How the City Council voted Tuesday night

(First Reading) Approve an Ordinance amending the City's Approved Budget for Fiscal Year 2021-2022 by appropriating $537,032 to provide funding for change order numbers 4 and 6 approved by city council on Nov. 1 to Cadence Construction Company, LLC, in the amount of $438,030 for the Heroes Memorial Park project and $99,002 to construct an eight-inch reclaimed waterline underneath Kohlers Crossing.
Approved 7-0, second reading waived.

Approve a resolution approving and authorizing a financing agreement for the Kyle Plum Creek North Public Improvement District.
Approved 7-0

(First Reading) Consider and possible action on an ordinance finding of special benefit to the property in the Plum Creek North Public Improvement District; providing for the method of assessment of special assessments against property in the district; approving assessment rolls for the district; levying assessments against property within the district; providing for payment of the assessments; providing for penalties and interest on delinquent assessments; establishing a lien on property within the district; approving a service and assessment plan; approving landowner agreements; providing for related matters in accordance with Chapter 372, Texas Local Government Code; providing an effective date; and providing for severability.
Appoved 7-0, second reading waived

A resolution authorizing the city manager to coordinate with the Texas Department of Transportation for installation of a sign at Interstate Highway 35 and South FM 1626 prohibiting soliciting, begging activity directed at drivers using the city streets; providing open meetings clause; and providing for related matters.
Motion to amend the resolution to include installation of a sign at Interstate 35 and Center Street approved 7-0; amended resolution approved 7-0.

Consider a request by Nitro Swimming to grant a special exception for parking on property located within Plum Creek PUD.
Amendment to add for additional ADA parking spaces approved 7-0; amended request approved 7-0.

(First Reading) An ordinance amending Chapter 41 (Subdivisions) for the purpose of modifying Section 41-136 (Lots)and Chapter 53 (Zoning) for the purpose of modifying Section 53-143 (Site Development Regulations [Townhomes]) authorizing the city secretary to amend the code of ordinances so as to reflect this change; providing for publication and effective date; providing for severability; and ordaining other provisions related to the subject matter hereof; finding and determining that the meeting at which this ordinance was passed was open to the public as required by law.
Motion to approve Chapter 41 with an amendment requiring HOAs to be responsible for maintenance approved, and to modify and bring back the Chapter 53 changes approved 7-0.

Consideration and possible action to adopt a concrete washout standard.
No action taken.

Authorize public hearings on the proposed creation of city TIRZs and authorize city staff to prepare and file with the city secretary's office TIRZ preliminary project plans.
No action taken.

Discussion and possible direction on redesigning layout of council chambers to accommodate an ADA accessible lectern.
Council directed staff to remove four front row chairs in council chamber to accomodate an ADA accessible lecturn.

Take action on items discussed in Executive Session.
No action taken.

Kyle names new assistant city manager

Rollingwood is only a tad more than 20 miles north of Kyle, but the two cities could hardly be more different from each other. Rollingwood, located on the west side of Mopac across from Zilker Park in Austin, is a tiny hamlet for the well-to-do. It has one commercial corridor, Bee Caves Road, than runs along its southern edge, but, for the most part, Rollingwood is a tree-canopied community of multi-million-dollar single-family residences. The city has a population of 1,532 and its median home valuation is $2.2 million.

The city of Rollingwood recently completed the final draft of its first-ever Comprehensive Plan. Thom Farrell, the chair of the committee that drafted the plan, said the committee was driven by the mandate from citizens who said “We do not want high-rise buildings and we do not want apartments in Rollingwood.”

Rollingwood has a city administrator form of government in which the city council, consisting of five elected council members plus a mayor, is the city’s governing body. It recently had three open spots on its city council, but instead of having three different council races, it had one, drawing six candidates and the top three finishers won the open seats.

But those three new council members are not the only major leadership changes rocking Rollingwood.

It’s mayor, Michael Dyson, recently announced he was resigning his position effective the end of this month, saying, according the Community Impact newspaper, “his increasingly demanding professional life compromises his ability to serve the city the way it needs.”

And today it was announced that Amber Lewis, Rollingwood’s city administrator, that city’s equivalent to our city manager, is leaving to become the third assistant city manager here in Kyle, effective Dec. 6.

Amber Lewis

Lewis became Rollingwood’s city administrator in 2017. Prior to that, she served as assistant city administrator in the City of Liberty Hill, Texas; executive director for the City of Holdrege, Neb., Housing Authority and Holdrege Development Corporation; and as the assistant city manager for the City of Kearney, Neb. She has experience as a grant writer, a city planner and a finance director. Not only that, her husband, Brenton, is the city manager of Woodcreek, located just north of Wimberley, here in Hays County.

“We are honored to bring someone with as much experience as Amber to the City of Kyle,” Kyle City Manager Scott Sellers said today in a prepared statement. “She went through a rigorous recruitment process that drew qualified candidates from across the country, but Lewis’ experience and passion for local government made her an exceptional candidate to serve the community.”

Originally from Nebraska, Lewis holds a Bachelor of Science in political science and public administration from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is an active member of the International City/County Management Association, the Texas City Management Association, and the Central Texas Chapter of Women Leading Government where she is currently serving as past president.

“The City of Kyle has incredible potential, growth, and remarkable opportunity,” Lewis said. “I am looking forward to serving the residents of Kyle and working together with the council and staff to build toward Kyle’s progress and long-term vision for success.”

Sellers said her job responsibilities here will include overseeing “community development, infrastructure and capital improvement projects, business growth and economic development.”

How redistricting will affect Kyle

Currently, Kyle is represented by Democrat Lloyd Doggett in the U.S. House of Representatives, Republican Donna Campbell in the Texas Senate and Democrat Erin Zwiener in the Texas House of Representatives. Two years from today, two of those names will be different and all three will be Democrats. It is also extremely possible that Kyle’s representative in the state senate will be from Laredo, 222 miles from Kyle. That, in summation, is the result of the newly redistricted congressional and legislative maps.

It initially appeared as though all three names would change as the initial map carved Zweiner’s home in Driftwood out of what was the once-battleground 45th District and placed it in the safely Republican 73rd. However, an amendment to the map was introduced that moved her back into District 45 and it passed easily. Shortly after that, Zweiner announced she would seek re-election in the district, which President Biden won by 7.1 percentage points over Donald Trump. Biden, however, would have won newly redistricted House District 45 by a far more comfortable margin of 19 points. Zweiner’s old district was 62 percent White and 32 percent Hispanic. The new District 45 will be 55 percent White and 38 percent Hispanic and will no longer include the cities of Wimberley, Dripping Springs and Johnson City.

Although Doggett could easily win re-election to the 35th Congressional District he currently represents — a district that is even more solidly safe for a Democrat than it was before — he has decided to run for the new district that was created for the city of Austin. And even though minorities in general and Hispanics in particular comprised the greatest number of new voters in Central Texas, the 35th District, as redrawn, has gone from one that had been 53 percent Hispanic to one that is now 48 percent Hispanic. It remains, however, a minority/majority district as only 34 percent of the registered voters in the district are White. The congressional district went for Biden last year by a whopping 37.1 percentage points (67.6 percent for Biden, 30.5 percent for Trump). If that election had been held with the new map in place the results would have been even more one-sided — 71.5 percent for Biden, 26.4 percent for Trump. So it seems safe to predict that Texas Congressional District 35 will remain in the hands of a Democrat. The question is who? 

Austin City Council Member Greg Casar says he has formed an exploratory committee to inform his next steps and state Reps. Eddie Rodriguez, D-Austin, and Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, say they also are mulling runs for the position. 

“We can win better jobs, a clean planet, and an end to the Republicans’ discriminatory laws,” Casar, who has served on the Austin City Council since 2015, said in a statement. “We can make the world a better place if we fight for it. If we organize for it. That’s why I’m considering running for Congress — to fight for working class and everyday Texans.” 

Rodriguez, who was first elected to the Texas House in 2002, said he is “very seriously considering” running for the seat, one he believes should be represented by a Latino or Latina. “I'm taking a hard look at it,” Rodriguez said. “It's an opportunity that doesn't come up very often.”

The newly redrawn 35th Congressional District covers much of East Austin and stretches south along Interstate 35 to incorporate the eastern edges of Hays and Comal counties and a large portion of San Antonio. Doggett has represented the district since it was created in 2011. A late change to the proposed district drew Martinez Fischer's San Antonio residence within the boundaries of the 35th District. Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston and the architect of the new map, said the change was made at Martinez Fischer's request.

The new Senate District 21

But the biggest change for Kyle will be its representation in the state senate. Formerly, Kyle was in Senate District 25 that extended west from the city. That district was 62 percent White, 29 percent Hispanic and 5 percent Black. Trump carried it by 8.2 percentage points in 2020, 53.3 percent to 45.1 percent for Biden. After redistricting, Kyle will be part of Senate District 21 that extends south from the city — way, way, south — all the way to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The demographics of this new district will be, for all practical purposes, a mirror opposite of the old one — 61 percent Hispanic, 32 percent White. Biden would have carried this district comfortably with 57.7 percent of the vote as compared to 40.7 for Trump, a Biden victory margin of 17 percentage points. That’s a shift of 25.2 percentage points in favor of Democrats, which should signal Republican Campbell will be replaced as Kyle’s representative in the state senate by a Democrat. Again the question is who and, possibly even more problematic for Kyle, will it be someone with even a passing knowledge of the city’s wants and needs at the state level. The district is currently represented by Rep. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo. She has yet to announce whether she plans to seek re-election to an 11th term next year. She is the first Hispanic woman elected to the Texas Senate, the second highest-ranking senator, and the highest-ranking woman and Hispanic senator. She has passed more bills than any other legislator in the history of the State of Texas.

