City seeks to add a Catalyst to its economic development efforts

The City Council is getting ready to bet that Catalyst Development will live up to its name.

Webster’s defines "catalyst" as something that "increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process." What the council will be wagering at its Tuesday meeting is that Catalyst Development can and will help significantly increase the rate of commercial development in Kyle, thereby providing much-needed property tax relief to residential property owners in the city.

Interestingly, at least to me, the item involving Catalyst the council will be voting on appears on the consent agenda, a section that is usually reserved for two or more non-controversial items that should not garner much discussion and even less debate. Not that this item — which is nothing more than a 12-month agreement to pay Catalyst the comparatively miserly amount of $24,500 to help promote economic development in Kyle — is all that controversial. I just found it the most fascinating, the most interesting item on the agenda and the one that could have the most significant impact on the future of the city.

Of course, there’s always the surprises. Who knew, going into the last council meeting of 2017, the most controversial item was going to be the normally routine process of approving board and commission appointments. And, "whaddya know," there’s a couple of those on this agenda as well — two appointments to the Parks and Recreation Board and three to the Library Board. The council also needs to come up with a replacement for former council member David Wilson to represent position 3 on the Alliance Regional Water Authority board.

And, by the time this, the first council meeting of 2018, adjourns, the city should have its first-ever designated attorney for the Ethics Commission and possibly even a new city attorney. Those items will be discussed in executive session, however, and decisions may or may not be made public after the council returns to a public session.

And there’s that dang zoning issue involving 5½ acres on Windy Hill Road on which the owner wants to build an apartment complex and a small shopping area. That request drew some NIMBY opposition the first couple times it came before the council and it appeared to be opposed by a significant number of council members until the city attorney in that last council meeting of 2017 took the entire council into executive session after which the council meekly and without debate approved the item on first reading 6-1. It apparently has to do with a contract the city and the owner signed as a condition of the property being annexed that forces the council to approve the zoning request. So there’s that and the only thing that might happen is the NIMBYs might want to continue beating their heads against the wall by speaking out against the request during citizen comments period. But that fight appears all but over.

Someone on the council might even raise the question about a motorist apparently driving 116 miles an hour on Kohlers Crossing in late November between the railroad track and I-35. But I’ll get back to that a little later in this story.

Frankly, I’m more concerned about that item number 5 on the consent agenda to "authorize (the) execution of a 12-month professional services agreement with Catalyst Commercial, Inc., Dallas, Texas, for total consulting fees in the amount of $24,500 plus reimbursable expenses at 115 percent of actual costs to provide services related to developing retail business growth and recruitment strategies in the City of Kyle" for the upcoming calendar year.

According to the terms of the agreement, Catalyst is to:

• "Prepare (a) brief creative marketing summary of Top 10 development sites for national and chain retail stores and shall maintain an inventory including available leasable area, dimensions on vacant lease space, parking ratios, available traffic data and accessibility, demographic summary, and schedule of major existing co-tenants, or other pertinent information relative to each property;"
• Coordinate with the Economic Development Commission to conduct an assessment of the top five undeveloped properties that are planned or proposed for future retail; and
• Refine the current recruitment prospect list to the top 20 prospects and develop a merchandising strategy that identifies and prioritizes the likely sites for each prospect."

The one missing ingredient to the above, at least to my way of thinking, was any sort of a deadline. The agreement never says when Catalyst must complete the above mentioned tasks.

"There is no hard deadline for (these ) items, but we have discussed making these available as quickly as possible," City Manager Scott Sellers said Friday. "I would expect these reports to be finalized no later than the end of the first quarter."

That’s fine, but will they be made public? Will the rest of us know who’s on the Catalyst Hit List? And, what’s more, the agreement also states Catalyst has got to coordinate monthly conference calls to update the city of results and statistics of Catalyst’s efforts in Kyle and to provide brief monthly written reports to the city detailing the status of Catalyst’s delivery of what it is being hired to deliver to the city. Will the content of those calls/written reports ever become public?

