##VIDEO ID:f7VQhGkdoE4## all right we'll call the meeting to order please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance States stand indiv good evening welcome everybody um first order of business Tom take the roll call please mayor King present council member at large Austin council member posma present Baker Basin present Fisher present pusta present Kelly present we have a quarum your honor thank you Thomas item number one is a motion adopting the agenda with the additions Jo moved second all in favor I opposed a motion carries item number two is approving our minutes from the December 2nd 2024 and the truth and Taxation hearing on December 4th 2024 go moved is there a second second all in favor I opposed motion carries nothing under item number three recognitions and awards item number four is the consent agenda looking for a motion so moved second all in favor I I opposed motion carries just want to comment on all the uh appointments and reappointments to the boards and commissions it's always very heartening to know that we have 20 plus people that are either reuping or good folks that are stepping up to be on these boards and commissions they're always important and it's great to have a good mix of of the people from the community on those so thank you for those that are reupping and thanks for those that said yes uh and threw an application in so appreciate those folks I number five under public hearings we have a public hearing on a five-year Capital Improvement plan Tom annually the City of Austin approves a cap Improvement plan for the next 5 years for the city uh the 2025 plan would include those items that are in the budget for next year and by having the approval would allow staff to then start the process to get those to come to fruition items in 2026 through 2029 are more of a planning um planning document so they can look into the future as to what their needs are for the next 5 years 2025 through 2029 we're projected to spend just over2 $142 million on projects but again those are all driven by funding sources also so for example we have a we're expecting a grant to pay for Project X and we don't get the grant then that project would go away until funding comes forward but again this was discussed at uh work session in the past and uh we'd request approval um at this point in time after the public has a chance very good anyone uh from the public wishing to speak on item number five hearing none Council any questions or comments for Tom I think only comment is just a huge thank you to department heads and to staff I know there's a lot of time and energy and work that goes into this I know that we use it quite a bit obviously to plan our work and work our plan and so know that it's recognized and feel good good about the infrastructure and the growth that we have going on Austin so yes indeed it's a great planning document thank you anybody else otherwise looking for a resolution for it number number five so moved second second Tom council member PMA I Basin I Fisher hi pusta hi Kelly I resolution passes 5- Z your honor thank Tom under awarding bid item number uh six is receiving bids for asbest abatement at our address 54 have Northeast City Hall Stephen yes there is some a floor tile here at the building that was identified through an inspection and as we looked closer we found it in other areas of the building and in order to address this we went out for bids and we received bids looking at uh the overall project we proposed kind of a a base area which consists of areas here in the basement of City Hall that is our base bid moo systems was the low bidder for the base bid amount of $23,700 we then looked at an alternate number one which included some of our old conference rooms and some area in the old Finance area here in the basement as well that ad alternate was an additional $7,100 and then the ad alternate number two which was $23,900 is for the old engineering area kind of the intermediate level of our building and it would be our recommendation that we award the base bid and and both add alternate bids to mavo Systems Inc uh our budget for this project is $100,000 and their bid with those alternates is 54,7 we do already have some engineering and design costs that have gone into this um so in total we're pushing about $60,000 with this uh proposed bid award and then once all of that work is complete here in plan top completed in July January and into February once that is complete we'll use we'll bring back to you to use some portion of the remaining budget to put in new flooring in some of these areas because once we remove the in some areas there's carpet over the asbest tile so we have to tear out the carpet to get to the tile that um remove all of those products and then we' be down to a concrete floor we'll bring something back to you on areas to um improve those those concrete floor spots so with that we would recommend uh awarding this bid to mavo very good thank you Stephen coun any questions for Mr Lang I I have a question bathrooms down here how come those aren't included in this or are are they um I don't believe there is asbest tile in the bathrooms down here right that's previously been removed okay so Stephen that was kind of