There’s also the question of just how long Democrats will control this newly redrawn Senate District 21. According to a scorecard developed by the Texas Tribune, the most conservative Democrats in the Texas Senate and House are located in San Antonio and south of the Alamo City. In addition, Texas’s Hispanic population, particularly those Hispanics in southern parts of the state, are rapidly migrating to the Republican Party.

City council election results from major precincts

Precinct 125 (Kensington Trails, turnout: 4.43 percent)

1. Koch 26.36 percent
2. Parsley 25.45 percent
3. Kaufman 20.91 percent
4. None of the candidates 18.18 percent
5. Willis 9.09 percent

Precinct 126 (Waterleaf, turnout 5.85 percent)

1. Koch 29.69 percent
2. Parsley 23.96 percent
3. Kaufman 23.44 percent
4. Willis 12.5 percent
5. None of the candidates 10.42 percent

Precinct 127 (Bunton Creek, turnout 4.43 percent)

1. Koch 34 percent
2. Parsley 24 percent
3. Kaufman 18 percent
4. Willis 18 percent
5. None of the candidates 6 percent

Precinct 128 (Post Oak, turnout 5.64 percent)

1. Koch 43.24 percent
2. Kaufman 17.57 percent
3. Parsley 14.86 percent
4. Willis 12.16 percent
5. None of the candidates 12.16 percent

Precinct 129 (Amberwood, turnout 4.99 percent)

1. Kaufman 25 percent
2. Koch 23.44 percent
3. Parsley 23.44 percent
4. None of the candidates 20.31 percent
5. Willis 7.81 percent

Precinct 130 (Steeplechase, turnout 6.18 percent)

1. Koch 28.79 percent
2. Parsley 20.71 percent
3. Kaufman 17.68 percent
4. Willis 17.1 percent
5. None of the candidates 16.16 percent

Precinct 220 (Plum Creek, turnout 13.39 percent)

1. Koch 39.27 percent
2. Parsley 31.95 percent
3. Kaufman 21.95 percent
4. None of the candidates 4.63 percent
5. Willis 2.2 percent

Precinct 221 (Plum Creek/Spring Branch, turnout 7.47 percent)

1. Koch 34.6 percent
2. Kaufman 28.91 percent
3. Parsley 26.07 percent
4. None of the candidates 6.64 percent
5. Willis 3.79 percent

Precinct 223 (Silverado/Old Town, turnout 7.4 percent)

1. Parsley 27.18 percent
2. Koch 24.76 percent
3. Kaufman 21.84 percent
4. Willis 16.02 percent
5. None of the candidates 10.19 percent

Precinct 419 (Hometown Kyle, turnout 9.72 percent)

1. Koch 35.32 percent
2. Parsley 29.36 percent
3. Kaufman 14.68 percent
4. Willis 12.84 percent
5. None of the candidates 7.8 percent

Precinct 420 (Blanco River Crossing, turnout 21.9 percent)

1. Willis 54.55 percent
2. Koch 27.27 percent
3. Kaufman 9.09 percent
4. None of the candidates 6.06 percent
5. Parsley 3.03 percent

Four more roundabouts planned for Kyle’s east side

The city has negotiated a road extension contract that will ultimately result in four additional roundabouts on the city’s east side.

The contract would extend Lehman Road north from its present terminus at Bunton Creek and then west so it would ultimately connect to Dacy Lane at the intersection of Seton Parkway. It would also involve extending Kyle Parkway east to that extended Lehman Road.

The plan calls for roundabouts at the intersections of Kyle Parkway and Dacy Lane, Lehman and Bunton Creek, Lehman and Kyle Parkway and Lehman and Dacy Lane.

Voters consider city council (a) irrelevant, (b) incompetent, (c) both

Admittedly, odd-numbered-year elections don’t attract that many voters. Over the last 20 years, the average statewide turnout in odd-year elections (those elections without a candidate seeking a U.S. House or Senate seat on the ballot) is just a little over 9 percent of registered voters. Compare that to a presidential election which attracts more than 60 percent.

So perhaps it should come as no surprise when the official canvass of the Nov. 2 election revealed only 7.36 percent of Kyle’s registered voters took the time to vote, even though that was still 2 percent below the statewide turnout. But it was also markedly lower than was registered by our neighbors to the south (San Marcos’s turnout was 9.92 percent) and the north (Buda’s was a comparatively robust 13.65 percent).

But Kyle’s numbers become even more alarming when you examine them more closely.

In the citywide District 5 city council contest, incumbent Mayor Pro Temp finished first, receiving the support 32.6 percent of those who voted. Daniela C. Parsley finished second with 24.8 percent, Leah Kaufman was third with 20.6 percent, Donny J. Willis was fourth with 12 percent and (wait for it!), None of the Above finished fifth with 10 per cent.

That’s right! One out of every 10 voters said “A pox on all your houses. None of these four candidates has earned the right to receive a vote from me.” Were those voters saying (a) “I’m only interested in voting for the constitutional amendments and I don’t give a damn who wins the city council race” or (b) “Not one of these four candidates has done a damn thing to earn my vote”?

No exit polls were conducted at any of the 10 voting precincts that participated in the Kyle City Council election, but it really doesn’t matter. Either answer, when added to the dismal turnout among Kyle voters compared to our neighbors to the north and south, demonstrates just how irrelevant or incompetent (perhaps both) voters view the council.

The story doesn’t get any better (it could even be successfully argued it gets worse) when you look at the District 6 race in which incumbent Michael Tobias received 75.5 percent of those who cast ballots in the district. That may look like an overwhelming mandate except for one fact: He was unopposed! That means one in every four District 6 voters said basically the same thing, either “I don’t care about the city council race” or “I’m not that fond of Tobias.” Of course, many of those candidates could have skipped the race thinking “He’s the only candidate in the race, why should I waste my time voting for him since he’s obviously going to win anyway.” But, if that was the motivation, those voters were still considering taking a mere millisecond to vote for someone for the Kyle City Council “a waste of my time.”

And there’s one more piece of evidence that illustrates the “I-could-care-less” attitude of District 6 voters: Only 5.25 percent of the district’s registered voters even bothered to take the time to cast a ballot. That’s more than 2 percentage points lower than the city’s pathetic overall showing.

The message is clear: Residents care about what the city staff does. They want navigable streets, safe neighborhoods, decent and convenient shopping/restaurant options, park/recreational facilities and a safe/economical/reliable water supply (not necessarily in that order of importance). But they don’t care one iota about what the city council does or, for that matter, who even sits in the council. I’ve heard that message and The Kyle Report’s coverage of city government will follow those dictates.

Name that school

 The Hays Consolidated Independent School District School Naming Committee is asking district residents, taxpayers, or service providers to submit possible names between now and noon Nov. 29 for the district’s 15th elementary school, scheduled to open next August in Buda’s Sunfield subdivision. Nominations can be submitted by clicking here.

“New schools in Hays CISD can be named for historical or geographical sites or communities; subdivisions; significant local, state, or national figures (living or deceased); people who have made significant contributions to education in the district (living or deceased); local, state, or national historical events or places; or people who have donated land or money for the property or facility,” the district said in a statement released today.

Sometime after the nomination process closes on the 29th, “the naming committee will meet to begin narrowing name options,” according to today’s announcement from the district. “The committee could suggest a name, or slate of possible names, to the board of trustees as early as December. The board could then choose a final name for the school in January 2022.”

The district added the following criteria for submitting nominations:

• Nominations must be in good taste, and not generally considered offensive, silly, or embarrassing.
• If the nominated name is an historical or geographic site, the name submitted must be accompanied by a written summary and/or a description of the significance of the name.
• If the nominated name is an individual, the name submitted must be accompanied by a written rationale and/or description of the named person's accomplishments. 

Each name nominated must fulfill the following criteria, according to the district:

• The nominee shall be widely respected, regardless of any partisan affiliation.
• The nominee shall be a person of character who embodies a wholesome image that would be expected to stand the test of time.
• The nominee shall have a background of service to people of the district, Texas, or the United States.

Koch, Parsley headed for council runoff

In an election that featured a dismally low turnout — less than 5 percent of Kyle’s registered voters — challenger Daniela C. Parsley forced incumbent Mayor Pro Tem Rick Koch into a Dec. 7 runoff Tuesday night in the race for City Council District 5.

Koch finished with 99 more votes than Parsley in an election in which only 1,302 persons voted. That’s 4.98 percent of the registered voters in Kyle and only 8.4 percent of the total number of voters who cast ballots in last year’s city council election.

The final tally showed Koch leading with 463 votes, or 35.56 percent of the total votes cast. Parsley had 364 votes, or 27.96 percent. Leah Kaufman finished third with 290 votes (22.27 percent) and Donny Willis was fourth in the four-candidate race with 185 votes (14.21 percent).

Last year, which admittedly featured a presidential race at the top of the ballot, saw 15,473 votes cast ballots in a city-wide council race.

Koch has slim lead in early voting, appears headed for runoff

Mayor Pro Tem Rick Koch, seeking his second three-year term on the Kyle City Council, is slightly ahead of Daniela Parsley in the four-candidate council election race following the tabulations of the early and absentee voting, but is falling significantly short of a majority.

Koch leads Parsley by a scant 34 votes. Koch collected 34.17 percent of the 720 early ballots cast. Parsley has 28.75 percent, Leah Kaufmann is third with 21.81 percent and Donny Willis is currently in fourth place with 15.28 percent.

