|
IN THIS ISSUE: City Council Items to Speak On This Thursday. SIGN UP TODAY
 “JAWDROPPINGLY STUPID” -- That’s how the usually restrained and academic national expert on the convention center industry, U.T. - San Antonio Professor Emeritus Heywood Sanders, describes Austin’s new convention center project in the The Magic Hole. Austin Free Press’s 19 minute The Magic Hole documentary featuring Professor Sanders is linked above at the Austin United PAC’s Save the Soul of Austin citizen petition drive webpage. This update and plea to join with us and speak up at this Thursdays’ July 24th City Council meeting is a bit on the long side. Please stay with it; multi-billion dollar commitments that will shape the future of our city forever are on the table. The Magic Hole documentary was shot back in January when the budget for the convention center was “only” $3 billion and counting. City Staff subsequently projected in writing $5.6 billion in revenue requirements for the 30 year debt financing period. The petition drive aims to force a citywide vote on the project—as required by the City Charter—though Council argues that, under state law, voter approval is optional. This Thursday, and in the weeks ahead our esteemed Mayor and City Council are set to dig that Magic Hole a few tens of millions of dollars deeper. We ask and invite our friends who love Austin arts, culture and parks, and/or care about Austin fiscal and voter accountability, to sign up to speak at this Thursdays, July 24th, City Council meeting. The meeting, and public comment, starts at 10:00 a.m. but join us for a press statement at 9:30 in front of City Hall. See further details below on individual items to speak (or donate time) on. Please also speak to our City Council this Thursday, in person or by call-in, not just on the convention center agenda items, but also on the following items concerning the future of Lady Bird Lake and on ill-advised floodplain variances. Sign up to speak here, before noon on Wednesday. And keep reading to learn more about the convention center project we do support!  Architectural Illustration by Stefanie Bower (austintexas.gov) Item 121 – A proposed, rather mushy resolution giving vague guidance to the City Manager when evaluating proposed PUD zoning applications for development in the South Central Waterfront District. While the resolution references prioritizing “environmental features” that protect the riparian zones of Lady Bird Lake and East Bouldin Creek, the majority of the Council has voted repeatedly to exempt or reduce PUD compliance with our watershed and shoreline protection ordinances. Please join us in urging no more PUDs in the South Central Waterfront and “zero tolerance” for variances, waivers or exemptions from the Waterfront Overlay Ordinance all the way around Lady Bird Lake, with or without PUD zoning. Items 130 and 131 – Highlighted in last week’s SOS News, these items propose variances to allow residential development below the floodplain, setting a dangerous and shortsighted precedent. Join us in urging a “no” vote on these items.  Item 87 - Calls for adding $25 million to the previous $30 million contract for project management of the new convention center project. The minimal supporting information tells us that part of this 85% increase is to “procure Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments for … the Austin Convention Center.” Seriously?? Anyone who cares about environmental protection knows that environmental studies should come first—they're meant to guide smarter project choices and better design from the start. Since 1970 the National Environmental Policy Act has required Environmental Impact Statements be completed well in advance of any major project funded or approved by the federal government. The EIS process also requires rigorous transparency and public engagement. The goal is not just making better decisions for the environment, but also for saving money and evaluating better alternatives. But since the City Council’s rush to commit over $5 billion of our local tax dollars over the next 30 years to the convention center project does not include federal funding and may not require federal permitting, no such EIS has been prepared. The Council long ago initiated the demolition of the existing convention center and funded design and engineering for the giant new convention center. And it's just now taking action to approve an “environmental site assessment”? Did we say “jawdroppingly stupid” yet? Please join us in urging the City Council to stop spending on this $5 billion boondoggle until after the public vote required by the Save the Soul of Austin petitioned ordinance takes place. Just wait, it gets even wackier!! Item 96 is a convention center project we support! Yes, you read that right. It calls for Austin taxpayers to kick in a little bit of money and some legal gymnastics to help the Circuit of the Americas build a 460,000 square foot convention center out at the F1 race track and entertainment complex. This is a great, minimal-cost-to-taxpayers substitute for the $5 billion and counting downtown convention center. And it's consistent with many new convention centers around the country that are being built by the private sector with only limited public subsidies. Just last month, the privately owned Gaylord Pacific project opened 10 miles from downtown San Diego, on the Pacific Ocean. This $1.35 billion project features a 480,000 sq. foot convention center and resort hotel. Public funds pitched in $275 million of the $1.35 billion cost -- Not $5 billion of public funds. And that price tag covered both the 1600 room hotel and the convention center. So think about it: Where would you choose for your convention: On the beach in San Diego? At a resort hotel and entertainment district at COTA? Or in a giant hole under downtown Austin? This convention center proposal for the COTA project is a ready substitute for a downtown convention center. The city staff memo insists, with no documentation, that the COTA convention center will not compete with the downtown convention center because “each facility has separate and distinct target markets.” The simple truth is there’s just one convention center industry and it is shrinking while the supply keeps growing. The $5 billion over the next 30 years rightfully belongs to what makes Austin a place worth visiting and worth living in: arts, parks, live music, and thriving local small businesses. Also, Item 132 calls for up to $5 million in the upcoming year of Tourism Public Improvement District funding for marketing and subsidizing convention center events -- including paying the “rent” for the convention center’s “rentable space” because none of the convention center groups actually pay rent for conventions any more. And Item 129 calls for approving a site plan for the giant convention center project. Yet no site plan is included for review and approval – only a few engineering sheets showing the overview of the project. A few dozen pages in the back-up provide a second round of staff comments on a large range of site plan issues. While many of these staff comments and objections are labelled “cleared,” the actual text states over and over that the issues are not really cleared and that serious issues, including flood plain, stormwater, pedestrian access, and utility issues have not been resolved. Please join us in urging a “no” vote for all of the convention center items other than Item 96. The signup window is short—please register to speak before noon TOMORROW, Wednesday, July 23. Invite your friends, neighbors, and anyone who cares about Austin’s future. Let’s pack the room (and the call-in list) and show the City Council what a true Austin convention of concerned citizens looks like. See you Thursday. Let’s make some noise!  SOS Snorkel Tour Dates for August Join us for a guided snorkel tour at Barton Springs and experience the magic of Austin’s most iconic swimming hole. You’ll explore beneath the surface of our home waters fed by the Edwards Aquifer, learn to spot native fish, and hear the deep-time story of the Springs, all while cooling off in 70-degree water. Whether you're a first-timer or a lifelong springs lover, this adventure is not to be missed. Here's some of our upcoming tour dates and guest guides:
 Even with recent rains, Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer Conservation District remains in severe drought, and spring flows have dropped back down to 18 cfs (median is 67 cfs).
People often ask us: “How long will the Springs keep flowing?” The honest answer is: that depends all of us. Save Our Springs' tireless efforts encompass legal action to defend the Edwards Aquifer watershed, policy advocacy, and community education programs like our snorkel tours. Everything we do is aimed at protecting the waters, lands, and wildlife that make Central Texas so unique. Please make a donation today to support this critical work. Your gift helps defend the waters that define Austin. In Solidarity, SOS Alliance Comments are closed.
|
Archives
November 2025
Categories |
RSS Feed
Save Our Springs Alliance
|
Quick Links |
SOS is a 501 c3 non profit and your donation is tax deductible