Stories by Amy Smith
Hays Commons development’s parkland proposal wins support from Parks Board
The Parks and Recreation Board has given a proposed development its unanimous support based on the amount of parkland the builder has promised to provide on a nearly 500-acre site straddling Travis and Hays counties. The development, Hays Commons, is…
Parks • By Amy Smith • Aug 30, 2024
Parks board asks City Council to review why boating concession ordinance exempted community input
The Parks and Recreation Board wants City Council to reexamine, and possibly rescind, a 2019 ordinance allowing an adventure excursion company to operate a boating concession in East Austin without going through a public process. The company, called the Expedition…
Parks • By Amy Smith • Aug 29, 2024
Downtown Commission gets preview of next chapter for John Henry Faulk Building and Austin History Center
With the Austin History Center “busting at the seams” with, well, history, city library officials have been preparing the John Henry Faulk Building next door to house the History Center’s vast collection of archives. Both the History Center and the…
Planning • By Amy Smith • Aug 23, 2024
Save Our Springs Alliance files another lawsuit against City Council over Open Meetings Act
Claiming that City Council has again violated the Texas Open Meetings Act, the Save Our Springs Alliance on Monday filed a lawsuit seeking to block the city’s placement of 13 proposed charter amendments on the November ballot. It is the…
Courts • By Amy Smith • Aug 20, 2024
Council formally authorizes November election with 13 proposed charter amendments
City of Austin voters will face a loaded ballot in November, with 13 charter amendments to be decided as well as a full slate of political races to elect a mayor and five City Council members. City Council last week…
Bonds & Propositions • By Amy Smith • Aug 19, 2024
Parks, pools, trees – and dogs – get a boost in new city budget
The new city budget City Council passed Wednesday delivered good news for parks and park lovers with the creation of a land acquisition fund, improved parks maintenance, additional funding for tree-planting projects and a dog park in Southwest Austin. Additionally,…
Budget • By Amy Smith • Aug 15, 2024
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Commissioners advance program to provide legal counsel at bail hearings
The Travis County Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to move forward on implementing a program to provide legal representation to arrested individuals during magistration, when a judge determines probable cause for arrest and sets bail. Commissioners will first need to authorize…
Courts • By Amy Smith • Aug 14, 2024
Environmental Commission recommends Council’s adoption of food plan
The Austin Environmental Commission on Wednesday approved a recommendation to City Council to adopt the proposed Austin/Travis County Food Plan and ensure its complete funding over the next four years. The recommended resolution, sponsored by Mariana Krueger and approved unanimously,…
Public Health • By Amy Smith • Aug 9, 2024
City emergency and development staff still opposed to single-stairwell apartment buildings
First responders and development services staff remain opposed to the single-staircase resolution that City Council approved in May, Assistant Fire Chief Tom Vocke told the Public Safety Commission at its meeting Monday afternoon. Council members supported the change to make…
Development • By Amy Smith • Aug 6, 2024
Parks board to ask Council to explain why it bypassed public input on a Lady Bird Lake boat rental concession
Members of the Parks and Recreation Board said Monday they will ask City Council to reexamine a 2019 ordinance that circumvented public input to allow an adventure excursion company to operate a boating concession on Lady Bird Lake. The request…
Parks • By Amy Smith • Jul 26, 2024
Parks board recommends beefing up funding for city parks maintenance
With increasing challenges in maintaining grounds within Austin’s busy parks system, the Parks and Recreation Board voted Monday to recommend that City Council allocate an additional $2.62 million to the Parks and Recreation Department budget for the new fiscal year.…
Budget • By Amy Smith • Jul 24, 2024
Council votes to follow traditional process before calling a climate bond election
After one of the most robust deliberations City Council has had in recent history, a resolution on a comprehensive climate bond election moved forward Thursday, but without the immediacy that some Council members would have preferred. Nevertheless, those who favored…
