CITY O City Council Frank C.Cooksey Mayor John Treviño, Jr. Mayor Pro Tem Council Members Mark Rose Smoot Carl-Mitchell Sally Shipman George Humphrey Charles E. Urdy Jorge Carrasco City Manager Elden Aldridge City Clerk FOUNDED 1039 Austin City Council MINUTES For SPECIAL CALLED MEETING - Council Chambers, 307 West Second Street, Austin, Texas Memorandum To: 1984-90 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM June 25, 1984 7:30 pm Mayor Pro Tem Trevino called the Special Called Meeting to order at 7:30 P.M., noting the absence of Mayor Mullen and Councilmember Rose. Mayor Pro Tem Trevino said that this was the second of a series of public hearings held regarding the 1984-90 Capital Improvement Program. :: Catherine Poole, Blackland Neighborhood, requested that Alamo Park be included in the CIP, for the purpose of building a multi-aid swimming pool and creative playground equipment. Maria Martinez, Southeast Austin Advisory Board, spoke for two major issues. The first is renovation of the present recreation centers including Metz, Montopolis, Zaragosa and Pan Am so that the level of programming can be maintained, and the other acquisition of additional land along the Colorado River for the development of an additional park. Further, she added the Montopolis renovation floor repair and parking lot and outside lighting and Pan Am needs the gymnasium renovated should be reinstated on the CIP. Lydia Scales, Project Coordinator for Roger Washington Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, reminds Council of $95 thousand for covering their neighborhood drainage ditch. And to include $110 thousand previously eliminated for renovation. in the CIP. Delores Duffie, Rosewood Park Advisory Board, submitted to Council a list of 24 items to be included in the CIP for the Northeast District. Council Memo Page 2 June 25, 1984 Jessie Vasquez, President of the City of Austin's Park and Recreation Senior Luncheon Advisory Board, spoke regarding establishing a senior multipurpose center to include a health center, a nutrition site, an educational site for possible problem solving and recreation and leisure. Ruth Starpattern, local artist, spoke regarding funding through CIP the Laguna Gloria downtown location for enlargement of the facility for growth to increase the number of exhibitions and related programs. Enrique Lopez, member Montopolis Advisory Board and the Neighborhood Association, spoke of upgrading the Montopolis Drive from East River- side to Ben White and the extension of the street from Ben White to Burleson Road. and $4.4 million to complete Grove Boulevard from East Riverside Drive to U. S. 183. $3 million to purchase land under Montopolis Bridge was also requested. It is currently being sold at $2 a square foot. Mayor Pro Tem Trevino stated that the Montopolis Bridge is state owned. i : Clifton Griffin showed slides which were taken along the Colorado River. Urged purchase of land from the Longhorn Dam to Montopolis Bridge to plan, develop continuous hike and bike trails, and, to acquire additional land on the Grove Tract to develop a Southeast District Park. J. M. Meador from the Selina and Sentor CIP money for the Senior Activity Center East. its support. Activity Center requested Thanked the Council for Bill Nye, manager of the Austin Saints Baseball Club, encouraged the City Council for its support of the Zaragosa Baseball Park which is part of the Zaragosa Recreation Center. Also, he stated that the lighting system needs to be improved. General (?) Marshall, member of the Advisory Board of Givens Recreation Center, requested immediate attention to replacement of roof at Center as requested by PARD and neighborhood association as number one priority. Willy Bolden, representing the Maple Creek Organization, urged that work begin immediately on 12th Street to MLK section of the Boggy Creek drainage ditch cover with the $600,000 that had already been allocated for the project. Also supported Tannehill Creek Improvement Project and urged that it be included in 1984-90 budget. Mr. Galloway, representing the Maple Creek Organization, expressed support of his group for total bond package and especially requested that some immediate action be taken in the form of bulldozer use to remedy the destruction potential of Tannehill Creek. Olive Graham, on behalf of the downtown facility for Laguna Gloria, and president of Board of Directors of the Black Arts Alliance, co-occupant with Dr. Dorothea Brown of ex-officio seat on Board of Directors of Laguna Gloria, urged timeliness of action on Laguna Gloria downtown facility for bringing the museum into the purview of a large segment of the populace. Council Memo Page 3 June 25, 1984 Charlotte Carter, second-grade teacher at Oak Springs Elementary, spoke on advantages to school children of having a museum