How the City Council voted Monday night

 Annexations

   Accept the withdrawal of the petition for annexation of 37.99 acres located at 301 Bebee Road; setting annexation schedule; providing for open meetings and other related matters.
   Approved 6-0 (Mayor Pro Tem Koch absent when vote taken)

   (Second Reading) An ordinance annexing 2.548 acres located at 4750 Dacy Lane, including the abutting streets, roadways, and rights-of-way into the corporate limits of the City, at the request of the property owner; approving a service plan for the annexed area; making findings of fact; providing a severability clause and an effective date; and providing for open meetings and other related matters.
   Approved 5-1 (Flores-Cale dissenting, Mayor Pro Tem Koch absent when vote taken)

PIDs

   Approve a resolution accepting a preliminary service and assessment plan for the Plum Creek North Public Improvement District; directing the filing of proposed assessment rolls for said public improvement district; approving the publication of notice of a public hearing to consider an ordinance levying assessments on property located within said public improvement district that is specially benefitted by the improvements being financed; directing city staff to publish and mail notice of said public hearing; and resolving other matters incident and related thereto; and providing an effective date.
   Approved 7-0

Zoning

   (Second Reading) An amendment to Kyle’s zoning ordinances for the purpose of assigning original zoning to 318 total acres (PUD Zoning, 256 acres to Single Family Attached [R-1-A]; 43.92 acres to Apartments Residential-3 [R-3-3]; and 18.38 acres to Retail Service District [RS]) for property located at 700 Bunton Lane and 800 Bunton Lane.
   Approved 6-1 (Tobias dissenting)

   (Postponed 10/4/21) (First Reading) An amendment to Kyle’s zoning ordinances for the purpose of assigning original zoning to 10.81 acres to Retail Service District (RS)' and 34.83 acres to Multi-Family Residential-3 (R-3-3) for property located at 20139 IH-35.
   Motion to deny approved 6-0 (Mayor Mitchell recused)

Other items for individual consideration

   Consider approving an Interlocal Agreement (ILA) between the City of Kyle and Hays County for the city's funding obligations of each entity for the Center Street Union Pacific rail siding project.  The city's total funding obligation shall not exceed $1.23 million this ILA.
   Approved 6-0 (Mayor Mitchell absent when vote taken)

   Authorize the city manager to execute site specific declarations of covenants, restrictions and easements for the Heroes Memorial tracts, approve letter agreements authorizing the conveyance and addressing drainage and restrictive covenant obligations, and authorize the city manager or mayor to execute all documents necessary to accept conveyance of Heroes Memorial tracts.
   Approved 5-1 (Flores-Cale dissenting, Mayor Mitchell absent when vote taken)

   Approval of change order No. 4 to Cadence McShane Construction Company LLC of Austin, in an additional amount not to exceed $438,030, increasing the total contract amount to $8,388,030 for the purpose of funding value engineering items that were later denied and kept in Heroes Memorial Park.
   Approved 6-0 (Mayor Mitchell absent when vote taken)

   Approval of change order No. 6 to Cadence McShane Construction Company LLC of Austin, Texas an additional amount not to exceed $99,002, increasing the total contract amount to $8,487,032 for the purpose constructing eight-inch reclaimed waterline underneath Kohlers Crossing.
   Approved 6-0 (Mayor Mitchell absent when vote taken)

   Authorize award and execution of a purchase order to Rushworks in an amount not to exceed $29,600 utilizing PEG funds, for the upgrade of servers and AV equipment used to record and broadcast public meetings on the internet and public access channel, inside council chambers.
   Approved 7-0

   Authorize the Police Department to purchase four Haenni Instruments WL101 wheel load weigher scales in an amount not to exceed $21,000 from Loadometer Corporation. (These scales will allow police officers to weigh potentially overweight commercial vehicles travelling on streets, roads, and highways within the city limits.)
   Approved 7-0

   Consider amending the project management services contract with K Friese & Associates, Inc., of Austin to add two additional roads to their scope of work for various upcoming road improvement projects. (The two additional roads to be added are the extension of Seton Parkway north to connect to Kohlers Crossing and the extension of Lehman Road north and then west connecting to Dacy Lane at the intersection of Seton Parkway.)
   Approved 6-0 (Flores-Cale absent when vote taken)

   Development agreement establishing development standards for the RPC Kyle, LLC and Kyle 120, LLC development.
   Approved 7-0

   Consideration and possible action to update the stormwater regulations ordinance to include more stringent requirements for the construction of concrete washout pits.
   Motion to direct staff to update  the stormwater regulations ordinance approved 6-0 (Mayor Pro Tem Koch absent when vote taken)

   Discussion and possible action regarding the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
   Motion to bring the item back on the Jan. 4 council meeting agenda approved 6-0 (Mayor Pro Tem Koch absent when vote taken)

   Take action on items discussed in Executive Session.
   No action taken.

City needs volunteers to plant trees

The Kyle Parks and Recreation Department is seeking volunteers for what it is calling a “Texas Arbor Day Parkland Tree Planting” event at five locations between 10 a.m. and noon Saturday, Nov. 6.

Volunteers are supposed to gather at 9 a.m. at Waterleaf Park, 600 Abundance Lane, where they will be dispatched to either Gregg-Clarke Park, 1100 Center St.; Lake Kyle Park, 700 Lehman Road; Steeplechase Park, 295 Hallie Drive; or Plum Creek Trail between Lake Kyle Park and Waterleaf Park. Some of the volunteers will remain to plant trees at Waterleaf Park. Volunteers will be provided lunch and drinks, the city said.

“The goal of the event is to expand on the current natural beauty throughout the City of Kyle by adding native trees to Kyle’s parklands,” Kyle Trails Division Crew Member Stacy Anderson said. “The work our volunteers will be doing is not only to enhance city green spaces but also cultivate them to give back to the community.”

Anyone interested in participating may volunteer here.

The Parks and Recreation Department is also looking for additional donations for native and fruit trees. All donations are tax deductible and sponsors will receive recognition on the event day signage and community postings, the city said. Persons interested in tree donations can contact Anderson at sanderson@CityofKyle.com. for additional information.

City council makes major decisions on the road that defines Kyle

 Whether anyone wants to readily admit it or not, Kyle is defined not by its pies, nor its fajitas, nor its balloon festivals nor even its heritage. The truth is Kyle is defined by a road. A highway. Interstate 35.

Interstate 35 is the reason Kyle has experienced its 21st century growth spurt. Population growth follows major arterials extending from major metropolitan areas. Upon graduating from college, I spent the next 46 years of my professional career in Dallas and witnessed this pattern of population growth first-hand. The road that defined Dallas was North Central Expressway, a six-lane freeway extending four miles north of downtown that became a four-lane one for the next nine miles to the northern city limits. It was a traffic nightmare. But when the Texas Legislature created the Turnpike Act on June 9, 1953, tollroads began to take shape in the Dallas area. What is now Interstate 30 between Dallas and Fort Worth was originally constructed in 1957 as a tollroad known as the Dallas/Fort Worth Turnpike. That arterial stimulated the growth of Arlington and Grand Prairie and facilitated the construction of Six Flags Over Texas which opened midway on the Turnpike Aug. 5, 1961.

To help alleviate the traffic headaches on North Central Expressway, the highway powers-that-be decided to construct a tollroad from downtown Dallas to the northern city limits that could serve as an alternative to North Central Expressway. Construction began in 1966 and it was completed in 1968 when it reached Interstate 635, 8.7 miles north of its origin point. The reason the Dallas/Fort Worth Turnpike became a free highway in 1977 is because J.H. “Jack” Davis, the engineer-manager for the Texas Turnpike Authority, said in 1968 that "When revenue bonds for a project are finally paid off, the facility reverts to the state as part of its highway system, to be used free." Those behind the turnpike could have continued to issue bonds for additional construction projects, but for some unknown reason they didn’t. The folks behind the Dallas North Tollway were not going to make that same mistake. So, in the mid-1980s, work commenced on extending the Tollway northward another 22 miles so that by mid-2007, it extended all the way to U.S. Highway 380, which connects Denton and McKinney in North Central Texas. Plans are in place to extend it another 30 miles northward to the city of Gunter. In short, bonds on that road will never be paid.

When that first section of the extended Dallas North Tollway north of I-635 opened in 1987, there was nothing but empty fields on either side. That fact is hard to imagine today on a highway whose frontage roads are packed with multi-story office buildings, shopping centers, restaurants and, yes, even the headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys pro football team.

Because gravitational pull in Texas is generally north to south, growth emanates from major metropolitan areas to the north first before it begins flowing south. That’s the reason for the Dallas North Tollway. It’s also why here in Central Texas, cities like Round Rock and its neighbors began their growth spurts before Kyle. But when I-35 north of Austin essentially became a contiguous urban center all the way through Georgetown, the eyes of developers turned southward. It’s hilarious today to hear long-time residents of Kyle speak wistfully of some “good old days,” and pine for that time when the city still had a population of around 5,000 and wonder why so many people suddenly discovered the city. It’s because it’s on the freaking interstate. Anyone who didn’t realize this growth was inevitable was completely out of touch with reality. Physically speaking, one could argue Wimberley is a far more desirable place to live than Kyle. But Wimberley is not located on a major arterial. Even Dripping Springs, with its bevy of wineries and other charms, is not located on an arterial that can compare with I-35 and that’s why Kyle’s growth dwarfs that of Dripping Springs.

The theory that development follows major arterials will also have a major effect, within the next 20 years, on FM 1626. FM 1626 is a strange road in that it’s the only highway of its comparative length (13.3 miles, approximately) I’m aware of that begins and ends at the same highway — in this case, the aforementioned I-35. But while I-35 is occupied predominantly by motorists driving through Kyle, FM 1626 will be the major arterial for commuters living in Kyle and Buda driving to workplaces in West Austin, particular those major employment centers lining both sides of Highway 1, or, as it is more commonly called, the MoPac Expressway. By the year 2040, expect FM 1626 to be completely commercially developed from the 45 tollroad into Kyle.