leads to my question is this going to remove all of the asbest possible flooring in the building at this point to our knowledge this will get rid of all of the asbest flooring it's hard to say there's something may show up in the future that we didn't know was there but to our knowledge this should be everything okay and Stephen does the remediation go on while the sealed up and the building's open or weekends or holidays or how's this work yeah so the vault in the admin area on the main floor where our the admin staff work uh that will be done on a Friday night into a Saturday so when people aren't here other areas like here in the basement these the basement will be sealed off for two weeks um starting it'll start after our first council meeting in January so I think we'll start on January 7th and then we'll look to have all this basement area completed before the second council meeting in January so um areas will be sealed off or areas will be done as I indicated on a weekend um if they're heavy traffic areas awesome thank you all right if no further questions looking for a resolution so moved second Tom council member posma hi Basin hi Fisher hi boua hi council member heli hi resolution passes 5 Z honor thanks Tom under petitions and request I have number seven is a resolution approving our tax levy for 2025 Tom the city recently had our truth and Taxation hearing um to discuss both the budget the tax levy uh for 2025 um at that hearing it was approved on a 3-2 vote with two council members absent to approve a tax levy of $9,800 th000 for 2025 we' request a resolution for that amount very good thank you Tom Council any questions Mr Lang sorry Mr Daner if not looking for resolution so moved second Tom council member postma hi Basin nay Fisher I boua hi heli hi resolution passes 41 your honor very good thank you Tom item number eight it's a resolution adopting our budget for 2025 Tom so the 2025 budget as discussed at that meeting will total 49,800 227 um funded by LGA tax levy user fees Etc and based on that budget that was approved on a 32 vote also at the truth and Taxation hearing we request Council approval very good Council any questions Mr Daner if not looking for a resolution adopting the budget so moved second time council member posma I Basin I Fisher I pusta I ky I resolution passes 5- Z your honor very good thank you item number nine is resolution authorizing the cancelation of certain adum tax levies Tom and finally when the council passed a resolution back in 2015 to issue bonds to finance the Austin utilities uh Capital Improvement or Capital uh Improvement facility um with that pledged a tax levy if needed the a utilities collects revenues through their their uh user fee system to pay the debt off on an annual basis so with that being said we would request Council pass a resolution canceling that tax levy that we could pass on to the citizens thank you any questions for Time Council looking for resolution always good to get rid of those so moved is there a second second done council member posma I Basin I fiser I pusta hi heli hi I resolution passes 5 and a big thanks to department heads and staff for getting through another budget year we'll file documents with the county and the State starting tomorrow and we should be good right then thanks to all uh item number 10 is a motion designate the a Herald as the official newspaper for 2025 so moved second uh all in favor I opposed motion carries uh number 11 is uh granting renews of the 2025 licenses for sale of hard liquor on sale and hard Sunday hard liquor on sale Sunday wine on sale and 32 beer on and off sale looking for a resolution so move second Tom council member posma hi Basin hi Fisher hi pusta hi heli hi resolution passes 5- Z your honor thank you Tom I have number 12 is resolution approving temporary seasonal wages Trish do you have something more than your just your backup on this okay looking for resolution I have a request um I'm wondering on page 34 in your packet item number four talks about a wage increase for returning employee um it's set at 50 cents an hour increase um for someone returning I think um getting some feedback from department heads that can sometimes set up a problem where someone who's returning is going to make less or the same as someone who's new that year and I'd like to just increase it to a dollar from 50 to give more more flexibility it we know it's a tight job market out there these are hard positions to fill it would be one more tool in the in the basket of course it would have to fit within the budgets of the department so there's not a uh budget impact TR you you referenced in your backup that you had some discussions with department heads you have anything to add on that request to go a dollar was 50 cents enough from department heads no I don't I don't have anything particular um this was reviewed by all department heads and park and wreck department did indicate we talked about this potential issue and said we would address it if that came up um we do have some flexibility within the resolution now as it's written um for that for certain caseby case situations but if you want to make an adjustment you could do that Council any questions of Miss weman uh I do for Jason