Mobility Committee (MOBC) Meeting Transcript – 9/19/2024 Title: ATXN-1 (24hr) Channel: 1 - ATXN-1 Recorded On: 9/19/2024 1:02:06 PM Original Air Date: 9/19/2024 Transcript Generated by SnapStream ================================== Please note that the following transcript is for reference purposes and does not constitute the official record of actions taken during the meeting. For the official record of actions of the meeting, please refer to the Approved Minutes. [1:02:06 PM] Today is September 19th, 2024. And the time is 1:01 P.M. And we're at Austin city hall, on the dais with me is councilmember vela, and then I'm on the dais, vice chair qadri. And then joining us remotely from beautiful DC is chair Ellis, who is away on official city business representing the city of Austin at the national league of cities large city council convening. And unfortunately absent from the dais are councilmember harper-madison and council member Kelly, and before we get into all the items that we have for today, I understand we have one speaker for public communication, Irby foster. >> Good morning, Mr. Chairman, mister chair. Irby foster, district three. Following up my previous comments on freeway street lighting outages, I'm asking the committee to consider new solutions that would improve freeway street lighting repair process, improve underpass lighting, and add lighting [1:03:06 PM] lighting, and add lighting signage. Currently, while Austin energy has begun to repair freeway street lighting outages, hundreds of outages still remain. Austin energy is reporting to me at the current rate, it will take them 8 to 12 months to replace many of the knocked down street light poles and bases. Since freeway lighting works like Christmas lights as a result is large stretches of freeways in your districts with street lights that are still out waiting another year or even eight months to have a dark roadway with three fatalities a week is really unacceptable. Timeline a quicker solution would be to pass an ordinance requiring the repair of transportation by transportation, public works and Austin energy. For example, Austin energy takes about three days to repair residential street lights. However, that's not a policy set by this committee. According to a freeway, street lighting basis will take them 8 to 12 months. And I've included in a letter to you, I would ask the committee to set an ordinance for freeway street lighting repairs, requiring Austin energy to repair freeway lighting outages in 30 days or less is a more [1:04:06 PM] in 30 days or less is a more reasonable approach. It's a more reasonable standard. Clearly, 8 to 12 months is not reasonable or safe. As I said, current repair efforts are going too slow. I've asked. I would ask the committee to identify the reasons for the underperformance by contractors at Austin energy and transportation public works. Please identify and decrease the time it takes to make freeway street lighting, repairs and demand Austin energy and look for quicker solutions. Those solutions could include running temporary overhead wiring, hiring or replacing additional contractors or backfeeding circuits. Next, moving forward on new projects, the committee should require transportation, public works to request enhanced underpass lighting and continuous street lighting on all new txdot projects. Generally, if a city doesn't request continuous street lighting, txdot only installs basic safety lighting at intersections. The committee needs to pass a street lighting ordinance that says, we want continuous street lighting on all of our freeways. Further, request enhanced underpass lighting. Currently, txdot only [1:05:08 PM] lighting. Currently, txdot only installs minimum underpass lighting in Waco. Councilors said this was not adequate for the mobility of pedestrians and activities under bridges. They requested enhanced underpass lighting, and txdot complied. Every city underpass was constructed with additional lighting fixtures for safer, brighter underpass spaces. We need to do the same. Finally lighted street name signs. Many of our neighboring cities have lighted street name signs on the traffic signal. Mast arms. We don't. The committee could pass an ordinance requiring tpw to install lighted street name signs on all traffic signal mast arms. This would reduce driver confusion about street names and improve mobility by making our streets easier to find. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I've included a packet with Natalie for all of you. Thank you. >> Appreciate that and appreciate the packet, which I believe myself and councilmember vela have here on the dais. So thank you, so with that, it's a it's a jam packed, really fun, mobility committee meeting today. And with that, let's get [1:06:09 PM] today. And with that, let's get to item number one, which is approval of the minutes of the mobility committee meeting from August 22nd, 2024. Could I get a motion, motion by councilmember vela? Could I get a second? And seconded by council member, sorry. Chair Ellis, all in favor say aye. And that passes unanimously with, all three of us voting for it, so on to item number two, which is an update from the urban transportation commission regarding actions from the September 3rd, 2024 meeting. And I understand we have a presentation by Susan Summers, who's the chair? >> Hi, thank you so much. City council member. I don't have a lot to share. We didn't actually have any actions. We did hear presentations from living streets. We've been following, the progress of the living streets program and sort of the lessons learned from phase one very closely, as I know. Also, [1:07:09 PM] very closely, as I know. Also, the mobility committee members are as well. So we had a really great back and forth about some of the really impactful lessons that have been learned about the current phase and what how we're continuing to iterate this program and gave some great feedback on continuing to improve that. So I think it was a productive if you want to watch our back and forth. I think it was a really productive item for us, and then we also heard updates about the transit enhancement program, which as you I'm sure know, funds, transit improvements through city, city money and also, started to think about some ways that we can plan for the future to continue to grow and enhance that program, which is one of the newer portfolios within tpw. So that's all I had. We had no actions, just some really fruitful discussion. And I'm happy to take questions if you would like. >> Great. Well, I appreciate that. Chair Summers, do we have any questions for the chair, it looks like we do not, so with that, we'll go to item number three. Which is the vision zero [1:08:11 PM] three. Which is the vision zero program update, including Barton springs road pilot and Cameron desert road safety project. And I understand dpw has asked to postpone this briefing to a future mobility committee meeting. So we're hoping fingers crossed that'll be October 17th. But when we get that finalized, we'll we'll let folks know. So that was quick, so on from there, we're going to item number four, a community driven urban trail visions, the big loop and great springs trail. And Anderson, we have two presentations. The first presentation is from John Eastman on big loop on big loop. And then the second one will be with, Mickey goralnick. So take it away. >> All right. Council members, appreciate the opportunity to be here. I'm John Eastman, sidewalk urban trails division manager for transportation, public works. I'm going to dive right in. We also have folks here from the shoal creek conservancy and [1:09:11 PM] the shoal creek conservancy and walk through this presentation with them. So when we get to questions, we're all available to answer questions. So big loop. What is it, 30 mile urban trail loop. It's highlighted in the 2023 urban trails plan. And again, shout out to the shoal creek conservancy. The diagram you're seeing on on the left there is a document they put together. And then it resonated so well with the community, it became part of the 2023 city of Austin urban trails plan, includes portions of the shoal creek trail, red line trail, Ellerbe northern