Plans to demolish three houses in Cherrywood are moving forward, and after a talk with the developers — Greater Austin Builders — the neighborhood is a little more at peace with the plans. Historic Landmark Commissioner Terri Myers was less so and indicated distress at the prospect of losing the three houses, which were built in the 1930s. Speaking about the house at 1823 West 39th St., Myers said, “This house is utterly charming. Unfortunately, we don’t have an ordinance for charm.” The developer told Myers that he would try to build something that fit with the neighborhood and do his best to relocate the houses instead of demolishing them. The other two houses cleared for demolition are located at 1819 West 39th St. and 3900 Cherrywood Road.

On Wednesday, the Lower Colorado River Authority board of directors appointed 22 members to the LCRA Central Basin Regional Council. The council represents Blanco, Burnet, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties. The appointees, who will begin their terms Jan. 1, are: Carlene Cristiani, David Holmes, Fred Sanford, Gloria Leal, Jim Boon, Johnsie Bryan, Kenneth Smith, Leo Mueller Jr., Olga Wise, Pamela Yeamans, Penne Korth Peacock and Tom Harrison (Austin); Blanca E. Silva-Trevino (Buda); Alan Warren and Dana Delgado (Burnet); Britt Figueroa (Dripping Springs); Robert Dahlstrom (Highland Haven); Stan Smith (Horseshoe Bay); Henry Zuniga (Pflugerville); Bobby Seiferman and James Cotton (Round Rock); and Carol Gaultney (San Marcos). Current members of the council who will continue to serve are Gordon McNutt Jr., Jack Creveling and Rick Albers (Austin); Tommy Koch (Blanco); Manuel De La Rosa (Cedar Park); Dianne Hess (Leander); Brian Bondy (San Marcos) and Chris Betz (Uhland). Members of the four regional councils (Central, Mid, Upper and Lower) provide insight into local topics to the LCRA.

Panelists for the first CitySummit — a civic conversation produced by the Monitor, KUT News 90.5 and the LBJ School of Public Affairs — have been announced. The mobility panel, moderated by KUT’s Terrence Henry, will include AURA’s Niran Babalola, the Austin Chamber of Commerce’s Jeremy Martin and UT professor Dr. Randy Machemehl. The planning panel, moderated by the Monitor‘s Mike Kanin, will feature HousingWorks Austin’s Mandy DeMayo, OPA Design Studio’s Stephen Oliver (also a sitting City of Austin Planning Commissioner), UT professor Dr. Bob Paterson and My Brilliant City’s Michael Casias. And the revenues panel, moderated by LBJ Professor Sherri Greenberg, will include Civic Analytics’ Brian Kelsey, Deputy City of Austin Chief Financial Officer Greg Canally and Greyhill Advisor’s Bob Farley. The event is Dec. 5. Lunch, parking and a morning coffee are included. For more information and tickets, please visit our EventBrite page.

Council Members Bill Spelman and Mike Martinez had a discussion during Tuesday’s work session indicating that the Council may postpone action on an ordinance that would change the powers and duties of the city auditor and the Ethics Review Commission. Spelman, who sponsored the resolution that initiated the code amendments, said that there are “still some pieces to be worked out,” though he believes the final ordinance will be ready for Thursday’s Council meeting. Martinez said that the “local employee union” — likely the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees — has asked that the item be postponed until the Dec. 11 meeting if the ordinance is not amended by Wednesday or Thursday morning, so that the group can review it. Spelman agreed that, in that case, the item should be postponed. This is in the wake of the city auditor conducting an investigation based on an anonymous complaint and issuing a report accusing Zero Waste Advisory Commissioner Daniela Ochoa Gonzalez of a conflict of interest violation. Gonzalez lost her job due to the investigation and report, which Council disavowed.

On Monday, a coalition of Austin environmentalists jumped into the fight over whether to build golf courses at Decker Lake. In a letter to the city, they point out that construction of the courses could “compromise water supply strategies recommended by the Water Resource Planning Task Force” in terms of using Decker Lake for water supply purposes. The letter goes on: “It will certainly send a contradictory message to our ratepayers and to LCRA [Lower Colorado River Authority] and co-users of the river. A typical 18-hole course in our climate can use a half-million gallons of water for irrigation in a single day.” Additionally, the letter notes that relationships that the city has built with LCRA, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality staff and downstream water customers could be strained by perceived city hypocrisy on the topic of water conservation. The letter, which asks City Council to vote against the golf courses, is signed by Bill Bunch, Christianne Castleberry, David Foster, Sharlene Leurig, Luke Metzger, Marisa Perales, Paul Robbins, Lauren Ross, Stefan Schuster, Roy Waley and Jennifer Walker.

