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October 22, 2009
Council passes texting ban
Austin City Council members this morning unanimously passed a ban on text-messaging while driving, though a few speakers expressed concerns that it was too broad and wanted to delay it to refine the ordinance language.
The ban was supposed to take effect Nov. 2. But Council Member Mike Martinez, the ban’s lead sponsor, suggested extending that date to Jan. 1. He directed city staffers to conduct an educational campaign about the ban, and noted that the extra time would give council members and city commissions a chance to weigh in and suggest tweaks to the ordinance language.
Drivers will still be able to text while a vehicle is stopped. The ban will prohibit writing, sending or viewing electronic messages on a cell phone, BlackBerry, iPhone or any other wireless communication device while driving. Electronic messages will include text messages, e-mails, posts on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, and “a command or request to access an Internet site.”
Chip Rosenthal, a member of the city’s communications and technology commission, urged council members before the vote to give the public more time to review the language. “I think the language before you will have unintended and unanticipated consequences,” he said. “The scope is so much wider than just a ban on texting.”
Debbie Russell of the local chapter of the ACLU said the ban could also be tough to enforce.
Council members Laura Morrison and Bill Spelman suggested postponing the item two weeks to give city commissions more time to review it. That motion failed and the council passed Martinez’ compromise: delaying the effective date until Jan. 2.
Exempt from the ban will be navigational systems, texting in emergency situations and public safety personnel who use wireless devices while on duty. Violations will be Class C misdemeanors, which can be appealed in Municipal Court and carry a fine of up to $500, though the penalty could be increased if a driver is caught engaging in another dangerous driving behavior, such as speeding.
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October 13, 2009
Texting while driving ban headed for a final vote
An ordinance prohibiting text messaging while driving will be up for a vote at the Austin City Council meeting next week.
Council Member Mike Martinez, the ordinance’s lead sponsor, said the rules will exempt the use of GPS navigational systems, drivers who text in emergency situations and emergency services personnel who text on duty.
“The data is clear and compelling about how dangerous it is to text and drive and how prevalent it has become,” Martinez said. “This ordinance isn’t about going out and giving a lot of tickets. It’s more about improving road safety through awareness.”
A report released in July by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that when truck drivers texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater.
The penalty for a violation would be a Class C misdemeanor, which carries a fine of up to $500 and can be appealed in Municipal Court.
The council approved the idea of a ban in August, but needed time to write actual rules. If the council passes the ordinance next week, it would take effect 35 to 40 days later, Martinez said.
The local chapter of the ACLU said the ban is unnecessary and redundant, because laws already exist that prohibit dangerous driving behaviors. A public awareness campaign about the dangers of texting while driving would be more effective, said Debbie Russell, president of the Central Texas chapter of the ACLU-TX.
“We certainly need to address the issue, but creating new laws will only complicate it more,” Russell said today.
Also up for a vote next Thursday will be rules requiring a three-foot safe passing distance between vehicles and “vulnerable road users,” such as cyclists, pedestrians and people in wheelchairs.
To read a draft of the ordinance, click here.
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August 27, 2009
Council cuts Austin Java, Fit City rents
The Austin City Council decided this morning to cut the rents for Austin Java and Fit City, two businesses that lease space on the first floor of City Hall.
As we explained in a story this morning, Austin Java will now pay only 4 percent of its gross monthly sales instead of its current rate of 7 percent. Fit City, owned by RunTex owner Paul Carrozza, will pay $10.50 per square foot per month instead of $28 per square foot.
Those lower rents will only last through January 2011, when a new W hotel is expected to open across the way on West Second Street.
The owners of both businesses have said that the sagging economy and construction across the street have led to declines in foot traffic and sales.
Council Member Bill Spelman questioned whether the lower rents would be in line with market rental rates that other businesses are paying along Second Street and downtown.
City staffers said they would be and added that it’s important not to have vacant storefronts in the middle of the Second Street retail district, a high-end shopping area in the blocks around City Hall.
The council vote was unanimous.
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Council moves ahead with texting ban
In a preliminary vote, the Austin City Council unanimously agreed this morning to create a ban on text messaging while driving, and also to require a three-foot driving distance between vehicles and other road users, such as bicyclists and pedestrians.
The ideas won’t take effect right away. City staffers will spend a few months writing ordinances that the council will have to vote on before they take effect.
A few council members and a few speakers expressed concerns that both policies would be difficult for police to enforce. They also stressed that the texting ban should be coupled with a strong public education campaign to be effective.
“We see time and again that laws like this are not the best way to change people’s behavior,” said Debbie Russell of the Central Texas chapter of the ACLU. “If we’re not dedicating any money for public education along with this, it will fail.”
Council Member Mike Martinez, the lead proponent of the texting ban, said he would look carefully at those issues before the ordinance language comes back to the council for a vote. But he said studies have shown overwhelmingly that texting behind the wheel is dangerous and must be curtailed.
“You’re 20 times more likely to get into an accident texting while you’re driving,” he said. “While it may seem like common sense not to text while driving, it doesn’t seem to resonate.”
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August 20, 2009
Council members raise questions about new water restrictions
A few City Council members expressed concern and a little skepticism about the tougher, stage-2 water restrictions the city will put in place Monday. But they made no move to change the rules for now.
Mayor Lee Leffingwell questioned whether it makes sense to exempt raw water users (entities that draw water directly from local lakes and water sources without treating it), as the rules allow.
“If the objective (of stage 2 limits) is to reduce the drawn down, the effect is the same if you’re pulling raw water out of a lake as if you’re pulling it out of a treatment plant,” he told Austin Water Utility Director Greg Meszaros.
Leffingwell also said the stage-2 residential watering rules are complicated and might be difficult for the public to follow. For example, residents might not understand the schedule for different types of watering systems, from “soaker hoses” to automatic sprinklers, he said.
The rules will limit owners of odd-numbered homes to use automatic sprinkler systems on Saturday and even-numbered homes on Sunday. Automatic systems could only run between midnight and 10 a.m.; hose-end sprinklers and soaker hoses could only run before 10 a.m. and/or after 7 p.m. Residents can water by hand at any time.
Leffingwell said it might make more sense to allow automatic sprinklers to run during a weekday, allowing residents to set their systems to run while they’re at work, and then let residents hand-water landscaping on the weekends.
