Round Rock City Council Meeting - March 12, 2026
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Round Rock City Council Meeting - March 12, 2026
The Round Rock City Council convened at 6:00 PM on Thursday, March 12, 2026, at City Council Chambers, 221 East Main St. The meeting included a citizen complaint about emergency notification failures, two proclamations, an Information Technology department update, unanimous approval of the consent agenda and four resolutions, and the first public hearing on a right-of-way annexation. The council entered executive session and adjourned without further action.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes from the February 26, 2026 City Council meeting.
- Authorized the Mayor to execute an agreement with H2I Group, Inc. for demolition and installation services related to divider curtains at the Round Rock Sports Center.
- Authorized the Mayor to execute an agreement with Odessa Pumps and Equipment, Inc. for water and wastewater pumps and motors.
- Authorized the Mayor to execute a professional consulting services agreement with Raba Kistner, Inc. for construction materials testing at the Recreation Complex - Old Settlers Buildout Project.
- Authorized the Mayor to execute an agreement with Coufal-Prater Equipment, LLC (United Ag & Turf) for John Deere equipment, repair, parts, and services.
- Authorized Amendment No. 2 to the City Manager Employment Agreement with Brooks Bennett.
All consent items were approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Gary Elden expressed strong criticism of the city's emergency notification practices. He described a recent natural gas release near Avery Center where residents detected the incident and self-evacuated or called 911 to learn of a shelter-in-place advisory; no proactive outbound notification was made. He also referenced a 2024 second-alarm fire at the Sabi Data Center that caused $2 million in damage and released carcinogens into the air and storm drain without public notification. Elden called these failures "sheer malfeasance and dereliction of duty" and demanded accurate and timely emergency information.
Proclamations and Recognitions
- Rodeo Austin Ambassador Month (March 2026): Mayor Morgan proclaimed the month. Joe Straub, Chairman of the Board of Rodeo Austin, accepted and noted the organization has operated since 1938, attracts over 500,000 attendees annually, gave away $3.7 million to Texas youth last year, and expects over 10,000 animals at the upcoming event (March 13-28, 2026).
- National Nourishment Day (March 13, 2026): The council proclaimed the day. Angie Wang of the Nourish Project, a student-led initiative at Westwood High School, accepted. The project has reached over 70,000 people through social media and in-person presentations and won first place at the HOSA area competition.
Staff Presentation: Information Technology Update
- The IT Director presented a department update. He traced the IT department's evolution from a fragmented 2009 operation into a mature enterprise organization with 25 staff members. Key achievements and projects included: CityWorks as an enterprise system for permitting and asset management; the Public Safety Cat RMS system went live January 27, 2026, following 432 planning meetings; upcoming data analytics and CAD-to-CAD integration for 911 call transfer; expanded network redundancy with multiple internet service providers and data center-to-data center replication; fiber expansion to Fire Station 10 (with Fire Station 11 planned); added security cameras at water/wastewater plants; replacement of landlines with cellular solutions; and replacement of over 1,200 mobile devices.
- The Director also highlighted an in-house-developed GIS-based IT asset tracking app and an automated employee onboarding tool. Staff recognitions included two promotions, a CGCIO pursuit, a leadership development program graduation, a bachelor's degree completion, and the GOAT award from Sports Management and Tourism. Since 2018, the IT help desk has processed 63,000 support tickets.
- Council discussion: Councilmember Flores asked about vendor redundancy (confirmed multiple ISP vendors) and whether the GIS asset app is public (it is internal). Mayor Pro Tem Stevens asked about the drone-as-first-responder program (IT provides network connectivity and base station security) and the origin of the monarch tree internship project (Planning and Development requested it). Councilmember Ortega asked about county 911 rerouting (IT was prepared) and backup systems (on-premise and cloud backups confirmed).
Resolutions
- H1 – CDBG Third Amendment: Staff requested approval to reallocate the remaining $76,566 of CDBG-CV funds from a discontinued senior iPad program to home repair and rehabilitation. The city had received approximately $400,000 and $668,787 in CDBG-CV funds; the Round Rock Area Serving Center used portions for rent, mortgage, and utility assistance, serving 558 and 401 residents respectively. The funds must be spent by July 26, 2026. Staff noted two homes are currently being repaired, three more are in the bidding process, and five homes are on the waiting list. The council opened and closed the public hearing with no speakers and approved the resolution unanimously.
