Community members are invited to attend the first virtual public meeting for ATX Walk Bike Roll, which the city describes as “a project to update three existing plans that guide sidewalk, urban trail and bikeway projects in the city.” The effort, a partnership between Public Works and the Transportation Department, is aimed at creating “more accessible and interconnected ways for people to travel,” which basically means it will give more people more choices in how they get  from place to place. As the city’s announcement explains, “Austin has grown since the sidewalk, urban trails and bikeway plans were published over five years ago. The plans were created prior to the voter-approved 2016, 2018, and 2020 bonds, which allocated a combined $306.5 million to the Urban Trails, Sidewalk and Bikeway programs. Public input is needed to help the city determine when and where to build these transportation networks.” Sign up here to attend the virtual meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 11, from 7-8 p.m.

Next week the city will hold the first of two community budget input meetings on Thursday, July 22, at 4 p.m at Austin City Hall – the first in-person City Council meeting since March 2020. The coming weeks will be laser-focused on community input and budget work sessions and residents are encouraged to get involved in the process. City Manager Spencer Cronk’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2021-22 would “maintain high-quality services and invest in critical infrastructure while utilizing the smallest increase in tax and fees in the past five years,” according to the budget summary. Sign up here to offer public comment at the meeting, either at City Hall or remotely via telephone. Council members will be reviewing and discussing amendments to the proposed budget before final adoption, which is scheduled for Aug. 11. Learn more about the budget process here.

Don’t panic if you see smoke on the horizon today: Austin Water will be conducting a prescribed burn on 210 acres of the Water Quality Protection Lands. According to the utility’s announcement, “Smoke may be visible south (of) State Highway 45, east of FM 1826, west of Brodie Lane, west of FM 1626, and north of FM 967 from 10 a.m. to sunset.” Luke Ball, with Austin Water’s Wildland Conservation Division, explained that controlled burning is “one of the strategies used to manage these lands and protect groundwater in Central Texas. Prescribed burns improve the resiliency of our land when they are used as a planned seasonal management tool.” Sign up here if you’d like to receive periodic notifications of prescribed burns taking place on Austin Water wildlands.

The city’s Development Services Department is inviting customers and stakeholders to offer feedback on proposed rule changes that would expand timed inspection options for the Change-Out Program. According to a DSD announcement, “The expanded program will allow more people to benefit from time-specific inspections, an option now provided only for HVAC and water heaters. Upon adoption, residential customers will be able to request time-specific inspections for windows, siding, roofing, and more. Some commercial inspections also will be eligible.” If you’d like to weigh in, you have until July 30 to offer feedback on the proposed rules. Visit the project page on SpeakUp Austin to learn more.

With Covid once again on the rise and hospitalizations increasing, Austin Public Health is redoubling its efforts to provide quick, convenient opportunities for residents to get vaccinated. City and county health officials are partnering with local community organizations to offer pop-up vaccination clinics in many locations around the county this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. No pre-registration or appointment is necessary. See the full list of locations, dates, times and vaccines on offer here.

Austin City Council is inviting qualified individuals to apply to serve on the 11-member Sobering Center Local Government Corporation Board of Directors. The opening is for the next term, which begins Oct. 1, 2021, and ends Sept. 30, 2024. According to the city’s announcement, “The Sobering Center Local Government Corporation is incorporated to aid and to act on behalf of the city and the county to accomplish their governmental purpose; namely to staff, manage, and operate a sobriety center for the safe short-term treatment and management of persons under the influence of alcohol, and to provide those persons with information on and referrals to community-based outpatient services, for the purposes of preservation of law enforcement, judicial, and medical resources in the jurisdictional limits of the city and the county.” Individuals who have experience in the legal, medical, behavioral and mental health fields; public health, chemical dependency and addiction; and business, philanthropy and fundraising are particularly encouraged to apply. Find the application form here.