downtown and more easily accessible for academic outings such as Laguna Gloria offers. Al Dotson, member of board of Sentor Activities Center at 29th and Lamar, spoke of urgent need for a senior activities center in East Austin. and extreme overcrowding and inaccessibility for seniors of current center. He felt that waiting until 1988-1989 year for funding was too long to wait. City Manager Carrasco said that there is some renovation work that is underway at that facility and he has asked PARD to extend renovation work to include the repair of the roof. He asked Mr. Richard Ridings to explain the work that has already been done on Tannehill Creek Project. Mr. Ridings said $4 million had been approved in 1982 bond election for work on Tannehill and Boggy creeks. He said that delay is due to need for right of way permits. He estimated, very roughly, that construction of a detention facility, the first work, would begin sometime in 1985, pending approval of the bonds and the entire project would take at least four years to complete and that there are enough funds. He hoped that actual construction on the Maple Creek project would begin this winter. A person from the Montopolis Little League asked that PARD allocate money and acquire land for baseball fields, citing the relatively low land price as a reason for immediate acquisition. Amanda Bullard, of ARC Advisory Committee, spoke in support of the East Austin senior citizens center. She urged allocation of funds for the ARC which is the second-largest revenue-generating facility of the PARD. Marcos de Leon, Board president of the East Austin Chicano Development Corporation, read a list of requests relative to street maintenance in East Austin, and Fiesta Gardens and various improvements in city and community properties. Mayor Pro Tem Trevino asked Mr. de Leon to prioritize his list of requests and give copies of the prioritized list the the Council. Eddie Espinoza, member of PARD Adaptive Boards and president of Austin chapter Southwest Wheelchair Athletic Association and member of the Wheelchair Basketball Team of Austin, stressed the importance of the proposals to make PARD and other facilities accessible to disabled and others. Curtis Taves, Board member of the Zaragoza Board, approved the proposed allocation of funds for Zaragoza and said that he and colleagues would watch to see if the funds were actually used for the stated purposes. Mayor Pro Tem Trevino reminded him of the need for voter approval. f Council Memo Page 4 June 25, 1984 John Shipwood, vice president of the Austin Recreation Center Advisory Board Council, urged land acquisition along Colorado River as top priority after Givens roof and vigorous pursuit of joint use of facilities with AISD. Also supported renovations at Alamo Recreation Center. Zeke Romo, of the East Austin Economic Development Corporation, proposed acquisition of vacant property in East Austin for future low-cost housing development, greenbelt between East Sixth and Seventh and residential areas, walkways over IH-35, other projects. Mandy Williams, president of Austin Recreation Center Advisory Board, expressed support of other recreation centers' needs. Mesqualino Carreon Ledesma, senior citizen at Metz Recreation Center and member of Board, thanked Council for help in various projects. Luther Simon, member of Rosewood Advisory Committee, objected to being left out of current CIP and expressed need for restrooms for the pavillion. Dave Elliott suggested that the majority of requests made at meeting should be in city budget, not bond issues, especially considering the cost of bond money, interest rates, expenditures that city already makes on surveys, project supervisors, studies, consultants, etc. The City Manager denied that city spent large sums for consultants. He agreed that a number of matters discussed were probably better addressed to the operations budget. He explained that bond financing spread the burden of payment for long-term projects over a broader spectrum of taxpayers. Rosemary Castleberry, member of Montopolis Recreation Center, objected to putting off Colorado River Park for two years, especially in view of escalating land costs. She cited several likely areas for purchase to create an "east-side Zilker Park." Another person urged Colorado River Park be pursued immediately because of escalating costs. Alfred Stanley, representing the Sierra Club, asked that east-west usage of First and Third Streets be left off bond package until Club can find out more specifics. He also supported gas fuel generation plant, questioned coal program's wisdom relative to environmental considerations. A councilman offered to share with Mr. Stanley his information on the east-west thoroughfare. Mayor Pro Tem requested motion to adjourn. Motion was made. Public hearing was adjourned.