Jason didn't we have a problem a year or two ago at the pool with 50 cents an hour and people returning and it not kind of causing a problem uh we did have some issues um with uh being competitive with other um areas that hire but talking with Trish we you know as she mentioned in the resolution um the issue is if we if we start an employee at a higher rate like a let's say a new employee at 1350 like the resolution States corre currently a returning uh employ for you know that's for their second year would actually start at the same 1350 and that was an issue but uh talking to Trish we do have that authority to make those changes as needed so uh depending on this the circumstance I think we can we can address that as written that's it 1350 for all part-time it depends on the position that's can hide for or if or if they coming in with um experience as well so I'm on the chart we're 17 bucks an hour 11 huh there were 17 bucks an hour on there somewhere there are some positions that started at higher wage 1350 seems a little W for any position the one change this year that we talked about was moving the The Lifeguard from category 2 which was 13 to 16 into Category 3 which is 1350 to 16 so it gives us that that starting wage leeway um right right off the bat so that's one of the changes and then as long as if if we feel the need to bump returning employees for more than that 50 cents Case by case then we have that that wiggle room I guess ability to ability to do that lifeguard has been a position that in the past um we have made some adjustments because of the need or the lack of applicants for that I agree with Laura it should be more just for the fact say you're a lifeguard and you have to take certification you're out in the heat all day for 1350 doesn't seem worth it I think agree with Laura that it needs to be raised okay well um I go ahead correct uh mayor councel I mean our Frontline workers we've shared this with them and there they've told us it's doable within the budget parameters we have um I I mean I guess I'd suggest we probably defer to their uh judgment on this but certainly can respond to what you correct I I agree I think the City of Austin is really uh at the Forefront of trying to keep and retain employees and I think as long as we're competitive and it's been vetted by department heads and our human resources I think it's a it's a fair fair deal yeah I think that's where I end up too is I I agree I mean we want to make sure we can get the labor I think if Trish and Jason the department heads feel good about the numbers we have in here I don't want to open up a unintended I don't know Pandora's box of if we change this and we find out four weeks from now that I guess this added adjusted something in a Union contract or something so it sounds like they've got the flexibility I'm supportive of it um obviously if we can't get the folks that we need that's I'm willing to make a change but so we're willing to make a change if we need to it's not it's written it's written at this and then if we need if TR needs their I need another whatever amount we can do that it's already written in there yeah yeah I draw your attention to item eight and the resolution okay all right any further discussion Council if not looking for a resolution on item number 12 move to approve is there a second a second uh Tom council member posma hi Basin hi Fisher hi pusta hi KY hi resolution passes 5 Z your honor thank you uh item number 13 is a resolution approving change order number number six for the waste water treatment plant project Stephen yes we discussed at the work session uh items that have come up over the last few months for changes to um for the overall construction project there are eight work change directives identified um there are some additions and some um cost savings Alternatives as well in total it amounts change order number six amounts to 68 $8 4,630 of that it's split between two funding sources with the domestic budget uh seeing an increase of $643 one28 and the industrial budget seeing an increase of Joe moved second Tom council member posma hi Basin hi Fisher hi pusta hi Elly hi resolution passes 5 Z your honor next time item number 14 is resolution approving change order number one for the EQ digestor recover replacement Stephen yes a different project going on at the same time down stream of plant is a cover replacement as we are working with the contractor on uh some of the codings and different different things as part of the project there were some recommendations for changes uh those changes involved um cost savings to what was going to be installed and then additional costs for some new U codings or substitutions all in all this results in a $4,325 and12 increase through the overall project budget bringing that new Total to 2,768 32412 this project is funded through our industrial budget and we would recommend approval thank you stepen uh Council questions from Mr Lang otherwise looking for resolution for number 14 motion to approve second Tom council member posma hi Basin hi Fisher i bashus h i resolution passes 5 Z your honor thank you have number 15 is resolution to clearing the structure at 24004 Drive Southwest as hazardous oi um just a Machinery