walnut creek trail, southern walnut creek trail, and Mok Ann, as well as some other little pieces and parts to create this just really amazing three mile loop. This is what it looks like in the context of the overall city urban trails plan. So this is the primary map. So the city of Austin urban trails network almost 70 miles, now 268 miles, proposed the goals in the plan over the next 20 years. We're [1:10:14 PM] over the next 20 years. We're trying to build out 100 miles of our tier one trails, you know, we've got almost $152 million in planned trail projects in some level of design development, and we're proceeding as fast as possible with construction. So here's a more detailed look at the big loop. The solid lines represent the pieces that exist. The dotted lines are pieces that don't exist. Approximately two thirds built right now. So we've got about 20 miles of the 30 mile big loop. And, the character is really diverse. It goes through a bunch of different contexts. We go from, you know, this really amazing trail down near a central library through a high rise downtown area to more suburban to, some areas that are very rural in context and open space and parkland. And so it's just really neat experience that this is you can imagine riding this [1:11:16 PM] is you can imagine riding this big loop in a day and getting to see all these unique, pieces of Austin. So for the update, what we're going to do is go kind of clockwise, starting pretty much right here up the shoal creek trail and around and let you know what's going on. Shoal creek trail is one of the more mature trail systems in Austin, up to 38th street. It's been in place for a long time. Couple minor gaps being addressed. There's a number of upgrades underway, some retaining walls, some lighting. North of 38th, all the way up to 183 was added more recently. As a part of that project, it was always planned to do an underpass at 2222. Timing wise, that had to wait for a major water and drainage project to get done. It's done. So that's expected to move forward, next spring. We're about ready to go to bid on that project, again, this is kind of some some character shots of [1:12:17 PM] some some character shots of shoal creek trail. On your left. This is what it looks like where it's a parallel protected bikeway and sidewalk. And then north of 183 is a shared use path that gets us up to the current terminus of the shoal creek trail, which on Neil Thompson drive, just a little bit to the west side of burnet. We've got a plan that's under development. It's actually getting some public review right now to, essentially locate the urban trail within a very wide right of way, and I'll show you a couple pictures that is in design, and we think we'll get into construction in that next year. That'll get us up. Niels Thompson over longhorn. And that will be the terminus of the shoal creek trail. And then it'll tie together with the shared use paths that are being installed as part of the burnet corridor project. And so that's [1:13:18 PM] corridor project. And so that's funded. And construction is anticipated to begin next fall, so this is an idea of what niels Thompson drive and longhorn boulevard look like. If you haven't been up there really wide rights of way, in an area that we can repurpose and reallocate some of that street space, our active transportation, street design group, is putting those designs and running that public process right now, moving north. So we've got a section of the trail around Q2. We tied a bunch of that in before the stadium opened, these are projects. That are actively in design. West baker to Kramer, and Kramer up to the IBM campus, either in design or even in construction. There's portions of it that we're coordinating with some Austin energy work up there, so those are moving forward further north. From IBM campus to Gracie [1:14:20 PM] north. From IBM campus to Gracie farms, that's getting coordinated with private development. And the broadmoor station. But we're partnering with those projects. So that will happen as that allows, phase four on this diagram is Gracie farms up to the northern walnut creek trail so that one we're in the process of designing, there's a request for a federal earmark that's been submitted thanks to congressman Doggett, which will help fund that, so all these portions of trail are funded moving forward through design and into construction. And again, this just kind of gives you some character of the areas where that trail is going to go. All right. That gets us all the way up to the northern walnut creek trail. Great facility, opened in 2015, you know, well, loved, well used and, you know, partnered with part on that, 4.4 miles that gets us here's the terminus on the east side of the [1:15:20 PM] terminus on the east side of the northern walnut creek trail on the left hand side, we did again, thanks to congressman Doggett got, a congressional earmark request to get funding to get across the creek and over to I-35. That little section, that's circled there very challenging section, we have to get down into the floodplain, develop a bridge, kind of avoid some critical environmental features. So short section, but very challenging. But it's in design going to construction hopefully next summer. All right. And that's going to get us under I-35. And this is the one section of trail we're undertaking. Preliminary injury review. It's a really challenging section. It comes down from the east Yeager lane area, all the way. Oh all the [1:16:20 PM] area, all the way. Oh all the way down almost to partway to 290, really challenging. Proximately 25, $30 million ballpark funding estimates. But as I said, we're undertaking a preliminary engineering review to get a better handle on what that would look like, so at this time, not scheduled for construction until we can, until funding is, is lined up and we get a little further in the design and get an idea of what, what the challenges are based on these pictures. All right. Next gets us into section of northern walnut creek trail funded, and you hear his name a lot in this conversation. Congressman Doggett helped us get $5 million in funding, there will be additional bond funds. Travis county, where it goes outside, is outside the city. The city full purpose is helping fund this. This section is actively in design, and it uses that Mok [1:17:22 PM] in design, and it uses that Mok Ann corridor, and will tie us from the current end of east Braker lane all the way down to the southern walnut creek trail, going to take a couple years to build that project, but we it is moving forward relatively quickly, doesn't have the same kind of creek crossing challenges as some of the others, so what it looks like from here, it's pretty straightforward. We got the southern walnut creek, it's open, and it's a great facility. Also connects to the recently opened Austin to Maynard trail so you can get from a lot of places in Austin all the way to Maynard on on protected bikeways and trails. Now, gets us down into the Mok Ann trail that's currently under construction. Piece by piece. Approximately two thirds is going to be complete by 2025. We recently completed a connection to Cepeda branch library, partnered with capmetro to build a section through their maintenance yard. [1:18:23 PM] through their maintenance yard. This is that section that's open literally within the last month, great little trail connections and each one of these connections is has utility for the local area. Even before it connects up into the whole system, that's it. Then from there, we've got a little project that'll on east fifth as part of we're again partnering with capmetro. That's a little red dotted piece in there. That's in the design process. It'll go to construction. Then we hit the lab and we're back. And with that, we're going to set up Mike. Mikey, with the great springs project to talk you through what they're working on. And this is a map of how our trail system in the red circle, you will tie into the end of what? What the nonprofit great springs project is working on. >> Great. Thank you. Thanks. >> Hello, everyone, first timer here. So I'm going to make sure [1:19:26 PM] here. So I'm going to make sure the tech