Council adds charter discussion to Saturday budget workshop

City council members agreed Tuesday to add a discussion on what changes to the city charter they will recommend to voters following a workshop already scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 1, for the purpose of rolling out the 2020-21 fiscal year budget.

Converting which is usually an 8 a.m.-to-noon budget workshop into what is possibly going to be an all-day marathon meeting became necessary because of conflicts in council members’ schedules and deadlines on when charter revision elections may be called. The Aug. 1 date was the only one all council members were available to meet and still satisfy the statutory requirements for calling an election.

Council members got a glimpse of the recommended changes proposed by the charter review commission during their regularly scheduled agenda meeting Tuesday. The only changes that seem to give members any pause were ones involving polling places for special elections, which were largely insignificant, and Section 3.09, the controversial charter provision regarding compensation for council members. The charter review commission recommended the “council appointed committee” created by the last charter change that is assigned to consider and recommend changes in compensation be replaced by a “committee consisting of nine members, with seven council appointees and two non-council appointed members, selected randomly by the city secretary from applicants meeting qualifications of elective office.” Review commission chair Diane Hervol told the council this recommendation was made “to give citizens a little more buy-in.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll pay you back. Trust us.”

Outgoing council member Diane Hervol bids farewell

The City Council voted 6-1 tonight to dip into the General Fund for $77,400 — money that was not appropriated in the original fiscal year budget — based on, from what I could gather, Finance Director Perwez Moheet’s assurances the City eventually will be reimbursed for the some, but not nearly all, of the expenditure.

Now this was the first reading of an ordinance so it has to come back for a second vote in two weeks and that’s the reason council member Daphne Tenorio gave me for her lone vote in opposition. "I have some other questions in regards to those events and I want to get those clarified," she said.

As for me, I would like to see a whole lot more than just clarifications.

Moheet said the money, along with $27,000 from the Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) Fund, would fund three things. First was $36,400 for the consulting contract awarded to the Gateway Planning Group that was assigned to come up with a rough concept plan for that controversial intersection of I-35 and Yarrington Road, that intersection where a much-maligned truck stop was originally planned. The award was parr of a partnership agreement Kyle entered into with Hays County, City of San Marcos and the Greater San Marcos Partnership.

"It is estimated that the three entities combined will reimburse the City of Kyle up to $15,000 for this expenditure," Moheet told the council. "And so far, the Greater San Marcos Partnership has already sent us a check for $5,000 as its contribution. So were waiting for the other two entities to send their share."

Sure. Fine. Whatever. Would it have been too much to ask that the ordinance be amended to establish reasonable deadlines for when Hays County and the City of San Marcos forks over their respective shares?

Moheet said another $41,000 in General Fund money was to pay for September’s planned Kyle Field Day Special Event, He then told council "It is estimated that up to $32,500 may be collected in event revenue from registration fees, vendor sponsorship and sales." You don’t need a calculator to see immediately the differences between the two amounts puts the General Fund $8,500 in the hole.

I had heard rumors that this council was supposed to be fiscally conservative. Sure. Fine. Whatever. Again. If there had been even one fiscal conservative on the council, that person should have at least moved to amend the ordinance to restrict the General Fund expenditure to the $32,500 the city hopes to take in at the event. That’s fiscal conservatism. Now, I’m not saying the amendment would have been approved but I’m shocked that not a single council member, some of whom tout themselves as fiscal conservatives, offered the amendment and no one demanded another amendment that would have required a full and public accounting to the council of actual festival revenues. You would think the council would like to know how close the festival came to pulling in the $32,500 and since the General Fund is public taxpayer money, those taxpayers deserve such a public accounting.

The third item was the $27,000 from the HOT Fund for expenditures the City expects to incur because of October’s planned Hogwash Special Event. Moheet told the council he anticipates this event producing $23,250 and again I wondered where were the so-called fiscal conservatives on the council. I guess there really aren’t any.

In other action this evening, the council:

• Bid its collective farewell to one of its own, outgoing council member Diane Hervol who, after six years on the council, lost her Place 1 re-election bid to business owner Travis Mitchell. An obviously emotional Hervol requested that individual council members forgo any attempt to offer her testimonials, but Mayor Todd Webster, who was often at odds with Hervol, said : "For those who have never run for public office or held public office, particularly for the City of Kyle, it’s not something you do for yourself or for money or for any of those kinds of things. You do it because you want to volunteer for your community to try to make a difference and council member Hervol has, in my view, in the time that I have served with her and the time that I knew her beforehand has served in an exemplary manner. She’s been very dedicated and worked very hard. In terms of work ethic, I’m not sure in all my years on this City Council, I’ve seen anyone who prepares as well and works as hard for her constituents as she has." After being presented with a plaque and the framed picture of her that had hung just outside the council chambers, Hervol, in a shaky voice, said :It has been an honor to serve and "I want to thank the citizens of Kyle for electing me to serve on their behalf for the last six years." She also thanked her supporters, many of whom filled the council chambers and left with her following the presentation. "Politics is a tough trade," she said, "but loyalty, trust, respect does exist and I believe I have given that. And I believe I have received that from my many supporters. I am also proud of the many things we accomplished during my six years on council," which included, she said, the new library, the road bond package, park improvements, the purchase of the wastewater treatment plant, the hiring of additional police officers, the Monarch Water contract and the train depot restoration. Interestingly, she did not mention what I think may be her lasting legacy: starting the conversation that may lead to the creation, as soon as the upcoming budget cycle, of a much-needed stormwater utility.
• Following the 7-0 approval of a resolution, that came at least two weeks late, if not more, declaring the month of June as "Juneteenth Celebration Month" and recognizing "the contributions of citizens of African-American heritage," heard outgoing Mayor Pro Tem (see next bullet item) David Wilson speak about the recently deceased former mayor James Atkins. Wilson called him "someone I miss every day. I miss his advice. I would see him at least three or four times a week. He would tell me what he thought and he would tell me what he saw in the community and he would tell me what he heard. There had been a grounding there and a connection to neighborhoods and people and caring of people that I wanted to communicate to the world that he definitely made a difference to this community and to my life"
• Elected council member Damon Fogley to succeed Wilson as mayor pro tem.

Kyle City Council turns into mean, vindictive, petty body

The City has announced a special City Council meeting for 10 a.m. Monday to canvass the results of Saturday’s runoff election. I found that strange when it canvassed the returns from the May election at a regularly scheduled meeting and a regularly scheduled City Council meeting was scheduled for the very next day after this specially called one. Was there a deadline that forced the special meeting? The City Charter states "The City Council shall canvass the returns in accordance to state law." State law (specifically, section 67.003 of the state Election Code) states "each local canvassing authority shall convene to conduct the local canvass at the time set by the canvassing authority's presiding officer not earlier than the eighth day or later than the 11th day after election day." In the case of this most recent Kyle election, that means the canvass must take place between Sunday and June 22. Well, the canvass is probably not going to take place on Father’s Day, which is Sunday, but the next regularly scheduled Council meeting is June 21, so why move it up a day? I posed that question to City spokesperson Kim Hilsenbeck, who received the following reply from Mayor Todd Webster:

"Section 5.12 of the city charter says that a new member elected in a runoff election shall take ‘office’ on the first Tuesday following the day on which the votes for the runoff election are canvassed. For the newly elected council member to participate in the next regular meeting, the Special Meeting had to be called to canvass.