Meszaros said about 15 to 20 staffers, from temporary workers to existing utility employees, will ride around Austin searching for violators. Council Member Bill Spelman expressed concern that the temporary workers won’t be trained by Monday. And he wondered whether there might be a way to better identify water wasters than having staffers drive around town.
Council Member Randi Shade said she’d like to see a more aggressive education effort about the rules than what the water utility plans to do: outreach to local media and advertising on media Web sites.
Meszaros said he’d get back to the council members with responses to their questions and comments. And Assistant City Manager Rudy Garza pointed out that the new rules might be tough to get used to, but will be temporary.
“This is going to be somewhat disruptive,” he said. “We’re in a very difficult water rationing environment and it’s not going to be pleasant.”
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Council passes meeting changes, with a few tweaks
The Austin City Council passed new rules today related to how they run their meetings in hopes of allowing a greater variety of speakers, and to avoid running late into the night.
Some of the changes — once they’re drafted as city codes — will have to come back to the council for a vote, and they won’t take effect for another month or two.
The council will now only allow residents to sign up to speak during the Citizen Communications period one out of every three council meetings. Ten people can sign up to speak about any topic during that noon-hour portion of each meeting. Currently, many of the same people sign up week after week, so the intent was to open up the communication time to more people. The original plan was to limit the speakers to one out of every four meetings, but the council made it less restrictive after hearing from critics of that idea.
Any resident, even those maxed out on their Citizen Communications limit, could still sign up to speak on any meeting agenda item and at public hearings. Those wishing to speak during the Citizen Communications period must sign up two weeks in advance, and regulars of Citizen Communications would have the chance to fill vacant slots in the few days before the council meeting.
The other big change: the discussion of zoning cases — often the most time-consuming part of each meeting — will soon begin at 2 p.m. instead of 4 p.m. Individual cases could be moved to later in the day at the request of at least one council member, so that folks who can’t take off time from work to speak about a zoning case can attend after work. The intent of the change is to make council meetings, which often run well into the night, flow a bit more smoothly and quickly.
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June 19, 2009
LaBare to start baring it again
Club LaBare’s performers could be, ah, strutting their stuff again in a couple weeks thanks to a late-night decision Thursday by the Austin City Council.
The council rejected a challenge from a nearby residents’ organization, which contended that the city should deny the club’s liquor-license application. That will allow LaBare, a nightclub featuring scantily-clad male dancers, to open shortly at its new location in Lincoln Village near Interstate 35 and U.S. 290, said La Bare’s attorney, Bill Gammon.
The nightclub used to be at Riverside Drive near South Congress Avenue but moved from there a few years ago after the city decided it was an adult-oriented business and violated city codes by being within 1,000 feet of the Texas School for the Deaf.
The city staff determined the new location, near Highland Mall, met the city codes.
But the Highland/Skyview Neighborhood Plan Contact Team, a city-created body that works with the city on the area’s zoning, contended it had legal standing to challenge the club’s liquor-license application. The club had to get a liquor license to meet its lease requirements, Gammon said. It has not opened at the new location.
A four-member majority of the City Council — Sheryl Cole, Lee Leffingwell, Mike Martinez and Mayor Will Wynn — decided the residents did not have standing to challenge the license. Council Members Brewster McCracken, Laura Morrison and Randi Shade disagreed.
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May 22, 2009
Cyclists sing their support for bike plan
A crowd of bicyclists packed City Hall last night to voice support for a long-term plan aimed at completing Austin’s bike-trail network and getting more people to bike.
Many spoke to the council at a podium, but Pete Wall of the Yellow Bike Project had a more creative idea. He launched into “This Little Bike of Mine,” a song set to the tune of “This Little Light of Mine,” and a bunch of cyclists rose up in the audience to join him. It was the kind of moment that you’d only see at a City Council meeting in Austin.
Most of last night’s speakers were in favor of the bike plan, noting that biking offers multiple benefits, from reducing traffic and carbon emissions to improving health and wellness.
A few cautioned that the city is going to have to be very aggressive about finding money to pay for the plan’s ideas given the current budget crunch at City Hall. Others said the plan won’t work unless the city gets state and federal agencies to integrate more bike-friendly spaces into Austin’s highway system. And residents from the Heritage Hills neighborhood said they didn’t like a bike bridge planned for their area because it would connect them to a neighborhood that has far more criminal activity.
The council will vote on the plan June 11.
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May 14, 2009
City talks about creating a music/cultural arts department
Last year a city task force began meeting to talk about ways to enhance Austin’s live music industry.
Out of that work came several ideas, including a desire to create a music department that oversees everything from economic development to sound issues to permitting. Many other like-sized cities already have a department for music or the arts or both.
Today, city staffers presented three plans for creating a music and cultural arts department or a new division in an existing city department. The price tags for each option ranged from $522,000 to $11.2 million a year, using existing employees and hiring 5 to 13 full-time employees.
The latter number was an eye-popping figure that had council members scratching their heads about why it would even be suggested during a budget crunch. Council Members Mike Martinez and Brewster McCracken suggested that city staffers try to come up with a scaled-back and less expensive way to start the department, perhaps starting with a few new employees and adding to that over time.
No decisions were made. The council will take up the issue again in the next few months.
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Council mulls how to use housing stimulus cash
Austin is slated to get $2 million from the federal stimulus plan to use for housing and community development projects. At today’s City Council meeting, some city staffers and residents disagreed about how to use the cash.
The city got a final list of guidelines for the housing stimulus money May 5, and has to submit a proposal about how it wants to use the money by Monday.
The Housing Department wants to spend the money on five things: a resource center that LifeWorks plans to build to expand work, education and mental health services for low-income people; a center for economic opportunity that PeopleFund will build to provide services to local businesses and home buyers; helping to create an African American cultural and heritage facility on East 11th Street; new sidewalks in historically disadvantaged areas of Central East Austin; and administrative costs.
But the city’s Community Development Commission recommended using most of the money — $1.55 million — for home-repair programs instead, saying helping poor and elderly homeowners is a more urgent need.
Housing Director Margaret Shaw said home repair work would not fit well with the feds’ criteria for using the money. For example, she said, projects have to meet federal rules about building with American products and offering a certain wage to workers. Those rules will require a lot of paperwork and oversight and having a smaller volume of projects will be simpler to track, Shaw said.
