Mark Richardson

For Part 1 of the story see Dec. 21, 2009. Central and South Texas suffered through two years of one of the most severe droughts on record, with Lake Travis dropping to levels close to the “Drought of Record” reached in the 1950s. And with the drought as a backdrop, the never-ending battle over building […]

This is the first of two of a series looking back at the major stories that affected Austin during 2009. The last year of the first decade of the 2000s was a turbulent year for politics and the economy at the City of Austin, changing the political landscape and adding an unusual element of drama […]

The City of Austin is looking to get back into the MRF (pronounced murph) business again after a not-so-graceful exit from the process just over a year ago. MRF stands for Materials Recycling Facility, and city officials reviewed and sought input on a request for proposal (RFP) for a public-private partnership to build and operate […]

The City of Austin has removed Willie Rhodes as director of the Solid Waste Services Department, and reassigned him as the leader of a newly formed Code Compliance section. The City Manager’s office informed Council members of the move Friday in a memo outlining the reorganization.   City Manager Marc Ott said Sunday that Assistant […]

What was meant to be a routine item for approval on the Solid Waste Advisory Commission’s agenda Wednesday night turned into a standoff between commissioners and Solid Waste Services staff.   The item, approval of the low bidder to develop a Master Plan for the city’s Solid Waste Services Department, was the result of a […]

The city’s new Single Stream recycling effort – started by staff after a two-year pilot program showed that the program could save the city a lot of money – is close to racking up a $1 million deficit just five months into its existence, according to figures provided by a member of the city’s Solid […]

Members of the Solid Waste Advisory Commission were left feeling like they ordered a steak and received a bologna sandwich last week, after they heard a staff report on the process the city is using to perform an organizational assessment of the Solid Waste Services Department.   There is a long history of animosity between […]

Despite several months of work on the city’s Zero Waste plan, which goes before the City Council today, members of the Solid Waste Advisory Commission and Solid Waste Services Department staff were still at odds last night over how the plan will be implemented.   Council’s approval of the plan — which aims to cut […]

City Council members spent an hour behind closed doors Thursday hearing from a trio of law firms concerning the city’s predicament related to a settlement agreement with BFI Waste Disposal. Council members came back into open session, and promptly decided not to say or do anything in regards to the matter – which did not […]

Attorney Richard Suttle gets another chance to work his zoning magic today, as his clients seek to upgrade the decades-old Terrace Planned Unit Development in order to add three new buildings. Developers of the PUD, originated in 1985, are asking to make changes to its plans and amend a public restrictive covenant in order to […]

A developer seeking to build a small condominium complex in Southeast Austin ran up against a group of neighbors Tuesday night convinced that they had enough multi-family housing in their neighborhood. The project, four lots running 1406 through 1506 Parker Lane in the Riverside Drive area, eventually won a zoning recommendation, but not before some […]

Despite some saber rattling earlier in the week, Council members approved a resolution Thursday directing City Manager Marc Ott to hire outside counsel to assist the city in reversing course on an agreement with BFI Waste Services related to expansion of its northeast Austin landfill—without specifying which firm to hire.   The situation arose over […]