doable." So, the point is
[3:16:36] we don't want to encourage people
to not
[3:16:41] go the full mile, right? To for the
restoration.
[3:16:46] Um
just because someone may look at it and
[3:16:49] say, "Hey, no. That's I can't I don't
have that kind of money."
[3:16:53] Well, ask a lot of people that have live
in a lot of historical homes, it's like
[3:16:57] a never-ending thing anyway. But uh
it it's Sometimes you can't put a dollar
[3:17:03] on the value of
the historical uh significance and the
[3:17:08] character. So, my point was what one
person sees sometimes is a whole 'nother
[3:17:13] story to someone that has historical
preservation in mind.
[3:17:16] » Yeah, and the the comment that I would
say to that is like zoning Board of
[3:17:19] Adjustment, we say it can't be a
self-imposed hardship.
[3:17:24] You bought that knowing the condition
that it was in. And and so you bought it
[3:17:28] with that intent of going through
hopefully the process to demolition. Um
[3:17:33] but this town has an affinity and is
defined by its history. So.
[3:17:38] » Yeah.
Good point.
[3:17:40] » You know, one of the things that I
contemplated in this discussion is
[3:17:46] um
if it
[3:17:49] takes a million dollars to rehab a house
because its roof has caved in and it's
[3:17:53] been raining inside that house for the
last 30 years.
[3:17:57] Um
and that house might only be worth
[3:18:01] $600,000
if it was in brand new condition, you
[3:18:05] know, right now.
And so if it's going to cost you a
[3:18:07] million dollars to bring the house to a
state where it's worth $600,000,
[3:18:13] then
>> You paid 300 for it.
[3:18:15] » Yeah, oh yeah, and you paid 300,000 for
it. So now you got to put, you know,
[3:18:19] a million 1.3 million to make it worth
$600,000, right? So
[3:18:24] what that's going to do
if it's enforced
[3:18:29] vigorously with no exceptions ever
granted by city council in in the
[3:18:33] current process
is a house that's in that bad of a shape
[3:18:36] is just going to stay in that bad of a
shape and continue to get worse over
[3:18:39] time.
And we certainly do have the, you know,
[3:18:42] things in our existing ordinances that
would allow uh
[3:18:47] someone, I don't know if it maybe the
HLC, it might be whatever, but but where
[3:18:51] you can go to them and and give them
code enforcement things and say you got,
[3:18:54] you know, this much time to bring it up
to code to make it livable and and so
[3:18:58] on, but you know, even that creates
hardships upon individuals that have
[3:19:03] you know, had the home for decades and
and it just
[3:19:07] it's it it it's this circle of of uh
you know, the the the solution for each
[3:19:13] house might be unique.
>> Right.
[3:19:14] » Well, and and this item is not a
solution for for that.
[3:19:18] » Yeah.
>> It's not a solution.
[3:19:19] » I recognize that. It it was in response
I I'm also kind of doing the background
[3:19:24] work on here like what is the process if
someone legitimately had a historic home
[3:19:30] that that needed to be demolished. You
know, what what is that process look
[3:19:34] like? How long does it take? What what
what do they have to go through and now
[3:19:39] now I I also fully recognize that the
discussion on the on the agenda tonight
[3:19:45] is about how do you treat someone who
has willfully started demolition on
[3:19:50] something without asking for permission.
Uh that's absolutely punishment grounds.
[3:19:55] I I grant that freely.
Uh but I'm also kind of participating in
[3:19:59] the broader conversation about
Yeah.
[3:20:05] So, thank you.
[3:20:10] » All right, Council.
Any further discussion?
[3:20:14] » Motion to approve.
>> We have a motion. Do we have second?
[3:20:20] » Second.
>> All right, all in favor.
[3:20:22] » I.
>> All opposed.
[3:20:24] All right.
That concludes that. We're going to go
[3:20:27] into executive session of the Council.
We might need a little extension of our
[3:20:30] time.
>> to extend to 10:30.
[3:20:33] » All right, we have a motion.
>> Second.
[3:20:35] » And a second. All in favor.
>> I.
[3:20:38] » All opposed.
All right.
[3:20:42] City Council shall convene into a closed
executive session pursuant to
[3:20:48] You just want to give some cushion.
Pursuant to Texas Local Government Code
[3:20:52] Section 551.087
to deliberate
[3:20:56] regarding economic development with
Pearl River developer Sendero.
[3:21:01] It is now 9:51 and we're breaking into
executive session.
[3:21:09] It is now 10:30. We're back from
executive session.
[3:21:13] Uh
nothing except for uh the city manager
[3:21:17] continuing negotiations.
>> Motion to adjourn.
[3:21:20] » You have a motion. We have a second. All
in favor?
[3:21:23] » Aye.
>> Aye.
[3:21:23] » All opposed?
All right. Thank you, Bashaw. We
[3:21:26] appreciate y'all for sticking around for
this late meeting tonight.
[3:21:30] Uh have a great blessed night. We love
y'all and we'll see y'all over the
[3:21:33] weekend for Corvette Invasion.
>> Woo!