[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!

Bastrop City Council - July 14, 2026

Transcript