##VIDEO ID:C0lb7Sro3w8## [Music] thank you for you very much the [Laughter] old did we miss that one for the first really ktie probably big yeah I doic [Laughter] not happy summer nice all right we'll call the meeting to order please stand for pledge of allegiance stes evening and welcome everyone city council meeting Tom take the roll call please mayor King present council member large Austin present council member heli present HMA present Baker yep Basin present Fisher pres pusta we have a quorum your honor thank you Tom item number one is a motion to approve the agenda with the additions so moved second all in favor opposed motion carries item number two is a motion approving our Amendment from our September 3rd 2024 meeting so move second all in favor I opposed that motion also carries under uh item number three Awards and recognitions we have Chief mckin in his class A uniforms which means one thing it must be a promotion for one uh Daniel Osborne We had him down here a month or so ago so you should be familiar with them uh but our department did go through a promotional process this was to replace uh Sergeant Kim lens who left us in July uh we had five great candidates uh come out um any one of them I think would have done an outstanding job it was a very very competitive session uh we had two civil service members along with oana's Chief and a lieutenant from Albert Lee sit on the board uh and and allow all of our candidates an opportunity to showcase themselves uh I know in speaking with both the chief and the lieutenant afterwards they were very very impressed with what the City of Austin had to offer uh in this particular case uh Daniel Osborne was our selection uh coming out of that and has been promoted the sergeant uh but that being said it's a very supportive Department uh Jesse bets is here today he was one of those candidates and I know all these guys despite the competitive nature of it are incredibly supportive and um despite being a department that we're we're working very hard right now it's great to see uh so many people come out and support uh Daniel when we do do a promotion like this we do like to have a spouse or family member pin on the new hardware of rank uh on our candidates um collar uh Daniel's wife has agreed to do that for us so if you guys want to come on up we do it right in front of everyone that way it's super uncomfortable no pressure no pressure only there's only four things you can poke them with so go nuts Dan you might want to spin around get your picture taken with this while this is happening sometimes you got to push hard if you draw blood it's okay awesome very excited uh he's done a lot of great work for us he had experience uh coming up from Kentucky he's one of our peer-to-peer advisers who really LED that program he's also instrumental in getting our chaping program off the ground and running so again very excited to to have him serving as sergeant being able to Mentor our staff from this point going forward so congratulations just to follow up Chief mck's comments too I I work with all the officers that uh that applied to be sergeant and I can vouch for exactly what he says they're all quality and they will get their turn I guarantee it but Sergeant uh Sergeant Osborne congratulations and I appreciate all the officers coming and support it's always nice to see that level of support from coming from APD and we you never let us down you always fill it up when there's a something to be supportive of so thank you folks for coming off the streets and welcoming Sergeant Osborne thank you um uh also under Awards and recognition artworks Festival Award winner presentation sure Jeff oh boy good evening the big gun Jeff baldis welcome Jeff baldis here there we go sorry Jeff bald is here to represent the uh Austin artworks Festival 13th annual Austin artworks Festival by the way uh so we're doing extremely well um we appreciate uh all the involved as I look around I see many people helping to that help volunteer and really make this one of Austin's great uh festivities um as you know we always have a city purchase award and tonight I'm here to present the city purchase award um this was picked out by Mike and Joyce um and just real quick though I wanted to tell you a little bit because when I first seen this um I'm like wow this is this is really different and this is one of the things I really like I have no artist nothing on nothing um but it always amazes me to see people's uh opportunity or what they can do with their hands or eyes or it depends on the medium and whatever but this young lady uh when I was presenting the award to her Leah Bevington is her name she's from Omaha Nebraska so I think that's kind of neat to see that we've got people coming to the festival uh the title is watching the trees grow and as I talked with her um she's got a very unique what you'll see momentarily uh it she Paints in oil and she told me that she uh started to paint with her Grandpa many years ago and she's only been doing it seriously for about the last three years um so her paintings are how she sees the world through her eyes um and she makes these paintings by going out into the uh landscape and finding whatever it is she wants to paint and uh she uses big brush strokes and lots and lots of paint in color so um anyway without any more BS w i uh have and we do have a plaque that'll go with this but uh this is a very interesting piece yeah I forget about everybody behind me um and she's a young lady I mean so this was her first time traveling alone um which I found