The City of Lakeway appointed Todd Radford as its new police chief at Monday night’s City Council meeting.

Radford, who had served as lieutenant at Lakeway Police Department for two years and acting police chief after Gordon Bowers resigned as chief Oct. 5, will take over the role subject to approval of an employment agreement.
City Manager Steve Jones recommended Radford and Lt. David Crowder on Oct. 5 as candidates for the position, but Crowder withdrew his name from consideration.
Mayor Dave DeOme said he has known Radford for awhile and counted him as a good friend.
“I respect him a lot for his judgment and I respect him a lot as an individual. I think he’ll make one heck of a police chief and he’ll be a police chief the citizens of Lakeway can be proud of,” DeOme said.
Council members interviewed Radford on Oct. 17, and several of them said on Monday that they were pleased with his management of the department in the interim.
“I was impressed with Todd’s answers to some pretty tough questions we asked him the other day,” council member Alan Tye said.
Jones lauded Radford’s leadership, education and investigative skills as well as his ability to work under stress and adapt quickly to new situations. In comparing Radford to the two chiefs he has worked with here, Bowers and Rick DeLong, and Plugerville Police Chief David Buesing, Jones said Radford has the potential to be the best.
Before council members approved the appointment, several members of the audience spoke in favor of Radford’s hire.
Resident Bob Weest, who was part of the police chief interview and selection process, said Radford is a good representative of the city.
“He’s been most honorable and most congenial. It would be a shame not to employ him as chief,” Weest said.
Noel Johnson, reserve officer with the Lakeway Police Department, said he has known Radford for more than a decade.
“I can tell you that the general pulse of not only myself but the people who serve within the department support Mr. Radford and believe that he would be an excellent leader for our troops,” Johnson said.
After the council voted to approve Jones’ appointment of Radford as police chief, the audience applauded and Radford shook the hand of each council member and Jones.
“Thank you for your comments. I look forward to working with all of you,” Radford said.
Later in the meeting, he was put to the test as the council revisited a proposed golf cart ordinance that is in early draft stages. The ordinance would address the operation of golf carts on city streets.
The Texas Transportation Code allows golf carts to be driven on public roadways with speed limits 35 mph or less during daylight hours and no more than two miles from where the cart is usually parked. Drivers may only operate a golf cart to and from a golf course. Carts may cross streets that have speed limits more than 35 mph.
In the draft, the staff members included the possibility of requiring licensed drivers to operate golf carts, “slow moving vehicle” signage on the carts, golf cart drivers use recreation lanes or paths where available and limit the hours of operation of the carts to the hours between sunrise and sunset.
They also explored the possibility of prohibiting golf carts on collector and arterial roads, including Lakeway Boulevard, Hurst Creek Road, Lohmans Crossing, Highlands Boulevard and Serene Hills Drive.
However, some council members and residents found some of the measures to be too restrictive.
Council members Dennis Wallace and Dave Taylor noted that many golfers drive before sunrise to make early tee times and after sunset to return home after a late round.
“With the streets that you have cut off by virtue of this ordinance, there are quite a number of us who will not be able to reach the golf course,” resident Bob Duplantis said. “If you did institute this, as I’ve heard it thus far, I think you’d have something of a revolt on your hands from a lot of people that currently have golf courts and have had golf carts for a lot of years who you will be restricting from using those golf carts to go back and forth to the golf course.”
Some council members said the city might have been too excessive in attempting to restrict golf carts.
“We may be trying to overlegislate a little bit here and fix something that’s not really broken,” council member Bruce Harris said, adding that he had issues with children driving the carts and carts on the road at night.
Radford proposed a more proactive approach to addressing public safety concerns.
“A 1985 Lakeway is much different than a 2009, going on 2010, Lakeway,” Radford said. “The amount of traffic, the sheer number of drivers, the amount of youthful drivers we have on the road versus more mature drivers, I think presents a danger in and of itself.”
He told council members the police department does respond to a number of traffic stops involving golf carts and that he has experienced two close calls with golf carts that were on the road but not in recreation lanes.
Also, a golf cart is not designed to avoid or withstand a collision with a regular motor vehicle.
“It’s a safety measure. This is a much slower-moving, much less nimble, much broader space vehicle. I would see that as a precautionary measure,” Radford said.
Taylor asked Radford if a more clearly worded ordinance would help police officers enforce it. The police chief said it would assist them, and a more understandable ordinance would lead to more residents following it.
“What I would hate to see is a fatality occur, and then somebody then say why didn’t we do these things,” Radford said. “I recognize the convenience and the attraction of our city, but I also recognize what it’s like to work a fatality when it is not necessary.”
Most council members seemed to agree that anyone operating a golf cart should be a licensed driver, but favored loosening some of the restrictions.