"The contents of the reports will be largely protected due to the confidential nature of recruiting/negotiating with the prospects," Sellers said. "However, we are happy to make public any portions of these reports that are not confidential."

I was also somewhat disturbed by the language in the agreement that called for "reimbursable expenses at 115 percent of actual costs." When I had my own crisis communications consulting company, I never inflated out-of-pocket costs. I would, in fact, include out-of-pocket receipts with all invoices. I didn’t consider it kosher to make a profit on out-of-pocket expenses. But the city manager satisfied my fears on that item as well.

"The 115 percent reimbursable is only for activities beyond the scope of the contract," Sellers said. "We don't currently anticipate additional activities, but there may be a prospect visit or report for which we will need assistance."

Another item of possible interest on Tuesday’s agenda is one that would increase the speed limit by five miles an hour on that part of Kohlers Crossing between the railroad tracks and I-35 that’s currently designated as a 40-mile-an-hour zone. The change will mean that entire stretch of Kohlers, from 2770 to I-35, will be designated as a 45-mile-an-hour road.

Which brings me back to that maniacal motorist — the one apparently clocked at 116 miles an hour on that stretch. Or perhaps not. Who knows? According to the results of a Traffic Speed Survey on this section of Kohlers conducted between 8 a.m. Nov. 27 and 2 p.m. Nov. 30, the average speed of the motor vehicles during that period was close to 48.9 miles an hour, close to 10 mph above the posted limit. In fact, out of the 9,616 vehicles surveyed during this period, 8,429 of them — a whopping 87.6 percent — exceeded the speed limit. I confess. I regularly take that road to get to and from I-35 and I just as regularly exceed the limit. But what really jumped out at me — screamed in my face, to tell you the truth — was this notation in the survey: "Maximum Speed (mph) 116." Does this mean the survey reported someone was actually driving 116 miles an hour sometime between 8 a.m. Nov. 27 and 2 p.m. Nov. 30 on Kohlers Crossing?. And, if so, what became of the speedster? Did he or she even bother to stop, as required, at the intersection of Kohlers Crossing and Kyle Crossing?

"The device used to capture the speeds and direction of travel does not record video of the violator or of the violation," City Engineer Leon Barba said Friday. "The device simply acts as a statistical recording device; therefore, no identification of the violator would be possible. As such, no driver could be identified and no legal action will take place.

"Being that the speeds indicated at 116 MPH are both shown at the onset of the data tracking activity and that the speeds are significant outliers, these two numbers reflect anomalies that will not be used in the computation of the overall data for the purposes of determining a safe speed for the roadway," Barba added.

You can access the entire agenda for Tuesday’s City Council meeting here.

December a robust month for city sales tax collections

Sales tax collected	Budget surplus	Percent Surplus	FY percent Surplus	Dec. 2016 Collections	Variance from last year
$602,893.26	$54,506.26	9.94%	6.19%	$515,743.09	16.9%

You can read the entire report here.

Tenorio argues qualifications should not be part of committee selection process

Much to the astonishment of most of her colleagues, City Council member Daphne Tenorio said last night an applicant’s qualifications should not be considered when making committee appointments and instead candidates should simply draw straws to see who gets selected.

Tenorio’s comments came during an unusually tumultuous discussion during which the council rejected a nominee for the Ethics Commission and saw what should have been the routine approval for another person to be named to the Planning & Zoning Commission turn into a maelstrom with Tenorio’s comments.

Even though these dramatic events took place barely 30 minutes after the council’s last meeting of the year began, it was the major topic of conversation among four council members who had yet to leave the council chambers 4½ hours later. All four of them — Dex Ellison, Tracy Scheel, Mayor pro tem Shane Arabie and Mayor Travis Mitchell — said they were still shocked, surprised and perplexed by Tenorio’s suggestion that a person’s qualifications for serving on a city board or committee should be ignored and instead they should engage in some form of a lottery to determine how vacancies are filled.