As a kind of compromise, Shaw suggested using $2 million in bond money that voters approved in 2006 for home-repair projects as early as this summer. The council agreed to that plan and also approved the staff’s recommendations for the stimulus money.
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Fire Department changes cause stir at council meeting
Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr came to the City Council meeting today to ask them to allow her to appoint new assistant chiefs. The request caused a bit of a ruckus.
The department used to have four assistant fire chiefs — all males, two white, one Hispanic and one African-American. But two — the African-American and Hispanic assistant chiefs — retired in the past year. Kerr wants to appoint two lieutenants, Matt Orta (a Hispanic male) and Richard Davis (a black male), to replace them. And she wants to add a fifth assistant chief job and appoint Harry Evans, a white male.
Firefighters came to the council meeting today to oppose the idea, saying it would put a strain on the city budget, that a few of the choices don’t have enough experience for the jobs and that Kerr didn’t go through the normal promotions process.
Battalion Chief Palmer Buck noted that the city recently considered reducing staffing on fire trucks to deal with a budget crunch. Adding more executive-level staffers at this time, he said, would be “the wrong message to send to the firefighters who work hard to take care of the citizens.”
Kerr said the change would cost a total of $10,000 more and would not reduce the number of front-line firefighters. She said she wants to increase diversity in the department, but there are mostly white males in the upper levels of the department, so she picked two lieutenants instead. The extra assistant chief is needed to handle the workload the department faces, she said.
Some black and Hispanic leaders showed up to say they support Kerr’s plans.
NAACP president Nelson Linder said the fire department is an “embarrassment” on the issue of diversity.
“We have to change that. We support the chief,” he said. “The best way to change the organization is to bring in good people who have the qualities and courage to change the culture.”
At the urging of mayor-elect Lee Leffingwell and Council Member Mike Martinez, a former firefighter, the council voted to postpone the item to June 11. Both said it would make sense to wait and see the cost-cutting ideas that every department has to submit to the city manager next week before deciding whether to add a fifth assistant fire chief.
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Vote on tree rules postponed
The Austin City Council won’t hold a public hearing or vote today on proposed rules related to trees.
The proposed rules would require developers to plant more trees in the parking lots of shopping centers and in new subdivisions. The rules would also say that landowners or builders who want to cut down trees with trunk diameters of 24 inches or greater would have to first seek a variance from the city.
The council is postponing those items until June 18 because of a technical error — the items weren’t posted properly for action — and because council members want more time to review the ideas, Council Member Lee Leffingwell said this morning.
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April 30, 2009
Council gives preliminary OK to waterfront rules
In a compromise that diffused a politically charged situation but left key points unresolved, the Austin City Council unanimously approved rules on Thursday that limit the height of new buildings along Lady Bird Lake.
The limits are intended to prevent what neighborhood activists fear could become overdevelopment that ruins the lake, which meanders in an east-west line through the central part of the city.
Some of those activists were pushing for height limits that were absolute. But the council decided that the limits could be exceeded in certain cases where a developer can prove a taller building is better for the community.
“I think we’re clearly demonstrating where our values lie” by implementing height limits, said Council Member Mike Martinez, who suggested the proposal adopted by the council. But, he said of opposing absolute height limits, “I don’t think one size fits all.”
Due to a procedural technicality, the council’s Thursday approval is only the first of three needed to write the height restrictions into the city code — meaning subsequent votes could overturn or modify what the council decided.
The wiggle room the council gave itself in subsequent weeks is significant because two council members — Lee Leffingwell and Brewster McCracken — are running for mayor, and the city elections are May 9.
Leffingwell’s has pushed for the height limits, a move popular with the neighborhood groups that have endorsed him. McCracken, meanwhile, is a self-described New Urbanist who supports adding more residents and shops to the central part of the city, and had said he would oppose an absolute height limit, possibly deepening the rift between himself and those neighborhood groups.
The change, when it takes effect, restores height limits that were approved in 1986 but effectively wiped off the books in 1999. The new limits are 96 feet in some areas, 60 feet in others — less than at least one proposed project, by Grayco Partners, which has talked of going as high as 120 feet. (The Austin American-Statesman is one of the largest landowners affected by the change).
Jeff Jack, a director of activist group Save Town Lake, a citizens group formed in 2006 to fight what it sees as overdevelopment along the lake, said the council did not do much to demonstrate its values. He said the limits should be absolute. Dense development, he said, can go elsewhere in town.
“This (council vote) leaves the door open,” Jack said. “It doesn’t solve our problem.”
Several development attorneys argued Thursday for flexibility in the regulations. So did a few speakers who said the city should allow developers to build taller buildings in exchange for concessions such as granting public access to the waterfront.
As part of its Thursday vote, the council decided to create a new task front to deal with lakefront issues. Its first charge will be drafting a detailed policy about how the city should negotiate such concessions.
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City officials talk about stimulus money
The City of Austin will get at least $13.9 million in formula-awarded money from the federal stimulus plan and has applied for $34.2 million in grants from that program.
That was the tally that Deputy Chief Financial Officer Greg Canally presented to the City Council today.
Canally said the federal money is available in many different forms (grants, pass-thrus from the state, etc.) and there are many different timelines and rules for getting the money.
The city will get $7.5 million to make energy efficiency improvements to city buildings and $5 million for housing and urban development programs.
Canally said other Austin projects that might be eligible for the stimulus cash include: commuter rail lines, water leak detection programs, other drinking water projects, creating a “smart grid” for electric power, immunizations and disease prevention, and energy-efficiency and alternative fuel programs (such as replacing older city vehicles with fuel-efficient ones.)
The city has already applied for money for public safety items such as more police officers, grants for forensics, and housing allowances for clients who complete substance-abuse treatment. Austin’s plan to build women’s locker rooms at fire stations that don’t have any might also be eligible for stimulus money, Canally said.
Canally said the city is still refining its list of specific projects and will keep coming back to the council with updates.
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Council approves new street-closure rules
The Austin City Council passed new rules today aimed at making it easier to traverse downtown during big events like parades, races and festivals.
Churches and businesses had complained about road closures from those events preventing their customers and church-goers from getting around.