But back to I-35 which also defines Kyle in other ways. There exists in Kyle a divide that is not only physical, but also cultural and political. The divide is between the east side of Kyle and the west side. There is a feeling, not completely without foundation, that the west side of Kyle prospers while the east side languishes — the west side gets the better, wider roads and a quicker response for street repairs than the east side. It is a widely held belief on the east side of Kyle that all the best stores, all the best eateries, all the best developments, the more prestigious subdivisions, the superior schools are all located on the west side of I-35. And the dividing line between that east and west is, of course, I-35. 

This dividing line was a significant focus of Tuesday’s city council meeting. First, the council voted 5-1 to deny a request to amend the city’s Comprehensive Plan to allow for warehouse and construction-manufacturing zoning to the Regional Node Land Use District. This district essentially runs along either side of I-35 from the northern to the southern city limits with an area between Kohlers Crossing and City Lights carved out as other districts. This vote makes sense for a number of reasons. As I mentioned earlier, the overwhelming majority of motorists on I-35 are not residents of Kyle; they are driving through the city. I get a kick out of all the egotists in Kyle who complain about all the drive-through restaurants in the city, thinking all those restaurants were built for them when they actually exist for those folks driving through town on I-35. I am a big believer in the concept that one way to reduce the tax burden on Kyle residents is to increase that burden on out-of-town residents. And one of the more impactful ways to do that is to line I-35 with magnets that will irresistibly pull motorists off the highway and into businesses where these out-of-town visitors will willingly part with their sales tax dollars. Warehouse and construction-manufacturing simply will not serve that purpose. Restaurants, shops and entertainment areas are far more likely to accomplish this. I was a member of the Planning & Zoning Commission that carved out this Regional Node and this “magnet philosophy” was the reason I fought so hard for its inclusion in the land use map. I also fought for it to avoid another public battle such as “The Great Godzilla Truck Stop Fight” of 2016, when a developer wanted to locate a mega-truck stop at the northwest intersection of I-35 and Yarrington Road. (If you have forgotten this episode or are simply unaware of Kyle’s recent political history, you can read about it here.)

Council member Robert Rizo cast the lone vote against denying this request to weaken the Comprehensive Plan.

The second significant vote the council took relating to the road that defines Kyle was one in which the council approved the terms in an agreement that could lead to additional major commercial and apartment developments that will be not only be located along or near I-35, but, again, on the west side of the interstate.

Three parcels of land are involved in this agreement. The first is located on the west side of I-35, just north of the Old Bridge Trail, the road that runs in back of the H-E-B complex. The second is bordered by Marketplace Avenue, the Santa Fe railroad tracks, FM 1626 and the Oaks on Marketplace apartment complex. It is supposed to include five restaurant pads and two retail buildings toward the 1626 side of the project; and four four- or five-story apartment buildings with ground level retail along with three additional three-story apartment buildings on the Oaks end. The boundaries of the third parcel are Marketplace Avenue, Physicians Way, City Lights Drive and Kyle Center Drive (the road behind the ER center and Chicken Express on the I-35 southbound frontage road). This parcel is planned as a mixed-use development that will include a pair of four-story buildings along Marketplace and at least seven three story buildings that will all feature retail-type establishments on the first floor and apartment/office spaces on the others.

Under the terms of the agreement the council approved, the city agreed, among other things, that:

• The developer shall receive an amount equivalent to 50 percent of the ad valorem taxes levied by the city collected from the development and received by the city each year, excluding taxes levied on the base value of the property. The base value of the property shall be the taxable value of the property as appraised by the Hays County Appraisal District for tax year 2021.
• The developer shall receive 50 percent of the city’s 1 percent sales taxes collected from the development and received by the city each year. The sales tax rebate shall not be applied to the city’s .5 percent sales tax enacted for property tax reduction.
• The city shall assist the developer in negotiating with Hays County to enter into an agreement for tax rebates similar to the above terms.
• The tax rebates shall continue until either 15 years from the date the final certificate of occupancy for the initial commercial space is issued for the project or until the developer receives a total reimbursement of $13 million, whichever comes first.

The developer agreed, among other terms, that:

• It will build a minimum of 14,000 square foot of commercial space in the first parcel mentioned above within 24 months after the issuance of all required permits.
• The four-or five-story mixed-use buildings in the second parcel mentioned are intended to have a cumulative minimum of 18,000 square feet of commercial space.
• In the third parcel, the mixed-use buildings fronting Marketplace Avenue and the buildings fronting Kyle Center Drive are intended to have a cumulative minimum of 15,000 square feet of first-floor commercial space. The buildings in this parcel fronting Physician’s Way and City Lights Drive are intended to have a minimum of 15,000 square feet of space on the first floor that is suitable for conversion to commercial space or live/work space.
• It will install “a 12-foot-wide sidewalk along Marketplace that is integrated and connected to the citywide trail system, with design tailored to include pocket parks and trail-oriented retail where appropriate, in the discretion of the developer with city input. It is intended that the sidewalk will have a trailhead connection point to a to-be-constructed pedestrian bridge (such bridge to be designed, constructed, and maintained by the city at its sole cost and expense subject to (a) developer contribution … crossing over the railroad tracks adjacent to Marketplace. The exact location of the bridge and the trailhead to be determined at a later time with the mutual cooperation and agreement of the city and the developer.”
• “Public art pieces, preferably from local artists, will be included in the development as appropriate in the discretion of the developer, with the involvement and approval of the city.”

This agreement was also approved in a 5-1 vote. This time, council member Yvonne Flores-Cale cast the lone dissenting vote. (Mayor Pro Tem Rich Koch was absent when both votes were taken).  I reached out to both council members Flores-Cale (on Thursday) and Rizo (yesterday), offering them the opportunity to explain why they voted in the minority, but, as of the posting of this article, neither chose to defend their actions.

How the city council voted Tuesday night

 Consent Agenda

Approve Task Order No. 7 to LJA Engineering, Inc., Austin, in the amount not exceed $123,697 for the Schlemmer Street/Porter Street wastewater phase 2 project.
Although not removed from the Consent Agenda as proper procedure called for, a vote to amend the amount in this item to $118,567 passed unanimously. 
Authorize award and execution of a purchase order to Napco Chemical Company, Spring, Texas, in an amount not to exceed $93,247.75 which includes a 15 percent contingency for the delivery of sodium hypochlorite and sodium bisulfite to the City of Kyle wastewater treatment plant for the Public Works Department.
Authorize the city manager to execute a 60-month lease with Bizdoc, Inc., San Antonio, for a Kyocera Model 5053ci photocopier for the Kyle Public Library, in an amount not to exceed $126.73 per month, plus a per-copy charge.
Approve the purchase of furniture, fixtures, and equipment for the Kyle Public Safety Center, payable to Southwest Solutions, Round Rock, Texas, in an amount not to exceed $805,880.
Consider approval of an interlocal funding agreement for testing of seized drug evidence with Hays County.
Approved 7-0

Annexations

(First Reading) An ordinance annexing 2.548 acres located at 4750 Dacy Lane, including the abutting streets, roadways, and rights-of-way into the corporate limits of the city, at the request of the property owner; approving a service plan for the annexed area; making findings of fact; providing a severability clause and an effective date; and providing for open meetings and other related matters.
Approved 5-1 (Flores-Cale dissenting, Koch absent when vote taken)

Appointments

Consideration of the reappointment of Anne Duhon to Seat 7 of the Park and Recreation Board for a two-year term to expire Sept. 30, 2023.
Approved 7-0

PIDs

(First and final reading) An ordinance making a finding of special benefit to the property in the 6 Creeks Public Improvement District; providing for the method of assessment of special assessments against property in improvement area No. 3 of the district; approving an assessment roll for improvement area No. 3 of the district; levying assessments against property within improvement area No. 3 of the district; providing for payment of the assessments; providing for penalties and interest on delinquent assessments; establishing a lien on property within improvement area No. 3 of the district; approving a service and assessment plan; providing for related matters in accordance with Chapter 372, Texas Local Government Code; providing an effective date; and providing for severability.
Approved 7-0

(First and final reading) An ordinance authorizing the issuance of the city special assessment revenue bonds, series 2021 (6 Creeks Public Improvement District improvement area No. 3 project); approving and authorizing an indenture of trust, a bond purchase agreement, a limited offering memorandum, a continuing disclosure agreement, and other agreements and documents in connection therewith; making findings with respect to the issuance of such bonds; providing an effective date.
Approved 7-0

Zoning

Consider a request for a Comprehensive Plan amendment to add Warehouse (W) and Construction Manufacturing (CM) Zoning Districts to the Regional Node land use district in the Comprehensive Plan.
Motion to deny approved 5-1 (Rizo dissenting, Koch absent when vote taken)

(First Reading) An ordinance amending Chapter 53 for the purpose of assigning original zoning to approximately 318 total acres (PUD Zoning - 256 acres to Single Family Attached [R-1-A]) (43.92 to Apartments Residential-3 [R-3-3]) (18.38 acres to Retail Service District [RS]) for property located at 700 Bunton Lane and 800 Bunton Lane. (Item amended to increase the percentage of townhomes/patio homes in the development from 0 to 5 per cent)
Approved 6-0 (Koch absent when vote taken)

Other items for individual consideration

(Pulled from Consent Agenda) (First Reading)  Approve an ordinance amending the city's approved budget for fiscal year 2021-22 by reallocating $215,0000 from the $1.1 million approved for the LGC property acquisition/downtown revitalization program capital improvement project (CIP No.19) and appropriating $215,000 for the new downtown master plan and citywide design standards capital improvements project expenditures.  This budget amendment was requested by city council on Sept. 7.
Approved 6-1 (Ellison dissenting)

(Pulled from Consent Agenda) Approve Change Order No. 7 to M.A. Smith Contracting Co., Inc., Austin, in an amount for $6,304.92, increasing the total contract amount to not exceed $2,615,746.57 for electrical and drainage improvements on Windy Hill Street.
Approved 7-0

(Pulled from Consent Agenda) Authorize the Police Department to purchase the Pace Scheduler software subscription from Pace Scheduler in an amount not to exceed $6,400.
Approved 7-0

(Pulled from Consent Agenda) Authorize the Police Department to purchase the Shield Suite and Command Center software from International Business Information Technologies, Inc. d.b.a. LEFTA Systems in an amount not to exceed $8,200.
Approved 7-0

(Pulled from Consent Agenda) Authorize the Police Department to execute the license agreement and purchase order from Veritone for redaction software in an amount not to exceed $9,500.
Approved 5-0 (Koch, Rizo absent when vote taken)

(Pulled from Consent Agenda) Authorize the Police Department to purchase additional system modules entitled payments, Invoicing, and inter-agency communications from GovQA in an amount not to exceed $10,000.
Approved 7-0

Consider and possible action on a First Year on Us incentive application from Feras Abuhweij, Conoco at 1203 N. Old Hwy 81; rebate not to exceed $5,000.
Approved 6-0 (Koch absent when vote taken)

Consider approving an interlocal agreement between the city and Hays County for the city's funding obligations of each entity for the Center Street Union Pacific Rail Siding Project.  The city's total funding obligation shall not exceed $1.23 million under this ILA.
Consideration postponed until Nov. 1 meeting.

