City Council Highlights from February 19th Meeting

Courtesy of Peter Gordon, Hutto City Council Place 4 and provided here with his permission. This recap is from the February 19th City Council meeting.

Photo courtesy of Peter Gordon

To watch the meeting, go here.

Here are the highlights from that meeting:

Item 6.1 Council made more appointments to vacant spots on the Historic Preservation Commission and Zoning Board of Adjustments. We still have vacancies for the following Boards/Commissions:

- Building & Standards - 1 vacancy

- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging - 1 vacancy

- Zoning Board of Adjustments - 3 vacancies for alternate members

- TIRZ Boards #1, #2 & #3 - each have 1 vacancy

Item 7.1 Council received updates on our current transportation projects, including which projects are on time versus behind schedule, and what staff is doing to get these back on track. We already fired the contractor who was installing the light at Limmer Loop and Innovation due to continued unjustified delays. We gave notice of potential default to another contractor. We've made it clear that our contractors need to adhere to committed deadlines.

Item 7.2 Council gave preliminary approval to an industrial park on the east side of town (where Limmer Loop intersects with HWY 79). This was originally going to be a mixed-use development with industrial and multi-family, but they changed to industrial only, greatly reducing their water and wastewater needs. They'll receive primary water from Jonah SUD, with emergency fireflow water coming from Hutto temporarily until Jonah can supply that as well.

Item 8.5 Council authorized the acceptance of several acres of parkland next to the Emory Crossing neighborhood. This will become a community park open to all residents, but will be developed and maintained by the Emory Crossing developer and subsequent owners.

Item 9.1 A majority of Council rejected a proposal to require exempt (salaried) employees to start reporting time worked like hourly employees. I was one of four council members who voted against this proposal last night. Much discussion was had last night and also in the January 8th meeting where this was first proposed. I'm glad a majority of Council agreed with some of the concerns I raised, and raised their own concerns.

Item 9.2 Council instructed staff to give us design details on a proposed Certified Autism Center playground at Hutto Lake Park (which was originally planned to be standard playground equipment). We asked to see the specific designs and equipment that would be used before making a decision, which will come back to us in our next Council meeting.

Item 10.1 Council approved a Request for Proposal (RFP) from various rideshare companies for on-demand Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) service in Hutto. More to come on this one.

Item 10.3 A majority of Council also rejected a proposal to prohibit the City Manager from continued participation in the Texas Certified Public Manager Program, which he has been involved with since long before his employment with the City of Hutto. Council originally approved his involvement in this program at the time of his hiring, and we reiterated our support again in 2023.

There have been some misunderstandings by the public about what the program is, and the amount of time he spends supporting it. Last night, City Manager Earp provided a detailed explanation of the program and the level of his involvement, which is limited to less than 12 hours per month, or one day per month.

I asked myself how hypocritical it would be for me to forbid my employee from giving back to the community in this way, while asking my employer to allow me to do the same in serving on City Council? I encourage you to watch the detailed discussion from last night's meeting for a better understanding of what this is and how it benefits Hutto, as well as discussions around the topic. Link to the meeting is provided below.

Written by Peter Gordon, Hutto City Council Place 4