interesting as well and usually she's uh traveled with her Grandpa and or um some friends but so I have for you the uh City purchase so thank you Jeff yes for everything you guys do and thanks to Mike and Joyce for picking it out I know I've been in that situation it's hard there's a lot to choose from um but that's a excellent choice and we'll hang that with pride somewhere in a city office thank you thanks for coming in jeffk oh Mike go ahead we actually know where it's going to go um I believe we have Joan here from the senior center so um we were kind of talking about some of the places when Joyce and I picked it out and uh kind of had overheard the story of her grandfather in fact I got to witness a FaceTime call and she called to tell him that she won this award and there was tears on both ends of the phone call um she actually will be attending school in duth and so I told her she's going to have to stop into Austin on her drive to and from Omaha to see her painting hang in the senior center so uh we're excited that they were willing to display it and I think it'll be a great fit so thank you excellent very good yes thank you John thanks thanks all around nice to note it was meaningful very meaningful for the artist uh moving on to item number four uh as a motion for the consent agenda so moved second all in favor I opposed was that Tom dinger's Elton tribute I guess I didn't that be yeah Tom Dan tribute right I'd love to see that uh all right got a motion to Second did we get all in favors yes okay moving on to item number five under public hearing reviewing a tax batement application from Bigalow lenon construction for approval or denial of the abatement Craig uh thank you mayor members uh 13031 18th Street Northeast is the project location in Nature's Ridge estimated project value of 345,000 a two-bedroom two bath with unfinished basement this is in conformance with our adopted policy and this is a public hearing this is a public hearing any public wish to speak on this matter item number five Council any questions comments motion to approve second Tom council member heli I HMA I Baker you beta Basin I fiser I council member at large Austin I resolution passes 60 your honor thank you Tom under petitions and requests we have item number six is a resolution stting the 2024 property proposed property tax levy and adopting a proposed budget for 2025 taxes Thomas as required by Statute uh by September 30th we need to adopt a proposed tax levy in budget um after September 30th that tax levy cannot be increased it can only be decreased however the budget can be increased um as long as it's not property taxes paying for that service um and Friday uh we got good or Thursday last week we got better news than we expected for health insurance so the original 133% increase that had been proposed at the last work session we're able to reduce down to [Music] however you still have a couple months to go if you want to make changes to reduce that Levy uh for 2025 so if that I'll certain answer any questions you might have any questions Mr Daner before I turn it over to the public if not let's hear from the public first then we'll go to council members so any member of the public wish to speak on this proposed budget Levy uh please step to the podium and state your name and address okay Council thoughts comments where we at Laura you were gone last time and start starting comments or we I'll propose a motion too if there's no comments well I guess nobody else is going to speak I I still feel that this Levy is the increase is too high um I've heard from several several citizens over the last couple weeks uh nobody's in favor of having their taxes increased and most of them don't understand why we're adding to new positions at this time to make that huge Levy increase um I guess to the members that do want to add those two positions I still ask why we have to put the burden on the taxpayers when we cannot just change the budget uh to cover for those um but if you're not going to do that I guess we're going to just burden the taxpayers even more so thank you Jeff anyone else I'm going to make a motion to set the 20 25 tax levy at 11.97% we have a motion do we have a second second we have a motion a second any further discussion if not I'll call for the yeah I think so you know first of all I just appreciate the discussions that we've had that have gotten us to this point um you know I think it comes down to a black and white vote but the reality is it's it's not black and white there's a lot of stuff that goes into budget discussions there's a lot of thing you know costs have increased there's more pressure on taxpayers and so I know this will come down to a a yay or nay vote but I think what the message that we need to send is that this is a council that continues to look at ways that we can you know run our city fiscally responsible it's a city that continues to be involved and engaged in you know making sure that we've got a great Workforce and a great community that we can serve um and I think there's a lot of good stuff in this budget you know ultimately IA I'm going to vote against it and it comes down to to you know I think on adding the two positions especially the building inspector position I just don't see the return on investment there um you know we've looked at it for three years and we've never been able to show what the true return is and I think there's still a lot of Hope in that and so I think there's a lot of really really good stuff in here but at the end of the day I'm not comfortable