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SO NICE TO SEE YOU ALL HERE ON A MONDAY.
UH, AS WE HAVE OUR TRANSPORTATION AND MOBILITY COMMITTEE MEETING, UH, I WOULD ASK, PLEASE FOR THE CLERK TO CALL THE ROLE.
[1. 21-3047 Approval of the Minutes for the March 15, 2021 Transportation and Mobility Committee Meeting.]
ITEM IS THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FOR THE MARCH 15TH, 2020 TRANSPORTATION AND COM AND MOBILITY COMMITTEE MEETING.CAN I ASK FOR A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED.
WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND FOR APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.
[2. 21-3048 Briefing and update on legislation filed in the 87th State Legislative Session and a Federal Transportation update. [Jeff Coyle, Assistant City Manager]]
UM, THANK YOU ALL.SO I'VE ASKED JEFF TO COME AND BRIEF US ON THE LEGISLATIVE ITEMS ON THE ESTATE AGENDA, UH, AND FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION UPDATE.
I THINK THAT WE HAVE A LOT OF POTENTIAL HERE TO, UM, GET, WELL MAKE SOME IMMEDIATE IMPACT, BUT ALSO TO REALLY TALK ABOUT WHAT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES THESE THERE ARE AS WE GO THROUGH OUR BOND PROGRAM, THE STIMULUS PROGRAM, AND EVEN POTENTIALLY THE LARGE INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM, UM, FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
I THOUGHT IT'D BE GOOD TO GET A BRIEFING AND SEE WHERE WE STAND.
SO JEFF, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO YOU.
UM, ROBERT, IF YOU'LL BRING UP THE SLIDES.
SO WE'LL DO A LITTLE COMBINATION OF, UH, OF STATE AND FEDERAL, UH, UPDATE HERE, SPECIFICALLY A, UH, A HANDFUL OF STATE RELATED BILLS THAT WE ARE, UH, TRACKING AND WATCHING AND PARTICIPATING IN CONSISTENT WITH OUR CITY COUNCIL APPROVED STATE LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM.
WE'LL ALSO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION'S INFRASTRUCTURE PROPOSAL, UH, AS WELL AS A NEW GRANT OPPORTUNITY THAT WAS JUST, UH, RELEASED LAST WEEK.
SO GO GO AHEAD TO THE NEXT SLIDE IF YOU WOULD, ROBERT.
UH, SO FIRST OF ALL, ONE OF THE MAIN PRIORITIES IN OUR STATE PROGRAM WAS ENSURING THAT THE FUNDING FOR TRANSPORTATION THAT WAS APPROVED BY VOTERS THROUGH PROPOSITIONS ONE AND SEVEN IN, UH, RECENT YEARS IS MAINTAINED.
AND THERE WAS SOME CONCERN WITH, UH, THE BUDGET, UH, FORECASTS OVER THE SUMMER BEFORE THE SESSION THAT, UH, THAT THERE WAS GONNA BE SUCH A DIFFICULT, UH, BUDGET PICTURE FOR THE LEGISLATURE, THAT THERE WAS TEMPTATION TO RAID THOSE TRANSPORTATION FUNDS.
UH, THAT CHANGED WHEN THE, UH, A PREDICTION BY THE COMPTROLLER AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SESSION SHOWED A LOT, A LOT, A MUCH SMALLER SHORTFALL THAN INITIALLY PLANNED.
SO THE SHORT OF ALL OF THIS IS TO SAY THAT THE SENATE, UH, SENATE BILL WON THE BUDGET BILL THAT WILL BE DEBATED ON THE HOUSE FLOOR.
WE BELIEVE THIS THURSDAY, UH, DOES CONTAIN FULL FUNDING FOR PROPS ONE AND SEVEN.
SO WE'RE VERY GLAD TO SEE THAT.
UM, SECONDLY, SOME OF THE OTHER BILLS THAT WE'VE BEEN WATCHING RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION, ALTHOUGH NOT NECESSARILY TAKING AN ACTIVE POSITION, UH, HAVE TO DO WITH REGISTRATION FEES FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND INDEXING THE GAS TAX, UH, TO INFLATION.
SO THE REGISTRATION FEE BILLS APPEAR TO BE MOVING FORWARD.
THE, UH, SENATE A SENATE BILL HAS ALREADY PASSED A SENATE COMMITTEE.
AND WHAT THIS ESSENTIALLY DOES IS CREATE A $200 REGISTRATION FEE FOR AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE.
AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS BECAUSE, AS YOU KNOW, GAS TAXES ARE WHAT HAVE TYPICALLY FUNDED TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS.
AND AS VEHICLES, UH, BECOME MORE AND MORE EFFICIENT, AND IN SOME CASES DON'T USE ANY GAS AT ALL, IT ERODES THE FUNDING THAT WOULD, UH, IS OTHERWISE NEEDED FOR HIGHWAYS.
SO THIS IS TO OFFSET, UH, THAT, THAT MOVE TOWARDS ELECTRIC VEHICLES, UH, THAT BILLS APPEAR TO HAVE BIPARTISAN SUPPORT.
THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER FILED BY BOTH DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS.
UH, OUR LOCAL MOBILITY COALITION, SAMCO IS SUPPORTIVE OF THOSE BILLS.
AND, UH, AND WE'RE CONTINUING TO WATCH THEM AND, AND WANTED TO SHARE THAT WITH YOU.
THE, UH, THE IDEA TO INDEX THE GAS TAX.
AS YOU KNOW, OVER TIME, THE, THE GAS TAX HASN'T BEEN RAISED SINCE THE EARLY NINETIES, I BELIEVE.
AND OVER TIME, INFLATION HAS ERODED THE VALUE OF THE GAS TAX.
AND SO SEVERAL BILLS, INCLUDING ONE FROM OUR OWN REPRESENTATIVE RAY LOPEZ, TO INDEX THE GAS TAX TO INFLATION, UH, DO NOT APPEAR TO BE GETTING MUCH TRACTION THIS SESSION.
THEY'VE NOT YET BEEN HEARD IN COMMITTEE.
UH, SO MOVING ON TO THE ITEMS THAT, UH, THAT I KNOW THE CHAIR, UH, AND, AND MANY OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE FEEL VERY STRONGLY ABOUT ARE THE
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VISION ZERO INITIATIVES.AND, UM, UH, CHAIRWOMAN GONZALEZ, I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR CONNECTING US WITH THE FARM AND CITY GROUP, UH, EARLY IN THE SESSION.
THEY'RE THE ADVOCACY GROUP THAT IS CARRYING OUT VARIOUS VISION ZERO BILLS.
IT WAS A NATURAL ALIGNMENT SINCE WE'VE PUSHED FOR THE PRIMA FASCIA SPEED LIMIT FOR SEVERAL SESSIONS NOW.
UM, THE SENATE BILL HAS NOT MOVED AT ALL.
THE HOUSE BILL HAS BEEN VOTED OUT OF COMMITTEE, UH, BUT IT'S BEEN WATERED DOWN SIGNIFICANTLY.
THE, THE BILL ESSENTIALLY SAYS NOW THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO DO A TRAFFIC STUDY TO LOWER SPEED LIMITS IN ON RESIDENTIAL STREET CITYWIDE.
AND AS A REMINDER, WE ALREADY HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO LOWER SPEED LIMITS ANYWHERE IN THE CITY WITHIN OUR RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS, BUT WE HAVE TO POST IT.
AND THE, THE WHOLE POINT OF PRIMA FASCIA IS TO CREATE A DEFAULT SPEED LIMIT CITYWIDE SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO POST SIGNS ON EVERY STREET IN CUL-DE-SAC THROUGHOUT THE CITY, NOTING THE LOWER THAN THE REST OF THE STATE SPEED LIMIT.
SO THE BILL IS MOVING, BUT IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT QUITE WHAT WE WANTED.
UH, AND I THINK IT'S GONNA RUN INTO THE SAME OPPOSITION IN THE SENATE COMMITTEE THAT THE SENATE BILL HAS TO BE CANDID.
UH, ANOTHER BILL BY THE SAME REPRESENTATIVE, UH, CELIA ISRAEL FROM THE AUSTIN AREA IS HOUSE BILL 4 43.
AND THAT BILL, UH, SAYS THAT YOU MUST STOP AND YIELD TO A PEDESTRIAN IN A CROSSWALK.
RIGHT NOW, THE STATE LAW SAYS YOU MUST YIELD TO A PEDESTRIAN IN A CROSSWALK.
AND UNFORTUNATELY, WE'VE SEEN IT IN OUR OWN COMMITTEE.
I MEAN, IN OUR OWN COMMUNITY AND, AND AMONG OUR OWN CITY EMPLOYEES, WHERE SOMEONE IN A CROSSWALK HAS BEEN HIT BY A VEHICLE TURNING AND MAKING A RIGHT.
AND SO THIS BILL ADDS STOP AND YIELD THROUGHOUT THE, THE STATUTE, UH, REQUIRING A, A AFFIRMATIVE STOP BY A VEHICLE IF THERE'S ANYONE IN A, IN A CROSSWALK.
UH, HB 5 54 IS FROM REPRESENTATIVE LOPEZ AS WELL.
IT SPEAKS TO THE SAFE PASSING OF PEDESTRIANS OR BICYCLISTS, AND SAYS THAT A CAR OR A LIGHT DUTY TRUCK MUST GIVE AT LEAST THREE FEET OF SPACE WHEN PASSING ON THE ROADWAY.
AND A LARGER TRUCK MUST GIVE SIX FEET OF SPACE.
UH, THIS HAS BEEN ATTEMPTED FOR MANY, MANY YEARS BY BIKE TEXAS AND, AND HAS NOT MADE IT ACROSS THE FINISH LINE.
AND, UM, I, I DON'T WANT TO PREDICT, BUT IT'S, IT'S NOT GETTING A WHOLE LOT OF TRACTION AT THIS POINT IN THE SESSION.
UM, ACTUALLY, YEAH, LET ME MOVE ON TO SENATE BILL 42, WHICH IS, WOULD CREATE A STATEWIDE HANDS-FREE LAW.
SO, AS YOU KNOW, IN IN OUR COMMUNITY, WE HAVE A HANDS-FREE ORDINANCE, WHICH SAYS THAT, UH, NOT JUST TEXTING, BUT USING YOUR WIRELESS DEVICE TO DO OTHER THINGS ON IT.
FOR EXAMPLE, PLAY MUSIC OR BRING UP A MAP OR, UH, OR OTHER, UH, THINGS YOU MIGHT DO ON YOUR PHONE IS PROHIBITED WHILE DRIVING IN THE STATE.
THE STATE LAW ONLY SPEAKS TO SENDING OR RECEIVING AN ELECTRONIC MESSAGE, A TEXT MESSAGE.
UH, AND EVEN THAT TOOK MANY YEARS OF, OF BATTLE.
AND WHEN THEY DID PASS THAT STATE LAW, UH, THEY ALLOWED COMMUNITIES LIKE OURS TO HAVE SOMETHING MORE STRINGENT THAN THE STATE LAW THAT ONLY FOCUSED ON TEXTING.
THIS BILL IS FROM SENATOR ZINI, WHO'S PUSHED THE TEXTING BILL FOR MANY, MANY YEARS, UH, AND WAS FINALLY SUCCESSFUL.
AND THIS WOULD EXPAND IT TO A HANDS FREE WHILE DRIVING.
IT DOES HAVE SOME EXCEPTIONS FOR, UH, MAKING AN EMERGENCY CALL, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT WOULDN'T BE A VIOLATION, BUT IT GENERALLY MAKES A, A STATEWIDE LAW THAT WOULD ALIGN WITH WHAT WE DO LOCALLY IN TERMS OF PROHIBITING, UH, THE USE OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS WHILE DRIVING.
AND THEN FINALLY, SENATE BILL 10 55 ALSO SPEAKS TO, UH, PEDESTRIANS IN A CROSSWALK, AND IT ADDS, UH, PEOPLE ON BIKES, ON GOLF CARTS, ON, UH, MOTOR ASSISTED, UH, VEHICLES.
AND BASICALLY SAYS THAT IF YOU HIT SOMEBODY IN A CROSSWALK WITH CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE, IT IS A CLASS A MISDEMEANOR.
UH, IT BECOMES A FELONY IF IT CAUSES SERIOUS BODILY HARM.
SO IT CREATES PENALTIES FOR DRIVERS THAT, UH, THAT INJURE SOMEONE IN A CROSSWALK.
SO, SWITCHING FEDERALLY, UH, TO THE AMERICAN JOBS PLAN, THAT IS THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION'S $2 TRILLION INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN.
IT'S A VERY, VERY WIDE RANGING INFRASTRUCTURE.
IT'S NOT JUST THE TRADITIONAL ROADS, BRIDGES, AND HIGHWAYS THAT PEOPLE TEND TO THINK OF WHEN WE TALK ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT IT ALSO SPEAKS TO HOUSING.
IT SPEAKS TO BROADBAND AND DIGITAL CONNECTIONS.
IT TALKS ABOUT MODERNIZING FACILITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
UH, IT EVEN TALKS ABOUT THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF HOME CARE WORKERS NEEDED TO TAKE CARE OF ELDERLY AND DISABLED RESIDENTS, UH, IN OUR AGING POPULATION.
AND SO WE'RE GONNA FOCUS SPECIFICALLY ON THE TRANSPORTATION RELATED PIECES FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS COMMITTEE, IF YOU'LL GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, ROBERT.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, IT CALLS FOR, UM, OVER $600 BILLION IN BRIDGE ROAD
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AND HIGHWAY INVESTMENT, UH, SPECIFICALLY 115 BILLION FOR THE MODERNIZATION AND REPAIR OF BRIDGES, ROADS, HIGHWAYS, AND STREETS IN, IN CRITICAL NEED OF REPAIR ACROSS THE COUNTRY.UH, IT TALKS ABOUT FUNDING PROJECTS THAT IMPROVE AIR QUALITY, THAT REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS, GAS EMISSIONS, AND REDUCE CONGESTION.
IT CALLS FOR MODERNIZING, UH, MORE THAN 20,000 MILES OF, OF ROADS, UH, FIXING THEM NOT JUST FIRST, BUT RIGHT AS THE PLAN SAYS, MEANING SIGNIFICANT SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS.
UH, IN FACT, THERE'S $20 BILLION INVESTED IN ROAD SAFETY FOR ALL USERS, INCLUDING A SAFE STREETS FOR ALL PROGRAM TO FUND STATE AND LOCAL VISION ZERO PLANS AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS TO REDUCE, REDUCE CRASHES AND FATALITIES, ESPECIALLY FOR CYCLISTS AND PEDESTRIANS.
SO A LOT OF THE TYPES OF THINGS THAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING IN OUR COMMUNITY IN RECENT YEARS AND FOCUSED ON ARE REFLECTED, UH, IN THIS PLAN.
SO, ON THE PUBLIC, UH, TRANSIT FRONT, IT CALLS FOR A TOTAL OF $85 BILLION TO MODERNIZE OUR TRANSIT SYSTEM, SPECIFICALLY TO HELP AGENCIES LIKE VIA EXPAND THEIR SYSTEMS TO MEET THE RIDER DEMAND.
A VERY, UH, FAMILIAR CHALLENGE FOR, FOR ALL OF YOU ON THE COUNCILS, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THAT IN RECENT YEARS.
IT, UH, IT ESSENTIALLY DOUBLES FEDERAL FUNDING FOR TRANSIT TO SPEND DOWN A, A LONG REPAIR BACKLOG AND BRING A LOT OF THE BUS AND RAPID TRANSIT AND RAIL SERVICE TO COMMUNITIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS ACROSS THE COUNTRY THAT DON'T HAVE IT, WITH THE GOAL ULTIMATELY OF REDUCING TRAFFIC CONGESTION FOR, FOR EVERYBODY.
UH, THE PLAN ALSO CALLS FOR, UM, INVESTMENTS IN, UM, THE, THE ACTUAL, THE BUSES AND RAIL CARS TO MODERNIZE THEM AND MAKE THEM MORE EFFICIENT AND LESS, UH, POLLUTION PRODUCING.
UM, THE PLAN HAS ABOUT $80 BILLION IN RAIL AND FREIGHT MODERNIZATION.
