Austin Texas Community

Monday’s total solar eclipse did not bring the massive crowds and traffic that some thought the Austin area might see.

The cloudy weather might have been the reason, but it also could have been the monthslong preparation for the event. Several school districts canceled classes. Some businesses closed. And advice to stay home, or at least stay close to home, to experience the eclipse was heard.

For months, local officials warned residents to be prepared for an influx of people that could lead to road congestion and gridlock, overcrowded parks and strains on gas stations and grocery stores. It was estimated that Travis County’s population could double.

But no one knew exactly what was going to happen. The goal was to be prepared for anything.

Eric Carter, chief emergency management coordinator for Travis County, said that crowds and traffic were moderate.

“So that is the good news,” Carter said. “And as I’ve shared with my partners, if we had not prepared, what we did experience would have been a challenge.”

The city and county activated the emergency operations center on Sunday. More than 20 agencies across the region worked together to coordinate and put resources in place.

Lots of communication also went out on social media and was shared with several outlets warning of the event.

Hector Nieto, a spokesperson with Travis County said, “Monday was a good day.”

“We did everything we could leading up to that day, and if we did everything correctly, it would be a light day, and fortunately it was,” Nieto said.

In November, City Council passed a resolutionthat called for the creation of a plan for the eclipse that included all relevant city departments, including Parks and Recreation, the city’s tourism bureau and the Austin Independent School District.

In March, Travis County declared a local disaster, which would give first responders better control and coordination of traffic and other needs during the eclipse. The county also required reservations for day passes to several county parks and registration for events with 50 people or more.

Just last week, officials made last-minute pleas for people to be prepared, especially with the many events happening before Monday.

In addition to the eclipse, Austin hosted the Statesman Capitol 10K, the CMT Music Awards and a regularly scheduled soccer game at the Q2 stadium. All of these were expected to put further strain on roads and resources.

Austin wasn’t the only area not to see that large influx of people. Hays County and the Hill Country also reported seeing a lot of people, but not quite the overwhelming amount that was anticipated, Carter said.

County officials said they are still gathering data on traffic, crowd numbers and money generated from the eclipse. They also plan to gather feedback from people in attendance.

Still, there were a lot of people, and the traffic flow was good because of the regional coordination, Carter said.

Monday’s response was a regionwide effort, with plans that Carter said made it easy to communicate and coordinate.

“We are proud of the work that was done by everyone to step forward aggressively, look proactively at what was needed, put those resources into place, and then come together on game day,” Carter said. “Overall, everything flowed well.”

The once-again mayor is looking to earn another term. Kirk Watson formally announced today, April 10, his 2024 re-election bid.

If re-elected Watson will serve a full four-year term, meaning his reign at City Hall would have a January 2029 scheduled end date. In his campaign announcement, Watson trumpeted key accomplishments of his first, two-year term, such as passing ambitious housing reform and helping to initiate a “reset” of City Hall bureaucracy. “Working closely with this City Council and City Manager,” Watson wrote in a news release, “I’m proud to have helped us restore efficient, effective basic services while also helping put us on a new path to tackle some of Austin’s biggest long-term challenges.”

Whether or not Watson has indeed worked closely with Council, it is inarguable that the mayor has worked veryclosely with outgoing Interim City Manager (and longtime ally) Jesús Garza. The closeness of the latter relationship was a big part of what allowed Watson to forge ahead with controversial decisions without the input or support from his Council colleagues. Initiating a partnership with the Texas Department of Public Safety to patrol mostly Black and brown neighborhoods in East Austin, attempting to hire disgraced former Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, and even restarting negotiations with the Austin Police Association for a long-term labor contract under conditions set by the APA were all significant Garza decisions which Watson either endorsed or did not publicly oppose.

Watson’s ability to get things done at City Hall cannot be denied. Early into his tenure he helped initiate changes to the city’s permitting review process that are already showing results; he helped pass the kind of Land Development Code change that prior Councils could only dream of; and he helped stave off budget cuts at Integral Care, the largest provider of mental health care in Travis County and a key partner in addressing homelessness throughout the city.

Given Watson’s two-year track record as mayor with his reputation as a vindictive leader, it’s no surprise that he has already secured the endorsement of eight-of-10 Council members. These colleagues “want a partner in the mayor’s office who is open-minded, forward-thinking,” Watson said in the news release, which is likely true – they may also see no benefit in not endorsing an incumbent mayor whose challengers, as of today, are longshots. Former CM Kathie Tovo, land-use activist Carmen Llanes Pulido, and Central Texas Interfaith organizer and pastor Doug Greco have all announced mayoral campaigns, though none of them have launched aggressive ad campaigns or made frequent public appearances since announcing.

CM Alison Alter, who endorsed Watson in 2022, is one of the two CMs (Mackenzie Kelly being the other) not endorsing Watson today. “I have learned when someone shows who they are, believe them,” Alter, who is not seeking re-election this year, told the Chronicle. “Watson has acted as a bully and prevented real policy deliberation by members of the Council and of the public.”

The mayoral and Council elections are set for Nov. 5

Even though their party affiliations will not be on the ballot, three Democrats, three Republicans and a Libertarian are running for three seats on the Travis Central Appraisal District Board of Directors. That election on May 4 will be the first such election since passage of a law requiring that three of those directors be elected.

The three who are elected next month will join five appointed members. A new state law dictates that at least two of the three elected members of the TCAD Board of Directors agree on all Appraisal Review Board (ARB) appointments. Travis County Democrats are concerned that this low-key election could result in the election of Republicans who will try to influence decisions that could end up hurting school districts in particular by appointing people who want to lower property values.

The Travis County Democratic Party has endorsed the three Democrats in the race: Jett Hanna, Shenghao “Daniel” Wang and Dick Lavine – in Places 1, 2 and 3, respectively.

Two well-known Republicans – Travis County Republican Party Chair Matt Mackowiak and former Austin City Council Member Don Zimmerman – and a lesser-known candidate, Bill May, are also vying for the three seats. In addition, software engineer Jonathan Craig Patschke, who is listed online as the treasurer of the Travis County Libertarian Party, is running against Wang and Mackowiak for Place 2.

As Democrats explain, if an appraisal review board undervalues properties, local school districts will get less funding. The Texas comptroller is required to study property values every two years and determine whether the appraised values are correct. If properties are undervalued, the district can be forced to pay more of its base budget and get less funding from the state. For example, for Conroe ISD, among others, that determination could result in a loss of millions of dollars in state funds.

The Austin Monitor asked each of the candidates for a statement about their candidacy and got responses from Hanna, Wang, Lavine, May and Zimmerman.

PLACE 1: HANNA VS. ZIMMERMAN

Attorney Jett Hanna served on the TCAD Board of Directors as an appointed member back in the 1980s. In a previous job, he notes he was board certified in commercial real estate law. He is currently serving on the Texas Supreme Court Professional Ethics Committee. Hanna said, “I have no real estate interests except my house, and I have a child who rents an apartment here in Austin.”

Hanna is among those concerned about the impact elected members could have on the appraisal board. He told the* Monitor* via email, “A majority of the 3 elected members must agree to each ARB member. Essentially, 2 elected members can either stall ARB appointments or force appointment of ARB members who aren’t acceptable to the rest of the board.

“Giving the elected members this power creates some direct accountability to voters for the ARB appointments, but also creates a potential to introduce politics into what should be a technical process. The elected members should not try to introduce a tax cutting agenda, a public school defending agenda or a wealth redistribution agenda to the appraisal process. The places for having those arguments are in the legislature, which sets the tax structure and in the local governments, which set the tax rates.”

Don Zimmerman directed the Monitor to the League of Women Voters for a statement on his candidacy, but it couldn’t be located. When asked for it directly, Zimmerman told the Monitor via text message: “Not sure I’m going to bother – it’s a county wide election and for 22 years I’ve seen Travis county vote for unlimited government and taxation with precious few exceptions (voting down Sarah Eckhart’s downtown courthouse boondoggle in 2015 was one rare instance, but I had the visibility on D6 council seat which helped). I stand for the opposite and many voters already know that. The partisan Democrat organizations are already beating the drums that ‘anti-government Republican extremists’ are on the ballot to defend taxpayers – have you seen their emails?”

“The religion of the Progressives is evident everywhere.  The incredibly famous prophecy of Isaiah 9:7, speaking of Christ the Messiah, says ‘of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end’. Progressives see almighty government as Messiah, so they to see no end to the increase of almighty government power, which comes from confiscatory taxation and unlimited, arbitrary legislation freed from the shackles of ‘God given rights and liberties’. But that tyrannical government is from hell, so the absence of peace – and  escalation of conflict – never ends.” Zimmerman added later: “Everything is partisan for the extremist partisan Democrats, whose god is almighty government, and whose altar is political power.”

PLACE 2: WANG, MACKOWIAK AND PATSCHKE

The very first thing you will see when you go to Daniel Wang’s website is the statement, “Daniel is a proud Democrat running against the Republican Party Chair of Travis County.” However, right after that he provides a lengthy statement about the need for property appraisal to “be kept separate from the political considerations that school boards, city councils and county commissioners weigh in setting the tax rate applied to property values.”

