The November 28th meeting

The meeting opened at 5:32 pm, with the invocation given by Pastor Jim Gray of First Baptist Church of Woodway.

There were no visitors present to speak.

Then Finance director William Klump gave the quarterly report, which finalized the 2010-11 fiscal year. Woodway is doing well financially, especially in the area of water sales, since the Hwy 84 well has come back online.

The next topic was year end budget transfers. This is where the City transfers funds that remain in certain categories to other categories. Then we discussed the proposed Charter Amendment language, to be voted on in the upcoming May 2012 election. The City will be making a serious effort to explain all aspects of the proposed changes, most of which are to fix outdated things. With one minor addition, the Council voted to approve the wording for the ballot. This will be presented in both English and Spanish.

Then came the "consent agenda", where several relatively minor items are discussed. This time, purchase of a 4" tapping machine was requested. This allows smaller pipes to be rapidly connected to larger ones. Also, some electronic equipment for three patrol cars was requested, and two special use permits were presented. All were approved.

The Council then went into executive session to discuss a property issue.

Back in open session, the Oncor tree-trimming effort was discussed. Oncor works very hard to keep the power on despite many, many conflicts between tree branches and power lines. If you find a bright green door-hanger on your property, it means Oncor will be doing some trimming nearby soon.

The meeting adjourned about 6:30 pm. There are meetings for each of the next two weeks. City Manager/Police Chief Yost Zakhary commented that this was the only time he could recall that the City Council will have met three consecutive weeks. The next meeting (Dec. 5th) may be more interesting.

Agenda for the November 28th meeting

The agenda for the upcoming meeting of the Woodway City Council has been posted here. Among other things there will be a quarterly presentation of of City finances, and discussion of and possible action on the ballot wording of the proposed Charter changes.

An immediate opening on the City Council

There is an immediate opening on the City Council as a result of the resignation of General Bill Weber. Any qualified voter who has resided in Woodway for at least one year is eligible to apply. The application form is on the City website here and has a December 1 deadline.

The November 14th meeting

Mayor Don Baker opened the meeting at 5:31 with an invocation by Dr. Jim Martin of the Crestview Church of Christ. Then Yard of the Month awards were presented to the Reagan, Terry, Johnson and Perez families.

Next was a time to hear from visitors, but none came forward to speak.

Then there was an update on the Business Acres (BA) and Hwy 84 wells. The BA well has been drilled but this deeper water is coming out hotter (116°F) than usual (the Hwy 84 well runs at 97-98°F). This means that cooling will be necessary before the water can be pumped into the system, and this will almost certainly increase the cost, by perhaps as much as 30%. But it is still well worth the cost, as well water costs roughly $0.78 per 1000 gallons to produce, while Waco water costs about $3.10 per 1000 gallons (which is more than what Woodway charges residents). As well consultant Bob Wallace mentioned, the City could be said to lose money when we need to use Waco water. The good news is that the Hwy 84 well, long a source of problems, is pumping and testing nicely.

Then the Council was presented with the consent agenda, which included purchase of chlorine for water treatment and new jackets for the Patrol section of Public Safety.

Then Marion Lee of Bacon Lee Associates gave a presentation of what is involved in a feasibility (or planning) study of possible fundraising for the Arboretum development. She is a principle in a highly experienced firm that specializes in this. The Council approved $36k to fund this feasibility study, which can include a survey of opinions about of certain other City-related activities like the Family Center.

Then was a discussion of the "parking ordinance", that is, the camper/RV/boat parking rules. The Council unanimously agreed that the wording of the current ordinance was confusing, and the majority also agreed that campers, RVs and boats should not be allowed to be parked in front of a home, nor in side yards unless screened. I was the lone dissenter. I can't recall having ever been bothered by seeing anyone's camper, RV or boat. So I agreed only that on-street parking should be prohibited, feeling that driveway parking should be allowed. But the Council consensus was otherwise. The Ordinance Committee will be revisiting the wording soon.

The Council then accepted the resignation of General Bill Weber, who is currently employed elsewhere. His humor and military efficiency are greatly missed.

Then the Council went into Executive Session to discuss how to deal with the resulting Council vacancy.

Open session was resumed and the meeting quickly adjourned, ending about 7:25 pm.

Agenda for the November 14 meeting

The agenda for the upcoming meeting has been posted at the City's website here. The agenda includes an update from the City Engineer regarding the Business Acres and Highway 84 water wells, a discussion on Chapter 10, Motor Vehicles and Traffic, Article V, Vehicle Parking Regulations, of the City of Woodway Code of Ordinances (the camper/RV/boat parking rules), and discussion and consideration of action on acceptance of the resignation of Councilmember Louis W. Weber.