at the the level that it's at especially knowing the economic environment that we're at and so we'll vote against it thank you Jason anybody else um I guess I'd like to comment that uh I think that my process and the process of all the elected officials has been very thoughtful and um a serious study I don't think we take um the levy lightly and we don't just say shrug our shoulders and say well I guess that's what it's got to be I think everybody um really put a lot of thought and study into um getting the budget to where it is uh I said it was really a priority to continue to support um our employee healthare at the same ratio that we were doing in 2024 and this budget does deliver that and I think that um that's extremely important um I also uh guess I'm I continue to be open to ideas of where the community is being over served by the city are we too safe are the firefighters doing too good of a job are we plowing your streets too quickly are we maintaining your streets uh too aggressively uh that I'm not hearing that I don't hear from people what services they want to cut I just hear that they don't want to pay the price tag so um I'll be happy to vote in favor of this tonight uh I also will say the two positions that are being added um I think are long-term Investments I wish somebody would have put the housing enforcement in place 20 years ago and I think we'd have a better tax base right now than than we do um so uh there is a little bit of sometimes you have to eat the Frog uh to set yourself up for success in the future I I guess I feel the same way about the HR position I mean we employ people who do a lot of dangerous work between police fire um tree trimming all kinds of things and I I think we're um underserved in that area and um we need to set ourselves up for um the future so I'll be supporting it excent all right thank you anyone else wish to comment we will not be better off as a city as a result of this Levy increase services will be the same that's it that's why it's not worth it to me thank you anyone else I guess I'd just throw my two cents in Tradition Al I I don't vote unless there's a tie and I got a feeling there might be another tie break here for me but uh my intention when I originally set out for the positions of uh the building inspector code resource officer last year um was I think we're probably tearing down more houses than we're putting up and I don't want it to be that broken window uh continuation where we don't address dilapitated housing and junk housing until it's too late and I would think this is being proactive in that right now we rely upon Neighbors to turn in Neighbors when they have issues with with property that's that's Fallen apart so I want to get out front of it I want to help the the homeowners that do have the issue by getting ahead of it and helping them with getting maybe contractors lined up or some way to fix it uh before it becomes a tear down we've done some good work with the rental housing ordinance I hope this mirrors that when we had the issue with uh inattentive landlords uh we fixed that with their rental ordinance and those inspections have certainly helped move the needle and I hope this does this the same for the private property owner on on their homes um so with that I guess we have a motion in a second no further discussion Tom you want to just take the role so motion by council member fiser seconded by council member heli in favor of the 11.97% tax increase which would be a tax Lev of $9,800 th000 and I vote is in favor of such council member heli I posma I Baker no way Basin nay Fisher I council member at large Austin may three3 vote mayor King to break the tie I can't kick it down to James or honorary council member I will go with an i resolution passes 43 your honor thank you Tom moving on to item number seven under awarding a state companion grant for the 10 unit tea hanger at the Austin Municipal Airport Stephen our funding package for this project includes multiple different funding sources uh with uh federal grants uh totaling 90% of the overall project state grants 5% and local funds 5% uh these grants will come in at different um different stages of the project and to date we have received uh two federal grants as part of that uh $1.8 million we haven't received all of it yet but but uh two so far one is a an AIP Grant in the amount of 1, 229,900 $8 and the other Federal grant is a bill Grant in the amount of $262,200 companion grants that we receive from the state we need to pass a resolution and we need to authorize our mayor and recorder to sign those Grant documents so items A and B include the 5% match to those two federal grants um one State companion Grant is in the amount of $1,563 the other state companion Grant is in the amount of 68,4 31.50 so we would request uh Council approval of both of these companion state grants to go with our federal allocations for this project very good thank you Stephen any councel any questions for Mr Lang motion to approve 7A we have a resolution to approve 7A is there a second second time council member heli I HMA I Baker yep Basin I Fisher I council member at large Austin I resolution passes 60 your honor thank you time 7B is approval of the AIP matching Grant need a resolution so moved there a second second Tom council member heli hi HMA hi Baker yep Basin hi fiser hi council member large Austin hi resolution passes 60 your honor thank you Tom I have number eight is resolution approval uh of the Redevelopment agreement with the stenzel group Craig uh thank you