IT TALKS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT MANY PROJECTS JUST WAITING TO BE FUNDED TO PROVIDE AMERICANS RELIABLE AND FAST INNER CITY TRAIN SERVICE, PERHAPS LIKE THE AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO CORRIDOR PROJECT THAT'S BEEN DISCUSSED BUT NOT FUNDED FOR MANY, MANY YEARS.
UM, IT CREATES A, UM, A GRANT AND INCENTIVE PROGRAM FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR TO BUILD OUT THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.
IT SETS A GOAL OF 500,000 ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGERS BY 2030 AND INVESTING IN THE WHOLE INDUSTRY AROUND, UH, ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND THEIR MANUFACTURER AND PRODUCTION.
UM, IT, IT CALLS FOR, UH, REPLACING BUSES ACROSS THE COUNTRY WITH A GOAL OF GETTING TOWARDS 100% CLEAN BUSES, UH, FOR OUR COUNTRY AND ULTIMATELY CREATING JOBS FOR PEOPLE IN THAT INDUSTRY.
AND THEN FINALLY, NOT ON THE SLIDE HERE, IT ALSO CALLS FOR ANOTHER $25 BILLION INVESTMENT IN AIRPORTS, INCLUDING THE AIR IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM THAT WE, UH, DRAW FUNDS DOWN FOR OUR PROJECTS REGULARLY.
UH, AND IT'S TALKS ABOUT SUPPORTING TERMINAL RES, UH, RENOVATIONS AND MULTIMODAL CONNECTIONS SO THAT PE PEOPLE CAN MAKE CAR-FREE, UH, CONNECTIONS TO AIR TRAVEL.
SO THE IDEA OF TYING IN THE AIR REPORTS TO, UH, THE GROUND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS THAT WOULDN'T REVI RE REQUIRE SINGLE VEHICLES.
SO, THAT'S, UH, THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PLAN.
IT WOULD HAVE TO BE, UH, PROPOSED AS LEGISLATION AND DEBATED AND PASSED CONGRESS, WHICH WE'RE REALLY JUST AT THE POINT NOW WHERE THE ADMINISTRATION HAS LAID OUT ITS VISION.
UH, BUT WE DID JUST RECEIVE NOTICE LAST WEEK OF WHAT'S NOW BEING CALLED THE RAISE GRANT PROGRAM.
THIS IS THE FORMER, UH, BUILD GRANT PROGRAM.
AND BEFORE THAT TIGER GRANT PROGRAM, IT'S ESSENTIALLY ONE OF THE FEW STATE AND LOCAL, UH, GRANT COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAMS FOR SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS, UH, THAT WE CAN BID FOR.
UH, RAY'S, UH, BY THE WAY, STANDS FOR REBUILDING AMERICAN INFRASTRUCTURE WITH SUSTAINABILITY AND EQUITY.
AND SO, NOT SURPRISINGLY, THE CRITERIA FOR PROJECTS CENTER AROUND SAFETY, ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, INCLUDING QUALITY OF LIFE, CREATING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES, UH, INNOVATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS, AND THAT SPEAKS TO PRIORITIZING PROJECTS THAT DEMONSTRATE IMPROVEMENTS TO RACIAL EQUITY AND REDUCING CLIMATE CHANGE, AS WELL AS CREATING GOOD JOBS.
SO A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT THE COUNCIL HAS PRIORITIZED AND TALKED ABOUT ON THE LOCAL LEVEL, THERE'S $1 BILLION, UH, IN TOTAL THAT WILL BE DULLED OUT IN GRANTS.
AND IF YOU'LL GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, THE, THE CAP ON THOSE GRANTS IS 25 MILLION AS A MAXIMUM GRANT AWARD.
NO STATE CAN RECEIVE MORE THAN A HUNDRED MILLION, UH, AND THEY ARE GONNA DEDICATE ABOUT 30 MILLION, UH, OF THAT, UH, 1 BILLION TO PLANNING PROJECT PLANNING GRANTS, AND AT LEAST 10 MILLION TO AREAS OF PERSISTENT
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POVERTY.UH, THE DEADLINE TO APPLY FOR THOSE GRANTS, AS YOU SEE THERE IS JULY 12TH OF THIS YEAR.
SO WE HEARD, UH, CONSISTENTLY FROM THE COUNCIL, UH, LAST WEEK DURING TAMIKA'S PRESENTATION THAT AT LEAST ONE OF THE MAJOR TRANSFORMABLE, UH, TRANSFORMATIVE PROJECTS THAT THE COUNCIL IS SUPPORTIVE OF IS EXPANDING THE GREENWAY SYSTEM.
UH, AND I DON'T WANNA SPEAK FOR TAMIKA, BUT I BELIEVE SHE AGREES THAT IT CHECKS, UH, MANY, IF NOT ALL OF THE BOXES IN TERMS OF THE CRITERIA, AND NOT THE LEAST OF WHICH THE SECTIONS THAT STILL NEED TO BE COMPLETED, UH, RUN THROUGH A LOT OF THE HIGH EQUITY SCORE AREAS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO, UH, THAT'S AT LEAST ONE MAJOR PROJECT THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT AS A POTENTIAL SUBMISSION.
AND, AND OBVIOUSLY WE'LL BE HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH YOU ON THE COUNCIL, UH, ABOUT WHAT, WHAT ULTIMATELY THE COMMUNITY SHOULD APPLY FOR.
I WANT TO NOTE THAT, UM, YEARS AGO, UH, MANY ENTITIES IN OUR COMMUNITY DID THEIR OWN APPLYING FOR THESE GRANTS.
AND, AND WE HAD A, THE TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY COME TO SAN ANTONIO SOME YEARS AGO AND COMMUNICATE VERY CLEARLY THAT WE NEEDED TO GET ON THE SAME PAGE AND BE PRIORITIZING ONE OR TWO MAJOR PROJECTS FOR OUR COMMUNITY AND NOT SENDING A DOZEN UP AND, AND ASKING THEM TO DECIDE WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT TO US.
SO I THINK AS WE MOVE TOWARDS DECIDING WHAT, UH, WE SHOULD APPLY FOR, FOR THE RAISE PROGRAM AND FOR ANYTHING THAT COMES OUT OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE PROPOSAL DOWN THE ROAD, WE OUGHT TO DO SO IN COORDINATION WITH ALL OF OUR PARTNERS IN THE COMMUNITY SO THAT WE CAN LINE UP AND HELP SUPPORT EACH OTHER AND ULTIMATELY BRING SOMETHING DOWN THAT BENEFITS THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE.
UH, SO WITH THAT, MY, UH, MY SMARTER AND, AND MORE, UH, UH, KNOWLEDGEABLE COLLEAGUE SALLY ZERTO, I BELIEVE IS ON THE CALL.
AND, AND WE'RE, UH, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT THE COMMITTEE HAS.
THANK YOU, UH, VERY MUCH FOR THE, UM, FOR THE UPDATE.
UM, IT HAS SORT OF MY WHEEL SPINNING.
UM, SO, UH, I THINK OF, OF MY COLLEAGUES, UH, HERE IN THIS COMMITTEE, UM, BESIDES COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY, IS ANYBODY ELSE ON I G R? I DON'T KNOW IF ANA OR MELISSA, ROBERTO, I DON'T THINK SO, RIGHT.
UM, SO, UH, LET ME JUST, LET ME ASK YOU SOME BASIC QUESTIONS AND THEN, UM, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO MY COLLEAGUES.
SO YOU MENTIONED YOU SORT OF IN YOUR CLOSING REMARKS ABOUT, UM, HOW WE WOULD APPLY FOR THOSE.
AND SO THOSE ARE GRANTS THAT COME FROM THE CITY, OR IT GOES TO THE STATE AND THEN THROUGH US, OR WHAT IS IT? A DIRECT
SO WE CAN, WE CAN APPLY DIRECTLY FOR RAISE GRANTS, STATE GOVERNMENTS CAN TOO.
AND IF I, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, I BELIEVE THE STATE HAS IN THE PAST APPLIED FOR FEDERAL GRANTS FOR I 35, FOR EXAMPLE, TXDOT HAS, BUT, BUT THAT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE STATE FOR.
WE AS A COMMUNITY, AS A GOVERNMENT ENTITY COULD APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION.
AND SO I GUESS, YOU KNOW, GIVEN THE DEADLINE OF JULY 12TH, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I MEAN, I KNOW THAT WE HAD THE BRIEFING ON, ON THOSE THREE PROJECTS, UM, AND IN A MINUTE WE'LL HEAR ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE UPDATE ON THE CREEK RACE PROJECTS, BUT I SUSPECT THERE ARE OTHERS.
I MEAN, DOES THAT MEAN AS A COUNCIL WE HAVE TO GO FORWARD WITH JUST THOSE OR ARE THERE OTHERS THAT WE WOULD BE PURSUING? I'M GONNA TURN IT TO TAMIKA IN A SECOND, BUT JUST FOR CLARITY, SINCE YOU MENTIONED THE THREE PROJECTS LAST WEEK THAT WE SUBMITTED, UM, JUST SO EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS THE DISTINCTION, THOSE WERE NOT FORMAL GRANT APPLICATIONS.
RATHER, THERE WAS A REQUEST, UH, FOR SPECIFIC PROJECTS THAT WE, THAT MEMBERS OF CONGRESS COULD SUBMIT AS PART OF THE NEXT SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BILL.
SO THEY WERE SMALLER, SMALLER TICKET ITEMS, CERTAINLY THAN A $25 MILLION, UM, MAXIMUM AWARD.
BUT, BUT THOSE WERE PROJECTS THAT MET A SET, A CERTAIN SET OF CRITERIA ALSO INCLUDING BEING IN THE CURRENT, UH, TIP, UH, THROUGH THE M P O.
UM, TAMIKA, DO YOU WANNA TALK FURTHER ABOUT HOW WE MIGHT LOOK AT WHAT PROJECTS WOULD LINE UP HERE FOR THIS? SURE.
DO YOU GUYS HAVE FEEDBACK? OKAY, GO AHEAD AND TALK A LITTLE BIT.
I THINK YOU'RE A LITTLE BIT LOW VOLUME.
I THINK MAYBE NOW WE CAN'T HEAR YOU.
THE RAISE GRANTS AND THE GRANTS THAT HAVE RECENTLY COME OUT, THOSE ARE ESSENTIALLY GRANT OPPORTUNITIES THAT AS A REGION, AS THE CITY, AS THE M P O, WE NEED TO BE COORDINATED ON THOSE.
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RAISE GRANT, FORMERLY BILLED FORMERLY TIGER, IS THAT WE PRESENT PROJECTS WHERE WE SHOW COORDINATION.SO ESSENTIALLY, THE D O T IS GOING TO EVALUATE ALL OF THE PROJECTS THAT THEY RECEIVE.
FIRST AND FOREMOST, THEY WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE PROJECTS THAT ARE PROPOSED HAVE BEEN A PART OF A COORDINATED REGIONAL PROCESS THROUGH THE N P O.
SO WHAT THAT MEANS IS SHOWING COORDINATION.
THE PROJECTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN VETTED THROUGH OUR REGIONAL PLANNING PROCESS.
WE AS A REGION, AS A CITY, AS THE COUNTY, CAN SUPPORT THE PROJECT AND DO SUPPORT IT BY SHOWING IN THE FISCALLY CONSTRAINED PLAN.
AND WHAT TENDS TO HAPPEN IS WHEN YOU HAVE THESE LARGE GRANT OPPORTUNITIES, YOU MAY GET THE COUNTY, YOU MAY GET VIA, YOU MAY GET THE CITY EACH PROPOSING A PROJECT THAT WE'VE ALL INDIVIDUALLY PUT IN THE TIP FOR OUR RESPECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS, BUT IT DOESN'T SHOW COORDINATION.
SO WHAT THAT DOES IS IT DILUTES OUR POTENTIAL FOR BEING COMPETITIVE AS A REGION WHEN WE'RE GOING AFTER THOSE LARGE DOLLAR PROJECTS.
SO I WOULD CAUTION AGAINST JUST TAKING ONE PROJECT THAT THE CITY CARES ABOUT AND PROPOSING IT, BUT REALLY WORKING, COORDINATED THROUGH THE N P O TO MAKE SURE WHAT WE PROPOSE IS GOING TO BE A REGIONAL BENEFIT TO ALL OF US.
IT MAY NOT BE A PROJECT THAT IS HIGH ON THE LIST FOR ONE ENTITY, BUT WE ARE COMPETING AGAINST OTHER REGIONS, OTHER CITIES.
AND SO WE HAVE TO PUT OUR BEST FOOT FORWARD.
I THINK THE CREEKWAY PROJECT IS A REALLY GREAT PROGRAM, BUT WHAT WE ALSO HAVE TO CONSIDER IS THAT WE JUST COMPLETED OUR CALL FOR PROJECTS AND SUBMITTED ALL THE PROJECTS BASED ON RANKINGS THAT WE THOUGHT WERE PROJECTS WE WANT TO FUND IN THE FUTURE.
SO WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT PROPOSING THAT WE RUSH TO PUT A PROJECT IN THE TIP THROUGH AN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS THAT WE HAVEN'T SAID WAS A PRIORITY BEFORE.
THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE CREEKWAY PROGRAM, THAT THE CREEKS ARE NOT A PROGRAM THAT WE CANNOT MOVE FORWARD WITH STARTING TO FRAME IT DIFFERENTLY.
BECAUSE WHEN I LOOK AT THE CREEKS, I SEE THEM AS BEING A MOBILITY OPTION.
AND I THINK HISTORICALLY WE'VE THOUGHT OF TRAILS AND, UH, PATHS SUCH AS THIS AS PARKS AND RECREATION.
AND SO WE, WE CAN REFRAME THAT CONVERSATION IN THE FUTURE, BUT I WANNA CAUTION AGAINST SAYING, HEY, LET'S PUT THE CREEK, WE KNOW IT'S A GREAT AND DYNAMIC AND AWESOME THING, BUT IT ALSO APPLIES AGAINST THE FACE OF PREVIOUS INVESTMENTS THAT WE'VE HAD MADE BY TEXAS D O T AS A PART OF OUR REGIONAL PROCESS FOR THOSE OTHER PROGRAMS TOO.
UM, SO, AND LET ME JUST A FOLLOW UP QUESTION.
SO THEN WHO APPLIES? AND THAT'S A DECISION THAT WE HAVE TO MAKE.
SO WHEN YOU APPLY FOR THESE LARGE FEDERAL GRANTS, WE HAVE TO HAVE MEMORANDUMS OF UNDERSTANDING TO DETERMINE WHO'S GOING TO BE THE ENTITY THAT APPLIES.
SO OF COURSE, IT MIGHT BE A PARTNERSHIP.
FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF THE PROJECTS COULD BE, UH, SOUTH NEW BRAUNFELS.
IT'S A PROJECT OF IMPORT TO SEVERAL ENTITIES.
SO WE HAVE TO DETERMINE WHO'S GOING TO BE THE PROJECT SPONSOR.
WILL IT BE THE CITY, WILL IT BE, YOU KNOW, THE COUNTY, WILL IT BE THE, WHATEVER THAT PROJECT IS, THAT'S A DETERMINATION WE HAVE TO MAKE.
AND THAT IS WHERE A LOT OF THE CHALLENGES WITH PROJECTS BEING COMPETITIVE COMES IN BECAUSE IT'S NOT COORDINATED.
AND YOU MAY GET ONE ENTITY WHO UNDERSTANDS THEIR ROLE TO BE THE FUNDING PARTNER OR THE PROJECT MANAGER, BUT NOT NECESSARILY THE, THE SPONSOR OF THE PROJECT.
SO WE HAVE TO BE COORDINATED IN WHATEVER WE PROPOSE FOR ALL OF THESE LARGE GRANT PROGRAMS. UM, OKAY.
WELL, I MEAN, I GUESS WE'LL JUST, UM, THE COMMUNICATION PIECE I THINK IS GONNA BE REALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE, UM, UH, WITHOUT GETTING TOO SPECIFIC, I KNOW THAT WE, UH, THERE HAS BEEN PROJECTS IN MY DISTRICT THAT DIDN'T GET FUNDED BECAUSE IT WASN'T CLEAR WHO THE LEAD WAS.
UM, IT WAS NOT RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION.
SO I, I I THINK THAT, UM, THAT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE RESOLVE THAT.