The rules require event organizers to keep open some major streets during big events, never close two downtown bridges at once, notify nearby residents and businesses of events well in advance and set up and dismantle traffic barricades quickly.
Under the new rules, “moving events” such as races can’t cross or run along Fifth Street, Sixth Street or Lamar Boulevard. That means organizers for big events such as the Susan G. Komen for the Cure race and the Statesman Capitol 10,000 would have to redraw their routes or seek a City Council waiver.
Organizers of “stationary events,” such as First Night and arts festivals, can close only one out of three major east-west corridors: Cesar Chavez, 5th and 6th streets as a pair, and 11th Street. And they’ll have to choose from a menu of north/south streets to keep open.
Nearby residents, businesses and churches will have a chance to object to event routes. Street-closure disputes will be heard by a city commission and then the City Council.
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Council OKs $58.5 million utility billing system
The Austin City Council agreed this morning to buy a $58.5 million billing system for the city’s electric, water and garbage-collection operations.
City officials say the system will improve customer service and energy efficiency.
Software publisher Oracle Corp. will develop the system over the next two years, and IBM Corp. will install and manage it. The system will be paid for with the money that residents pay for utility service.
Austin’s current billing system is less than a decade old, but city officials say technological advances have left it outdated.
The new system will allow the city to offer utility customers new options, such as choosing when their bills are due each month.
Officials say it will also help establish Austin as a major player in the green-energy business by helping create a “smart grid” capable of testing and incorporating new energy-saving technologies.
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April 23, 2009
Barton Springs trees plan gets first airing at council
The City of Austin will gather input from the public and city commissions before cutting down any trees at Barton Springs Pool, Parks Director Sara Hensley told the City Council today.
The Parks Department recently said it planned to cut down 29 trees at the pool because a tree assessment study found that the trees are in bad health and could pose a safety risk to pool-goers.
Hensley gave a brief presentation to the City Council today, emphasizing that “We’re not recommending any action until there is a full public review.”
Parks officials will hold a guided tour of the trees on a yet-to-be-announced day to talk about the study, done by Davey Resource Group. They will also discuss the study with four city boards in the next few months. Residents can sign up to speak at any of these meetings:
- Tuesday, 6 p.m., the Parks and Recreation Board, City Hall, 301 W. Second Street
- May 19, 6:30 p.m., the Urban Forestry Board, the Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 River Street
- May 20, 6 p.m., the Environmental Board, City Hall
- June 15, 6:15 p.m., joint meeting of the Environmental Board and Parks Board Committee, Mexican American Cultural Center
Hensley said she’s also asked a state forester to review Davey’s study.
The city hired Davey last fall to do the tree study. That firm was the only bidder after the city made three attempts to solicit bids, Hensley said. Davey examined 46 trees and considered several factors, including soil analysis, wind exposure and major pests and diseases, she said.
Davey recommended removing 22 trees. The Parks Department separately determined that seven other trees should be taken down.
Each year, the Parks Department plants about 2,300 trees citywide and removes 500 damaged or fallen trees, Hensley said. Trees at Zilker Park are treated and maintained monthly, she said.
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City chooses a firm to write long-term growth plan
The Austin City Council unanimously chose the team Wallace, Roberts & Todd today to write a long-term comprehensive plan for the city.
The plan will describe goals and policies for how Austin should grow over the next several years, delving into issues such as transit, housing, environmental protection, land use and health care.
The firm will get $1.3 million to write the plan, which could take a few years to finish.
City staffers had recommended a different team, ACP Visioning & Planning, because that team scored higher during a city review process. The group Liveable City asked the council not to choose that team, saying it didn’t fully respond to conflict-of-interest questions about other local planning and transportation projects the team’s members have worked on.
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Council works on noise issue for live music venues
Recently city police have been issuing warnings to businesses like Freddie’s Place in South Austin for hosting live music that is louder than 70 decibels.
That rule was an old one on the books that city officials weren’t aware of until they began tweaking the noise rules for live music venues to address noise complaints from neighbors.
Today, the Austin City Council passed a plan that will allow some businesses to quickly get approval to continue to host live music outdoors at noise levels up to 85 decibels.
The plan should help about 13 businesses, but not Freddie’s because it doesn’t have the zoning needed under the plan. Freddie’s owner, Fred Nelson, showed up at the council meeting today to ask the council to take more time to come up with a better proposal.
Council Member Mike Martinez said he’ll continue to work with Freddie’s to find a solution.
“We’re absolutely committed to working with him but we have to make sure we’re doing this appropriately,” Martinez said. “We can continue to be the live music capital of the world and also be neighborly.”
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April 13, 2009
Council votes to oppose bill on single-member districts
The Austin City Council voted unanimously today to oppose a bill in the state Legislature that would require single-member districts.
Council members said that despite their differing views on single-member districts — which would require the city into regions that each elect a representative on the council — they did not want the Legislature dictating the change.
The city charter, which determines what system of election Austin uses, “should remain intact unless it’s amended by a majority of our citizens,” said Council Member Mike Martinez, who has pushed for a switch to single-member districts.
Council members and the mayor are now elected citywide. Critics of the system say the city has grown too large for each council member to represent the entire city. But supporters of the current system say it heads off parochialism and protects black representation. Under a long-standing “gentlemen’s agreement,” one of the six council seats has been set aside for a black council member, another for a Hispanic council member.
The single-member districts bill was introduced by Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, whose district extends into South Austin. Wentworth said constituents asked him to submit the bill.
Council members and city staff noted Monday that Austin voters had turned down single-member districts in six referendums. Mayor Will Wynn said the city should wait until after the 2010 Census to put another referendum to voters.
“I believe that our near-future council will be supportive of putting together community discussion” to consider single-member districts in the near future, Council Member Laura Morrison said.
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March 12, 2009
City Council moves forward with downtown plan
The City Council today unanimously agreed to spend $840,000 to finish up a master plan for downtown.
The city has already spent about $700,000 on the plan. Council members Laura Morrison, Mike Martinez and Lee Leffingwell raised questions today about whether it was worth spending more, but ultimately voted to move forward.
During the first part of the plan, ROMA Design Group studied affordable housing and transportation issues. In the second phase, they’ll come up with more detailed recommendations about transportation, historic preservation, housing, arts and live music and infrastructure needs.