During the discussion over the nomination of engineer Paul Scheibmeir to the Planning & Zoning Commission, Tenorio expressed concern that, if approved, his appointment would result in five planning commissioners living west of I-35 and only two living east. She failed, however, to explain how drawing lots for these positions would rectify that geographical imbalance or, even more importantly, to give any proof that this geographical distribution has had any effect on decisions made by planning commissioners.

In fact, Tenorio’s motives appeared to have more to do with revenge than the council’s committee selection process, a process that was actually reviewed, changed and adopted by the council earlier this year for the purpose of getting more qualified individuals on these committees. Prior to the vote on Scheibmeir, who, by the way, won council approval by a 6-1 vote (Need I say who voted against?), the council rejected Alex Villalobos’s nomination of Marco Pizana to the Ethics Commission with Tenorio being the only council member joining Villalobos in voting for Pizana. Last month, Pizana lost a city council election race and has publicly declared he plans to run again in 2019. The five council members voting against the nomination said the Ethics Commission is the one body filled with city council appointees that should be free from any political influence even if that means excluding those who might otherwise be qualified if they have announced plans to run for elective office.

Still, Tenorio’s comments left many observers scratching their heads over how someone could support the concept that a person’s qualifications should not be a criterion for serving on a city committee.

But that was not the only dramatic moment of last night’s city council meeting. The second one came during consideration of a zoning change request for property located on Windy Hill Road that the owner wanted to convert into an apartment complex with a small area set aside for a gas station/convenience store. The item was held over from the council’s last meeting on Nov. 21 to give City Attorney Frank Garza ample opportunity to research whether an agreement the owner signed with Hays County before his property was annexed by the city that gave him permission to build the complex superseded any action the council might take.

Even though Garza said his research suggested the city’s hands were tied because of that agreement, the council seemed on the verge of rejecting the zoning request. Tenorio had made a motion to deny the zoning change and it was seconded by Damon Fogley who stated he opposed the zoning change because there was already too much traffic congestion on Windy Hill Road. And judging from the comments made when this item came up for discussion at the council’s Nov. 21 meeting, only Arabie seemed to be a sure vote in favor of the zoning change.

But when Ellison asked Garza what exactly would be the legal ramifications on all parties of any council decision, Garza said that answer could only come during a discussion that took place in an executive session setting. Following a 30-minute executive session, council members filed back into their respective places on the dais and without any discussion demurely voted 6-1 to approve the zoning change recommended earlier last month by the Planning & Zoning Commission.

The council also approved delaying the start of the Lehman Road reconstruction for at least four months in the hope that the project might qualify to receive state and federal funding that would pay 80 percent of the cost of that project, along with four other planned capital improvement projects, the most expensive of which is the relocation of the railroad siding that results in stopped trains blocking traffic on Center Street in the heart of the city’s downtown area. The council was told that if the Lehman project scores high enough to receive these federal and state dollars, the revenues generated when voters approved the sale of bonds to finance the Lehman project could be used to add other-desired amenities to it, specifically a bridge that would completely remove Lehman from a flood plain. That was enough to convince all seven council members to vote in favor of a request to apply for the money.

Council to debate time vs. money

Which is the more valuable commodity: time or money? Is it a higher moral imperative for a municipal government to keep a promise it made to its citizen even if it means keeping that promise may not be the most judicious use of taxpayers’ dollars?

These are some of the questions the City Council must grapple with Tuesday night when it considers whether to apply for federal funds to help with various capital improvement projects because, like most, if not all, such requests, strings are definitely attached.

