Once a local government sets a precedent, it faces the danger of opening a door that, once ajar, might prove impossible to close.

At their regular meeting Monday night, Lakeway City Council members deliberated the merits of waiving about $1,500 in city building permits for Zbranek Custom Homes to construct a custom home in the Bluffs at Rough Hollow and donate a portion of its sale proceeds to the Lake Travis Youth Association.
Tony Holt, owner-partner of Zbranek Custom Homes, told council members that Count Me In, a third-party financial collections agency defrauded the nonprofit youth sports association of almost $200,000 last year. LYTA hired the agency to collect registration fees.
“For a local youth association, that was a significant amount,” Holt said. “They had to dig into their rainy day fund just to put on sports. It was just a real mess.”
He said that LTYA provided a service to the city’s youths that many residents would expect the city to provide if the organization were to cease operations.
“I think this organization mitigates additional tax burdens on the city,” Holt said.
Council member Alan Tye said that as Lakeway demographics have transitioned from families seeking to retire here or purchase second homes to more families with young children, LTYA has filled a growing need.
“The youth sports association has picked up the tab for a lot of facilities and playing fields,” Tye said.
Council member Bruce Harris said that the city would be hard-pressed to offer youth sports to the nearly 4,000 children LTYA serves.
“If LTYA weren’t there we wouldn’t have these programs, because the city couldn’t afford to [serve] these kids. They are saving us a lot of money,” Harris said.
Council member Dave Taylor reminded council members of the time last year when local churches asked the City Council to waive building fees on their building projects that cost them $8,000 to $10,000 each and the council unanimously turned down their requests.
Taylor said supporting LTYA was an honorable project, but he questioned how the City Council would be consistent in determining which nonprofits to support through fee waivers.
“I’m going to be the Scrooge on this project,” Taylor said. “I think it’s dangerous territory for us to get into. Every time someone comes in [with a request, we’re going to have to try to justify why we allowed this group to get a waiver while we didn’t allow this [other] group to get a waiver.”
Council member Dee Ann Burns Farrell agreed with Taylor.
“I was on council when we had to turn down the churches. It was not a nice evening. It was very sad.” Burns Farrell said. “The churches do contribute a lot.”
Council members voted, 5-2, to waive construction fees for Zbranek Custom Homes with Taylor and Burns Farrell voting against the waiver.
To start off the meeting, council members approved an employment agreement with Police Chief Todd Radford before he took an oath of office and Mayor Dave DeOme pinned on Radford’s badge to thunderous applause and cheers. He will make $91,000 in starting annual salary. Radford succeeded former Police Chief Gordon Bowers who resigned Oct. 5 (see related story on page 1A).
TexARTS Executive Director and co-founder Todd Dellinger delivered a presentation on the nonprofit performance arts company’s expanding enrollment, which saw a 600 percent baseline growth in two years, in an effort to start a dialogue with the city about becoming a partner in the organization’s mission.
Dellinger said one of TexARTS’ goals is to develop an arts center that would include a theater that seats 400-plus audience, a black box theater, studios, visual arts galleries, outdoor performance and art parks and residential professional artists and teachers.
“We will stop nothing short of that vision,” he said.
Mayor DeOme asked Dellinger if the company’s vision was being hindered by space limitations.
Dellinger replied that TexARTS could achieve its goals for the remainder of its three-year lease, but that it already is turning away students for workshops even after adding 2,300 square feet of space at its Lohmans Crossing location.
“We’re not looking for a handout. We don’t need one, unless we want to stay here,” he said. “TexARTS is a community entity. TexARTS is Lakeway as long as its here.”
Council member Tye suggested Dellinger begin a dialogue with the city that focuses on near-term projects and possible ways to create funding mechanisms.