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WITH THEWINNERS OF THE BUDA AND KYLE CITY COUNCIL RUNOFF ELECTIONS LaVonia Horne-Williams (Buda) and Daniela Parsley (Kyle) What drew you to run for city council? Horne-Williams I’ve lived here for 20 years and just wanting to make sure we maintain our quality of life. I noticed there are things that I could help contribute [to] and not being a politician, just being your everyday citizen, there are things I’d like to see and to share and contribute to making our way of life better here. Parsley We retired here about ve years ago, and I’ve always been very involved wherever we’ve been. At the end of 2020, I started paying more attention into what goes into politics with the city of Kyle, and I thought it would be good to give my time to that. What previous experience do you think will serve you well on the council? Horne-Williams Back in 2017, I served on the charter committee for the city of Buda. … Professionally, I’ve worked in local government and state government since 2004. Understanding how a lot of that works and wanting to make sure that our city is a orded the same opportunities as others. Parsley I was a business owner when we lived in Louisiana. We purchased property and put it up to code because it was a 100-year-old building. We designed our business plan, talked to nearby businesses to get an idea of what the city is doing for [small-business owners]. It was a great experience, so I really feel like I have an idea of what new businesses go through, especially small businesses. What issues do you hope to address? Horne-Williams During the campaign, there were lots of conversations about the bond. I had a lot of conversations with folks who came to vote and wanted to understand Prop A and Prop B. I will have the opportunity to hopefully help make the information more [in] layman’s terms, so being able to explain things for people a little easier so they know what’s going on and keeping them informed. Parsley I would like to have better communication between the residents, their concerns and how they’re being addressed by the city of Kyle.
Oversight committee will be formed for 2021 bond projects
Planning the projects City Council will appoint 11-15 individuals to advise the council on the implementation of the projects within the 2021 bond election.
BY ZARA FLORES
more consolidated work, there was only so much time the rm could put toward the projects, Grau said. Though the 2014 and 2021 bonds di er, Crawford said, city sta gleaned a lot of information on how to carry out the work for the propositions. Council Member Evan Ture recounted the 2014 bond process and said one of the main frustrations was though the city was able to save money on some projects, sta need to pay attention to what those savings will cost in time. “We’re all pained by 2014 bonds having still some asterisks, still being nished up,” Ture said. “[You might] Save some money, but you might extend some timelines. It’s important to be aware when we make those decisions.” Mayor Lee Urbanovsky also added that he was shocked at the time it took to get things done after the 2014 bond was approved by voters. Ultimately, Grau said sta will plan out six months at a time for the 2021 bond implementation. Appointments will be made for the committee so it can begin meeting in February. Initial groupings of projects and solicitations for designs will begin in March.
BUDA City Council is expected to appoint the members of the Buda Bond Oversight Committee at its reg- ular meeting Jan. 18. Voters approved $73.57 million for transportation improvements and $16.09 million for parks and recreation projects in the November election. Deputy City Manager Micah Grau, Project Manager Kenny Crawford and Public Works Director Mike Beggs held a workshop on the implementa- tion of the $89.66 million 2021 bond package, which outlines the purpose of the ad hoc committee, at a regular City Council meeting Dec. 7. “What a bond oversight committee would do, in turn, would be to provide exactly what it says: oversight, man- agement, advice to the City Council and down to sta on the implementa- tion of the projects,” Grau said. He added the committee could add a layer of transparency to the public and allow for dedicated time to work on complex projects. City sta has the option to appoint a bond manager for Propositions A and B or one for each. A lesson learned from the imple- mentation of the 2014 bond was that while lumping together di erent bond packages with one rm resulted in
DEC. 2021 JAN. 2022 The council will seek requests for quali cations for a bond program manager. FEB. 2022 The council will create and appoint the individuals to serve on the ad hoc committee who will begin meeting regularly. Amendments will be made to the scal year 2021-22 budget to accurately re ect the bond fund allocations. MARCH 2022 The committee will begin grouping projects how they see t and solicit designs for those projects. APRIL 2022 Bond issuance will begin to fund management and design fees.
MAY 2022 Designs for plans will begin.
SOURCE: CITY OF BUDA COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Citymaster transportation plan amended
NEWBIKE LANES City Council approved reducing one lane on these portions of Craddock Avenue and Sessom Drive to add bicycle lanes.
BY ERIC WEILBACHER
Holland Street to North LBJ Drive. Bicycle lanes will occupy the lost lane on each side of the street. “One of the advantages of what we’re trying to do is that we’re work- ing within our existing pavement limits. And so it’s basically just striping that we’re using to imple- ment this,” Assistant Director of Engineering Richard Reynosa said. “If we nd that it’s not working, it’s just striping to revert it back.” The council voted 4-3 to keep the amended changes with Council Members Gleason, Saul Gonzales and Shane Scott voting against the lane reduction.
SANMARCOS City Council voted to amend the portion of the city’s master transportation plan concern- ing bicycle transit Jan. 4 to include bicycle facility improvements throughout the city. The council pulled one amend- ment in the plan to discuss whether two roadways should go down to one lane in each direction for car tra c instead of two lanes. The amendment at issue included car lane reductions from four to two lanes on a portion of Craddock Avenue fromRR 12 to North Bishop Street and on SessomDrive from
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SOURCE: CITY OF SAN MARCOS COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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SAN MARCOS BUDA KYLE EDITION • JANUARY 2022
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