The item in question is one to consider and possibly take action "to approve a request for the CAMPO 2019-2022 Project Call." Specifically, the council will debate whether it wants to seek federal funding for the following projects:

• Center Street rail siding relocation ($14.9 million)
• Burleson ($8.79 million)
• Lehman ($8.01 million)
• Kyle Crossing ($1.28 million)
• Post Road ($2.5 million)

If the CAMPO requests are granted, the feds would pay 80 percent of the aforementioned price tag for each project and the city would be required to pay the other 20 percent.

Three of the above-mentioned items appear to be simple and easy decisions. If the city can receive $11.92 million toward the relocation of the railroad siding that removes the stalled trains that block traffic on center street, when combined with other pledges from the county and elsewhere, the city’s cost for that project would only be $710,000. That sounds like a bargain. As far as the money for Kyle Crossing and Post Road, I’ve been told that federal funds to defray the costs on those projects are probably a long shot.

That leaves Burleson and Lehman and that’s where the moral debate comes in because, Mayor Travis Mitchell said today, if those moneys are approved by CAMPO, it would mean delaying work on those projects for at least a year beyond what voters were promised when they approved the sale of bonds to finance those road projects, and others, more than four years ago. On the other hand, the federal moneys mean the city could apply the bond revenue to other projects directly related to those roads, such as additional sidewalks for Lehman, additional lighting for Burleson, xeriscaping medians and Mitchell said he is a major advocate of xeriscaping. The leftover funds could even be used to help pay down the debt incurred by sale of the bonds, thus increasing the capacity for future capital improvement projects that could be funded by General Obligation bonds without triggering a property tax increase.

Mitchell even said one more option is available: the city could take a proposal back to the voters seeking permission to use those suddenly available funds on other projects unrelated to the ones approved for in the original bond sale — perhaps the Post Road or the Kyle Crossing projects, which are already part of the city’s five-year Capital Improvement Plan. The political gamble of that however is whether voters would be agreeable to renegotiating the use of that bond money after the city decided not to keep its promise on when to complete the Lehman and Burleson projects. It all comes down to trust.

The reasons why the Burleson and Lehman projects would need to be delayed if the city seeks CAMPO money to complete the projects is twofold: First and foremost, the money won’t be available until sometime in 2019 — most likely around the middle of that year — and, second, because federal dollars are involved, more extensive environmental impact studies will have to be conducted on both projects. Mitchell estimated the delay on starting the Lehman Road project could be between five and six months and the additional EPA studies could delay it for another18 months. Construction on Burleson probably would not begin until May 2019, he said.

CAMPO will announce next May which projects are being funded, according to Mitchell.

Citizens may weigh in on the matter — whether the city should get the feds to defray the costs of these two road projects or simply forget outside funds and get these two road projects completed when originally promised — during the Citizen Comments period at the beginning of Tuesday’s council session.

Incidentally, the item that follows the CAMPO request is directly related. That item would be considering whether to update the city’s Transportation Master Plan to include relocating the Center Street Railroad siding. Mitchell said this is strictly a formality because all projects approved for CAMPO funding must be a part of a Transportation Master Plan. The mayor also said that even though the map that accompanies this item suggests the relocated siding could cause stopped trains to block Kohlers Crossing, the siding is sufficient to accommodate the longest possible freight train to ever use that line without blocking traffic on Kohlers. In fact, he suggested, that map may not be 100 percent accurate.

Other items on Tuesday’s agenda include:

• The appointments from the new council members for the city’s Ethics Commission.
• The appointment of engineer Paul Scheibmeir to fill the Planning & Zoning Commission vacancy created when P&Z Chair Dex Ellison was elected to the City Council.
• A resolution to suspend for 90 days a proposed 11.9% rate increase sought by Centerpoint Gas, which, according to city officials, provides natural gas to approximately 8,000 residential customers in Kyle, 318 "small volume" commercial customers, and one "large commercial customer."
• A proposal to spend $216,188.68 to buy one of these for the Stormwater Utility.
• A recommendation on zoning for a multi-family/retail services development on Windy Hill Road that was delayed during the last council meeting in order to obtain a legal opinion on whether the project was already allowed because of a previous agreement the property’s owner signed with Hays County prior to its annexation into the city. Several council members expressed concern at that last meeting about the impact the development would have on Windy Hill Road traffic.

