Lower Colorado River Authority General Manager Phil Wilson mentioned during a meeting of the LCRA Planning and Public Policy Committee on Wednesday that he is interested in the future of Austin Energy’s stake in the Fayette Power Project. “What’s that going to look like?” he asked. Noting that Austin has a new City Council, he added, “There’s value there for us to work with them and have a conversation around the future of that facility.” Though the LCRA manages Fayette, it evenly shares ownership of two of the plant’s three coal-fired generation units with Austin Energy. Last December, the previous Council adopted the Austin Energy Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan with goals to 2025. It says that “Austin Energy will explore negotiation with LCRA for control of one unit to chart a path toward an early retirement of Austin Energy’s share of Fayette starting in 2022.” The current Council has not taken any further action on the plan.

Whisper has been updated to reflect the fact that LCRA and Austin Energy share management of just two of the three Fayette units, not all three as was originally stated.

Thursday, Chief of Staff Ray Baray sent out a “save the date” memo that laid out a rather extensive itinerary of so-called “policy deep-dives” for the new City Council. The sessions will last from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. and are scheduled for Feb. 2, 3, 5, 9, 17, 19 and 23, with the option of an additional March 2 meeting, if needed. Additionally, a Council-staff “retreat” is being planned for March 6 and 7. That retreat will, according to the memo, “allow Council an opportunity to debrief on these sessions and hold additional discussions.” The proposed informational sessions were detailed in a previous Monitor article, which can be found here.

Environmental Board Coordinator Marilla Shepherd celebrated her last day of 28 years of service to the City of Austin on Wednesday. During their regular meeting, board members engaged in a heartfelt send-off ceremony for Shepherd, who worked with them for 10 years. Environmental Officer Chuck Lesniak presented her with a certificate of appreciation that commended her for excellent service, and board members individually thanked her for her work. Presenting Shepherd with a wrapped gift, Chair Mary Gay Maxwell said, “When you hear it in the wind, making beautiful music, we want you to think of us.” Shepherd thanked board members for their work and said a few words to those in attendance, which included her family. “My contributions toward making Austin, Texas, the most livable city for so, so, so many years and for so many customers has made me proud, and I feel happy that I’m retiring.” The board then welcomed Shepherd’s successor, Jessica Coronado, as the new Environmental Board Coordinator.

The Lower Colorado River Authority has decided not to change its new, simplified mission statement: “To enhance the quality of life of the Texans we serve through water stewardship, energy and community service.” The board of directors held a special meeting Wednesday to discuss potential amendments to the statement, which they officially adopted Dec. 16. Apparently persuaded by Executive Vice President for Public Affairs Bill Lauderback’s speech about the elegance of Albert Einstein’s equation for relativity, E=MC², board members tossed out a few proposed qualifiers and chose to take no action. The previous mission statement, adopted in April 2012, read: “The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) provides reliable, cost-effective electric, water and other public services of value and is a responsible steward of the river and the basin’s natural resources. LCRA is a Texas conservation and reclamation district operating with no taxing authority.”

Next Thursday, the Austin City Council will hold its first “real” meeting, and the draft agenda — which is still very much a draft — has been posted on the city’s website. Though most of the issues are holdovers from last year, three Council members have already submitted Items from Council. Council Member Delia Garza has proposed the creation of a Regional Affordability Committee as an intergovernmental committee. That item is co-sponsored by Council Members Ann Kitchen, Leslie Pool and Ellen Troxclair. Pool has an item to create a Task Force on Community Engagement that is co-sponsored by Council Members Sherri Gallo, Ora Houston and Kitchen. And Council Member Pio Renteria has asked to approve a fee waiver for the Martin Luther King Jr. parade that was held this past Monday. Renteria’s item is co-sponsored by Council Members Kitchen, Houston and Greg Casar.

Today, City Council will hold two meetings. The first will be a discussion about the “city as an employer,” which will serve as the policy lesson on management. There is also the potential for an executive session, which is discussed in today’s story about the Austin Fire Department. This evening, Council will hold a public hearing to consider proposed changes to the way Council does business and engages with the public. That meeting will take place at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. Simultaneously, Council will hold a “virtual town hall” meeting, where citizens watching via ATXN (Channel 6) or an online stream are invited to tweet the city using the hashtag #myatxgov or call 1-888-400-1932 (en Español: 1-888-400-9342) during the meeting. Austinites will also be able to continue the conversation about the changes already taking place on the city’s website or by calling 3-1-1. Council members are also scheduled to vote on a resolution that could lead to them lowering their own salaries.

