City Council is preparing to discuss extending a $2.6 million loan to cover overdue bills from the Austin Airport Hilton. The hotel, which is operated by Austin-Bergstrom Landhost Enterprises, or ABLE, lost a considerable amount of revenue over the past year as a result of Covid-19. Although it seems clear that the city is responsible […]
City Council
Posted inCity Council
City to create disaster-relief hubs
Spurred into action by Winter Storm Uri, City Council has moved to establish emergency hubs across the city where residents can go during a natural disaster to find food, water and shelter – belatedly acting on plans from two years ago. The city, working with community groups, will pilot six of these “community resilience hubs” […]
Posted inCity Council
Council barely OKs eminent domain for U.S. 290 expansion
With just six members voting in the affirmative last Thursday, City Council authorized staff to move forward with eminent domain proceedings to purchase new right of way in order to move wastewater lines that are in the path of the expansion of U.S. Highway 290, or the Oak Hill Parkway. Council members Mackenzie Kelly, Leslie […]
Posted inCity Council
Council stresses need for cooperation in forming strategic plan for homelessness
After hearing the results of a follow-up audit related to the city’s efforts to help the homeless, Mayor Steve Adler and Council Member Leslie Pool both stressed the need for other segments of the community to get involved in resolving Austin’s homelessness problem. They made their remarks at last week’s meeting of City Council’s Audit […]
Posted inCity Council
Council floats spending ‘huge’ portion of American Rescue Plan funds to solve homelessness
City Council hopes that solving homelessness – the city’s biggest priority – may finally be within reach thanks to President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package. Council members spoke effusively at Tuesday’s work session about the “transformational” change possible if the city concentrates its portion of the American Rescue Plan – $195.8 million – on solving key […]
Posted inCity Council
Some Council members object to Flannigan’s new role at ACE
City Council approved a resolution last week granting consent for Austin Convention Enterprises to apply for a federal loan to help front-line employees working at the downtown Austin Hilton Hotel. Assistant City Attorney Lee Crawford made it clear that if the Paycheck Protection Program loan is approved, the city would have no liability for payment. […]
Posted inCity Council
City Council apologizes for Austin’s systemic racism, vows to invest in a Black embassy
Austin City Council has formally apologized for its role in perpetuating racist policies that contributed to historical equity, health and wealth gaps that persist for Black Austinites. A resolution, which passed unanimously Thursday, directs the city to quantify the impact of systemic racism in real dollars and invest in an effort to build a Black […]
Posted inCity Council
Council makes Planning Commission appointments this week
City Council is making clear to those concerned – including Attorney General Ken Paxton – that it will absolutely abide by a city charter provision that requires two-thirds of all planning commissioners to be lay members. Paxton has sued previous members of the commission on two separate occasions, charging that their presence on the 13-member […]
Posted inCity Council
Council critiques Uri response – and looks ahead to future disasters
On Thursday, City Council launched a wide-ranging review of the city’s response to the devastation wrought by winter storm Uri, beginning the long, complex work of preparing for the next storm – even as the current crisis persists for many. “I appreciate the beginnings of how we approach this looking back (on the crisis), ” […]
Posted inCity Council
City says fix the leak now, get the permit later
In an effort to assist residents dealing with the aftereffects of prolonged freezing temperatures, heavy snow and freezing rain, City Council approved an ordinance Thursday waiving residential permitting and development fees for repairing or rebuilding structures and removing downed trees. Fees covered by the waiver include permitting, plan review, inspection, demolition and variance fees for […]
Posted inCity Council
City’s power, water committees begin looking at post-storm improvements
City Council members closely tied to Austin’s energy and water utilities have started mapping out their priorities for determining what led to this week’s massive infrastructure failures and what can be done in the future to prevent hundreds of thousands of residents from losing basic services for days at a time. Council Member Leslie Pool […]
Posted inCity Council
Council rejects meeting to consider adding ballot measure
After a majority of Council members told City Attorney Anne Morgan they did not believe a special called meeting on Friday night was necessary, Morgan advised Mayor Steve Adler that the mayor would not have a quorum to consider the hastily written charter proposal to add another Council member to the dais. Adler pulled the […]