　

November sales tax table

Sales tax collected	Budget surplus	Percent Surplus	FY percent Surplus	Nov. 2016 Collections	Variance from last year
$710,335.88	$4,796.88	0.68%	4.5%	$655,907.41	8.3%

You can read the entire report here.

Tenorio violates charter during special council meeting

District 6 City Council member Daphne Tenorio openly and defiantly violated a section of the Kyle City Charter during last night’s Special City Council Meeting by refusing to vote on the items on that meeting’s agenda while still discussing them, opening questions about her fitness to serve on the council.

After complaining about the contents of the minutes for the Nov. 4 special council meeting, she failed to participate in the voting on the approval of those minutes. She also failed to participate in the voting to approve the regular meeting minutes for the sessions held on Oct. 4 and Oct. 17.

The first sentence of Section 3.08 of the City Charter states: "All members of the council present shall vote upon every issue, subject or matter properly before the council and requiring a council vote; provided that, if any member of the council has a conflict of interest that fact shall be stated in the minutes and such member shall abstain from discussion and voting on the issue."

Tenorio not only failed to voice/record any "conflict of interest" on these three items, she also did not "abstain from discussion" of the items. In fact, she actually initiated the discussion on those minutes, clear violations of this section of the charter.

It will be interesting to see whether anyone will file any kind of formal complaint against Tenorio, who has a history of complaining about the actions of others on the council. In fact, her complaint about the minutes of the Nov. 4 meeting was based on her criticism of former Mayor Todd Webster’s decision to continue that meeting after Tenorio, without any explanation, left the council dias, leaving the council without a quorum. This prohibited the council from taking any action on a PID request until a quorum was re-established some 20 minutes later with the arrival of former District 2 council member Becky Selbera. However, the mere act of her complaining about what happened at that Nov. 4 meeting coupled with her non-participation in the vote connected with the issue are both charter violations.

It should be noted, however, that, under the terms of the revised Ethics Ordinance, the terms of four Ethics Commissioners — Ryan Browning, Margaret A. Le-Compte-Somma, Andrea Cunningham and Gary Rush — have expired. Plus Seat 3 is vacant, leaving only two active Ethics Commissioners, Elizabeth B. Guidry and Nancy Fahy, whose appointment, somewhat ironically, was just approved last night by a 6-1 vote (council member Shane Arabie voting "no.")

Updated Thursday, 11-23, at 10:21 p.m.) Tenorio replied to my request for a response by writing simply "I hope you and your family have a very happy Thanksgiving." (Editor's Note: She sent that e-mail to me Wednesday at 6:03 p.m., but I failed to see and read it until moments ago, shortly  after I returned from enjoying a very happy Thanksgiving with my family.)

Other than that, last night’s city council meetings were fairly routine, with the major events being the swearing in of Mayor Travis Mitchell and new council members Dex Ellison, Tracy Scheel and Alex Villalobos along with the council’s election of Arabie as mayor pro tem.

Back in 2015, I wrote a number of articles regarding how the council made a mockery of Roberts Rules of Order concerning the difference between "discussion" and "debate" on an issue. That was (hopefully) finally resolved with the adoption of new council rules last night that specifically delineates the differences between the two as well as defining a proper sense of decorum during City Council meetings. A couple of City Council members, who obviously don’t have the experience necessary to make such judgments, tried to maintain these rules stifled freedoms of speech. The truth is, in every City Council meeting I have ever attended in Tarrant, Dallas and Collin counties, those same words are read aloud, exactly as they appeared in the rule changes adopted last night, prior to every citizens comments period.

