By Amira Van Leeuwen
KYLE —A $294.36 million road bond is in the cards for the second time since 2013 in the city of Kyle.
The Kyle City Council held a special meeting on Monday, where the bond was approved by a 4-1 vote. Council members Michael Tobias, Daniela Parsley, Mayor Pro Tem Robert Rizo and Mayor Travis Mitchell voted in affirmation and Yvonne Flores-Cale was the dissenting vote – council member Ashlee Bradshaw was not in attendance.
The bond called for about 10 miles of new reconstructed or widened road projects throughout Kyle to improve the city’s transportation network. Five roadway projects were proposed on the east side of Kyle, which will cost over $228 million, and three roadway projects on the west side, which will cost $63 million, according to a presentation by Jeff Barton, co-founding partner of Gap Strategies.
Barton added that the engineering team looked at potential projects and congested roadways where the city identified major needs.
After two city council workshops (which were open to the public), the initial bond package, which was initially $400 million, was cut down to $294.36 million.
“I’m really proud of the process that we went through so that we didn’t make the mistakes that may have been made in 2013,” Mitchell said.
However, Flores-Cale voiced many of her concerns about various aspects of the proposed infrastructure projects including flood plains, building on other people’s property and the roundabout located at Bunton Creek and Lehman Rd.
“What I don’t want is a town of 60,000 people voting without knowing that they may have to remove somebody’s home and in the event that that’s the case, it is not our legal responsibility, but it is the city’s moral duty to inform those people,” Flores-Cale said. I want to make sure that the people aren’t affected because, in five years, we could have a completely different council that has different ideas.”
According to the city’s attorney, the city council cannot use public resources or public funds to engage in political advertising. However, outside of public resources, city council members can advocate as a citizen for a position on the bond.
Rachel Sonnier, director of communications, proposed three different open house dates with pros and cons. The first option was a virtual open house Oct. 3 through Oct. 9 and an in-person open house at City Hall on Oct. 6. The pros were that the city council could use the open house during National Night Out held on Oct. 4 and during the Founders’ Parade on Oct. 8 to educate voters on the bond and register residents to vote before the Oct. 11 deadline. However, the Texas Municipal League Conference is scheduled for Oct. 5 through Oct. 7.
The second option Sonnier proposed was a virtual open house from Oct. 10 to Oct. 16 and an in-person open house at City Hall on Oct. 13. This would allow the city council to provide voters with information before they head for the polls, but the voter registration deadline would have already passed.
The third option was to hold a virtual open house from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2 and an in-person open house at City Hall on Sept. 29. Two pros included getting information to voters early and possibly using the open house to register residents to vote before the Oct. 11 deadline.
After bouncing ideas off of one another, the council decided to have an open house on Oct. 1 at City Hall to give Kyle residents the opportunity to see the maps of potential future road projects and ask questions. Residents interested in learning more can go to Kylebonds.com to find a map, FAQs and voting information.
City residents will have the chance to vote for the bond in the Nov. 8 election. Early voting begins on Oct. 24.