The final community meeting for the Austin Cemetery Master Plan process is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Team members will present an overview of the draft master plan as well as a brief synopsis of findings and recommendations, and will gather feedback from the public. Officials say the full draft plan was made available online in mid-January and will remain online for several weeks. Austin’s historic municipal cemeteries include Austin Memorial Park Cemetery, Evergreen Cemetery, Oakwood Cemetery, Oakwood Cemetery Annex and Plummers Cemetery. The city selected AmaTerra Environmental, Inc. to develop the master plan. Visit the city website or the special Cemetery Master Plan website for more information about the process. The meeting will take place at the Carver Branch of the Austin Public Library, 1161 Angelina St.

District 6 City Council Member Don Zimmerman got to fulfill what we can only assume was one of his fondest wishes Tuesday by voting against annexation of a property, albeit imaginary. It was part of the new Council’s mock meeting. In the script, Council Member Leslie Pool was assigned the task of moving in favor of the annexation, and Zimmerman was assigned to provide the second. He wanted to make sure he was not committed to voting for the item, and asked Mayor Steve Adler if he could still vote against it. Adler assured him that he could, and the vote proceeded with Zimmerman casting the only “no.” In order to prevent members of the public who happened to tune in on the city’s ATXN station (previously Channel 6) from being alarmed, Adler made an announcement at that point referring to the “War of the Worlds” 1938 radio broadcast that frightened thousands of radio listeners who believed that the show about the arrival of Martians on Earth was real. As a result of annexation, residents of the Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District #1 were paying both city taxes and MUD taxes simultaneously. As president of the MUD, Zimmerman instigated a lawsuit to end the collection of both taxes. As a result, the MUD was dissolved and taxpayers only had to pay city taxes.

Until very recently, the Austin Neighborhoods Council message board was a great resource for neighbors and snoops alike to learn what was agitating some of Austin’s most active citizens. It has been much quieter than usual since Jan. 12, though, as higher-ups have suspended most conversation for a retooling of the site. A message from moderator and ANC member Mary Rudig reads, “Last year, ANC embraced a vision statement. This year, we are working to ensure ANCtalk also supports our vision statement. We are placing ANCtalk on a brief hiatus while we work to achieve this. ANCtalk moderators can still post to ANCtalk if you have something critical you need to share with our members. Thank you for being patient with our progress!”

Zoning and Platting Commissioner Rahm McDaniel said during last night’s regular meeting that there is an increasing scarcity of median-income housing available in the city. “Median affordability is becoming a real problem, and we can’t just look at affordability as a low-median income problem in Austin,” he said. “I…and I think others, would like to see more units dedicated to those that are earning the median income.” McDaniel made the comment before the commission approved an item on consent to recommend rezoning a piece of property on West Gate Boulevard so that Songhai Development Company, LLC, can build a moderate-high density, multifamily residence. Songhai plans to comply with the city’s Safe, Mixed-income, Accessible, Reasonably-priced, Transit-oriented — or SMART — Housing Program and ensure that 14 percent of its housing, or 20 units, is available to those making 60 percent of the median family income or below, in exchange for 25 percent waivers of certain city-imposed fees. Agent John Donisi of the Drenner Group said the units are required to remain affordable for 40 years. McDaniel has made similar comments about the “missing middle” in the past.

Leah Bojo, who served as an aide to former City Council Member Chris Riley, has joined Land Use Solutions, the firm founded by lobbyist Michele Haussmann. The firm does work in Austin, San Antonio and other Central Texas cities. Bojo, a graduate of the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the UT graduate program in community and regional planning, said her new title is entitlements and policy manager. You may email her at lbojo@landusesolutionstx.com.

Today, the Austin City Council will hold its long-awaited mock Council meeting. The main order of the day, according to the agenda, will be the “new Council orientation addressing city administration and governance, including a mock Council meeting.” But the meeting will also feature a discussion on future policy sessions and a briefing on the fundamentals of zoning. The Council’s first “real” meeting will be Jan. 29.