After one person abused the three-minute Citizen Comment Period by hogging the podium for more than six and a half minutes, council member Damon Fogley wisely said he would like to see the installation of a timing device to limit such abuses during both the Citizen Comment Period and various public hearings. It would seem a simple, inexpensive software adjustment could be installed so that a such a timer would be visible on the screens above the council dais.

For some reason not clearly delineated, Tenorio and Villalobos objected to Texas Pie Company owner Julie Albertson being appointed to a non-voting seat on the Economic Development & Tourism Board, with the key term there being "non-voting seat." If Kyle is to be known as "the pie capital of Texas," in part to attract tourism, it would seem, at least to me, a no-brainer that the owner of the establishment that earned the city that designation should serve on the Economic Development & Tourism Board.

In other action last night, the council:

• Delayed a zoning decision on property located on Windy Hill Road until Dec. 5 so that City Attorney Frank Garza could research whether the applicant had the right to build apartments on the property regardless of the zoning decision of the council because an agreement the applicant signed with Hays County prior to his property being annexed gave him permission to build them. The issue has the potential for setting an interesting precedent: Whether infrastructure improvements should be made because of development or in anticipation of it.
• Approved the appointments of Fogley to the Executive Board of the Combined Emergency Communications Center; Planning & Zoning Commissioner Rick Koch to cast the city’s votes on the Hays Central Appraisal District; Al Mata, general manager of the Hampton Inn, as a voting member of the Economic Development & Tourism Board; and the reappointments of Scott Stoker and Travis Upchurch to the Parks and Recreation Board.
• Approved without any debate and little discussion (Planning Director Hoard J. Koontz said he has had some interest from developers) the creation of mixed-use zoning districts that would be located alongside major arterials in Kyle.
• Heard a discussion on Community Development Block Grants, a program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, meant primarily to fund development programs that benefit low and moderate-income recipients. CDBG funds may be used for community development activities (such as real estate acquisition, relocation, demolition, rehabilitation of housing and commercial buildings), construction of public facilities and improvements (such as water, sewer, and other utilities, street paving, and sidewalks), construction and maintenance of neighborhood centers, and the conversion of school buildings, public services, and economic development and job creation/retention activities. CDBG funds can also be used for preservation and restoration of historic properties in low-income neighborhoods. It is questionable whether (1) Kyle can find census tracts that are eligible for CDBG funds or (2) whether such funds will even be available much longer because President Trump’s war on low and moderate-income individuals has prompted his attempt to eliminate the CDBG program.
• Heard what could be described as a "plea" from City Manager Scott Sellers to cancel the planned Dec. 19 council meeting due to its proximity to Christmas.

Mitchell gets council agendas posted 24 hours earlier

Mayor-elect Travis Mitchell, confirmed today he has reached an agreement with the city’s staff requiring council agendas be posted by the close of business on the Thursday prior to the meeting in question, a day earlier than the current requirement.

The change will be reflected during a vote on revising the council's rules of procedure during tomorrow night's agenda meeting, the first to include three new council members.

Mitchell, along with council members Dex Ellison, Tracy Scheel and Alex Villalobos, will be sworn in during a special ceremony scheduled for an hour before the planned 7 p.m. start of the regular city council meeting. All but Ellison will be sworn in for three-year terms. Ellison was elected to serve out the remaining two years of Mitchell’s District 1 seat, a position he resigned to run for mayor. Immediately prior to the swearing-in ceremonies, a special recognition is planned for outgoing Mayor Todd Webster and city council members Becky Selbera and David Wilson. Together, those three account for more than 30 years of city council experience.

Under the existing council rules, agenda items were required to be "made available" four days prior to a council meeting, meaning the Friday before. Mitchell is changing that requirement to three business days prior, with "business" being the significant word. That means agendas will now be "made available" by the end of the business day on Thursdays.

"I actually requested something very different, but this was our compromise," Mitchell said today. "One of my first goals as mayor was to create more time between when our agendas are posted and the actual meeting. This is good for the public, but it is also good for the council to have more time to interact with the material and ask questions from staff."