mayor members this is an amended Tiff Redevelopment plan outlines responsibilities for both the developer and the city uh the developers required to construct 103 unit $2.6 million estimated improvements the city pledges Tiff eligible expenses up to $3.3 million projects expected to start by October 31st and completed by July 1st 2026 um thank the stencil group for their contributions to help our health system major employers and all businesses as many residents at their current unit did not live in Austin uh this unit will continue to allow individuals to begin to put Roots down and fill our demand for market rate units uh this also supports our downtown businesses specifically and the hope is that eventually these folks will move into being contributors to our single family home shortage as well in the future be happy to answer any questions good thank you Craig uh Council any questions for Mr Clark quick one why 4% uh that's what we had done previously but is I'm Market the interest rate Market has changed dramatically since we last did this does it matter I certainly can defer to Mr danard as well but I I don't believe so I think part of the 4% was get to an amount equal to his um investment in the building to get um you know it's the the butt four test um how much dollars is a tax increment is needed in order for him to in order for the stencil group to make the project work by adding the 4% which again as Mr Clark noted we did in the other project allowed him to get to a level of financing both getting his principal paid back and some interest um would allow him then to uh go forward on the project um I'm anticipating the the borrowings he's making if any are going to be significantly above the 4% rate for a developer um while I agree with Mr Baker rates are certainly more than likely going to continue to come down a little bit um this is what he W and the agreement that was negotiated with him to make the project come to fruition so it's a negotiated deal so yeah two adults at the table who cares two adults at the table I mean there was interest in probably changing that I think you know globally as we look at this we've seen some um strong realities of the market that we'd hoped when he did Flats on 21 first phase of this project as well um um you know are we at the point that we can start to ratchet down what we need to put on the table to make a project like this happen especially when our market rate units have been accommodated that we're in the housing study I mean those are all part of the question and um what we're trying to get the best deal we can for the city while still bringing projects forward and if I recall Mr Sten even even had a discussion with you wanting a higher interest rate correct contrary to popular believe his costs are not going down with inflation Etc so again this is just part of the the arm wrestling to get a deal done that guess was the best that could negotiate Mr good um the the 4% was the um negotiated deal the stencil Development Group actually asked for a higher interest rate amount because their costs are increasing they're actually building a bigger facility three three units versus 91 so they're request actually was a higher interest rate to help them with the additional development cost and the inflationary costs but as Mr Clark noted they negotiated the deal at the same 4% rate they gave them on the last deal um for the milon main project at the former YMCA site yeah I congratulations on on pushing this through I think it's a great project um you know I remember when I started on Council what six years ago we were talking about you know the struggle to get any level of market rate housing to see Flats on 21 to see mill on Maine to have both of those now with waiting lists you know very very positive results I think this is great for our community to add it to you know I talked to somebody just today who was in from out of town that's potentially interested in living in Austin and the hey you know we're continuing to push and expand in this area was definitely a argument in our favor for them considering to live here so I'm wonderful work on this and look forward to seeing another 103 units come on yeah excellent couldn't agree more thank you Jason I think our last go around with the property management was 75 residents in that building had never lived in Austin before so we're bringing people in hopefully like Mr Clark says they they stay they buy homes they build homes they become very much contributors so this is going to be an exciting project so with that looking for a resolution to approve the Redevelopment so moved second Tom council member heli hi HMA hi Baker yep Basin hi fiser hi member at large Austin I resolution passes 60 your honor thank you Thomas item number nine is resolution establishing license fees for 2025 bre the resolution I'm presenting to you will set the licensing fees for 2025 so the clerk's office is asking that you approve this resolution it's crucial for updating our license renewal registrations prior to sending them out for the 2025 calendar year thank you thank you Bri uh Council any questions on this yeah quick one why did we change edible canabo I don't even know how to pronounce canabo canid I'm sure you would know how to that's why do we go from a th000 to a buck 25 so that is set by the state that is the maximum that I can charge all right any other questions looking for resolution so moved second council member heli hi postma hi Baker yep Basin hi fiser hi council member large Austin I resolution passes 60 your