"State law only requires two council members to canvass an election. I believe I have called a special meeting to canvass once before because of timing. I think the reasoning then was so we could meet timelines to hold a runoff.

"I wanted to seat the new council as quickly as possible so that the newly elected member would participate in as many council meetings as possible prior to engaging in the budget process, which begins in July.

"I believe that waiting until July for Mr. (Travis) Mitchell to participate in his first meeting would not have been the best option for us as a city council moving forward with the budget process. We have had more than one runoff resulting in new members being elected. It is my opinion that the budget meetings that took place at that time, including after my election, would have gone more smoothly with the new folks having more experience in how meetings operate and in working with their fellow council members."

All very well and good but it comes across as mean, vindictive and petty. It all could have been handled in a far more dignified that way as well as in a way that would still have allowed Mitchell "to participate in his first meeting" only minutes, not weeks, later than is now planned.

It’s no secret that Diane Hervol, the incumbent Mitchell defeated in the runoff after the two candidates tied the first time around, is not that popular among her colleagues. Council member Damon Fogley came right out and endorsed Mitchell, which he has every right to do, and I’d be willing to bet every dollar I hope to receive the rest of my life that at least four of the remaining council members who voted in the runoff voted for Mitchell, which, of course, they also have every right to do. But that is the reason why the council is treating her in the way it is now comes across as so mean, vindictive and petty. It’s like the rest of the council is showing her the back door and telling her to get out and the sooner the better.

Here’s the way I think it would have been the best way to handle the transition. The council would take the following steps in order as outlined on the agenda:

• With Hervol still a member of the Council, she would be recognized by the rest of the members for her service to the city, not only her six years on the Council, but her tenure on the Planning & Zoning Commission as well as the countless hours she devotes to participating in many civic functions here in Kyle. Hervol would then be given the opportunity to make a farewell address.
• The June 11 vote would be canvassed.
• Mitchell would be sworn in as the new Place 1 City Council member.
• Hervol would ceremoniously relinquish her position on the dias to Mitchell.
• Mitchell would then be given the opportunity to address the meeting during which, among other things, he could offer his thanks to Hervol for her service, congratulate her on the campaign, thank his supporters and briefly state what he hopes to accomplish on the Council.
• Then the rest of the council meeting could proceed, beginning with the Public Comments section of the agenda, with Mitchell as an active member of the Council.

To be fair, I had a telephone conversation with Mayor Webster about my concerns on the possible public perception of how this transition is being handled and he assured me he was planning to place an item on Tuesday’s agenda recognizing Hervol’s service. (Hilsenbeck later confirmed such an item would appear on the agenda.) He told me the plaque that will be presented to her had already been ordered and was in the process of being engraved even as we spoke.

At least, there’s that.

He also told me it was unfair to blame the entire Council for how this is transpiring, that these decisions were his and his alone.

So there’s that as well. But there’s still the perception of how all this looks and my sincere belief that someone on the council could have spoken up to argue it could have been handled far more, shall I say, diplomatically.

Hervol draws top spot on runoff ballot

Incumbent Diane Hervol, dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved University of Texas pullover shirt, stood in the lobby of City Hall this morning, hesitantly, tentatively dipped her hand in a clear glass dish held by acting City Secretary Jennifer Vetrano, wrapped her hand around one of two tiny pieces of paper in that dish, pulled that tiny slip from the dish, unfolded it, read it, smiled and said "Diane Hervol," effectively giving her the top spot on the June 11 City Council runoff ballot.

According to a study conducted by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, being listed first on the ballot is a definite advantage, although that advantage may be diminished here because so few Kyle residents vote.

"In some elections a first-listing produces just a handful of votes, though they can make the difference in an extremely close election," the study said. "In other elections a first-listing can generate extra votes up to about 5 percent of the overall tally, according to some studies."

Interestingly, the study speculated that this first-listing bias is more apparent on election day than in early or absentee voting. "One wonders whether the first-listing bias is as great for absentee and mail ballot voters, compared to those who turn up at the polls on Election Day," the study said. "Voters can take their time at home — they can even do some internet research on the candidates before completing their ballots. At the polls, many voters feel anxious and tense. Everyone is in a hurry and being watched. No one wants to hold up the line."

The reason why I point this out is because in the May election, Hervol won 65 percent of the absentee vote and 51 percent of those who voted early. However, her opponent, business owner Travis Mitchell, who was listed first on that ballot, took 58 percent of the vote on election day.

After the drawing I asked Hervol if she planned on changing her campaign strategy due to the time limitations before the election.

"I intend to change it up a little bit," she replied. "I’m still in the preliminary stages as to what I anticipate doing, but I am going to change it up a little bit. I still plan to work hard and work smarter."

Mitchell, who just returned home from a camping trip on the Colorado River with his extended family, told me later this morning he plans to "vigorously" plunge into the runoff campaign.

"Local election campaign strategies require a certain amount of secrecy because they're relatively easy to foil," Mitchell said. "Nevertheless, I plan to campaign vigorously during this cycle."

Mayor seeks joint meeting to complete Comp Plan mid-term update

In a meeting during which City Engineer Leon Barba presented another update on the road bond projects and which featured a moving Memorial Day resolution and a equally stirring recognition of life saving acts performed by members of the Kyle Police Department, Mayor Todd Webster announced this evening he will seek to hold a one-day City Council-Planning & Zoning Commission joint meeting to complete the mid-term update of the City’s Comprehensive Plan.

Perhaps the most noteworthy thing to report about tonight’s Council session was its relative brevity, clocking in at just under two hours — and that included an Executive Session (which mercifully lasted only 21 minutes).

The City decided at the beginning of the mid-term Comp Plan update process it didn’t want to spend the money on consultants to make changes in the Plan the City felt could be made by self-professed planning experts. However, when the assignment came to the Planning & Zoning Commission, it decided right away consultants were required, whether or not the City want to bear the costs for those consultants, and instead of performing the update the Council requested, it drafted a letter to the Council recommending what actions the commissioners felt the consultants should take.

That letter became part of the City Manager’s Report on tonight’s agenda.

"The (P&Z) Commission ultimately determined that certain updates were needed, primarily to the maps section," City Manager Scott Sellers told the Council. "And the letter sent to Council addresses those individual revisions.

"The letter recommended we look at an outside consultant to do the work." Sellers continued. "We may be able to do most of that work in-house, maybe with a little bit of facilitation from outside sources."

Sellers said the letter referenced other plans being worked on, such as the wastewater plan, the Parks Master Plan, etc., and said those plans, when finished, would ultimately be incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan and the maps would be adjusted accordingly. He also said "There are some zoning issues we’ll need to look at with a growing city, especially in light of the recent annexations." He then asked for further direction from the council.

That’s when Mayor Webster announced his joint workshop plan "not just to go over the letter but also to be prepared to tackle some of the issues." He did not propose a date for the meeting but said he would set one with Sellers at a time when P&Z members would be available.

"My only issue with consultants is just cost," Webster said.