His website further explains that the job of the appraisal district “is to set fair and accurate property values throughout Travis County, as required by the Texas Constitution.” As Wang explains, the appraisal district does not set property taxes but provides taxing authorities – including cities, counties and school districts – with information about the value of each property.

“Property owners can protest the appraisal set by TCAD through appeals to the Appraisal Review Board (ARB) – citizens appointed by the Board of Directors to impartially weigh evidence brought by the taxpayer disputing their valuation. In choosing members of the ARB, directors should look for fair-minded people who can listen to both sides and accurately apply the rules governing valuation. Appraisals are controlled by professional standards, state law and oversight by the state comptroller. The ARB has no role in setting tax rates.”

He told The Austin Chronicle, “The GOP wants to defund local government. Screwing up the appraisal process is one way they could achieve that goal.”

Although Matt Mackowiak did not respond to the Monitor’s request for comments, he told The Austin Bulldog, “I’m not anti-government, but people in Austin are really concerned about the massive and unsustainable increases in property taxes. The legislature took some steps to address that problem with the 3.5 percent rollback requirement,” citing a state law that requires an election if a taxing authority wants to raise taxes by more than that.

Mackowiak is also one of the founders of Save Austin Now, the group that sponsored a ballot initiative to enforce restrictions on homeless camping. That fight continues.

According to his LinkedIn page, Jonathan Patschke is a software developer who graduated from Rice University in 2001. He currently works for twentyAI, which describes itself as providing “augmented intelligence enabled talent solutions across the UK, Europe and USA.” He is listed as the treasurer of the Travis County Libertarian Party.

Patschke did not respond to the Monitor’srequest for comments, but told the Bulldog via email, “I see this as a great opportunity for public oversight of a government agency with which homeowners have direct interaction.”

“Prior to filing to be on the ballot, I’d heard that no one else had done so and it seemed a shame that no one else was willing to put in the effort for a position that might make a small difference for all of us in Travis County,” he said. “Through the limited scope of the board position I hope to improve the fairness and efficiency of the appraisal process.”

PLACE 3: LAVINE VS. MAY

Dick Lavine, a licensed attorney, has served as senior fiscal analyst with the nonprofit Every Texan for the past 30 years. He also serves on the board of trustees of the city of Austin’s Employee Retirement System. Lavine was a member of the TCAD Board of Directors from 1997 to 2018. He told the* Monitor* he was disappointed when he wasn’t reappointed by the Austin ISD board. Now, he has the opportunity to serve again. Lavine said it would be the board’s job to “appoint people who would give property owners a fair hearing and arrive at an accurate result.” He called appraisal “really a technical process. … That’s all it should be, the best estimate of real market value.” He said he was committed to keeping political considerations out of the appraisal process.

Bill May told the* Monitor* via email, “My family moved to Austin when I was 3 years old, (76 now) and I have seen the changes that have affected the lives of many people that call Austin home. After my father became ill if I had not been doing very well in my commercial construction company and helping them out financially there would have not been any way for them to remain in the home they built in 1957. One of the most important ways of tackling affordability in area of the state of Texas is making sure there is a fair and understandable method to determine the valuation of real estate. I currently own the home that sits on .87 acres and the taxes for last year were over $11,000 as it’s not homesteaded, as my daughter is renting it. For older citizens of Austin it is becoming harder each year to stay here, with no relief in site. I have always tried to get involved to KEEP AUSTIN a great place for all to live and being retired I feel that I will have time to commit to the position.”

Election day is May 4, with early voting running April 22-30.

TCAD spokesperson Cynthia Martinez told the* Monitor* that TCAD hopes to release 2024 appraisal values by the end of this week. Any property owner who believes his or her property has been overvalued will have the opportunity to appeal that appraisal to the review board, which is appointed by the TCAD Board of Directors. Their website notes: “If your property value increased $1,000 or less, a notice of appraised value will not be mailed. Property values are available on the TCAD website after notices have been mailed.”

The second phase of the HOME initiative reemerges in the public spotlight this week, accompanied by a series of other proposed revisions to the Land Development Code.

On Thursday, City Council and the Planning Commission will hold a joint hearing to receive public testimony on proposed changes relating to:

1. Properties zoned single-family, including flag lots (HOME)
2. Height and compatibility standards for properties within a half-mile radius of a planned Project Connect station, also known as the Equitable Transit-Oriented Development overlay (ETOD)
3. Citywide compatibility standards
4. Electric vehicle charging use

While the ETOD component of the revisions has captured a large share of proponents and detractors, the HOME initiative – also known as the Home Options for Middle-Income Empowerment ordinance – is considered the mother of the raft of code revisions that Council will vote on at its May 16 meeting. The Planning Commission will deliver its final vote April 23.

Central to the second phase of the HOME initiative is a reduction in the minimum lot size for single-family zoned properties, which, if approved, would drop to the staff-proposed size of 2,000 square feet from the current 5,750 square feet; increase impervious cover limits from 40 percent to 45 percent; and allow for a variety of attached and detached housing types such as row houses and townhomes. The stated goal of these changes is to increase and diversify Austin’s housing stock.

To recap HOME’s journey, the initiative’s focus on single-family zoning and lot size ignited fervent debate when it was rolled out last summer. The proposal drew praise from density enthusiasts and backing from AURA and real estate and labor groups – and encountered staunch opposition from homeowners and groups such as Community Not Commodity. By most accounts, there has been little change in the positions of the two sides.

Council approved the code amendments in December to begin implementation of phase one of HOME, permitting up to three housing units per lot.

The program officially launched in early February when the Development Services Department began accepting applications for residential building permits. To date, DSD has received 39 applications that are either in review or have been approved, according to a department spokesperson.

That’s evidence that department staff are making progress on the first phase of HOME, said Council Member Leslie Pool, the lead sponsor of the resolution.

“These statistics affirm that the City is moving in the right direction with HOME and that it’s working as intended,” she said in a statement to the Austin Monitor. “On Thursday, I look forward to hearing from the public, and I deeply appreciate the hard work so many are investing in making needed, important changes to our zoning rules.”

In the meantime, the two sides – mainly AURA and Community Not Commodity – are urging their members and supporters to send emails to Council stating their respective position and to register to speak at Thursday’s hearing, which begins at 9 a.m. at City Hall.

Prior to Council’s May 16 vote on the revisions, the city will host an in-person open house from 6 to 8 p.m. April 17 at Austin Central Library and a virtual session from 10 a.m. to noon April 20. For more information on the proposed changes and to learn how to attend the virtual open house, visit SpeakUpAustin.org/LDCupdates.

A new study calls into question the feasibility of proposals to use the Nash Hernandez Building in East Austin as an activity center for older people and young children.

The report on the legal and financial realities of the intergenerational resource and activity center (IRAC) has caused staff from the Austin Public Health Department and the Parks and Recreation Department to reconsider the scope of the proposed center and where it may eventually be located.

A recent memo from APH Director Adrienne Sturrup outlines a number of requirements that would limit the array of services that could be offered at the Nash Hernandez Building if it were to remain the preferred location for the IRAC. The building is centered in the Holly Shores/Edward Rendon Sr. Metropolitan Park at Festival Beach.

One of the concerns is that state law would prohibit the city from offering health care services, which caused the city Law Department to advise against providing physical or mental health services at the IRAC as had been planned.

The desire for a child care center in the now-vacant Nash Hernandez property would also prove problematic because an economically successful business built to serve 68 children ages 4 and younger would need more than 6,200 square feet of indoor space plus 2,250 square feet of outdoor space.

That footprint would leave less than 3,000 square feet for programming for older adults, intergenerational activities, offices and space needed for movement around the facility.

The costs for the child care center are estimated to total $894,000 annually for 18 full- and part-time staff, plus about $600,000 in startup funding for furnishings, toys, outdoor play equipment and other necessities. It is estimated the center would need $1 million per year in operational support for two years until it reaches its expected full enrollment in its third year.

State licensing requirements for child care facilities would also create logistical issues with the intergenerational component of the center because of the requirement that anyone older than 13 who is “regularly or frequently present” at the child care operation would need to undergo a background check.

The Nash Hernandez facility has been the favored location for an IRAC since 2022, with stakeholders for older people and families arguing East Austin needs services for both age groups. City Council passed a resolution late that year calling for a plan to create an IRAC at one of four locations, with Rudy Mendez Recreation Center, George Morales Dove Springs Recreation Center and Dittmar Recreation Center as the other three possible sites.

The new study notes that of the four proposed sites, three qualify as a desert for subsidized, quality child care, with Dittmar found to have adequate offerings near its South Austin location.

Locating an IRAC on any of the proposed PARD properties would also require the bureaucratic step of City Council approving a use beyond those typically designated for parks sites.

There has been significant objection to the possibility of the Nash Hernandez Building being converted into a center focused specifically on older people and children. The memo notes that the IRAC is in conflict with the uses designated in the Holly Shores/Edward Rendon Sr. Vision Plan, which was completed in 2015 after substantial community engagement.

PARD staff have also called into question whether an IRAC would be the best use for the Nash Hernandez Building. A 2022 memo that preceded the Council resolution noted the budgetary challenges that would stand in the way of the IRAC conversion, and instead supported using the building for an expansion of PARD offices.