works. Here I am. Seems to be working fine. Nice. Thanks, Natalie, nice to meet you all. My name is Mikey Guralnick. I'm a trail planner and a landscape architect at great springs project. And I'm eager to tell you all a little bit about what we do and also kind of our role in not only facilitating, collaborating with, and amplifying the efforts around the big loop, but also more regionally, so the kind of 500 or maybe 250 word summary of our group is that we do two things, we work to conserve and execute restoration and conservation projects, throughout the Edwards aquifer recharge zone that are specifically intended to support [1:20:27 PM] specifically intended to support water quality, water quantity, and biodiversity objectives in a four county area. And we work to implement trail projects that connect the Alamo to the capital, with the goal being that one day you'll be able to walk, bike, or potentially ride your horse from the Alamo to the capital. But kind of the more book length or maybe thousand word version of what we do is that we collaborate with a range of partners, including municipalities, local governments, county governments, state governments, federal government, other nonprofits, and the private sector, including and especially private landowners, throughout the region to execute various projects that achieve different ecological and social imperatives in our area, with the ultimate goal being healthy landscapes and vibrant communities in the Edwards aquifer recharge zone. So in other words, we're not working to conserve land specifically so that it sits and is conserved. We're looking to conserve land [1:21:29 PM] We're looking to conserve land so that it's a resource for, humans and this generation of humans, but also future generations of humans as well as other species that we share the planet with. And we're working to promote trails, not just because they are, you know, nice places to walk and ride your bike. There are those things. But they're very we specifically focus on the range of active transportation, recreational economic development, storytelling and placemaking and community equity impacts that trails can have throughout the Edwards aquifer recharge zone. So I mentioned that we work in four counties, that's ten cities, two mpos, two txdot districts. And, pursue and amplify again, the work of partners in each one of these regions, with the idea being that we, we have a unique and impactful role in synthesizing and stitching together the work of all these different municipalities and stakeholders throughout the Edwards aquifer recharge zone, you know, we [1:22:30 PM] recharge zone, you know, we believe that regional projects, regional problems or opportunities require regional coordination, but we also work distinctly locally, I'm a district one resident. Our office is around the corner, and we're really passionate about our role and our potential, you know, opportunities to continue and expand our work with the city of Austin, Travis county and a variety of different stakeholders and partners here in the city, in particular, we're currently and I'll describe a little bit, you know, kind of a teaser. I guess, for some of the projects that we're focusing on in these two areas, the Williamson creek corridor between, the violet crown trail and Mckinney falls state park and the onion creek corridor from onion creek metro park to hays county, I mentioned that generally kind of the overview of, of our methods or our approach is, is that we augment and amplify the work of, of partners that bears repeating and emphasizing again and again. [1:23:32 PM] and emphasizing again and again. It's not like this is our trail. The great springs projects trail. We have an idea for a trail that we think should go a certain place, or we think these specific conservation initiatives or objectives are are valuable to us, we have our priorities are a reflection of the priorities that have been expressed locally and different, recreational trail plans or active transportation plans or groundwater conservation plans or habitat conservation plans throughout the region. So our planning effort is essentially us collaborating with and bringing together stakeholders from throughout our area to share, provide detail about, and synthesize the recommendations of these these locally led but regionally significant plans, which is not only the most effective way to do it, it's probably the only way that we think it's possible to capture the priorities and the vision of a trail that spans so many different community contexts, from rural areas in the hill [1:24:32 PM] from rural areas in the hill country to the capital, again, broadly, some of the things that I think if we were to kind of divvy up what we do into three essential kind of categories of activity and ways that we're helping communities and again, other partners in the nonprofit and private worlds, as we have expertise in right of way acquisition, both right of way acquisition for conservation, be it fee simple or conservation easements, but also for trail construction. So we're we're we have a team of folks, full time acquisition, land land acquisition. Group that works on these types of projects, similarly, we have a full time staff, including myself, of trail planners, that have expertise in not only the sort of preliminary and conceptual planning for trails, but also, construction level documentation and physical construction. My, my colleague Kenny right now is out at a site in San Marcos, physically building and working with other folks to physically build a trail, in in a beautiful bit of the recharge zone in San [1:25:34 PM] bit of the recharge zone in San Marcos. So another kind of distinct area of our expertise and where we're currently working with municipalities to implement this big vision. And then the third category is we have a passion for activating and stewarding both the trails that we participate in creating and managing and activating, but also the landscapes that those trails exist in and the especially the riparian areas where we're where we're working this this includes things like trail races. You see here, some of our friends and family, struggling through a very hot, very steep race in San Marcos, we adopted a segment of onion creek to do litter removal, and we oversee some invasive species removal and native species revegetation projects in the area, and this is a big part of our model. We think it's one thing to facilitate the implementation of trails and conservation projects. We think it's equally important to bring folks to those spaces and build [1:26:36 PM] folks to those spaces and build connections to them, quick overview, I guess, of some of the work that we're doing right now in those three categories in terms of our landowner engagement, we're wrapping up an initiative to call multiple times every landowner of a strategic or high value conservation project in our four county area, we're working with partners to develop and submit projects for the campo recreational or regional transportation plan, and the current call for projects for the transportation alternatives program. And we're we're doing kind of a not a road show, but frequently reaching out to and sharing similar information with city advisory committees, with the hopes that, groups like the bicycle advisory commission, pedestrian advisory commission, last night I was at the environmental commission, will pass we'll sort of see the value that we offer to the city and provide a recommendation that staff and, and others continue to collaborate and expand our partnership with the city, we've [1:27:39 PM] partnership with the city, we've also submitted two, pretty transformational grant projects. One is that we're the lead applicant on a $20 million grant from the EPA for a project in lower onion creek. I won't get into the details because, the big boot will come out, but it's essentially a project to construct trail, facilitate green infrastructure and nature based solutions, and to create, develop, I guess, a green workforce development framework that will employ folks from east Austin and eastern Travis county in trail activation and nature based solution installation. We also