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Kirk Holland, general manager of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Water Conservation District, gave the board of directors a balanced preliminary budget last week. The problem? Holland had to look to reserve funds, to the tune of $208,000, to get…
The cost of a new bridge connecting downtown and south Austin via urban rail has been budgeted for as much as $36.8 million. If built, such a structure could feature space for rail, bus, and pedestrian and bicycle access. …
Ted Siff of the Austin Original Neighborhood Association assured the Planning Commission last night that downtown mixed-use zoning had saved his neighborhood, not hurt it. History has tended to teach the members of the Planning Commission that upzoning rarely…
Travis County employees who want to kick their smoking habit could get hypnotized, free of cost, under a proposed pilot program with Baylor University. Dr. Hari Dhir, medical director of the Travis County Employee Wellness and Health Clinic, asked…
City Manager Marc Ott was scheduled to spend today in California, along with a group of Austin community members, to visit the utility run by Larry Weis, now Ott’s top pick to head Austin Energy. According to the city’s…
City Manager Marc Ott has decided Larry Weis is the best fit to become Austin Energy’s next general manager. He told City Council members and others in e-mail late Friday, “I have concluded that Larry Weis, from the Turlock…
The citizen’s task force charged with vetting a potential $90 million transportation bond package has given its formal approval to the measure. The vote, however, came with two abstentions, a host of additional recommendations and some frustration from Task Force…
The city’s Parks and Recreation Department has started meetings relating to the maligned cemetery maintenance contract that the city holds with Intercare Corporation. Angela Means, who runs the PARD Financial Services division, told In Fact Daily that officials hope to…
With little room in the budget for new spending next year, Travis County Commissioners have directed staff to again significantly shorten the 2011 budget process. Instead of seven days of hearings, during which departments can plead their case for…
A series of proposed changes to the city’s pension program would require new employees of the City of Austin to work longer before they can retire with full pension benefits. According to city financial staff, the city’s pension fund…
City staff will be providing members of the 2010 Transportation Bond Citizen Task Force the final draft of the preliminary transportation bond package today. That package will be for task force members’ to consider over the weekend before voting on…
The Hays County Commissioners Court has unanimously acted to accept a wide-ranging strategic policy plan for that region. The move, however, stops short of a wholesale adoption of the document’s recommendations. The document includes demographic projections that predict an…
