One board member wanted citizen advisory panel

In response to the City of Austin’s proposal that the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BSEACD) monitor water quality controls on Stratus Properties’ land at Circle C, the board decided last week to revive its Technical Advisory Committee. The committee, to be comprised of experts in various technical areas, will work with city officials on the proposed interlocal agreement between the entities.

The decision emerged after Board Member David Carpenter asked that a citizens committee be involved in the process to work with city and district staff. But Board President Jim Camp suggested bringing back the committee because a lot of the items under discussion would involve scientific and engineering issues that might be too complicated for someone without the appropriate background. He said this after seeing only one hand go up when he asked how many people in the audience were engineers.

Board Member Jack Goodman said the learning curve for an appointee without a technical education would be too great. Assistant City Manager Lisa Gordon said a citizens committee might turn discussion of technical issues into a philosophical debate rather than a policy debate. She added that the city would like to complete the agreement and present it by the end of the year.

Carpenter stressed he wanted to make sure citizens would have a chance to make their concerns known to staff and the board before the final draft was presented. Camp said they have had the opportunity to speak from the beginning and will have the opportunity again. He said he had not made a decision on the agreement and encouraged Save Our Springs Alliance spokesman Colin Clark and others to meet with district and city staff to voice their concerns.

Carpenter raised the issue of whether there would be enough money to pay for the proposed enforcement as well as possible legal challenges, as he did at the board’s previous meeting. Gordon said BSEACD attorneys had not reviewed the draft, but that city staff would meet with them to discuss those issues. Goodman said, “We’re concerned about money. That’s everyone’s concern. Obviously there will be a lot of discussion . . . the only way I’ll agree is if I’m confident there’s money. Or I’ll work to suggest another third party.”

Before the meeting, the BSEACD had an open house and celebrated its 15th anniversary.

Recharge zone would change slightly on new map

The Board of Directors of the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District last week authorized staff to submit a draft petition to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) for adjustment of recharge zone boundaries, much to the relief of Buda representatives.

The district’s senior hydrogeologist, Brian Smith, Assessment Program Manager, said the existing recharge boundary was drawn 15 years ago. The change is necessary, he said, because the district has identified recharge features outside the current boundary. The district is responsible for submitting information to TNRCC to update the map.

Buda Council Member Chuck Murphy and Planning and Zoning Commission Chair Byron Warren asked the board to decide on submission of the new boundaries expeditiously. Warren said, “Buda has a lot of development planned… The bulldozers are sitting idling, ready to go.” He asked the board to make a quick decision because his city wants to know which map to use as they redefine development codes. Buda currently has a moratorium on construction.

Murphy said he would support whatever decision the board made, but asked that they act quickly and appropriately because it impacts Buda’s water supply.

Smith told In Fact Daily that geologists have considerably more knowledge now than they did when the map was first drawn. Some areas previously thought to be over the recharge zone are not but other areas have been added. Overall the new map shows slightly more recharge, he said. Smith said he hopes to have the petition, map and supporting documentation to the state agency within a month. Once it is submitted, he said, TNRCC will have 60 days to accept or reject the petition. After that, TNRCC commissioners will hold one or more public hearings and make a decision on what the new map should look like. The whole process could take six months or more, he said.

The northern section of the Edwards Aquifer is in western Williamson County, dipping into southern Travis County. The Barton Springs portion of the aquifer begins in the middle of southern Travis County and stretches through northern Hays County. The aquifer runs through Comal County and northern Bexar County, turns west and runs through Uvalde, Medina and McKinney Counties. BSEACD is responsible only for the Barton portion in Travis and northern Hays Counties. The Edwards Aquifer Authority has jurisdiction over the Bexar County section.

Smith said information had been gathered from the US Geological Survey, the Bureau of Economic Geology and other consultants, “so that we can do the best science possible . . . I think (the proposed map) has a good chance of being accepted,” he said. TNRCC also plans to hold hearings in Austin and San Antonio in October

After the board had voted to send the changes to TNRCC, Board Member Jack Goodman said, “God help us all. Let’s hope they make the right decision.”

On Sept. 1, the state agency’s new acronym will be TCEQ for Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. To see the current map of the entire Edwards Aquifer, follow this link: http://gis.tnrcc.state.tx.us/website/iredwards1/viewer.htm The agency has also scheduled two meetings—one in Austin and one in San Antonio—to get public comment on protection of the aquifer. Developers who are building in the recharge or contributing zones are required to submit construction plans to TNRCC.

Signatures of some neighbors questioned

The Board of Adjustment last week took a second look at allowing the owners of property at 3909 Wilbert Road to convert an existing structure on their property to a duplex rental unit. The reconsideration resulted in approval of a duplex use for the 6,793 square foot lot and smaller setbacks from neighboring yards. The property is zoned SF-3 which allows duplex construction, planner David Holt explained. But the lot was platted in 1939, long before the City Code required a 7,000 square foot lot for duplex use.

