Bee Cave officially opened Central Park on Oct. 15 after months of delays, but not without a lingering issue the city is working to resolve with contractors.

Mayor Pro Tem Jack McCool and council member Mike Murphy said contractor JC Evans had not adequately addressed ongoing grass seeding and rooting delays and resulting erosion of park lands because of recent rains.
“I was pretty disappointed by the amount of erosion in one case. I thought that somehow in design we should have anticipated that much rain coming through the grass,” McCool said, noting he had seen an 8-foot wide swath of land that appeared to have eroded recently for about 150 feet.
He also identified a lot of water collecting around trees near the basketball court.
Council member Mike Murphy doubted that sufficient seeding was in place for Bermuda grass to take root.
He suggested seeding rye grass as a temporary solution and posting signs asking park users not to walk on the grass.
Murphy said the city has been mired in a loop of receiving reports of erosion control and grass issues and felt that it was not considered a high priority.
“Nothing proactive is being done to make it happen and I have been complaining about this since May,” Murphy said. “I can go out there tomorrow … and spread [rye grass] in a day.”
City Administrator Frank Salvato advised the council to withhold payments until the grass is established.
The council also heard from project engineers at The Moore Group regarding Creeks Edge subdivision on Caudill Lane, which includes 18 acres in Bee Cave’s extraterritorial jurisdiction and 40 acres in Austin’s ETJ. The site is in the Little Barton Watershed, which the City of Austin classifies as Barton Springs Zone and thus requires non-degradation water quality controls.
The Moore Group requested a variance to allow 50-foot setbacks around some natural springs, natural features and wetlands instead of the 85-foot setback required by Bee Cave. When a development exists in multiple city limits or ETJs, the city with the largest population is responsible for approving plats under the Texas Local Government Code. Therefore, the City of Austin approved the Creeks Edge subdivision preliminary site plan, which included the 50-foot setback, contingent upon permanent fencing being placed around the natural features.
In addition, the subdivision contains three ponds, one of which is in Bee Cave’s ETJ. The City of Austin stated it would maintain the other two ponds and would likely maintain the pond in Bee Cave’s ETJ.
Bee Cave requires developers to maintain ponds, so City Administrator Salvato said they would only require developer Creeks Edge Limited’s commitment to maintain it or a copy of a contract agreement to have someone else maintain it.
The council voted down a motion to table to table the matter until the city’s next council meeting to allow all parties to negotiate maintenance agreements, with council member Goodwin voting for the postponement.
Immediately after the council approved the site plans pending satisfactory maintenance resolutions, Caudhill resident Mary Ann Yamin asked to speak.
Council members then reopened discussion on the agenda item to hear Yamin’s plea for communication to residents.
She stated the group of residents she was representing had not been contacted by the developer, Lower Colorado River Authority or the cities of Bee Cave and Austin about developments in the subdivision, which include LCRA waterline installations and the extension of Caudhill Lane.
“We want to make sure we are kept informed because we have not been,” said Yamin who expressed concerns over the developments’ impact on the community of seven homes. “We want to make sure people know we are there.”
However, Caudhill Lane rests outside of Bee Cave’s city limits and ETJ.
“I understand from reading this stuff that really this is the City of Austin’s baby. We have very little to do with this. The bigger entity [Austin] controls it,” Mike Murphy said. “Nobody controls what LCRA does.”
He said the city had not heard of these issues before, either.
“We don’t get told either, unless somebody needs something. If there hadn’t been a little detention pond in our portion, we probably wouldn’t have heard about this,” Murphy said.
In other action, council members:
*Approved a variance for two signs at Tim’s Porch, 13101 Texas 71 W. to allow a second sign stating the name of the business as well as a moveable lettering marquee sign;
*Approved a site plan amendment for the future Maudie’s restaurant at Shops at the Galleria to specify that it will require 1,741 square feet out of 2,883 square feet total of surplus impervious cover that the council designated for the development in August. The restaurant also will remove two parking spaces to make room for a dumpster and its enclosure.
“I really feel that this is the final piece of our puzzle. We just think it will be an absolute home run not only for us but for the community as well,” said Daniel Myrick of Christopher Commercial.
*Reappointed and appointed members of the city’s Economic Development Board to two-year terms. The board consists of Chad Bockius, Jim Boushka, Scott Lineberry, Jack McCool, Heather Cadenhead and Mike Murphy;
*Nominated council member Mike Murphy to be appointed to the Travis Central Appraisal District board of directors;
*Approved final acceptance of paving and drainage improvements in Falconhead West Phase I;
*Proclaimed Oct. 19-23 as 2009 Texas Chamber of Commerce Week; and,
*Adopted its 2009-2010 meeting dates and holiday schedule. The council will only have one regular meeting in December on Dec. 8 and will not meet Dec. 22 as previously scheduled.