District 6 City Council Member Don Zimmerman is holding a town hall meeting Saturday in his Northwest Austin district. Zimmerman says he will discuss his first months in office as well as items he is working on, and also help constituents process any issues or concerns they need to have addressed. He will also answer questions regarding city operations and be joined by pets from the Austin Animal Center in recognition of February’s “Love-A-Pet” Month. For questions, contact Zimmerman at (512) 978-2106 or district6@austintexas.gov. The meeting is set from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Fire Station #38, 10111 Anderson Mill Road.

Total January passenger traffic at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was up 6 percent compared to January 2014. Officials say 779,481 passengers passed through the airport. That makes 60 out of 61 months that ABIA has shown year-to-year gains in passenger traffic. Most of the major airlines serving ABIA, including Southwest, United and Delta, saw passenger growth in January, while American/US Airways and JetBlue saw a modest decrease. Overall, air cargo was up 3 percent, while thanks to British Airways daily service, international cargo grew 175 percent.

Former City Council Member Chris Riley, long a policy wonk while he served on Council, will be pursuing a master’s degree to continue planning as a profession. Riley said Tuesday that he has been accepted as a graduate student at the Pratt Institute in the Urban Placemaking and Management program, starting in September. The Pratt Institute, which is in Brooklyn, offers what it calls a “professionally oriented education to a student body with diverse cultural, educational and professional backgrounds.” The institute focuses on community engagement while stressing a “multidisciplinary approach to the development, design and programming of public space,” according to its website. Riley was attending Tuesday’s meeting of the Central Texas Democratic Forum, where he won a door prize. Ironically, his prize was a Hillary Clinton bumper sticker. Riley rather famously has no car and prefers to travel by bike.

The city’s Small and Minority Business Resources and Aviation departments are collaborating to inform small-business owners about upcoming projects around Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and to meet with companies that support airport operations. Business owners are invited to attend “Runway to Opportunities: Doing Business With Austin-Bergstrom International Airport” this Thursday. Attendees will hear about projects such as the terminal expansion, parking garage and ABIA retail expansion. The meeting will outline what it takes to do business at the airport and provide information about the steps required to get involved in the process. Participants will also have a chance to network with contractors and consultants who are looking for small businesses in all areas of work in and around ABIA. To RSVP, click here or call (512) 974-7677 or (512) 530-6302. The session is from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Hilton Austin Airport Hotel, 9515 Hotel Drive.

Due to predictions of more winter weather conditions, all City of Austin and Travis County offices and facilities will open at 10 a.m. today. Most Central Texas governments and school districts are delaying their opening to at least 10 a.m., as well.  That includes Austin Municipal Courts and the Downtown Austin Community Court. Travis County Commissioners Court will convene an hour late at 10 a.m. The regularly scheduled City Council work session will begin at 10:30 a.m. The city will continue to monitor conditions and provide updates as they become available. The most up-to-date information about City of Austin operations can be found on Twitter (@austintexasgov) or Facebook (facebook.com/austintexasgov).

For Austin residents considering renting their home to visitors during South by Southwest, the deadline to acquire a short-term rental license is approaching. The city requires everyone who leases their property as a short-term rental to acquire a license through the Austin Code Department’s Short-Term Rental Licensing Program by Feb. 28. The Austin Code Department is encouraging the community to utilize social media for questions regarding short-term rentals. Experts are available to answer questions at Twitter handle @Austin_Code using hashtag #ATXSTR. For more information, visit www.austintexas.gov/STR.

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and the Texas Department of Transportation are holding an open house to seek community input on possible mobility improvements to MoPac Boulevard from Cesar Chavez Street to Slaughter Lane. Opinions from the open house will be incorporated into an environmental study to address traffic congestion on the 8-mile stretch of MoPac. Attendees will have the opportunity to review and comment on the preferred mobility improvements, talk with planners and engineers, ask questions and submit comments. No formal presentations will be given, and attendees are invited to come and go at their convenience. The open house is planned for 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Hill Country Middle School Cafeteria, 1300 Walsh Tarlton Lane. Those unable to attend may provide input online at a Virtual Open House set for Feb. 27 through March 9 at the project website, www.MoPacSouth.com.

Qualifying businesses can earn up to $1,800 in rebates by starting, expanding or improving recycling, composting or other zero waste programs. To prepare Austin businesses for the next phase of the Universal Recycling Ordinance, Austin Resource Recovery has implemented the Zero Waste Business Rebate program. Qualifying businesses can create new zero waste programs such as recycling, composting or other waste diversion procedures. Contract for recycling and/or composting services and receive up to $900 for startup costs and 50 percent off monthly service invoices up to $150 per month. They can also improve and expand existing recycling, composting or waste diversion programs to help increase the amount of materials diverted from Austin landfills. By 2017, recycling programs will be required at all commercial properties in Austin as part of the Universal Recycling Ordinance. To find out if your business is eligible, visit the city’s website, contact Austin Resource Recovery at (512) 974-9727 or email commercialrecycling@austintexas.gov.