The $1.5 million is money the city gets from CapMetro to use for planning and transportation needs. It is not money from the general fund, which pays for most city services, such as police, libraries and parks.
Morrison suggested delaying the vote for two weeks to see if city staffers could do some of the work instead of ROMA to save money. But the rest of the council didn’t sign on to that idea.
Leffingwell said he understands the importance of planning for downtown, an area that contributes significantly to Austin’s tax base.
But, he said: “I’m not sure we got anything worthwhile out of Phase One (of the plan). We got a reiteration of things that other task forces have recommended,” he said. “We ought to proceed with Phase Two with an eye towards wrapping this up. We’re $1.5 million in and that’s a whole lot of money to spend on one part of town.”
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March 5, 2009
Council OK's boardwalk route
The Austin City Council this morning approved a route for a boardwalk that will help close a 1.2-mile gap in the hike-and-bike trail along Lady Bird Lake.
Residents of two condo properties along the shore asked the council to build a path inland, closer to Riverside Drive and Lakeshore Boulevard.
“I’m here to advocate for something that doesn’t have a voice: our lake, Lady Bird Lake. Austin is hyper-developing and begging for green space to be left untouched,” said Shelley Meyer, a homeowner at Riverwalk Condominiums on E. Riverside Drive. “This is not my backyard; it’s all of Austin’s backyard. Please don’t pave our lake.”
But council members unanimously OK’ed a route that will put the concrete boardwalk in the lake in front of both condo projects. City staffers had cited safety concerns, steep slopes and a lack of wide land parcels as reasons an inland path wouldn’t work near the condos. About half of the 1.2-mile trail extension will be on land.
Council members didn’t say much before voting. Mayor Will Wynn noted that city staffers would continue talking with nearby residents about possibly putting more of the trail on land. Building the boardwalk will cost $2,500 per lineal foot, he said.
“To the extent that you can get land donated to you, it probably improves the trail itself and saves money,” Wynn said. “In the meantime, I think it’s important that we continue with the next planning and design step to have answers to important questions,” such as the boardwalk’s elevation and design.
The council hired a firm last year for $1.4 million to design the boardwalk, and the firm needs to have a route in mind to finish its work, Wynn said.
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March 2, 2009
Boardwalk route up for a vote
The Austin City Council will pick a route Thursday for a boardwalk that will close a 1.2-mile gap in the Lady Bird Lake hike-and-bike trail.
About half the path will be on land and half in the water, 20 to 30 feet from shore and 4 to 6 feet above water.
Residents of the Riverwalk Condominiums and Waterfront Condominiums, two older properties along the shore, had asked city officials not to build the boardwalk in front of them. They worry it will mar their waterfront views and kayak access and disturb birds and creek flows in the area.
But the route recommended by city staffers — the route the council will vote on Thursday — would be in the water in front of both condo properties. David Taylor, a project manager at the Public Works Department, said there isn’t enough space on land between Riverwalk and the lake to create a path, and staffers don’t want to put the path closer to Riverside Drive because that would pose a safety problem for runners.
He said city staff would prefer to put the path on land in front of the Waterfront, but haven’t been able to get the landowner to agree. Another inland path the city considered would be costly because the city would have to build over or around steep slopes, and some land parcels aren’t wide enough to be accessible to folks with physical disabilities, Taylor said.
The council hired a firm last year for $1.4 million to design the boardwalk. It will cost $15 million to build. City officials have said they might apply for federal stimulus money. They’ll also use $2.5 million that they’d originally planned to spend helping to build a children’s museum on city-owned land. City officials opted to use the money elsewhere after museum officials decided to look for an alternative location.
CITY OF AUSTIN
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February 26, 2009
Council delays vote on growth plan
The Austin City Council will wait until April 23 to hire a team to write a long-term plan for Austin’s growth.
The council was slated to pick one of three planning teams this morning, but opted to wait after groups such as Liveable City said the public didn’t have enough time to review or comment on the finalists.
The plan is a big deal because it’s supposed to describe Austin’s long-term goals for housing, transportation, health care, land use and other things. It will take two years to write and will replace a plan that’s 30 years old.
Council Member Laura Morrison said she wants to hold a public meeting March 4 to gather more input from residents about the finalist teams. And Council Member Randi Shade said the city plans to provide more information about the teams.
Liveable City wants the city to release info such as other city planning, development and transportation projects each team member has worked on, to ensure there’s no conflicts of interest. But it’s not clear how much info the city can make public under the rules of Austin’s contracting process.
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February 12, 2009
Council passes deer-feeding ban
It’s now illegal to feed deer in Austin on purpose.
The City Council unanimously passed a ban Thursday on deer feeding in the city limits. The ban stems from complaints mainly Northwest Hills area around Mesa Drive, Far West Boulevard and Rockledge Drive, where some residents say the population is getting too large, destroying vegetation and causing traffic difficulties.
“It’s hard when the spokesman for the other side is Bambi to talk about the damager deer do,” said Roy Whaley, a northwest Austin resident and vice-chairman of the Austin Sierra Club (which he added has not taken a formal position). “Unfortunately, I don’t think we should feed the deer … if you still want to feed the deer, plant flowers.”
Judy Harrison, a northwest Austin resident, disagreed, taking issue both with the ban and the city’s reliance on neighbor complaints to enforce it.
“To rat out your neighbors is unacceptable,” she said. “I would rather have you kill the deer and give them to the food bank than starve on my corner because of a ban.”
No other city in Texas the size of Austin or larger has a ban on feeding deer, said Mitch Lockwood, the director of the white-tail deer program for the state Department of Parks and Wildlife.
There is no estimate on the number of deer in the city, he said, but Austin does have “the highest concentration of deer of all the large cities in Texas.”
The fines for violating the ban range from $75 to $125 per violation.
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January 29, 2009
Council drops Penninsula annexation
The Austin City Council, considering several related agenda items that combined would have annexed an area west of Austin into the city, decided without comment Thursday not to.
The council had previously run into objections from some residents of the Peninsula at Westlake and neighbors along Lake Austin. The most vocal resident, Bob Brooks, said the objections stem from what he thinks would be inadequate fire protection.
He and others annexed would also have to pay higher taxes and would receive full city services, according to city analysis.
When the annexation came to the council in December, it decided to postpone its vote.