Facing a steep climb in costs for a long-planned pedestrian bridge on the eastern edge of Austin’s most popular trail, the city has finally found a path forward with a $4 million cash infusion from the federal government.

The new money will close a budget shortfall and allow the city to start contracting builders for the $25 million project on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail.

The unique, three-pronged bridge will connect Longhorn Shores, Canterbury Park and an unnamed peninsula in Lady Bird Lake. The wishbone-shaped span – the first of its kind in Austin – will have a 76-foot-wide plaza at its center with benches, bike racks, ornamental trees and shade structures.

City of Austin. The 76-foot-wide plaza at the center of the bridge will feature benches, bike racks, ornamental trees and shade structures.

The plaza will feature public artwork by Houston artist Dixie Friend Gay, known for her installations at places like George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Sam Houston State University and the Port of Miami.

As part of the project, a 6-foot-wide pedestrian tunnel under Pleasant Valley Road will be replaced with a more spacious 30-foot-wide tunnel with a 16-foot-wide sidewalk, better lighting and a higher, arched ceiling.

Nathan Bernier/KUT News (left), city of Austin (right). Plans call for replacing the 6-foot-wide pedestrian tunnel under Pleasant Valley road (left) with an arched, 30-foot-wide tunnel with better lighting.

In 2019, early cost estimates pegged the bridge at under $13 million. The following year, voters approved a transportation bond that included $20 million for the project. But escalating costs and an expanded scope that includes more sidewalk improvements pushed the budget higher.

The $4.1 million federal grant that fills the funding gap was locked in with the help of U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, who was a City Council member during the project’s inception in 2018.

Five years later, Casar stood on the shores of Lady Bird Lake and handed a giant $4 million symbolic check to Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, surrounded by city officials and representatives of BikeTexas and the Trail Conservancy, which will oversee the bridge’s maintenance.

Nathan Bernier/KUT News. The wishbone bridge will be installed in this part of Lady Bird Lake, connecting Longhorn Shores, Canterbury Park and an unnamed peninsula.

“It is going to not just rival, but I think beat out any other bridge in the city for how beautiful it’s going to be,” Casar said Thursday. “You’re going to see people getting proposed to on this bridge. You’re going to see folks playing live music on this bridge. It is really going to be a special place.”

The city applied for the grant last year. Casar pushed it through a process called Community Project Funding – a program intended to be a more transparent version of earmarking, in which Congress members direct money to pet projects in their home districts. Casar’s office secured $15 million for 14 projects across his district.

Each year, more than 5 million people use the 10-mile Butler Trail that encircles Lady Bird Lake, according to the Trail Conservancy. But the trail’s eastern end has long reflected the city’s historical neglect of East Austin.

To cross the lake, pedestrians and cyclists had to detour to the Pleasant Valley Road Bridge, which until a few years ago was a harrowing passageway with a narrow sidewalk, chain-link fence and low guardrails.

Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon/KUT News. For decades, the eastern end of the Butler Trail detoured to this narrow sidewalk along the Pleasant Valley Road Bridge, which traverses the Longhorn Dam that creates Lady Bird Lake. In 2021, the city widened the sidewalk to 12 feet and added another 8-foot-wide sidewalk on the east side of the bridge.

In 2021, the city made “interim improvements” to the bridge, expanding the western sidewalk to 12 feet and adding an 8-foot sidewalk on the east side of the bridge.

The new wishbone bridge will mean pedestrians and cyclists won’t have to be anywhere close to cars.

“It has not been the safest environment,” Austin’s Transportation and Public Works Director Richard Mendoza told KUT News. “We’ve done some mitigating improvements, but it’s really not the permanent solution.”

Nathan Bernier/KUT News. Sidewalks over the Pleasant Valley Bridge were widened in 2021.

“This bridge is the permanent solution to fully complete the Roy Butler Trail,” he said. “It’s going to be a destination, a gathering place for our community, especially the East Austin community.”

Construction is expected to start this year, with the bridge projected to open in 2026.

This Thursday at 9am, City Council and the Planning Commission will hold a joint hearing on the second phase of the most significantchanges to the Land Development Code in years, known as Home Options for Middle-Income Empowerment (HOME).

The first phase passed in December and allowed property owners to build up to three homes on lots previously zoned single-family (along with preservation bonuses to keep existing homes intact); allowed tiny homes; and removed limits on how many unrelated adults can live together.

The public will weigh in on four amendments: The first would reduce the minimum size for lots zoned single-family and the amount of space required between homes (“setbacks”). The second – compatibility standards – would reduce the space between new multifamily builds and existing single-family lots, and tweak design requirements to avoid impacting neighbors. The third would allow more developable space and require affordable units within a half mile of planned light rail. The fourth would allow more electric vehicle charging stations to be built en masse.

HOME phase one allowed property owners to build three units on one lot. Those three units all have to share an owner, though. The new proposal would more than halve the minimum lot size from 5,750 square feet to 2,000 square feet and allow you to split larger lots into three units, each of which could be owned by a different person.

Lest things get out of control, these new 2,000-square-foot lots can’t be subdivided further. The smallest lot you could put multiple homes on will still be 5,750 square feet. This limitation addresses fears that developers would pack more homes on lots than infrastructure can currently support, Planning Commissioner Awais Azhar said. 

Azhar says the minimum lot size change will boost affordability and allow homeowners to stay in place. “If a homeowner is struggling to pay taxes, but they're sitting on a high-value home, they could actually split their lot, sell part of it, and still be able to maintain their home.” Including an actual affordability requirement is more difficult, says Azhar. In order to cross-subsidize even one affordable unit on a three-unit lot, developers would have to build many more market-rate units than three. “During the LDC revision,” Azhar said, “we had consultants who do this work nationally, who said that for every one affordable home, you needed 23 homes to offset the cost.”

Along transit routes where apartment buildings with lots of units are allowed, an affordability requirement is feasible. The requirement proposed would require between 12% and 15% of units to be affordable for people making significantly less than the median income. Alternatively, the developer could pay a fee to the city, meaning they wouldn’t build units on-site but the City would use that money to do so elsewhere. 

These changes must be accompanied by non-code changes in order to work the way they’re intended, says Azhar, such as making the subdivision/site plan process easier: “How do we make sure the changes are able to be used by low- and moderate-income homeowners?” Overall, “our hope would be this allows somebody who wants to live in a teeny tiny triplex with neighbors and still raise children, [to do so],” says Azhar.

After the Thursday meeting, there’s an open house at Austin Central Library on April 17, and a virtual open house April 20: sign up here. The Planning Commission will discuss the changes April 23 and April 30 at 4pm, and Council will take a final vote May 16 at 10am.

The city will explore using the takeover of tax-delinquent properties as one additional strategy for creating more affordable housing and remedying the displacement of longtime residents who are being priced out of Austin.

As part of the consent agenda at Thursday’s meeting, City Council approved a resolutiondirecting the city manager to identify “viable land acquisition opportunities” in service of long-term affordability, with land banking and the establishment of community land trusts (CLTs) as a priority option.

Land banks and CLTs allow municipalities to purchase delinquent properties and hold them in service of long-term community priorities such as affordable housing, farmland preservation or larger economic development efforts.

The resolution, sponsored by Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, directs staff to include the Financial Services Department, Austin Economic Development Corporation, Austin Housing Finance Corporation and other relevant entities or community organizations that could be involved in the land bank/CLT initiative.

Council expects to receive a report summarizing possible strategies, including an analysis of potential drawbacks, by December.

Land banks and CLTs were identified as one of the nine most promising tools for combating displacement in The Uprooted Project, a 2018 study from the University of Texas that examined the causes and possible solutions for displacement of longtime Austin residents. The study was particularly focused on ways to prevent the continued flight of residents who are Black, Indigenous and people of color.

In a City Council Message Board post made in advance of last week’s meeting, Harper-Madison said the city needs to utilize more innovative tools to slow and reverse displacement: “CLTs offer a tenable approach to addressing housing needs including community centered, amenities rich balanced development. There’s the added benefit of appropriately pairing with Land Banking,” she wrote.

The resolution was broadly supported during the public comment portion of last week’s meeting, though community activist Zenobia Joseph noted the addition of affordable housing in parts of the city disconnected from affordable mass transit will effectively cordon off those residents from the rest of the city. Joseph specifically targeted the city’s Colony Park project in Northeast Austin as an area that could be left separated from the rest of the city if there is no funding identified soon for the proposed Green Line light rail, which is proposed to reach to Manor and Elgin.

“The commuter rail is never going to Northeast Austin and it is unfunded and has never been funded,” she said. “I want to call to your attention that these are falsehoods that are specifically stated in this resolution.”

Edgar Handal, board vice president of the AURA activist group, said the city would benefit from more community land trust homes like those present in the Govalle neighborhood in East Austin.

“Having these kinds of affordable homes in our own backyard makes me appreciate the neighborhood even more. If I had one complaint, it’s that we could use many more affordable homes, so I’m very happy to see this item,” he said. “It will pair well with efforts like the HOME initiative, making it so that money spent on programs like this goes further.”

Harper-Madison said staff and Council need to pursue more options to establish affordable homes throughout the city.

“We need to continue to explore and utilize all possible tools that we as a city have to address our critical housing shortage and produce more affordable and attainable (housing),” she said. “‘Affordable’ can sometimes be misconstrued. Attainable housing – that means it’s affordable and attainable by you and we need that at every income level and sustainable housing options in all areas of Austin.”