Travis County Commissioners made the results of the Nov. 4 elections official Tuesday.  Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir, who oversees the Travis County Elections Office, read the results into the Commissioners Court record and reported that 41 percent of registered voters, about 270,000 people, cast ballots in Travis County. She also reminded the commissioners that with the Dec. 16 runoff for Austin City Council, the election is not over. She said the certified results would be delivered to the Texas Secretary of State’s office for official recording. A copy of the final report will be available on the elections website. Commissioners waived a precinct-by-precinct review of the votes and unanimously approved the election results.

After hearing concerns from the public, Police Chief Art Acevedo, Chief Animal Services Officer Abigail Smith and Parks and Recreation Director Sara Hensley, as well as Travis County Commissioners, City Council Member Chris Riley has offered some changes to the proposed policy for dealing with coyotes that menace people and pets in urban areas. Those changes were proposed within the last couple of days and are scheduled to appear as backup for today’s Council work session. We may hear a conversation on that topic anyway. There may also be a discussion about a proposed ordinance relating to rental property registration. Staff may not have understood exactly what Council wanted when it asked for that ordinance. They may have to go back to the drawing board. There may also be a conversation about the relationship between the city auditor and the Ethics Review Commission. One item that will likely not be discussed relates to the resolution sponsored by Council Members Kathie Tovo and Mike Martinez establishing a policy that would prevent recipients of city economic development incentives from protesting their property tax appraisals. A staff member said Monday that the item had been placed on the agenda prematurely, but should come back for the final meeting of this Council on Dec. 11. The agenda currently includes 181 items, any number of which could involve lengthy public hearings. At least one Council member has suggested privately that, before Thursday, they should schedule a meeting to continue Friday morning so that the public can expect that eventuality. Perhaps we will hear more about that at today’s work session.

Mayoral candidate Steve Adler will hold a news conference today to tout support from several African-American leaders in Austin. The event will feature Executive Director of the Austin African American Cultural Heritage District Lisa Byrd, Pastor Joseph Parker of David Chapel Missionary Church, Child Inc. Executive Director Albert Black, NAACP President Nelson Linder and others. The conference will take place at 2 p.m. at the George Washington Carver Library and Museum, 1165 Angelina St.

After four years, work will finally begin on the new Covert Park monument on Mount Bonnell today. The monument commemorates the Covert family’s donation of the park to the people of Travis County in 1939. The groundbreaking will take place at 8 a.m. at the foot of the steps on Mt. Bonnell Road, and an informal gathering recognizing the event will be attended by members of the Covert family, representatives of the Parks and Recreation Department and the West Point Society, who spearheaded the effort to install the new monument. The monument is being crafted and will be installed under the supervision of Gilbert Beall of Beall Memorial Art in Austin. Funding for the new marker has been provided by private donations to the Austin Parks Foundation. A news release about the event explained the timing: “We still hope to have the finished monument delivered, installed and dedicated by the end of the year,” said Fred Bothwell of the West Point Society of Central Texas, “but if that’s not possible, we wanted to use the groundbreaking to commemorate the actual 75th anniversary of the Covert family’s priceless gift to the people.”

Two City of Austin departments will participate Wednesday at GIS Day, with a full day of events and activities planned. GIS Day is an international forum for geographic information system users to share knowledge and applications of GIS technology. The event provides an opportunity for students, professionals, businesses and the public to discuss the impact GIS has on their daily lives. There will be professional development presentations, an Open Source GIS Workshop, an ArcGIS Collector App Workshop and exhibits, posters and a digital map gallery. The City of Austin and Austin Water Utility will each host an exhibit. The ATX GIS Day, hosted by the CenTexGIS user group, will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the LBJ School of Public Affairs on the University of Texas Campus. Attendees may register online.

Austin City Council Members Laura Morrison and Bill Spelman are set to help the Austin Monitor close out its 2014 Beers Brains and Betterment discussion series with what we’re calling an exit interview Tuesday evening. As always, the event is at the North Door, 501 Brushy St., where doors will open at 7 p.m. Tickets are free and can be found here. Also as always, we expect a candid and enlightening discussion.

Among the 182 items on City Council’s Thursday agenda are two that may have the collective impact of appointing current Deputy City Auditor Corrie Stokes to replace current City Auditor Ken Mory, who is leaving at the end of the year. Stokes has been with the city since 1999. The items come with three sponsors — Council Members Laura Morrison and Bill Spelman, as well as Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole — so all Stokes will need is another vote to take the seat. We like her chances.