- H2 – Deep Wood Drive Interlocal Agreement: Williamson County will contribute up to $11 million on a 50-50 cost-share basis for the Deep Wood Drive extension project (from SH 620 across Brushy Creek to Sandbass Road), estimated at $16.2 million. The city applied for $9.7 million in CAMPO funding. Approved unanimously.
- H3 – Kenney Fort Boulevard Segments 5 & 6 Interlocal Agreement: Williamson County commits up to $9 million total ($4.5 million per segment). Segment 5 runs from Old Settlers Boulevard to County Road 112, and Segment 6 continues to University. Segment 5 construction is estimated at $35 million with a $21 million CAMPO request; CAMPO funding decisions are expected in summer 2026, with funds available in fall 2027. Approved unanimously.
- H4 – Atlas 14 Floodplain Model Update: The city will participate with Williamson County in updating floodplain models using Atlas 14 rainfall data and LiDAR survey data at a cost of $205,000. Approved unanimously.
Public Hearing: Annexation
- The council held the first public hearing on annexing a 1.517-acre portion of CR 107 Spur right-of-way, south of CR 107 and north of Chandler Road. The annexation will provide contiguity for the city's ETJ and future right-of-way annexations. No one testified. A second public hearing is scheduled for March 26, 2026, with council action on April 23, 2026.
Key Outcomes
- All consent agenda items and resolutions H1-H4 passed unanimously (7-0).
- Public hearing on the CR 107 Spur annexation will continue on March 26, 2026; final action is set for April 23, 2026.
- The council recessed into executive session at 6:51 PM to evaluate the Municipal Judge under §551.074 of the Texas Government Code, reconvened at 7:35 PM, and adjourned without taking action.
Meeting Transcript
Tonight's invitation will be given by Pastor Breck McDonald of Central Baptist Church. Pastor, come on up. Thank you. Let's pray. Father, we come before you and we ask for your help tonight. I pray for my city, and I pray for the leadership of my city. I pray for righteousness and justice and wisdom for these leaders. I pray, Lord, that you would keep our city safe and secure and prosperous. Amen. Thank you, Pastor. All right, I'll call the six o'clock meeting to order, and please call the row. Mayor Morgan. Here. Mayor Pro Tim Stevens. Councilmember Lee? Here. Councilmember Flores? Here. Councilmember Fleming? Here. Councilmember Ortega? Here. Councilmember Montgomery. Here. All right, if you'll stab me for the pledges. I pledge allegiance to the flag. Under God. Liberty justice. Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to the Texas. One state under God, one individual. All right, citizen communication citizen wishes to speak, wishing to speak during citizen communication garden item on or off the agenda may do so after completing the required registration card. All comments must be no more than three minutes and linked per section 2-26B5 of the Round Rock Code of Ordinances 2018 edition. Any comments card and items not on the postage and may not be discussed or responded to by the city council for state law. Gary Elden. Like others, I immediately checked my flight radar app and found no nearby aircraft. It sounded like a jet right overhead. I then checked the city's numerous social media accounts on multiple platforms and found no information there whatsoever. Finally, my wife and I began checking other social media platforms and uh uh next door Reddit, etc. Essentially crowdsourcing information about an emergency situation occurring in our city. People on social media reported hearing this intensely loud roar all the way from Ryan's Crossing to Georgetown, particularly Paloma Lake and Avery Center, Avery Center. Some residents in Avery Center had posted that they weren't going to wait any longer for official word and fled their homes and their neighborhoods, self-evacuating because of this intense noise, with no source explained. Some people on Reddit said they called Round Rock PD's non-emergency number, and they were told it was a gas leak, and that the fire department was out looking for it, which gave a little bit of uh at least information. Others reported they would called 911. They were told the same gas leak story, except the callers to 911 were told to stay inside their homes. That is a shelter in place advisory, but one that was only given to those people who called 911. No proactive outbound notification was made at any point. We never have heard anything from our city about this event. The community members, not the city, were able to determine last night that a massive release of natural gas by Atmos had taken place near County Roads 112 and 117, immediately north of Avery Center. We still haven't heard anything from the city about this incident.
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