The Historic Landmark Commission is embracing the environmentalist zeal gripping City Hall, launching a set of policy recommendations last week aimed at tackling preservation goals from a sustainability angle.

The recommendation, authored by Commissioner JuanRaymon Rubio, outlines a number of strategies to tackle the emissions and waste wrought by building demolitions, including greater incentives for relocation and material salvaging practices. Commissioners endorsed the suggestions in a unanimous vote, with hopes such policies may be included in Council’s forthcoming Environmental Investment Plan.

Moves toward a new Environmental Investment Plan date back to February, when Council passed a resolution calling for a more aggressive approach to reach Austin’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. Since then, the city’s Joint Sustainability Committee has led the charge on a number of discussions refining policy ideas, with plans to vote on a final set of recommendations later this month.

“Noticeably absent from these conversations has been anything associated with preservation,” Rubio said. “I thought this was a great opportunity to highlight staff work thus far on our Preservation Plan, because the plan does have a section on sustainability measures. … Hopefully, we can remind Council and the Sustainability Committee of ways that preservation can help us achieve those sustainability goals.”

Among the proposed measures are a number of incentives for preservation and relocation, including raising fees for demolition permits and streamlining the conversion process between demolition and relocation permits. Currently, fees paid in the demolition permitting process do not apply toward remodel and relocation permits if building owners change their mind.

The recommendation also asks Council to explore more sustainable deconstruction and material salvaging practices. Commissioners hope such measures can reduce landfill waste and encourage recycling.

Council is slated to hold a public hearing on the Environmental Investment Plan sometime next month. In the meantime, opinionated readers can share their own thoughts with the city’s Joint Sustainability Committee here.

On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court dedicated $7.2 million toward a supportive housing development called the Lancaster, a 60-unit complex that will provide respite for people experiencing homelessness and survivors of domestic and sexual violence. 

The development is a project of the SAFE Alliance, a nonprofit serving survivors of child abuse, sexual assault and exploitation, and domestic violence. SAFE is one of the 11 nonprofit partners in the Travis County Supportive Housing Initiative Pipeline (SHIP), a county initiative that aims to build 2,000 “deeply affordable” housing units fueled by a $110 million allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act. 

Residents will be referred to shelter at the Lancaster’s studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments through SAFE’s Coordinated Entry program. Coordinated Entry is an ambitious initiative that screens people experiencing homelessness and connects them with housing opportunities drawn from a database of every organization in the city. This alleviates the need for individuals seeking transitional housing to apply to multiple agencies in search of care. 

For residents best accommodated at the Lancaster, SAFE and its partner organizations will provide a host of supportive services: Senior planner Nathan Fernandes reported that residents will have access to “Safe trauma-informed case management, survivor-led trauma-informed peer support services, and, of course, some of the very important wrap-around services such as benefits counseling, education and referral services for primary health care, substance use and legal services.”

Amenities will include community spaces like an indoor community room, outdoor community recreation space, supportive service staff offices, a group/conference room, laundry rooms, a computer lab, a single-entry/controlled-access reception area and around-the-clock property management. Developers attest that the complex will accommodate residents with a trauma-informed design imperative to respectfully accommodate its target population.

Some SHIP and other mixed-income housing projects have faced criticism for geographic isolation, lack of access to transportation and deficient access to basic amenities such as groceries and health care. As transitional housing projects are often clustered, some criticize the program for concentrating poverty. 

The Lancaster, however, has received high marks for its site.

Presenters emphasized the advantages of the Lancaster’s location at the 5000 block of Lancaster Court in East Austin, just east of 51st Street’s intersection with Interstate 35. They cited major amenities for residents: access to high-frequency transit stops within a walkable radius, proximity to health care, employment, retail, educational options in the Mueller redevelopment area and healthy food access. 

“We specifically were thrilled with this location because of the access to transportation, to food services, to jobs, to medical services, to good schools. And also to our own campuses, which are very close by and can provide additional support services to folks should the need arise,” Fernandes said.

“What we have realized over and over again is that housing is a form of violence prevention,”  said Julia Spann, SAFE Alliance CEO. “If you don’t have a safe home to go to, it forces you back into unstable and potentially very dangerous housing.

“And I think of it also as homelessness prevention, because the folks we’re serving are folks with children. And we don’t want them to be thinking that normalcy is living in shelters or living on the streets or bouncing in between family member, friend and friend. And so this really is homelessness prevention. It’s violence prevention and all of that work that goes with it,” she continued. “This is a tremendous opportunity, and we’re delighted to be part of the solution.”

Nyeka Arnold is a sixth generation Austinite. Before they came to Austin, her family was enslaved just a few miles east of the city, in the cotton farming town of Webberville. It was her great-great-great grandfather, Rev. John Henry Winn, who founded St. John Freedom Colony in Austin in the early 1870s.

Community leadership seems to run in the family – in 2021, still without a college degree, Arnold co-founded the nonprofit Healing Project. That same year during Winter Storm Uri, she drove down Austin’s frozen roads in a white van, personally picking up more than 200 homeless Austinites and bringing them to warming shelters.

Though Arnold’s family have been leaders in Austin longer than the University of Texas has existed, none have attended. For most of the university’s history it would’ve been impossible. UT resisted integration even after a Supreme Court ruling demanded it, and it wasn’t until 1956that it accepted its first Black students.

Arnold herself was 12 or 13 before she ever stepped foot on campus. It was a field trip to visit the Longhorns women's basketball team.

“I got my poster signed by this young lady named Tiffany, and she was a Black woman,” she said. “And that was something I could relate to. She showed me love and she saw me. And I was so nervous, just so star-struck because she looked like a star in my eyes, going to the university.”

Arnold, now a mother of two, became the first person in her family to attend college last year, pursuing her bachelors from Austin Community College. This January, she also started coursework in UT Austin’s WIELD Texas, a two-year executive leadership and entrepreneurship program that not only teaches women of color practical skills, but also emphasizes networking in the community. The goal was to help women of color get hired in high-power roles and attract investors. Under the umbrella of Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity (DEI), WIELD and its sister program the Product Prodigy Institute have ended every semester with a Shark Tank-style “Demo Day,” which sees diverse students pitching their business ideas to real-life investors in the community.

But now, just one semester in, Arnold’s losing her shot to learn at UT. The WIELD program is one of the DEI initiatives the university announcedTuesday that it would dissolve. At least 60 people were laid off this week following a March 26 letterfrom state Sen. Brandon Creighton which warned that “merely renaming DEI offices or positions” would not comply with Senate Bill 17, the state’s new law banning DEI at public schools. The larger Division of Campus and Community Engagement that houses the WIELD program had already undergone changes to ensure all programs were in compliance with the law.

“I thought I would never be able to touch this environment, and now that has been taken away,” Arnold said. “And it feels like Jim Crow.”

Denné Reed, a UT anthropologist who was also DEI coordinator for his department, feels similarly. He still has his job, but his DEI work has been eliminated. “I honestly feel that Texas is hostile to fairness,” Reed said. “It feels like the bad old days of Jim Crow racist stupidity are making a resurgence.”

Arnold doesn’t know how completing WIELD would have changed her life, but she knows how it’s altered other people’s lives. While most of WIELD’s students are enrolled at UT Austin, some community members, like Arnold, audit classes. Product Prodigy graduate Rodolfo Galván Martínez said the program’s founder and instructor, Rubén Cantú, fought for that auditing option. “If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be where I am today.” Galván Martínez graduated from Texas State, but he describes his time in Product Prodigy as life-changing. A DACA recipient, Galván Martínez now works as a software engineer at IBM in Boston. “All my cousins, my dad, my stepdad, my uncles – they all work in construction. Quite literally building Austin, right? And I think that's amazing work. But you know, what I'm doing now, building software to help in aviation, that's something that's completely new. It's not something that I would have gotten intrinsically through my family.”

Robert Hudson was one of the first students to audit the Product Prodigy program when it launched in 2019. A Black man raised in rural Alabama by his grandmother who worked at a chicken factory, Hudson doesn’t hold a college degree. But, in part thanks to the program, he now works in Human Resources at a major nonprofit in Austin. 

“When I first stepped on campus at UT it felt weird. It did. It is not welcoming at all,” Hudson said. He described the Office of Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship, led by Cantú, as the one place on campus where he felt he could be himself. “Rubén was creating a place where we could challenge these spaces that are not letting us in to not only let us in but to let us be us.”

In a public statement on the office’s Instagramaccount, Cantú described the decision to dissolve the programs as coming, “both rapidly and unexpectedly.” It’s unclear if Cantú will still have a role at UT when the office closes July 5. UT spokespeople had not responded to our request to comment as of publication.

For Galván Martínez, reading the news about the office’s closure was devastating. “This decision, it will be so impactful – for many people who don't even know that they're impacted right now. They won’t know what they could’ve had,” he said. At the same time, it was no shock. “I don't feel safe in Texas. And quite frankly, that's one of the reasons why I decided to move.”

Hudson isn’t ready to leave, and Arnold is dedicated to Austin for life. They’re hanging on to hope that programs like Cantú’s will move somewhere else in town – maybe through a private school unaffected by SB 17, or through nonprofit partners.

