Results of the May 24th meeting

The meeting opened about 5:32 pm. Mayor pro tem Gil Lillard was presiding and asked me to give the invocation.

1. Hearing from visitors. If I miss an important point that was made, I apologize. I tried hard to make notes but it is tough to catch everything.

Sergeant William Hitch was the first to speak, but only to say hello from a group of SWAT team members fresh off serving a felony warrant, still in camouflage uniforms.

Next, Dr. Mike O'Bric presented comments (and a handout) about City Manager/Police Chief Yost Zakhary. Mayor pro tem Lillard insisted that speakers not denigrate City employees, interrupting Mr. O'Bric at least once to remind him of this, and held him to the 3-minute time limit.

Then former Councilmember Robert Humphrey asked for a 10-minute allowance to match what Mr. O'Bric had managed at the last council meeting. He began his presentation without waiting for approval of this request. Mr. Humphrey gave an explanation for the outcome of the recent election and proceeded to express his disdain for Council member Dr. Paul Scibielski and especially myself. He was cut off at the three-minute point by Mayor pro tem Lillard, and moved to the lobby prepared to speak further to those interested.

Then Woodway resident (since 1974) Ed Fadel spoke briefly (1-2 minutes) to the effect that Mr. O'Bric's accusations were "mindless drivel", and (very correctly) pointed out that the oath of office for City Council members says nothing about personal agendas.

Next, Jim Ross (resident since 1981) spoke briefly (1-2 minutes) that included the opinion that a greater turnout for the last election would have given a different outcome.

Then Council member and former Mayor Don Baker took the podium (and gave a handout) to denounce the recent accusations and DEMANDED an immediate and complete audit of the city's finances since Jan. 1, 2006, with specific attention to those areas where accusations had been made.

Then Colonel Warnell (Beau) Crosby [Volunteer Firefighter of the Year] spoke to refute the "lies" of Mr. O'Bric in specific instances where he was aware of the facts, especially concerning accusations related to the Woodway fire fighting equipment and people.

Then former Council member De Smith took the podium, stated that she had never seen such an example of shutting down open government, and then gave her remaining time to Robert Humphrey to continue speaking.

Mr. Humphrey said some more about why the election went as it did, then announced his blog site (http://honestlywoodway.blogspot.com/)*. He then proceeded to berate Dr. Paul Scibielski about campaign statements he made about the new City Hall being unnecessary and a poor use of city funds. He referred to the new Council members (with the possible exception of Mayor pro tem Lillard) as "Brickies" who get their information from "Bricopedia". Mr. Humphrey ended (after 6-7 minutes) by calling for an independent financial audit and for webcams to be installed in the Council meeting room to let Woodway residents view the proceedings online.

* Mr. Humphrey's site shows him to be a very caring and thoughtful person. I hope he will come to think better of the new Council members eventually. It seems to me that none of the new council members harbors ill-will toward anyone, including Mr. Zakhary. Try to understand that we are learning as we go.

2. The Area Density Study

This was a presentation by Steve Sorrells, the developer of Badger Ranch and other housing areas. The discussion concerned two things: (a) "mixed use development", which refers to a combined residential/office/retail type of zoning that is said to be increasingly popular among municipalities. (b) "Traditional neighborhood development" (TND), which in this context refers to higher-density housing than what Woodway typically allows. Currently in Woodway, zoning ordinances in most areas limit housing density to no more than three units per acre. Mr. Sorrells wants the city to proceed toward approving both new zoning types.

The presentation showed nice examples of both "mixed use development" and TND; an example of the latter would be Sheffield Park, with a density of 7.5 units per acre. (apartments are typically >20 units per acre). One concept that I thought was useful was "common walls versus common floors/ceilings" to distinguish apartment-type housing from condo, townhouses, etc.

There are, of course, pros and cons for the city. The tax base increases faster with higher density housing, which for a "land-locked" city (Scott Giddings' term) like Woodway can be important. The downside is that higher-density housing puts that much more strain on highway systems (I used the traffic on Hwy 84 as an example), and depending on owned vs. rented status, can tend to deteriorate faster than single-family dwellings (as Jane Kittner pointed out). The consensus was to "move forward" to have the idea considered by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

3. A presentation of the Arboretum development plans by the MESA group. This was a real highlight of the meeting. The plans were presented for developing, among other things, a second area of the Arboretum to accommodate weddings and even conferences. These plans were extremely well thought-out, even allowing for public access to part of the grounds while two events were in progress. The Arboretum has always been a gem of Woodway, with this development it will be perhaps the best event spot in all of central Texas. The Council voted to proceed to have the MESA Group develop construction plans in conjunction with the Arboretum Board.

4. Appointments to various Boards and Commissions in Woodway. After some discussion of whether to approve the recommendations of the previous Committee as-is or with one modification, the majority of the Council voted to accept the appointments as-recommended. I alone voted in opposition, as I felt that one highly qualified applicant had been denied simply for political reasons.

5. The next agenda item was discussion and approval of an upgrade in the police and fire department radio systems to make them P25 ("narrow band") compliant. Further upgrades will be required in coming years, and the City is wisely seeking ways to moderate the cost.

6. City Manager's Report. Mainly discussed upcoming budget meetings in June.

Open meetings resolution and adjournment (close to 8 pm).