Following the recent controversy surrounding a Riverside Drive apartment complex demolition permit that displaced around 100 low-income families, City Council has taken a step toward establishing new rules to assist tenants in similar situations in the future. Council approved a resolution Thursday directing city staff to draft an ordinance that would establish “tenant relocation assistance […]
Tyler Whitson
Posted inPlanning
Council denies land annexation in contentious vote
In an unusual and potentially precedent-setting move, City Council voted 6-4 at a Tuesday work session not to annex a piece of land into the city limits, despite staff’s recommendation to do so. Although the land is bordered on three sides by the city of Austin, resident Tim Hess said that all of its residents […]
Posted inWhispers
Adler drafts Convention Center plan amendments
Ahead of City Council’s consideration of a long-term plan for the Austin Convention Center on Thursday, Mayor Steve Adler posted a draft online Tuesday of amendments that he plans to propose prior to the vote. Those amendments state that, before asking Council to take any action to implement the plan after it is adopted, city […]
Posted inRoads
Austinites sound off on MoPac South
Austin-area elected officials, advocates and community members gathered at Austin High School on Monday for a forum on the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s proposed MoPac South tolled expansion. The event revealed a general dissatisfaction and frustration with the available options. “The best of these proposals don’t provide a direct benefit to Austin High or […]
Posted inEnergy
Austin Energy supports Clean Power Plan
Although Texas is a major player in a legal challenge to the federal Clean Power Plan, Austin Energy and three utilities outside of Texas have joined Houston-based Calpine Corp. in a legal motion to support the plan. Austin Energy General Manager Larry Weis told the Austin Monitor on Monday what the move means for the […]
Posted inWhispers
Environmental Commission postpones Grove PUD
At the request of neighbors adjacent to the site of a proposed planned unit development called the Grove at Shoal Creek, the Environmental Commission postponed a public hearing on the plan’s environmental merits on Wednesday. The commission requested a staff briefing on the proposal at its next meeting on Nov. 18 and will consider the […]
Posted inEnvironment
City works to incentivize treated wastewater reuse
Although many believe that it is better to reuse treated wastewater than to discharge it into bodies of water, not all agree on how state law could incentivize reuse. City and regional stakeholders are drafting a proposal that might achieve that goal, and despite having hit some snags, it received encouragement from the Environmental Commission […]
Posted inWater
Central Texas water management plan updated
The Central Texas drought may continue, but the days of uncertainty about how to handle the water on which Austinites and others depend appear to be over for the foreseeable future. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved a major amendment to the Lower Colorado River Authority’s water management plan on Wednesday that sets stricter […]
Posted inPublic Health
Health committee discusses new spending plans
Before adopting the city’s proposed budget in September, City Council added more than $6.5 million in spending for health, human services, social services and quality of life programs. With the new fiscal year in full swing, Shannon Jones, director of the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department, explained Monday how those funds will be […]
Posted inEnergy, Resources
Low-Income Weatherization Program scrutinized
The Office of the City Auditor and the City Council Audit and Finance Committee put Austin Energy’s Low-Income Weatherization Program under the microscope on Wednesday, finding that customers are satisfied with the program overall but that it needs improvement. The program, which Austin Energy has run since 1982, provides certain weatherization and health-related services to […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin hosts mobility conference, former official
Hundreds gathered in and around Brazos Hall in downtown Austin on Thursday to hear what former New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan had to say about the future of transportation planning in cities across the world, including Austin. “I think we’re in this really important moment, this sort of urban revolution,” Sadik-Khan […]
Posted inWhispers
Transportation conference kicks off in Austin
The National Association of City Transportation Officials kicked off its fourth annual traveling conference Wednesday at the JW Marriott hotel. Austin Mayor Steve Adler greeted the 650 attendees with a few words about how Austin’s transportation network ties with its affordability concerns. “Mobility and transportation is where our fundamental answers to those challenges need to […]