UH, SO I JUST WILL LOOK FORWARD TO DIRECTION FROM WHOMEVER'S, UM, YOU KNOW, IS, IS DOING THAT.
SO, UM, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THAT MEANS IT COMES FROM ERIC OR IF IT COMES FROM MIKA OR, OR FROM YOU, JEFF.
I, I, I, UH, BUT LET'S MAKE SURE THAT WE GET THAT ARRANGED SO THAT IT'S NOT, UM, SO THAT WE DON'T MISS THAT OPPORTUNITY BECAUSE IT HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST.
SO LET, LET, LET ME ASK YOU, UH, ONE OTHER QUESTION.
UM, UH, REGARDING THE PROP ONE AND THE PROP SEVEN, THAT WAS A BRO VOTER APPROVED INITIATIVE A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK, DOES THAT HAVE TO GET RENEWED OR, UM, OR DOES IT, DOES IT JUST STAY ON THE BOOKS FOREVER AND EVER? OR DOES IT GO BACK TO PHOTOS
[00:25:01]
AT SOME TIME? UH, YOU KNOW WHAT, I'M NOT SURE ABOUT THAT.IT, THE, THE ISSUE, CERTAINLY THIS SESSION IS NOT, UH, RELATED TO IT GETTING RENEWED.
IT MAY NEED TO BE RENEWED SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE.
I'LL, I'LL CHECK ON THAT AND FOLLOW UP WITH YOU.
BUT, BUT THE ISSUE RIGHT NOW WAS THE CONCERN THAT WITH, WITH A DECIMATED STATE BUDGET, THAT LAWMAKERS WOULD DRAW FUNDS FROM THAT, THOSE POTS TO BE ABLE TO BALANCE THE BUDGET.
UH, THAT DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE THE CASE.
THEY'VE KEPT FULL FUNDING IN THE BUDGET BILL.
THE BUDGET BILL DOES STILL HAVE SOME BALANCING TO DO.
IT IS STILL OVERSUBSCRIBED RELATIVE TO THE REVENUES AVAILABLE TO THE STATE.
BUT, UM, THE IMMEDIATE CONCERN OF SEEING THOSE FUNDS RATED TO BALANCE THE BUDGET DOESN'T SEEM TO BE PLAYING OUT, WHICH IS A, A, A GOOD THING.
WE, WE HAVE, UH, A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF LETTINGS IN THE COMING BIENNIUM, UH, THAT, THAT ARE DEPENDENT ON THAT FUNDING SOME MAJOR, UH, HIGHWAY PROJECTS THROUGH TXDOT, UH, THAT WE WOULD'VE, UH, BEEN PENALIZED EVEN HARDER THAN, THAN OTHER COMMUNITIES HAD, HAD THAT MONEY BEEN TAKEN AWAY, UH, THIS YEAR.
THE DEBATE IS STILL HAPPENING OVER THE BUDGET, BUT WE FEEL GOOD ABOUT WHAT'S IN THERE NOW.
UM, AND, AND SO LET ME, UH, LET ME ASK YOU A FOLLOW UP QUESTION, UH, REGARDING, AND, AND SO IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT, WELL, MAYBE YOU COULD EXPLAIN, SO PROJECTS THAT HAVE ALREADY STARTED ARE NOT ELIGIBLE, UH, OR, UM, BECAUSE, WELL, THAT, I DON'T KNOW, IS, IS THAT A CLEAR QUESTION? AND I'LL JUST GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF A BRIDGE PROJECT PROJECT IN DISTRICT FIVE.
UM, THAT PROJECT IS, HAS STARTED AND IS MOVING, UM, IT'S PART OF IT.
ARE THOSE THEN ELIGIBLE IF THEY'VE ALREADY, OR DO THEY HAVE TO BE BRAND NEW PROJECTS SHOVEL READY? OR IS THAT ALL STILL TO BE DETERMINED? UH, TAMIKA, I DON'T, I, I THINK THE ANSWER IS THERE'S NOTHING IN THERE THAT SAYS A PROJECT CAN'T BE, UH, ALREADY UNDERWAY OR A ONE SEGMENT OF, IS THAT, IS THAT YOUR UNDERSTANDING AS WELL, TAMIKA? CORRECT.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, WE CAN HAVE A PROJECT THAT'S APPROVED IN THE TIP ALREADY, AND WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF DESIGN.
SO IF WE APPLY FOR THE DISCRETIONARY GRANT THROUGH THE U S D O T AND WE'RE APPROVED, THEN THE MONIES THAT WE'VE ALREADY EXPENDED AND THE PLAN THAT WE HAD TO HAVE THEM FUNDED THROUGH TECH DOT, THAT WOULD NO LONGER APPLY BECAUSE IF WE WERE AWARDED THAT PORTION OF THE FUNDS THAT WE HAD ORIGINALLY APPLIED FOR THROUGH TECH DOT, IT WOULD BE REIMBURSED TO US FROM THE FEDS THROUGH THIS PROGRAM.
AND, AND SO LET ME JUST, UM, ASK YOU ONE, ONE FINAL QUESTION, AND THEN I'LL, I'LL TURN IT, UM, OVER, UH, UM, TO MY COLLEAGUES.
UM, OH MY GOODNESS, I JUST BLANKED ON MY FINAL QUESTION.
UM, I SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN IT DOWN HERE BECAUSE IT WAS A, UM, UM, OH, WELL, HERE'S ONE.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, OH, I KNOW WHAT I WAS GONNA TELL YOU.
SO I, I WAS HERE WHEN THE, UM, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY CAME TO SAN ANTONIO.
WE TOURED THE REGION, THE AREA, IT WAS ACTUALLY REGARDING, UM, THE, UH, STREETCAR PROJECT.
UH, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, HE NOTED IT WAS, UM, FOX, UH, SECRETARY FOX WAS THE ONE THAT HAD COME, WAS THAT THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH, UM, PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT IN THE AREA.
WE KIND OF TOURED THE AREA AROUND VIA, UM, THE, THE GRAND STATION.
UM, AND THAT, YOU KNOW, HE, HIS COMMENT WAS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO GROCERY STORES, THERE'S NO HOUSING, UM, THERE'S NO PEOPLE, UH, ON THE STREET.
UM, AND THEREFORE, UH, I DON'T THINK THAT HAD ANYTHING TO DO WELL, DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO, WHY WE DIDN'T GET THAT FUNDING, BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE STREET CAR PROJECT.
BUT IS THAT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION? UM, YOU KNOW, THE SORT OF OTHER, I I I SEE THAT, THAT PERHAPS POVERTY AND, AND AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN DISINVESTED IN IT, IT, THERE'S COMMENTS IN HERE.
UM, BUT I WAS ALWAYS CONCERNED THAT PERHAPS WE WOULDN'T GET THE PROJECTS THAT WE, WE MAY HAVE BEEN ELIGIBLE FOR PIECES THAT WERE LACKING.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF, IF THAT'S THE, IF THAT QUESTION CAN BE ANSWERED GIVEN ALL THE UNCERTAINTY.
YEAH, SO IF WE APPLY FOR A PROJECT, LET'S SAY WE APPLY AS THE CITY AS A SPONSOR IN PARTNERSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP WITH VIA FOR STREETCAR OR B R T, THE, THAT FUNDING WOULD PROBABLY BE A DISCRETIONARY GRANT, AND IT WOULD BE F T A MONEY.
AND SO F T A HAS A PROJECT JUSTIFICATION EVALUATION CRITERIA THAT THEY GO BY, AND IT IS INCLUDING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT,
[00:30:01]
AND I CAN SHARE THAT WITH, I'LL SEND THAT AFTER THIS CALL.IT IS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND NOW EVEN MORE SO EQUITY WITH THIS PARTICULAR ADMINISTRATION.
THEY ALSO LOOK AT LAND USE, THEY LOOK AT COST EFFECTIVENESS, THEY LOOK AT CONGESTION RELIEF.
SO IT'S GONNA LOOK AT ALL OF THOSE AREAS FOR THE PROJECT JUSTIFICATION UNDER MOBIL AND MOBILITY IMPROVEMENTS ALSO.
AND THEN THE OTHER PIECE BESIDES THE, THE JUSTIFICATION IS GONNA BE THE LOCAL FINANCIAL COMMITMENT.
SO THEY'RE LOOKING AT WHAT'S THE CURRENT FINANCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE PROJECT APPLICANTS, WHAT'S THE COMMITMENT OF FUNDS FROM THE REGION OR WHOEVER THE PARTNERS ARE, AND THEN WHAT'S THE REASONABLENESS OF THIS FUNDING? SO ESSENTIALLY, WE GO AFTER ONE OF THESE FIXED GUIDEWAY SYSTEMS, WHETHER IT'S RAIL, WHETHER IT'S, YOU KNOW, STREETCAR, WHAT HAVE YOU, AND HOW REASONABLE IS IT TO EXPECT THAT THIS REGION HAS PREPARED WITHIN OUR FUNDING, WITHIN OUR, WITHIN OUR FIVE YEAR C I P, WITHIN OUR TIP, THAT THIS IS A PRIORITY FOR US.
SO THEY'RE EVALUATING THE PROJECTS, AND IN ORDER FOR YOU TO GET THE FUNDING FROM THE F T A, YOU HAVE TO GET A MINIMUM OF A MEDIUM RATING BASED ON ALL THOSE CRITERIA.
SO YOU HAVE TO SHOW WHERE THESE MOBILITY IMPROVEMENTS THAT YOU'RE GOING AFTER THESE FUNDS FOR ARE GOING TO ALSO IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE IN ALL OF THOSE DIFFERENT PROJECT JUSTIFICATION AREAS.
SO THAT'S ON THE TRANSIT SIDE, IF WE WERE DOING A TRANSIT PROJECT.
AND THEN THERE ARE OTHER CRITERIA THAT FEDERAL HIGHWAY LOOKS AT WHEN IT COMES TO THOSE ROADWAY AND HIGHWAY, UH, ENGINEERING PROJECTS SUCH AS THAT CHAIR WILL, NO, THANK YOU, TAMIKA.
DID YOU WANNA EXPAND JEFF? YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO ADD ONE THING THAT I MEANT TO INCLUDE IN THE PRESENTATION, JUST FOR A LITTLE EXPECTATION SETTING.
THIS GRANT PROGRAM, THE RAISE GRANT PROGRAM IS HIGHLY, HIGHLY COMPETITIVE.
UH, WHEN IT WAS BILLED PREVIOUSLY, THEY RECEIVED, UH, 9,700 APPLICATIONS, ALMOST 10,000 APPLICATIONS, AND AWARDED FEWER THAN 700 PROJECTS.
SO, YOU KNOW, 7% BASICALLY, UH, WERE SUCCESSFUL.
UH, THAT SAID, UH, WE, WE'VE NOT HAD IN THE PAST SOMEBODY LIKE TAMIKA WHO REALLY UNDERSTANDS WHAT THE FEDS ARE LOOKING FOR, AND, AND THE WAY THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN A ADJUSTED TO FOCUS ON EQUITY AND SUSTAINABILITY AND THOSE SORTS OF THINGS REALLY LINES UP WELL WITH THE, WITH THE DIRECTION THAT THIS COUNCIL HAS BEEN GOING IN TERMS OF INFRASTRUCTURE OVER THE RECENT YEARS.
SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT IT.
BUT I WANNA ALSO MAKE SURE EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS IT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S VERY FEW, THERE ARE VERY FEW WINNERS IN THIS, UH, COMPETITION.
JEFF, DON'T BE THE DEBBIE DOWNER HERE.
UM, BUT, UH, I'LL TURN, UH, I DON'T SEE ANY, UH, COLLEAGUES THAT HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR, UM, I SEE COUNCIL MEMBER
UH, THANK YOU CHAIR, AND, UH, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UH, I THINK THAT EVERY MUNICIPALITY'S REALLY UNDERSTANDING THE, THAT THIS NEW FUNDING AND POLICIES FROM THE STATE AND FEDERAL LEVELS CAN, CAN BE AN OPPORTUNITY OR AN OBSTACLE TO ITS TRANSPORTATION AND MOBILITY GOALS.
UM, AND I KNOW YOU CHAIR HAVE, HAVE REALLY BEEN COMMITTED TO ELIMINATING PEDESTRIAN FATALITIES.
ANY PEDESTRIAN FATAL LIFE LOSS IS, IS TOO MANY.
AND THIS, THIS, THIS COMMITTEE IS, HAS REALLY, UH, YOU KNOW, PUT ITS FOUNDATION ON, ON, ON THAT CORE BELIEF.
UM, BETWEEN THE STATE BILLS FILED AND THE FEDERAL RACE PROGRAM, I ALSO SEE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES ON THE HORIZON.
UM, YOU KNOW, YOU MENTIONED ALL THE, ALL THE BILLS.
UM, MY QUESTIONS ARE, YOU KNOW, ARE, ARE THESE BILLS ALIGNED WITH, WITH THE VISION ZERO GOALS? AND DO THEY HAVE A HIGH PROBABILITY OF PASSING? UM, I ALWAYS TRY TO, TRY TO NOT PREDICT, UH, TOO MUCH.
UM, I, I WILL SAY THOUGH, THAT THEY'RE, I WOULDN'T SAY THEY'RE A HIGH PRIORITY FOR THE LEGISLATURE AS A WHOLE.
UM, THE, THAT SAID, UH, OF THE FIRST FOUR THAT I LISTED ON, UH, VISION ZERO, SLIDE THREE OF THE FOUR ARE MOVING IN SOME FORMER FASHION TWO HAVE BEEN VOTED OUT A COMMITTEE, I ACTUALLY MISSPOKE ON REPRESENTATIVE LOPEZ SAFE PASSING BILL.
THERE'S ACTUALLY A HEARING FOR THAT TOMORROW, UH, IN COMMITTEE.
SO, SO THERE IS SOME MOVEMENT THERE AS WELL.
BUT YES, ALL OF THEM LINE UP WITH VISION ZERO.
IN FACT, THIS, UH, FARM AND CITY GROUP IS A, IS I BELIEVE IS A LOCAL ARM OF THE VISION ZERO MOVEMENT, UH, OR A STATE ARM OF THE VISION ZERO MOVEMENT.
[00:35:01]
PUSHING SPECIFICALLY LEGISLATION THAT ALIGNS WITH THE VISION ZERO CORE PRINCIPLES.WELL, I, I DO THINK IT'S GONNA TAKE SAFER DESIGNS AND, AND MORE INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING, UH, BUT LAWS AT ANY LEVEL REALLY DO, UH, LIKE THESE HAVE COMMUNICATED VALUES AND VISION.
SO I, I'M, UH, I'M CONFIDENT OUR DELEGATION AND OTHER DELEGATIONS WILL GET THESE BILLS ACROSS THE FINISH LINE.
UH, WE DID SOME RESEARCH ON THE RAISE PROGRAM AND READ THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WILL PRIORITIZE PROJECTS THAT DEMONSTRATE IMPROVEMENTS TO RACIAL EQUITY, REDUCTIONS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS, AND THE ABILITY TO CREATE JOBS.
UH, FURTHER PROGRAMS LIKE RAISE ARE HIGHLY COMPETITIVE WITH ABOUT 7% OF THE PROJECT'S FUNDING, UH, OUT OF OVER 9,700 APPLICATIONS.
UH, I THINK WE JUST, WE, WE JUST HEARD A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT.
WHAT, WHAT STEPS, UH, WHAT OTHER STEPS WILL WE TAKE TO ENSURE THAT OUR APPLICATION STANDS OUT WHEN IT COMES TO RACIAL EQUITY CLIMATE AND JOB CREATION? TAMIKA, DO YOU WANNA ANSWER THAT? I THINK THE BEST WAY THAT WE ENSURE THAT OUR PROJECTS STAND OUT IS TO SHOW OUR WORK, TAKING IMAGES FROM OUR EQUITY ATLAS AND CORRELATING THOSE PRIORITIES THAT THE ADMINISTRATION HAS, AND SHOWING THAT THE REALLY UNIQUE AND DYNAMIC AND DETAILED WORK THAT THE CITY HAS DONE WITH ESTABLISHING WHAT OUR HISTORY HAS BEEN IN TERMS OF THE REDLINING.
AND THAT REALLY IN THE PROJECTS WE PROPOSE, WE ARE IDENTIFYING AND MAKING ATTEMPTS TO ADDRESS HISTORIC AND CONSISTENT OPPORTUNITIES THAT WERE LOST FOR US TO ENSURE AN EQUITABLE CITY.