Approve an agreement with K Friese & Associates, Austin, a civil engineering consulting firm, to provide project management services for the design and construction of specific road projects throughout the city to be funded under the 2022 road bond program.
Motion to approve and amend the contract to add the recommended secretary of state’s name to the contract and add the 150 extension road as discussed to the project’s scope approved 5-0 (Ellison, Koch absent when vote taken)

Memorandum of understanding for the City Lights and Kyle Marketplace subdivision/development between the city and Central Southwest Texas Development, L.L.C.
Approved 6-1 (Flores-Cale dissenting)

Discussion and possible action regarding the possibility of creating a community garden.
No action taken.

Take action on items discussed in executive session.
No action taken.

Saturday is Give-Your-Drugs-to-Cops Day

This Saturday, anyone who has drugs they want to dispose of can simply drive up to the Kyle Police Department headquarters on Front Street between the hours of 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and drop them off.

No questions asked.

Up to a point.

Although the city’s official announcement about this drug disposal said “Participants can safely dispose of controlled and uncontrolled substances...,” not all “controlled” substances will be accepted with a get-out-jail-free card. “The controlled substances the release is talking about are items like prescription drugs such as painkillers,” a city spokesperson said. “There will be no immunity for dropping off illegal substances.”

So, there’s that.

That means other than cocaine, LSD, hash, heroin, meth, opioids, psilocybin, Valium, Ritalin and anything else that can land you in the hoosgow for anywhere from two years to life under Texas’ Controlled Substance Act, folks with other drugs, over-the-counter medications, ointments, patches, creams, non-aerosol sprays, vials and pet medications they want to get rid off may participate in what is being called “National Prescription Drug Take Back Day.”

“Drugs disposed of improperly, especially by flushing, can contaminate ground water and seep through wastewater treatment plants into rivers and lakes, causing antibiotics, hormones, and other drugs to pollute the community’s waterways,” the city said in an official statement. “The take back program encourages people to properly dispose of prescription and over-the-counter medications to help protect water sources and wildlife. National Prescription Drug Take Back Day also provides an opportunity for communities to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths by ensuring that prescription drugs are not misused and do not end up in the wrong hands.”

Interested parties can find out more about this event here.

The Kyle Report’s City Council Candidate Forum

 Early voting for next month’s city council election begins today. The two council seats being contested this year are the at-large District 5 seat, currently held by Mayor Pro Tem Rick Koch, and the single-member District 6 position held by Michael Tobias. Both Koch and Tobias are seeking re-election to second terms on the council. Tobias doesn’t have an opponent. Three persons filed to challenge Koch in District 5.

I sent a five-item questionnaire to three of the four candidates in the District 5 race: Koch, Daniela Parsley and Donny Wills. I tried several times and failed each time to reach the fourth person who filed, Leah Kaufman. To be frank, I’m not certain this person even exists. She has not made an appearance at any candidate forum. I was told that a float bearing her name was included in the recent Founders Day Parade, but no one with her name was on the float. So there’s that.

Here, in the alphabetical order of the respective candidate's last name,  are the responses I received from the other three District 5 candidates:

Rick Koch

1. What are your qualifications for serving on the City Council?

I know what I don’t know. 

The truth is, we often elect local representatives to make big decisions that impact our quality of life who don’t know enough about how their city functions, and base their decisions on personal experience.

While serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission for two years, a city-appointed board that studies and recommends changes in our land use matters, I learned there is a lot a city council member should know before starting their service.  An unwise city council can do a lot of long-term damage. I’ve heard many former council members explain that once they figured out what was going on, they spent their time and taxpayer money fixing the mistakes of those who came before them, and then their own.

This year the City of Kyle has a $172 million budget. When people say that being on council is a heavy responsibility that is not an overstatement. 

If you’re not aware of your limitations, of what you don’t know, or where to look for the best answers, you’re going to make bad votes that have a lasting impact in a way you didn’t intend.

2. What changes in the way the city prepares its annual budget would you support?

The budget is a road map of what we as a city plan to accomplish in any given year. I have seen the city benefit from starting the budget process earlier in the year, as we have the last two years. The council has added several more meetings to allow for better planning, setting of priorities, and execution once approved. 

That was evident this year with road planning during the budgeting process. Council is moving forward to approve plans for the engineering of 13 new road projects. They encompass all areas of the city and range from Old Stagecoach Road and Center Street to Bebee Road and Windy Hill. Being a proactive city by better understanding our goals during budgeting is resulting in moving many long ignored projects along. 

3. Here, listed in alphabetical order, are eight areas municipal governments can focus on: (1) Economic Development; (2) Environment and Sustainability; (3) Government Performance and Financial Management; (4) Housing and Homelessness Solutions; (5) Public Safety; (6) Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture; (7) Transportation and Infrastructure; and (8) Workforce, Education, and Equity. Please rank them in the order you think the Kyle city government should consider most important through least important and briefly explain why you ranked them in the order you did.

Safe neighborhoods, green space and attention to infrastructure and traffic congestion are my priorities. While serving as mayor pro tem, I’ve led Kyle to become one of the safest cities in Hays County, reallocated spending and invested heavily in infrastructure, roads, park land and public safety.

Due to our rapid growth, like it or not, we must concentrate on all areas to protect and improve our quality of life. What is important to our city’s long term prosperity is finding ways to fund our growing needs through business growth and economic development. It wasn’t until recently that our sales tax revenue finally surpassed our property taxes. That’s a good direction for us as a city to stay focused on for the betterment of everyone.

There are several public improvement projects under construction right now in Kyle. They are the result of uniting our city leadership, so instead of kicking the can down road we identify and fix the problems now! 

4. List the names of four persons born on or after Jan. 1, 1900, you would place on a political Mount Rushmore.

I don’t spend much time admiring nationally known political figures. My Mount Rushmore would probably be more local and reserved for people belonging to Team Kyle — the people who’ve mentored me, work with me, and challenge me to make the most of my time on city council. 

The Mount Rushmore question is similar to a question The Hays Free Press asked candidates: If I was Left Brained or Right Brained. I consider these to be political questions and honestly, I feel most political questions rest on the idea of division. I have spent the past three years on city council looking for ways to bring people together rather than pointing out what makes us different or choosing sides, even if it’s just picking the side of our brain or deciding on a Mount Rushmore of politics. 

If a city council member wants your vote, the expectation appears to be that they need to belong to the team you’ve decided to associate with, regardless of the candidate's desire to represent the interests of every constituent.

I understand why we as humans move towards tribalism, which can manifest into “us” versus “them” mentality. Tribalism can bring people together, but also drive them apart. I respect that there are benefits that this way of thinking brings, but I also acknowledge the detriments and separation it can cause. 

City council is non-partisan by design. We aren't supposed to let party rhetoric interfere with the day-to-day needs of the city. From the beginning, I have pledged my allegiance to Team Kyle, not to a party. If I need to create a team to beat, I’ll gladly make the rivals Buda or San Marcos, not that I wish harm on them, because I love our neighbors, and Hays County as a whole. But when it comes to Kyle, I want us to WIN in the region on all fronts. My vision is to offer in Kyle, a better quality of life, to be united in the things that matter most in our daily lives, and to have the kind of city staff and leadership that represents more than empty words. 

When first running for city council in 2018, I knocked on neighborhood doors in the midst of the Supreme Court (Justice Brett) Kavanaugh hearings. The good people of Kyle would answer their doors, often with CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC in the background covering the proceedings. Imagine being caught up in this national story and a local citizen running for city council comes knocking on your door.

It made for quite an experience. Without hesitation, nine out of 10 times the first question fiercely asked of me was whether I was a Republican or a Democrat, followed by a stern look, ready to pounce if I gave the incorrect answer. 

Based on many factors, I knew exactly what answer they wanted to hear. Sometimes it was obvious by what they were watching, how they phrased the question, or what political signs they had in their yard. But the No. 1 indicator was their primary election voting record, which by state law requires all of us to pick a side if we want to participate in the primary election vote. 

Knowing all this, I did not give them the answer they wanted to hear that could have easily won the day. That would be doing anything for a vote and I'm not going to represent myself that way for a nonpartisan seat on city council.

Instead, I did my best to redirect and find a city issue that mattered to my neighbors such as talking about roads, neighborhood patrols, keeping crime low, or how we should grow the business community to shift the tax burden off homeowners, etc.

