The City of Austin will hold an open house Wednesday for the South Lamar Boulevard Transportation Corridor Improvement Program. Stakeholders are invited to review and comment on potential safety and multimodal enhancements along the corridor. This is the second open house about the program, and currently draft recommendations are still being worked out. The open house will be divided into two parts: The business section will take place from 5 p.m. until 6 p.m., followed by the public open house from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Both will be held in the Zilker Elementary School cafeteria, 1900 Bluebonnet Ave.

The City of Austin Safe Routes to School Program will join Brentwood Elementary School to celebrate National Bike to School Day on Wednesday. To celebrate, students, parents and members of the community will ride from Crestview Pharmacy to Brentwood Elementary at 6:45 a.m. The event will also feature a raffle. In a news release, Public Works Division Manager Crad Crager explained, “The goal of our Safe Routes to School Program is to create safer routes for bicycling and walking and to emphasize the importance of physical activity among children and reduce traffic congestion. … Using active transportation helps build connections between families, schools and community.” National Bike to School Day is part of National Bike Month, which is May.

The city’s Small Business Program and other nonprofit service providers will celebrate the contributions of the small business community with a series of events and classes during National Small Business Week, May 4-8. The week will begin with a Kickoff Event today, where District 1 City Council Member Ora Houston will welcome attendees and Tim League of the Austin-original Alamo Drafthouse will give a keynote speech on building the culture of a small business. The 9 a.m. event will take place at the Carver Cultural Center, 1165 Angelina St. Classes will be offered on topics such as finding funding, determining the right business structure, negotiating, crowdfunding and more. A listing of all of the week’s classes can be found here.

On Friday, we erroneously reported that Radio Coffee and Beer on Manchaca Road was planning to start serving hard alcohol. This is not true. While the Conditional Use Permit it acquired would allow it to do just that, a representative of the business explained that it needed the permit in order to get rid of the requirement that the majority of its sales (51 percent) be food. Though Radio has adhered to that requirement so far, it wanted to stay on the safe side and allow craft beer sales, in particular, to grow without worry. The Austin Monitor regrets the error.

Attorneys for City Council Member Greg Casar have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the candidate he soundly defeated in December’s runoff, Laura Pressley. Pressley has her own definition of what should be counted and claims that Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir did not follow the appropriate procedures during the December runoff nor during the January recount. Casar won by 1,291 votes. During her deposition, Pressley complained that eliminating the polling site at Highland Mall disproportionately affected those who might have been planning to vote for her. DeBeauvoir points out that voters are not restricted to any specific polling place and that there were several nearby locations available. Either way you slice it, according to Chuck Herring, Casar’s attorney, Pressley cannot come up with an argument that overcomes a 65 to 35 percent difference in votes. No date has been set for the hearing on the motion to dismiss, but DeBeauvoir’s deposition is set for May 11.

For those curious about the progress of repairs to Shipe and Govalle pools: A representative for the Parks and Recreation Department tells us that renovations are currently in the initial planning phases. City Council appropriated $6.2 million during this last budget cycle for the badly needed repairs. So far, the Contract Management Department has provided the scope of the project. In the next 90-120 days, the city will solicit a Request for Qualifications, evaluate responses to that RFQ and interview finalists. After that process is complete, Parks officials expect that it will take another 60 days for them to start on the design, though a concrete timeline won’t be available until the process is further along.

If you didn’t deduce it from our recent story, this past Tuesday City Council Member Ann Kitchen was sworn in as a member of the Capital Metro board of directors. She replaces former Council Member (and board chairman) Mike Martinez and will finish out his term, which expires June 1, 2016. Kitchen was selected by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization to serve on the board. CAMPO has also reappointed board member Terry Mitchell. Mitchell, whose original term expires June 1, is CAMPO’s financial appointee. In a news release, Capital Metro President/CEO Linda Watson welcomed Kitchen, saying, “From (Kitchen’s) time as a state representative to her role representing District 5 and serving as chair of the Mobility Committee, Capital Metro is gaining a wealth of knowledge that will benefit everyone in Austin.” Watson also recognized Martinez’s contributions. “During his time with Capital Metro, Mike Martinez gave everything he had toward improving the lives of all Austinites,” Watson said. “We’re sad to see him go, but we’ll be forever thankful for all he did in setting Capital Metro up for continued success in the future.”