When considering the Peninsula items on Thursday — and after a closed session meeting with the city’s legal staff — no council member offered a motion. Lacking a motion, the proposals died.
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December 11, 2008
Austin council picks library design team
The Austin City Council chose the architectural team of Lake/Flato Architects and Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott this morning to design a new central library.
The vote was somewhat of a surprise, because city staff members recommended the team of Barnes Gromatzy Kosarek Architects and Taniguchi with Holzman Moss for the $7.2 million contract.
“It was a really tough decision. I was really torn,” said Mayor Will Wynn, who has an architectural degree and worked in historical renovation before his council tenure. “Ultimately I believe that (Lake/Flato’s) design talent and commitment to sustainability will marry well with the site and with what we are trying to achieve aesthetically and environmentally.”
Council Member Laura Morrison was the only council members to vote against Lake/Flato, saying she agreed with staff that Barnes Gromatzy was the best choice.
Lake/Flato will design a 250,000-square-foot library to replace the old John Henry Faulk Central Library, which city leaders say is too small and outdated to meet the needs of a rapidly growing city. The library will replace part of an Austin Energy substation on West Cesar Chavez Street and be built with $90 million in voter-approved bond money.
Barnes Gromatzy scored highest — 111.58 points out of 125 — during the city’s application and interview process. Lake/Flato scored 101.08. The third team that was a finalist for the job, Page Southerland Page/Patkau Architects, scored 106.33. Of the three, Barnes Gromatzy proposed hiring the greatest percentage of minority- and women-owned subcontractors.
In an October presentation to the council, the Lake/Flato and Shepley Bulfinch team noted that Shepley has designed more than 200 libraries. Flashing photos of Hamilton Pool, Barton Springs and Texas limestone, the team said it envisioned a library that is environmentally sustainable and that reflects the local landscape.
Morrison said all three teams have excellent credentials, but she concluded that Barnes Gromatzy has the best record of gathering public input, understanding issues unique to Austin, finishing projects on time and under budget, and including minority-owned firms in their work.
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Lake Austin area annexation postponed
City council has postponed until next week voting on an item that would lead to the annexation of the Peninsula at Westlake.
The controversial addition to the city has been opposed by residents there, including one homeowner who has filed a lawsuit over the city’s ability to provide adequate fire protection to the area. Read Marty Toohey’s story on the issue from today’s newspaper here.
The council was slated to vote on the item at today’s council meeting, along with a related item that would put Peninsula residents and other neighboring properties in the city limits on the city’s property tax rolls.
The properties inside the city limits had been allowed to avoid paying property taxes because the area’s rocky terrain and narrow roads hindered the city’s ability to get them fire protection, sewer and other services. But Austin officials say the agreement has outlived its usefulness because the city has grown that direction.
That item has also been postponed until next Thursday.
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November 20, 2008
Council OKs fire chief choice
Flanked by dozens of Austin firefighters, Rhoda Mae Kerr officially accepted the job of Austin’s fire chief this morning.
The City Council ratified City Manager Marc Ott’s choice of Kerr — an historic choice, because Kerr will be the first woman to lead Austin’s fire department.
Ott told the crowd gathered at the City Council meeting that that he wanted a chief with excellent technical skills and people skills, “someone not afraid to look at new approaches to solve old problems … Rhoda Mae Kerr fits that profile.”
He said that on a trip to Little Rock, Arkansas — the fire department Kerr currently leads — everyone he met spoke highly of Kerr and her involvement in the community.
“I am truly excited to serve as the next fire chief and am humbled by the opportunity and I will be proud to lead the Austin fire department,” Kerr told the audience this morning, to a standing ovation.
There was some tension in the room this morning, because some firefighters have been fighting a proposed contract offer from the city. Council Member Mike Martinez, a former firefighter, urged the firefighters to carefully consider the contract details and state of the economy before voting on it later this week.
Kerr starts in February.
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August 7, 2008
Council postpones decision on Bat Fest fate
The Austin City Council decided to postpone its decision on the Bat Fest which would close the Ann Richards Bridge on Labor Day weekend, giving event organizers the chance to work things out with an owner of Your Living Room, a furniture store on South Congress Avenue.
Organizers of the event, scheduled to occur on Aug. 30-31, were asking the council for a waiver on the required signatures from surrounding property owners. Because the event would charge admission, 90 percent of property owners were required to sign off. The Austin American-Statesman, which is located across the street from Your Living Room, signed off, according to event organizers.
Council members expressed frustration that nothing had been done to remedy the situation after the event organizer was specifically asked by council last year to take steps to make accommodations, such as moving the event to another location.
Your Living Room Owner Gege Cordeiro told the council, “Last year was a disaster.”
The store went from making up to $30,000 a day to $5,000 on Saturday and $0 on Sunday, she said.
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July 24, 2008
City settles lawsuit against police officer who struck man at a bus stop in 2006
The City Council on Thursday approved a $55,000 settlement for the family of a mentally ill man who was beaten by an Austin police officer.
The federal lawsuit was filed in June 2007 by Nora Tijerina on behalf of her son, Joseph Cruz, against Gary Griffin, an Austin police officer.
According to court documents, Griffin responded to a “person down” call in July 2006 and found Cruz, who has schizophrenia, asleep on a bus stop bench. When Cruz did not wake up, Griffin repeatedly hit him with his billy club and then punched Cruz in the face, breaking his nose, the documents said.
Griffin was fired for use of excessive force. An arbitrator later overturned the firing.
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June 18, 2008
Austin City Council tackles packed agenda
It’s been a busy morning so far for the Austin City Council, in part because they’re trying to wrap up some loose ends. Today is the last meeting for Council Member Betty Dunkerley, who is retiring, and Council Member Jennifer Kim, who lost a re-election bid last month. The two will be feted tonight at 5:30, with proclamations and a song.
The council faces a packed agenda this afternoon and tonight, as well: They’re slated to pick a firm to redevelop the Green Water Treatment Plant downtown, and will hold a 6 p.m. public hearing on new construction rules that would make homes more accessible to disabled people.
A sampling of the items the council passed this morning:
- Voted to set up an endowment fund for a future central library with money from the sale of Block 21
- Agreed to allow concrete-pouring work downtown during evening hours, to help stop traffic tie-ups during the day
- Agreed to offer two, $250,000 loans for Apple Annies cafe to relocate to Congress Avenue
- Voted to study the feasibility of creating an arts and culture department
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June 5, 2008
Council to postpone hearing on "visitability" rules
A public hearing about “visitability” requirements for new homes, originally scheduled for 6 p.m. today, won’t happen until the next council meeting.
