REGULAR MEETING of the AUSTIN-TRAVIS COUNTY FOOD POLICY BOARD MONDAY, MAY 12, 2025, 6:00 PM CITY OF AUSTIN PERMITTING AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER, ROOM 1406 6310 WILHELMINA DELCO DRIVE AUSTIN, TEXAS Some members of the Austin Travis County Food Policy Board may be participating by videoconference. Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely via telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once either in-person or remotely and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation by telephone. To register to speak remotely, call or email Amanda Rohlich, 512-974-1364, Amanda.Rohlich@austintexas.gov. CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Andrea Abel Lisa Barden, Vice-Chair Marissa Bell Mark Bethell Joi Chevalier, Chair Beth Corbett CALL TO ORDER Board member roll call. Nitza Cuevas Hilda Gutierrez Kacey Hanson Natalie Poulos Matt Simon Andrew Smith AGENDA PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL The first 10 speakers signed up prior to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board Regular Meeting from Monday, April 14, 2025. STAFF BRIEFING 2. Briefing on Austin-Travis County Food Plan Implementation, Edwin Marty, Food Policy Manager at City of Austin and Yaira Robinson, Assistant Director of Environmental Programs at Travis County 3. Briefing on Integrated Bond Task Force, Edwin Marty DISCUSSION ITEMS 4. Discuss Austin/Travis County Food Plan qualitative research coding as compared to AI coding, Natalie Poulos DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 5. 6. Report out from the April 23rd Joint Sustainability Committee Meeting, Marissa Bell. Review Board Member Assignments. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Discussion and scheduling of future agenda items. ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call Amanda Rohlich at Office of Sustainability, at 512-974-1364, for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the Austin-Travis County Food Policy Board, please contact Amanda Rohlich at Office of Sustainability, at 512-974-1364.
Austin-Travis County Food Plan ATCFPB May 2025 – Staff Update City of Austin Food Plan Updates Food Plan Dashboard Now LIVE City Staff Report Back to Council ● City staff will provide another Memo to Council in October 2025 ● City staff will provide a summary of the Food Plan Memo to the CWEP (Climate, Water, Environment, and Parks) Council Committee in fall 2025 Implementation Collaborative ● City and County staff are developing an Interlocal Agreement to support a Food Plan implementation collaborative (Strategy 9.1) ● On May 8th, City Council approved an RCA to negotiate a contract with the County ● On May 13th, Travis County Commissioners Court will vote on negotiating a contract with the City ● Once both the City and County have approval to negotiate a contract, we will negotiate a contract ● RFP for support of an implementation collaborative will be released in mid-2025 Food Plan Implementation Convening ● First Food Plan Implementation Convening occurred on May 9th ● Next Convening in fall of 2025 Travis County Food Plan Updates Travis County Parks Comprehensive Planning More community engagement opportunities open now - please participate! ● Second round of community engagement started April 12th and ends May 19th ● Public Workshops coming soon: ○ April 29th 12:00-1:00 p.m. ○ April 30th 6:00-7:00 p.m. ● https://outdoorengage.mysocialpinpoint.com/travis Communicating with Court Members Board Members appointed by Travis County Commissioners Court: It’s always a good time to communicate with the Court member (and/or their staff) who appointed you! ● Have final versions of Board-approved letters been shared with Court members? ● Please let me know how I can support you. Thank You! Travis County Environmental Quality: Sustainability Programs www.austintexas.gov/food /austinsustainability