submitted a grant with the trail conservancy, the Travis county parks foundation, for a preliminary study of a recreation and restoration plan for the lower Colorado river, and we have recently secured significant funding for ourselves and our partners to invest in significant active transportation and recreational trail programs, one being we have a $1.8 million grant from [1:28:39 PM] have a $1.8 million grant from the txdot transportation alternatives grant program to do a corridor wide feasibility study should roll out some time in the next couple of months, we this most recent cycle of the Texas parks and wildlife recreational trails grant program brought in for ourselves and our partners nearly $800,000 for construction of recreational trail, and we continue to engage with the philanthropic community to identify and be innovative about resources that we can bring to amplify the work of our partners, our communities, and others in implementing this transformative vision. Thank you. >> Thank you. Great really appreciate the presentations from both Mr. Eastman and Mr. Goralnick, I have a lot of questions, but before I get into my questions, it looks like you're the only one here outside of me, I'm going to I'm going to defer to councilmember vela if he has any questions, >> Just a lots of questions. >> I'll keep it. Try to keep it as brief. There's a handful of, segments in my district that I'm [1:29:40 PM] segments in my district that I'm watching, but these are kind of more of the tier one trails. We have $60 million in construction funding currently available, the tier one would be 94 miles of tier one trails. How much funding would we be talking about again, guesstimate, I think at this level. But what would it take to complete all of the tier one trails identified in the in the urban trails plan? >> So, order of magnitude and this is out of the urban trails plan. We're you know, trail costs vary anywhere from, you know, there's some of these trails that can get built for 1 to $2 million a mile. And, you know, pioneering a trail through, you know, relatively flat areas to there's other areas where they're absolutely up to $10 million a mile because [1:30:41 PM] up to $10 million a mile because we're building, you know, hardened infrastructure down in floodways that's got to be, you know, that's got to have significant hard armoring, overall, the cost we use is on average 3 to $4 million a mile, right now in today's dollars. So, you know, when you talk order of magnitude and understand the urban trails plan is a 20 year plan. So if we wave the magic wand, we think it would probably on average you're talking order of magnitude $400 million, >> And that's we're not even scratching the surface of the tier two and tier three there. >> Yes and no. And I think it's important to note that. And it calls out in the plan that we tackle those projects opportunistically. Right. And so, there's been a lot of great work by done by our development review teams, by nonprofit partners. That's ongoing. There's grants that happen. And [1:31:44 PM] There's grants that happen. And so there is work that at that happens. And there is progress being made on those tier two. Trails. We also get into partnerships. I was talking actually, I was in a meeting this week with pard and safe routes to school about a tier two trail connection, you know, adjacent to Burleson road. That and the conversation we had is, well, we couldn't fund it at most more than 50% because it's not a tier one for us. We wouldn't fund land acquisition, but part is actually taking the lead and actually, watershed is the one who brought all the players together. I think that project's going to happen, and it is a partnership of 4 to 5 different programs. And that sort of another highlight for it's important to have programmatic funding to have that flexibility, to be responsive to those opportunities. So well, I wouldn't say holistically we're going to get all those tier two trails done. I think, you know, [1:32:46 PM] trails done. I think, you know, ten years from now, we'll be perhaps pleasantly surprised how many of those opportunities did come to fruition. >> And in terms of the I think both transportation and parkland dedication fees that that new developments are paying and that are kind of getting squirreled away in various, how available are those funds for use in these kinds of urban trails or connections? >> I would say where where the priorities and the and the, requirements for those funds align with those parkland dedication. It happens frequently. So we're working part with part actively on Bergstrom spur trail, working with them, like I said, on that little connector trail. So it it happened. We worked with them also on Mok Ann, that we're looking at some parkland dedication. So there's a real great partnership with. Pardon. There's a lot of alignment on [1:33:46 PM] There's a lot of alignment on those, particularly because they looked at transportation, public works for funding for construction of the trail. They're like, well, it doesn't make sense for us to acquire that property unless we get activate it. >> Great. There's, you know, one particular, there's a handful of links in district four that, you know, various constituents have been talking to me about, but one that kind of really pops up is this connection on between essentially broadmoor and 51st street that would connect, you know, Windsor park to Mueller. Just, west of Berkman over Tannehill branch creek. There was an apartment complex that was built on 51st street, and they dedicated an easement and have paved the concrete, achingly close to where it could continue on over into the neighborhood and give both, you know, people in, in Mueller access to Windsor park and people in Windsor park, access to Mueller, and again, I know [1:34:47 PM] to Mueller, and again, I know that's I think a trickier section because we're talking about a bridge and there's a floodplain and all that. But do you have any sense of, of a of a cost estimate or a, you know, again, just a guesstimate on, on what a short connection like that would cost. >> So again, I mean all we can do is, is use go bys Wright where we've, we've built other bridges and I've, I've been down there, I've been to the end of the concrete and stood next to it was interesting how they ended that trail right lined up with that, you know, nice big hackberry tree, so when we connect to it, we're going to have to back up a little bit and go around because that that's going to be a nice bit of shade there, we're, we're kicking off a preliminary engineering review on that one, sometime later this fall. You know, and to be clear, there is no funding for construction of that link. But [1:35:47 PM] construction of that link. But we also know that if we're going to find funding, we got to have a better idea of, you know, what it's going to cost ballpark a bridge, and it's going to be a bridge. There is no room to do a low water crossing there. We did take a look. Our engineering team, and it's just the constraints, but it would be an amazing connection would tie into all those sidewalks we built on Belfast and broadmoor. I know you're familiar with all of that, order of magnitude, minimum. You're talking 2 to $3 million to build a bridge like that. I mean, again, because it's just engineering it. We're working on a bridge over boggy creek right now as part of the Mok Ann trail. The engineering alone, you know, is running to half a million dollars by the time you're done. >> All right. >> And I know that there, there. In that case, because I know there has been a lot of new development in the area, would transportation, the transportation impact fees, would that be available for these types of projects, the [1:36:48 PM] these types of projects, the street impact fee, the street impact fees? >> Yes. I'm absolutely not an expert. I think. And I'm going to look over at rich. I don't Hink so. My understanding, because we do coordinate on street impact fees is there for defined projects. But I'd let Richard speak to that. >> Thank you. Thank you for thank you for your question. Council member Richard Mendoza, director of transportation, public works. As it as we stand now, the