Mayor Pro Tem David Wilson endorsed Webster’s proposal, saying the ideas contained in the Comprehensive Plan all came from Kyle citizens and all the consultants did was format them. He suggested inexpensive computer software is available today that would allow the City to even handle that formatting internally.

"I would feel comfortable doing it that way and not spending hundreds of thousands on consultants again," Wilson said.

Sellers reminded the Council that this all revolved around a mid-term update, not the mandatory 10-year reformation of the Comprehensive Plan. "The five year update is more basic (than the 10-year review), updating the zoning, updating the maps" Sellers said. "This format (the proposed joint meeting), I think, is appropriate."

Council member Diane Hervol wanted to know about the extent of community involvement in the proposed workshop, which she could be forgiven for asking about because she did not attend the numerous Planning & Zoning Commission workshops on this subject that solicited and included input from Kyle residents. Sellers added additional citizen input could be superfluous because a lot of the items to be discussed during the update "are a little more technical in nature rather than long-term planning in nature."

Barba began his presentation talking about yesterday’s opening of Marketplace Extension, from City Lights to Burleson Road. Barba said there’s still work to be done on the project including "street lights we need to get working," which I was awfully glad to hear because I drove the new road on my way home from this evening’s meeting and it’s dark on that boulevard at night. Real, real dark. It also appeared to me that at the point where the extension merges into the original road, the road striping offers an optical illusion that gave me the impression the road was about to curve to the left when, in fact, it wasn’t.

He also said "improvements" were planned at the roundabout where the extension meets Burleson. He wasn’t specific about what those improvements were, but later, during the public comments section, Dan Ekakiadis, who served on the Kyle City Council from 2005 to 2007, when Wilson took over that seat, complained the roundabout was not safe. He was particularly critical about its height.

Barba said the 13-month construction on the Goforth Road project began March 21. He said the closure on the road will be in place "for another two weeks. The weather and the utilities have delayed us but we are trying to get out of there as fast as we can."

He listed late October as the beginning of construction on the Goforth Road extension. "We think it will take about four months to build that." He said he wants to start construction on Bunton Creek in September and the estimated start date for Burleson is November. "We expect that (Burleson) project to last 18 months," he told the Council. Barba said the estimated start on construction of Lehman is next March "and we’re hoping to try to move that up. We expect that project to last about 15 months, but it could be less than that based on our final plans" that removed the need for a bridge as part of the project.

In other action this evening:

• Library Director Paul Phelan and Lehman High School Principal Michelle Chae announced a joint all-ages Summer Reading Program that will take place from noon to 4 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays during June and July.
• The council passed a resolution approving the canvass of the May 7 City Council and charter referendum elections and set June 11 as the date for the Council runoff between Hervol and business owner Travis Mitchell, whose first matchup ended in a tie vote. The council amended the original ordinance for the runoff to add an extra day of early voting on Saturday, June 4, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
• Unanimously passed on first reading a pair of zoning requests, one which will pave the way for an inspection station to be located on Beebee Road at the far eastern edge of the city and another to allow for a "community commercial" development on the southwest corner of Porter and Cockerham streets. The unanimous votes removed the need for a second reading of the two proposed changes. Incidentally, the community commercial development is only a few blocks from the site of a proposed townhome development that raised such consternation from those living in a nearby subdivision that the Council killed it. Not a soul spoke at the public hearing attached to this plan, however.
• The Council voted 5-2 to amend the City’s "let’s screw potential homeowners" PID policy. According to Sellers, the changes to the ordinances would mean "The City Council would not be incentivizing residential development strictly through PIDs," which makes sense because PIDs are supposed to be financial mechanisms, not incentivizing tools. "A PID is for a larger commercialized development that may have a residential component but is not to be used to incentivize residential," Sellers said. "That was clear originally a year ago but through additional conversations we just needed to add that clarifying language." The second change, Sellers said, allows the City "to use up to 10 percent of any PID bond for PID related expenses that were outside the PID boundary"such as "wastewater improvements to the collection and the treatment system, water system improvements to get additional water capacity, drainage improvements, road improvements and other potential offsite PID impacts." Sellers said those amounts would be determined before the bonds are sold. Hervol and council member Daphne Tenorio voted against the amendments, not because they had anything against the amendments, per se, Tenorio told me, but because they were generally opposed to the "let’s screw potential homeowners" PID policy.

Conversations with City Council candidates: Diane Hervol, Place 1 incumbent

Why are you running?

I am running because for the last six years there have been different issues that just have not been resolved to their fullest and I continue to believe there is still work that needs to be done. And I feel that I can make an impact and focus on those issues.


What are some of those issues?
There are some issues in regards to luring employers into the city limits of Kyle. I think we need to adopt more of a policy in regards to keeping as much of our resources within the city limits and become self-contained not only with major employers but with a transportation program and making sure that we’re reaching all citizens not just some. We’re in a particular time in which we’re having new residents move in and, of course, we have those who have been here many years. There are different things that need to be addressed like the wastewater, the water, infrastructure, etcetera.


You brought up bringing new businesses so I am going to ask you a question now that I was originally planning to ask later. Because of policies outside city government’s direct control Kyle will never be in contention to land businesses like the Amazon distribution center that recently located in San Marcos or that new Samsung facility that went to Manor, of all places. But do you think the city should exert pressure to get those policies changed and, if so, what form should that pressure take?
I certainly think we can play a major role in changing those policies. Here again this is something that is probably going to need more of a detailed approach. You’re not wrong. We’ve been sidestepped many times because of for whatever reason, whether it was because we could not provide the economic incentives, because we don’t have a 4B corporation (EDITOR’S NOTE: a corporation funded by a municipality using sales tax funds to pay for industrial development projects such as business infrastructure, manufacturing and research and development) or because we don’t own land ourselves, etcetera. There are some pros and cons to having a 4B corporation, but I truly believe that if we had that 4B corporation in place we could be a major player and perhaps be able to make more of an impact on how those dollars will be spent and what we could spend them on and whether or not we could lobby for certain legislation. But I could only imagine if Cedar Park or Leander or those areas are becoming more and more developed, people are going to start looking to the south. And I think we’ll be in a very good position at that time.


What two or three things would you like to accomplish during your three year term?
First of all, infrastructure for me is huge. It’s going to be the basis of what our city is built on — that’s wastewater and water. I truly believe we have water resources secured for the next 20 years. However, I’m concerned about our wastewater and the infrastructure foundation Kyle is laid on, especially in the downtown sector. I would like to see more improvements done. 2010 was probably when we first passed the southside sewer line. I think that will only open that end to more viable business solutions to come in and be a part of Kyle.


What is the city council’s No. 1 priority in the upcoming budget?
Infrastructure, of course. Now that we’ve purchased the sewer plant and that’s going to have a major impact on our budget to make sure that we have the proper personnel and what the future will hold as far as expansion and what those needs will be. I also think road maintenance. We really need to have more of an emphasis on road maintenance and the infrastructure that has been laid by certain developers within these subdivisions and making sure we’re making the investment to maintain them. I also think that safety is a concern whether it’s with the police department in regards to making sure we have the manpower to ensure the citizens of Kyle are protected. I would like to see more patrol in my next three years and within this next budget season. And to make sure we are meeting the needs of our citizens. The city manager is going to put out a survey. It will be interesting to see what comes back from that survey. I’d like to encourage all of our citizens to make sure that they participate in that survey because that’s what staff tends to look at as far as recommending different budget priorities. But I would be concerned more with the overall infrastructure.


