Last night the Planning Commission blessed a detailed three-and-a-half page agreement between the Hyde Park Baptist Church and the 5 Neighborhoods United Steering Committee governing use of the church’s property known as the Quarries. The agreement details limits for traffic to be generated by the church’s proposed school, recreation center and daycare facility at 4400 […]
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Save Barton Creek votes to send
Austin environmentalists and city officials will meet with Clinton Administration officials in Washington on September 28 to discuss water quality, the Barton Springs salamander and the impact of the Longhorn Pipeline on the Edwards Aquifer. The Save Barton Creek Association(SBCA) has voted to send two emissaries to the meeting. Just who will go has not […]
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Architects reveal plans for new
Plans recently unveiled call for another downtown center along the banks of Waller Creek at Town Lake, incorporating world-class architecture with open public space, a hike and bike trail, and links to the Austin Convention Center. It’s not Vignette, but the new Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC). The Center for Mexican American Cultural Arts Inc. […]
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Jack Speer: The Billion Bubba March
Jack Speer hatched the South Austin Culture Club early this year after hearing that City Council Members were weary of neighborhood activists. Council Members saw the same faces every meeting saying the same things. "And you're boring," the report came back. "Being boring, to me, was the most serious complaint," Speer says over ice water […]
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General Manager's evaluation
happy ship” Stovy Bowlin is still the general manager of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, but board members have made it clear in a 14-point performance improvement plan they’ll be expecting a lot from Bowlin over the next nine months. Improving communication and “team spirit” among staff and board members, and close consultation with […]
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Neighborhoods, reach tentative accord
The Hyde Park Baptist Church and the five neighborhoods surrounding the church’s Quarries development came to an agreement in principle Tuesday night and jointly asked the Planning Commission to postpone their case for one week. The Planning Commission readily agreed to the surprise request. The church plans to build a recreation center, 600-student high school […]
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Mayor Pro Tem Jackie Goodman's effort to beef up Neighborhood Planning was among two dozen budget amendments approved during the first reading of the city's $1.8 billion fiscal 2001 operating budget yesterday. The city plans to spend an additional $195.4 million on capital projects during the year.
The second reading of the budget is scheduled for this morning with the third and final vote set for Wednesday. Among amendments, council members approved another $100,000 toward Eastside Story, an after-school program that includes cultural programs and tutoring for East Austin children. But City Manager Jesus Garza said the program ought to be warned: […]
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Goodman proposes new Planning Commission
The City Council will take a first crack at agreeing on their additions to the staff’s proposed budget today at 9 a.m.. Last week, the Council was told they could add about $5.6 million to the figure City Manager Jesus Garza had calculated. Saturday, that figure was revised downward—by about a million dollars—so that city […]
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On a vote of 4-3, the City Council voted Thursday to allow its attorneys to continue negotiations over the Sand Beach Reserve, based on a term sheet presented to the city by Lumbermen’s Investment Corporation (LIC). Council Member Will Wynn made the motion to move forward with negotiations, after setting forth the principles he would follow in deciding whether to accept the final proposal next month. Joining Wynn were Mayor Kirk Watson, Mayor Pro Tem Jackie Goodman, and Council Member Daryl Slusher.
Council Member Beverly Griffith, who wants to slow down the process in order to come up with funds to buy the two-acre tract—if necessary—was joined by Council Members Raul Alvarez and Danny Thomas. However, comments by Alvarez and Thomas did not indicate a willingness to spend much city money on the property. In a letter […]
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Wednesday's Environmental Board agenda noted that the body would be discussing a water "irritation" project for a proposed office complex on Barton Creek. Although a typo had altered "irrigation," the slip summed up the feeling of almost everyone involved in this controversial development plan..
At issue is a Bradfield Family Partnership proposal dating back to 1986 to build two, five-story office buildings totaling 211,000 square feet at the southeast corner of MoPac and Highway 360. The Environmental Board voted 5-1 to recommend denial of the builder's request for a variance allowing an on-site wastewater system. Without the variance, the […]
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LCRA hears more strong opinions
Northern Hays County resident Patrick Timpone told officials at a public meeting Thursday night in Dripping Springs that he is willing to join Austin's Save Our Springs organization and sue to stop construction of a Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) surface water pipeline. "I can't imagine that adults have been sitting around and doing this, […]
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City Council approves direction
The City Council yesterday directed City Attorney Andy Martin to pursue settlement negotiations in a lawsuit over a relatively small area of land—about 23 acres—in the Barton Springs Zone. Mayor Pro Tem Jackie Goodman said the Council was not just telling the staff to continue talking with developer Eli Garza. “We were also trying to […]