“My p​​rofessor [Cantú] really genuinely loves his job,” Arnold said. “So when he tells us that he's going to always be there, that he'll teach under a tree if he has to, I honestly believe it.”

T.C. Broadnax will be making $82,000 more than his predecessor when he starts his job as Austin’s city manager next month.

City Council on Thursday approved an employment agreement with a base salary of $470,000. Broadnax will also receive an array of fringe benefits, including a $5,000 per month housing allowance for six months to offset costs of a temporary residence, relocation and moving assistance; a cellphone stipend; and an “executive allowance.”

The salary is about $50,000 more than Broadnax was making as city manager in Dallas. Before he was fired in 2023, Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk was making $388,000 annually.

“Austin is a vibrant city with immense potential, and I am committed to working tirelessly alongside our dedicated team to ensure its continued growth and prosperity,” Broadnax said. “Together, we will navigate challenges, seize opportunities and build a resilient and inclusive future for all residents. I look forward to serving the people of Austin with a collaborative, transparent, inclusive and equitable approach.”

Broadnax was informally offered the job last week following a town hall meeting with the community and an interview with the mayor and City Council. He beat Sara Hensley, the Denton city manager and former Austin assistant city manager, for the role.

The city manager is the highest-ranking employee at City Hall. Broadnax will be responsible for hiring and firing department heads, preparing the budget and serving as an objective adviser to Council.

Broadnax brings 30 years of experience in local government. He has been the Dallas city manager since 2017. He resigned the role in February under pressure from the Dallas City Council. He had a tense relationship with some council members for years, making it difficult for Dallas to accomplish anything.

The Dallas mayor and three council members called for his firing in 2022, amid vacancies in the city’s 911 call center and delays in the building permits office. He was criticized for his handling of millions of deleted Dallas Police Department data files that included evidence and investigations.

Before Dallas, Broadnax worked as a city manager in Tacoma, Washington, and was assistant city manager in San Antonio for six years.

Austin has been without a permanent city manager since February 2023, when the City Council fired Cronk for his handling of an ice storm that caused widespread power outages. Communication was a key failure.

Jesús Garza has been serving in the interim.

Broadnax said last week that he would prioritize emergency preparedness, including communication, upon his arrival in Austin. He also said he would focus on homelessness response and hiring a permanent police chief.

Council members sang his praises, saying his wealth of knowledge in city government made him the best fit for the role.

“I am looking forward to working with T.C. Broadnax and am excited for his leadership that he will bring to our city,” Council Member Vanessa Fuentes said.

Council Member Chito Vela shared similar thoughts Thursday.

“T.C. Broadnax is probably the most qualified city manager candidate and if we hadn’t hired him, the next city would have snapped him up,” Vela said. “I am glad he is coming to the city of Austin.”

Mayor Kirk Watson said Broadnax will get to work quickly on budget planning for the next fiscal year.

“He brings a wealth of experience in city management, and I am confident will help us continue to address our critical community priorities and further advance the great work that our interim City Manager Jesús Garza and his management team have begun,” Watson said.

In Dallas, Broadnax helped usher in the revitalization of Fair Park, where the State Fair of Texas is held, and the master plan for the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. He also helped oversee operations at Dallas Love Field airport, according to his resume.

He is joining Austin as it embarks on many similar projects, including the light-rail buildout known as Project Connect, the Interstate 35 expansion, the renovation of the Austin Convention Center and the airport expansion. The city is also in the midst of reforming its housing and policing policies.

Broadnax is set to begin May 6.

City Council on Thursday approved the renaming of the bathhouse at Barton Springs Pool in honor of the woman who, as a teenager, led the first “swim-in” at the segregated pool in an act of civil disobedience.

With the unanimous vote, the facility officially becomes the Joan Means Khabele Bathhouse at Barton Springs Pool. The structure is currently undergoing an extensive rehabilitation project.

Scott Cobb, a lifeguard at the pool, submitted the nomination for renaming the bathhouse after Khabele, with more than 20 other community members adding their names in support.

“I think that’s a fitting honor for her and for all those teenagers back then, and the teenagers today who stand up for what they believe is wrong and want to make it right,” Cobb told Council.

Means, who died in October 2021 at the age of 78, was the oldest of five children born to Bertha Sadler Means and James Means, both prominent educators and pioneers in the civil rights movement.

Growing up in a segregated Austin, Khabele attended Blackshear Elementary and Kealing Junior High, where she was valedictorian of her graduating class. She entered Austin High School in 1957 as part of the third small group of students to integrate the school, three years after the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954.

Documents submitted with the renaming nomination include a transcript of a video interview conducted with Khabele, which aired on Austin PBS in 2014. In the interview, Khabele recalled the principal summoning her to his office in the spring of 1960. She said he wanted her to deliver the news to her Black classmates that they wouldn’t be allowed to attend the senior picnic because of Jim Crow laws in effect at public facilities.

For years, Austin High had traditionally held its senior class picnic at Zilker Park, followed by a swim in Barton Springs. Khabele was understandably upset when she was told she and her Black classmates wouldn’t be able to participate in the tradition – and that she had been designated to be the bearer of bad news.

The principal’s refusal to defy segregation laws motivated Khabele to begin organizing students, including 11th graders, “which means, once I went off to the University of Chicago, there are still people who can carry on if we failed to open up Barton Springs and Zilker Park,” the interview transcript reads.

Khabele said she had a vague memory of the school ultimately allowing Black students to attend the picnic at the park, but they would still be banned from swimming. “We were not to get into that water and, you know, there’s all sorts of ignorance about getting in too close or in an intimate environment with Black people on the part of whites,” the transcript states.

Thus began what would become a series of summer swim-ins at Barton Springs Pool, with Khabele the first to make the jump. It wasn’t long before Khabele’s white classmates joined the swim-ins, along with older students from Huston-Tillotson University, the University of Texas and St. Edward’s University.

“A swim-in is, you just jump in and then they (the lifeguards) come and pull you out,” Khabele says in the transcript. “You go around the building. You go back in, and you just do this all day.”

Keeping up with aggressive business and residential growth throughout the Austin area is a persistent challenge for those involved in supplying energy reliably to the city while also trying to move away from fossil fuel sources for generation needs. Speakers at a recent Austin Chamber infrastructure summit said the demand coming into the area means Austin Energy, the city-owned utility company, will need more transmission lines and related capacity components to prevent more widespread outages like those in early 2021 and 2023.

Michael Enger, vice president of market operations and resource planning for Austin Energy, said the demand caused by major companies such as Tesla and Samsung has added to the capacity problems that have occasionally caused dramatic short-term price increases for power. Enger said much of the capacity problem comes from having too few transmission lines to import power from sources outside the Austin market, which leads to congestion and “price separation issues.”

“It will take more transmission, more distribution, in combination with more local generation that helps mitigate those risks,” he told Austin Monitor. “Load will continue to grow in Central Texas. This is a very attractive place for businesses to come. And so as load is growing, we need to be building up more transmission just to meet those needs. And so by focusing only on one solution, we may be hampering our ability to really be successful in mitigating that risk. A combination of local generation, potentially local batteries, and some more transmission distribution, all in concert, could probably give us a better solution going forward to help maintain affordable, reliable rates for our customers.”

To characterize the state of local demand, Enger said last summer the city saw a day when peak load exceeded 3,000 megawatts, an event that wasn’t forecast to happen for several more years, based on recent five-year projections. Similarly, there was occasional demand over the winter in excess of 2,700 megawatts, also ahead of the utility’s forecasts. Those new usage levels can cause supply problems if the state’s network of power generation facilities, which schedule their production and operation months in advance, aren’t running at a suitable level.

Asked about the recent national push to connect Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to the national power grid – a move intended to improve reliability and prevent outages due to capacity issues – Enger said that it would take several years and substantial state and federal investment to make any impact.

“There is a lot that would need to happen for that to be able to move forward and come to fruition. There’s some significant costs that would need to be incurred as well, so that’s not necessarily a nearer-term solution,” he said. “Having more interconnections could potentially provide more reliability in certain circumstances, but that is not going to address any of the local cost pressures that we’re seeing.”

Allen Fore, vice president of public affairs for national infrastructure firm Kinder Morgan, put Austin in the context of other fast-growing cities such as Denver, Chicago and Los Angeles – with local governments that are responding to the call for reliable, green energy systems.

“If you’re looking at growing your tax base and creating jobs and all the things that go with businesses … reliable energy is a key leg on the stool. Businesses look at that and say, ‘OK, what do you have now? How are you preparing in the future? And how can you accommodate our growth?’” he said. “In addition to having a qualified workforce, and Austin certainly has that, having the space, the facilities, the roads and bridges and all of that, energy is certainly a part of that.”

On Thursday, City Council unanimously approved a $3 million contract with HDR Engineering Inc. for a study to determine where the water utility might locate an additional new pump station and reservoir in Southwest Austin in conjunction with the Davis Lane Pump Station. Austin Water says that on a day when there is maximum demand, the Davis Lane station operates at 75 percent effective capacity – the highest level of use among the utility’s distribution pump stations.

