Round Rock City Council Packet Briefing – October 21, 2025
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Round Rock City Council Packet Briefing – October 21, 2025
This meeting served as a detailed review of items slated for the October 23 City Council meeting, covering infrastructure projects, utility rate cases, downtown zoning amendments, and an economic development update. Council members engaged in extensive discussion on proposed code changes, expressing preliminary positions on key issues such as building heights, single-family homes, and bar caps.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar items were identified. All items were discussed individually.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during the Citizen Communication period.
Discussion Items
- D.1 Staff Briefings on October 23 Agenda Items – Staff reviewed a series of resolutions and contracts. Items included: a $263,590 change order for the Sports Center parking lot (no new city funds); a $296.5 million annual reimbursement resolution for debt-funded projects; a recommendation to deny Encore Electric’s 13% rate increase (approx. $7/month for residential customers), with PUC hearings scheduled Nov 17-21 and a decision expected April 2026; a $833,155 contract with KOM Productions for a mountain bike trail at Burns Ranch; a $925,000 agreement with Marathon Fitness for Athletic Performance Center equipment; a $1.2 million contract with Hydro Pro Solutions to replace 1,200 water meters (from 38,000 total) over 2-3 weeks starting Nov 10; approval of the Brush Creek Regional Utility Authority FY26 budget ($11.2 million total); and amendments to downtown sidewalk furniture license fees (new flat $50 annual fee, waiver for current licensees within 60 days).
- Downtown Zoning Overhaul (Items G1–G4) – Planning staff presented a comprehensive update to the MU1, MU2, and MUL districts after two years of public outreach. Proposed changes include: two high-density corridors (North Mays Street and Round Rock Avenue) allowing up to 8 stories; along I-35 frontage, up to 12 stories; new building form-based design standards (four building types); requirement for tripartite design on buildings 5+ stories; mandatory privately owned public spaces (POPS) for buildings 5–12 stories; prohibition of new bars in MU1 (freezing current count at 8); prohibition of new single-family homes in MU2 (existing homes can remain and expand); prohibition of drive-throughs, game rooms, and vape/smoke shops in MU2; expanded uses in MUL (restaurants on Main & Georgetown, event centers with restrictions); and rezoning of 114 parcels to MU2, 40 to MUL, and 8 to open space.
- Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Update (E.1) – Chamber President Jordan briefly reported: 131 new prospect leads year-to-date, 60 applications for the new Generator accelerator (first cohort launches Oct 30), a full-time program director hired, successful trade missions to the UK and South Korea (life sciences, medical device, robotics leads), and chamber membership at an all-time high of 961. The annual business awards will be Feb 5, 2026.
Key Outcomes
- The meeting was a briefing only; no formal votes were taken. However, council members provided clear direction for the October 23 meeting:
- Bar Cap: Council generally supported the proposed prohibition on new bars in MU1, acknowledging the cap was not effective.
- Single-Family Prohibition in MU2: Mayor Morgan and several members expressed concern about barring new single-family homes on vacant lots. They requested staff explore allowing single-family homes on existing subdivided lots while still prohibiting large lot assemblies. Some suggested lowering the disaster damage threshold from 50% to 30% for rebuilding.
- Building Heights: Councilman Ortega and Montgomery noted the visual jump from 3-story to 8-story along North Mays Street but did not oppose the proposal. Staff clarified that lower heights remain possible based on market demand.
- Public Notice: Staff proactively contacted property owners affected by non-conforming use changes (e.g., fuel sales, drive-throughs) and reported no pushback.
- Infrastructure Assessment: Staff will present a separate report at the December pre-retreat on water, wastewater, and drainage capacity in downtown.
- Chamber Report: Councilman Flores requested trend data (2-3 year lookback) for future updates.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. I'll call the secondary packet brief into order. And please call the row. Mayor Morgan. Here. Mayor Pro Tem Stevens. Councilmember Lee? Here. Councilmember Flores? Here. Councilmember Fleming. Councilmember Ortega? Here. Councilmember Montgomery. Here. All right. Councilmember Fleming is on a short trip vacation. And uh Mayor Pro Tim's watching her son run in the regionals, but they'll both be here on Thursday night. Citizen Communication, anybody wishing to speak? Seeing none. D1 consider staff briefings and council member discussion and or questions regarding items on agenda for the October 23rd, 2025. Council meeting. Anything on the minutes? That people have questions. Okay. F1 consider resolution for execute quantity adjustment change over John King. Good morning, Mayor and Council. Morning, John. All right. This is a change order uh to John King construction. Uh first and only change order for that uh project. 263,590 dollars. It's really an odds and ends, uh kind of pick up everything to finish out the project for the sports center. Um the largest portion of that being a parking lot uh redo in our in our south parking lot, but it also includes um other items for uh plumbing, signage, some painting, some landscaping, some things we had to do with Amazon and some other electrical work. So um this is not any new money adding to the project, it's just money that we had in our betterment side of the general services contract that we're just pushing over into the John King construction side. So happy to answer any questions. Questions? Questions? All right, thank you, Chad. F two consider resolution expressed an official intent to reimburse certain project expenditures, Cabin. Morning. This item is our annual reimbursement resolution, which allows us to proceed with project costs for debt funded projects, then to reimburse eligible expenses with the planned bond issuances. This resolution is for 296.5 million dollars projected to be spent over the next 12 to 24 months. That amount is broken down in your agenda packet both by type of debt instrument between certificates of obligation as well as general obligation bonds, and then by project type under that. This item doesn't change a timing amount or the scope in those projects. It simply allows us to proceed forward with our with paying those CIP invoices and then to reimburse ourselves with debt um proceeds once we issue the debt. It keeps us in compliance with IRS rules and regulations. Happy answer any questions you may have. Questions questions all right. F3 consider resolution denying the application for encore electric statement in to increase rates back on June 26th of this year.
openpublica.com