Austin Monitor

Mayor Will Wynn sent an email to friends and supporters Wednesday to counteract attempts from the Austin Board of Realtors, among others, to thwart the city’s efforts to make existing homes more energy efficient.   Place 4 candidate Cid Galindo has also been criticizing his opponent, Laura Morrison, in both mail and TV advertising for […]

Last week, the Austin City Council gave final approval to amendments to the city’s Sign Ordinance as they pertain to billboards that are unlikely to make everyone happy. However, it may make the issue go away, at least for a little while.   The Council passed on second and third reading a number of amendments […]

Models of the proposed intake and discharge facilities for the Waller Creek Tunnel will be on display at City Hall for the next two weeks as the city staff continues work on the major flood-control project. “We’re hoping the public comes out to look at these and give comments on them,” Joe Pantalion, Assistant Director […]

Despite a report to the contrary, Laura Morrison has more cash on hand than opponent Cid Galindo to fund her campaign for City Council Place 4.   According to a campaign finance report filed Friday with the City Clerk’s office, Galindo had only $4,641 left at the end of the week. Morrison reported about $18,568 […]

City staff has recommended the team of Trammell Crow/Constructive Ventures/USAA for the redevelopment of the Green Water Treatment Site.   The Council is scheduled to pick one of the five teams bidding to do the development on June 18, the last meeting before the Council takes its summer break. Although the Council is not bound […]

The City Council has taken the first step towards developing a plan for the parks, open spaces, and historic landmarks in downtown Austin. Council members voted unanimously Thursday to direct the City Manager’s office to develop a cost estimate for a long-term plan for downtown’s outdoor facilities.   Council Members are concerned that those locations […]

Gone are the days of the positive and polite May election. With early voting in full swing for the June 14 runoff election, Place 4 candidates Laura Morrison and Cid Galindo are busy painting negative pictures of one another.   Morrison continued her mail effort against Galindo this week with a piece that says, “Real […]

Place 4 Council candidate Cid Galindo is facing criticism from some East Austin residents over development in their neighborhood. They are accusing the former member of the Planning Commission of contributing to the gentrification of East Austin by developing high-end condominiums in one of the city’s lower-income neighborhoods.   Galindo is a partner in City […]

Council Member Sheryl Cole plans to introduce changes during today’s meeting to the revised ordinance governing Planned Unit Developments. Specifically, Cole would like to eliminate a proposal to require PUDs to go through a three-member Council subcommittee before going through the normal development process, the most controversial part of the ordinance. A number of PUDs […]

The Austin City Council today will consider a resolution that would affect the wages paid by contractors performing construction work on projects developed as part of a public-private partnership, such as the Seaholm Power Plant site or the Green Water Treatment Plant. Council Members Lee Leffingwell, Mike Martinez, and Brewster McCracken want companies working on […]

The Historic Landmark Commission has voted unanimously to release a partial demolition permit for the home at 1115 Enfield, known as the Shropshire-Armacost House, allowing the purchaser of the home to take down a majority of the structure while leaving the front façade and part of the roof in place.   That arrangement will allow […]

Economic & Planning Systems, Inc., the company performing financial evaluations of the five proposals for redevelopment of the Green Water Treatment Plant site, has a long list of clients, ranging from cities and counties to non-profit organizations to some of the nation’s largest developers.   The list includes firms leading two of the teams that […]