Council Member Betty Dunkerley, the sponsor of the ordinance, said at the beginning of today’s council meeting that the hearing and any council action will be postponed until June 18.
The proposed ordinance, which aims to make it easier for people with disabilities to visit private homes in Austin, has drawn criticism from home builders.
The rules, if passed, include height limits for light switches and outlets and a specified width for a first floor bathroom door. The ordinance would also require some reinforced bathroom walls to support grab bars in the future and lever handles, instead of knobs, on doors.
Dunkerley asserted that some of the more controversial pieces of the proposal, requiring a home to have one entrance without a step and wider doors on the lower level, would be tossed back to stakeholders who could discuss possible voluntary programs with incentives for participation.
“It’s not that we’re backing off on those, but we’re looking for better ways to get compliance,” Dunkerley said.
Mayor Will Wynn noted that the council can’t officially postpone the hearing until they get to that agenda item later today, but said it “likely will be postponed until June 18, 2008.”
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March 6, 2008
Panhandling survey will start in June
The Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department will hire UT social work students to interview panhandlers around town in June.
The health department will compile the data into a report that the Austin City Council will use to determine whether to restrict panhandling.
The council talked about cracking down on panhandling last year, but tabled the issue after fielding criticism from advocates for homeless people and day laborers.
The survey questions will include whether the panhandlers are homeless, why they’re panhandling, their income from panhandling, and their experiences with mental health institutions or jail.
The health department hasn’t decided at which corners or intersections it will approach panhandlers, health department director David Lurie said.
Panhandlers will receive a minimal payment — $5 — or a gift certificate for food in exchange for being interviewed, Lurie said.
The interviewers will be trained in where to refer panhandlers to get shelter or social services, Lurie said.
Council Member Jennifer Kim wanted assurance that the survey effort wouldn’t be an excuse to arrest panhandlers. Lurie said interviewers will be able to contact specific Austin police officers if criminal activity occurs, but that arresting people is not the purpose of the survey.
The health department will present the data to the council in August.
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January 31, 2008
Ott headed to Michigan for brother's funeral
Mayor Will Wynn announced at this morning’s council meeting that the brother of Austin’s next city manager, Marc Ott, has died.
Wynn extended his condolences and noted that Ott and his family are on their way to Michigan for the funeral.
Sgt. Ernie Ott had worked at the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department in Michigan since 1984, said Undersheriff Mike McCabe.
McCabe did not know the cause of death, but said Ott died at a hospital after complaining during the workday that he wasn’t feeling well. The funeral is scheduled for Monday morning.
Marc Ott will replace outgoing Austin city manager Toby Futrell in mid-February.
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January 3, 2008
And the semifinalists are...
After spending the day sorting through contenders for the spot of Austin city manager, the council narrowed the list down to eight this afternoon. That number is now down to seven, after Austin Energy General Manager Juan Garza was named the new head of Pedernales Electric Cooperative.
The short list includes: Laura Huffman, Austin assistant city manager; Rudy Garza, Austin assistant city manager; Michael Brown, city manager of Savannah, Ga.; Wayne Cauthen, city manager for Kansas City; Rick Cole, city manager of Ventura, Calif., JeLynne Burley, deputy city manager of San Antonio; and Marc Ott, assistant city manager of Fort Worth.
Here is the City’s press release.
- Resume for Michael B. Brown
- Resume for Jelynne LeBlanc Burley
- Resume for Wayne A. Cauthen
- Resume for Rick Cole
- Resume for Laura J. Huffman
- Resume for Marc Anthony Ott
- Resume for Rudy Garza
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The search is on
The Austin City Council on Thursday begins digging through the resumes of the city manager hopefuls.
Everyone that the search firm produces will have the requisite experience and education to make the cut. But council members are looking for more than competence.
They want that certain someone who, in the colorful words of Council Member Lee Leffingwell, has the ability to do a couple of back flips and land on his or her feet.
It is a tough job managing a $2.5 billion organization with 12,000 employees while working for seven bosses.
What qualities would you look for in the next city manager?
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December 13, 2007
City Council suspender-snapping
Austin City Council members seemed eager to tout their good deeds and pet projects at the council meeting this morning.
Mayor Will Wynn spent awhile talking up two Climate Protection Plan items he proposed: one to create a public process for energy resource planning at Austin Energy, another to create a task force to recommend ideas for requiring energy upgrades to existing homes and businesses.
Mandating that new homes be energy efficient won’t do any good without requiring the same of older homes, he said. The investment that homeowners will make for upgrades will pay off in lower energy bills and reduced energy use citywide, he said.
Other noteworthy items:
Council Member Betty Dunkerley said she’ll be proposing an ordinance to allow construction firms to get permits to work late at night and early in the morning downtown to prevent traffic congestion there during peak hours.
Council Member and future mayoral candidate Brewster McCracken said he’s been meeting with affordable-housing advocates to come up with a strategy for making 25 percent of the housing at planned transit-oriented developments affordable.
Council Member Jennifer Kim — who’s up for re-election in May — said she’s creating a pilot program to have countdown timers on downtown crosswalks. She also is working on a program to help small businesses open additional locations.
Council Member Lee Leffingwell — also up for re-election in May — noted that the city will hold community meetings soon to gather ideas for making city government more open and accessible.
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December 10, 2007
Spirit of open meetings laws violated?
Lawyers for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund are questioning whether the City Council violated the spirit of the Open Meetings Act on Thursday when members didn’t consider the solicitation item when they said they would.
The public hearing was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on Thursday to accommodate those in the homeless community who needed to arrive at shelters in time to get a space. But around 2:30 p.m., an announcement appeared on television screens in City Hall that said the meeting would resume at 4 p.m. Some left council chambers.
However, council members were back on the dais at 3:22 p.m., and the solicitation discussion started before 4 p.m. In addition, the Mayor had selected only some of those who had signed up to speak at the public hearing, those who might have been able to contribute to the discussion on a council proposal for staff to return in 90 days with a plan on how they will collect data on panhandlers.
