Lack of affordable housing is not a new problem for Austin. The city has tried various methods to increase housing stock for the less affluent for more than 30 years. The city started working to create Homestead Preservation Districts in 2005 and established the first such district in Central East Austin in 2007. State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) passed legislation during the last session that will aid the city if it decides to create more such districts. However, the city has not yet created the funding mechanism for building more affordable housing in those districts. City Council Member Pio Renteria, chair of the Council’s Housing and Community Development Committee, is hopeful that the city can move forward with that process now. His committee is meeting at 9:30 a.m. today and will talk about creation of tax increment reinvestment zones within the homestead districts in order to fund affordable housing. Renteria has prepared a draft resolution to move the process along and said Tuesday that once the ordinance is approved, the city will take a snapshot of the value of all the properties in the district. After that, officials will appoint a tax increment financing board to oversee affordable housing spending within the district. “If we ever get to that point where we establish a TIF board, they get 25 percent of the increased value due to gentrification, and they invest that in affordable housing,” Renteria said. In addition to the Central East Austin district, called District A by staff, there are four other possible Homestead Preservation Districts, although one near the University of Texas seems unlikely to pass muster. Its high percentage of students is in conflict with legislation approved in 2013, and city staff is not recommending its creation. Renteria’s resolution envisions holding public information meetings in each proposed district and presenting a draft ordinance to his committee by June 18.

Travis County Commissioners on Tuesday put off for another week a vote to initiate the county’s first “large-scale organizational assessment since the 1990s.” The notion came up two weeks ago during a discussion about hiring a new county executive for administrative operations. Judge Sarah Eckhardt told her colleagues that she wanted to move very cautiously on the decision and review the various departments that report to the Commissioners Court. She also cited the absence of Commissioner Margaret Gómez, a co-sponsor of the item, as a reason to postpone the vote. (Gómez was out sick.) But before Eckhardt reset the item, two other commissioners expressed their skepticism. Commissioner Gerald Daugherty worried that a long review process would prove costly and produce only nonbinding recommendations that could go ignored. And Commissioner Ron Davis questioned the need for a review at all, pointing to the county’s triple-A bond rating as a sign of a government operating in top form. “We’re doing a dadgum good job,” Davis exclaimed before adding, “My goodness gracious, how can we become more efficient with one of the top bond ratings in the state of Texas?”

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport officials have reached an agreement to temporary extend its pilot program with transportation network companies Lyft and Uber to provide on-demand services for ABIA passengers. The six-month operating agreement will be in place while City Council’s Mobility Committee reviews the role of TNCs in Austin and the entire Council determines a formal policy. Under the temporary agreement, TNCs will pay a $1 per trip fee for picking up passengers at ABIA. Lyft and Uber apps register each time a driver enters the airport grounds. A digital decal maintained by each TNC driver while using the app will track each trip to the airport. Austin City Code includes provisions related to ground transportation services at the airport that authorize the director of the Aviation Department to adopt rules to meet customer and fiscal needs for convenient and efficient airport operations. Go here for more information.

The Save Our Springs Alliance is planning a rally against the proposed State Highway 45 SW/MoPac loop and double-deck toll lanes over Lady Bird Lake. In a message to its supporters, SOS requested that people gather Saturday to protest the CTRMA’s plan to build four toll lanes on MoPac Boulevard from Cesar Chavez Road south to Slaughter Lane, including a double-deck bridge over Lady Bird Lake and Zilker Park with a flyover next to Austin High School. The SOS website said the plan would expand MoPac to 12 lanes, compared to only eight on I-35. Participants are asked to gather at 10:30 a.m. at the Roberta Crenshaw Pedestrian Bridge along with elected officials and neighborhood, parks and conservation leaders for the rally. For more information, go here.

The Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department has released its annual 2015 Critical Health Indicators Report. The report provides an analysis and overview of adverse health conditions such as cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes that affect the county’s population of more than 1 million people. Among its findings:

• African-Americans have disproportionately higher rates of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and are more likely to die from HIV than other groups.

• The infant mortality rate for African-Americans is two to three times higher than for Caucasians, and babies born to black mothers are more likely to be premature and have low birth weights.

