No one, even commissioners, understands the ins and outs of every single city program. At its Sept. 20 meeting, the Environmental Commission took an opportunity to learn more about the Watershed Protection Department’s Spills and Complaints Response Program. Following the city-sanctioned cleanup of the Red Bluff area of East Austin, the commission remained unclear about […]
Jessi Devenyns
Posted inParks
Austin Energy to turn over Holly Power Plant site by December
The bitter reminder of decades of pollution that the Holly Street Power Plant presents to the residents of the Holly neighborhood will soon disappear. As of the Parks and Recreation Board meeting on Sept. 26, the plant is in its final phase of decommissioning before the land will be transferred from Austin Energy into the […]
Posted inWhispers
Holly Shores Working Group dissolved
For over a year, the Holly Shores Working Group of the Parks and Recreation Board met monthly to assist with the implementation of the Holly Shores/Edward Rendon Sr. Park at Festival Beach Master Plan. With $3 million to spend judiciously on improvements, board Vice Chair Richard DePalma said that the intention behind the formation of […]
Posted inResources
Will city composting ever make it to multifamily residences?
Some people in Austin saw a new, green compost bin waiting at the curb when they arrived home from work this week. However, although the city of Austin’s single-family residence composting program is entering its next phase, the next question that needs to be answered is how to include multifamily residences in the initiative. At […]
Posted inWater
In a gesture of goodwill, the city wants to reward those who are reusing their stormwater
Most Austin residents are aware of the sometimes economically painful reality of fixed stormwater drainage charges adding up on their monthly bills. However, after years of operating under this system, the Watershed Protection Department is changing its approach by rolling out a stormwater discount program. Currently, the program is in a pilot phase that has […]
Posted inBicycles
Upper Boggy Creek Trail one step closer to reality
After a contentious debate among the commissioners, the Environmental Commission approved a variance request submitted by the Public Works Department to widen the design of a concrete trail from 12 feet to 14 feet on Sept. 20 with only Vice Chair Peggy Maceo dissenting. Currently, the Public Works Department and the Urban Trails Program are […]
Posted inWhispers
Arts Commission approves final design for convention center garage
Austin is getting a new public art piece on the corner of Second and Brazos streets. Artist Josef Kristofoletti has been approved by the Austin Arts Commission to begin his $74,000 mural that is intended to conceptually represent unity and diversity in the city. Kristofoletti’s color gradation mural will reach from the bottom to the […]
Posted inAustin
Austin’s creative culture holds weight in economic incentives revision
In response to City Council direction in March, Austin’s Economic Development Department has spent the better part of the year meeting with specific groups in the community that have a stake in how the city approaches policies such as business recruitment, real estate planning and business incentives packages in the coming years. In an effort […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
After a successful first year, the Art Space Assistance Program will not continue
The Art Space Assistance Program that is aimed at assisting creative-focused nonprofits facing permanent displacement, those previously displaced, or those facing lease renewals at substantially higher rates did not receive funding from City Council for 2018. Council approved $200,000 of General Fund money for the new program in June. The program was intended for organizations […]
Posted inWhispers
After contentious discussion, Arts Commission approves community initiative applications
On Monday, Sept. 18, the Austin Arts Commission worked its way through a list of 14 Community Initiative applications that were submitted in August for approval. The overall monetary value of these grant requests totaled $43,250. Out of the 14 applications, half were pulled out of the vote for further discussion. Applications submitted by the […]
Posted inWater
Watershed Protection begins testing to change Waller hydrology
After two years of toying with the possibility of emulating the natural hydrology of Austin’s pre-urbanized watersheds through man-made controls, the Watershed Protection Department is finally putting its theories to the test at Reilly Elementary School. Reilly Elementary sits at the head of the Waller Creek Watershed, a fully urbanized headwaters zone. Due to its […]
Posted inEnvironment
Austin’s Blackland Prairie remains unexpectedly unrecovered
On Wednesday, graduate engineer Lindsay Olinde and Mateo Scoggins, a senior environmental scientist from the Watershed Protection Department, presented the Environmental Commission with the unexpected findings on Blackland Prairie riparian corridors. Contrary to the hypothesis that this historically less-urbanized and – protected watershed would be covered in woody wetland vegetation, it appeared that there is […]