TipSheet: Travis County, 5.15.18

The Travis County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday. In the interest of space, we’ve decided not to post the entire agenda here. The County Clerk’s Office hosts a copy at its website.

7. Consider and take appropriate action on amending the form and structure of the Travis County Code. (Commissioner Gómez)

Monitor’s Take: Seeing the word “form” so close to the word “Code” made us nostalgic for the early days of CodeNEXT when innocent optimism ran high for the speedy production of a form-based land development. C’est la vie. In any case, this particular item has nothing to do with CodeNEXT. Indeed, instead of being a code rewrite, it’s merely a code reorganization. A housecleaning effort to make the thing more readable.

8. Consider and take appropriate action on a memorandum of understanding between the Travis County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) and the Central Texas Food Bank for the recurring donation of inmate-grown vegetables. (Commissioner Gómez)

Monitor’s Take: There once was a time when fruits and vegetables grown by inmates at the Travis County Correctional Complex in Del Valle were eaten by the inmates themselves. No longer, thanks to a contract with a new food service provider. Instead of salting the garden though, Sheriff Sally Hernandez has proposed this agreement to ship the penitent produce to the Central Texas Food Bank.

12. Consider and take appropriate action on the use of Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grant funding in Transportation and Natural Resources to conduct financial analysis and modeling of financing alternatives for the Green Line transit corridor between downtown Austin and Manor. (Commissioner Travillion)

Monitor’s Take: We’re not at all sure FTA grant money is in question here, but it seems that someone has found a way to potentially pay for a study of the proposed Green Line MetroRail route without either Capital Metro or Travis County footing the bill.

14. Receive update from the City of Austin on the Waller Creek Project. (Judge Eckhardt)

Monitor’s Take: The Waller Creek Project isn’t just a headache for the city of Austin and anyone who wants to take in some sun at Waterloo Park: Travis County agreed to a 20-year tax increment financing agreement with the city back in 2008. So far, the county has paid out $7.2 million on the deal. What’s to show for it? Hopefully this briefing by city staff will illuminate that and more!

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.