Recap of August 23rd City Council - Meeting submitted by Councilmember Debra Hines and approved by Mayor Jeff Rasco

Received by City Staff on November 1, 2023.

*****                    *****                    *****                    *****                    *****                    ***** 

City Council meeting recaps are unofficial summaries of Council meetings. They are not minutes of the meetings, which can be found on the city's website along with video recordings of the meetings. The recaps have been very popular with citizens – they contain more information than official minutes and are less time consuming than watching the videos. Councilmember Debra Hines has generously given her time to produce the recaps since taking office in 2021.

This Recap submitted by Councilmember Debra Hines and approved for distribution by Mayor Jeff Rasco

Recap of August 23^rd City Council meeting

Reports:

No P&Z report provided.

No ORC report provided. They did not meet in August.

Parks and Recreation report: The Parks Board met last week and most pieces for the parks improvements have been purchased. Sunday October 29^th is Spooktacular.

Platinum Roads Panel: Met and reviewed the Alpha contract and will be suggesting some changes in it.

Tree Board: They are planning a special meeting on the 28^th of August to discuss Arbor Day at the Triangle. Arbor Day in Woodcreek will be held November 4^th. There will be some education on Oak Wilt.

Mayor:

-Aqua has a new PR director and they are working on a communication plan which may include a Woodcreek/Woodcreek North specific webpage and contact button on our City’s webpage

-The septic pipe replacement at Cypress Point is nearing completion

-Line loss repairs will start October 2023

-Type 1 effluent upgrade with a new plant should be in place by the end of 2024

-Western Hays Watershed Protection Plan meetings are occurring with the goal being creating unified plans for the Valley. This includes the Meadows Center, Wimberley Valley Watershed Organization, Hays County Precinct 3 Commissioner Lon Shell, Mayors and other leadership from both Wimberley and Woodcreek .and the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District.

-Regular meetings occur with Wimberley officials every month with a shared municipal court being a topic of discussion.

-We will be interviewing new attorney options next week

-In April 2024 there is a full solar eclipse and planning has begun with the county and emergency management teams with the expectations of an influx of visitors to the area.

-Conversations are on-going with the Double J Ranch golf course to clean up the dam/roadway/pond under Cypress Point with the goal being to seek a wetland designation and natural area. They are also in conversations with Tree Folks for a reforestation program in this area.

-The first “Kitchen Cabinet” meeting occurred where all Chairpersons of the advisory boards met with the Mayor to discuss a variety of city business topics with water being a primary concern.

City Manager:

-FEMA paperwork on the ice storm has been filed, with state approval pending

-Brush pick-up is officially over (total brush numbers: in July 200 cubic yards, the 29 days of ice storm clean up 6700 cubic yards and the Golf Course had 20 dumpsters with 800 cubic yards)

-The Alpha contract came back with a favorable price, but has not been signed yet.

-The new code administrator accepted the position and has started work

-There were 12 responses on the email request for driveways for officers to sit throughout the City to look for traffic violation during their patrols of Woodcreek

-City Hall will be closed on Sept 4^th for Labor Day

-Mayor Pro Tem Pulley inquired as to what the complaint process for code violations. City Manager Rules stated that it will be to contact the email: codeadmin@woodcreektx.gov

New Business:

Item 1: September 2023 was declared Pride month for the City of Woodcreek. Several public comments occurred in support of this proclamation. Councilmember Hambrick commented that people of all categories need recognition and questioned why there are not other months of recognition for people with disabilities, Black history month, and others. Mayor Rasco gave a comment in support and said that if any other groups wished to approach the City for such recognition that they would be considered and likely approved, as well noting that Constitution week would be coming up the following month. No action taken or needed.

Councilmember Grummert briefly left the meeting.

Item 2: September 10^th was declared by resolution to be Woodcreek/CYJ Fun Day and from 12-5 the pool would be open to citizens with snacks and beverages provided. All Councilmembers present voted “aye.”

Councilmember Grummert returned to the meeting.

Item 3: Budget discussions occurred. This is not the final review and acceptance of the budget. It will need to come before again Council for final approval. Minor adjustments were made. Notable discussion items included a budget for rainwater collection at City Hall, municipal court, and grant match funds for Deerfield should the CDB Grant be approved. To hear the full discussion, see minute 35:40 in the video: https://www.woodcreektx.gov/citycouncil/page/city-council-meeting-cyj-13

Item 4: Council unanimously approved setting the proposed tax rate at .2000 with M&O (maintenance and operation) portion at .1023 and the I&S (debt service) at .0977. This is under the voter approval rate and within the projected 2 cent increase for the Bond. The city spending portion was kept under control and actually decreased slightly from the previous year.

Item 5: Council unanimously approved calling a joint public hearing with Planning and Zoning for the Consideration of a Moratorium on the permitting of all Short-term rentals in the City of Woodcreek. Interim City Attorney Roger Gordon explained that moratoriums require two readings and so it would not be passed at this joint hearing. Additionally, he explained that edits could be made on the document in between readings. This item was only to call the hearing and set a time for staff to consider in planning. Councilmember Bailey shared concerns over people coming into town for the eclipse and a surge in possible STRs for this event.

Item 6: Drought Response Items

1. Report on State 4 restrictions: Woodcreek entered Stage 4 restrictions in Jan 2023, letter is in the packet. Aqua Texas has a drought plan which controls the guidelines for which Woodcreek residents must follow.
2. Consideration of an Interlocal agreement for the Cypress Creek Watershed Protection Plan: a new draft will be considered once received; item postponed
3. Resolution to implement temporary water demand mitigation measures: Council unanimously voted to pass this resolution (see page 53 for full resolution: https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/woodcreek-pubu/MEET-Packet-98d9f7358ff645ec87648939f5ef19a9.pdf) this halts the approval and acceptance of any permit for outdoor water features. This supports the regulatory measures in place by the authoritative bodies (Aqua Texas and the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District)
4. Report from Planning and Zoning on changes proposed for the authorization of above ground pools: Council unanimously accepted the P&Z report

Public Comment; Vice-Chair from Planning and Zoning, Lydia Johns, issued a correction on a recap for the August 9th 2023 City Council meeting, stating that the P&Z did not postpone the survey on above ground pools. They in fact recommended postponing ANY action on changes to the above ground pools ordinance until drought restrictions reach a stage 1 level.

1. Drought Response Protocol resolution: Council unanimously approved the passage of the Drought Response Protocol for the City of Woodcreek. This outlines a communication and response plan for each stage of the drought restrictions. This item was submitted in response to citizen complaints that communication from Aqua Texas has been lacking and confusing. This protocol follows the recommendations from the regulatory bodies and will help to fill in gaps for residents in their understanding of the drought stage and access to information regarding regulations in place at each stage. Charlie Flatten, the General Manager of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District has reviewed and approved. 
2. Drought information flyer: Council unanimously approved the purchase and distribution of the Drought flyer notice to all residences in the City of Woodcreek and authorized a volunteer group to conduct the distribution. This flyer serves in place of the postcard highlighted in the protocol above to alleviate staff time and efforts needed to get this out in a timely manner given the other major infrastructure improvements on parks and roads upcoming.

Item 7: Council unanimously accepted the reports provided by the Ordinance Review Committee on Chapters 90, 93, and 94 and directed staff to prepare ordinances incorporating the ORC proposed updates for review during a workshop in the second meeting of September. An amendment was made and unanimously passed to include all supporting documents in this future packet.  Councilmember Hambrick noted that many of the recommendations seemed like common sense and reasonable to consider in discussion.