Taylor Approves Water Line Deal and Park Lights, Tables Comment Rule
Taylor’s City Council on Nov. 5 approved agreements for a $34.5 million FM 619 water line and $183,650 in Robinson Park lights, and tabled a public-comment rule change, The Taylor Press reported.
Taylor’s City Council on Nov. 5 approved agreements for a new water line tied to the iMarketAmerica site and a contract to light the soccer field at Robinson Park, The Taylor Press reported on Nov. 10. The same night, the council tabled a proposed change to public-comment rules after residents objected, the paper said. Official minutes and the agenda packet for that meeting were not opened for this report; the account below follows the Press.
According to that report, the water work is a 24-inch line from the Brazos River Authority’s East Williamson County treatment plant, running along FM 619 to the iMarketAmerica Inc. property. The paper said the company will lend Taylor $15 million, with no interest charged. The FM 619 project is listed there at $34.5 million, with the city to issue $15 million in bonds and the Taylor Economic Development Corp. to put up $4.5 million. Those three figures add up to $34.5 million, by our math, matching the project total the Press published.
The council, the paper reported, also approved agreements letting Taylor repay that advance by forgiving some of the taxes and impact fees the project would ordinarily owe. City Manager Brian LaBorde called the arrangement a win for the community, the Press said, because, in his telling, the city would not retire the $15 million advance with ordinary taxpayer-backed debt. The paper wrote that the company is headquartered in Round Rock and is a major partner of Samsung Austin Semiconductor in Taylor. The Press also said that, at some point, the project is intended to connect the new line into the city. Approving the agreements is not the same as finishing the line or issuing the bonds.
New lights at Robinson Park
The same meeting approved a $183,650 contract to buy and install four sports lights at the Robinson Park soccer field, replacing a single working light, the Press reported. Officials told the paper the new fixtures would allow evening play, add hours, and improve player safety. The Press said officials expect the job to run about eight to 10 weeks.
A comment-rule change is on hold
The item that drew the crowd, the Press said, was a proposed amendment to council decorum rules, especially a ban on speakers giving their time to someone else, a practice the paper called pooled minutes or pooled time. Under the present rule, as the paper described it, each speaker has three minutes, and a person who has signed up may donate that time to another speaker. Leaders asked staff to compare other cities’ decorum rules and come back with a revised proposal, and they tabled the vote, the Press reported.
Residents came with red tape over their mouths in a symbolic protest, the paper said. Resident Jose Orta told the council, “Eliminating pooled time limits the ability of citizens to present a complete and informed case. Complicated issues often require more than three minutes to explain.” He added, “Some residents may not feel comfortable speaking before this council, but they are willing to pool their time with a community representative.”
Business owner J.D. Gins said he was glad the council chose to look further before deciding, the Press reported, and that people usually show up only when the issue matters. “If they’re doing their job and listening to the people, there’s not going to be a big pooling problem. If there’s a big issue with people pooling their time, then it’s probably a pretty substantial issue where they should listen,” he said, according to the paper. Sarah Winters stood silent for three minutes with her mouth taped. Carrie D’Anna, also taped, displayed written messages at the podium about whether tightening public comment is right or lawful, the Press said. How people sign up to speak, and whether speaker cards must be turned in publicly before the meeting, also came up.
The city’s official contact page lists City Hall at 400 Porter Street, Taylor, Texas 76574, with a telephone number of 512-352-3675. Tabling the decorum item is not a final change to speaking rules. The water-line agreements, as the Press described them, rely on future bond issuance, an economic-development contribution, and tax and fee abatements; official minutes, if posted later, would be the place to confirm ordinance or contract numbers and any roll-call vote.
Related reading: Georgetown Approves $46M in State Water Bonds.