According to documents provided to Council, the engineering study is necessary “to improve redundancy and relieve the utility’s reliance on the Davis Lane Pump Station.” This study is intended to identify, analyze and recommend a feasible secondary facility and transmission, the utility says.

During Winter Storm Uri in 2021, about half of Texans lost access to clean drinking water. That included people living in far South and Southwest Austin, some of whom were without water for a week. One major reason for that was problems at one water treatment plant, Ullrich, which a review last year found to be “at the center” of four of five high-profile problems over several years.

After problems at Ullrich were addressed, Austin Water officials found out that the southwest and south central areas needed better pressurization.

Shortly after the storm, Austin Water officials acknowledged that they had not considered a winter storm to be a serious threat to the water supply.

Now, three years after that treacherous freeze, the water utility is funding a study that will look at where in Southwest Austin to locate a new pump station. HDR Engineering will also be tasked with considering environmental factors in deciding where a new pump station should be located.

District 8 Council Member Paige Ellis was pleased that Austin Water was moving forward with the project. Ellis told the Austin Monitor, “depending on pressurization, there are some parts of North Austin and southwest corners of town that run out of water first.” She said that during the 2021 freeze, residents of her apartment complex were among those who lost access to water. She said they, like others, had to use bottled water. But some people in the area could not find water or could not leave their homes in order to look for it.

After learning that neighborhoods like Meridian in Southwest Austin did not have water or water delivery, Ellis said that she and Precinct 3 Constable Stacy Suits started to find water that could be delivered from warehouses to those impacted by broken pipes and insufficient water pressure. This was several days before the utility started deliveries in the area. They were not the only ones doing that work, as Travis County reported that it helped an estimated 360 apartment complexes that needed water.

Bill Bunch, executive director of the Save Our Springs Alliance, urged Council not to approve the contract, saying he was “opposed to funding the southwest pressure zone study. This is business as usual. We should not be thinking about having to expand our water pipes. We should be facing reality. … Our water future is not guaranteed by a 100-year contract. We’ve got to make do with the water we have. The idea that we’re going to expand pipes and be pushing obscene amounts of more water is absurd.”

Asked whether the study relates to adding pipes to new residences, Ellis said she did not think so.

“It just makes sure that the system has enough pressure. What a lot of pumps will do is they will pull water up and hold it … at a higher elevation” so the water will be there in case of access problems, she said.

The Spring Pickin’ Party runs May 9-12, despite property sale plans

BY CARYS ANDERSON, 4:53PM, THU. APR. 4, 2024

Old Settler’s Music Festival is back on. After canceling its 2024 edition late last year, the long-running roots music event announced plans to return, May 9-12.

Hosted on its 145-acre homestead in Dale, Texas – near Lockhart – the surprise comeback pares down from the festival’s typical 30-plus acts to 14 total. The lineup includes Uncle Lucius; Kelly Willis, Brennen Leigh, and Melissa Carper (known collectively as the Wonder Women of Country); the South Austin Jug Band; Luke Bulla; Kalu & the Electric Joint; Hot Club of Cowtown; Tomar & the FCs; Texas String Assembly; HalleyAnna Finlay and Dustin Welch; the Hillsiders; Everett Wren; Good Looks; Elijah Delgado; and Audry Bryant.

Most of the music takes place on the festival’s campground stage on Friday and Saturday, but gates open at 12pm on Thursday, May 9, for the fest’s traditional open mic. The event wraps at 3pm Sunday, on the morning of which organizers promise special Mother’s Day programming.

Speaking to the Chronicle Thursday, Old Settler’s Executive Director Diana Harrell said the 2024 edition will be an “intimate,” back-to-basics party.

“Old Settler’s is known for picking circles. So after the music ends, all the campers get together and do a picking circle until about 2 o'clock in the morning,” Harrell says. “We're getting back to our roots with this festival.”

Single, two-day, and three-day tickets are available through the Old Settler’s Music Festival website, as are camping passes. Single-day passes start at $85, while multi-day tickets start at $125.

In November, the 1987-launched Americana festival announced plans to sell its Dale property, located at 1616 FM 3158. At the time, the organization’s then-executive director, Talia Bryce, told the Chronicle the spacious estate was “much larger than we need,” but that the nonprofit was open to working out a deal with prospective property buyers to stay in the current spot. Bryce then stepped down from Old Settler’s in December.

According to Harrell – who held the festival’s top title once previously, in 2021 – the land is still for sale. Harrell says she’s confident that Old Settler’s will return in the future, even if it moves to a new location.

“We've been around for 37 years and we're planning to be around for 37 more, if not longer,” Harrell says. “If the land sells and it's not something that works for us to stay with the new owners, we will return.

“It's not the property that we stand on. It's the people dancing to the music.”

Ahead of national Wildfire Community Preparedness Day on May 4, the Public Safety Commission this week heard an update on how Austin is faring with its own community readiness efforts.

The good news is that Austin leads the state in its number of “Firewise” communities – a designation given by the National Fire Protection Association’s Firewise USA program.

The rest of the news is still in development. Taking its directions from a 2016 City Council resolution, the Austin Fire Department’s Wildfire Division continues working with high-risk areas to develop local Community Wildfire Protection Plans. These individualized plans include such preventive measures as fuel mitigation, emergency response and emergency evacuations.

In the April 1 briefing, AFD Wildfire Mitigation Officer Justice Jones told commissioners that 23 community wildfire plans have been completed and largely implemented.

“That doesn’t mean these communities are done,” Jones said. “That means they’ve checked off the initial list of recommendations in the plan, and now they’re going back to the drawing board and revising those plans and finding out what they need to do next to … create a fire environment that lends itself to our operational success.”

About 51 percent of Austin’s highest-risk wildfire areas are covered by a plan, Jones said, while 49 percent have been identified as “opportunity zones.”

Commissioner Rebecca Bernhardt noted that nearly all the areas identified as opportunity zones are located east of MoPac Expressway, which, she said, “is really problematic.”

Jones agreed that AFD’s outreach efforts to communities west of MoPac have been made easier by the existence of homeowners associations, which are more prevalent in communities in the western reaches of the city.

“This is a challenge that the nation is facing,” Jones said of wildfire outreach efforts in communities that don’t have the organizational structure of HOAs or the grassroots astuteness of established neighborhood associations. For that reason, he said, “we’ve engaged with community groups like GAVA (Go Austin/Vamos Austin) and the city Equity Office to help us understand how to reach other vulnerable populations across the community through, for example, our wildfire preparedness town hall meetings, or our (May 4) symposium.”

Based on feedback the wildfire team has received from community groups, Jones said, “We’re not convinced that ‘Firewise’ is the program for all of our constituents at risk. So we’re addressing this from the standpoint of individual preparedness. First, everyone should have access to information to understand their wildfire risk and the potential impacts. That’s our first line of defense, that personal responsibility.”

Still, Bernhardt wanted more assurance that the city is making direct contact with vulnerable populations.

“I’m really concerned that this whole system relies on people reaching out to y’all,” she said. “That’s a huge percentage of the folks that we should be worried about dying in a fire. And that’s what we’re talking about after Maui, and after Paradise, California.”

Jones said the wildfire mitigation team is exploring a range of communication strategies, such as targeting communities through direct mail.

“What we’re hoping will be most effective is (communication) through the existing community groups that already have networks with these individuals and have that trust within these communities,” Jones said.

The upcoming symposium could be a starting point for building on that trust. The annual event takes place 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at the Rosewood-Zaragosa Neighborhood Center, 2800 Webberville Road.

While intense construction on the lowering and widening of Interstate 35 isn’t scheduled to begin until mid- or late 2026, local business and political leaders want the public to know that decisions and talks taking place now will have a dramatic effect on how the project reshapes Austin’s future.

Transportation and commerce experts discussed the I-35 project and the city’s accompanying cap-and-stitch program during a panel at the Austin Chamber’s recent infrastructure summit, which looked at issues such as transportation, energy and major capital projects, and how the Austin area should prepare for the next decade.

Related to I-35, talk turned to the upcoming open houses planned to let the community set an early vision for what the four caps the city will place over I-35 should look like and what public amenities they should include. The caps are large plazas that would be built over portions of the sunken freeway. The first open house organized by Our Future 35 is scheduled for May 18 at the Austin Community College Highland Campus. There was also discussion on the progress the city and the Texas Department of Transportation are making on their Construction Partnership Program that will seek to keep residents and businesses updated on the ever-changing state of roadwork through the core of downtown.

Emily Risinger, planning and urban design director for the Downtown Austin Alliance, said proper coordination will be crucial to aid downtown residents and business people – which total 130,000 employees, about 15,000 residents, well over 10,000 hotelgoers, plus 150 acres of parkland and 190 historic sites that attract visitors.

“They’re going to always have lanes and parts of the highway open during construction, so there’s never going to be a time where it’s fully closed,” she said. “They also try to prioritize heavy construction during the evening off-peak hours. … So there will never be a full closure happening over the roughly 10-year construction horizon through 2032. That’s all good news for our stakeholders.”

After years of conceptual planning, the city has taken substantial moves beginning late last year with following through on the caps and stitches, which will create large expanses of public space and improved east-west connectivity over portions of the roadway. The cost for the construction of the four caps and one stitch is projected at over $500 million, with the city recently receiving a $105 million federal grant to pay for much of a cap that will run from Cesar Chavez Street to Fourth Street.

Council also recently opted to seek an infrastructure loan from the state for $191 million, with additional federal money up for grabs as part of ambitious infrastructure programs.

The caps will structurally be able to support small structures of one or two stories plus open-space amenities. Risinger said the open houses, with a second event planned for September, will let the public discuss what’s possible and how the city’s caps can complement a similar set of caps the University of Texas plans to install over the portions of I-35 adjacent to the campus.

“Our city doesn’t get an opportunity like this one very often. I-35 hasn’t been reconstructed since the 1970s and while the construction and the collection of the caps and stitches might be a few years away, right now is really the chance for everyone to help set the vision for the spaces that will go over the lowered highway,” she said. “The cap-and-stitch program is really geared around re-stitching the city together, physically, culturally and economically.”

One of the next major hurdles will be assembling the funding for the amenities on top of the caps, which will likely rely mostly on philanthropic funds and public-private partnerships.

“My sense of it is that people are excited about the opportunity of public-private partnership, though we haven’t really started to even scratch the surface on private philanthropy for this project yet,” Risinger said, noting that Dallas’ Klyde Warren Park is the closest comparison project even though Austin’s caps and stitch will involve much more available space. “From an urban design perspective, we want all of the caps to be complementary of each other, so you don’t want the exact same stuff on the UT caps as we’re going to have right at 11th and 12th Street or at Cesar Chavez with what we’ll do with our big downtown cap.”

City Council will convene today for a regular Thursday meeting. But, like every meeting, there are a few things on the agenda that we will be paying particular attention to. Those items have been detailed below in this, our humble TipSheet.

Word is out that Austin’s next city manager is almost certainly T.C. Broadnax. Today, Council is poised to make that official by adopting the recommendation of its subcommittee today and executing an employment agreement. That’s huge news for a city that has had an interim city manager for more than a year (though it’s unlikely to be particularly controversial among Council members).

Council will also consider making official a new name for Barton Springs Pool Bathhouse and naming it after Joan Means Khabele, an activist who led the charge to desegregate the springs in 1960.

Council Member Paige Ellis has a resolution aimed at making cycling in Austin safer (and less aggravating). Her resolution makes it illegal to park in bike lanes anywhere in the city as well as asking for a number of measures to increase bike safety in general.

Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison has a resolution that asks for community land trusts to be developed and expanded as a way to broaden the city’s affordable housing stock. Community land trusts allow residents to purchase homes but lease the land that they sit on – as a way of controlling costs and managing resale values. Harper-Madison’s resolution asks the city manager to look at land acquisition for this purpose as well as looking into land banking and partnering with local nonprofits and governments to expand housing options. The resolution also asks to explore these possibilities in theNortheast Planning District.

Austin Energy has a Demand Response Program that is designed to reduce strain on the power grid when it is being overtaxed. Why aren’t all city buildings enrolled in this program? That’s the very good question that Council Member Ryan Alter’s new resolution asks (and then answers by asking the city manager to enroll them already).

Council Member Mackenzie Kelly has a resolutionthat seeks to fight human trafficking by establishing emergency housing options in hotels, increasing awareness for hospitality workers, providing law enforcement with “covert digital payment resources” to use in investigations and to increase public education on the subject, among other things. 

And, to rectify an apparent screw-up in noticing, Council will adopt an emergency change that will allow them to hold the already planned joint meeting on April 11 with the Planning Commission to consider ETODs, compatibility and the HOME ordinance. Normally, legal notice is required 10 days out from the meeting but, according to the backup, “an error related to the deadline occurred” and it will not be published until today. The ordinance changes the notice requirements from 10 to 7 days and “will also require the City Manager to place ads in the Austin-American Statesman, Austin Chronicle, and Community Impact publications to provide essentially the same information as the published legal notice in the Austin-American Statesman” which is justified as “more and different notification for the public” in the agenda.

In order to comply with state requirements, the city will hold a public hearing to adopt official standards of care for parks youth programs. It’s all pretty basic stuff about safety and staffing and the like, but it’s laid out here for the eternally curious.

In terms of zoning, we’re keeping an eye out for the ambitious (and contentious) Bolm East Planning Development Agreement that is slated for a swath of land along the Colorado River just east of U.S. Highway 183. We’re also looking out for a proposed multifamily development in Old West Austin that is unsurprisingly opposed by OWANA and the redevelopment of the Nau’s Drugstore and Cafe Medici, which they do not oppose (the developer has agreed to preserve both Nau’s facade and the Medici house). Council will also consider giving historic zoningto the Women and their Work Gallery and multifamily zoning for a southeast parcel that is supported by the Planning Commission but not city staff.

https://communityimpact.com/austin/south-central-austin/texas-legislature/2024/04/03/heres-why-large-texas-counties-are-holding-property-appraisal-board-elections-in-may/

The city appears ready to codify measures meant to prevent noise issues from creating friction with residential developments and live music venues, nearly a decade after the conflict first received heavy attention.

At Monday’s meeting, the Music Commission approved requirements offered by the Development Services Department that would make developers of new projects within 600 feet of venues with an outdoor music permit conduct sound testing during a performance to measure the potential impact of noise in their residential units. That information would then be required to be included in purchase or leasing documents for eventual residents as part of the city’s development review process.

If the ordinance change is adopted by City Council in late May as expected, the requirements would place no new burdens on live music venues located near new developments. Developers would be left to make the decision on what level of soundproofing they would need to build in to their projects, with the disclosure requirement intended to allow residents or buyers to negotiate their terms with ownership based on the possibility of noise issues.

With development pressure causing hotels and residential towers to locate closer to entertainment districts over the past decade-plus, the city initially sought to address the conflict over noise complaints using an “agent of change” concept that made the new entrant into an area responsible for mitigating the impact of high volume levels.

That approach floundered mainly over concerns that requiring building standards related to noise mitigation could be challenged in court, with City Council last taking action related to the matter in 2018. There was another push for final action in 2019 and 2020 that stalled, with a late March public hearing representing the first significant city activity on the matter since then.

An online meeting today will inform the public about the proposed changes and allow people to offer thoughts, with more presentations to local boards and commissions coming ahead of the May 30 meeting, at which City Council will consider the ordinance amendment.

Brian Block, entertainment services manager for the Development Services Department, noted that the lack of a staff review on the sound study that developers submit for approval is intended to make the process as hands-off as possible.

“The intent is to kind of have as light a touch as possible on the development review process, especially with housing affordability and housing supply being such a big issue,” he said, noting that the city’s mapping tool makes it easy to identify addresses that fall within proximity to a venue that would trigger the need for a sound study. “The intent is to make an important impactful improvement and kind of limit any impact on the development review process.”

In response to a question about how closely the proposed requirements are tied to what was proposed under the agent of change effort, Block said the new approach removes any need for music venues to reduce or alter their sound beyond what is already considered legal under the city’s noise ordinances.

“This doesn’t require anything of the venue, so it doesn’t go both ways,” he said. “We have a very robust entertainment-related sound management system, so we think that that’s already taking place, where that’s customized in context that is sensitive and appropriate and built on a policy foundation that goes back really to 2002 and 2003, where the City Council ensured we had policy that allowed live music and outdoor live music, but set some time cutoffs as kind of a balancing act.”

Commissioner Pedro Carvalho, also an owner of the Far Out Lounge outdoor music venue in South Austin, called the proposed requirements “a no-brainer” and said he hopes they will lead to more city policies intended to ease relations between clubs and nearby residences.

“My hope is that this eventually becomes a step forward towards a much longer runway of fixing the relationships between local residents and music venues,” Carvalho said. “I love the idea. It’s just purely informative to the people, to the residents and to builders and to music venues in the area. It’s a good step towards a much more prosperous future in music and the music ecosystem in town.”

Austin Water on Tuesday released a report showing that the Environmental Protection Agency had found “little to no detectable traces” of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – or PFAS – in the city’s drinking water. Known as “forever chemicals,” PFAS have been linked to birth defects and cancer.

According to a news release, Austin Water’s tests performed in October on all three of the city’s water treatment plants were verified by the EPA. The results showed no detectable amounts of the six PFAS compounds currently proposed for regulation by the EPA in treated tap water.

The utility reported that only one of the chemicals in the PFAS category, perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA), was found in drinking water in the range of “5-8 parts per trillion, or the equivalent of a few drops of water in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools.” The EPA has not set a health advisory level for this compound, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality reports that PFBA is commonly found around the state.

“Austinites should be proud of the environmental protections that have been in place for decades to protect our water quality at the source,” interim City Manager Jesús Garza said. “These regional efforts to reduce the presence of pollutants in the Highland Lakes continue to protect our community today.”

About 20 years ago, Garza served for a short time as deputy general manager for environmental issues at the Lower Colorado River Authority.

Austin Water notes that a number of environmental protection programs help keep Austin’s water clean, including the LCRA’s Clean Rivers Program as well as land and water use regulations. As a result, the Highland Lakes are less impacted by industries and activities that produce contaminants such as PFAS.

Austin Water said it’s awaiting the analysis and review by the EPA of a second round of water samples taken early this year, and two additional rounds of PFAS testing will be conducted by the end of the year. Test results and verification take approximately 90 days.