While a few doors did abruptly slam in my face when attempting to talk city issues, I am happy to say that most of the time voters didn’t allow political party to be a hard and fast dividing line. Most engaged with me and shared their thoughts, experiences, and expectations for the City of Kyle. 

It said something to me about the invested citizens of our community. Through long and thoughtful conversations, I came to a real-time tested conclusion that at Kyle’s core, most voters want the same things when it comes to our community, a place where people want to live and thrive, share common goals, connect, contribute, and have freedom of expression. 

I do my best to represent Kyle as a whole, as a growing city. Through sound policy, I aim to create ways for our quality of life to grow for every resident, no matter our individual take on national issues. 

I recently spoke on a national podcast sharing my thoughts on Kyle and where we are going as a city… It is my hope that we, as a community, can continue to create policy that is in our best interest, that brings you and I together, and increases the chance of connection instead of division.

5. What was the last book you read?

The last book I really enjoyed was Empire of the Summer Moon.  It was recommended often by people who love Texas history. I like learning about the history of where I live so I decided to “read it” through Audible while on a family road trip to New Mexico.

Little did I realize I had set my family up for a treat. The book is about the Comanches and how they lived and fought for the Great Plains, the land spanning from Texas to New Mexico. As settlers from the east were moving in and claiming areas of Texas, it illustrates in full brutality the history of that time.

As I drove by San Saba, Texas, I heard the story of the San Saba Massacre, a dangerous western territory that cost many people their lives in their attempt to inhabit it.  I didn't I plan to experience Empire of the Summer Moon this way, but it made for a one-of-a-kind drive to New Mexico.

Daniela Parsley

1. What are your qualifications for serving on the City Council?

Although I understand that my love for Kyle and desire to see it succeed are not enough, I do have an engineering background which makes me very analytical and a critical thinker. I was also a small business owner in a downtown area. I have experience with development, business codes and regulations. I also worked as a personal banker for Wells Fargo, and I have a good understanding of budgeting and planning.

2. What changes in the way the city prepares its annual budget would you support?

I would change the interaction that residents have with the budget. I believe residents need to pay more attention and get engaged when we talk about budgets. Once it passes, and things get done, that’s when residents tend to complain.

3. Here, listed in alphabetical order, are eight areas municipal governments can focus on: (1) Economic Development; (2) Environment and Sustainability; (3) Government Performance and Financial Management; (4) Housing and Homelessness Solutions; (5) Public Safety; (6) Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture; (7) Transportation and Infrastructure; and (8) Workforce, Education, and Equity. Please rank them in the order you think the Kyle city government should consider most important through least important and briefly explain why you ranked them in the order you did.

I believe that having great plans in place for Kyle’s successful economic development and doing better market studies on Kyle’s needs, as well as analyzing demographics, will lead to increased revenue from the businesses and industries that set roots in Kyle. This will, in turn, provide an increase in the taxes collected, and therefore, more funds to be allocated for every sector of our city.

4. List the names of four persons born on or after Jan. 1, 1900, you would place on a political Mount Rushmore.

I’d not limit myself to elected political figures, but rather people that, in my opinion, have changed the way I perceive the world: Rosa Parks, Muhammad Ali, Ronald Reagan (and) Maria Corina Machado.

5. What was the last book you read?

Educated, by Tara Westover

Donny Wills

1. What are your qualifications for serving on the City Council?

I was the platoon sergeant in the U.S. Army that led elements as large as 120 soldiers. I was the VP of Guardian Overwatch, a national charity that assisted veterans. I also own several successful local businesses. These have given me the knowledge of how to properly lead our city. City council is one of the most basic political seats in our country, and doesn’t require someone to be a career politician to lead us. It requires someone with compassion, problem-solving skills, and someone who listens to their community.

2. What changes in the way the city prepares its annual budget would you support?

We really need to dig down and look hard at what citizens actually need: roads, infrastructure, public safety. We need to ensure these funds aren’t wasted on unneeded items. Mismanagement of funds is an extreme issue in all forms of government. It’s the citizens’ money and it needs to be spent appropriately on items that have the most impact on the local residents. 

3. Here, listed in alphabetical order, are eight areas municipal governments can focus on: (1) Economic Development; (2) Environment and Sustainability; (3) Government Performance and Financial Management; (4) Housing and Homelessness Solutions; (5) Public Safety; (6) Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture; (7) Transportation and Infrastructure; and (8) Workforce, Education, and Equity. Please rank them in the order you think the Kyle city government should consider most important through least important and briefly explain why you ranked them in the order you did.

3,5,6,7,8,1,2,4

Government Performance and Financial Management. The government needs to properly manage finances in order to be able to do anything.

Public Safety. The public needs to feel safe and be safe to go spend money at businesses and to enjoy our parks.

Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture. If the quality of life is poor and there is nothing to improve locally, residents will not live here and/or spend money in the outlying towns.

Transportation and infrastructure. If the roads are bad and transportation is scarce, how are residents going to enjoy our parks and local businesses?

Workforce, Education, and Equity. If we don’t have a sustainable, educated, and equitable workforce, residents will work and spend their time and money elsewhere.

Economic development. When a city has great economic development this will keep residents working locally and spending their time and money locally.

Environment and Sustainability. While the environment is important, Kyle is doing a decent job at not destroying it and coming up with solutions for sustainability locally.

Housing and Homelessness Solutions. Kyle has a relatively small number of homeless people and while the market is doing its best to keep up with housing and affordability issues, much of this issue can be solved by focusing on some of the other issues and will be solved as a byproduct of another issue. 

4. List the names of four persons born on or after Jan. 1, 1900, you would place on a political Mount Rushmore.

Martin Luther King Jr., Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ronald Regan, (and) John Glenn.

5. What was the last book you read?

2021 IRC Building Code Book. I will say it was only for reference for building.

Early voting

Those wishing to vote early may do so today through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.; Monday, Oct. 25 through Wednesday, Oct. 27 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.; and Thursday, Oct. 28 and Friday, Oct. 29, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the HCISD transportation building, 21003 Interstate 35 Frontage Road; the Live Oak Academy High School, 4820 Jack C. Hays Trail; or Simon Middle School (HCISD Clothes Closet), 3839B East FM 150.

Election day is Nov. 2.

Trust is out on city council; acrimony, egotism, ignorance is in

For anyone who has been following the current iteration of the Kyle City Council, Monday’s embarrassing council meltdown comes as no surprise. The military can pluck some rube who happens to be a crack marksman from the backwoods of Nowheresville, but he still must complete a vigorous training regimen before that military puts a loaded weapon in that person’s hands. Here in Kyle, we pluck that same ignorant rube from the ranks of the unknown and say “Here are the keys to driving the city. No license required. Try to keep the collisions to a minimum.” When you think about it, the question is not what caused Monday’s multi-fatality head-on, but why did it take this long for the calamity to occur.

For those that missed the sorry spectacle that was on display at City Hall Monday night, the meeting de-evolved into a name-calling session in which council members completely over-stepped their authority, let their egos create havoc, put their collective ignorance on the subject of the function of municipal government on public display and irreversibly soiled much of the reputation many in Kyle have been trying to build as well as possibly dealing a blow to the city's economic future.

And the reason for this horrific show is simple to explain. No one on the Kyle City Council — not one single member — trusts anyone else. What they proved Monday night is that not only do they don’t trust each other, they don’t trust the city staff, they don’t trust the people they appoint to boards and commissions and they certainly don’t trust you and me, those of us who live here. They don’t even trust that small minority who actually take the time to vote in municipal elections. Trust is completely gone from the city council dais. It has been replaced by their own false-impressions of their own self-importance.

Back in August, I wrote these words on this journal: “…too many members of the city council simply don’t have the expertise, the experience, to competently set policy for Kyle and its citizens.” I hate to say it, but the council’s actions Monday proved this beyond any doubt. In that same story, I also wrote “In a rare example of graciousness I am not going to single any of the minor leaguers out by name.” Like I said, that was a “rare example.” I am not going to be that gracious this time around.

But before we get to the really bad, let me toss out a couple of bouquets. They go to Mayor Pro Tem Rick Koch and District 4 council member Ashlee Bradshaw, the only two persons on the City Council who realize that when you don’t have anything of worth to say, it’s preferable not to say anything at all. Bradshaw is rapidly becoming my favorite council member. She seems to know how to act constructively without trying to draw attention to the fact that she knows how to act constructively. Like Koch, and, unlike the other five council members, she knows how to speak effectively, economically and only when it’s necessary.

That’s why it came as such a shock Monday when Koch sharply accused fellow council member Dex Ellison of grandstanding. With the possible additional exception of Mayor Travis Mitchell, the other four members of the council — Ellison, Yvonne Flores-Cale, Robert Rizo and Michael Tobias — spend too much time telling irrelevant stories and talking at length about items of no importance. Their sole aim seems to be not to further the intellectual discussion of the item at hand, but to get their name in the paper or their face on TV. They seem to be aspiring to be media darlings at the expense of being competent in the job they were elected to perform. I have one small piece of advice for them: “Shut the %*#@ up!” The two worst examples of this are Rizo and and Ellison, both of whom are indeed guilty of grandstanding. The length of a city council meeting could be slashed by 50 percent if they just could learn that we don’t want to hear them wax ad-nauseam about every single item on the council agenda, especially when most of the time they are waxing about the proverbial tree while ignoring the forest. Memo to Rizo: We are tired of hearing how “great” you think everything the city council votes on is. Let us make up our own minds what is great and what is simply OK. In fact, to the overwhelming majority of people living in Kyle, the only thing the city does that is truly “great,” is when they fix whatever particular roads local motorists drive on regularly. As for everything else, unless you are about to do something that might “foul” their particular neighborhood,  the locals can take it or leave it. They don’t think every action the council takes is “great.” Just get the job done, don’t waste everyone’s time patting yourself on the back for doing the job you were elected to perform.