street impact fees may only be applied to capacity. Road capacity. I am familiar with other states. Allow their use on pedestrian facilities, but in the state of Texas, we're not allowed to do that. >> It's got to be a road project, right? Got it. Well, thank you very much. That's all the questions I've got. >> Great, with that, it looks like it's. I'm up next, I have a few questions for Mr. Eastman. And then after that, I do have one question for, Mr. Goralnick, so, like I said, I really appreciate, the presentation. I also want to give a shout out to [1:37:49 PM] also want to give a shout out to congressman Doggett for all his help on making a lot of this. A reality just for folks at home. You know, I think it's important when we talk about trail just to kind of, you know, really specify what that means, right? Is it a route or is it a type of infrastructure. And I just want to make sure that the public understands what to expect when we when we're talking about all of this, because I think the worst case scenario for, for myself and others is that people start to expect a standard sidewalk to be an urban trail. And, you know, you know, what I want to make sure is that we're really doing high comfort infrastructure here as well. >> Absolutely. And I appreciate that question because it gives an opportunity. So for the city in our urban trails plan, and there's a pretty detailed section that goes, what is an urban trail. And as you saw from some of the picture, it can have different characters. But, what it is within the urban trail network is both a transportation and recreational facility that is exactly as you described, a high quality connection, a safe [1:38:50 PM] high quality connection, a safe and comfortable connection that can be used either either for transportation, recreation. We have a significant number of shared use paths that are urban trails. And for a long time, that was our standard. And the southern walnut creek trail is a pretty good example of that. You know, 12 foot or northern walnut creek trail. We're moving towards especially with the advent of the electrification of bikes and scooters and them being very viable transportation and very, effective means for those experiencing economic challenges, you can can get a long ways on an electric bike at a very low cost. And the city is, you know, actively helping people with that. We're moving towards a trail configuration where we can have a separated bikeway and pedestrian path wherever we can fit it in the boggy creek trail, over in east [1:39:50 PM] boggy creek trail, over in east Austin, is a really great example of sort of our model trail section now, which includes, a separated bikeway and pedestrian path. Typically it's 10 to 12ft for a two way bikeway and then eight feet for a pedestrian path. A lot of times where we're in constrained areas, that narrows down, but in some areas it's also a protected bikeway adjacent to a high quality sidewalk. And so the shoal creek trail is a good example of that. And we're going to have lots of trails. But in all, in all circumstances, it's definitely a to use the, the phrasing or the terminology in the bikeways. It's an 8 to 80 facility, right. It's all ages and abilities type facility that you be comfortable letting your young kids go out and use as soon as they're they're capable of riding their bike on their own. >> Great. >> Thank you. And then another question, which is, both out of my personal curiosity and stuff [1:40:51 PM] my personal curiosity and stuff from constituents and also, I'm sure staffers here at city hall, what's the status of the plans to move the third street protected bike lanes downtown in relation to the light rail development that will have to I really I just don't know because we're a little more focused on kind of filling in gaps in the network. >> That's not a project that I'm involved with at all. So I'm going to have to get to the people who are and follow up with you on that answer. >> Okay. Well, I appreciate that, I and I appreciate you answering my first question, and then I had one question on, on the great, great springs trail. Thank you. Thanks for the presentation. And I know you said it was your first time presenting. I think you did a great job, so I meant my first time standing here. >> I give this presentation to my wife and kids. Oh, great. Okay, all the time. Yeah. >> Yeah, hopefully they enjoy it and are as captivated as we were, yeah. So one question, the environmental commission just [1:41:52 PM] environmental commission just had a recommendation for city partnerships with the great springs trail, what does our city partnership look like for the regional project in terms of applying for grants and, and things like that, specifically for the city or for our other municipalities, I guess both. I'd be curious about both. >> Yeah. So right now we don't have, like, a standing partnership with any of our municipal partners, we have we so we just it's not happening on an ad hoc basis, and that's the case with the city, except for we haven't actually submitted any grant proposals in partnership with the city yet, we're pretty close to developing something again on an ad hoc basis that would be submitted through pard, and you know, nothing definitive or imminent on that. It's in development, but, yeah, I mean, I'm glad you asked, because definitely the sort of premise, one of the premises of a lot of the engagement activities that I [1:42:54 PM] engagement activities that I mentioned with pac back environmental commission next will be at the utc, I think next month, is that, you know, we want to we want to start in a sense, like it's grassroots. It's going moving through the commissions and building trust and relationships and, and being, you know, forthcoming and clear and guided by the recommendations of those commissions to prior to getting something similar, a recommendation or a formal partnership of some kind in front of you all as, as commissioners or council, so we're working towards that. And I think that's something that I'd really look forward to discussing, there's lots of different sort of models. I know the if you've seen the recommendation from packback or ec, it it's pretty flexible, their recommendation is that we pursue a memorandum of agreement, a memorandum of understanding or a formal contractual agreement of some kind, whatever is most appropriate and most sort of [1:43:54 PM] appropriate and most sort of effective, for, for being the best partner and collaborator with the city that we can and being the most being the most useful to, to achieving these priorities, both in terms of connectivity, conservation and restoration, I'll mention too, with, you know, in terms of our utility and ways that we can be the most useful. I know you had a question. About the, urban trails program's ability to execute all the tier two and tier three trails. And John indicated that, that's definitely it's opportunistic. And there are roles for non-profits in that world that's explicitly kind of how we see our role and how we would participate or contribute to at least, you know, for the next five, ten years, implementing the urban trails plan. The tier one trails are, are, are, for our purposes, essentially, they've got the best and brightest working on those. But due to the capacity and staff limitations that it takes to [1:44:54 PM] limitations that it takes to build out that full tier one trail system there, there's not a not not as much left over for tier two or tier three, which is where we come in. Both the Williamson creek greenbelt and the onion creek greenbelt, where we're focused, are tier two and tier three trails that, that require, you know, a steady and, and focused hand. And that's a role that in those instances we would be able to play in a contribution that we could make. >> Great. >> I appreciate that answer. Thank you, with that, we're we're just moving along to item number five, which is an Austin airport update, with two presentations for that, it looks like the first presentation will be a presentation on the airport expansion presented by the CEO, ghizlane badawi. The chief executive officer at the department of aviation, thank you for being here. >> Yeah. Good