Starting Saturday, the eastbound vehicle and bicycle lanes on the 100 block of East Third Street between Congress Avenue and Brazos Street will be closed during installation of parking islands on the south side of East Third Street, reducing that block to a single, westbound vehicle lane. Existing street parking on the block’s south side will be closed during the duration of this work as well. Immediately following the construction’s completion, the westbound vehicle and bicycle lanes will be closed to install a barrier curb along the bicycle lane on the north side of the street. Officials expect the work to take approximately three weeks.

Members of the Open Space, Environment and Sustainability Committee talked Wednesday about holding a public hearing for the long-considered Decker Lake Golf Course. Community members called foul when the committee allowed local activist Brian Rodgers to speak against the golf course, allotting him 10 minutes compared to the routine three for citizen communication. Environment Board Chair Mary Gay Maxwell sat in on the meeting. She agreed that more time, across the board, needed to be given to this item. “It has not gone through adequate public scrutiny to get to the point where it could go sailing through the Council,” she said. Richard Suttle, attorney for the golf course developer, was among those who felt Rodgers should have been allotted the usual three minutes — and nothing more. Maxwell said if they were talking about fair process, why had the golf course proposal not been brought to her board? Suttle said the developer would gladly present at the Environment Board. “And I look forward to your coming, Mr. Suttle, and we’ll give everybody lots of time,” said Maxwell.

The Cultural Arts Division of the city’s Economic Development Department is now accepting applications for the Cultural Expansion funding program. With a goal of strengthening the organizational marketing capacity and audience development of creative, culturally based organizations, officials say the Cultural Expansion Program was borne from the need to increase visibility for minority and traditionally underserved arts organizations. To be eligible for funding, applicants must have an IRS 501(c) designation and be a culturally based arts organization in Austin. Three applicant workshops have been scheduled in May:

• May 2, 11 a.m.-noon, at the Little Walnut Creek Branch Library;
• May 6, noon-1 p.m., at the University Hills Branch Library; and
• May 7, 6-7 p.m., at the Pleasant Hill Branch Library.

Interested applicants should visit the city’s website for program guidelines and eligibility. Deadline for applications is June 1.

The Austin 311 system received the 311 Award of Excellence at the CS Week 311 Synergy Group Conference this week in Charlotte, North Carolina. Each year, the group recognizes a centralized government customer service center that has demonstrated a customer-focused approach to improving local government. In addition, the award commends Austin 311 for its efforts to provide new avenues for residents to communicate with the city, including through the Austin 311 mobile app. Austin 311 receives more than 1 million calls per year, producing over 200,000 service requests for city departments. For more information, go here.

This week, the Colorado River Alliance in partnership with the Austin Water Utility announced the launch of their first Texas Colorado River Rolling Mobile Exhibit, which will visit middle school students throughout the Austin Independent School District. According to a news release about the exhibit, “the Mobile River will function as a traveling, interactive science learning center, featuring collaborative exhibits and hands-on activities housed inside a 42-foot trailer. … The Mobile River contains interactive exhibits about the Texas Colorado River watershed’s key features and vividly showcases critical issues such as water use, water conservation and pollution in Texas. It also encourages students to take active roles in promoting a clean watershed, helping to keep the Texas Colorado River flowing clearly for future generations.” The exhibit is expected to reach 8,000 to 10,000 Central Texas kids and more than 3,000 community members each year. Mayor Steve Adler joined AWU director Greg Meszaros and Colorado River Alliance executive director Sarah Richards for Tuesday’s launch of the exhibit. As a presenting sponsor, Samsung Austin Semiconductor donated about $200,000 to help create the exhibit, which was also funded by Impact Austin, Texas Pioneer Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, 3M and the Lower Colorado River Authority.