Michael Kanin

Developers for a large area of land in eastern Travis County are lining up to help offset some of the transportation costs that would be associated with their respective projects. The deal, which is being called a regional phasing agreement, would represent a major change in the way counties traditionally deal with infrastructure costs.   […]

The city seems to be inching closer toward a decision about its recycling future. Last Thursday, as expected, City Council voted against a proposed extension and modification of the current contract with Mid-America Recycling (aka Greenstar) to handle the city’s blue bin processing. The unanimous vote reflected Council members’ desire to focus on a long-term […]

Failure by the city’s Code Compliance Department (CCD) to follow its own rules has led to “inconsistent and inequitable treatment across cases,” according to an audit released last week.   Insufficient documentation, the auditors said, could mean that “CCD may not be able to … document compliance with requirements established by federal, state and city […]

The City Council voted unanimously Thursday to refocus the city’s affordable housing efforts in a way that would prioritize the needs of the chronically homeless. As part of its resolution, the Council also moved to begin the process of constructing 350 permanent supportive housing units over the next four years.   However, the looming threat […]

A city-hired consultant has recommended that the City of Austin make substantial changes to the pension plan it offers to most future employees. If enacted, the revisions could both redefine the number of years the city expects its workers to put in before retirement and grant participants in the Employee Retirement System (ERS) the right […]

Austin’s Solid Waste Services (SWS) department is prepared to recommend a one-year extension of Mid-America Recycling’s contract to handle the city’s residential single-stream recycling. If approved by the City Council on Thursday, the new deal would run through the end of Sept. 2011. The company, which does business as Greenstar, is involved in what has […]

Last week, Council members heard a scheduled six-month update on various groundwater issues related to impervious cover and subsurface structures.   “During discussions of the amendment, concerns were raised regarding groundwater impacts,” said Jose Guerrero of the Watershed Protection Department. He noted that the presentation was a follow-up to concerns raised by Council in 2008. […]

The continued drive to improve Austin’s urban core will play a key role as city officials prepare the public for the resumption of a bond process for the city’s stalled rail project. In an interview with In Fact Daily, the director of Austin’s Transportation Department, Robert Spillar, discussed issues surrounding the future of urban rail […]

The expansion of CAMPO’s policy board has cleared an initial hurdle last week, as an ambivalent Travis County Commissioners Court voted to approve the addition of Bastrop and Caldwell counties to that body. Precinct 3 Commissioner Karen Huber voted against the measure and Precinct 1 Commissioner Ron Davis abstained. Despite their affirmative votes, both Precinct […]

Austin will add its name to the growing list of municipalities that will compete for the privilege to serve as a guinea pig for Google’s latest project. If selected by the Bay Area-based IT behemoth, Austin would play host to a widely publicized effort that would bring what Council Member Laura Morrison termed “super fast […]

A continued shortfall in the performance of the City of Austin’s Employee Retirement System (ERS) pension fund has led to a high-level discussion about possible changes in the plan. For future city employees, that could spell reduced retirement benefits.   “The losses from 2008 were so substantial,” said City Treasurer Art Alfaro, “that it would […]

The City of Austin and Travis County have unveiled a statistics-based tool that they hope will help to better focus their social service efforts. Specifically, according to the 2010 version of the new Community Dashboard, it will offer interested parties “an overview of the social health and well-being of Austin and Travis County.” Travis County […]