Former City Council Member Mike Martinez made his first appearance before Council Thursday since leaving the dais in 2014. He was representing Susan Goldberg, the owner of a Lady Bird Lake concession called Rowing Dock, which provides watercraft rentals from Zilker Park. He said Goldberg had been expecting a request for proposals on the concession, which she has operated for the past 20 years. Instead, staff members have proposed a two-year extension to her contract to allow the city and the community to develop a long-term design under the Zilker Park Vision Plan. Council members Paige Ellis and Ann Kitchen were both enthusiastic about Rowing Dock, and Kitchen asked Martinez to explain his client’s concerns. “It’s very difficult to operate a business on a two-year time frame,” he said. One problem in particular was that the contract requires 10 percent of the annual proceeds to go to improvements to the property. That amounts to several hundred thousand dollars, he said, and the two-year contract makes it particularly difficult. He requested that Council postpone the item to March 3. The contract is set to expire at the end of April, so there is little time to waste arguing.

The Texas Recreation and Parks Society honored East 12th Street’s Givens District Park on Wednesday, naming it one of three new Lone Star Legacy parks this year. When the park opened in 1959, it was the second segregated public park for Black Austinites. It was named after Dr. Everett H. Givens, a Black dentist and community leader who advocated for improvements in East Austin during Jim Crow. Currently, the city is in the process of making improvements to the park in accordance with a vision plan that was approved in January 2019. Givens joins Zilker, Parque Zaragoza, Pease, Eastwoods, and Rosewood parks, which have also earned the historic designation.

Some may recall that the federal holiday called Presidents Day was formerly known as Washington’s Birthday – a tribute to the fabled founder of our country. Presidents Day was officially born in 1971, thanks to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an act of Congress aimed at creating more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers. This is why so many federal holidays fall on a Monday – it’s by design! Most of us get the day off to ponder the accomplishments of our country’s chief executives, or more likely, sleep in and then shop ourselves silly at all the Presidents Day sales. In observance of the holiday – Monday, Feb. 21 – Austin city offices and municipal facilities, Parks and Recreation facilities, Austin Public Health Covid-19 vaccination sites, city utility customer service centers, Austin Public Library, Recycled Reads Bookstore, the Austin History Center, and Austin Animal Center are among the offices that will be closed. City parks, golf courses, cemeteries, some pools and APH’s Metz Elementary Covid testing site will remain open, and Austin Resource Recovery trash, recycling and compost collections will not be affected by the holiday. We wish you an enjoyable three-day weekend, however you choose to spend it.

Although candidates for office up and down the ballot are urging voters to take advantage of early voting for the March 1 Democratic and Republican primaries, very few Travis County voters had cast ballots as of Tuesday night. During the first two days of early voting, 5,211 Democrats and 2,366 Republicans had voted. That’s a total of 7,577, or less than 1 percent of the county’s registered voters. Early voting continues through Feb. 25, though polls will not be open next Monday, Presidents Day. A list of polling locations can be found on the Travis County Clerk’s website. So far, the Ben Hur Shrine Center at 7811 Rockwood Lane has attracted the most voters. Democrats are sending out emails asking their supporters to help call eligible voters to get out the vote, provide rides to the polls and answer questions about mail-in ballots. The Austin Monitor did not hear back from the Travis County Republican Party about its efforts.

Starting next week, Austin Public Health will be consolidating its Covid-19 testing sites, according to a news release. City testing teams will be moving to the Metz Elementary campus “to meet the evolving needs of our communities and in response to declining testing demand.” Covid testing will be available at Metz starting Feb. 22, Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sign up for testing on the APH online registration portal. The tests are provided free of charge, and no proof of insurance or residency is required. A new testing site also opened at Heritage Park in Pflugerville on Feb. 14, offering free tests Monday-Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. APH has wrapped up testing operations at the Travis County Expo Center and is expected to end testing at the Dove Springs Recreation Center this Saturday, Feb. 19.

If you’re curious to know what’s happening with South by Southwest this year, join Hugh Forrest, chief programming officer of SXSW, and Jay Boisseau, executive director of the Austin Forum on Technology and Society, as they delve into the juicy topic of SXSW 2022 during an online discussion. In particular, the duo will discuss how the festival “will be different, and better, in the new normal, while continuing to address the evolving and emerging themes that influence and shape how we work, learn, play, live, and more.” Forrest will also take questions from participants. Register on Eventbrite. Thursday, Feb. 17, 6:30 p.m.

Did you work from home before the pandemic? How has Covid changed your work life? Do you still commute to a workplace or is the corner cafe as far as you go? A survey from UT, in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation, “is seeking to understand how the Covid-19 pandemic has changed work patterns for Texas residents,” according to the news release. Besides exploring current work habits, the survey encourages respondents to peer into the crystal ball to see how their work arrangements might change in a time after Covid – if such a time is in the cards. The data collected from the survey “will help provide insights to plan future transportation infrastructure investments and create an equitable living environment for Texans.” Texas residents may take the survey here until March 15.