Holt said the area has a number of duplexes, including one across the street and one next door. The property is near the Hancock Shopping Center and only 360 feet from I-35, he said. A house and accessory structure were built around 1940 and met the requirements for setbacks from other property at that time. Holt said when the owner, Arsin Sabha, purchased the property in 2001, the detached garage had had already been converted to rental use.

The only opposition came from neighbor Bob Grisham, who said he has lived in the neighborhood for the past 25 years. He said other duplex uses are built on larger lots, claiming that owners of “12 of 16 lots on our street are against that.” He said when other properties come in for variances to make their uses legal, “we will fight that too.”

He presented a number of signatures he claimed were from other opponents of the variance, but the owner of the property said some of the signatures were obviously falsified. For example, the signature of one property who lives in New York— Mike Roth—had been written as “Mike Ross.” He also said he had spoken with a number of neighbors who said they never approved use of their names in opposition to the variance. Grisham said he had signed for some neighbors who asked that he use their names and for a 90-year-old neighbor.

But Chair Herman Thun was not convinced. Looking at the exhibits, he said, “I question whether or not these people specifically signed and submitted these. A number of these look suspiciously like they were prepared by the same author.”

Board member Laurie Virkstis fretted over the vote. “By granting this variance, we would be opening the floodgate for this neighborhood,” she said. Vice chair Betty Edgemond said, “We’ve been denying applications in this area since I’ve been on this board.”

Board member Leane Heldenfels asked whether approval of the variance would necessitate more parking spaces; staff member Susan Walker said it would not.

Edgemond made a motion to deny the variance but her motion died for lack of a second. Thun immediately made a motion to approve the use by granting variances on the minimum lot size, rear yard setback and side yard setbacks. He added requirements that rear and side walls have a 1-hour fire rating to add more protection for next door neighbors’ homes. The motion was approved 4-1, with Edgemond dissenting.

© 2002 In Fact News, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chamber to honor Austin businesses . . . The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce will be giving awards in three categories at its annual awards banquet August 29. The categories are: customer service, innovative business and commitment to the community, with awards being given for small, medium-sized and large businesses. Nominees include a great diversity of businesses from 3M and Dell Computer to Casabella Architects, as well as Keep Austin Beautiful, Capital Metro and the Capital Area Tennis Association. For more information, call Valerie Alvarado at 322-5613 . . . New MBE/WBE guidelines advancing . . . The City Council subcommittee on participation of minority and women contractors will hear from its citizen advisory committee at 6pm Tuesday. The committee has been working on its recommendations for months and finally reached an agreement with city staff on a new matrix earlier this month. See In Fact Daily, August 8, 2002 . . . Many meetings planned for tonight . . . The Gentrification Task Force will hold its second meeting tonight, beginning at 6:30 pm at City Hall, Room 304. Beginning at 5:30pm, commissioners of the city’s Urban Renewal Agency will be meeting in Room 240 at One Texas Center. The Urban Transportation Commission will meet at 6pm in the 8th floor conference room at One Texas Center. Their agenda includes consideration of bicycle ordinances and recommendations for changes to Shoal Creek Blvd. The Electric Utility Commission will also meet at 6pm at the Town Lake Center assembly room . . . Public hearings on Design Guidelines . . . The city will hold three public hearings on the different portions of the proposed Downtown Design Guidelines. The first hearing is at 7:30am Tuesday. Topics for that meeting will be: waiving annual fees for overhead cover; prohibiting drive-in services and service stations; screening equipment and other accessory items; meeting the Green Building one-star rating; and screening parking structures and landscaping for surface parking. The other meetings will be on Sept. 10 and Sept. 17. All public hearings will be at 1011 San Jacinto Blvd., in the third floor large conference room. Parking is available at the Capitol Visitor’s Parking Garage at 12th Street and San Jacinto Boulevard . . . FEMA says no . . . The City of Austin’s application for help from the federal government to repair recent flood damage to city facilities has been denied. The city had estimated it would cost about $770,000 to clear debris and rebuild storm-ravaged culverts, roads and creeks. The decision from FEMA only affects the city’s request for money to help repair municipally-owned facilities. It does not have any impact on requests for assistance from individual homeowners or businesses . . . Doggett strikes at tax dodge . . . Austin Congressman Lloyd Doggett can take credit for alerting the IRS to use of an illegal scheme to understate the value of life insurance for estate tax purposes. Doggett sent the agency a copy of a New York Times article exposing a practice that involves understating the amount of an insurance premium. The Times reported Saturday that Doggett sent the story to Pamela Olson, chief tax policy official at the Treasury Department. Olson said any such scheme would be disallowed in audits. Doggett told the Times, “I am encouraged that this particular tax shelter has been shut down, but for every narrow loophole that is closed, there are dozens if not hundreds more tax shelter schemes that remain available to be exploited by those who choose not to pay their fair share for necessities like national security.”

© 2002 In Fact News, Inc. All rights reserved.

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