Michael Kanin

After decades of debate, work on building Water Treatment Plant 4 for the city of Austin continues to inch forward. The latest progress for the controversial facility came last Thursday when the City Council voted 4-3 to authorize $6 million for Black & Veatch Corp. to design a transmission main that would carry water from […]

A majority of City Council members tell In Fact Daily they would prefer to postpone today’s scheduled consideration of an extension of the recycling contract with Greenstar (Mid-America Recycling) and discuss the matter in executive session with their attorneys. The move comes amid a flurry of activity related to the city’s handling of recycling and […]

A debate is brewing over what the City of Austin should do with $13 million in funds that are designated “to create or retain affordable housing for low-income (city) residents.” That money is all that remains of a $55 million portion of the 2006 General Obligation (GO) bond election that was set aside for affordable […]

City Attorney David Smith has rejected Texas Disposal Systems’ (TDS) attempt to jump into the bidding to take over city recycling services—even though Smith leaves open the possibility that the city could consider part of TDS’ proposal, which was made outside the request for proposal (RFP) process for picking a partner to build a new […]

A broad coalition of local businesses, Austinites, and non-profit organizations has announced its support for Austin Energy’s Resource and Climate Protection Plan and the accompanying recommendations made by the Austin Generation Resource Planning Task Force. The group, which united under the moniker Clean Energy for Austin, says that it supports the plan “because of its […]

The Board of Adjustment last week denied a Bouldin Creek property owner’s request for a variance that would have allowed him to continue with his plans to construct a dwelling on his lot. With their denial, board members also questioned how the owner, Tyler Pate of Jewell Street, was able to get permits to build […]

An independent hearings officer has recommended that the city allow the bid of Greenstar (Mid-America Recycling) to build a new Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) for the city, rejecting the city staff’s contention that Greenstar violated the city’s no lobbying ordinance.   Though hearings officer Monte Akers sided with Greenstar, Purchasing Officer Byron Johnson could still […]

Texas Disposal Systems brought its campaign against recycling competitor Greenstar back to the Solid Waste Advisory Commission on Wednesday. This time, the company included a request for the city to audit the composition of the materials that Greenstar has been collecting in Austin. TDS officials maintain that these amounts could be incorrect, and that this […]

Texas Disposal Systems has submitted a proposal for the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) after all. Its plan was delivered directly to the Austin City Council and the Solid Waste Advisory Committee just after the deadline for responses to the city’s MRF request for proposals had passed on Tuesday. The document is part of a 33-page […]

As the disqualification of two solid waste service providers stretched into the appeals process Friday, one of the firms facing sanction surprised observers with the announcement that it would not be responding to the request for proposals (RFP) that was the subject of the controversy. In doing so, Texas Disposal Systems caused the City of […]

The Austin City Council will consider a resolution today allowing the placement of memorials to fallen Austin Police Department (APD) officers, an effort known as the Austin Police Officer Memorial Project, at the site where the officers fell. If Council approves the resolution as expected, portions of the resolution will still be subject to review […]

The Travis County Commissioners Court could not escape the first phase of its “Strategic Needs Analysis and Facilities Master Plan” without hitting what officials won’t call a hiccup but what could, nonetheless, present an issue for the planned downtown development as things move forward. Even so, the court has approved the first step in the […]