afternoon. Members of the committee. I'm ghizlane badawi, director of aviation department, and we appreciate the opportunity to come before you today. We're very excited to [1:45:55 PM] you today. We're very excited to share with you some information about the most pivotal projects in our expansion, the new concourse B and tunnel, and the arrival and departure hall. You might recall we distributed a memo in late August providing more detailed description of these projects. Before I dive in into the projects, I would like to provide an overview. This map highlights all the projects in our expansion. We currently have five projects under construction. Four are in design procurement. We have the two packages that we're bringing to council for approval next week, and we have two projects in envisioning. Concourse B and tunnel. The plan is to design and build a minimum of 20 Gates. This will be a new concourse that will be built on top of the current taxiways, and [1:46:55 PM] top of the current taxiways, and will be connected to the current Barbara Jordan terminal through a tunnel. This tunnel will be an underground tunnel that will include a passenger cell, a baggage cell as well as a utility cell. The new concourse will will include new restaurants, new art exhibitions, music stages, all the amenities that our passengers love about our airport. These additional Gates will give us the opportunity to connect us into to the world, give us the opportunity to attract more airlines and add more nonstop flights to Austin. The next project is the arrival and departure hall. This is the most anticipated, the most complex and the most disruptive projects out of the whole expansion. This project will [1:47:56 PM] expansion. This project will reside in the same footprint where we currently have the red garage. We will have to demolish the red garage will build new roadways and new curbside will build the ticketing area and the baggage claim area and will move those processes out of the Barbara Jordan terminal. And that will be phase one of the project. Then phase two will include demolishing the current roadways, then building the security side. The goal of this project is to streamline the passenger experience. The passenger processing. We're looking into adding pedestrian bridges that are have climate control to connect our customers from the garages. The rental car facility to the new departure hall. That way, our customers don't have to cross the roads when it's hot or when it's cold, similar to what we have today. Also, looking at different [1:48:57 PM] Also, looking at different curbs, including the commercial curb. And our goal is to look at opportunities to bring rideshare back to the curb and the taxis back to the curb. And additionally, looking at the connectivity between this new Eid hall and the Barbara Jordan terminal during the construction will add pedestrian bridges there to minimize the impact on our customers. Council member Vella, we appreciate the questions about light rail. We submitted the responses, but I just want to take this opportunity to provide some information. We are preserving the right of way. What's highlighted in the map? The dashed yellow lines. That's basically the connection of the of the light rail coming to the airport. We are preserving all [1:49:57 PM] airport. We are preserving all the land on the airport property and preserving the right of way. The corridor for the projects connects the department of aviation have been working closely with Austin transit partnership on this alignment for the future. Light rail and we're also offering the right of way. That is, as close as possible to the new arrival and departure hall. And this corridor will provide the riders of the light rail a short walking distance. They will also enjoy the connectivity, similar to the customers that will park in the rental car facilities or the garage. They will use the same pedestrian bridges and we will preserve that connectivity there and all the way until the front of the Eid hall, and preserving this space in the Eid hall design is expected to minimize the future costs, and also limits the impact to the future construction of the light [1:50:59 PM] future construction of the light rail. We will work closely with atp during the design of our Eid hall to ensure that we are preserving, not only the corridor from 71, but looking at that landing next to the blue box, that's the new garage that we're building. So in designing the garage and designing the Eid hall, we will ensure that we're taking into account the future light rail station and ensuring that we leave that that corridor and that space for it. And that's the end of my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions about the two projects. >> Great. Well, I appreciate the presentation. Do you have any questions? >> Thank you very much for the slide and the answers to the questions. So the is a light rail will it. And again I know where this is a priority extension. That's not actually being kind of designed at the moment. But is the plan to have an elevated rail through the airport property or will it be [1:52:01 PM] airport property or will it be at ground level through the airport property? >> It will be both. If we can please just go back to the slide. Yeah. Thank you. So from 71 it it will be elevated as it gets close to the runway where we have those blue triangles. It has to go down. It has to be at grade because that will interfere with basically the flights landing at the airport. And as soon as it gets to the area where we have cargo, then it can be elevated again. So the only restriction that we have is that area next to the runway where it has to be at grade, and that area next to the runway. >> And I'm sorry, I'm not [1:53:01 PM] >> And I'm sorry, I'm not completely seeing it on the map. There okay. You were talking about the on the 71. >> Where in 71. Yes those blue more like triangles. Yes >> The flight protection Zones or the runway protection Zones. Yes. Okay so it would be at grade there to comply with the runway protection Zones and then it would become elevated. Correct. And it would enter, in other words, where it terminates and where the passengers would disembark, it would be elevated. >> It will be elevated at the same elevation as the bridges and as our garages. >> Okay. And then in terms of the exit there, the passengers disembarking from the light rail, there would be, for example, that would be equivalent to the kind of the closest parking spaces. I mean, would that be a fair kind of comparison? >> Yes. >> So the blue box that you see in, in, in the map, the west garage, that new parking garage, the new parking garage. And we [1:54:01 PM] the new parking garage. And we have plans to connect the garage into the Eid hall through the bridge. So basically, the riders of the light rail will have the same walking distance as our customers that will park in the garage or our customers that will use the rental car facility. It's direct access, easy, safe access into the new departure hall that will be connected to the to the terminal. >> Great. >> Well, I appreciate the update and I appreciate the close coordination with atp, project connect is a major priority of mine, honestly, I'm probably more focused on the northern crestview priority extension than the than the airport extension. But the airport extension I know, is very important to a lot of people in in Austin. And I just wanted to make absolutely sure that the airport is anticipating the extension and planning for its construction again, hopefully sooner than later. Yeah. Thank [1:55:01 PM] sooner than later. Yeah. Thank you very much. >> Great. >> I think that's all the questions we have on this presentation. Really appreciate it, the next presentation will be on the hotel management agreement presented by Tracy Thompson. The C chief officer of business and external affairs, and rajiv Thomas, the cfo. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Leslie >> Good afternoon. My name is Tracy Thompson and my short title is the chief commercial officer for the department of aviation. Austin-bergstrom international airport. I'm with my colleague rajiv Thomas, who is our chief financial officer. We have a very short presentation today regarding a council action item for the 26th related to the Hilton hotel management agreements. We wanted to give you the opportunity to ask us any questions and give you a little background about the hotel as you all probably know, there is the Hilton hotel on the airport campus. It has been in operation since 2001 and has been in continuous [1:56:03 PM] has been in continuous operation. You might not know a little bit of its history, though. It was the headquarters of the Berkshire air force base and it was decided in the late 90s, the city of Austin decided they wanted to retain this facility as an operating facility for the city at located at the new commercial airport. And so they we needed to repurpose the city. We decided to repurpose the facility for hotel hotel purposes. So as you can see, the, data points here about the hotel, it is a full service lodging facility and it is a great complement to our air service mission for not only Austin, but central Texas as it does house many of our passengers who fly through our airport. So the Texas nonprofit public facility corporation was created by the city of Austin. The name of that corporation is the Austin Bergstrom land enterprises, inc. Acronym, known as able. So we use that acronym a lot at the airport. It was the [1:57:05 PM] a lot at the airport. It was the corporation was, instituted in 1998, like all the other city of Austin nonprofit public facility corporations, it is an independent corporation. There is a paid professional president and a sovereign board of directors. The purpose of this corporation was to issue tax exempt bonds and to construct the improvements at the airport for the Hilton Austin airport hotel to convert this old headquarters facility to a hotel facility, one of the other. And the reason why we're here today, the other, obligation of able is to operate and manage the Hilton Austin airport hotel on behalf of the city. So the two primary contracts for hotel operations are the franchise agreement with Hilton franchise holdings. That's been the same. It's been the same brand. And the same franchise since the hotel opened. And the hotel management agreement with Boykin, prospera, shortened to prospera management company, who are hotel experts, hotel management experts, and [1:58:07 PM] hotel management experts, and they have been on at the campus, for many, many years. And their most recent contract was in 2017. Because this hotel management agreement is up for refreshment, revision, renewal and restatement, we wanted to present that information to you and I will pass the mic to rajiv Thomas. >> Thank. >> Good afternoon. Council members. Rajiv Thomas, the cfo for the aviation department. So the reason why we are here today is because of the resolution 2021 0603075, which as Tracy mentioned, requires us to bring any extension of the management agreement, agreement or the renewal of it to the council for approval. The subsequent council resolution that you see up there is the 2022 0772805 was the most recent action by the council and the current management agreement expires on October 31st of 2024. [1:59:10 PM] expires on October 31st of 2024. So the timeline for this new agreement is, you know, as of today, we are bringing it to the mobility committee. The city council action is scheduled for September 26th, 2024, and we have to take the able board has to take action also, after city council approval to approve the management agreement. And currently it is scheduled for that special meeting is scheduled for October 22nd and the effective date of the agreement will be November 1st, 2024. So this agreement is a five year term. It actually expires on December 31st of 2029, to coincide with our fiscal year end. So we are adding two more months to it. And then there is two annual extensions after that. So one of the reasons why we have chosen to renew the agreement with prospera is because we do have a [2:00:11 PM] prospera is because we do have a long term relationship with prospera, you know, going back on the records, they've been the hotel management company through 2020. I'm sorry, from 2006, and we've had several amendments to it back in 2020, 2012, and also 2014 and then again in 2017. So this hotel has been successfully managed by prospera, and we have gone through a major renovation program with prospera in renovating all the hotel rooms. It was a 13.2 million hotel renovation program. During covid, we faced some really challenging times, with the hotel occupancy falling down to about 15%, but we had to stay open during that time because we do service all the flight crews. So we had to keep it open. And during that time there was a really good working relationship with prospera to both operationally and financially to get come out of covid in a very [2:01:11 PM] get come out of covid in a very in a better financial situation than what we were facing at that time. We were able to apply for cheap loans, and we got two Erp loans that were approved and forgiven. With that too. And in 2022, with the city living wage. Living wages, we were also we implemented the city living wage along with, you know what the city council approved. We also negotiated a successful labor peace agreement and collective bargaining agreement with unite here local 23. And when we have looked at the competitive set for the hotels in the Austin area, we've always outperformed our competitive set, ever since, you know, Wright during covid and even coming out of covid, we have outperformed it. Revenue wise and, and operationally and especially with our hotel occupancy rates, you know, we've been able to hit mid 80s in at least in the past 2 or 3 years [2:02:13 PM] least in the past 2 or 3 years now. And the hotel performance results were also periodically provided to the city audit finance committee, and then this new agreement also needs approval from the bond council. And we've already shared the new agreement with the bond council. And they've agreed that it complies with the federal tax requirements and it complies with the bond indenture that we currently have. And also the new agreement kind of expands and improves on the current management agreement by clarifying the roles and responsibilities we've updated some of the procedures and reporting requirements that we are asking of prospera, and also it preserves the labor peace objectives as directed by council and unite here. Local 23 has already supported the new agreement with prospera. So that's that's the end of the presentation. If you have any questions, great. [2:03:14 PM] questions, great. >> Thank you. I don't have any questions. My only comment is I'm really excited to see that unite here local 23 supports the agreement and, I know councilor villa has questions, so I'm going to pass it off to him, >> I want to echo the comment. It's good to see, labor collective bargaining agreement and a good relationship between management and labor. The, what is the annual revenue of the hotel? It's currently last year, which was $17.3 million. >> That was the annual revenue. Yeah. And our I mean, we met our debt service coverage ratio, which is one of the things that we have to do for the bond covenant. And it was about 1.37. So we did well last two years. >> And to that, how much of that revenue goes to the debt service on the bonds right now? >> The debt service payment is about $3.6 million annually, and it actually escalates towards the end. I think it expires by 2032, if I'm not mistaken, and it goes up to about $5 million. [2:04:16 PM] it goes up to about $5 million. Okay. >> And that was my next question actually, was when it would expire. So we're looking at about a 2032 term of expiration. Now, once that the bonds expire, is that revenue airport department revenue or is that general fund revenue? >> It could be. I mean, right now we have to kind of decide that right now there is a ground lease agreement with the airport where we get 5% of the revenues and also there is an administrative fee that is paid to the airport for our staff, you know, administering all the functions related to Abel, >> But at the end, we will have to see how that revenue can I'll have to