The Kyle City Council will place a non-binding referendum on the May election ballot to gauge the community’s views on contracts the city holds with Flock for Automated License Plate Readers, or ALPRs, and Drones as First Responders, or DFRs.

At an Oct. 5 meeting, the council voted to suspend the operation of its city-owned cameras until the referendum is voted on and the council decides whether to move forward with the contracts in May.

The overview: Kyle Mayor Yvonne Flores-Cale and council member Melissa Medina brought forward a motion to suspend the use of Flock ALPRs in Kyle until the non-binding referendum has been voted on.

During this period, the existing cameras will be non-operational and will not collect, capture, transmit, or store license plate or vehicle data.

The discussion: Along with Medina and Flores-Cale, council members Courtney Goza and Claudia Zapata voted in favor of the motion to suspend the Flock cameras.

Council members Lauralee Harris, Marc McKinney and Michael Tobias voted against the motion.

A new master-planned industrial development, Kyle Technology Park, has completed its first stage of construction.

The 75,000-square-foot development comprises three buildings totaling 25,000 square feet and is designed to accommodate multiple tenants for various warehouse and flex industrial uses, according to a news release from Cadence McShane Construction Company.

Zooming in: The technology park is located on a 41-acre site at FM 1626 and Plum Creek Meadows, near Nitro Swimming. The site was located due to its access to I-35, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, West Austin and San Antonio, according to the release.

Looking ahead: Once the development is completed, it will include up to 11 buildings totaling approximately 300,000 square feet and offer office, industrial, showroom and build-to-suit uses.

The average annual insurance premium for a Texas homeowner rose 79% in six years, from less than $2,000 in 2020 to more than $3,500 this year, Texas Insurance Commissioner Amanda Crawford told state lawmakers Oct. 5.

The overview: The rise in home insurance costs has been caused by severe weather, high inflationary costs impacting home repairs and "the concentration of risk" in the insurance market, Crawford said.

Experts said hardening homes against severe weather could help reduce expensive losses from disasters, resulting in lower insurance premiums.

Zooming in: Proponents of home-hardening incentives have pointed to their success in other Gulf Coast states, such as Alabama. Texas consumer advocacy groups and the insurance industry backed proposals to create a similar grant program last year, according to previous Community Impact reporting, but those measures did not pass.

"Resilience helps homeowners long before it shows up in an insurance bill because a stronger home holds up better when the storm comes," said Chelsea Stallings, a regional vice president for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies.