KYLE — Kyle City Council listened to a presentation from director of Transportation and Public Works Mike Trimble regarding the fiscal year (FY) 2025-26 budget at its June 7 special meeting.
The Transportation and Public Works Department is new, said Trimble, as it only began in January.
“As I came on board, we started to pull together some of the former functional areas that were formerly a part of water utility and kind of standing on their own, but we brought in the city engineer and Public Works departments and then, that was part of the basis of forming the new Transportation Public Works Department,” he explained. “Really, we were created to provide that more strategic, proactive approach to Kyle’s transportation system and all those functional areas that we have.”
He continued by noting that city staff wants to make sure it’s keeping up with the rapid growth Kyle is experiencing through making sure that the transportation systems and infrastructure are keeping pace, as well.
Some accomplishments that have been achieved so far include mill and overlay projects on West Center Street, Bebee Road from IH-35 to Republic Drive and more, curb painting maintenance program, sidewalk construction, crosswalk striping program, line striping, renewing the city’s MS4 sidewalk permit and starting the Transportation Master Plan.
Additionally, there are 75 active Capital Improvement Program (CIP) projects, totaling more than $650 million, said Trimble.
Trimble listed key initiatives for the department in FY 2025-26, which included:
• Manage CIP projects in construction
• Capitalize project management cost
• Continue to build fleet and fuel initiatives
• Complete the Transportation Master Plan by spring 2026
• Complete the Uber 3.14 program study
• Initiate signal timing study
• Complete a fleet management study
• Develop Sidewalk Improvement Program
• Create pavement management system
• Continue to maintain roadway infrastructure at a pavement condition of 82.5 or higher
• Progress 2022 Kyle Road Bond to enter the main phase of program, with $180 million in projects to be in construction in 2026
• Development and implement: Traffic Safety Program, Safe Routes to Schools Program, Traffic Calming Program and more
Regarding the Traffic Calming Program, council member Michael Tobias asked whether this would include items, such as speed bumps and speed cushions, since this has been a topic in many neighborhoods. He also asked if signage will be updated in the coming years that use solar power to flash when a vehicle is speeding.
“Those would be all the tools in the toolkit to look at and we would want to start that program to start looking at those priority locations based on feedback that we’re getting from the community, but also from council, as well,” said Trimble.
Other traffic safety concerns came from council member Lauralee Harris, who emphasized that there are guidelines for street safety with seniors that she hopes the department will be looking into. For example, she shared that, sometimes, it is difficult for seniors to look to the far left or far right at intersections and that it is difficult for them to gauge the speed of cars driving.
Trimble stressed that the department is looking into every aspect, not just the older adult population, but also those that may be disabled on the road, as well.
“I think [at] the next council meeting, we’ll be looking to apply for a Safe Streets For All grant to actually do a Safety Action Plan for Kyle. [Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization] has a Safety Action Plan. Hays County is finalizing their Safety Action Plan. So, I anticipate working on a Kyle Safety Action Plan that is uniquely for Kyle and looking at the needs of our residents,” said the director.
Beginning with the plan for facilities management, Trimble stated that the staff initially began with 10 buildings, which has now grown to 13 facilities. So, the department is requesting additional staffing to “help us to adequately cover and maintain those facilities and we think we’re going to get a couple of different benefits from that. One, obviously [we’ll be] more responsive to any needs that come up for the facilities, but also staying on top of an effective maintenance program, staying on top of inspection program to make sure we are addressing any maintenance needs as we go along and avoiding any more expensive maintenance and equipment replacement costs down the road.”
These personnel requests include one building maintenance supervisor and one building maintenance technician. Additionally, the department is requesting two half-ton extended cab work trucks. The total for these requests amounts to $232,842.
Other requests are:
• A vacuum truck and a street sweeper for $1,005,000
• One transportation planning division manager and one public information and marketing program manager for $366,922
• One signal systems engineer, one development review engineer and one multimodal safety program manager for $796,575
• Two project managers, two project coordinators and a project management software to “successfully deliver Kyle’s CIP Program” for $950,146
• One engineer and engineer associate for $264,611
• One grant program manager for $127,777
• $235,512 for a two personnel to make up a design team for small CIP projects
Regarding the last request, city engineer Leon Barba noted that the city has the ability to design these smaller projects in house, but “the problem is that we get pulled off on all the other projects and issues that come up.” By completing these designs themselves and creating a design team, the city could save a large amount of money, said Barba, sometimes up to $300,000.
This team would still require a surveyor, explained Barba, to survey the property for the team and to potentially do acquisitions, which amounts to $124,108.
“I think those are great ideas, Leon and Mike, to try to bring in the capacity in-house for these smaller scale projects. So, that’s great,” said council member Miguel Zuniga.
Harris also praised the idea, adding that it would speed up the timeline on projects, as well.
Chris Arnold, deputy director for Transportation and Public Works, took time to explain the fleet and fuel management division that has been created this year.
He stated that the division manager first began by identifying all city-owned vehicles and equipment and the lease units and their expiration dates.
“Currently, what we’re working on now is the [standard operating procedures] to enhance our workplace safety. That also goes hand in hand with the city, a larger city initiative where we’re all working on safety with all of the departments in the city,” said Arnold.
The division is also working on conducting a comprehensive fleet audit that would analyze the age, equity and more of the vehicles to determine what to do moving forward with them.
Council member Robert Rizo asked whether this audit would include the aspect of whether switching to electric vehicles would be better, as other cities, such as Round Rock, have begun making this change. Arnold noted that part of the agreement with the consultant conducting the audit is to look into alternate vehicles, as well.
Additionally, they will be looking at how to reduce greenhouse gases.
This is the largest budget request at $1,610,289, since the division is new and has no employees other than the division manager. So, the department is requesting a fleet shop coordinator, a fleet equipment mechanic, one field service truck, one lube service truck and various support costs for startup equipment.
“This is our supplemental request to at least get this program up off the ground and running,” said Arnold. “[These] are the items that the division manager deemed most important.”
Finally, the department is requesting two street maintenance technicians and one one-ton crew cab truck for a total of $214,926 in order to provide rapid responses to Kyle’s new 311 system. Trimble stated that there have been a lot of calls for service, so this will ensure adequate coverage.
The total budget request is $5,928,707, according to the presentation.
“We are recommending 20 new staff in this and I know that’s a huge ask, but again, we talked about the different areas and I think you can see some of the different needs and priorities,” concluded Trimble.
To listen to the presentation, visit bit.ly/4kxA8sf.
