TipSheet: Austin City Council, 10.24.24

Austin City Council will convene today for a regular voting meeting at City Hall. To prepare, we’ve read through the agenda (which is available in its entirety here) and highlighted what is of the most interest to us and, hopefully, our readers.

Obviously, the big item on today’s agenda is the scheduled vote on the $218 million police contract. Tuesday’s work session featured hours of public testimony opposed to the contract, based on both its cost and worries about transparency that also provoked Equity Action into unsuccessfully trying to get a temporary halt on the vote. As for Council – they didn’t really say much. Today, we’re expecting a redo of the public testimony and hoping for more insight from Council members about their take on the contract. While it’s not unprecedented for City Council to reject a police contract, it would be a departure from the vibes of the current dais.

Today’s agenda also features another high-price police item that has also raised concerns from the public. Council will consider a $107 million purchase of property on South MoPac that could be the new site of the city’s police, EMS and and fire headquarters. (In all, the project is expected to cost about $120 million.) However, its location over the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer and its ties to a local real estate group have raised questions that are sure to come up today and, should the sale move forward, the future.

In calmer, but still-anticipated news, Council will also have a new plan for the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum. As we have reported, the plan will expand access to the cultural resource and the historic home and studio, which is currently not open to the public.

Though the vast majority of Council’s work session was taken up with the police contract, there was also some time dedicated to the $48 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that is intended to boost local Mobility Hub projects and education. The money will help improve park and ride facilities as well as establishing “new, smaller neighborhood mobility hubs to connect transit stops with last-mile transportation options like bike share, scooters, rideshare, paratransit or circulator,” according to city documents.

Council Member Ryan Alter has brought forward a resolution that will require landlords (who own five or more dwellings) to disclose fees, possibly in advertising their units for rent. According to the resolution, the fees that should be disclosed include fees associated with the application process, recurring fees such as pest control and trash collection and optional fees for amenities like cable, parking or pets.

Council Member Mackenzie Kelly has a resolution that would establish “child safety zones” where sex offenders are prohibited, as allowed under state law. 

And, due to ongoing drought conditions and wind, Council will also vote to extend a Declaration of Local State of Disaster today, due to the severe risk of wildfires.

And with all of this, there’s still zoning to do. Today’s agenda features a number of potential historic zonings – for District 10’s Splawn-Green House and Brooks House, and the Maufrais House in District 9.  It also has a proposed development at Riverside next to the Statesman campus that has attracted a fair bit of negative attention. The agenda also contains a much-postponed DB90 case in Montopolis that is opposed by the contact team, a rezoning that would demolish both the Cherrywood Coffeehouse and affordable housing on 38th ½ Street, a South Congress PUD, and a District 5 PUD that won a conditional approval from the Environmental Commission.

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