• Hispanics have over seven times the number of teen births compared with Caucasians and approximately six times the number compared with blacks.

• Since 2003, the number of primary and secondary syphilis cases has increased over 300 percent. Almost 95 percent of reported cases are among males.

The report notes that in Travis County, chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, chronic lung disease and diabetes account for nearly three out of four deaths. Cancer remains the No. 1 killer and lung cancer is the deadliest, with almost 90 percent of lung cancers directly linked to smoking. For the full report, go here.

Though it’s still unclear which committee will address the city’s flood buyout policies, Mayor Steve Adler has added some questions to the pending conversation. On City Council’s message board, Adler raised the following queries (with applicable Council committees indicated in parentheses):

1. What are the City’s policies for prioritizing buyouts in the 25- and 100-year flood plain and/or other flood prone areas? (Public Utilities)
2. What are the City’s policies regarding financing of flood buyouts? (Audit and Finance Committee)
3. What actions does the City currently take to ensure that elderly property owners are connected to services that may allow them to safely age in place, before a buyout is recommended? (Health and Human Services Committee)
4. What policies are in place with regard to zoning and development approvals in flood prone areas to avoid the need for future buyouts? (Neighborhoods & Planning Committee)

A staff presentation on the topic is expected within the month.

Mayor Steve Adler heard the concerns about items being referred to multiple City Council committees at last week’s work session. Posting on the Council message board, Adler’s Chief of Staff, John Michael Cortez, has invited a conversation about whether it would be better to address these multifaceted items as a whole in a Council work session.

Last week, fifth-graders from Hill Elementary marked the 10th anniversary of the Clean Creek Campus program by completing a service project to pick up litter and spread seed balls in Northwest Park. Afterward, Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo presented the students with a “Clean Creek Campus” banner for their school and thanked them for their stewardship and service to the community. For 10 years, Clean Creek Campus has provided an opportunity for schools to combine environmental learning with a community service project. The program is a partnership between Keep Austin Beautiful and the City of Austin’s Watershed Protection Department. Since 2005, Clean Creek Campus has visited 16,000 students in 204 schools and completed 260 projects. For more information, go here.

Today, in what appears to be City Council’s last scheduled “deep dive,” Austin’s elected body will take a look at “resiliency.” Specifically, Council members will discuss the city’s “resilience as it relates to responding to and recovering from disruptions due to disasters, extreme weather events, and economic downturns,” according to the agenda posted online. The meeting will take place at 9 a.m. at City Hall.

With an announcement that “it is time to modernize the Texas voter registration process and allow Texans to complete voter registration online,” Elaine Wiant, president of the League of Women Voters of Texas, declared the group’s support of two online voter registration bills up for public hearing at the Texas State Legislature. HB 76 and HB 953 are both scheduled for the House Elections Committee meeting today. According to a news release from the League of Women Voters of Texas, “The same Texas system that allows renewal of driver’s licenses, vehicle registration, setting up tax payment plans, applying for and renewing concealed handgun licenses and many other government transactions should also include voter registration.”

On May 16, the city will host a self-guided walking tour and panel discussion of “missing middle” housing in the North Loop area. Missing middle housing refers to housing types such as duplexes, town homes and accessory dwelling units. The conversation will take place at 1 p.m., followed by an invitation to tour preselected sites. Panelists will be Jonathan Tomko, from the City of Austin; Mandy De Mayo, from HousingWorks Austin; Elizabeth Mueller, from the University of Texas; and David Whitworth, from David Whitworth Development. It will take place at Ridgetop Elementary, 5005 Caswell Ave. Those interested in attending can RSVP here.

Storms and high volumes of debris have delayed City of Austin yard trimming collections. As the city works to catch up with the backlog, it asks that residents proceed as usual and leave their yard trimmings at the curb until they are picked up. A city update also took the opportunity to remind residents of yard collection guidelines, which are:

• Yard trimmings are grass clippings, leaves and small branches that are no longer than 5 feet and no thicker than 3 inches in diameter.
• Place yard trimmings in paper lawn-and-leaf bags or reusable containers that are no larger than 34 gallons and no heavier than 50 pounds.
• Use string or twine to tie small branches into bundles that are 50 pounds or less.