Kyle operates under what is called “the council-manager” form of government, which is the preferable method for cities like this one. Basically, this means the city council hires a manager to serve as the CEO of the city and the council is the body that formulates policy, the public-sector equivalent to a company’s board of directors in the private sector. The other popular form of municipal government is the mayor-council form of government, which is preferable only in cities with much larger populations than Kyle (any city with a population under 500,000 should stick to the council-manager form, as should most cities with even more people living in them). In this form, the mayor is the city’s executive branch of the government and the council is the legislative branch. A third form of municipal government found in the United States  — and this type is usually only found in communities with extremely small populations — is what is known as city commission government in which, as the name suggests, the city is run by a commission of between five to seven persons elected at large by a plurality who not only serve as the city’s legislative body but whose individual members are also assigned specific executive functions such as the public works director, the finance director, etc.

It would go a long way if council members knew how the council-manager form of government is supposed to function. District 2 council member Flores-Cale, doesn’t have a clue. But to make matters worse, she revels in her own cluelessness. She, as well as a few other council members, need to absorb the fact that under a council-manager form of government, the council doesn’t run the city, the manager does. The council is the body that establishes the governing policy under which the city operates. But the day-to-day municipal operations are controlled by the city manager and carried out by the city staff. And, fortunately for the citizens of Kyle, the city has a superb city manager and an extremely competent and professional staff.

Proof that Flores-Cale doesn’t get it was on full display again Monday when she decided that she should review every single application for every single board or commission submitted by a Kyle resident and thus told City Manager Scott Sellers he should forward those applications to her when the city receives them. Look, I find it personally embarrassing to discover I know more about council policy than sitting council members, but that could also be the result of something else I find personally embarrassing: that I have witnessed perhaps 100 times more Kyle City Council meetings than Flores-Cale. I find it personally embarrassing for the city I call home that a member of the council is so utterly clueless about events that preceded her tenure (and that citizens, however small that number was, elected someone with so little practical education in city affairs to the council). But the facts are that the council created, debated and ultimately passed a formal procedure for appointing individuals to boards and commissions and this procedure did not involve sending one council member all applications. Second, the city manager is also prohibited from corresponding to one particular council member in this fashion. If Flores-Cale was educated about the council-manager form of government, she would know this. There’s one other major problem with her request. Flores Cale has also proved to the world writ large that she is also absolutely clueless when it comes to the topic of zoning. She can’t grasp the concept of zoning as a land use procedure. Watching her flounder around, debating irrelevant subjects when a zoning issue is being discussed on the council dais, is also embarrassing to witness. The idea of someone with this little knowledge about the zoning process pestering an applicant for the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission is too devastating to contemplate.

What she is trying to do here is politicize a process that should never be politicized. Memo to citizens to Kyle: This is not the time to be applying for positions on Kyle’s boards and commissions.

Memo to council: If Flores Cale is hellbent on politicizing the boards/commission appointment process, the path of least resistance might simply be to completely and enthusiastically embrace the idea. Scrap the current policy of appointing commission members, since it apparently is not going to be followed anyway, and simply have each council member recruit and submit to the council their own personal picks for each board and commission with the mayor having the ability to recruit and name the chair of each. Each board member would serve on their respective board for as long as the person who appointed them remained on the council or until they decided to resign. 

Of course, council members might have problems recruiting citizens to serve on the various city panels,  which brings me back to that overall lack of trust I mentioned earlier. The City Council as a whole — and every single member of the council must share in this blame — doesn’t trust the individuals they appoint to those boards and commissions; or, at the very least, they don’t trust those boards and commissions to perform the duties and functions they should be performing. The Planning and Zoning Commission, to cite just one example, should be renamed the Zoning Commission. The City Council has so emasculated P&Z it has been, for all practical purposes, stripped of any of its planning responsibilities and capabilities. 

A couple of weeks ago, the council unveiled this incoherent, incomprehensible, simply ludicrous document it called a “Citywide Trail Master Plan.” That’s right, the agenda listed it as “Trail,” singular, one trail. Why do you even need a “master plan” for one trail? But that’s not the worst part. The actual name of that master plan for a singular trail that turned out to be more than a single trail was “The Vybe Kyle.” Are you kidding me? What does that even mean? There’s no such word as “vybe” in the English language. “The Vybe Kyle” has “Fajita Street” beat all to hell.

Yet, this was called a “master plan,” and one would think that anything that had the word “plan” attached to it should have been vetted through the Planning & Zoning Commission. And anything remotely involving a trail system should have also passed muster through the Parks Board. Yet, neither of those bodies had any involvement in the formulation of what turned out to be a complete mess, but might not have been if it had been properly vetted in this way. Why were these bodies bypassed in this way on this particular subject? The only logical reason is because the council doesn’t trust these groups to do the jobs they are supposed to be doing.

Instead of being reviewed, edited and rewritten in the proper fashion by the requisite boards and commissions, “The Vybe Kyle” was a product of something the council calls a task force. What is a task force exactly? It’s another product of both the council’s lack of trust in each other and the inflated egos of the various council members who believe that they, they alone, have all the knowledge, that they are smarter than anyone else in the city. I mean, so their thinking goes, if we weren’t smarter than everyone else, why would we even be elected to these positions?

If the council actually had any trust in their board appointments, it would have first set aside the needed funds to accomplish the feat  of creating a first-class Trails (plural) Master Plan in a the annual budget. It would then have assigned the task of actually crafting the first draft of the plan to the Parks Board, which would have visited communities the size of Kyle with trail systems already in place, would have gone out in the community to conduct public hearings (not forced the public to come to City Hall as the egotists on the council require) and would have solicited testimony from those with expertise and experience in developing municipal trail systems.  Then the Parks Board would have discussed and ultimately prepared an initial draft of a master plan. That document would have been sent to the Planning & Zoning Commission, for public hearings and open meetings to decide if it was in complete harmony with the city’s Comprehensive Plan and its long-range land-use plans. Only after the Parks Board and P&Z had signed off on the document, would it be presented to the city council for final adoption.

But because the council doesn’t have that trust in the boards, the commissions or anyone else for that matter, it was going to go along a different route — the secretive, behind-the-scenes route of the task force.

First and foremost, a task force is something this council has created to avoid violating the state’s open-meetings statutes. When four or more of the seven council members gather in the same place at the same time, that is known as a “quorum,” and when there’s a quorum it comes under the jurisdiction of the open meetings statutes, meaning all sorts of requirements must be adhered to. But when there are less than four council members in the same place at the same time, they are not required to adhere to the open meetings statutes. They can call themselves a task force, meet outside public scrutiny and exclude all those other council members in whom they have no trust as well as the rest of the world’s population who are simply not as smart as the task force members from messing things up.

Of course, if you get too many task forces and combine that with that overall lack of trust among council members, the result will be one group of task forces is not going to trust those in the other task forces. And that, ladies and gentlemen, along with deep-seated acrimony among individual council members, is exactly what boiled to the surface during “The Monday Night Meltdown” that resulted in the city council, in a fit of pique, voting to eradicate all task forces in the city. At least, abandon them until such time as a formal task force policy can be adopted; in other words, a formal policy that will allow a trio of council members to meet behind closed doors because they don’t trust other council members, the city’s boards and commissions and the public at large which, undoubtedly, will produce “The Vybe Kyle Part Deux.” And of course, six months after that, a clueless public will elect an equally clueless person to the city council who has absolutely no knowledge of “Vybe Task Force Policy” and will make demands of the city manager that violate the guidelines of the council-manager form of government.

And I have yet to mention when the council was at its absolute lowest point of “The Monday Night Meltdown” — that moment when council members were outright calling each other liars over what happened during a meeting involving Mayor Mitchell, Mayor Pro Tem Koch and former Planning Director Howard Koontz that apparently took place in the City Hall’s second floor, largely glass-walled conference room. I doubt the world will ever know what actually transpired during that meeting. I did ask Koontz, who is now the planning director for Dripping Springs, if he heard about what happened Monday night, and he said “Yes, I have heard about it from several persons. Respectfully, I won’t be reviewing the footage (of the council’s meeting) and I’ll not comment on it.” Personally, I like Koontz. I respect him. And I understand his decision not to get into a mud-wrestling match that could not produce a winner. Because that council brawl Monday night produced only losers.

I hate to keep harping on her, but the truth is, Flores-Cale also initiated this mud wrestling match by placing on the council’s agenda an item captioned “Evaluation of expectations, from city council and city manager, when presenting direction of council, to staff.” Sounds innocuous enough, although it demonstrates once again Flores-Cale’s lack of understanding of the council-manager form of government and only her unbridled desire to nuke any progress this council is trying to pursue on behalf of the city. If she understood it, she would know council does not give direction to the city staff. The council gives direction to the city manager. The city manager gives direction to staff. But what this was really about is the fact that Flores-Cale doesn’t like and doesn’t trust others on the council, particularly Mayor Mitchell and Mayor Pro Tem Koch, and those feelings are reciprocated by Mitchell and Koch. She also doesn’t like and doesn’t trust anyone on the city’s staff. In fact, I’m not sure she likes anything other than the sound of her own voice. And her entire argument was the product of hearsay evidence, testimony that wouldn’t be allowed in a court of law. She was complaining and making accusations about the Koontz-Mitchell-Koch conference I mentioned earlier — a conference of which she was NOT a participant. This was not a debate, it was not a discussion; it was airing dirty laundry in public and, as mentioned earlier, shameful name calling — a public spectacle that only delights that segment of the public that prefers mudslinging to policy making. This was an example of a council member trying to destroy governmental processes, not constructively shaping them.