shed that is in very poor condition looks like it's tipped over yeah it doesn't look like it's standing up really very well very poor yep that's yeah that's poor condition thank you uh Council looking for resolution on 15 so moved second Tom council member PMA I Basin hi Fisher hi pusta hi heli I resolution passes 5 Z thank you I have number 16 is a motion reviewing a variance request for detached structures uh from Scott Soderberg hly yeah uh Mr Soderberg lives at 248 16th Avenue Southwest uh at the December 10th 2024 meeting of the Planning Commission the M uh the commission reviewed the request uh which limits properties uh on a partial under 1 acre to two detached accessory structures um the petitioner had two accessory structures when he bought the property and then he added three um which turned out that he had not permitted those structures and he needed to get a variance uh before we would permit them um the uh structures add up to about 892 Square ft um he's allowed 12200 Square ft so the issue is really just the number of detach structure after review the Planning Commission with seven members present recommended approving the variance uh 7 to Zer uh they made the following findings regarding the request that the variance is in harmony with the general purposes and intent of the zoning ordinance that the variance is consistent with the comprehensive plan the proposal puts the property to use in a reasonable manner but there are unique circumstances to the property not created by the land owner and that the variance of granted will not alter the essential character of the locality in which the property is situated have any questions we did get quite a uh we sent out quite a few notices we did not get any comments from anyone excellent very good thank you uh Council looking for a motion to approve or deny the variance request move to approve second all in favor I opposed that motion carries item number 17 is the last of our uh items on the agenda a resolution approving couple donations $5,000 from CAC to the Austin Community band and 10 ,000 from CAC to the culture and arts commission for electrical box project we thank them for those donations looking for a resolution to accept them move second Tom council member PMA I Basin hi Fisher hi boua hi Kelly hi moot resolution passes 5- Z your honor thanks time on to Citizens addressing the council is there any citizens here wishing to address the council the items that were on the agenda hearing and seeing none moving on to honorary member comment Cindy thank you for coming back welcome back any comments from tonight's meeting I do actually I have some questions from the last meeting um since this is just my second one I was when you guys were talking about the new construction and affordable living and stuff and they were asking like the city to incur 5% and you guys agreed on 4% do you recall what I'm talking about is that some kind of Tiff question I don't remember what that was and that's what I was wondering what the four percent is what they want from the city to is that the mill on Main 2 with the same Tiff request as 4% mil on Main too that's right the question was the interest rate Associated that we've agreed to associate with the tax increment agreement that 4% is the same rate we agreed to give them on Mill on main one and in essence what it does is for Tiff District all the taxes they pay will come to us and we we've agreed to give it back to them to help with the construction well the dollar amount that they're going to pay in Tiff will exceed well allow us to add 4% to it so that they can maximize the tax increment that goes into the building to cover their construction costs that are eligible for the Tiff so it's going to be like a 156 million project and I think what's the Tiff proposed on that couple million dollars or so but again that helps entice the developer to build the building adding a little bit of interest rate to it based on what the market is and what they um can get so what does that mean with the tax abatement tax abatement is tax abatement is a little bit different than Tiff so tax abatement is the city county school agree to um wave your taxes on your house for the first five years so the city gets paid the county gets paid the school gets paid and then those dollars are rebated back to the to the homeowner for that 5year period so there's no real interest rate on that's just actually what your taxes you incur on for each par or for each um taxing Authority gets given back to those houses in okay cuz I was just wondering that because it's the tax abatement doing all that for others and then it raises the tax levy for the citizens here I'm just trying to see and I understand the economic growth for it in essence it does so um the new houses we're not C in this tax levy that are part of a tax abatement we're not getting a nickel of taxes to help pay for streets police Etc but after 5 years there's no more tax abatement and that was kind of the enticement council created was hey we want you to build these houses yeah we understand it'll be five years before we get the taxes but once it's there we'll get the taxes in so it's kind of an enticement to help um individuals build houses and Thomas the