You mentioned more police patrols. Would that take the form in your vision of more police in cars, foot patrols, bicycle patrols?
When I first moved here, I went to Target and I left the sun roof on my car open and there was a note thrown in the car saying "Hey, you might want to consider not doing this in the future because it invites some sort of theft." That was nice to have at that particular time. We used to have the bicycle patrols during the holiday season within the Kyle Parkway corridor. I’m not sure there’s the manpower that can continue to do that type of thing. But when I did move here for the first time I saw a police car several times a day. I don’t see that now. And so I would like to see that more. We’re having more and more subdivisions who are having to hold and create neighborhood watch programs and to make sure that they stay vigilant. I’m not saying that they should become lax in those responsibilities. I’m saying the reinforcement of having the police within the neighborhoods and seeing them more often is essential.


In Dallas, where I recently moved from, they have a program called VIP, or Volunteers in Patrol. The program is designed to reduce crime by having citizens patrol their own neighborhoods in their own vehicles and reporting any suspicious or criminal activity to the police by calling 911. To be a VIP member, a citizen must be a member of an established crime watch group who has successfully completed a VIP training program conducted by the Police Department. Would you support instituting a similar program in Kyle?
Of course I would. I tend to feel that would be something in addition to the Citizens Police Academy, perhaps another level of it. Yes. Of course. I think having the citizens involved in whatever way possible is really important throughout the city. So if they were involved in patrol or in what-have-you, that would be very important.


Do you think the city should adopt a zero-based budgeting system?
Yes. We’re really moving towards making sure that we’re budgeting not only for our existing needs but a few of our CIP projects and making sure we are taking care of what is necessary for our citizens to maintain quality of life.


How do you feel about budgeting for outcomes?
I would have to do some research and discovery to really make sure I understand that fully because I would be concerned with when anticipating certain outcomes within the city — in particular, we having rising manholes, especially on the east side. Would we be focusing on that whereas we have citizens in the downtown sector who are seriously complaining about the fact that they don’t have water pressure? What is the priority and who would determine that priority? In which instance would it be better suited for which particular item to be taken care of within that particular budget year. I would need more information to better understand whether or not there was enough income to make sure each one of those issues was resolved to its fullest.


Everybody talks about the amount of traffic on Center Street. Most of that traffic could be alleviated by spending $2 million. Do you think the city council should approve a $2 million item to fix those traffic problems as part of the fiscal year 2016-17 budget and, if so, where should that money come from?
No. I think there are some other remedies. There used to be an old town advocacy group. I could see us re-igniting that group and getting some citizen input into how they think the traffic could be alleviated and whether or not they think that switching station is the outcome. It’s my opinion that if we hear more from them and perhaps those in Hometown Kyle because they’re coming through downtown to get out there. I’d actually be interested in hosting a town hall on that particular subject.


Along those lines, what changes would you advocate to increase citizen participation in municipal government?
As a council we need to be more objective on how we are involved within the community. I think each one of us has a certain responsibility as being an elected official that we should step up. The more that we’re involved with the community, I think the more the community will be involved with us. And we’ll hear from them. I’m not opposed to doing additional town halls. I’m not opposed to offering different kinds of forums whether it be social media, whether it be through city staff, or holding them on my own. I’m not opposed to that at all.


What additional changes would you propose to the city’s board, commission, committee structure? In your opinion, is someone appointed to a city board, commission or committee answerable to the city council member who appointed that person? How much influence should council members have over board, commission, committee members?
I think the committees as a whole if they have the objective and the right description of what their mission is, I think their allegiance should be to what that mission is. It’s not necessarily to that council member who appointed them. I certainly do not want anyone to feel that if I was to appoint them that they have that particular type of pressure. I like more citizen input. I like to hear from my citizens because it gives me the basis of whether or not I’m making an informed decision. The more I hear from my citizens, the better I feel. Recently, we’ve had different types of hot topics. And we get quite the citizen input. And that’s what makes your job a little bit easier as an elected official when you hear from your constituents. In what we have in the current committee structure I’d like to see something a little bit different. We’re offering more actual options to our citizenry as to how they can get more involved.


So what type of options should be offered?
We have a lot of different topics going on and we have yet to create an ad-hoc committee on any of those hot topics, whether it’s a public works item, whether it’s road maintenance, whether it’s purchasing — the purchasing of the sewer plant was probably one of the better options — but there are things we need citizen input on that we have yet to create an ad-hoc committee on. We haven’t done it.


The mayor recently said he would like to see if joining the Clean Air Coalition might adversely affect economic development. He referred that to the Economic Development Committee. Do you think that was a topic that should have been considered by an ad-hoc committee?
Possibly. I wouldn’t be opposed to it. But whether or not it affects economic development I think we can reach out to our neighboring cities and see how it affected them, whether there was a bad impact or a good impact. I think we’re the only city within so many miles that’s not participating. I think we’re one of two. Yes, that’s something that possibly could have been referred to an ad-hoc committee because I understand the Economic Development Committee has tabled it. They, too, need to be brought up to speed as to how it will affect us. But I would be interested to see what was the impact of adopting and joining the Clean Air Coalition among other cities surrounding us. What impact did it have on them?


Are you concerned about Kyle’s long-term sustainability?
Yes, to a certain extend. I want to make sure that we’re putting things now into effect that’s going to have a direct impact on our long-term sustainability. That is, for me, attracting businesses to help with our financial viability. Not only that, but making sure we’re making solid decisions on our wastewater plant and our infrastructure.


Should the city prioritize growth alternatives it will incentivize and, if so, what, in your opinion, are the top 3 alternatives Kyle should concentrate on?
I’d like to see something that would incentivize employers that would employ some of our local citizens or a major employer. I would incentivize something like that to a certain extent. You have to understand the economic ramifications of how that will impact our current citizens and then go from there. But that is something I would put as a top priority to incentivize.


Do you think city government should take a more active role in regional planning or is that, in your opinion, the exclusive prerogative of county government or organizations such as CAPCOG?
I think, of course, we have to worry about planning within the city limits. However, it doesn’t hurt to make sure we’re reaching out to some of these regional providers and making sure that we’re understanding what may be on the horizon that we could take advantage of. I’m certainly concerned sometimes that we are getting to the point where we might be participating in certain organizations but not receiving the full benefit of our participation within that group. And I want to make sure that if we’re participating through tax dollars, we’re getting the actual benefit from it.


In your opinion, does Kyle have a transportation problem and, if so, what specifically is that problem and what actions should the city take to remediate those problems and how important is it you that those actions should be contextually appropriate?
Oh, yes, We have many of our citizens who have to leave — whether they’re going to San Marcos or San Antonio or Austin — to seek employment. I think that if we had a major employer here within the city limits that could reduce the actual amount of traffic at different times. I’m disappointed in regards to the light rail although I do believe it was quite expensive. I would like to see some sort of other viable solution come up in whether or not we could participate in something like that. Our transportation within our city — I would not only like to see all sorts of housing but we also need to make sure we’re reaching out to our constituents at whatever age level they are as to whether we’re meeting their transportation needs.


