New apps connect residents to events, services
HUTTO — A recent City Council session gave residents and stakeholders a chance to chime in again on issues plaguing the historic downtown area.
Problems include a lack of parking and traffic jams, both of which are slowing the district’s growth and affecting the quality of life, council members heard April 3.
In other business during the meeting, elected representatives got an update on apps linking neighbors to city services and heard a report on a traffic survey.
Meanwhile, Gracie Matthews, representing the Downtown Hutto Business Association, addressed concerns about the area also known as Old Town.
“These issues are not new. These have been lingering for many years,” said Matthews, whose group includes property and business owners in the rectangle of West Street to FM 1660 and Live Oak Street to U.S. 79.
Matthews said property owners recently had inquiries from companies in Georgetown, Elgin and Round Rock looking to expand their businesses to Hutto, but the lack of parking turned away the potential tenants.
There are other issues as well, she added, including the need for better street lighting to enhance “safety and family friendliness,” she said.
“We want people to come stay awhile and play for hours and hours, not just coming for dinner and leaving,” Matthews added.
A workshop involving the association, council members and city staff topped her requests.
Old Town traffic changes in the works
A one-way street concept in Old Town to alleviate traffic woes received mainly a negative response from more than 850 responses to a city survey, the council heard April 3.
However, council members asked city staff to develop a phased approach to one-way streets for further consideration by the city and downtown businesses.
The recommendations for a plan could be presented at a May 1 meeting, said Director of Strategic Operations David Amsler.
He presented the results of the public open house and online survey, which indicated a “strong sentiment” to avoid oneway streets in residential and core areas because of safety concerns.
Councilman Randal Clark acknowledged the difficulties in pleasing everyone while trying to find a solution.
“All the residents say they want sidewalks to be able to walk down some of the old streets, they want drainage, and they want on-street parking. Well, the only way you can do those three things on these very narrow streets is a oneway street,” said Clark. “There’s always tradeoffs to whatever you do.”
Amsler also said downtown paid parking and time restrictions are not popular among those who participated in the survey, requested by the council in February.
Alternatives included suggestions for better pedestrian infrastructure and public transportation options such as a shuttle from the parking garage.
New apps help connect the city
Hutto has introduced a trio of new apps residents can use to pay bills, make more efficient use of water resources and find out about city events.
They include Hutto Connect, Hutto Solve-It and WaterSmart Portal.
Hutto Connect at huttotx. info/connect is a new community calendar app from the city.
“You can even subscribe to have alerts sent to you whenever something is posted as an event that you are interested in,” said City Manager James Earp.
In the next few months, a second phase of the app will allow residents to post events.
Hutto Solve-It allows residents to report nonemergency issues to the city and track service requests in real time. It replaces the former online Citizens Request Tracker.
Customers can report potholes, graffiti and high grass, with notifications sent directly to the appropriate city department.
Residents can attach photos and follow the progress of their request, as well as sign up for automatic updates.
The app can be downloaded from Google Play, the Apple App Store and at huttotx.citysourced. com.
WaterSmart Portal is an enhanced billpayment service allowing customers to monitor and manage water consumption, compare usage to similar homes and receive leak alerts.
Payments can be made through Google Pay, Venmo and via text.
Find more at huttotx. watersmart.com.
All water customers who have online accounts need to re-register now with the WaterSmart Portal and bill-payment system, officials said.