SO I THINK A PICTURE'S WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS.
I'M TALKING TO SALLY NOW ABOUT, UH, SOME OF OUR PROPOSALS AND REALLY TRYING TO FRAME IT IN THROUGH THE LENS OF A PICTURE, BECAUSE YEAH, WE HAVE A THOUSAND WORDS TO SHARE, BUT ARE WE GRAPHICALLY REPRESENTING? DO WE HAVE THE TECHNICAL SKILL, WE HAVE THE INFORMATION, WE HAVE THE DATA, AND JUST SHOWING FROM OUR EQUITY ATLAS IN OUR APPLICATION WHERE WE ARE ADDRESSING THOSE CHALLENGES IS GONNA BE REALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO EVALUATE THESE PROPOSALS, COORDINATION, COORDINATION, COORDINATION, ROSIE AND I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE ON A CALL THIS MORNING WITH THE FORMER ACTING FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION SECRETARY, UM, ADMINISTRATOR, EXCUSE ME, CAROLYN FLOWERS.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS SHE SHARED WITH THE PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORTATION TEAM IN VIA IS THAT ANY APPLICATION YOU PUT FORWARD FOR THESE FEDERAL DOLLARS, YOU HAVE TO SHOW COORDINATION.
AS A FORMER ADMINISTRATOR, IT WAS PARAMOUNT THAT THE, THE PROJECTS THAT WERE PRESENTED SHOWED A CLEAR PICTURE, A CLEAR STORY OF HOW WE ARE PARTNERS.
WE ARE COORDINATED, BECAUSE WHEN THEY SEE THAT COORDINATION, THEY HAVE FEWER QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR CAPACITY TO MANAGE THESE HUGE LARGE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS FOR THE LONG HAUL, BECAUSE THEY DO TAKE A VERY LONG TIME.
AND SO THEIR CONFIDENCE IN US IS INCREASED WHEN WE CAN SHOW THAT GRAPHICALLY, VISUALLY, AND WE HAVE WHAT WE NEED.
I THINK WE DEFINITELY HAVE THE DATA TO SHOW WHERE WE'RE ADDRESSING THOSE THINGS.
AND, AND SPEAKING OF WHICH, HOW, HOW ARE WE GONNA, UM, ENGAGE OUR, OUR LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS, UH, HOW, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, ENGAGING OUR LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS BEFORE THE, BEFORE WE SEND THIS APPLICATION IS CRITICAL.
DO YOU HAVE A PLAN FOR THAT? SO I THINK IT'S GONNA, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
IT'S GONNA DEPEND ON WHAT WE PROPOSE, AND THEN IF WE GET INTO THE PROCESS, IF WE'RE AWARDED, WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SHOW HOW WE WILL CONTINUE THE ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS MEETING WITH THE COMMUNITY, HOW WE PROPOSE TO ENGAGE.
AND DEPENDING UPON WHERE WE ARE WITH REGARD TO THE PROJECTS WE PROPOSE, WE MAY BE AT DIFFERENT STAGES.
WE MAY BE IN DESIGN, WE MAY BE IN CONSTRUCTION, BUT HAVING A PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN, SO TYPICALLY WHAT HAPPENS IF WE ARE AWARDED A F T A GRANT, THE F T A IS GOING TO ASSIGN A PROJECT MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT CONTRACTORS WHO REVIEW AND MANAGE US AND MAKE SURE WE'RE COMPLIANT.
SO ONCE YOU GET INTO THAT FEDERAL PROCESS ON THE F D A SIDE, THEN YOU START DOING A LOT MORE DETAILED ENVIRONMENTAL.
AND WE WILL HAVE TO SHOW THAT WE HAVE A PLAN FOR THAT, THAT WE HAVE THE TECHNICAL CAPACITY, WE HAVE THE CONSULTANT SUPPORT AND THE EXPERTS TO DO THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING AND ALL THE PRE-CONSTRUCTION WORK THAT IS TYPICAL OF AN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT.
[00:40:01]
SOMEONE TO HELP GUIDE US THROUGH THAT PROCESS.IT'S NOT TOO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE ALREADY DO, IT'S JUST MORE DETAILED ON THE FRONT END IF YOU, IF WE'RE AWARDED F T A FUNDS FOR ANY OF THESE PROJECTS.
AND THEN ON THE FEDERAL HIGHWAY SIDE, IT'S THE SAME WITH A NEPA, DEPENDING UPON A LOT OF THESE PROJECTS THAT WE ALREADY HAVE IN THE TIP, WE KNOW WHETHER OR NOT IT'S GONNA BE A CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION, WHETHER OR NOT IT'S, WE'RE GONNA BE ASKING FOR AN E I S OR IF WE ARE DOING AN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT.
SO THE KEY TO F H W A AND F T A ARE MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE COMPLIANT WITH FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS AND MAKING SURE WE'RE ENGAGING THE PUBLIC.
SO IT'S A WHOLE PROCESS THAT WE GO THROUGH.
AND PART OF IT IS JUST KNOWING THAT THE PROJECT THAT WE PROPOSED IS A PROJECT THAT'S BEEN APPROVED AND VETTED LOCALLY, AND IT'S A LOCAL ALTERNATIVE THAT'S BEEN INFORMED BY THE VOTERS.
THAT'S INFORMED BY THE REGION.
UH, THIS WAS REALLY VERY INFORMATIVE AND I APPRECIATE THIS PRESENTATION.
UH, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
IN REGARDS TO THE, THE RAISE GRANT, HOW DO WE PLAN TO PRIORITIZE, PRIORITIZE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS? WILL IT BE BY DOLLAR AMOUNT OR CATEGORY? UM, I, I'LL START BY ANSWERING THAT.
I THINK THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO PITCH SOMETHING BIG AND, AND TRANSFORMATIVE YOU.
LIKE, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE VARIOUS SIZES OF PROGRAMS THAT WE CAN APPLY FOR, AND THIS IS REALLY THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE BIGGER ONES WITH A, WITH A $25 MILLION CAP ON IT.
UM, I, I THINK TAMIKA MENTIONED EARLIER, THE M P O, THAT IS OUR REGIONAL ENTITY, OF COURSE.
SO I, I WOULD ASSUME WE'RE GONNA HAVE CONVERSATIONS AT THAT LEVEL.
OUR I G R COMMITTEE NOW IS A, UH, IS A JOINT CITY COUNTY, AND WE'VE ALREADY HAD TWO DISCUSSIONS WITH THEM ABOUT SOME OF THE OPPORTUNITIES COMING.
AND THEN SALLY AND OUR, OUR TEAM HOST A, A, A FREQUENT, UH, INTERGOVERNMENTAL ROUND TABLE WITH ALL THE OTHER PUBLIC ENTITIES AND CHAMBERS IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND WE'VE STARTED CONVERSATIONS WITH THEM ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO I, I'M THE, THE HOPE AND THE PLAN IS BETWEEN ALL THOSE VARIOUS PIECES, WE, WE COME TOGETHER AND SETTLE ON, ON SOME REALLY HIGH PRIORITIES FOR THE COMMUNITY THAT LINE UP WELL WITH THE CRITERIA IN THE, IN THE PROGRAM.
SO, UH, SO HOW WILL IT COME TOGETHER THEN, IF WE HAVE THESE DIFFERENT ENTITIES, UM, GIVING THEIR INPUT, INCLUDING IT MAYBE THE PUBLIC AT SOME POINT, RIGHT.
UM, HOW WILL, HOW WILL THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS HAPPEN THEN ON WHERE WILL THAT HAPPEN? I, I THINK AT THE END OF THE DAY, AND ROD, YOU CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG HERE, BUT I BELIEVE THE GRANT APPLICATION ITSELF WOULD BE COUNCIL APPROVED TYPICALLY.
UM, IS THAT, AM I CORRECT ON THAT? YEAH, I BELIEVE SO.
I BELIEVE IT WOULD'VE TO TAKE IT TO COUNCIL.
SO YES, THAT WOULD BE, IT WOULD BE OBVIOUSLY COORDINATION, UH, THROUGH THAT PROCESS.
SO I, I, MY, MY FIRST QUESTION WAS ABOUT LIKE, HOW, HOW WE'RE CATEGORIZING IT.
SO I I, IF I HEARD YOU CORRECTLY, WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT SO MUCH CATEGORIES AS LOOKING AT BIG, BIG PROJECTS.
SO THERE'LL BE SORT OF ONE OFF.
OH, I THINK I, I, I THINK I BETTER UNDERSTAND YOUR QUESTION NOW.
UM, THE, THE RAISE PROGRAM, THE, THE GRANT THAT'S AVAILABLE NOW IS TRANSPORTATION, YOU KNOW, TRADITIONAL TRANSPORTATION ORIENTED, UH, AND I DON'T MEAN TRADITIONAL IN TERMS OF, UH, ONLY HIGHWAYS AND SO FORTH, BUT I MEAN, IN, IN THE SENSE OF, UH, THE INFRASTRUCTURE WE THINK OF AROUND SURFACE TRANSPORTATION, THE, THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PLAN, IF THAT ULTIMATELY, UH, FINDS ITS WAY THROUGH CONGRESS AND GETS APPROVED, IS MUCH WIDER ENCOMPASSING THAN THAT.
AND SO, UH, I'VE TALKED ABOUT IT WITH ERIC AND WITH ROD AND OUR EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM.
I THINK WE INTEND FOR SEVERAL OF THE COUNCIL COMMITTEES TO BE HAVING CONVERSATIONS AROUND THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT THIS PLAN WOULD PRESENT.
FOR EXAMPLE, HOUSING IS, IS ONE, BROADBAND IS ANOTHER, ENERGY IS ANOTHER.
SO THESE ARE ALL COMPONENTS THAT, UH, THAT ARE GONNA REQUIRE CONVERSATION, UH, PERHAPS NOT JUST BY ONE COUNCIL COMMITTEE, BUT BY THE ONE MOST RELEVANT TO THAT JURISDICTION.
WE DON'T REALLY KNOW YET AT THIS POINT.
IT'S JUST THE ADMINISTRATION'S PROPOSAL ON THE TABLE.
BUT IF IT ALL PLAYS OUT, UH, WE EXPECT BIG OPPORTUNITIES IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT AREAS THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO THE COMMUNITY.
AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IT WITH YOU NOW SO THAT THERE'S EARLY AWARENESS AND, AND WE CAN BE BUILDING THE, THE DIALOGUE AS WE SORT OF SETTLE ON, ON WHAT SORTS OF THINGS TO APPLY FOR.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY, YOU SAID THAT IT WILL BE APPROVED BY FULL COUNCIL, THOUGH THE, I, I BELIEVE THE RAISE GRANT WOULD,
[00:45:01]
I THINK A GRANT SUBMITTAL AND, AND ULTIMATE RECEIPT, IF WE'RE SUCCESSFUL, WOULD, WOULD BE A COUNCIL ACTION.COUNCILWOMAN BERRA, HOVER TO COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL.
UM, JUST A REAL QUICK QUESTION ON PRIMA FASCIA, THE SPEED LIMIT ISSUE.
UH, A WHILE BACK, I BELIEVE IT WAS AT THIS COMMITTEE, I HAD REQUESTED A COST ESTIMATE FOR WHAT IT WOULD TAKE FOR US TO CHANGE THIS SPEED LIMIT WITHOUT THIS CHANGE IN LAW.
UM, I'D LIKE TO MAKE THAT REQUEST AGAIN, AND I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHEN WE CAN GET AN ESTIMATE FOR THAT.
COUNCILWOMAN, THIS IS
AND, UM, I'D, I'D LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT WE, UH, IF THIS ISN'T REALLY, IF WE DON'T EXPECT THIS TO PASS AT THE STATE LEGISLATURE, THAT WE LOOK FOR FUNDING SOURCES TO, TO DO THAT.
WE RECENTLY SUBMITTED, UM, OUR PROJECTS TO THE M P O CALL FOR PROJECTS, AND I DIDN'T NOTICE THIS AT THE TIME, BUT THE S T V G POT WAS $165 MILLION AND WE SUBMITTED $155 MILLION WORTH OF PROJECTS.
THE TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES AND CMAC POTS WERE MUCH SMALLER, BUT WE ALSO SUBMITTED A MUCH SMALLER, UM, ASK ON THOSE, EVEN, EVEN THOUGH THOSE, THAT FUNDING ONLY APPLIES TO BEXAR COUNTY.
SO IT WOULD SEEM THAT WE'D HAVE LESS AGENCIES TO, TO COMPETE WITH, UH, ON THAT.
SO IT SEEMS LIKE MAYBE WE MISSED SOME, SOME OPPORTUNITIES.
I THINK, UH, IF I HAVE THE NUMBER HERE, THE, WE REQUESTED, UH, WE SUBMITTED $65 MILLION IN PROJECTS, AND $132 MILLION WERE AVAILABLE.
SO, UH, LESS THAN OR ABOUT, WE'RE COMPETING FOR ABOUT 50% OF THE FUNDS.
AND IN THE OTHER POT WE SUBMITTED 155 WHEN $165 MILLION WERE, WERE AVAILABLE.
UM, SO I'M, I'M JUST WONDERING IF THAT, IF THAT WOULD'VE BEEN A, A POSSIBLE FUNDING SOURCE FOR THAT.
UH, A FOLLOW UP QUESTION TO THAT IS, UM, SO IF I GO TO ONE OF THE SMALLER SUBURBAN CITIES IN, IN THE AREA, UH, I DRIVE INTO SAY, ALMOST PARK, AND IT'S A SPEED LIMIT 25 MILES PER HOUR, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, UM, WHY IS, WHY DOES THAT APPLY IN A PLACE LIKE OLMOS PARK, BUT NOT IN SAN ANTONIO? COULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN THAT TO ME? UH, I, I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER ENTIRELY.
I DO KNOW THAT SOME COMMUNITIES HAVE LOWERED IT.
UH, I BELIEVE ALAMO HEIGHTS MAY ALSO, UH, HAVE LOWERED THEIR RESIDENTIAL SPEED LIMIT.
UM, MY GUESS IS THAT THEY DO HAVE IT POSTED, BUT, BUT I'M, BUT I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE IN TERMS OF WHAT THE STATE LAW REQUIREMENTS ARE IN TERMS OF HOW MUCH SIGNAGE AND HOW FREQUENTLY AND, AND WHETHER IT VARIES IN A SMALL CITY VERSUS A LARGE CITY.
UH, RAZZY, IF YOU DON'T KNOW, WE COULD, WE COULD LOOK THAT UP AND FOLLOW UP, BUT, BUT I'M NOT FAMILIAR, JEFF, MY UNDERSTANDING, WE HAVE TO HAVE SIGN ALMOST ON EVERY ROAD.
WE ESTIMATE IT IS GOING TO COST US 1 MILLION TO BASICALLY PLACE THOSE SIGN, BUT REALLY WE HAVE TO ALSO MAINTAIN THOSE SIGN IS GOING TO HAVE ADDITIONAL ANNUAL MAINTENANCE COST OFF TO MAKE SURE THAT MANY SIGNS GOING TO BE MAINTAINED.
SO, UH, OUR ANNUAL BUDGET FOR PUBLIC WORKS IS, IS WHAT RAZZI IS, I BELIEVE, 667 MILLION, BUT 55, 400 50 MILLION OR SO GOES REALLY THERE FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS.
SIGNIFICANT OF THAT GOES FOR THE PROJECT CONSTRUCTION.
SO WOULD YOU CONSIDER THIS A CAPITAL PROJECT SINCE IT'S INSTALLING SIGNS? NOT BY ITSELF, BECAUSE IT HAS TO BE PART OF THE PROJECT? WELL, I'M WONDERING IF IT'S A MILLION DOLLARS AND LET'S SAY WE DON'T DO IT ALL IN, UH, IN ONE YEAR, AND WE TAKE PARTS OF THE CITY AT A TIME.
I MEAN, MAYBE WE CAN SPREAD THAT OUT OVER 10 YEARS, UH, AT THE, AT THE RATE AT WHICH THE LEGISLATURE'S GOING.