I have referred to the latest transportation plan presented to the city as a roads plan, not a transportation plan. It assumes the only viable transportation alternative is the automobile and for those citizens having to work in Round Rock or Georgetown or San Antonio, their total automobile costs are rivaling their housing costs. How do you deal with that?
Again, if we look at attracting a major employer or we’re participating in some form of mass transit in some form or fashion that may resolve some of those transportation issues. But you’re right, Pete. We have 10,000 homes projected to come in. We have two or three subdivisions coming in that have already started building not to mention all the subdivisions that are still building homes. We’re going to have so many rooftops within the next year or so and building this way is going to continue. How are these people going to get from Kyle to wherever they’re going to go? It needs to be seriously looked at because otherwise it’s going to be gridlocked. I go into Austin once a week. I used to travel to Far West and Mopac. Last June my employer actually looked into moving closer to Kyle or within the Kyle city limits. The price of office space was something that did not meet our needs at the time and so we ended up going into South Austin. However, I do have to travel to different locations within the state. And when I travel outside of Austin and in an automobile I’m stuck within the gridlock. And whether it’s going to Austin or going to San Antonio — San Antonio is getting the same way to a certain degree. So if there were other options — to take a train — I would certainly look at that.


You spoke about the problem of Kyle maintaining its roads. But now you’ve just discussed all these new subdivisions that are going to require new roads that at some future point are going to have to be maintained as well. Are we just creating a giant pyramid scheme here?
(Laughs). When you look at this — the rooftops — I think are going to come. They are going to come no matter what because when you look at the picture of how many people are moving here a day — it changes daily — according to the Chamber of Commerce one day it’s 30, one day it’s 40 — I don’t know how many. A lot of that population is going to move south. More and more, Kyle is going to be like that because we’re not too far away from certain things and the different options we have for mobility and by that I mean the different avenues we have to get into the city limits of Kyle or just the fact of where we are strategically located. I think we’re at a great place for an employer just because of our location to 21 and the tollway. I hope when these rooftops are being built hopefully it will be at what capacity that they will be built as to whether or not the infrastructure can keep up.


What are the city’s most prominent infrastructure needs? Which of those needs are of immediate concern? What do you see as the source of the money that will be needed to address those concerns?
Wastewater is just as high ranking as maintaining our roads. Wastewater infrastructure is expensive. However, maintaining our roads is to me the basis of infrastructure whether it’s wastewater infrastructure or water infrastructure or road maintenance infrastructure, that’s the basis of what this town is going o be made on. And that’s the basis of what are citizens are going to look for as the type of services in addition to police. That’s the basis of what we’re going to make sure that we’re going to be maintaining for our constituents.


Is the city doing enough to manage stormwater? Do you support the creation of a stormwater utility in Kyle and the implementation of stormwater fees to pay for that utility?
I’ve been a proponent of a stormwater utility and I’m hoping it will be fine-tuned and we will have citizen input. The more citizen input we have on it — we just experienced on Halloween 2015, we experienced a horrendous flood here, it was a 700-year-flood. There are some serious areas within the city of Kyle that were flooded. And I think the basis of some of that flooding was because of drainage ditches and/or retention ponds. Whether they were built to a certain capacity or not or the growth that is surrounding some of these subdivisions that are supposed to be maintained by some of these subdivisions, those subdivisions and/or the HOAs within those subdivisions weren’t aware of the requirement to maintain those particular drainage ditches. I just think drainage is not a landowner/HOA issue. In my opinion, drainage is a city issue and I think the city should maintain it.


Do you support the proposed charter changes that will be on the May ballot? What additional changes do you think need to be made to the charter?
I am not in favor of all of them. I’m not in favor of changing the elections to November. I’m not in favor of changing who the finance director reports to. I think we need to look at those charter amendments carefully as to how they will affect the future of the city and the Council.


Under current policy, if the city council rejects a zoning request, the applicant is forbidden to resubmit the request for an entire year. Do you think this is fair?
No, not necessarily. I think I would look more towards what are other municipalities doing in regard to similar zoning types and whether or not that is something we would be interested in adopting in the future. Kyle is growing and along with that growth there are certain decisions that need to be made as to whether or not the way we handled certain different types of zoning issues in past should be handled differently in the future.


If the City decided to draft an entirely new Comprehensive Plan from scratch, what process would you recommend drafters take in developing that plan?
I would make sure they are enlisting the assistance of consultants, for sure. And I would make sure that we have an on-going maintenance program set up with that consultant for the five years. As the city changes we’re also implementing whatever those changes within the Comprehensive Plan as time goes on. I think that’s one of the things we didn’t do with the prior Comprehensive Plan. I want to make sure that our citizenry is continued to be included. I think as changes are made, as the different viable solutions to whether it’s a major employer or what-have-you that would be attracted to Kyle it’s great to make sure that we have our citizens informed and they are playing a part in that Comprehensive Plan.


But, at least to me, in Kyle it means the same group that comes out every time to voice their opinion, but the overall voice of Kyle is not heard because, for whatever reason, they choose not to voice an opinion. So how to you prevent the voice of a small but vocal minority inserting its will on the citizens as a whole?
I think that goes back to the long-range planning committee. That’s the one committee I would consider — whether it’s long-range—I think they had a five-year commitment. It’s not necessarily about the five-year commitment but it’s necessary about the people that were involved in that long-range planning because there is historical information that is in those particular committee members that has an affect. It’s valuable information that others need to be made aware of. And that’s the part that doesn’t get disseminated. We need more solutions in the sense that if we’re going to have citizenry input how are we going to reach more of the mass and less of the select group. I think we need to look at that differently in the sense that when you’re appointing people should you do it through a committee or what-have-you or through our communications specialist that you’re pushing it consistently whether it’s through social media, whether it’s through the press or whether it’s on the website. You’re offering all these different venues and hoping somebody is subscribing to one of those.


How do you feel about single use zoning?
I guess I really don’t have an opinion.


Does the city need to improve its park network and, if so, how?
Parks and rec is always an added benefit to any community and I think that our Parks and Rec Department does a very good job. Part of making that particular department very successful is that the parks need to be maintained. We’ve gotten more compliments in the past few years as we’re slowly but surely bringing those parks back to life and maintaining them. One of the things that I think is truly an added benefit to a community is their parks. People like to take walks. They like to get out in the sun. Hike and bike trails. There was a plan talked about many years ago to be able to connect all the neighboring communities, the neighborhoods. And I think that would be beneficial either through walking paths or bike paths. I think it would be beneficial not to have to walk on a major artery to get to the next community.


Do you think all the new subdivisions you talked about earlier should be required to include some kind of park space, even if it’s just a pocket park or some open area where families could gather?
I do. It’s beneficial to the community some sort of area where people can relax, have some sort of recreational type activity happening in the greenspace area, whether it’s through just a walk or playing basketball, what-have-you. I think getting the community out to a central location is beneficial and I think the residents that live there and have children I think they would be less concerned about their children if they were just going a certain distance within that subdivision instead of going from one subdivision to another. When I was little and my mom called me you could hear her and you came running because dinner was ready. Like here, we have two areas now that provide recreation for our subdivision and I think it’s beneficial that the kids are staying within the subdivision for that particular recreation.