honor uh thank Tom item number 10 is a motion setting the fall yard Wass program from September 21 to December 1st Stephen each fall we open up a site at the Creekside business park for leaf collection for our community uh this year we propos the site to be open from September 21st through December 1st we like to go uh usually starting a weekend in late September and we like to go through Thanksgiving we hear some feedback that folks have family home around the Thanksgiving time to do some of that last minute cleanup so that's really what creates our window uh yard waste and leaves are available to be dropped off at the site seven days a week from dawn until dusk uh again we we accept leaves grass and garden plants we do not accept uh tree branches um there is also typically compost available from the previous year that folks can pick up and use for their Gardens and that's all based on availability sometimes we use it all up throughout the course of the year and there isn't any available in the fall but um it's first come first serve if there is any available for residents so with that uh one thing we do uh some advertising for this we split the advertising cost with more County um but with that we would recommend approval of this year's uh yard leaf collection site at Creekside very good thank you Stephen counil any questions on this moved Stephen can I ask you a question why do you need Council approval to do this I mean I I it's to me it's like getting Council approval to shovel snow yeah it's yeah you got it you're good we're going to start bringing that to council too um part of it is this is a good venue to get the information out to the public as well I know there's other ways of doing that but but bringing it forward to the council is also good opportunity to to make sure the residents know of this program um but I generally I would guess it's because we are spending money on this with advertising and things like that so that's why it's brought to council for approval thank you very good thank you so we have a motion do we have a second second all in favor I opposed that motion carries item number 11 is resolution awarding bids for the demolition of the former Austin Daily Herald building Stephen Council recently awarded bids for asbest abatement and that has started at the site uh that will go now for um multiple weeks into early October and then we are looking to um demo the existing building and before you tonight is uh two different bids that we received on this project uh low bidder being Hansen hauling and Excavating in the amount of $97,900 uh funds for this project are listed below for the overall project cost and how those are all adding up from environment Al cost to asbest design asbest abatement and now the demolition of the project so with that we would recommend awarding this uh demo bid to Hansen hauling and Excavating very good thank you Stephen uh any questions for Mr Lang Stephen how can the one bid be $100,000 more than the other one uh that that comes up often when you know when we're bidding everybody looks at it a little bit differently um and it has I the main factor I think that plays into those costs is availability of the contractors if one contractor is looking for work for their crews in the fall to finish off the season they're going to bid the project competitively if someone else has um a full plate in the fall but yet hey if and I'll throw a little more maybe I'll bring on a couple extra guys or something to do this project it's going to cost them a little bit more I'll throw a number at it so that that's maybe where I would pinpoint um why bids have a have a a variance like this one thank you thank you uh with that looking for resolution for item number 11 still moved is there a second second Tom council member heli hi HMA hi Baker sure Basin hi Fisher hi council member at large Austin hi resolution passes 60 you're honor thank you Tom we're on to the citizens addressing the council are there any citizens uh in the gallery wish to address the Council on items that weren't on the agenda hearing none uh looking for the next step honorary council member comments James anything from you tonight and thank you for being here thank you I have no comment to make on this not it on thank you James Paul I just want to thank the uh staff employees of the City of Austin for their hard work they do every day thank you Jason uh pass Jeffrey uh did have a library board meeting last week highlights from the meeting were the 2024 summer reading program excuse me was a success this year with 2380 participants uh the library is hosting the U ofm extension office for an lgbtq Workshop which will be offered at no cost for professionals on October 3rd from 1: to 4:00 p.m. there will also be an open session for the community that same day from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. we are looking forward to the application of the insights from Julie's 360 and the next steps with the library's strategic plan it sounds like these moves will free Julie up to focus on the most important strategic areas we value Julie so much and the community is fortunate to have her thank you Jee appreciate that very good Jeff hey you look good today I you should wear that more often I'm no I'm [Laughter] talking you show up at a suit every meeting and he'll do the same yeah oh I don't have much time left we might take you up on that well done today Chief well done congratulations that's it thanks Jeff Mike uh a couple of things first of all um thank you to horl foods for just