Though they have a long road ahead of them, members of Austin’s Regional Affordability Committee are taking a measured approach to developing a strategic plan to achieve their goals. Rather than take action at their second meeting on Monday, members made several requests for information from Budget Office staff and agreed to develop and adopt […]
Tyler Whitson
Posted inEnvironment, Resources
Almost half of Austin curbside trash recyclable
Despite the city’s ambitious goal to achieve zero waste by 2040, many Austin residents are sending items to landfills that they could be putting into the city’s blue recycling bins. Austin Resource Recovery Department Director Robert Gedert told members of the Zero Waste Advisory Commission on Wednesday that, according to a recent study, about 44 […]
Posted inBudget
Council weighs homestead exemption equity
City Council is facing an array of difficult choices as it attempts to balance potential increases in the city’s homestead exemption tax with its upcoming budget needs. Following a Wednesday budget work session, Council members can add possible impacts on renters to the equation. In addition to issues involving renters — who comprise 55 percent of […]
Posted inCity Council, Texas State Legislature
Council debates city’s state legislative policies
With the 84th session of the Texas Legislature set to end June 1, the city’s Government Relations Office has kicked its lobbying efforts into overdrive. At the same time, City Council has opened a discussion about how the city determines its legislative program and makes decisions on which bills to support or oppose. A legislative […]
Posted inEnvironment
City’s 2014 heritage tree results a mixed bag
Austin’s heritage tree ordinance is effectively protecting the city’s healthy historical trees, though last year saw the loss of a considerable number of them due to poor health and related issues. That sums up what Keith Mars, environmental coordinator for the Development Services Department, said May 6 when he presented his 2014 City Arborist Heritage […]
Posted inRoads, Transportation
CAMPO adopts 2040 Regional Transportation Plan
Austin’s history of doubling its population every 25 years or so presents a huge challenge to regional elected officials trying to predict the area’s future transportation needs. Despite this issue, the Transportation Policy Board of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization threw its chips on the table Monday when it adopted its 2040 Regional Transportation […]
Posted inEnergy, Texas State Legislature
Council tentatively extends large energy contracts
Austin Energy is stuck between a rock and a hard place, with the rock being the Texas Legislature and the hard place being the utility’s exhausted reserve funds. City Council is now working to wriggle the municipal energy provider out of its predicament without serious damage. Acting essentially as Austin Energy’s board of directors, Council […]
Posted inWhispers
Texas House OKs bus-on-shoulder bill
The Texas House passed a bill Thursday that would create a pilot program for transit buses to use state highway shoulders to skip traffic gridlocks. House Bill 1324, filed by Rep. Celia Israel (D-Austin), would apply to certain strips of highway in Travis, Bexar, Tarrant and El Paso counties when traffic slows to less than […]
Posted inRoads, Transportation
Council formally weighs in on MoPac South plan
After weeks of mounting tension over what many call a “double-decking” of MoPac Expressway over Lady Bird Lake, City Council has formally asked the regional transportation planning body to modify a proposal to add four express lanes to a section of the highway in its upcoming plan. Council passed a resolution Thursday requesting that the […]
Posted inDevelopment, Planning
Council may revise Mueller Commission eligibility
Though residents of any Austin neighborhood can currently join the commission that guides City Council on the Mueller development, a proposed ordinance would limit membership to those who live in that community and 24 surrounding neighborhoods. Council members debated the merits of such a change at a work session Tuesday as they consider making it […]
Posted inWhispers
CTRMA partners on traffic management app
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and technology company Metropia announced Wednesday that they have launched a free app — also called Metropia — designed to help residents shorten travel times and earn rewards. According to a news release, the app, which has been in beta testing in Austin since September, “helps users determine their […]
Posted inWhispers
Staff awaits Council’s B&C appointments
Mayor Steve Adler informed City Council at a work session Tuesday that staff has asked Council members to make their appointments to the city’s boards and commissions sooner rather than later. Though the new commissions system does not go into place until July 1, staff will need time to onboard and train the roughly 500 […]