Anything else you’d like to add?
I’m looking forward to serving the citizens of Kyle for another three years and I think that I’ve learned a lot in the last six years and I think I’ve been real consistent in my decision-making and I hope to serve the citizens of Kyle for another three years.

Don’t expect tax incentives tied to livable wage in Kyle anytime soon

Last week the San Marcos City Council began requiring that any business seeking municipal tax incentives for bringing new jobs to the city must pay a livable wage — specifically, at least $15 an hour — to qualify for those incentives and, in so doing, urged other Hays County communities to follow suit. Based on exchanges I’ve had with four of our seven council members, I don’t expect Kyle to be one of those Hays County communities.

Mayor Todd Webster said he feared passing a similar regulation would put Kyle at a competitive disadvantage in attracting new business. Council member Shane Arabie told me he wants the city’s economic development procurers to have plenty of flexibility when it comes to bringing jobs to Kyle. Diane Hervol said more research needs to be done before Kyle attempts such an approach and Daphne Tenorio said she is concentrating on other priorities and acknowledged, even though she personally favors such an approach, there would be little, if any, support from other council members to pass an ordinance like that here. Mayor Pro Tem David Wilson and council members Becky Selbera and Damon Fogley ignored my requests for comment on this subject.

According to the Texas State University daily newspaper, "San Marcos City Council passed an amendment to the city’s economic development policy Feb. 2 to require any jobs qualifying for incentives to pay employees a $15 hourly minimum wage. City officials will only grant job-based incentives to businesses that pay employees a living wage and include employer-sponsored health care. Council members agree the new policy will benefit the community."

The paper quoted one council member, John Thomaides, as saying: "I’m hoping other communities in the region follow suit, It sure would be nice if we had an Austin-San Antonio corridor that valued our people as much as we value our profits or incentives."

Sorry, John, but that 15 bucks stops here.

"I do not have any intention of pursuing a blanket policy that would establish such a condition or any other condition that would tie our hands when trying to recruit businesses to Kyle," Mayor Webster said. "Economic development is competitive and to be successful I don’t believe that Kyle should establish unnecessary and pre-determined conditions that would hamper our ability to successfully compete. Job creation is certainly one of the city’s economic development goals but so is expanding the city’s commercial tax base. The latter being necessary if we are to ever provide meaningful tax reduction. Establishing a blanket requirement would likely hinder our efforts to bring balance to our tax base and in turn, would hinder our ability to provide future tax relief to residential tax payers."

"Any ordinance like that pins you to a rule," Arabie said. "I’m not opposed to setting something like that as a guideline, but different projects present different challenges. Guidelines like this would be something we could use as a negotiating tool, but I am opposed to an outright policy change."

"I am not sure how well an ordinance of this nature would be greeted by my colleagues," Hervol said. "At this point in time, I am not prepared to bring it before council. I would like to do research and get pertinent feedback from all the cities that have implemented such an ordinance."

"San Marcos is setting the bar high and I think it's marvelous," Tenorio said. "I would love to introduce this type of ordinance in our city. However, I know I wouldn't have the support to pass it. Right now I am concentrating on transportation for our disabled and elderly, stopping the horrendous development that has been proposed at Yarrington Road and assuring our water wastewater plant is able to sustain the current constituency, adding to it prior to approving additional development. I certainly think a minimum wage ordinance tied to taxpayer aid is a great idea that could be highly beneficial to our citizens!"

There you have it. Some like it. Some don’t. But all agree it ain’t happening here, at least anytime in the foreseeable future.

Anthem developer proposes new water deal

The Kyle City Council is scheduled to consider Tuesday evening a proposal from Clark Wilson, the developer of the proposed 673-acre Anthem subdivision located about a mile northwest of the intersection of FM 150 and RR 2770 in Mountain’s City’s extra-territorial jurisdiction, that would call for Kyle to sell water and wastewater services to Anthem through infrastructure provided and paid for by Anthem.

The proposal would presumably replace a far more complicated proposed Interlocal Agreement that would have ultimately led to Anthem being annexed by the City of Kyle. Under Wilson’s latest proposal, Anthem would remain in Mountain City’s ETJ under the terms of a Development Agreement signed in December 2014 by Wilson and Mountain City Mayor Tiffany Carnutt. The proposed Interlocal Agreement created a political turmoil in Mountain City, arising from the fact that many of that community’s residents did not want Kyle to annex the subdivision.

Prior to considering Wilson’s latest proposal, the Kyle City Council is supposed to rescinding approval of the ILA with Mountain City and Hays County, which could be moot anyway because, the way I understand it, Hays County withdrew from the deal several months ago and was replaced by the City of Dripping Springs.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mountain City 150, a limited partnership Wilson formed when he signed the original Development Agreement with Mountain City, "at its own cost and expense, will construct a potable water distribution system" so that Kyle can provide water services to the estimated 1,900 residences in the project as well as "wastewater improvements and all necessary facilities to allow (Kyle) to provide retail wastewater services to the customers." Presumably, although it’s not actually stated in Wilson’s proposal, Kyle would bill the customers directly for the water and wastewater services.

In addition, Wilson would, through MC 150, pay Kyle "funds to assist in financing offsite improvements, including expansion of the city’s wastewater treatment plant," which, depending on the amount he plans to chip in, could be just the sweetener needed for the council to look favorably on the deal. Wilson’s proposal says "The amount, timing of payment and all details shall be included in a binding retail water and wastewater services agreement."

If agreed to, the agreement could end a lot of the current friction that exists among the neighboring communities of Kyle, Mountain City and, lately, Buda, which has expressed its dissatisfaction with a deal Kyle is trying to negotiate involving the Dahlstrom Ranch, property the city needed to acquire in order to legally annex Anthem, but may not be needed under this latest proposal. It would also appease local critics who argued Kyle did not need to add such a large chunk of residential property owners to the city’s tax rolls because the property tax burden already falls too heavily on homeowners.

There is no public hearing attached to either agenda item — the one to rescind the ILA and the companion piece to approve Wilson’s latest offer — so any citizen wishing to speak for or against either issue will have to do so during the public comment section that begins the 7 p.m. council session.

As reported earlier, the City Council will not consider Tuesday a zoning change that could have resulted in a truck stop in South Kyle, but it is expected to consider:

• Much needed additional emphasis on storm water management including elevating it to an actual utility, under a proposed ordinance amendment, and levying punishments against those who pollute the storm water system. As part of this, the council could consider the concept of Limited Impact Districts in Kyle, which would go a long way to make the city greener in terms of water and energy conservation.
• Council member Becky Selberra’s request for a "discussion on smoking ordinance," which presumably has to do with Section 23-182 of Ordinance 334 which states "It shall be unlawful for any person within the city limits, in any way, to intentionally or carelessly burn or cause to be burned any combustibles which causes noxious smoke or smoke of a significant quantity or quality to be released so as to inhibit the use and enjoyment of neighboring properties is hereby declared a nuisance and is hereby prohibited." I have, however, unsuccessfully tried to find any ordinance regarding smoking by citizens in public facilities so perhaps she wants to talk about that. Your guess is as good as mine on this one. I have reached out to council member Selberra requesting she provide me some specifics.
• Council member Diane Hervol’s request to learn about and make public the city’s plans to provide public transportation for those citizens, many of whom are elderly, who relied on Austin’s Cap Metro before the city terminated that contract late last year.
• The disposition, delivered as part of the city manager’s report, of a lawsuit between the city and Dr. Glen Hurlston of Princeton, Texas, who sued both the cities of Princeton and Kyle in federal court alleging Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett abused his powers by ordering Hurlston’s arrest for the domestic abuse of his then-wife, Suzanne, who gave birth to a child fathered by Barnett.

