Colony Park - 2026 Bond Proposal

[Emmanuel Brantley]

Dear colleagues,

Thank you for your thoughtful work throughout the development of this bond package. Since City staff first brought before us eligible projects for this proposed bond election, we have engaged in a deliberate process to balance community priorities with fiscal responsibility. The Bond Election Advisory Task Force ultimately recommended approximately $750 million in investments, and through careful review and Council deliberation, that proposal has been refined to a bond package of under $300 million.

This package reflects our shared commitment to responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars while continuing to invest in the parks, libraries, and other essential public spaces where Austinites, especially our young people, live, grow, and thrive. As a result of that careful process, we now have before us a bond proposal worthy of consideration by Austin voters this November and a unique opportunity to address a long-neglected need in a historic District 1 neighborhood through a targeted investment—all while keeping the overall bond package under that amount.

Before we return to the dais, I would like to share that I intend to make a motion to add funding for the design of the joint public health center and public library in Colony Park.

At $18.2 million, this proposal accomplishes three important goals: it keeps the total bond package under $300 million, reaffirming our commitment to sound fiscal stewardship; invests in a long-neglected historic District 1 neighborhood; and advances priorities already embraced by the City through initiatives such as GenATX, Austin Public Health's Early Childhood Team, and the Community Health Improvement Plan by expanding access to the resources and services that help children, families, and communities thrive.

This motion marks an important step toward advancing a long-overdue investment in the Colony Park community, and it would initiate the first phase of funding for the joint Austin Public Library–Austin Public Health facility, a project identified by the Bond Election Advisory Task Force this year as a bond priority and a critical investment in the future of this historic District 1 neighborhood.

If approved, the investment would support the design of a single 30,000-square-foot multi-purpose community center in Colony Park that would house both a new library and a public health center.

The library would serve the rapidly growing northeast Austin area, where the nearest branch is more than eight miles away, providing access to educational resources, technology, digital literacy programs, and community gathering space.

The co-located public health center would house multiple Austin Public Health programs, including a Neighborhood Center, Immunization Clinic, WIC Clinic, Youth Services, and a Child Care Center, expanding access to essential health and family services to families living in east of the downtown core.

Colony Park sits at the heart of the Northeast Planning District, a joint planning effort between the City of Austin and Travis County focused on infrastructure, mobility, housing, and public service needs in one of Austin’s historically underserved communities.

This recommendation also reflects, in large part, a recognition of the decades-long underinvestment that too many neighborhoods like Colony Park—and others across Districts 1, 2, 3, and 4—have experienced. Following a long history of segregation and displacement, Colony Park and surrounding communities continue to lack key public assets within a reasonable distance of their residents. Committing to a new library and health center in this community would represent a meaningful first step toward addressing these historic disparities and creating a more equitable future for residents.

While the shortage of public libraries in East Austin is particularly stark, the challenge is not unique to one part of the city. Library square footage per capita has declined across Austin since the 1980s. Given the central role libraries play in civic life—not only as places to borrow books, but as spaces for learning, community gatherings, and access to neighborhood resources—the District 1 office supports not only the proposed Colony Park facility, but also continued investment in the expansion and renovation of the Hampton Branch Library.

I hope you’ll join me in taking up the bond as a tool for addressing Austin’s historic disparities and offering new hope to residents: with this added funding, we can lay the groundwork for finally bringing these critical public assets to a community long in need of them.

In Service,
CM Harper-Madison

[Julie Montgomery]

On behalf of CM Ellis:

Thank you, CM Harper-Madison. I fully support your proposed addition of design funding for a combined Colony Park Branch Library and Public Health Facility.

A community facilities bond proposition with both the long-awaited Hampton Branch Library expansion in Southwest Austin and design of the innovative Colony Park joint facility in Northeast Austin would advance greatly needed benefits to two parts of town with relatively minimal City investment. Many people are surprised to learn that the Hampton Branch Library is District 8’s only library, and, in fact, the only publicly accessible City building in District 8 outside of Zilker Park.

Tiny and beloved, the Hampton Branch Library has been waiting almost 30 years for its always-planned expansion from 8,200 square feet to at least 23,500 sqft. (The 2023 APL Comprehensive Plan now recommends 30,000+ sqft for Hampton.) It has the second-highest visitor count and the second-highest circulation of physical materials of any APL branch, as of 2022, despite being one of the smallest branch libraries. And I can testify to Hampton’s need for more meeting space – I hold my annual Community Fair there, and we have been spilling out onto the lawn for the last few years due to lack of space.

These are good, needed investments to offer to Austin voters. I look forward to supporting your motion for this robust community facilities bond proposition.

Paige