After many years of vision planning and discussions, two major redevelopment projects – the South Central Waterfront and the Colony Park Vision Plan in Northeast Austin – are showing some degree of progress in relation to how the projects would be financed. City staffers are expected to present a preliminary financing plan for South Central […]
Amy Smith
Posted inWhispers
Live music will return to Council
After more than a year of virtual silence, City Council’s long-standing tradition of hosting local musical acts during a meal break at its Thursday meetings will make a comeback in January. That’s the one point Council members seemed to agree on during a discussion on meeting procedures at Tuesday’s work session. What’s not clear is […]
Posted inEMS
EMS makes progress on billing backlog
Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services is chipping away at a billing backlog that started with a demanding learning curve associated with a new patient records system implemented in 2019. Additional billing delays carried over into 2020 as city staffers started setting up workspaces at home during the pandemic, interim EMS Chief Jasper Brown told the […]
Posted inAustin
Austin Pets Alive! poised to stay at Town Lake site
City Council overwhelmingly approved a resolution Thursday that appears to give Austin Pets Alive! greater leverage in negotiating a new license agreement with the city to replace the existing deal that expires Nov. 23. The two sides had reached an impasse over several changes APA wanted in its agreement with the city, which provides rent-free […]
Posted inCourts
Public Safety Commission frowns on marshal office proposal
While it took no action on a proposal to create a marshal office within the Austin Municipal Court, the Public Safety Commission largely gave the plan a thumbs-down on Monday. Last month, City Council heard concerns from residents about the proposal and postponed a decision until the Public Safety Commission could weigh in on transferring […]
Posted inWhispers
EMS chief hiring process off to a quiet start
A nationwide search for a new chief of Austin-Travis County Emergency Services is underway, but details are sketchy on the number of people who have applied for the position. At Monday’s Public Safety Commission meeting, Commissioner Rebecca Webber asked Assistant City Manager Rey Arellano how many applications were submitted before last month’s deadline. Arellano said he […]
Posted inCity Hall
Parks board unhappy with PARD’s handling of parkland fee dustup
In mid-September, the Parks and Recreation Board heard a briefing from staffers that included a video extolling the benefits of the city’s Parkland Dedication Ordinance, which requires developers to dedicate on-site parkland or pay a fee-in-lieu toward the acquisition and development of parks. But that rosy picture of the ordinance was overshadowed at Tuesday’s meeting […]
Posted inCity Council
Council denounces ‘false choice’ of pitting parkland against affordability
More than two months after City Council passed a new budget that took effect Oct. 1, city management now wants to freeze one of the adopted fee schedules as it relates to the amount developers pay toward parkland acquisition and development. While some Council members appeared ready to deny the request at the outset, a […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Chacon gives progress report on making Sixth Street safer
After decades of discussion about the culture and safety of the Sixth Street entertainment district, a team of city staffers from multiple departments is making headway toward carrying out City Council-directed measures to ensure the public’s safety. Council adopted a series of distinct action items in July for the interdepartmental team to review and implement, […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Legislation addresses fire safety at kennels
A Williamson County lawmaker has filed a bill that would require all Texas kennel operators to have a fire-safety system in place to prevent another tragedy like the one that occurred last month at a Georgetown pet boarding facility. Seventy-five dogs died of smoke inhalation when a fire broke out at the Ponderosa Pet Resort […]
Posted inPlanning
Statesman PUD proposal needs improvement, Environmental Commission says
The planned unit development proposed for the former Austin American-Statesman property is not an environmentally superior project in the eyes of the Watershed Protection Department, but it could achieve superiority if the developer agrees to more than a dozen conditions. Drawing on the department’s opinion, the Environmental Commission took a similar position Wednesday, voting unanimously […]
Posted inDevelopment
Parks board says Statesman PUD’s parkland proposal needs more work
The Parks and Recreation Board has determined that the proposed planned unit development on the Austin American-Statesman property is not a superior project as it relates to parkland. With that determination, the board further encouraged parks staffers to continue working with the applicant to try to address the board’s list of goals for the site […]