Developers have pulled truck stop request

Final Update: Tuesday's Kyle City Council agenda has been posted and the truck stop request is not on it.

Second update: I now feel comfortable stating for a fact that PGI Investment, the company seeking to locate a truck stop at Yarrington Road and I-35, has pulled from Tuesday’s City Council agenda its request for a zoning change for those 47.7 acres, a change that would have precipitated the construction of the controversial facility.

I feel comfortable because (1) I saw for myself an item council member Daphne Tenorio posted to the Blanco Vista Neighborhood's Facebook page that said: "I just received an email from the City Manager stating the developer of the truck stop has pulled the item indefinitely," (2) because I also saw a copy of an email from that very same city manager, Scott Sellers, sent to members of the Kyle City Council that said "The applicants for the Warehouse Zoning on I-35/Yarrington (future FM 150) have postponed (emphasis mine) their application indefinitely. This item will be noticed before returning to the City Council for a public hearing.", and (3) because I also received confirmation on the withdrawal from council member Diane Hervol.

Back to original post: I am in the process of reaching out to city officials for confirmation of this, but since I first started hearing these rumors after 5 p.m. today, I’m somewhat leery about receiving a prompt reply.

Earlier Update: According to a source who wishes to remain anonymous, council member Damon Fogley posted on a Facebook page that I don’t have access to: "IH-35/Yarrington Road agenda item for warehouse rezoning (truck stop) has been indefinitely (emphasis mine) postponed by the applicant. It will not be on the City Council agenda for Feb. 2."

Resuming original post: Last Tuesday, in front of an overflow crowd of residents, the overwhelming majority of whom wanted the zoning request denied, the Planning & Zoning Commission voted 5-2 to do just that. It was expected, however, that the City Council would overturn that decision.
 
To be honest, it would not surprise me at all if these rumors are true and PGI has indeed withdrawn its request. Earlier this week, I wrote an article harshly critical of PGI for its abysmal community relations performance in this matter, for not reaching out to surrounding communities to seek a mutually agreeable compromise on this issue. I’m not going to go so far as to say definitely that PGI has decided to do this, but it would make sense. What comes up when I Google PGI Investments, LL.C., is a homebuilder based in Carlsbad, Calif., near San Diego. It doesn’t make sense, to me at least, that this PGI is the same outfit as the truck stop PGI, because I can’t find any history of the Carlsbad PGI getting involved in deals like this. But, if it is indeed the same company, you would think this company with its background would have a certain amount of empathy for homeowners, and thus be more likely to engage in meaningful negotiations with homeowners and other equity holders in the area.

On this same topic, it is worth nothing that San Marcos Mayor Daniel Guerrero crafted a harshly worded, albeit self-serving, letter Tuesday to Kyle Mayor Todd Webster. Guerrero said the City of San Marcos "does not support the proposed change and does not believe a truck stop at that location (on the Kyle-San Marcos border) is the highest and best use for that property. We also do not find it to be conducive to a positive partnership and regional relationship." So its possible, PGI’s actions, if indeed they have taken place, could have been the result of some pressure applied by San Marcos city officials along with the Greater San Marcos Partnership.

I will update this when and if I learn more. As of this writing (5:37 p.m.), an agenda for Tuesday’s Kyle City Council meeting has not been posted.

City Council caves to NIMBYs

The Kyle City Council, with explanations that, for the most part, if they are to be believed would bring all development in the city to a screeching halt, voted 5-1 last night to deny a request for a townhouse development located only a half a mile from City Hall.

Council member Shane Arabie was the only council member to vote in favor of the zoning request, although Mayor Todd Webster, whose explanation for opposing the measure was the only one that made any sense, seemed to vote no quite reluctantly. When his name was called during the roll call vote, he sat silently for a relatively long time before voting "nay" in way that made his vote sound more like that last name of this comedian whom I remember from the old Steve Allen Sunday night television show. Council member Daphne Tenorio did not attend last night’s meeting.

But, at least, Mayor Webster’s opposition seemed to make some sense. He voiced concern over the cost that would need to be borne by the city to upgrade what are now comparatively narrow streets near the site — specifically Cockerham, and possibly even Live Oak and Porter streets — upgrades that would be required to handle the traffic from the development that could potentially have been the site of 150 townhomes.

Here’s the rub, however. Without any zoning changes whatsoever, at least 90 single family homes could be located on the property and Planning Director Howard Koontz cited studies that proved that single family residences generate three times as many car trips as townhomes do. In addition, the parcel of land south of the property in question last night is already zoned for townhomes so they could be built there without needing any new zoning requests and that property is a lot closer to Cockerham and Porter streets than the ones under discussion last night.

Webster seemed to realize this and it was this dilemma, I am convinced, that resulted in his hesitancy in announcing his vote.

The other reasons given by council members, however, bordered on the goofy, none more than the one offered during the debate by council member Damon Fogley who said he opposed the rezoning because he didn’t want to add any more residential areas to the city’s tax rolls when homeowners currently bear the major burden of city property taxes. Perhaps he simply didn’t grasp that the lots already had residential zoning attached to them and the question before the council was simply whether to change the type of residential zoning. But, to be honest, I think that was Fogley’s excuse for casting a no vote, not his reason. The proof of that will come the next time a big developer comes along with a project to develop a major subdivision on land presently zoned agricultural. I’m betting Fogley will be tugging at his leash to approve it even if it will be far less sustainable than the issue on the table last night.

Mayor Pro Tem David Wilson along with council members Diane Hervol and Becky Selbera did not voice a reason for voting against the measure during the debate, so I had to approach them for their reasons at the conclusion on the council’s meeting. By that time, Selbera had bailed, but Hervol told me she opposed the development because "of the effects it will have on our wastewater, flood control and roads. The effect it’s going to have on our wastewater plant is very crucial." That’s possibly very well true, but it is also true for every single new development that plans to come to the city of Kyle. New developments inherently will have an effect "on our wastewater, flood control and roads." So, if she really believes what she was telling me, she will want all development in the city to stop. So, just to clarify, I asked her specifically if it was only the cost of needed infrastructure improvements in the immediate area that concerned her, She replied: "We’re already well on our way to improving the wastewater treatment plant, but the impact (of this development) concerns me." Again, it will be interesting to see if she voices similar concerns for any other proposed new developments within the city limits.

Wilson said he voted against because of "infrastructure in that area and safety. We don’t have the infrastructure to handle it and we already have people from new subdivisions cutting through on those roads." But, as mentioned earlier, development could proceed on the property without any zoning changes that would precipitate far more traffic.