talk to the bond council to see where that would go. >> Yeah, I would be curious about that because I know we've had similar conversations around the downtown Hilton and, you know, at some point we're going to pay off the bonds. And that's going to be, again, my [2:05:16 PM] going to be, again, my understanding is general fund revenue. And that's going to provide a significant boost to. >> But, you know, one of the things is due to FAA requirements and because this is on city property and it is an airport hotel, I mean, on airport property, FAA would have some comments on whether it can be sent back to the general fund or not. >> Typically, all revenues that are generated at the airport have to or the portions that are sent to the airport have to stay at the airport and not sent back to the general fund. >> Well, I appreciate the, the information, and again, I know this is not a question for this current council, but down the road it would be great to get whatever general revenue we can possibly get out of those activities, even if it's in the form of a of kind of a, a lord. Similar to what we do with Austin energy and Austin water, where, you know, some portion of it is transferred over to the city just to reflect kind of the ownership and risk and whatnot [2:06:17 PM] ownership and risk and whatnot for the asset. But but again, thank you very much. That's all my questions. >> Thank you. Great. Thank you both. >> Thank you, and with that we're at item number six, which is the city of Austin mobility report. It looks like we'll have director Mendoza introduce the report to us. >> Thank you. Chair, you have in your packet the city of Austin mobility report for September. I'm just going to go over it real briefly and give some highlights. The first page is a report of our vision zero, and we are glad to report that the voter referendum and referendum bond funds for the 2016 vision zero projects have all been substantially complete, on time and on budget, next, moving forward to you may have seen an announcement from the us dot and [2:07:17 PM] announcement from the us dot and in our city publications that the city of Austin was awarded a second safe streets for all grant in the amount of $10.5 million, these will continue to support our vision zero goals, as well as safety improvements throughout the city. If you recall, about 18 months ago, we received a little bit about $22 million in safe streets for all grant. This is all part of the transportation bill authorization. The iija bill from the us dot, another success story is, we recently received recognition from the us department of energy, for some of our safety projects. And lighting projects, namely at, a recent pilot mobility hub, we installed charging stations and solar powered lighting, partnering with capmetro. And so we were delighted to hear, this [2:08:18 PM] we were delighted to hear, this recognition for our work in that area, additionally, city of Austin and our partners recently celebrated the completion of our Austin Maynard trail. Mr. Eastman reported on this earlier in the urban trails update. And so this was a much anticipated trail section that establishes, that multimodal, active mobility connection to our neighbors, to the north, what's happening in the on the cap and stitch front is we are rapidly concluding the stakeholder involvement section of the vision plan for amenities that our community would like to see on those potential cap and stitch locations. This is going to conclude with an open house on next Saturday, September 28th. There's a number of good announcements from our aws partners that are with us today. Increasing levels of service and direct connections around the country with our, Austin airport [2:09:18 PM] country with our, Austin airport that you'll find in the handout. And then I just want to go ahead and conclude with construction on the William canyon drive west bridge over the railroad, up railroad tracks. This is a safety, and not improvement, but, major reconstruction of a compromise, Ms. Wall. And so that's 2016 bond funded. So that will be concluding in this next year. So any questions. And I'd be glad to take them, >> Just a quick comment. >> Quick comment from councilmember villa. >> Certainly. >> I just wanted to say congratulations on the second safe streets for all bond that you received, $22 million. The first $110 million, the second one, that is really making improvements to the pedestrian and bicycle experience. It's just helping traffic overall. It's a lot of that money is going to district four, because [2:10:19 PM] going to district four, because we have unfortunately, so many streets where there is there's a high number of deaths and injuries of pedestrians and otherwise vehicles as well. And I'm just, you know, I know that the city of Austin was, I believe when the grant first came out, we were the only ones with a vision zero, kind of a master plan. And we've been getting, I believe, just about maximum grants from the federal government to make these safety improvements. Is that the case? >> Yes, sir. We've been very successful in the last few notices for funding opportunities in that area. That's because we do, we were one of the first cities, by the way, to adopt vision zero as a policy. This this body adopted that back in 2015 to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on our road network, but we don't do it alone. We work very closely with our partners at txdot. Capmetro. As well as downtown Austin alliance, and I'm sure I'm missing somebody. >> Yeah. And just and my understanding of both the prior [2:11:21 PM] understanding of both the prior $22 million safe streets for all grant and then the $10 million safe streets for all grant, is that the matching funds are coming from the 2016 bond? >> Yes. We have matching funds from 2016 and 2020. And so those were the intersection improvements, that we were making. You know, one of the greatest instances of risk for injury are left turn lane turn left turn movements and t-bone crashes as well as pedestrian. So the leading signals, pedestrian cycles at intersections. And the other treatments we're able to do are greatly, addressing those those situations. >> Well, again, I just want to credit the department, the city for the foresight to include those funds in the 2016 and 2020 bonds, because when these opportunities did come up, years later, we were ready to capitalize on them. We had the plan in place. We had the matching funds in place, and we've been able to maximize those grant funds. So excellent [2:12:21 PM] those grant funds. So excellent work by the transportation department. Thank you very much, director Mendoza. >> Thank you. We appreciate your support. >> Great, >> With that, we're on item number seven, which is identifying future items for discussion. Do you have anything to say, councilman vela, on future items for discussion. >> Maybe that bridge over Belfast drive. >> Oh, yeah. >> No, I'm just joking, >> I have a few, so I'll go through them as quickly as I can, but I would like to say we've run a pretty efficient meeting, so, props to whoever is leading that meeting, so the first thing I just want to highlight, the green infrastructure, street tree resolution from mayor pro tem pool was supposed to be at this meeting, per the resolution, but I understand we're going to be receiving a memo from dpw soon on their proposed work plan. And we're looking forward to that, on October 17th, for those at home who want to get out their notebook and write about all the great things that are going to come up on October 17th, 17th, vision zero program update, including Barton springs road pilot and Cameron casulo road safety project, the bikeway [2:13:22 PM] safety project, the bikeway parking prohibition update, and then our feature 35 Austin's cap and stitch vision plan briefing, and then a sneak sneak peek on November 14th, we will be having a six month update on the micromobility changes. So a lot of really great things coming up in the next few months, and the mobility committee meeting, I think this is might be my first and last time leading the meeting this year, but it's been a pleasure, so with that, at 2:13 P.M. On September 19th, we are adjourned.