idea whether it's building an apartment or building a house that without those incentives the house probably doesn't get built right so if the land is worth call a, in taxes today with nothing on it yes we in theory give up the $20,000 a year for an X number of years that we would get but if you get $20,000 a year starting in like year six or year 30 or whatever into you know Infinity it's still a better eventually it helps to offset the the tax levy because you get more for that land if it's developed and that's the whole goal that's the whole goal is that that helps in in fact Tiff Law requires that a but for test if not not for tax increment this project wouldn't be done and a lot of times on our tax increment projects um they like let's say it's a 25e project we actually can decertify them after 18 or 19 years because they've paid more in taxes than they planned and we only give them so much from Bas based on the original budget so once that budget's been paid out we can't collect anymore um holiday in was one for example where we decertified early because holiday in had paid all the revenue we projected in that tax increment District so we by law can't collect anymore so we take it off and then the citizens see that tax base which then in theory lowers our taxes because we have one more parcel paying the taxes okay thank you I found a concept really helpful when I was trying to figure all of this out and probably I'm still trying to figure it all out which is that in general um when somebody outside the city has an idea for economic growth they come to the city and they ask for help and the city is never going to say oh we'll just write you a check for that we we come up with these complicated schemes um so to uh sorry complicated mechanisms tees is a little strong yeah complicated mechanisms where projected taxes are given back or forgiven or pre forgiven or whatever so um that's the bigger idea is that as Government we're Bound in the ways that we can help encourage economic growth and so um it takes a lot of lawyers and accountants to come up with the mechanisms and then they're very difficult for the general public to understand so um it it's a great question and um never hurts to be reminded of the details of how it works a classic one is new tech a new development we have out and that they could have gone to Elbert Le oana wherever so in order for us to entice a we had the land and B we were able to Craig I think through his negotiations with him was able to give him a tax incom and deal that bridge the gap enough they said okay we'll come to Austin you know 20 30 jobs um but got actual tax revenue off that building we won't get for 25 years but the 30 people if they buy homes here in town or build homes the tax abatement maybe for a while but they'll grow the economy grow the tax base and looking longterm for the future in essence is what we try to do that's good to know because I mean as a you know um good question citizen of the community you know resident you know with the increase on property tax and everything um which has become a burden I went back to getting a second job but with the definition of everything or the explanation I should say not schemes but um understand and I understand the economic growth but okay to put it in line with everything to understand is great it's a great question so if anybody asks me now I can explain to them really because I can't cig uh the only other thing I'd add is that I think the question was why would why isn't it a higher interest rate given where interest rates are currently it's to our benefit that it will return back to the taxes faster at the 4% than a higher interest rate so it's to our benefit but essentially what we advanced was we're offering the same uh outline that we did on the first phase of the project to the second phase so that's where we kind that landed so and they wanted more but we said no but we're doing the same as we did before excellent so was actually to our benefit okay thank you very good thank you Cindy anything else all right moving on to reports and recommendations correct I have nothing on the council Paul no let's go with Choice wouldn't that be fun to mix it up little nothing your honor thank you all right Paul uh just want to say thank you to all the city employees for your hard work every day every week and uh to the Austin fire department and the police department a few weeks ago for that garage fire um I lived a few blocks away and I looked towards my parents house all I saw was a glow so I thought well I better head down there and uh parked and got went up by one of the uh pumper trucks and watched the guys actively work on this two stall garage fully engulfed cars involved and to watch The Police Department fire department work together to put this Blaze out was um was really neat to see so thank you both departments for your hard work and I to watch you guys in action was really really important to see so thank you thanks Paul Jason uh three quick things number one he's not here but we'll say thank you anyway congratulate council member Baker and thank him for his service to the community and volunteering um looking forward to having council member Waller back on the council here