Let’s be honest here. The only reason this zoning wasn’t approved was because the council withered in the face of the vocal opposition of a few selfish NIMBY residents of an adjacent subdivision who are opposed to any change and are hoping this piece of property in downtown Kyle will stay undeveloped forever. The problem is so few people vote in Kyle city elections, a small handful of irate, self-centered residents such as these could possibly tip an election and that scares the bejeezus out of these entrenched power-mad politicians who desperately want to hang on to their fiefdoms.

Arabie wisely recognized this fact when he said the residents of the Silverado subdivision may rue the day they opposed this development when they suddenly find themselves rubbing shoulders with a big warehouse development on the property that could have contained some nice, attractive townhomes.

The applicant himself, whose name I failed to capture, was stunned by the outcome. The opposition from the NIMBYs was just as loud — perhaps even louder — at the most recent Planning and Zoning Commission hearing, yet those commissioners displayed some backbone and ultimately unanimously approved the rezoning of the larger of the two parcels in question. The applicant said he had no idea what his next steps would be. "I am just going to have to sit back and regroup," he told me outside the council chambers.

For what it’s worth, here’s what I would do if I was in his shoes. Like I said, two parcels of land were proposed to be rezoned from single family residential to townhome residential. One of the parcels was 1.3 acres, the second was 14.083 acres. The council only voted on the smaller parcel; the applicant pulled his application on the larger one before council could vote on it. The applicant must now wait one year to apply for the same zoning change again on the 1.3 acres. However, he doesn’t have to wait at all on the much larger parcel.

I would begin holding small, informal meetings with residents of the Silverado subdivision to see what kind of compromises would need to be made to make them more favorable to the development. The major concern voiced by the NIMBYs was the increased amount of traffic that would flow through their subdivision. There is a small nub of a street, the name of which I can’t determine, located off San Felipe Drive between Salado and Remington drives that, at the present time, is the only visible access to the property. That is the route the NIMBYs voiced concern about – that all traffic to and from the subdivision would have to go down that nub and, thus, wind through Silverado. The applicant plans to construct roads to the southwest connecting to Cockerham and perhaps one to Live Oak, which he envisions as the main access to the site. One compromise I would seriously consider would be to construct a blockade that would prohibit traffic from entering Silverado from the townhome development.

The second thing I would present to the homeowners would be studies which prove that such a development adjacent to their property will actually increase their property values. There are plenty such studies to draw from.

The third thing I would do would be to present drawings and models to show the homeowners exactly what the proposed development would look like when it was finished, complete with all the additional roadways. Which brings me back to that 1.3 acres that can’t be rezoned residential townhome for at least another year. Work with the city to determine exactly what use he could do with that acreage. I’m thinking of a downtown 1.3-acre community leash-free dog park, complete with a splash pond. To me, that would be a wonderful addition for that part of downtown. I say "community"dog park because it would be open to all pet owners, not just those who live in the townhome development.

Fourth, as I presented all these ideas to the those NIMBYs in Silverado and others near the property, I would ask them to sign a petition indicating they favor the proposal under the compromises, the studies and the plans that I have displayed with them.

Fifth, and this could be the most difficult of all, I would try to form a PID (one designed to be used the way PIDs are envisioned to be used) whose boundaries would begin at the edge of Silverado, and stretch all the way to Rebel Drive that could be used to offset much of the cost of any needed infrastructure improvements.

And then I would bring all that back to City Council and again ask for the residential townhome zoning on only the 14.083 acres that was not voted on last night.

But that’s me.

In other action last night, the city council:

• Heard from Kay Johnson, chair of the Kyle Depot Board, with an update on the Kyle Visitor Center and Museum, which will be located in the depot. She said "a soft opening of this important, historical building" is planned for Saturday, Jan. 23, from 10 a.m. to noon. "We are placing period furniture pieces into the train master’s office next week and preparing displays for our exhibition panels." She said an audio-visual system is being installed that, among other things, "will allow an announcer to be distinctly heard that the next train to San Antonio should be ready to board within in the hour." She also said the Hays County Historical Society is providing copies of a book detailing the history of Kyle and a book signing will be part of the soft opening ceremonies. The proceeds from the sale of the book will be "donated to the continued upkeep of this magnificent depot." She informed the council a formal "grand" reopening of the depot will be announced "at a later date."
• Listened to the details of what was labeled a Transportation Plan but what was actually nothing more than a road construction plan whose brain-numbing, head-scratching conclusion was that the No. 1 road construction priority for Kyle was a two-lane divided Beebee Road, with the division being either a median or a center turn lane, between I-35 and State Highway 21, a project the plan’s presenters estimate would cost $57 million or more than 1.5 times the cost of all the city’s five current road bond projects. And that’s in 2016 dollars — no telling how much more expensive this would be if and when the city actually decided to undertake the project. To be fair, these guys said the city should only be on the hook for $17.5 million, but somehow we would have to sweet talk the county into coughing up the other $39.5 million. Hey, I travel that stretch of road a lot, for reasons I won’t go into here, but I also travel the far more congested 1626 between here and Manchaca quite regularly and, what with the plans to extend the 45 Tollway from the southern tip of Mopac in Austin to 1626 near the Hays County line, to me the area’s No. 1 priority is the widening of 1626 between 2770 and 967. Once that tollway link is complete, 1626 will compete with I-35 as the main conveyor of automobiles to and from Kyle and Southwest Austin. And that project should be entirely on the county’s tab. Hopefully, one day the city will quit wasting taxpayer money on road construction plans mislabeled as transportation plans and actually find someone willing to develop a comprehensive transportation plan. And why, pray tell me, are we getting different plans from CAMPO and this outfit, Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam? (Actually, I know the answer: LAN employees donate heavily to city council election campaigns.)
• Approved a request from the Hampton Inn to build a hotel next to the Hays Surgery Center that would exceed the 45-foot height limit for buildings in that zoning. The Hampton’s plans call for it to be 59 feet high.
• Unanimously granted a waiver to a proposed Sonic Drive In that allows it to build more parking spaces than its specified in the city’s code. After all, the Sonic is, as the name suggests, a drive-in and most of its patrons consume their food in their cars and not inside the restaurant. And if you don’t believe me on this, just look at all those stupid Sonic television commercials that always show the two friendly jerks in their car at the restaurant.
• Went through a series of shenanigans that allowed for ex-officio members on city boards and commissions, the first of which were four such members named to the Economic Development & Tourism Board. Mayor Webster cast the lone vote against the first in the series of shenanigans when he learned the new rule applied to all boards and commissions and not just to the Economic Development & Tourism Board.
• Unanimously approved an agreement that will allow the Kyle Police Department to install license plate recognition products in three department vehicles. These products would give police officers the ability to spot and stop cars with outstanding warrants for unpaid fines on already adjudicated traffic violations. It would also allow the drivers of such vehicles the opportunity to pay that outstanding fine on the spot with a credit card. Police Chief Jeff Barnett told me after the item was approved that the city is currently looking at between $4 and $5 million in outstanding such fines owed to the city. That’s almost enough to fund 25 percent of the head-scratching, brain-numbing Beebee Road boondoggle.