I DON'T
SO I'D LIKE, UH, CHAIR, IF, IF WE COULD CONSIDER THIS FOR NEXT YEAR'S BUDGET, I DON'T, I'M NOT SURE YOU'RE GONNA BE HERE WITH US WHEN WE DO THAT, BUT TO, TO BASICALLY
[00:50:01]
START DEVELOPING A PLAN WHERE WE DO IT.IF, IF WE'RE COMMITTED TO THIS, WHICH IT SOUNDS LIKE WE ARE, BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO, IT'S PART OF OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA THAT WE JUST DO IT AND FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
WE PHYSICALLY COULD NOT DO THAT.
WE PROBABLY NEED TO BREAK IT DOWN.
IF 10 YEARS, PROBABLY TOO LONG, MAYBE IN FIVE YEARS OR SO, WE CAN COVER ENTIRE CITY.
WELL, UH, I WOULD, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE A, A PROPOSAL ON THAT IN, IN NEXT YEAR'S, UH, BUDGET.
UM, ALL RIGHT, WELL, THANK YOU.
WAS THAT ALL YOU HAD? CH UH, COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL.
AND I JUST, I, I, I WANTED ANOTHER QUESTION I HAD EVEN SORT OF REGARDING THE RAMP UP OF THE ELECTRIC VEHICLES, BECAUSE I, A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, OR I DON'T KNOW, SOME TIME AGO I ASKED A, A CAR A, AN OWNER OF A CAR DEALERSHIP, WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE CARS THAT THEY SOLD WERE ELECTRIC? AND SHE SAID ABOUT 3%, WHICH WAS, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY LIKE NOT MUCH.
AND SO I, I WAS GOOGLING IT, JUST TO BE SURE.
AND SO WHAT I DO SHOW IS THAT IN 2019, IT WAS 2.5% AND IN 2020, LIKE 4.2% IN THE UNITED STATES, BUT OTHER COUNTRIES ARE MAKING MUCH, MUCH BIGGER IMPROVEMENTS, UM, ON THE RATE OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES.
SO I JUST, I, UH, I I SEE THAT THAT'S VERY HEAVY, UH, IN THE LEGISLATIVE PIECE.
AND, UM, AND I, UH, I KNOW THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IT AT THE M P O LEVEL AND, AND OF COURSE HERE LOCALLY ABOUT HAVING, UM, MORE, UH, READY FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.
BUT, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW TAMIKA, WHAT, WHAT, I MEAN, WHAT COMES FIRST, THE INFRASTRUCTURE PART OR THE MARKET, UM, SAYING THAT THEY WANT THAT, OR WHAT IS THE, UM, UH, I DON'T KNOW, IS THERE SOME RESEARCH ON THAT? I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS I, I THINK WE NEED TO SLOW WALK ELECTRIC VEHICLES, GIVEN OUR RECENT EVENTS AND THE CAPACITY OF OUR GRID.
WE'VE BEEN HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH VIA, WITH THE AIRPORT AND TALKING ABOUT ALTERNATIVE FUELS, BUT IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE CAPACITY TO MAINTAIN ALTERNATIVE FUEL VEHICLES AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES.
AND THE OTHER PIECE OF AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGY IS THAT MOST AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES ARE BATTERY ELECTRIC.
AND SO WHEN YOU TAKE ON BATTERY ELECTRIC OPERATION, YOU NEED TO HAVE STORAGE CAPACITY FOR ALL THOSE BATTERIES THAT YOU WILL REQUIRE IF YOU HAVE LARGE FLEETS.
SO THERE'S, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF CONVERSATIONS THAT NEED TO BE HAD.
WHEN WE TALK ABOUT AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGY FROM AN OPERATING PERSPECTIVE AND BEING ABLE TO HAVE AUTONOMOUS FLEETS FOR BUSES, WE NEED TO HAVE INFRASTRUCTURE, WE NEED TO HAVE CURBS, WE NEED TO HAVE GUTTERS, WE NEED CURBS FOR VEHICLES TO SEE.
THE TECHNOLOGY IS STILL VERY NEW HERE IN THE COUNTRY, BUT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS WE HAVE TO CONSIDER, BUT WE CAN'T DO IT IN A VACUUM.
WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT WHAT THE AUTONOMY NEEDS ARE FOR THE TRANSIT AGENCY, FOR THE EMERGENCY VEHICLES, FOR THE CITY'S FLEET.
AND THEN WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT STORING BATTERIES FOR THE VEHICLES THAT ARE BATTERY ELECTRIC, BECAUSE MOST AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGY AND VEHICLES THAT ARE OUT HERE TODAY ARE BATTERY ELECTRIC.
SO THAT'S A HEAVY, HEAVY LIFT AND INFRASTRUCTURE AND SPACE CAPACITY NEEDS.
SO WE CAN'T DO IT IN A VACUUM.
WE HAVE TO LOOK AT ALL OF THE ELEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH BRINGING ON AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGY, LOOKING AT FIVE G, LOOKING AT OUR SIGNAL SYSTEMS AND INTEGRATING THE SIGNALS WITH AUTONOMOUS TECHNOLOGY.
IT'S NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.
IT'S BASICALLY THE, THE FOUR MODEL T IN THE 21ST CENTURY.
AND SO IT'S GONNA TAKE A WHILE AND THERE'LL BE MANY ITERATIONS OF IT, BUT YOU HAVE TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY AND THE CAPACITY, BECAUSE THE WORST THING WE CAN DO IS INVEST IN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES THAT ARE PARKED BECAUSE WE CAN ONLY OPERATE THEM IN CERTAIN PARTS OF THE CITY, OR BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH BATTERY STORAGE FACILITIES OR CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE THROUGHOUT THE CITY TO MAINTAIN THEM.
I, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY.
I'LL JUST LIKE HAVE TO HAND THAT OFF TO THE NEXT, UM, UH, COMMITTEE.
SO THANK YOU, UM, UH, VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UH, IT WAS VERY ENLIGHTENING TO ME AND, UH, WE LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUED WORK AND SUPPORT WITH OUR PARTNERS, UH, TO ACHIEVE SOME OF THESE GOALS.
UM, UH, SO WILL, UH, COUNCILMAN PERRY, DID YOU HAVE A, DID YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS? I, I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T SEE YOUR HAND RAISED, BUT YOU'RE WELCOME.
[00:55:01]
HAND HERE INSTEAD OF MY AUTOMATED HAND.UM, I, I HOPE EVERYBODY REALLY HEARD WHAT TAMIKA WAS SAYING, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES YOU CAN GET, PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE, AND WE REALLY CAN'T DO THAT BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE LIMITATIONS THAT WE HAVE ACROSS THE CITY.
UH, I, I'VE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR SEVERAL YEARS ABOUT OUR ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
WE DON'T HAVE THE ELECTRICAL INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT, UH, BATTERY POWERED CARS ALL OVER THE CITY.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE COORDINATED WITH, UH, C P SS AND, UH, WITH TRANSPORTATION.
AND, AND THIS NEEDS TO BE A COORDINATED EFFORT, JUST LIKE SHE SAID.
SO I'M, I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS THIS ISN'T, THIS ISN'T JUST ALL BY ITSELF.
UM, UH, AS FAR AS INFRASTRUCTURE GOES, UM, I, I TOTALLY SUPPORT THIS, WHAT THE STATE HAS RIGHT NOW ON, UM, UH, CHARGING ELECTRIC VEHICLES FOR USES OF THE ROAD.
JUST LIKE, UH, THE GAS FEE, WE DON'T GET ENOUGH FROM, WE DON'T GET ANY FEE FROM, UH, ELECTRIC VEHICLES ON USING THE HIGHWAY.
SO I'M, I'M FULLY SUPPORTIVE OF THAT AS WELL AS HYBRID VEHICLES.
ALSO, IT'S BOTH HYBRIDS AND, UH, FULLY ELECTRIC VEHICLE.
SO I'M, I'M SUPPORTING THAT AS WELL.
UM, ON THE, UM, THE, UH, TRAFFIC SPEED LIMITS WITHIN, WITHIN NEIGHBORHOODS, I GET A LOT OF COMPLAINTS ABOUT THAT.
ALSO, ABOUT WHY WE DON'T LOWER THE SPEED LIMITS ACROSS OUR NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE CHILDREN ARE PLAYING, UH, PEDESTRIANS, THAT KIND OF THING.
UM, THERE'S, AND IT'S NOT ONLY JUST LOWERING THE SPEED LIMIT, BUT WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH, UH, POLICEMEN ACROSS THE CITY TO ENFORCE THE SPEED LIMITS WE HAVE TODAY.
I MEAN, THE 30 MILE AN HOUR SPEED LIMIT, PEOPLE DON'T PAY ANY ATTENTION TO 'EM BECAUSE IT, IT'S NOT BEING ENFORCED ACROSS THE CITY.
SO THERE AGAIN, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT, NOT JUST SPENDING A MILLION DOLLARS OUT THERE, BUT LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT IT'S GONNA TAKE FOR, TO ENFORCE THOSE SPEED LIMITS.
YOU KNOW, IT'S ONE THING, THERE'S SPEED LIMIT SIGNS ALL OVER THIS PLACE, BUT, UM, I WOULD SAY VERY FEW PEOPLE ACTUALLY PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE SPEED LIMITS BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT BEING ENFORCED.
SO I, I, I WOULD CAUTION US ALSO ABOUT JUMPING OFF AND CHANGING THE SPEED LIMITS WITHOUT, UH, KNOWING THAT THOSE ARE ACTUALLY GONNA BE ENFORCED.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE GET SPEEDING TICKETS OUT THERE FOR THAT.
AND I CONTINUALLY GET THOSE COMPLAINTS ABOUT SPEEDERS, AND THAT'S WITH THE CURRENT SPEED LIMITS.
SO, UM, FOR SOME STRANGE REASON IN THE BACK OF MY MIND, JUST CHANGING OUT A TRAFFIC SIGN THAT LOWERS IT FROM 30 DOWN TO 25 OR WHATEVER, WE'RE, WE'RE STILL GONNA HAVE SPEEDERS OUT THERE, AND YOU GOT TO HAVE THAT OTHER ARM TO ENFORCE THAT, ENFORCE THOSE, UH, SPEED LIMITS ALSO.
SO THAT'S JUST MY COMMENT ABOUT THAT.
UM, AND SOMETHING FOR US TO THINK ABOUT BEFORE WE LAUNCH OFF IN A CERTAIN DIRECTION.
ALSO, YOU KNOW, I, I MEAN, ROD, WHAT, WHAT'S YOUR FEELING ABOUT THAT? I MEAN, I'M GETTING COMPLAINTS ALL THE TIME ABOUT SPEEDING THROUGH NEIGHBORHOODS ABOVE WHAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE.
AND, UH, UH, I DON'T SEE AN ANSWER OUTSIDE OF THAT, OTHER THAN WE NEED MORE POLICE TO ENFORCE THE SPEED LIMITS AROUND.
WELL, IT'S DEFINITELY A, A TWO PART PROCESS, YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE, IF WE WANNA DO THIS SOMETHING COUNCIL WANTS TO DO, I MEAN, YOU GOTTA START OUT BY CHANGING THE SPEED LIMIT.
BUT YES, UH, WE NEED TO LOOK AT, AT, UH, ENFORCEMENT AND, UH, WHAT, WHAT ENFORCEMENT IS, IS AVAILABLE TO US, UH, YOU KNOW, TO, TO DO THAT.
SO YEAH, SOMETHING THAT, UH, THAT WE, WE DO NEED TO LOOK AT.
BUT I AGREE, IT IS A, IT IS A TWO PART PROCESS, ONE IS CHANGE THE LIMIT TWO, YOU, YOU NEED TO ENFORCE IT.
UH, ALL RIGHT, WELL, THANK YOU.
UM, AND, UH, LET'S MOVE ALONG.
UH, THIS WAS JUST FOR A BRIEFING, SO NO ACTION REQUIRED TODAY.
UM, LET'S, UM, MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT
[3. 21-3156 Briefing on Using the Howard W. Peak Greenway Trails System as a Mobility Option. [Roderick Sanchez, Assistant City Manager; Tomika Monterville, Director, Transportation]]
ITEM, THE SAN ANTONIO GREENWAY TRAIL, UM, PRESENTATION.AND THIS WILL BE, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S HOMER OR, UH, DANIEL AL, WHO'S GIVING OUR TAMIKA OH, TAMIKA'S GIVING OUR, OUR GREENWAY PRESENTATION.
OKAY, WELL, I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT.
I THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA COME FROM HOMER, SO, UM, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO YOU,
[01:00:01]
TAMIKA.SO WE WANTED TO GIVE AN UPDATE ON THE GREENWAY TRAILS AND TO TALK ABOUT THE SYSTEM, THIS AMAZING SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE, AND IT OFFERS US GREEN SPACE AND ALSO RECREATION THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
AND IN CONVERSATION WITH THIS COMMITTEE, QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT WE CAN DO TO REALLY RAISE THE PROFILE AND SEEK FUTURE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AS A PART OF THE CONVERSATION RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION AND MOBILITY.
SO THAT'S WHY WE WANTED TO JUST PROVIDE YOU WITH AN UPDATE ON THE GREENWAY TRAILS TODAY.
THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR SAN ANTONIO RESIDENTS AND VISITORS.
SO THROUGH THIS PARK SYSTEM, THE CONNECTIVITY AND ACCESSIBILITY IS AMAZING.
YOU ARE ESSENTIALLY WALKING THROUGH NATURE, BUT YOU'RE A PART OF ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S LARGEST URBAN AREAS.
THIS LINEAR CREEK SYSTEM WAS APPROVED BY THE 11 COUNCIL MEMBERS APPOINTED TO THE CITY, AND IT HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS SOURCE OF PRIDE AND A SOURCE OF HEALTH AND WELLNESS FOR THE CITY AND ITS VISITORS.
SO THE GREENWAY SYSTEM, WHICH IS NAMED AFTER HOWARD PEAK, OUR ILLUSTRIOUS FORMER MAYOR, IS APPROXIMATELY 82 MILES OF TRAIL.
AND OF THIS SYSTEM, 15 MILES ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION RIGHT NOW, AND 17 MILES ARE EITHER IN PLANNING OR DESIGN.
THIS SYSTEM COVERS APPROXIMATELY 1600 ACRES OF CREEKWAY LAND THAT HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED TO DATE.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS MAP, IT IS PRETTY MUCH THE WHOLE CITY.
THIS IS A VERY UNIQUE SYSTEM THAT ALSO CONNECTS US WITH OUR WONDERFUL WATER RESOURCES.
AND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT TRAIL SYSTEMS, ENSURING THAT WE ARE SUSTAINING THE QUALITY OF OUR WATER SYSTEMS AS WELL AS BEING HEALTHY IS SO IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY IN THESE TIMES WHERE WATER RESOURCES ARE VERY, VERY CHALLENGED.
SO ALL OF THE DEPARTMENTS WHO ARE A PART OF THIS PROGRAM AND MAKE THIS HAPPEN, THE COASTAL DEPARTMENTS, INCLUDING PUBLIC WORKS, TRANSPORTATION, AND ALL THE STREET PROJECTS THAT WE DO, THEY ALL CONNECT TO THIS WONDERFUL SYSTEM.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SIDEWALK AND BIKE LAND SYSTEM AND THE COORDINATION OF TRANSIT, WE'RE LOOKING AT THESE SYSTEMS THROUGH A LENS THAT TALKS ABOUT CONNECTIVITY.
CONNECTIVITY IS THE WAY TO GO VIA SUSTAINABILITY WITH OUR BIKE MASTER PLAN, AND ALSO WITH BAYER COUNTY.
AND ENSURING THAT OUR FLOOD CONTROL IS OCCURRING AT OUR PARKS IS REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT TO THE MAINTENANCE THAT WE CONSTANTLY TALK ABOUT WHEN WE'RE DISCUSSING OUR STORM WATER.
BUT WHEN WE THINK OF OUR PARKS AND TRAIL SYSTEMS, WE ALSO NEED TO START THINKING ABOUT THEM MORE IN TERMS OF TRANSPORTATION.
THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PARK IS TO CREATE A SAFE AND FRIENDLY PLACE WITH THE 10 OR 12 FOOT WIDE ACCESSIBLE TRAILS.
SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE TRAILS, WE LET THE LAND DICTATE TO US WHAT THE WIDTH OF THAT RIGHT OF WAY IS.