Capital Delivery Services Public Improvement Bond Program Integrated Bond Program Development and Delivery Plan Austin Travis County Food Policy Board Update Marcus Hammer, Assistant Director Capital Delivery Services May 12, 2025 “Effectively and Efficiently Deliver Quality Projects with the Concept of Speed” 1 AGENDA • CDS Overview • What is a General Obligation Bond Program? • Improved Bond Development Process • Staff Work Completed to Date • Guiding Principles, Technical Criteria, & Scoring Matrices • Progress to Date & Upcoming Milestones “Effectively and Efficiently Deliver Quality Projects with the Concept of Speed” 2 Created in 2023 with the goal of reducing project delivery time Who we are • Engineers • Architects • Project managers • Community Engagement Our partners • Consultants • Contracting teams • City asset owners • Community members • Mayor & Council Role in 2026 Bond Program One City – One Team – One Approach to effectively and efficiently deliver quality public projects. • Convene asset owner departments to develop needs assessment • Guide the process to ensure projects are vetted and scopes/schedules/budgets are accurate and realistic • Coordinate projects across departments to achieve mutual benefits What is a General Obligation Bond Program? Typical Bond Projects: • Flood and Erosion Control Improvements • New or Replacement City Facilities • Rehabilitation of Existing Facilities • Housing Infrastructure/Housing Projects • Street and Thoroughfare Improvements o Sidewalks o Traffic Signals • Park and Recreation Facilities • Public Safety Facilities (Fire/EMS/Police) • Land Purchase 4 What is a General Obligation Bond Program? Types of work NOT included: • Routine operations and maintenance activities o Potholes o Minor street repair o Landscaping maintenance o General building maintenance Improvements for short term leased space • • Code enforcement initiatives • Employee salaries (including police & fire) • AE/AW Capital Projects typically funded by using debt are funded via AE and AW revenue bonds, not General Obligation debt and thus are not for the 2026 GO Bond Program City of Austin | Capital Delivery Services Department | One City, One Team, One Approach to Capital Delivery 5 Improved Bond Delivery Process for 2026 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 Council calls for Bond Election (Aug) Bond Election (Nov) BEATF Meetings, Council, and Public Engagement HOW WE’VE DONE BONDS IN THE PAST: Project Proposals RFP’s/RFQ’s Project Planning to develop scope, schedule, budget Design Construction WHAT WE’RE DOING NOW: Needs Assessment and Project …
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & THE AUSTIN/TRAVIS COUNTY FOOD PLAN 1. Describing the community engagement 2. Comparing AI-Assisted Coding and Traditional Qualitative Analysis NATALIE POULOS, PHD, RD, LD Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at Austin Why this study? • Qualitative researcher • Engaged in community food systems • Food Access Issue Area Working Group Research Aims: 1. Identify key food system concerns as described by community members 2. Compare AI-assisted qualitative coding and traditional content analysis Community Engagement Data • Public events included: – Community events – City-organized events – Online surveys • Two questions 1. What are your hopes & dreams for the Austin/Travis County food system? 2. What are your challenges & concerns with the Austin/Travis County food system? • 2,820 unique responses were documented – – 43 community events 27 zip codes Method & Analysis Comparison AI-Based Analysis Traditional Qualitative Analysis • • Public health practitioner based in local government GPT-4 + GPT for Sheets – Map comments to preidentified codes (issue areas) • • Define terms Set confidence – Asked AI to identify ‘themes’ (generative) based on community comments • • • “Analyze the following comments and provide me with the top themes related to food” Refined themes to 12 themes Expert review and discussion (3 themes added) – Map comments to ‘themes’ • GPT_MAP(Search_keys, Data, Confidence level, Top Results) • • • • Trained research team of at least two on reflexive content analysis Creation of codebook using preidentified content areas Testing reliability – Add in additional codes to highlight comments that did not fit original codes Manual coding – Issue areas + reflexive content codes Issue Area Code Comparison Food System Code Definition of Code1 Example of Key Terms2 • Direct comparison Markets & Retail of methods • Issue area codes Processing & Distribution How food is sold and purchased. What happens to food from where it is grown to when it reaches your plate, including how food is moved and processed. • Definitions and key terms based on City of Austin State of Food System Report (2022) Access & Consumption How we eat our food who struggles to get enough food, and what impact our consumption has on our health Food Production Where our food comes from, including everything from farming to ranching to backyard gardening Grocery Stores, Bodegas, Farmers Markets, Food Jobs, restaurants, Food Apps, Workers Rights, Selling Food Food Processing Facilities, Food …