One other thing bothered me, as well: Flores-Cale’s presentation was not extemporaneous — she was reading from a script. Which made me wonder: Are these really her words or did someone else write this? Is she speaking for herself or is she merely an ax-wielding marionette whose strings are controlled by someone with far more sinister and vitriolic motives?

Memo to Mayor Mitchell: Establish a rule that allows only city staff and the mayor to place items routinely on the council’s meeting agenda and, should one of the six other council members wish to have an item placed on the agenda, that council member must present a form containing a description of the agenda item, a reason for its inclusion on the agenda AND the signatures of two of the other five council members. Now the council members signing the form are not agreeing to support the item by signing the form; they are only agreeing the item is worth being debated during the council’s meeting.

I’m not saying such a procedure would eliminate the lack of trust, the acrimony, the egotism or the ignorance. Unfortunately, those qualities seem systemic. In our body politic, they began and flourished in Washington, D.C. It’s just a shame that those who are supposed to be representing our local interests are emulating those very qualities that has led to the dysfunction in our nation’s capital.

What I fear the most is that dysfunction leading to government paralysis is their goal. And, if that is allowed to continue, this city is headed for a very troubling future. Gone are the days when citizens with noble aspirations of statesmanship, leadership and public service aspired to serve on the city council. They have been replaced by those who only want to erect barriers.

The best position to be in these days would be that of an economic director of a city competing with Kyle for major economic stimuli. If I was recruiting a major business to come to my city and someone from that business told me “You know, Kyle really has a lot to offer,” I would simply show that business a video of Item 24 of the Oct. 3 edition of the Kyle City Council — the “Evaluations of expectations” item — knowing that seeing that video would eliminate Kyle from any consideration.

It’s sad. But it’s true.

City to sponsor early Halloween festivities, contests

The city is calling this the “Center Street Trick or Treat,” but because I’m picky about these things, I gotta wonder where, how and when any “tricks” will be involved here. Regardless, the city is promising local businesses and organizations are going to be manning tents and tables between 9 a.m. and noon Saturday, Oct. 23, at Mary Kyle Hartson Square Park to provide a safe environment for costumed kiddos of all ages to load their Halloween bags with treats and for the curious older folks to get a preview of the improvements being added to the park.

And this is only one of the Halloween-related events the city is sponsoring, many of which you can participate in without ever leaving your home. All you need is email and a camera.

The park event will also include age-appropriate pumpkin decorating (pre-decorated pumpkins are not eligible) and costume contests. The costume contest will be judged at 10 a.m. Pumpkins and paints will be provided for anyone up to the age of 18 who wishes to participate in the pumpkin decorating contest. The decorated pumpkins will be judged at 11:30 a.m. Each contest will award first, second, and third prizes in three categories: for those 6-years-old and under, those between the ages of 7 and 12, and for those between 13 and 18.

In addition, the Parks and Recreation Department will award a prize for the best Halloween-themed tent. Any vendors wishing to participate can find more information and registration forms here.

The city says it is expecting up to 2,000 “trick or treaters” to attend the Mary Kyle Hartson Square Park festivities and it appears, judging by the layout the city is providing to potential vendors, Burleson Street between Center and Miller streets will be closed to vehicular traffic during the event.

The city did not say who will be judging the various contests. (Updated 1:40 p.m. Thursday: A city spokesperson said today “The city Parks and Recreation Board members and Parks and Recreation Department staff members will be the judges of all the contests.”) It also did not shed any light on who will be giving the event’s “opening remarks,” which will include a self-congratulatory description of the park’s improvements, at 9:30 a.m., but it did provide advance warning that someone will.

But, wait, there’s more — four additional Halloween-related contests and a Halloween-type movie, to be exact.

First, the movie. That will be take place sundown Friday, Oct. 15, at Lake Kyle, and no, it will not feature any one of the myriad Halloween films — c’mon, this is supposed to be a family affair. The city says the film will be The Addams Family, but I’m still trying to pin down whether it’s going to be the 1991 live-action feature starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd, or the animated film from 2019, neither of which, to be perfectly frank, will ever make any critic’s best holiday films lists. (Updated at 1:40 p.m.  Thursday: Turns out it’s going to be the animated one.)

Then there’s the contests, which include one to humiliate your pet as well as another to do the same thing to yourself or someone you care about.

All you need to do to participate in the pet costume contest is to take a picture of your pet looking absolutely foolish is some kind of costume and then email that photo, with the words “2021 PARD Pet Costume Contest” in the email’s subject line and the pet’s name, owner’s contact information and a brief narrative explaining why your subjected your beloved companion to this degradation and send it to agarcia@cityofkyle.com no later than 5 p.m. Friday. Winners will be notified by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

For the human version of the same contest, do exactly the same thing (except, if the photo is of one person, include that person’s age in the body of the email) and send it to the same address, except this time put the words “PARD 2021 Costume Contest” in the subject line and email it anytime before 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1. Winners will be notified 5 p.m. Nov. 3. Prizes will be awarded in three categories: 5-years-old and under, ages 6 to 17, and 18 and older.

The final two contests involve decorating pumpkins and yards. To enter the pumpkin carving and decorating contest, carve and/or otherwise decorate a pumpkin and email a photograph of said pumpkin to that same email address, this time with the words “PARD 2021 Pumpkin Contest” in the subject line, and the participant’s or organization's name, contact information and an explanation of the theme or back story behind your entry no later than 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17. Winners will be notified by 4 p.m. Oct. 20. And to participate in that final contest, again simply email a picture of your decorated yard, again to that same address, with “PARD 2021 Yard Decorating Contest” in the subject line and that same information and narrative in the body no later than 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22. Winners in this event will be notified by 4 p.m. Oct. 27.

How the city council voted Monday night

 Appointments

Consider nominations and take action to the appointments of Patricia Palacios and Matthew Lancaster to the Board of Adjustment to fill two vacancies.
Approved 4-3 (Ellison, Flores-Cale, Tobias dissenting)

Consideration of the reappointment of Chuck Koenen to seat 3 of the Park and Recreation Board for a two-year term to expire Sept. 30, 2023.
Approved 7-0

Consider of the nominations of James Miller (seat 6) and Lauralee Harris (seat 1) for appointments to the Park and Recreation Board to fill two vacancies.
Approved 7-0

Consent Agenda

Approve contract Task Order No. 9 to LJA Engineering, Inc., Austin, in an amount not to exceed $33,665 for preliminary engineering services to widen the IH-35 southbound frontage road from Marketplace Avenue to Martinez Loop.
Approve contract Task Order No. 10 to LJA Engineering, Inc., Austin, in an amount not to exceed $113,250 for preliminary engineering services for design of a sidewalk/shared use path along E. FM 150 from Lehman Road to SH 21.
Approve Supplement No. 1 to LJA Engineering, INC., Austin, in the amount of $5,971 for additional material testing services associated with the Windy Hill improvements for a total contract amount not to exceed $332,888.
Authorize negotiation and execution of a services agreement with BOKF, NA for trustee services in connection with bonds to be issued for 6 Creeks Public Improvement District.
Approve a resolution approving waiver of notice of assignment of Blanco River Ranch (phase one residential area) de-annexation and development agreement and 6 Creeks Public Improvement District financing agreement to HM 6 Creeks Development, Inc.
Approve a resolution accepting an amended and restated service and assessment plan for the 6 Creeks Public Improvement District; directing the filing of a proposed assessment roll for Improvement Area No. 3 of said public improvement district; approving the publication of notice of a public hearing to consider an ordinance levying assessments on property located within Improvement Area No. 3 of said public improvement district that is specially benefitted by the improvements being financed; directing city staff to publish and mail notice of said public hearing; and resolving other matters incident and related thereto; and providing an effective date.
Approve a resolution approving the form and authorizing the distribution of a preliminary limited offering memorandum for City of Kyle, Texas Special Assessment Revenue Bonds, Series 2021 (6 Creeks Public Improvement District Improvement Area No. 3 project).
Calling a public hearing to issue special assessment revenue bonds in Improvement Area No. 3 of the 6 Creeks Public Improvement District.
Approve a special exception to Sec. 53-33(n)(7) Chart 4, Parking, Council Determination for property located at 1850 Goforth Road.
Approve Change Order No. 6 to M.A. Smith Contracting Co., Inc., Austin, in an amount for $1,978.40, increasing the total contract amount to not exceed $2,609,441.65 for placement of erosion control blankets necessary to assist with establishment of vegetation along Windy Hill Street.
Ratify emergency repairs to generator at the wastewater treatment plant, in the amount of $23,067.15 payable to Austin Generator, Austin.
Ratify the approval of renting a stand-by generator from United Rentals, Round Rock, in an amount  not to exceed $17,469.21 during the time repairs are being conducted.
Approved 7-0

Zoning

[Postponed 9/7/21] (First Reading) An ordinance amending Chapter 53 (Zoning) for the purpose of assigning original zoning to 10.81 acres to Retail Service District (RS) and 34.83 acres to Multi-Family Residential-3 (R-3-3) for property located at 20139 IH-35.
Postponed, without a vote, until first meeting in November.

Other items for individual consideration

(Pulled from the Consent Agenda) Approve a resolution approving and authorizing a financing agreement for the Kyle 57 Public Improvement District.
Approved 7-0

Discussion and possible action on implementing a process to create a Human Services Board/Commission to review, advise, and create an equitable and fair process for allocating grant funding to non-profits organizations serving in the Kyle area.
Motion to direct staff to allocate taxpayer funds in future budgets to award to non-profit organizations failed 5-2 (Ellison, Flores-Cale supporting)

Evaluation of expectations from city council and city manager when presenting direction of council to staff.
No action taken.

Discussion and possible action to restructure official city task forces.
Motion to eliminate all city task forces until such time as a policy governing such task forces is adopted by the city council approved 5-2 (Ellison, Rizo dissenting)

Take action on items discussed in executive session.
No action taken during executive session