A new exhibition at the just-reopened LBJ Presidential Library delves into the life, loves and legacy of Lady Bird Johnson. Lady Bird: Beyond the Wildflowers is the library’s first major curated exhibition of the former first lady’s “complete personal and political life,” according to the press material, and library Director Mark Lawrence calls it a “landmark moment.” Daughter Luci Baines Johnson said her mother was “the most curious woman I’ve ever known and believed a day without learning was a day that was wasted. She was a ‘gentle heroine of nature and mankind’ and never wasted a moment of her 94 years.” Her other daughter, Lynda Johnson Robb, described her mother as “always ready for an adventure. … This exhibition captures my mother’s never-ending quest for knowledge about travel, art, literature, and environmental conservation as well as her passion for contributing to the community and our country.” The exhibit, which runs through Aug. 13, includes letters, photographs, clothing and artifacts that are on display to the public for the first time.

Austin ISD’s summer theater series has returned, in-person, to stage three public performances. Mamma Mia! runs July 22-25 at the AISD Performing Arts Center main stage; Charlotte’s Web and Still Life With Iris run July 15-18 at the AISD Performing Arts Center’s black box theater. Mamma Mia! reserved seating tickets are $15 and AISD student and staff tickets are $10. Still Life With Iris and Charlotte’s Web general admission tickets are $10 and AISD student and staff tickets are $5. Tickets for all three productions are on sale now and can be purchased online at Eventbrite.

The Austin Convention Center and the Palmer Events Center want the community to know that both venues “have returned to pre-pandemic guidelines and are open for full capacity events.” That means no social distancing, no face masks and no capacity or occupancy limits. If event participants prefer to wear face coverings, “enforcement is the client’s responsibility.” The convention center will provide optional health screenings and temperature checks if clients request those services. As Paul Barnes, the convention center COO, confirmed in a news release, “We are open! The planning and booking of large, small and other local events are taking place at ACC and PEC, and our team is ready to bring your events to life. We are ready to host face to face events again in order that we may begin to heal our beleaguered meetings and events industry.”

Rendering courtesy of AUS

According to a news release from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, since March 2021, the airport has been experiencing “significant and consistent” passenger growth and summer air travel activity “is on track to match or surpass 2019 air travel activity.” And as travel rebounds, the airport is launching “the most extensive improvement program in its history.” AUS CEO Jacqueline Yaft said the planned infrastructure expansion project “will help us build a better airport and deliver an upgraded passenger experience – one that is not only safe, comfortable and convenient, but also reflects the city’s distinct culture and community.” Assistant City Manager Gina Fiandaca added that the slate of improvements will allow AUS “to meet the needs of Austinites, Central Texas and global travelers while driving regional economic recovery.” The plan includes:

• Optimization of the Barbara Jordan Terminal
• Enabling airfield and utility work to include building a new Central Utility Plant and removing existing structures to prepare for construction activities
• Preparing for a new Midfield Concourse with 10+ new gates and two new taxiways.

Movability, the nonprofit group that seeks to reduce car trips to workplaces, will hold a virtual mobility summit on July 21. The event will focus on the transportation challenges that have returned following the Covid-19 pandemic and how they impact equity, the environment, housing, job access and affordability. Speakers including Travis County Judge Andy Brown, State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, Williamson County Commissioner Cynthia Long, and Catherine Crago, the head of strategic initiatives for the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, will discuss possible changes to federal transportation policy, how to improve local transportation, and the variety of impacts that transportation can have on different segments of the local population. Register for the free summit on Eventbrite.

Editor’s Note: Andy Brown is on the board of the Capital of Texas Media Foundation, the parent nonprofit of the Austin Monitor.

The city is inviting community members to help select an artist for a new public art project intended to improve mobility and safety along Spicewood Springs Road in Northwest Austin. “Feedback from the meeting will help define the inspiration and goals of the creative selection process for this 2016 Bond Regional Mobility Program,” according to a news release from the Transportation Department. The public meeting will be held on Zoom on Wednesday, July 14, 6 p.m. Register here.