ONE OF OUR GOALS IN CREATING THIS SYSTEM AND THE CITY'S GOALS IN CREATING THE SYSTEM WAS NOT TO DISTURB THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, BUT TO COMPLIMENT IT.
AND SO WE KNOW THERE'S SOME PARTS OF THE TRAIL WHERE WE GET A LOT OF ACTIVITY.
SO IN THOSE INSTANCES, YOU MIGHT SEE A 12 FOOT WIDE TRAIL AS OPPOSED TO A 10 FOOT WIDE TRAIL.
AND IN SOME PORTIONS OF THE TRAIL, IT'S THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT WHICH HELPS US KEEP OUR PROMISE TO THE COMMUNITY AND KEEP OUR PROMISE TO MOTHER EARTH IN MAINTAINING LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES WHERE WE CAN, ENSURING THAT THE NATURAL CANOPIES OF TREES AND THE NATIVE SPECIES ARE NOT HARMED BY OUR EFFORTS IN ENSURING THAT WE STAY HEALTHY AND WELL.
WE ALSO FOCUS ON, WITH THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT, THEY DO A LOT OF WORK IN REMOVING INVASIVE SPECIES.
YOU KNOW, OVER THE CENTURIES WE'VE ACQUIRED SPECIES THAT WERE NOT NATIVE TO THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY, AND IN SOME INSTANCES WE'VE HAD TO ADDRESS RE REMEDIATION OF THOSE INVASIVE SPECIES THAT REALLY CAN IMPACT THE QUALITY OF THE TRAIL EXPERIENCE.
SO THE EXISTING MAJOR SYSTEM CONNECTIONS ARE THE LEON CREEK GREENWAY, WHICH CONNECTS TO THE SATO CREEK GREENWAY, THE MEDINA RIVER GREENWAY, TO THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER TRAILS AND THE WEST SIDE CREEKS TO THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER.
THESE ARE THE EXISTING SYSTEMS, AND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE OF OUR TRAIL SYSTEMS, THE
[01:05:01]
SATO NORTH TO SATO SOUTH AT FORT SAM HOUSTON IS ONE THAT WE'VE, WE'VE DISCUSSED IN, IN MANY OCCASIONS SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE WITH THIS COMMITTEE.AND ALSO SATO CREEK TO THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER, AND THEN THE NORTH LEON TO THE SOUTH LEON PORTION NEAR LACKLAND DOWN SOUTH, AND THEN THE LEON CREEK GREENWAY TO THE MEDINA RIVER GREENWAY.
THESE ARE SOME IMAGES OF THE LEON CREEK GREENWAY TO SATO CREEK.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE IN SOME PARTS OF THE TRAIL, IT'S SUCH A DIVERSE EXPERIENCE.
YOU CAN BE WALKING IN ONE PART OR RIDING YOUR BIKE OR JUST TAKING A LEISURELY HIKE, AND YOU'LL FIND THAT IT'S REALLY URBAN.
AND THEN IN SOME PARTS YOU'LL END UP IN THIS NATURE SCAPE AND YOU'LL THINK YOU'RE IN ANOTHER CITY.
SO IF YOU HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO DEFINITELY GET OUT THERE.
SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THIS CONNECTION HERE, THIS IS THE SYSTEM OF THE TRAIL THAT'S UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND PLANNED TO BE COMPLETED THIS YEAR.
AND THEN WE HAVE THE PORTION THAT IS FOUR MILES UP NORTH OF THE RAM IN NORTH OF THE GREENWAY PORTION.
THOSE FOUR MILES WERE COMPLETED IN DECEMBER OF 2020.
SO THIS IS THE CONNECTION OF LEON CREEK TO SATO CREEK.
SO WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE CITY AND THE CONNECTIONS IN THE NORTH AND THE NORTHEAST PORTIONS OF THE CITY, THIS IS A CRITICAL NEXUS FOR THE TRAIL BECAUSE YOU'RE GIVING PEOPLE AN OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A, A, A IMPORTANT CONNECTION ACROSS FOUR 10 AND OUTSIDE THE LOOP, GETTING OUTSIDE OF THE LOOP SO THAT YOU CAN GET TO SOME OF THOSE AREAS THAT PREVIOUSLY WERE NOT ACCESSIBLE BY THE TRAIL.
SO THESE ARE SOME IMAGES FROM THE MEDINA RIVER GREENWAY TO THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER.
AND AS I SAID, IN DIFFERENT PORTIONS OF THE TRAIL, GOING FROM 10 FEET TO 12 FEET CAN REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO PRESERVATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE.
SO I KNOW MANY TIMES PEOPLE SAY, OH, THEY NEED TO WIDEN THE TRAIL BECAUSE THERE'S SO MANY PEOPLE THERE, BUT WE REALLY WANNA BE SENSITIVE TO THE ENVIRONMENT AND LET THE LANDSCAPE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT DICTATE HOW THE TRAIL PERCEIVES AND GROWS.
SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THIS MAP HERE, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF CONNECTIONS THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE MEDINA RIVER GREENWAY SYSTEM.
AND SO THIS WHOLE PORTION OF THE TRAIL SYSTEM AND THE MEDINA RIVER TRAIL HEAD AND THEN THE APPLEWHITE TRAIL HEAD, ALL OF THESE CONNECTIONS ARE AROUND AN AREA THAT MANY OF US ARE FAMILIAR WITH, WITH THE TOYOTA PLANT.
AND AS WE LOOK AT OUR MAJOR THOROUGHFARE PLAN AND LOOK AT ALL OF THESE PLANS THAT WE WORK ON THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, IT'S REALLY CRITICAL TO ENSURE THAT THE AMENDMENTS THAT WE MAKE TO THE MAJOR THOROUGHFARE PLAN DO NOT IMPACT THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE AND THE WETLANDS THAT HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED IN SOME INSTANCES BY PRIVATE DEVELOPERS AND ALSO BY THE CITY, RECOGNIZING THE VALUE OF MAINTAINING THESE GREEN SPACES, WHICH EVENTUALLY CAN BECOME CONNECTIONS FOR US.
AS A COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ MENTIONED IT, YOU KNOW, IT COULD BE A FERRY WHO, WHO KNOWS IT COULD BE A GONDOLA.
SO KEEPING THESE THINGS IN MIND IN THE TRAIL SYSTEMS IS GONNA BE CRITICAL THAT WE IDENTIFY WHERE WE ARE IMPACTING THE NATURAL RESOURCES, WHERE WE'RE MAKING SURE WE'RE CONSERVING IN THE CONSERVATION AREAS AND NOT IMPACTING THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE.
SO THE WEST SIDE CREEK CREEK GREENWAY TRAILS TO THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER.
THESE BRIDGES ARE REALLY, REALLY UNIQUE.
AND WHAT'S BEAUTIFUL ABOUT THE MATERIALS THAT HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED INTO THE TRAILS IS THAT OVER TIME, WITH THE PATINA OF THE MEADOW, IT REALLY MAKES IT APPEAR AS IF IT'S BEEN HERE FOR A LONG TIME.
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT DOESN'T DETRACT FROM THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE, WHICH WE WANT TO BLEND IN.
BUT WE ALSO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THESE GREENWAYS ARE ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYONE, WHETHER YOU'RE ON A MOBILITY DEVICE OR IF YOU'RE RIDING YOUR BIKE.
THAT IS WHAT MAKES THE GREENWAY SYSTEM HERE IN SAN ANTONIO VERY UNIQUE NATIONALLY IN THAT MOST OF THIS SYSTEM IS ACCESSIBLE FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIFFERENT ABILITIES.
THIS IS ANOTHER MAP LOOKING AT THE WEST SIDE CREEKS AND WHERE WE ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND WHERE THE DESIGN IS COMPLETE.
SO AS WE TALK ABOUT FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRANTS, I THINK AS WE REFRAME, NOT JUST LOOKING AT THE TRAILS AS PARKS AND RECREATION, BUT THESE TRULY ARE MOBILITY OPTIONS FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO A VEHICLE IN SOME PARTS OF THE CITY, WE
[01:10:01]
CAN ALSO LOOK TO FUTURE PLANS TO DEVELOP THIS SYSTEM.AND THOSE ARE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FUTURE THAT WE MAY HAVE AS WELL TO APPLY FOR PLANNING GRANTS TO EXTEND THE SYSTEM AND OR MAINTAIN THE SYSTEM AND TO ENSURE THAT IT LASTS AS LONG AS WE NEED IT TO.
SO HERE'S THE HOWARD PEAK GREENWAY TRAIL SYSTEM.
AND THIS AERIAL VIEW ON THE RIGHT IS REALLY, REALLY GREAT BECAUSE IT JUST SHOWS YOU THE DEPTH OF THE SYSTEM, BUT ALSO WHERE WE HAVE INCORPORATED A TRAIL INTO PARTS THAT WERE PROBABLY NEVER THOUGHT TO BE WALKED ON OR TO BE SHARED OR EXPERIENCED.
AND THERE'S A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE YOU HAVE WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE GREEN SPACE VERSUS WALKING ON THE CONCRETE TRAIL AND THEN THE NATURAL TRAIL, YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE WITH NATURE AND IT GIVES YOU AN OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE YOUR PETS ON THE TRAIL AS WELL.
AND THERE ARE SOME SPOTS OF THE TRAIL SYSTEM, WHICH I'M LEARNING ARE KEY SPOTS FOR BIRD WATCHERS IN THE CITY.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I WASN'T AWARE OF.
MANY OF YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY KNOWN THAT NEXT SLIDE.
AND WITH THAT, I THINK, IS THAT MY LAST SLIDE? I'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
AND WE HAVE OUR RESIDENT EXPERTS FROM PARKS AND RECREATION, BRANDON, UH, GREAT.
THANK YOU, UH, TAMIKA FOR THE PRESENTATION.
AND SO LET ME JUST, UM, I, I, YEAH, I'M OF COURSE I'M PRETTY FAMILIAR WITH THE TRAILS.
UM, NOW I'M, I'M SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON THEM ON MY BIKE AND WITH MY FAMILY.
AND, UM, LET ME JUST ASK ABOUT, UH, UH, IN PARTICULAR, YOU KNOW, UH, THE PURPOSE OF HAVING THESE PRESENTATIONS SORT OF BACK TO BACK IS JUST THAT WE COULD MAKE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE INVESTMENTS THAT WE NEED.
SO COULD YOU GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF HOW, UM, THE FUNDING BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COULD BE APPLIED TO THE WEST SIDE CREEKS? OR NO, I'M SORRY, TO THE TRAIL SYSTEM, OBVIOUSLY IMPARTIAL TO THE WEST SIDE CREEKS, UM, TO THE TRAIL SYSTEM AND WHAT THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE.
UM, I, I'LL TAKE THIS ONE, I SUPPOSE.
UM, ANY MONEY THAT WE GET, UM, FROM ANY FUNDING SOURCE, UM, BE IT FROM, IF, IF IT'S THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER AUTHORITIES, RIVERS AND CREEKS PROGRAM FROM BEXAR COUNTY, OR IF IT'S FEDERAL MONEY, UM, COULD BE APPLIED TO THE, TO THE CREEK WASTE PROGRAM.
BUT I WOULD SAY THAT IF IT'S, UH, IF IT'S TIED TO SOMETHING THAT'S STATE OR FEDERALLY FUNDED, IT'S GONNA HAVE TO BE, UH, IT'S GONNA HAVE TO STRICTLY FOLLOW THE ASH HO GUIDELINES, WHICH IS A, A STANDARD THAT'S PUT TOWARD BIKE PATHS, THAT'S, THAT, THAT CREATE MORE OF A TRANSIT LIKE, UH, FACILITY FOR BICYCLES SPECIFICALLY.
AND SO THERE ARE OF COURSE, EXTRA LAYERS OF REVIEW AND, AND EXTRA QUALIFICATIONS THAT NEED TO HAPPEN AT A STATE OR FEDERAL LEVEL.
UM, BUT, UH, E EITHER WAY I THINK IT CAN APPLY TO, UH, ANY OF THE PROPOSED PROJECTS FOR THE FUTURE THAT ARE EITHER ALONG THE GREENWAYS OR CONNECTIONS TO THE GREENWAY SYSTEM WITH, UH, BIKE PATHS OR SHARED USE PATHS, OR ANY CONNECTIONS THAT WOULD BE BETWEEN THE GREENWAY TRAIL SYSTEM AND THE, UH, STREET NETWORK.
UM, I I, YOU KNOW WHAT I BUT WHAT I'M, WHAT WHAT I DIDN'T, UH, I I DIDN'T QUITE GET IN YOUR ANSWER.
UM, SO THEN HOW WOULD WE APPLY FOR THAT FUNDING? SO IS THAT THROUGH THE CITY? IS THAT THROUGH THROUGH OUR PARKS DEPARTMENT? WOULD THAT BE SARAH? I MEAN, YOU MENTIONED IN YOUR OPENING PRESENTATION THE EIGHT DIFFERENT PEOPLE THAT ARE INVOLVED IN THAT PROJECT.
SO SAY WE WANT IT FOR THE SAKE OF THIS CONVERSATION, WE WANT IT TO FULLY SUP SUPPLY, FULLY FUND, UH, AND IMPLEMENT THE, THE, THE SYSTEM WHO WOULD TAKE THE LEAD.
I BELIEVE THAT WOULD BE THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO WORKING WITH THE COORDINATION WITH, IN COORDINATION WITH THOSE PARTNERS.
HOMER, DID YOU WANNA SPEAK TO THAT? YES, YES.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON CHAIR AND, UH, COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
THIS IS HOMER GARCIA, DIRECTOR OF PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT.
AND SO IT WOULD REALLY BE THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, OR IN THE CASE OF THE WEST SIDE CREEKS, IF THERE WAS SOMETHING IN PARTICULAR WE'RE PURSUING, WE WOULD WORK IN, UH, HAND IN HAND WITH THE RIVER AUTHORITY.
I DO KNOW, UH, BRANDON, IF YOU CAN GIVE AN EXAMPLE OR TWO OF WHEN, UH, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO LEVERAGE SALES TAX FUNDING FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXTENDING THE BUILD OUT OF TRAILS.
UM, AND SO WE DO HAVE OVER TIME, AND THIS, THIS PROGRAM HAS EXISTED
[01:15:01]
FOR TWO DECADES, SO, UH, WE DO LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO EXTEND AND LEVERAGE LOCAL DOLLARS.TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, IT WOULD BE THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
IF WE HAVE A PARTNER AS THE, IN THE CASE OF WEST SIDE CREEKS, RIVER AUTHORITY, IT WOULD BE THEM.
BUT I DON'T KNOW, BRANDON, IF YOU WANT TO GIVE A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES OF WHERE WE'VE LEVERAGED AND BEEN ABLE TO RECEIVE GRANT FUNDING.
IN THE PAST, UM, WE'VE ACTUALLY RECEIVED MONEY, UM, THROUGH THE NM P O PROCESS, THE TIP IN THE PAST TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, THE PAST THAT HAS GONE TO BUILD OUT SATO CREEK GREENWAY.
SO IN, IN THAT PARTICULAR EXAMPLE, THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF SATO CREEK BETWEEN JACK WHITE PARK AND, UM, THE WILL SPRINGS GOLF COURSE, AND THEN FROM WILL SPRINGS GOLF COURSE DOWN TO MARTIN LUTHER KING PARK, THOSE SECTIONS OF TRAIL, THE, THE MAJORITY OF FUNDING ACTUALLY CAME THROUGH THAT TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.
BUT THEN WE ALSO PROVIDED LOCAL FUNDING, UH, FROM BOTH THE SALES TAX AND ALSO SOME BOND FUNDING TO TRY TO BASICALLY MAKE THE PROJECTS WHOLE.
AND, AND SO THEN, UM, UH, FINAL QUESTION IN, IN, IN THE WEST SIDE CREEKS AND, UH, UH, I'M, I'M PERHAPS ANOTHER PART, YOU KNOW, THAT THESE WERE SORT OF THE, UM, WHAT CAME FROM A DRAINAGE PROJECT DONE IN THE 1970S WITH THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS, WHEN THERE'S A TON OF CONCRETE ALL THROUGHOUT THE CREEK WAVES, AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE SAFETY OF THE COMMUNITY WHEN IT RAINS THAT, UM, WE, UH, PROTECT PEOPLE, UM, WITH STORM STORMWATER.