“Austin Water’s No. 1 priority is to protect public health and keep our water safe for all of our community’s drinking water needs,” Austin Water Director Shay Ralls Roalson said. “We’re pleased that this round of test results confirms that our customers are drinking the high-quality water they deserve.”

PFAS chemicals have been around since the 1940s and have been found in a variety of products. That includes firefighting foam used to put out fires caused by flammable liquids like jet fuel, oil and gasoline. Last year, the Department of Defense announced that it would stop purchasing firefighting foam, a major source of PFAS at airbases and airports. In 2022, the Austin American-Statesman reported that Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was the only place in Travis County known to contain groundwater PFAS pollution.

“As required of some water utilities under the Safe Water Drinking Act, Austin Water first conducted PFAS monitoring tests of drinking water samples from the Davis and Ullrich Water Treatment Plants between October 2013 and July 2014,” Austin Water spokesperson José Emperador told the *Austin Monitor. “*There were no detections in any of those samples analyzed.”

The Austin Community College District Board of Trustees on Monday approved a pilot program offering free tuition to local students graduating from high school. Eight board members voted in favor of the program, with one abstaining.

The board’s vote comes several months after ACC Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart first announced the proposal in January. He described the potential impact of the program to KUT as “life changing” for students. Board Secretary Manny Gonzalez echoed that sentiment during the meeting.

“I don’t know if it’s being a girl dad, but I almost get brought to tears thinking about just how impactful this is going to be to a number of individuals and families in terms of breaking generations of poverty,” Gonzalez said.

The initiative, officially known as the College Affordability Plan, will offer free tuition and general fees to high school seniors in the ACC service area who graduated from public, private and charter schools after July 1, 2023. Students who were homeschooled or completed their GED are also eligible. High schoolers who live in the service area, but not the taxing district, will still need to pay the out-of-district fee. The pilot program begins in fall 2024 and will last for five years.

Austin Community College. The free tuition pilot program waives tuition costs and fees for students who live within the ACC taxing district, but students who live outside of that area will be responsible for the $201 out-of-district per credit fee.

Areas considered in-district because they contribute to the tax base include Austin ISD, Del Valle ISD, Elgin ISD, Hays CISD, Leander ISD, Manor ISD and Round Rock ISD. Portions of Eanes ISD and Pflugerville ISD located within the city of Austin are also eligible for free tuition and fees.

The primary goal of the program is to attract high school graduates who would not have pursued higher education at all. The college said regional data shows 12,000 Central Texas high school students did not enroll in any higher education institutions after graduating in 2023. ACC also shared that more than half of prospective students cited tuition costs as the reason they started an application but didn’t enroll.

“People are experiencing a life that’s not affordable, and they can’t find a way to climb out and up,” Lowery-Hart said in a statement. “It’s not about getting students in the door. It’s about eliminating barriers so that they not only come, they persist, they graduate, and they enter our local workforce with the skills and talents our community needs.”

There are no GPA requirements or income restrictions for high school graduates to participate in the program. Eligible students will have three years of free tuition to finish their associate degree and obtain any workforce credentials or certifications. On top of that, students who complete their degree within three years and pursue one of the bachelor’s degrees that ACC offers will get two additional years of free tuition.

The College Affordability Plan is what’s known as a “first dollar” program, meaning that funding from ACC will go toward covering college expenses before other sources. ACC said students will be able to use other financial aid, Pell grants and scholarships to pay for other expenses such as textbooks, housing and child care.

“First-dollar programs really help address issues of equity in terms of access to higher education pathways,” Gonzalez said.

ACC estimates the program will cost the college $7.5 million in its first year. A new state law that reworked how Texas funds community colleges is providing the college with an additional $6.8 million in funding that will help offset the program’s cost.

ACC officials predict the cost will reach $18 million in Fiscal Year 2027 and plateau at that point; $18 million is less than 4 percent of the college’s budget.

Austin Community College. Austin Community College estimates the free tuition program will cost $7.5 million in its first year.

Board members also said they hope if this pilot program is successful, it can be expanded to other student groups.

“I’m inspired by our own tagline: ‘Start here. Get there.’ I think we start with this cohort, we start with these students and then we figure out how we go back to the students who are with us,” Board Vice Chair Sean Hassan said.

He said the hope is that free tuition could eventually be offered to adult learners like his mom, who got a certified nurse aide degree and then became a licensed vocational nurse.

“Like her, there’ll be students who now, not having to worry about tuition, have a few bucks for their books, have some money for transportation, have some money for child care and other basic needs,” he said.

But Board Chair Barbara Mink, who abstained from the vote, said she wanted to see ACC work on ways to better support current students before offering free tuition to high school graduates.

“There’s a lot of our students out there that are now just struggling to finish college, they’re in here, they’re single parents. Let’s get the processes right for them before we say, ‘Come on in, high school graduates, and get free tuition,’” she said.

To help all current and potential ACC students, the board also voted Monday to keep tuition costs the same for the 11th year in a row. Tuition continues to be $67 per credit hour. With fees, in-district students pay $85 per credit hour. The out-of-district fee will also stay the same at $201, making the total $286 per credit hour for out-of-district students.

On March 26, Travis County Commissioners Court declared March 2024 “Social Work Month” under the proclamation “Empowering Social Workers.”

The proclamation recognized the vital contributions of social workers in shaping policy, promoting systems of equality and diversity, confronting the increasing demand for mental health services and confronting economic inequality on multiple fronts. It also noted the growing demand for social workers juxtaposed against their low average compensation and committed the county to acknowledge that “new investments and innovative policies” are needed to support its social workers as they confront a host of new challenges.

Before moving for a vote, commissioners offered Mental Health Public Defender director Melissa Shearer a quick word. Shearer, however, had more than dedications in mind. Joined by a coterie of colleagues from various divisions, Shearer asked commissioners to stand by the declaration to “support social workers so they can continue to do the life-affirming work they do.” She also cited the county’s ongoing internal compensation study led by consulting firm Segal.

“I do want to recognize – it’s in that proclamation that you just read – that the social work profession is historically underpaid. And under-funded,” she said. “I will have to bring this up again, but I will tell you that in the Segal study that it proposes that the starting salary that is currently for social workers in Travis County is $58,000. … They want to change it to $54,000 next year and end up with a starting salary of $57,000.”

“I don’t support that for a second,” Commissioner Brigid Shea said.

Shearer had previously called in before commissioners to protest an expansion of the study, stating, “What we got was a spreadsheet that included demotions, and it included pay cuts with no explanation.”

Later that session, commissioners voted unanimously to expand the Segal study with an additional $140,000 contract.

Travis County executives have confirmed that, while no current employees will lose wages as a result of the county’s ongoing study, starting salaries for some future hires will be lowered.

“I understand that nobody who is currently employed will have a reduction, but it would make it significantly harder to recruit and retain in the future if we’re starting even lower than where we are – which is already hard to recruit and retain,” Shearer said in March’s court session.

“Hopefully, the meetings are happening with Segal to straighten this out because I don’t think that any of us support reducing the salary for anyone in Travis County,” Shea said.

Leslie Gaines, division director for Family Support Services, also pit the declarations against downsizing.

“Our predecessor to me built out a career ladder of sorts, where someone can come into our program as an office specialist, work their way up to an office specialist senior or a caseworker – depending upon the role that they want to take. From a caseworker, they can become a supportive case manager,” she said. “They could even move on to become a social worker, they could become a manager. … With the Segal study, two of our positions that were part of that career ladder have been wiped out. So they have proposed getting rid of our office specialist seniors and our supportive case managers.”

Emily Seales, social services manager for the county’s Mental Health Public Defender office, emphasized the hardship already faced by county public defender social workers.

Seales walked through the rigorous social work licensing process – which includes two years of 20-hour-per-week unpaid placements during full-time graduate coursework, followed by thousands of hours of supervised practice and costly “supervision” hours – to gain independent licensure. “Any of us,” Seales remarked, “all of us – have between six to 10 years of education and intensive weekly hourlong supervision to get to where we are and to support our most vulnerable residents of Travis County.”

Seales continued, “It really saddens me that I have a lot of colleagues who can’t afford to live in Travis County. You can’t afford to live here on $53,000 a year. There are lots and lots of studies about that.”

“And, you know, high stress, high burnout, a lot of compassion fatigue and secondary trauma comes along with this job, and we all know that. But it doesn’t mean that it’s OK that those of us who are doing this hard work aren’t being supported as much as we could by policies.”

Shearer remarked on the lack of a career ladder available to professionals in the county.

“You have some folks that can take care of more minor cases, and then you’ve got upper-level cases,” she said. “But what we don’t have is a career ladder that recognizes that. Whereas attorneys, you start at a one and you can go all the way through seven. If you’re a caseworker, you’re a caseworker. Whether you have been here 16 years or two months. If you’re a social worker, you’re a social worker. Same thing.”

The court was sympathetic to the presenters’ sentiments and briefly raised a range of options to address their concerns – including making the county a “placement” site for social workers recruiting hours toward licensure or graduation, taking various measures to support social workers in workers in their initial steps towards licensure and creating programming at universities.

“My question – what would it take for us to do that?” Commissioner Ann Howard asked. Then, before anyone else could reply, she answered her own question: “It takes money.”