“I think that golfers have enough trouble getting the ball into the hole. So we shouldn’t make it tougher on them,” Tye said.
DeOme reminded everyone that the ordinance is still under construction.
“We’re feeling our way through it. We’ve got a ways to go in writing this,” he said.
The city also adopted a resolution to oppose the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s potential repealing of its prohibition on discharge of treated effluent, or wastewater, into the Highland Lakes, which include Lake Travis. The cities of Leander and Granite Shoals have filed a petition with TCEQ requesting the commission repeal the rule that has been in place since 1984.
Treated effluent contains higher concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus. According to city documents, the Lower Colorado River Authority predicted that effluent discharge into lakes would result in increased algae growth that would negatively impact recreational use and drinking water quality. The city also noted that property values and sales tax revenues in Lakeway are tied to lake accessibility and water quality.
Richard Eason, general manager of Lakeway Municipal Utility District and board member of Protect Lake Travis Association, said taste and odor in water is directly related to the amount of algae in the water source. The utility district won third place for best tasting water award in North America this year.
Proponents of effluent release state that it is cleaner water than lake water. Cities along the Mississippi River draw water from the river, use it, treat it and then discharge it into the river.
Some Central Texas utility providers see discharging effluent into lakes as a less expensive means to remove it from their system and add to the drinking water supply. Granite Shoals, which is located on Lake LBJ, commissioned a study that building a land-based treatment system would cost $4 million more than if it were to discharge effluent into the lake.
Eason said LMUD sends its treated effluent to golf courses and 29 large consumers in the district.
“It’s got a lot of nitrogen and phosphorus in it, which are just the things we want to keep out of the lake and just the things trees and grass love,” Eason said.
LMUD board members were set to consider a similar resolution at their meeting Wednesday.
Cole Rowland, president of the Highland Lakes Group, supported Lakeway’s resolution.
“There are arguments for [discharging effluent into the lakes]. It would be cheaper for the utilities, it would be cheaper for the developers and it would add a little bit of water to the lake,” Rowland said.
Allowing the discharge of effluent would, he said, pose a threat to the natural resource.
“On the downside is the risk of polluting the lakes. Lake Travis is known statewide as the jewel of the lakes of Texas. It has a reputation that has been enjoyed for years,” Rowland said.
Council members stressed the importance of preserving the lake’s pristine appearance and water quality.
“It seems to me that everybody is trying to take water out of Lake Travis or dump something in,” council member Dee Ann Burns-Farrell said. “I don’t want to see it ruined. We should put a sign out that says, ‘Please Leave Lake Travis Alone.’”
The council also received a monthly financial report from City Treasurer Al Tyson.
“Sept. 30 marked the end of a challenging fiscal year for the City of Lakeway,” Tyson said. “As revenues decreased, mostly in sales taxes, interest income and swim center fees compared to budgeted amounts, the shortfall was offset by reducing expenditures.”
The city collected $8.15 million in revenues, but had budgeted for an $8.42 million gain. As the fiscal year progressed, it froze vacant staff positions and adjusted road surfacing projects to cut costs. It had anticipated spending $8.42 million, but expended $8.02 million. Tyson reported the city was in the black by $126,273 and has $2.2 million in its general fund, $889,208 in its capital reserve fund and $831,440 in its parkland fund.
Council member Harris congratulated city staff members on managing city finances to cope with the downturn.
“It was a tough one,” he said of the last fiscal year.
In other action, council members:
*Approved an interlocal agreement with Travis County for the county to provide emergency medical services through ground and STAR Flight helicopter ambulances in Lakeway. County property taxes and cost recovery billing fund the service.
*Amended the Tuscan Village Planned Unit Development to allow up to four people to live in single-family cottages in the development. Tuscan Village residents had sought the change to allow for a health-care provider or aging parent to live with them. Previously, only two occupants were permitted.
*Accepted a $68,018 check for franchise fees paid by Pedernales Electric Cooperative.
“That must mean there was a lot of electricity consumed,” DeOme said.
“It was a very hot summer,” PEC District Coordinator Rudy Farwagi replied.
*Amended the city’s Solid Waste Collection Ordinance to require a service agreement with customers, limit bundle size to 3 feet in length and 3 feet in height, set the number of additional items for pickup to a maximum of eight bags, change late fees from $5 to $10 and restart fees from $20 to $30 and establish a deposit required to start service.
*Heard Weest’s description of a series of nuisance animal complaints he and his wife have filed over the course of a year with the police department. He said they have called more than 18 times, but they still hear barking dogs on a regular basis at their Hurst Creek house.
*Proclaimed Oct. 19-23 as Texas Chamber of Commerce Week.