BUT IF THERE WAS AN INITIATIVE TO TURN THAT BACK TO NATURE, AND I KNOW WE'VE GONE EVERY YEAR THAT I'VE BEEN ON THE COUNCIL TO, IN THE A THE DC TRIP TO ASK FOR FUNDING FOR URBAN WATERWAYS.
SO IS THIS AN ELIGIBLE EXPENSE? AND I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT ALL THE WORK'S BEEN DONE.
I THINK WE'VE JUST BEEN TRYING TO GET REIMBURSED, UM, AND THEN ALSO, YOU KNOW, TO, TO TRY TO, UH, MAKE A MORE NATURAL EXPERIENCE, UM, FROM WHAT'S BEEN YEARS OF CONCRETE WORK THERE.
SO I'M GONNA DEFER TO, UM, TAMIKA OR MAYBE JEFF TO SPEAK ABOUT WHAT'S ELIGIBLE AND WHAT'S NOT ELIGIBLE IN TERMS OF THE EXPENSES RELATED TO THE VARIOUS GRANT OPPORTUNITIES.
BUT I WOULD SAY THAT THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER AUTHORITY, I KNOW HAS IN THE PAST, UH, DONE SOME PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS INTO, UH, DOING RESTORATION OF THE WEST SIDE CREEK, SIMILAR TO WHAT'S BEEN DONE ON THE MISSION REACH, FOR INSTANCE.
AND SO I KNOW THAT THAT HAS AT LEAST BEEN A THOUGHT IN THE MINDS OF SOME OF THE STAKEHOLDERS THAT, THAT ARE WORKING IN THE WEST SIDE CREEKS, INCLUDING THE CITY.
AND BY THE WAY, I DIDN'T MENTION ALSO THAT SOME OF THE, UM, THE LEVERAGING, UM, THAT YOU WERE ASKING ABOUT A MINUTE AGO INCLUDES THE WEST SIDE CREEKS.
SO WE HAVE ACTUALLY LEVERAGED MONEY IN THE WEST SIDE CREEKS AS WELL, WHERE WE HAVE BOTH LOCAL DOLLARS AND STATE DOLLARS GOING IN.
SO, UH, TAMIKA OR JEFF, OR, OR HOMER, IF Y'ALL WANNA TALK ABOUT THE ELIGIBILITY PIECE? YES, SIR.
I MAY, I MAY HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF, I DON'T KNOW IF, UM, JEFF'S ABLE TO AUGMENT THIS, BUT AS PART OF, UM, THE RIVER AUTHORITIES' LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, I KNOW THAT THEY'RE LOOKING AT, UH, 21 AND 22 YEAR WORK PLANS, AND THAT DOES INCLUDE A REQUEST FOR FUNDING FOR ECO RESTORATION ON ALONG THE WEST SIDE CREEK.
AND I WANT TO SAY THE ESTIMATED, UH, PRICE POINT FOR THOSE WORK PLANS IS, AND PART OF THEIR REQUEST IS RIGHT AT 2.34 MILLION.
UM, JEFF, DO YOU RECALL, I KNOW THEY'VE BEEN, UM, AT ONE OF OUR COUNCIL COMMITTEES AND TALKED ABOUT THEIR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, I THINK AS PART OF WHAT MAYBE A PRESENTATION THAT WE DID AS WELL AS PART OF OUR OWN AGENDA.
DO YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHTS ON THAT? YEAH, I, WELL, FIRST OF ALL, I THINK THE QUESTION ABOUT REIMBURSEMENT, I THOUGHT I HEARD THE CHAIRWOMAN ASK THAT AT THE BEGINNING THEY, SARAH'S BEEN SEEKING, UH, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEER REIMBURSEMENT FUNDING FOR THE MONEY THAT THE COUNTY INVESTED IN THE MISSION REACH, AND THEY'VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS OF GETTING, UH, CHUNKS OF THAT REIMBURSED IN TERMS OF WESTSIDE CREEKS.
I DEFINITELY THINK THAT IS A FEDERAL PRIORITY FOR THEM.
COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ HAS MENTIONED THAT ON OUR I G R CALLS AS WELL.
AND I THINK IT GOES BACK TO THE POINT EARLIER ABOUT WORKING WITH OUR PARTNERS IN WHATEVER WE SUBMIT, BECAUSE THE ECO RESTORATION PORTION OF THE WEST SIDE CREEKS COMBINED WITH THE TRANSPORTATION RECREATION WORK IS, IS SORT OF WHAT BEGINS TO CHECK ALL THOSE BOXES FEDERALLY, THAT GETS THE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY, IT GETS THE ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION, SO ON AND SO FORTH.
SO I, WE COULD GET MORE INFORMATION FOR YOU, BUT I, BUT I THINK THAT HAS BEEN THE RIVER AUTHORITY AND TO SOME EXTENT, THE COUNTY'S, UH, ONE OF THEIR TOP PRIORITIES
[01:20:01]
AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL.LET ME TURN IT OVER TO COUNCILWOMAN KEBER HAUS.
UM, I JUST HAVE A, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS AROUND THE, THE GOAL OF THE SYSTEM AS A MOBILITY OPTION.
I'M WONDERING IF YOU CAN GIVE ME SOME EXAMPLE EXAMPLES OF THAT.
UM, FOR CONTEXT, OF COURSE, THIS IS A, THESE GREENWAY TRAILS ARE BEING USED BY OLD AND AND YOUNG ALIKE.
I TALKED TO A GENTLEMAN IN DISTRICT SIX TODAY ABOUT HIS USE OF THE TRAILS AND HE WALKS WITH A CANE.
I, I'M JUST WONDERING WHAT, WHAT RULES MIGHT CHANGE, UM, YOU KNOW, IF, IF THIS GENTLEMAN'S GONNA HAVE A PEN WITH MOTORIZED SCOOTERS AND FOUR WHEELERS, THINGS LIKE THAT, HOW DO WE GUARD AGAINST THIS? I HEARD YOU SAYING THAT THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT WILL DICTATE, DICTATE THE TRAIL, BUT I WANNA BE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT, UM, OPENING IT UP TO, YOU KNOW, SITUATIONS LIKE THIS GENTLEMAN, UM, WALKING WITH A CANE.
UM, I CAN MAKE AN INITIAL REMARKS AND TAMIKA, I DON'T KNOW IF, UH, YOU WANNA AUGMENT THAT.
SO RIGHT NOW, OUR HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL SYSTEM, UH, IS SUNRISE, SUNSET AS A MOBILITY OPTION FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED TO GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B.
AND MAYBE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE WORKING A MID-SHIFT OR, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOON TO 10 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, RIGHT? AND THEY'RE GONNA HOP ON AND, AND GET BACK TO THE RESIDENTS.
YOU KNOW, WE WOULD NEED TO LOOK AT, UH, IDENTIFYING CORRIDORS WHERE WE WOULD NEED TO GO BACK AND, YOU KNOW, EITHER MODIFY THE HOURS OR DO TWO THINGS, ALSO IMPROVE THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT.
SO THAT WOULD MEAN, UH, LIGHTING, UH, AROUND SELECT CORRIDORS, WHEREVER WE SEE THERE'S THAT NEED FOR, UH, TRANSPORTATION.
UH, ADDITIONALLY, YOU KNOW, WE LOOK AT THE HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL SYSTEM, UH, VERY CLEARLY WAS RECREATION BASED UPON ITS VISION AND CONCEPTION TODAY.
UH, WE KNOW THAT THE, THE TWO WORLDS ARE KIND OF MERGING THAT BEING, UH, NEED TO USE IT BEYOND RECREATION FOR PURPOSE OF TRANSPORTATION.
AND SO, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE, UM, THE SPAN OF THE, THE CREEKWAY TRAIL SYSTEM, IT REALLY DOES FOLLOW OUR WATERWAYS AND IT BRINGS YOU INTO THE FAR REACHES OF SAN ANTONIO.
SO I THINK PART OF THAT CONSIDERATION WOULD BE IDENTIFYING WHERE THAT CAN BE KEY INTERCEPTS AND, AND MAYBE BRINGING PEOPLE OFF OF THE, THE GREENWAY.
UH, AND THEN ONTO THE, WHETHER IT IS A, UH, TRANSPORTATION HUB TO CATCH, YOU KNOW, VIA PUBLIC TRANSIT OR COME OFF OF THE GREENWAY AND THEN ONTO, UH, A PART OF A COMPLETE STREET DESIGN.
I'LL STOP THERE BECAUSE I DON'T WANNA START, UH, YOU KNOW, UTILIZING WRONG TERMINOLOGY FOR THE PURPOSE OF WHAT I'M TRYING TO CONVEY, WHICH IS WE'RE REALLY OUT THERE WITH OUR GREENWAY TRAIL SYSTEM.
UM, WE DON'T HAVE, UNLESS YOU'RE IN EXTREME EAST OR WEST, THAT'S OUR NORTH SOUTH CORRIDOR.
SO THEN I THINK YOU START BUILDING INWARD AND IDENTIFYING WHERE CAN I HOP OFF AND THEN PICK UP, UH, A ROADWAY.
AND TAMIKA, I DON'T KNOW, UH, IF YOU WANNA FRAME IT IN SOME OTHER MANNER.
UH, BUT, UH, AT THE END OF THE DAY, I'VE, IT IS BEEN A SHORT TIME THAT I'VE HAD TO WORK WITH TAMIKA.
WE'VE SPOKEN SEVERAL TIMES, UH, AND THERE'S A LOT OF GREAT DIALOGUE, AND I'M EXCITED ABOUT, UH, OUR PARTNERSHIP TOGETHER AS WE MOVE FORWARD TO IMPROVE PEDESTRIAN MOBILITY HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
AND I SEE PARKS DEFINITELY IS A PART OF THAT.
DID, DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD, TAMIKA? NO, MA'AM.
I'M SAYING, I'M SAYING GIRLING OVER HERE WITH THE HOMER.
I JUST, OUR FIRST CONVERSATION I WAS LIKE, OH MY GOSH, THE TRAILS.
BUT I REALLY BELIEVE THAT AS WE LOOK TO THE FUTURE, MAKING SURE WHEN WE DO FUTURE CALLS FOR PROJECTS AND IDENTIFYING THE PARK SYSTEM AND THOSE PORTIONS OF THE PARK SYSTEM THAT WE WANNA MOVE FORWARD WITH, AND CONSIDERING THEM AS FAR AS OUR, YOU KNOW, AS WE'VE DONE WITH THE FORT STAMP PORTION FOR CMAC FUNDING, BECAUSE ESSENTIALLY THE M P O WAS CREATED TO BE THE, THE CENTER OF ALL DECISIONS RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION AND GOING THROUGH THE NM P O PROCESS AND IDENTIFYING WHICH PROJECTS WE BELIEVE ARE THOSE PROJECTS WE WANNA FOCUS ON.
AND REALLY, I THINK WE JUST NEED TO REFRAME HOW WE LOOK AT PARKS AND RECREATION AND THE GREENWAY TRAILS AND REALLY START LOOKING AT THEM AS MOBILITY OPTIONS, BECAUSE THERE ARE PEOPLE USING IT ASSETS.
SO THE NEXT OPPORTUNITY WE GIVE FOR A CALL FOR PROJECTS AND ALSO FOR DISCRETIONARY GRANT OPPORTUNITIES, SUBMITTING THEM AS A MOBILITY OPTION IS GOING TO BE SOMETHING THAT HOMER AND I WILL DEFINITELY BE WORKING ON TOGETHER IN PARTNERSHIP WITH JEFF AND SALLY.
[01:25:02]
I'M GRATEFUL.OH, I WAS GONNA SAY TAMIKA, I THINK THE COUNCILMAN WAS TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT ABILITIES AND WHAT HAVE YOU.
SO THAT WOULD DEFINITELY BE IN OUR, IN, IN HOW WE STUDY AND, UH, YOU KNOW, DEVELOPING THESE TRAILS AND MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE AVAILABLE FOR EVERYBODY TO USE AND THEY'RE SAFE FOR EVERYBODY TO USE.
YEAH, MY APOLOGIES, COUNCILWOMAN, YOU KNOW, WHEN IT COMES FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE TRAILS AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, WHAT I SPOKE ABOUT IS LETTING THE LAND DICTATE TO US HOW WE DESIGN AROUND IT SO AS, NOT TO OBSTRUCT IT, BUT TO OFFER OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT ABILITIES TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS IT.
I THINK WHAT YOU FIND WITH ANY GREAT THING, IT'S GOING TO BECOME CROWDED.
AND SO MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE RESPONSIVE AND ATTENTIVE TO WHAT PEOPLE EXPERIENCE ON THE TRAIL.
I'VE DONE SOME, SOME RESEARCH ON THE BLUE LIGHTS AND THE PROS AND CONS OF THOSE.
I DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE THERE YET, BECAUSE I'M NOT AS FAMILIAR WITH THE SAFETY ISSUES ON THE TRAILS, BUT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF TOOLS IN THE TOOLKIT FOR US TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE ARE SAFE AND PROVIDE THEM WITH A FEELING OF COMFORT.
I KNOW FOR ME, MY FIRST TIME OUT LAST MONTH, I WAS SURPRISED OF THE ACCESSIBILITY OF THE TRAIL SYSTEM, GIVING THE TERRAIN AROUND A LOT, A LOT OF THE PORTIONS OF IT.
SO I THINK AS WE MOVE FORWARD, AS IT GROWS AND DEVELOPS, WE WILL HAVE TO START LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, IN CERTAIN LOCATIONS, HAVING GFIB MACHINES JUST IN CASE PEOPLE DO ENTER INTO CARDIAC ARREST ON SOME PARTS OF THE TRAIL, WHICH I KNOW I LOST MY BREATH ON, BUT, YOU KNOW, TO THE, THE NOVICE.
BUT THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS I THINK AS WE GROW, WE'LL, WE'LL MAKE SURE TO INCORPORATE AND ENSURE THAT WE HAVE PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT ABILITIES INFORMING THAT CONVERSATION.
I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
AND I'M, I'M, I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE PARTNERSHIP.
I LOVE THAT, THAT BOTH TAMIKA AND HOMER ARE EVEN PRESENTING TODAY.
THIS IS, UH, I THINK THAT'S INDICATIVE OF, OF THE DIRECTION THAT WE'RE MOVING, AND I APPRECIATE THAT.
I WANNA BE CLEAR THAT I SUPPORT THE TRAIL SYSTEM AS A MOBILITY OPTION.
I THINK IT'S, UM, JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, ALMOST NECESSARY AT THIS POINT.
BUT, BUT MY, MY CONCERN IS IF THESE CHANGES THAT WE'RE NOT YET SURE ABOUT, LIKE, WELL, WE HAVE TO EXTEND THE DUST TO DAWN RULE BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE NOW USING IT TO GO TO WORK, MAYBE, YOU KNOW, COMING HOME FROM THE NIGHT SHIFT, I DON'T KNOW.
UM, AND WHAT, WHAT, WHAT I WANNA SEE ESSENTIALLY, OR WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT WILL BE PERMISSIBLE, EVEN IF WE HAVE TO DO, UM, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I HEARD THAT YOU, YOU'RE SAYING THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT WILL DICTATE THE TRAIL, BUT IS IT, YOU KNOW, THIS ONE TRAIL FOR MAYBE WHEEL VEHICLES AND THEN A, A PARALLEL TRAIL FOR, UH, WALKER, YOU KNOW, PEDESTRIANS, RIGHT? UM, JUST, I JUST WANNA BE INVOLVED, OF COURSE, GOING FORWARD IN, IN, UM, HOW WE DEVELOP THAT AND KEEP A CLOSE EYE THAT WE'RE KEEPING IN MIND THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEOPLE THAT ARE USING THE TRAIL SYSTEM AND FOR DIFFERENT REASONS.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, CABERA, HDA, COUNCIL MEMBER VINNO.
UM, AND THANKS FOR THE, THE, THE PRESENTATION.
UM, YOU KNOW, I I, I'VE ALWAYS AGREED THAT THE, THE HOWARD PEAK TRAIL IS A, A SUSTAINABLE, RELIABLE MO MODE MODE OF TRANSPORTATION.