Getting vaccinated for Covid these days is easier than ordering a cup of coffee at Starbucks – and it probably takes less time. Travis County, Austin Public Health and their community partners continue to host a variety of convenient, free Covid-19 vaccine distribution events every week. No appointments are required. Simply visit the handy online calendar and map to find the date, time and location of a nearby vaccine event. All Austin Public Health sites offer the Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, including third doses for the immunocompromised and booster shots. Four APH clinics offer pediatric vaccinations. If you’re receiving your second or third dose or booster, remember to bring your CDC Covid-19 Vaccination Record Card so it can be updated. And feel free to treat yourself to a mocha Frappuccino after you get your shot. You deserve it.

Today’s special called City Council meeting may offer some answers (though few surprises) for those who have been paying attention to last week’s boil-water notice and the subsequent resignation of Austin’s Water’s director. Greg Meszaros, who has been director of the utility since 2007, submitted his resignation to City Manager Spencer Cronk on Friday, saying he took “full responsibility for any shortcomings at the utility this past week.” He also highlighted some of Austin Water’s accomplishments during his tenure, including completing more than $2 billion in infrastructure improvements, preserving a strong financial structure and working in partnership with the community to create the Water Forward integrated water resource plan. Also, in an 11-page memo, Meszaros answered many of the questions Council members had posed on the City Council Message Board last week. Council Member Paige Ellis had a dozen questions. One of the most important questions was whether any contaminants were actually found in the city’s drinking water, to which the answer is no. According to Meszaros, three of the utility’s employees responsible for operations at the Ullrich water treatment plant – the plant responsible for increased turbidity that resulted in the boil-water order – are now on administrative leave. As Meszaros pointed out, Austin Water continues its investigation, and he promised more answers in the coming weeks. Council’s special meeting is scheduled to start at 9 a.m., with a regular work session to follow. Those interested in more water topics can watch the Water and Wastewater Commission meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Mayor Pro Tem Alison Alter has also said she would sponsor a resolution directing the city manager to seek an outside audit of the utility.

On Thursday, City Council is set to approve $27 million for renovations to the old city hall at 124 W. Eighth St. to ready the building to become the permanent home for the Downtown Austin Community Court. Council will also consider using the design/build method of contracting for the renovations. The Downtown Austin Alliance objects to that site and District 9 Council Member Kathie Tovo convinced her colleagues to postpone the decisions when they were on the Jan. 27 agenda. Dewitt Peart, CEO of the DAA, wrote to mayor and Council on Monday asking them not to move forward with the plan to house the court at that location. Peart says, “There has been no community engagement to determine the most appropriate use” for that building and no public process for deciding where to put the court. The DAA chief points out a resolution passed by Council in May 2020 “designating this property as a possible future cultural use site.” City staffers told Council in November that they had considered 22 different downtown sites for the court, which generally hears cases related to the homeless. The court is currently in a temporary location at One Texas Center.

As anyone who has been to their mailbox recently can tell you, Austin is having another election. Today marks the first day of early voting for the March 1 joint primary election, which includes congressional, statewide and county primaries that will determine who will represent their parties in the November general election. Early voting this year runs through Friday, Feb. 25. If you are looking for a bipartisan voter’s guide, head over to the League of Women Voters. You might also want to check out the resource our friends at KUT have put together; not only does it list all of the area races, it has a tool that explains who you will be voting for in this primary based on your address or county. Voting locations and sample ballots by party can also be found on the county clerk’s website. As a reminder, registered voters may vote at any Travis County voting location.

Photo by Roy Montgomery made available through a Creative Commons license.

Austin Animal Center has issued an urgent appeal to the public to step up and help foster a shelter dog or to find homes for lost and stray dogs on their own. The shelter is full and there is no more kennel space for medium-sized and large dogs, Deputy Chief Animal Services Officer Jason Garza said. Even kennels that are kept in reserve for injured or sick dogs are in use and some dogs are being housed in crates for the time being. On top of that, the shelter is short-staffed. Garza explained that, “Despite making every effort to get as many dogs out as possible through adoption, foster and rescue partners, stray dogs keep pouring in. To be a no-kill community means we need the community’s help.” In a news release, the shelter urges community members to “work with your neighbors if you find a loose dog.” According to studies, most stray dogs have homes that are within a few blocks of where they are found. “By walking the dog around, knocking on doors and posting on Nextdoor and Facebook, finders can significantly increase the chance of the dog being reunited with its family. Keeping a dog out of the shelter helps keep that pet healthy and saves space for dogs that have no other options,” adds the release. Want to offer a shelter dog a temporary foster home? Read about fostering here, view the list of adorable mutts who need foster homes here and then fill out a foster application here.