City Council members will continue their policy workshops today with a morning session on Infrastructure and Capital Planning Policy and an afternoon discussion about CodeNEXT. The first session will run from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. Featured speakers will be: Mike Trimble, Capital Planning Officer; Howard Lazarus, Public Works Department Director; Dave Anderson, Former Chair of the Planning Commission and Member of the Bond Oversight Committee; Dave Sullivan, Chair of CodeNEXT Citizen Advisory Group; Nelson Linder, President of Austin Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Mona Gonzalez, Executive Director of River City Youth Foundation, Dove Springs Neighborhood. The session will also feature five “other voices” from the city: Jeff Scott, Engineer; Mary Gay Maxwell, Environmental Board; Tom Hegemier, RPS Group; Andy Johnston, HALFF; Michael Barrett, University of Texas; Linda Krueger Powers, Rundberg Neighborhood Area; Brian Almon, Rundberg Neigborhood Area; August Harris, Covenant Financial Solutions LLC, Seeds for Change Consulting LLC. The second CodeNEXT workshop will run from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. During that session, Council members will hear from: George Adams, Assistant Director, Planning and Development Review Department; CodeNEXT Consultants — Opticos Design; James Nortey, Member, Planning Commission; Stephen Delgado, Owner, Texas Engineering Solutions; Jim Duncan, Former City Planning Director; Kelly Weiss, Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity; Michael Hsu, Architect, Michael Hsu Office of Architecture; Eleanor McKinney, Landscape Architect, Inc.; Melissa Neslund, RECA; Joyce Basciano, Austin Neighborhoods Council; Karen McGraw, Karen McGraw Architect; Brennan Griffin, AURA.

Due to the threat of inclement weather, Capital Metro opted Sunday to detour some of its bus routes today to avoid elevated roadways and bridges. Bus routes 2, 275, 331 and 350 will be detoured, and some stops along the route will be closed. The detours begin at the start of service today and will continue until further notice. Customers can refer to the CapMetro website, GO Line at 512-474-1200, CapMetro app, Facebook and Twitter​ (@CapMetroATX) for updates.

An exchange on the City Council message board showed that, despite the dawn of geographic representation, it probably remains safe to refer to Zilker Park as “Austin’s Park.” Early this week, Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo informed her colleagues that she would be moving forward with a resolution to assess the impact of events on the city’s public parks. Council Member Leslie Pool voiced her support the next day, and closed her message by identifying herself as the Chair of the Open Space, Environment and Sustainability Committee. Council Member Ann Kitchen also indicated her support, as did Council Member Ellen Troxclair, who wrote, “Since Zilker Park is in District 8, I have been meeting with constituents, with city staff, and researching this issue as well. In addition to the impact of events on our parks and surrounding neighborhoods, I am hoping to compile related information, like how many days per year our busiest parks are open to the public, how many events are free to attend versus require tickets, etc. Thank you!” This prompted a re-response from Kitchen, saying she appreciated the chance to work together on the issue and reminding Troxclair that her district also had an interest in Austin’s biggest downtown park. She wrote, “Thanks Ellen. I have been meeting also, since District 5 represents the neighborhoods on the east side of the park. There’s a number of our districts that touch on Zilker Park and Lady Bird Lake.”

Environmental Board Chair Mary Gay Maxwell raised concerns at Wednesday’s meeting that the proposed City Council committee meeting schedule will divert attention from Environmental Board meetings by superseding live broadcasts on the ATXN cable channels. Though Council will have to adopt its new committee schedule at next Thursday’s meeting, the current proposal would schedule those meetings every Monday and Wednesday between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. in the Council chambers at City Hall. The Environmental Board currently meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Wednesday of each month in the Council chambers, so it would also likely need to find a new location. “One of the things that we might want to do as individuals, you might want to contact (anybody you know on Council) and talk to them about the value of having our board be televised in real time,” Maxwell said to her fellow board members. “People do look at our board meeting, and this is the way we get information about the environment of Austin out to a larger group of people.” Maxwell also requested that the city clerk give a presentation to the Environmental Board at its next meeting about the new committee structure and schedule. Both the Board of Adjustment and the Historic Landmark Commission currently meet in Council Chambers on Monday evenings, and the Zero Waste Advisory Commission meets every other Wednesday. But those panels have not met since the committee schedule was unveiled.