at our next meeting but since apparently Jeff's already done I how we want to put that in the record um no number two had the opportunity today with um some folks from the Lions and representative Mueller to talk to a group of students at pachelli um and they asked some really really good questions around you know the city and it was interesting to kind of hear what was on their mind and so number one I think if we could get a Chick-fil-A and a Starbucks that would be incredibly popular so Craig let's work on that from a Port Authority standpoint um you know they had asked some questions just around like plowing and what our strategies are and you know how we think about you know the order and so Stephen and I actually talked about that a little bit earlier today um and just you know really sharp young kids who are really interested in Economic Development a lot of hey what's going on with Shopco what's going on with Yonkers and so you know people are certainly you know paying attention to things around the community I think there's an interest in continuing to grow Austin and fill up vacon buildings and they also had a pretty specific question around turning left off of a bridge Stephen informed me that's a state issue so we put that back in representative viewers Court to to go get an update on that um and school of Vikings School J Jason when they asked about strategy did you tell them you go with hope go with hope hope always yes I think only a couple fell asleep so I felt good about my part of the presentation thank you Jason I'm pretty sure that council member Fischer and I are not surprised that there's some intelligent people in pachelli school I think there's two of us that aren't surprised for your pictures up there yeah Mikey uh just want to thank all if you have not been out and about in Austin the last couple weeks shame on you because there's just so many commity events going on to celebrate the holidays uh the paramont is offering a free show this Thursday who brought the humbug is their Christmas gift to the community before they shut down for renovations so if you haven't been out yet take that in um I also want to wish um councilman Baker thank you for his years of service on the council um I will miss uh him in my ear every now and then during Council meetings um and yeah that's it thank you Mike Laura um couple things uh I want to congratulate the culture and arts Commission on their grant funding from CAC and we approved it here tonight but just to expand a little bit on exactly what we're talking about um there's been a lot of attention in the community about utility boxes being frequently tagged and so we're working with Austin utilities to identify some of the most visible um so far they've identified a hundred that have been Tagged so we're we're going to have to narrow that scope a little to the most visible um but that's our our um idea is to uh get graphic wraps um made by feather light and put over they'll be um artwork by local youth so uh trying to um reframe around graffiti and celebrate our youth creativity um in a positive way in the community um I also uh was not able to be here for the truth and Taxation meeting um because of a standing conflict with the parks recreation and Forestry board meeting which I would love to have solved somehow magically in the future um but I wanted to just comment that I um I think that our choices for the tax levy for 2025 are the right ones but I also looking out over our funding Horizon we we can't continue um the this level of increases to the tax Levy and I'm also not willing to cut back what we pay our employees or employee benefits so I think um as a council and as department heads we're going to need to come together and find some strategies that are that are um systemic um big dollar changes um that we can actually live with um going forward because otherwise it's going to be a really um difficult fight every single year to try to figure out the right path forward word and I don't want to be um turning the turning our our people um our staff into the sacrificial Lambs to make budgets work I think um there were some years where we did that and and it it doesn't provide good results for the resident of the residents of the community so um just wanted to make that comment and um hopefully in 2025 we can really start wrestling with some of those big Ideas very good thank you I just want to add that uh Craig and I got to do the meet and greet for the leadership Austin um government day and then thank you to the department heads of participated I'm sure you uh told our story well it was great to see that level of commitment from the folks that every year come back whether it's 20 25 people continue to do leadership Austin and it has still has that certain uh cache that it it's never lost so appreciate the folks that are doing leadership Austin I appreciate department heads that participate uh also uh council member Baker is not here but we do thank for his two years of service and wish him well and uh appreciate what he added during his time here uh with that looking for a motion to adjourn to January 6th so move second all in favor I opposed we are adjourned let take about a 5 minute break till the work session