Lago Vista left $250,000 for condemnations out of its budget

Who is the commission, and why does this matter now

The Building and Standards Commission is a city board. It met in Council Chambers at 5803 Thunderbird on Nov. 4, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. The agenda lists Amanda Chavarria as the council liaison.³ Chavarria told the council on Oct. 15 that once the city condemns a building, "we have within a very short window to remedy ourselves."⁴

That day the council voted unanimously to send its rewrite of the dangerous building rules to legal, to come back at its second November meeting. Our earlier story covers that vote and the draft's fines.⁵ Chavarria said then that a request to put cleanup money in the budget "didn't get rolled in."⁴

What was said on Nov. 4

Frank Robbins, the commission's chairperson, called the regular meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. and took the roll. Members Jim Cason, James Lee, Jeff Koble, and Dave Snyder answered the roll.^3,6 Two members had excused absences. The chair also welcomed the city's new development services director, Giancarlo Patino. No one signed up to speak in citizen comments.⁶

In the liaison's report, the liaison said the $250,000 request did not get into the budget.¹ The liaison said, "We have found some money within the budget." The liaison said, "We've found a couple of things we can cut, and we should be able to fund it." The liaison added that the city is looking but is "not making any promises just now."⁷

The liaison also said the city had lost the code compliance officer it hired, who "weren't here very long." The liaison believed another hire was being onboarded and would confirm that with the interim city manager.⁸

The liaison said the city had previously identified 10 properties. Five of them were high priority, the liaison said. The city could not move on any of them because of funding, the liaison said.⁹ The liaison said, "You can't just condemn them and let it go," and that the city needs money "to be able to clean it up."¹⁰

Commissioners ask to start with the easy cases

A commissioner asked why the city should wait for money before starting. That commissioner asked whether the city could take a few cases to start "getting our feet wet." The commissioner suggested taking "the simpler ones" that need little budget and mostly require "pressing the current landowner."¹¹

The liaison said, "I absolutely agree." The liaison said the city would have to work with development services or the city manager and believed it could already enforce some rules. A commissioner said starting with simple cases would give the board a chance to "get used to the system, the process." The liaison said that choice was up to the commission as a recommendation to council, and that the liaison agreed.¹¹

The liaison said the city had to watch for liens on the properties. The liaison said, "I don't want to be a fifth lien holder on a property." The liaison gave an example of $15,000 in cleanup on a property that already had $100,000 in liens, and asked how much the city would recoup at auction.¹²

A commissioner asked whether four properties were the ones the city most wanted to address. The liaison said the city had identified 10 and "4 or 5 were high priority." The liaison said one high-ranking property would be "very cost prohibitive" because of what the liaison believed was hazardous waste or material. A commissioner said one of the properties had a burned trailer, and another said some sites only needed to be "made safe."¹³

The liaison described a slab with rebar "just sticking up" that could be cut down and ground out. A commissioner said a couple of the sites with rebar were "over by Hancock Park." A commissioner said, "I just don't want to see us wait 8 months and then forget everything that we worked on and start over."¹⁴

The liaison offered to bring the idea to the council the next day in a liaison report on the discussion board.¹⁵ The liaison said some jobs the city expects to run over $50,000 would have to go out for bid, and the city already has contractors in its system.¹⁶ The recording shows no motion on starting with the easy cases.²

A commissioner asked whether the city had no code enforcement officer at all, and the liaison said, "We had hired one, and she put in her notice."¹⁷

The pool code item

The commission's first action item was an ordinance adopting the International Swimming Pool and Spa Code with local amendments. The agenda says the ordinance also addresses fees and permit expiration, and requires fines and fees owed to the city to be paid before permitting.³ Someone presenting the item said staff thought that separating the local amendments from the code of ordinances "creates confusion." The presenter called it "a do-over from what we did in July."¹⁸

A commissioner said the city's online ordinance lists permits and approvals as Section 3.110. The draft had it as 3.107, and another voice called that "a typo." Another commissioner asked to drop an unneeded comma in Section 3.109, and a member said a paragraph letter on page 9 should be F, not A.¹⁹

The city's video ends in this discussion, before any motion or vote on the item.² The agenda also listed code amendments, the July 1 minutes, and future agenda items, which the video does not show.³

What it could mean for taxpayers

The dollar request the liaison described is the $250,000 to start condemnations.¹ The liaison said the money could come from cuts elsewhere in the budget, but did not name a fund.⁷ If the city condemns a building, it must be ready to pay for the cleanup, the liaison said.¹⁰

A cleanup on a property with large liens could leave the city with little of its money back, in the liaison's example.¹²

What we could not find

• Whether the council has set a date for the budget amendment, and which fund it would use.
• A vote or minutes from this commission meeting.
• The names of the properties the city has identified and where they stand.
• Whether the city has a code compliance officer today.
• What the liaison meant by a figure given to a commissioner while discussing money. The machine transcript does not make it clear.
• Who presented the pool code item. The video does not name the presenter.

What you can do

• Ask the City Secretary for the commission's minutes and any budget amendment for condemnations, using the city's records request page.
• Watch the commission meeting in the city's video, linked from the sources below.
• Tell council members what you think before they vote on a budget amendment.