The overview
In January, Judge Laurie Eiserloh of Travis County’s 455th District Court, who presided over a two-day hearing held to address the city’s case against Velocis in November, issued a ruling that granted Bee Cave a temporary injunction against Velocis. This ruling fulfilled Bee Cave’s request for developers to adhere to city noise ordinances, but denied all other legal relief for both parties—meaning that the development was allowed to continue construction so long as noise levels emitted from the site did not violate any city restrictions.
During the two-day hearing in November, a number of individuals related to the case testified, including former Bee Cave City Manager Clint Garza.
On Feb. 12, the city of Bee Cave amended its lawsuit against Velocis to add Garza as a defendant, alleging that the former city manager assisted Velocis in developing the West Austin Business Park and intentionally evaded council oversight in order to do so.
What they’re saying
The city’s lawsuit alleges that defendants, including Velocis and Garza, kept the city and the public “in the dark,” and shirked responsibilities to notify the city attorney of proposed development on the business park’s site. The lawsuit claims that this was premeditated, and that Garza met with Malone Wheeler, engineers for the project, in 2019 who at that time informed him that they wanted to avoid going through City Council for approval of proposed plans.
In response to accusations made against Garza in the amended lawsuit, a spokesperson for Velocis stated that the city’s claims were baseless.
“Bee Cave’s legal claims, particularly the latest allegations of fraud and conspiracy involving the former city manager, are much less a lawsuit than they are a political stunt,” the spokesperson said. “Velocis and its development partner, KBC, had no contact with Clint Garza prior to the lawsuit being filed. There was no fraud. There was no conspiracy.”
A statement shared by the city cited findings from an internal investigation as evidence of Garza’s wrongdoing.
“An active investigation and discovery continue to shed light on efforts to withhold information about this development from the Bee Cave City Council, which now reveal the former city manager’s involvement,” the city’s statement said. “Clint Garza was added as a defendant because he breached his duties to the city.”
What else?
On Feb. 11, Bee Cave amended its city personnel manual to include a new whistleblower policy. This policy aims to provide city employees with an easy process for reporting unethical or illegal activity, and protects those employees from any retaliatory action.
“I think that it’s important to show this community that we have taken what we have learned extremely seriously and we are putting policies in place to prevent it from ever happening again,” Mayor Kara King said. “And protecting the city in the future, and future councils and future staff members, from ever having to deal with what we’ve had to deal with.”
On March 3, the city also filed a motion to compel Velocis developers to share subpoenaed documents with the city. These include communications with Travis County, financial information detailing a list of investors for the development and a list of subcontractors, King said in a Facebook post.
What’s next?
On March 13 at 9 a.m., a hearing will be held for the city’s most recent motion regarding subpoenaed documents, with members of the public welcomed to attend.
Development of the business park otherwise continues to move forward, a spokesperson for Velocis said. Construction work is expected to reach substantial completion in March, and tenants will be able to move in soon after.
“The West Austin Business Park is in active conversations with prospective tenants and will be ready for occupancy once construction is complete,” the spokesperson said. “Tenant interest has been significant.”
Bee Cave continues work to hold developers accountable, Communications Director Crystal Cotti said.
“The city will continue to enforce its ordinances and the development agreement, which also constrains the uses of the property,” Cotti said. “The city will continue to hold bad actors accountable for the harm they have caused Bee Cave.”
Following the next hearing in March, a full jury trial will take place Aug. 18 to address the permanent injunctive relief that Bee Cave is seeking against developers.