MALDEF’s Luis Figueroa says they don’t plan to file a complaint. Remedying a violation of the Open Meetings Act requires undoing a decision made, he explained. The council decided to table the issue.
Once it was, the item was no longer deemed a public hearing, said Leslie Schneiweiss, spokeswoman for the city.
“They didn’t have to hear public testimony at all,” she said.
The meeting was delayed because council members got held up in executive session, which happens frequently, according to Schneiweiss.
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November 29, 2007
Panhandling hearing on hold
Tonight’s public hearing on the city’s solicitation ordinance has been postponed until Dec. 6.
Council Member Jennifer Kim said some homeless advocates who wanted to attend the hearing had a conflict with tonight’s hearing.
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November 9, 2007
Council puts the kibosh on charter amendment
It’s pretty rare these days that the Austin City Council splits a vote 4-3. But that’s what happened Thursday with Council Member Lee Leffingwell’s idea to put a charter amendment about the city attorney to a public vote.
Leffingwell had proposed letting voters decide whether the council, not the city manager, should appoint the city attorney. The thinking behind the idea is that the city attorney wouldn’t fear losing his job for giving legal advice that is contrary to his boss’ wishes.
For example, in the debate over plans for a North Austin Wal-Mart, some residents questioned whether council members were getting sound legal advice on whether they could intervene in the project’s approval.
But on Thursday, Council Member Sheryl Cole argued that having a council-appointed attorney would politicize the job.
“We’re an increasingly growing city with complex legal issues. It’s important that we have steady leadership from our city attorney that is undaunted by political winds,” she said.
She and council members Betty Dunkerley, Brewster McCracken and Mayor Will Wynn voted down the idea.
Leffingwell said the attorney would be protected because he or she would be appointed for a fixed term of five years, and couldn’t be removed without a supermajority vote of the council.
He also pointed out that of the 300 home-rule cities in Texas, 213 have city attorneys appointed by the City Council.
Council Members Jennifer Kim and Mike Martinez sided with Leffingwell. Martinez noted that passing the item would only mean putting the idea to a vote, not approving it outright.
“I just want to re-emphasize this is a city charter amendment,” he said. “The city charter is owned by the citizens of Austin. If we entrust our citizens to elect us, why can’t we entrust our citizens to decide if they want to change the charter?”
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SOS amendment OK'd
The Austin City Council approved by a 7-0 vote an amendment to Austin’s Save Our Springs ordinance after midnight that is intended to reduce pollution running into the creeks and aquifer and foster redevelopment of languishing properties.
Representatives from the local chapter of the Sierra Club, Save Barton Creek Association, Save Our Springs Alliance and the Austin Neighborhood Council objected to several provisions of the amendment, including the lack of a supermajority vote from the City Council - six out of seven members saying yes - for redevelopment projects to be approved under the changed ordinance.
Sarah Baker, a lawyer with the Save Our Springs Alliance, warned the council against weakening the tough public scrutiny provisions of the voter-approved ordinance.
Mike Blizzard, a political consultant with ties to the environmental community, responded that the supermajority vote required to approve the amendment today was preserving the supermajority in the original ordinance.
To suggest otherwise, Blizzard said, is “either a misunderstanding of the ordinance or it’s disingenuous.”
Council Member Lee Leffingwell added that requiring a supermajority would make it harder to get a change on property that is already developed than on raw land.
Then the council took up the first of about 10 remaining public hearings.
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November 8, 2007
Mayor wants more access on preserve
Mayor Will Wynn plans to push for more recreational access to the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, an endangered species preserve in western Travis County.
“I think it is time to attempt a different perspective when it comes to the preserve,” Wynn said.
He told a crowd of access supporters who waited about 3½ hours to address the Austin City Council on the issue that he would “push and try to get as much as we can for our owners … with regards to public access.”
Improved access can be done, he said, without threatening the species the preserve was created to protect.
Wynn serves on the coordinating committee for the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve Plan along with Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty and a representative from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The committee is reviewing an update to the plan.
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Austin council approves red light camera program
FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN:
The Austin City Council today voted unanimously to begin the process of installing red light cameras at selected intersections throughout the city in an effort to reduce red light running and enhance traffic safety.
Council Members voted to establish the Traffic Safety Fund which will provide the necessary resources to study, assess and install cameras at up to 15 intersections and provide the resources for staff to administer the red light camera program. Additional cameras may be installed in subsequent years pending the success of the program’s first year.
The City’s cost for implementation of the red light camera program is $856,803 including the vendor contract, operating expenses and one-time expenditures. Once fully operational, program expenses are expected to be offset by revenue generated from citations issued.
Revenue for the Traffic Safety Fund will come from penalties issued to red light violators. A $75 penalty will be issued for each violation. A $25 late fee may also be assessed for each violation that is not paid within 30 days of notification. Initial revenue projections, based on 250 violations per camera installed per month, are anticipated at $1.3 million.
The first red light cameras are expected to be operating at selected City intersections in the first quarter of 2008. Implementation of the red light camera program will involve coordination from a number of City departments:
- Municipal Court will be responsible for managing the contract with Redflex Traffic System, the vendor selected to install and maintain the camera system.
- Public Works will conduct engineering studies of a number of intersections to determine the suitability and effectiveness of a red light camera installation.
- Austin Police Department will review images and video from the red light cameras to certify violations and make a determination on issuing a penalty.
On Nov. 2, 2006, the City Council authorized a red light camera pilot project at two intersections to evaluate vendor equipment and capabilities, and assess the potential for a red light camera program with a broader scope. The pilot study from Aug. 13 to Sept. 24, 2007, took place at the northbound Interstate 35 frontage road at East 11th Street; and the southbound I-35 frontage road at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
During the pilot study, 2,904 red light running violations were recorded - 671 at the East 11th intersection and 2,233 at MLK Boulevard. The difference in violation totals are attributed to the variations in traffic volumes at the two intersections. Additionally the MLK location had a ‘No Right Turn On Red’ provision where a large number of the violations were for performing illegal right turns.
Recently passed legislation by the Texas Legislature (Senate Bill 1119) requires half the net revenue generated by a red light camera program be sent to a state trauma care fund. The City must deposit its share in a special account used only to fund traffic safety programs including pedestrian safety programs, public safety programs, intersection improvements and traffic enforcement.
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