Mitchell said he was unsure of how one of the many Monday legal holidays that might come the day immediately before a council meeting would affect this schedule.

"I suspect it will push it back another 24 hours, but I'll need to get clarification from staff," the mayor-elect said.

He admitted he was seeking additional changes in meeting procedures, similar to those recently enacted by the San Marcos City Council which on Friday announced it would (1) hold open-to-the-public work sessions in council chambers at 3 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of each month so council members could go over the agenda of that evening’s meeting without taking any action; and (2) place a 60-minute limit on the length of executive sessions (most Kyle City Council executive sessions extend longer than an hour).

Speaking of which, Tuesday’s council meeting has the distinct possibility of being a long one, providing a total immersion rather than a sprinkling baptismal for the new council members. It includes an executive session that will discuss two legal matters and an economic development possibility as well as a number of items regulating the flow of motor vehicles around Kyle.

For example, on the consent agenda there’s an item calling for the installation of stop signs at seven Kyle intersections — Autumn Sage and Camelia parkways, Downing Way and Waterloo Drive, Brandi Circle and Hallie Drive, Brent Boulevard and Philomena Drive, Dacy Lane and Bunton Creek Road, and Lehman Road and Bunton Creek. Of these, only the Downing/Waterloo and the Brent/Philomena intersections will be four-way stop signs, according to City Engineer Leon Barba.

Another consent agenda item would lead to the installation of traffic signals at Philomena and Bunton Creek and Philomena at Kyle Parkway. A third consent agenda item would lead to the erection of signs prohibiting trucks from driving on Kyle Crossing between Kohlers Crossing and Vista Ridge Drive.

And, on the agenda for individual consideration, is an item to "Consider and possible action to approve a request for the CAMPO 2019-2022 Project Call." I sought explanation of this item last week from staff, but have yet to receive a response for clarification, which leads me to guess that the city is going to be asking CAMPO for money to help complete two road bond projects ($9 million for Burleson Road and $8 million for Lehman) as well as a combined $3.8 million to pay for repairs on Kyle Crossing and Post Road, and a whopping $14.9 million to be used for relocating the Center Street rail siding. According to CAMPO’s web site, it held a workshop Oct. 25 in San Marcos to "cover the entire selection process" for the 2019-2022 project call. I have no idea whether representatives from Kyle’s city staff attended this workshop, but I suspect one or more did which led to the preparation of the request that will be on tomorrow’s agenda. The upside of this, should the request be granted by CAMPO, would be a possible $35.7 million savings for the city on much needed projects, The downside would be the fact that work on these projects might not even begin until sometime around 2022 and voters were promised the two road bond projects, at least, would be completed long before that. Council members will thus be asked to determine which is more important: saving taxpayers money or getting projects completed expeditiously.

(Updated at 10 p.m.) At least, that's what it originally appeared council members were going to be asked to choose between. However, earlier this evening the city announced City Manager Scott Sellers will ask the council "to pull the item while more information gathering takes place." Yep, that's vague but it could also explain why no one from the city responded to my request for clarification on this item. It appears the staff is not all that clear on it. The city's last-minute announcement goes on to say council members "will have to vote on whether to pull it or continue," but I'm betting they'll acquiesce to the city manager's request.


Other items of interest on tomorrow night’s agenda include:

• The election of a mayor pro tem,
• Re-appointments to the Parks and Recreation Board, appointments to the Economic Development & Tourism Board, and council member Daphne Tenorio’s request to appoint Nancy Fahey to the Ethics Commission.
• Accepting a grant of $16,122 from the Ladd and Katherine Hancher Library Foundation as well as an order in the same amount to purchase seven children’s learning centers for the Kyle Public Library which, according to library officials, will create "an informal technology-based learning environment for children so they can explore and discover further educational opportunities in a fun, safe and comfortable place."
• An ordinance that will result in the creation of a mixed-use zoning category.