honestly a great Street party last week um I know a lot of our city St probably helped in to kind of get roads ready thanks to the businesses who were willing to put up with a road closure to bring all those folks downtown it looked like they were all extremely busy uh and it was just a great perfect night um if you didn't know and if you're missing the uh sultry voice from our friend John Wright from Kaus he is now doing a Right Here Right Now podcast hosted by discover Austin um every week it gets released on Friday it's got a lot of what you're missing what's happening local Al um Julie was on there last week talking about happenings at the library um so wherever you want to get your podcast from look for right here right now and then lastly the HRA had a federal inspector in this week um this happens on a every couple year basis uh they were looking at our scattered sites um and they were really impressed and we're looking forward to some pretty good scores on that the HRA does a really good job maintaining um really good homes uh in our in our city so kudos to them thank you Mike laa uh I want to send out uh greetings and messages of support to Randy Hoffner our Park supervisor who's um facing a health challenge um I've had the pleasure of working with Randy and I don't know of anybody who has a bigger heart for Austin and so I want to make sure he and his family really feel our support um as he is recovering uh if you haven't uh already please check out all the welcoming Week events it runs through Friday um this is one of the activities that Austin does that really sets us apart um from other communities um and uh including on Thursday uh we'll be dedicating uh mural at uh the Mau County building so I will be there um for that I'm excited um and then finally I wanted to express that I have a high level of confidence in our election process here in Austin and MA county um I've been an election judge I know the people who are doing the job uh I I am concerned when I hear uh some people talking about widespread fraud in our elections I just don't think that's happening here um and uh the AAW is hosting candidate forums so if you would like to learn more about uh those who are running for office particularly local offices including uh city council mayor um and School District those are tomorrow Tuesday the 17th and Thursday September 19th both at 6:30 p.m. at the community action building right across from the post office very good thank you Laura I want to back up I didn't give Craig the opportunity for reports and recommendations and the year is one uh yes uh we got notice from horl foods that they're partnering with United Way and the Hometown Food security project for a hunger action month packing event at Austin Public Schools at the high school uh that'll be September 26th starting at 8:00 a.m. if anybody's interested in volunteering you may have gotten the announcement yourself personally but wanted to bring that up to you as that'll be quickly approaching so appreciate their uh work on behalf of addressing hunger in our community very good thank you Craig I also want to Echo some comments the welcoming week it's uh does distinguish Austin from a lot of communities by having such a such events um and I know it's a lot of work for the Human Rights Commission so we appreciate apprciate the work they put into that and Trish is there liaison thank you uh the horal concert was amazing sitting uh looking at the the population on Main Street uh was was really overwhelming and very heartening we appreciate Hormel Foods and and the donation that they made to the Hometown Food security project with that concert uh pickle Ballers Jason invited me to the uh recreational tournament at the Packer Arena pickle ball and amazing you know 44 people attended they had to turned down 25 30 people because it was that that level of uh of impact that they wanted to to come and and play unfortunately have the space for them so the pickle Ballers are still active in collecting money I know they got some $10,000 donation from the Eagles Club they got some uh site work uh being volunteered uh by a local manufact or local construction company to do that site work so I do look forward to in the in the near future to looking to uh add City pickle ball courts down at Rotary Park but that's another conversation VFW uh they had their 100th anniversary uh well attended uh Patty yes you were there too it's great sure you agree it's a great event uh to make it 100 years uh supporting the veterans and those servicemen women that have served and some uh lost their lives is certainly impactful and our our local 1216 VFW did a great job for a few days of honoring their anniversary and and they just did an outstanding job so in kudos to to Scott whitean the outgoing commander who did an amazing job of TR transforming that the building site and the property in the last couple years to make it really shine on that on that uh Fourth Avenue there it's uh or Fourth Street very very very nice uh work they did in that building also I can't uh be remiss without mentioning our own Jason basin who is going to be honored as the distinguished alumni Austin High School so congratulations Jason on the upcoming alumni award so thank you very very humbled and honored right on uh with that looking to a motion to adjourn to Monday October 7th so moved second all in favor I opposed and motion carries we take about a 5 minute break and start the work session good fun to see yeah see that guys e e [Laughter] Sy make [Music] anybody parus e [Music] e