SO I, I'M NOT, I'M NOT REALLY GONNA, UM, I GUESS TOUCH ON THAT.
I THINK IT, I, I THINK WE'RE ALL IN AGREEMENT THAT WE SHOULD DO THAT, BUT HERE'S HOW, HERE'S WHAT I'VE SEEN AND SOME OF THE, I THINK, QUESTIONS THAT THE COMMUNITY HAS, ESPECIALLY ON, ON THE WEST SIDE, UH, REGARDING THESE KINDS OF IMPROVEMENTS THAT I'D, I'D LIKE FOR STAFF TO MAYBE LOOK INTO AND, AND COMMUNICATE BACK TO US, IS THAT THERE'S A CONCERN THAT AS WE CREATE THESE IMPROVEMENTS, THAT THERE'S AN IMPACT TO THINGS LIKE PROPERTY TAXES AND, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE VALUATION OF LAND AND THE, UH, AROUND THESE, THESE IMPROVEMENTS, UM, CREATE SORT OF THIS, THIS PRESSURE, UH, OF, OF LAND VALUES GOING UP AND, AND GENTRIFYING CERTAIN AREAS.
AND SO, UH, WE WANT THEM TO, I MEAN, WE, WE'VE AMAZING AND, AND WE WANT PEOPLE TO HAVE, HAVE THIS CONNECT THIS CONNECTIVITY, BUT WE DON'T WANT THEM TO HAVE THE ANXIETY THAT, THAT THEY, THAT THEY MAY BE PRICED OUT.
AND, AND SO NUMBER ONE, WE NEED TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.
AND THEN TWO, HOW CAN WE PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS FOR THOSE FOLKS LIVING ALONG THESE, THESE, UH, CREEK WAYS AS WE IMPROVE THEM, MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE UNDER ONE ROOF PROGRAM, THE MINOR HOME REPAIR, UH, GIVING THEM ACCESS TO AS MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT, UH, THE, THE, THE PRESSURES THAT THIS KIND
[01:30:01]
OF, UH, GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT, UH, SORT OF PUTS ON ON THESE AREAS.UH, THIS IS HOMER AND, UM, I, I AGREE.
AND I KNOW, UM, BRANDON, DO YOU HAVE ANY PERSPECTIVES YOU CAN SHARE OVER THE, YOU KNOW, SINCE PROGRAM INCEPTION WHERE WE, UH, WHAT THE IMPACT HAS BEEN AS IT RELATES TO PROPERTY VALUATION? AND IF YOU DON'T, THAT'S OKAY.
SO I'M NOT TRYING TO PUT YOU ON THE SPOT.
WE DEFINITELY CAN GET THAT INFORMATION, BUT I KNOW, TO YOUR POINT, UM, UH, COUNCILMAN, THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT THAT HAS COME UP.
UH, AND WHEN WE BRING A TRAIL THROUGH A NEIGHBORHOOD TO SOMEBODY'S, UH, BACKYARD, EFFECTIVELY, WE ARE VERY SENSITIVE TO ENGAGE THEM IN WHAT THE DESIGN OF THAT LOOKS LIKE.
WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY FEEL, UM, THAT YES, UH, WE ARE BRINGING PEOPLE THROUGH THERE.
UH, AND WHAT THAT'S BEEN, THE BIG THING WE'VE HEARD IS A FEAR OF, UM, MAYBE SOME UNWANTED, UH, ACTIVITIES, BUT, UH, THAT HAS NOT NECESSARILY BEEN REALLY, UH, THE REALITY, JUST MORE THE CONCERN.
UM, AND, AND WE ARE SENSITIVE OF THOSE THINGS.
WE WORK WITH PROPERTY OWNERS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE, WHETHER IT'S ERECTING A FENCE, UH, SOMETHING THAT, WHATEVER IS GONNA MAKE THEM, I GUESS, FEEL A BIT SAFER ABOUT THIS TRAIL AMENITY COMING THROUGH THEIR IMMEDIATE PROPERTY, THAT'S BEEN THE PRIMARY THING WE'VE HEARD TO, TO GET BACK.
BRANDON, UH, ANYTHING AROUND VALUATIONS AND IMPACT OF TRAILS.
UM, IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO DO A LARGE STUDY THAT WOULD REALLY BE ABLE TO HONE IN ON THIS, THAT SPECIFIC ISSUE, ALTHOUGH IT'S SOMETHING WE COULD DEFINITELY LOOK AT, UM, BECAUSE THERE'S SO MANY FACTORS THAT COME INTO PLAY WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT PROPERTY VALUES, PROPERTY VALUES, TO BE ABLE TO, UH, ISOLATE THAT ONE FACTOR AND, AND CAN, AND SAY THE GREENWAYS IS WHAT HAS, HAS DONE THIS.
BUT I WOULD SAY THIS, THERE ARE ANECDOTAL, UH, THINGS THAT WE'VE FOUND, FOR INSTANCE, WHERE, FOR INSTANCE, UM, REALTORS ARE NOW LISTING ON REALTOR.COM OR ZILLOW OR ANY OF THOSE THINGS.
THE GREENWAY TRAILS IS AN AMENITY FOR RESIDENTIAL, UH, POTENTIAL HOME BUYERS.
I HAVE SEEN MYSELF A BILLBOARD PUT UP BY ONE OF THE APARTMENT DEVELOPERS THAT SAYS, GREENWAY TRAIL ACCESS, VERY, VERY LARGE.
SO, AND WE ALSO KNOW THAT THERE HAS BEEN SOME ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT THAT'S BEEN SPURRED FROM THE, UH, EXPANSION MISSION REACH, AND THE BUILD OUT OF THE MISSION REACH AND, AND THE RESTORATION THAT HAPPENED WITH THAT.
SO I THINK THERE, THERE IS SOME ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GOING ON.
THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF, UM, DESIRABILITY, INCREASED DESIRABILITY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, LIVING AROUND THE GREENWAYS BECAUSE EVERYBODY LIKES 'EM.
UM, FOR THE
UM, THE, THE ISSUE IS, IS ONE AROUND, UH, AND YOU KIND OF TOUCHED ON IT A LITTLE BIT, BUT THE ISSUE IS THAT WE'RE, WE WANNA BRING THESE AMENITIES TO ALL PARTS OF OUR CITY, AND IT'S A CON, IT'S CREATING THAT CONNECT, CONNECTED NETWORK FOR EVERYONE.
BUT WHAT, WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING AND WHAT, WHAT ENDS UP HAPPENING IS FOLKS WHO ARE LIVING IN CERTAIN AREAS, THEIR LAND BECOMES MORE DESIRABLE BECAUSE OF THESE IMPROVEMENTS.
AND SO, I, I GUESS WHAT I'M ASKING IS FOR US TO JUST STUDY, UH, HOW THAT, HOW THAT IS HAPPENING.
UM, I'M GLAD TO, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO CONNECT THE, THE BEAR APPRAISAL DISTRICT, WHICH I KNOW HAS THIS DATA.
UH, AND, AND, AND WE CAN TRACK IT AND WE CAN SHOW LIKE FROM YEAR TO YEAR, ESPECIALLY LIKE WHERE SOMETHING IS BUILT AND THEN HOW PROPERTY VALUATIONS HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY IT.
UH, I, I, I ALSO WANT US TO, TO, UH, ACKNOWLEDGE THE FACT THAT AS PEOPLE ARE EXPERIENCING SOME OF THIS, THAT WE HAVE EXISTING, UH, RESOURCES, UH, AS I MENTIONED, UH, THAT THAT CAN HELP PEOPLE IMPROVE THEIR PROPERTIES.
AND, AND, AND THAT WAY THEY, THEY CAN STAY THERE, UH, FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, ESPECIALLY OUR SENIORS WHO, WHO SIMPLY WANT TO AGE IN PLACE.
UM, BUT I ALSO WANT US TO LOOK AT OTHER OPPORTUNITIES IN TERMS OF HOW WE CAN CREATE, UH, HOW, HOW WE CAN UTILIZE ZONING, UH, AND CREATE, UH, BOUNDARIES THAT, THAT, THAT, UH, CAN AT LEAST HELP ESTABLISH A BUFFER FOR, FOR FOLKS WHO ARE GONNA EXPERIENCE SOME OF THIS PRESSURE.
AND I THINK WE CAN WORK, UH, HAND IN HAND WITH, WITH, UH, WITH OUR, UH, OUR REPRESENTATIVES, STATE REPRESENTATIVES AND APPRAISAL DISTRICT TO ALSO JUST FULLY UNDERSTAND SORT OF THE IMPACTS OF THESE KIND OF BUFFER AREAS AROUND, UH, THIS, THIS TYPE OF DEVELOPMENT.
[01:35:01]
I AM ABSOLUTELY SUPPORTIVE AND, AND BELIEVE THAT THESE, THESE ARE BEAUTIFUL, UH, UH, UH, TRAILWAYS THAT, THAT I WANT, UH, I'D LIKE TO SEE COMPLETED.UH, I ALSO WANNA SEE, UH, FOLKS WHO, WHO, UH, HAVE BEEN LIVING IN, IN A, IN A NEIGHBORHOOD FOR, FOR GENERATIONS, UH, OR MORE, AND, UM, TO, TO GET, TO ENJOY THIS WITHOUT FEELING LIKE, UH, WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS COMES IN, THAT IT BECOMES A PRESSURE POINT, UH, THAT, THAT STARTS TO, UH, FORCE THEM OUT OR, OR SEEMINGLY MAKE THEM FEEL LIKE THEY, THEY'RE FORCED OUT.
SO, UH, YEAH, I THINK WE NEED TO BE LOOKING AT ALL THOSE, ALL THOSE THINGS IN TERMS OF HOW WE CAN PROVIDE, UH, WITH THIS FUNDING AS WE'RE, AS WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, DEVELOPING ALL THIS, THAT ALL OF THAT'S CONSIDERED.
WELL, UM, AND, AND ROD, MAYBE YOU AND I CAN TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, HOW WE INCLUDE, UH, I, LIKE I SAID, UH, CHIEF O MESQUITA AND SOME OF HIS INSIGHT ABOUT, UH, ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THESE KINDS OF, UH, OF THINGS AND HOW, HOW, UM, ZONING AND, AND LAND VALUES, UH, DO HAVE AN IMPACT ON PROPERTY VALUATIONS AND, AND CAN PUT PRESSURE ON, ON, UH, CERTAIN PARTS OF OUR COMMUNITY.
AND THEN I SET SOMETHING UP TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THAT.
AND, YOU KNOW, AND THEN JUST, JUST TO A LITTLE, A A LITTLE BIT OF A SORT OF TECHNICAL STUFF.
I MEAN, IT WAS MENTIONED THAT IT CONCRETE WAS THE PREFERRED, UH, SUBSTANCE FOR THE, FOR THE TRAILWAYS, WHICH, YOU KNOW, ALL THE PICTURES SHOW BEAUTIFUL CONCRETE, UH, UM, TRAILS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, I'D, I'D ASK, UH, THAT, THAT WE ALSO, UH, LOOK AT REPORTING BACK ON, ON, ON SORT OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF, OF CONCRETE THAT CAN BE USED.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, I KNOW PUBLIC WORKS HAS, HAS USED PRECAST, WE'VE USED PORT IN PLACE.
UH, THERE'S, THERE'S OTHER FORMS. UM, I I THINK IT'S A GREAT MATERIAL.
UH, BUT I ALSO, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SEVERAL THINGS WITH REGARDS TO CONCRETE.
I, I'D LIKE TO GET A REPORT BACK ON PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT THAT YOU'RE GETTING.
UH, 'CAUSE THAT IS CRITICAL, ESPECIALLY AS WE'RE PUTTING IN MILES AND MILES OF THIS AND COMPARE IT TO THE WAY WE DO OUR SIDEWALKS IN, IN SAN ANTONIO.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, UH, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE THAT EVERY BIT OF, EVERY, EVERY PIECE THAT YOU, THAT YOU DO, UH, OF CONCRETE THAT YOU'RE, UH, YOU KNOW, ALSO SEEING THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT, UH, THAT WE'RE HELPING TO PLANT MORE TREES AROUND THESE, THESE, THESE HIGH, HIGHLY DENSE, UH, BUILDING FEATURES THAT ONLY ADD TO, UH, THE HEAT ISLAND IMPACT.
SO, UH, YOU KNOW, TREES AND, AND, AND, AND CONCRETE MUST GO HAND IN HAND TO, TO KIND OF HELP, UH, BALANCE OUT THOSE TEMPERATURES.
UM, BUT I, I THINK, UH, OH, AND THEN LASTLY, OF COURSE, WE KNOW THAT THE LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT WAS PRIORITI PRIORITIZING THIS PLAN.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, I GUESS I, I HAVEN'T HEARD ANYTHING BACK ON IN TERMS OF HOW, HOW THE, THE LID DESIGNS HAVE, UH, HAVE THEY BEEN SUCCESSFUL, UH, WHAT CAN YOU REPORT BACK ON, ON SOME OF THOSE FEATURES? UH, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I'LL, I'LL LET YOU ALL, UH, RESPOND TO THE COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, OFFLINE SO WE CAN SORT OF MOVE THINGS ALONG.
UM, AND, UH, I JUST, UH, I'M, I'M GRATEFUL FOR, UH, THE PRESENTATION TODAY.
AND, UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW WHAT, UH, WHAT I, I REALLY WANTED TO, UM, YOU KNOW, ENCOURAGE, UH, MY COLLEAGUES, UM, IS THAT WE KNOW THAT THERE IS FUNDING AVAILABLE THROUGH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, UH, THROUGH DIFFERENT STIMULUS PACKAGES, ALMOST LIKE TO THE EXTENT THAT WE'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE, UM, EVER IN OUR, UM, IN, CERTAINLY IN MY TIME ON COUNCIL, BUT PERHAPS EVER IN THIS CITY'S HISTORY THAT WE COULD HAVE, UH, SO MUCH POTENTIAL FOR FUNDING TO COME INTO OUR CITY.
AND THAT WHEN WE DO THAT, WE DO IT EQUITABLY.
WE LOOK AT PROJECTS THAT, UM, HAVE LONG BEEN UNDERFUNDED IN N NEIGHBORHOODS THAT HAVE LONG BEEN UNDERFUNDED, AND REALLY JUST FOCUS ON OUR STRENGTHS.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE CREEK WASTE SYSTEM, WE'VE AL IT'S ALWAYS BEEN THERE.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T, I MEAN, WELL, LET ME REPHRASE.
IT'S BEEN THERE FOR A LONG TIME.
SO EVEN ONE OF THE REASONS I EVER MOVED INTO DISTRICT FIVE, UH, IN THE AREA WHERE I LIVE WAS BECAUSE OF ITS PROXIMITY TO THE CREEKWAY.
AND THAT WAS BEFORE, UH, THIS HUGE INVESTMENT.
SO WE USED TO RUN THROUGH THEM AND WRITE TO THEM WAY BEFORE, UH, WE HAD QUITE THE INVESTMENT THAT WE DO NOW.
AND, UM, I, I THINK I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT WHAT A WONDERFUL, UM, UH, PROGRAM I THINK WE HAVE IN OUR CREEKWAY SYSTEM.
THERE'S NOTHING ELSE LIKE IT IN THE COUNTRY.
UH, AND IT IS AN INCREDIBLE ASSET.
UH, AND I JUST WANT US TO BUILD ON THAT.
SO THE PURPOSE OF THE, THESE TWO BRIEFINGS TODAY WAS TO SHOW, UM, THE POTENTIAL FUNDING THAT'S AVAILABLE, AND THEN OF COURSE, A PROJECT
[01:40:01]
THAT AS CHAIR, UM, UH, OF THE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE IS, UH, VERY, UH, DEAR TO MY HEART.UH, AND ALSO CHECKS A LOT OF BOXES REGARDING CLIMATE AND TRANSPORTATION AND ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATIONS AND INVESTMENT IN, UH, UH, EXISTING COMMUNITIES.
UM, SO THANK YOU SO MUCH, UH, FOR EVERYBODY'S PARTICIPATION AND, UM, COOPERATION, UH, TODAY.
AND, UH, JUST, UM, THAT'S HOW WE HAVE NO, NO ACTION IS REQUIRED ON THESE TWO ITEMS. SO, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UH, EVERYONE FOR Y'ALL, UH, YOUR PARTICIPATION TODAY.