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Environment

Parks board pushes for easement, land dedication on S. Congress project

The Parks and Recreation Board found that a development along South Congress Avenue adjacent to Williamson Creek must provide parkland as part of its site plan approval process, and cannot pay a fee in lieu of that donation. The board…

Consumer advocate seeks audit of Austin Energy program

Consumer advocate Paul Robbins, who has argued for years that Austin Energy is wasting money and inadequately screening participants in its Customer Assistance Program, is asking City Auditor Corrie Stokes to audit the program for wasted expenditures. The program, which…

Zero Waste Advisory Commission reassembles C&D ordinance subcommittee

At its Jan. 13 meeting, the Zero Waste Advisory Commission discussed the Construction and Demolition Recycling Ordinance, a law that went into effect in 2016. The ordinance mandates that building permits with more than 5,000 square feet of new, added…

Austin Energy touts its weatherization program for limited-income customers

Sarah Chatterjee, the new director of energy efficiency services for Austin Energy, presented the utility’s new weatherization programs for low-income customers before the Electric Utility Commission on Jan. 11. The program is aimed at providing weatherproofing modifications, optimizing energy efficiencies and…

Covid impacted Austin parks concessions

Like many other enterprises, concessions operating in Zilker Park and along Lady Bird Lake suffered various financial impacts last year due to Covid-19, according to a report from the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. Gross sales generated by Town Lake Park concessions fell…

ZAP OKs Ullrich plant variances

The Zoning and Platting Commission voted at its Dec. 15 meeting to recommend the approval of seven environmental variances for the Ullrich Water Treatment Plant, with a stipulation that the size of an access road included in the project be…

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Parks board tables renaming recommendations for Council

The Parks and Recreation Board has once again taken up the task of suggesting revisions to the city’s naming and renaming ordinance, the law that lays out guidelines for the naming process behind city facilities like parks, sports complexes, pools,…

Council OKs contract for Ullrich repairs

After a considerable amount of discussion at its Thursday meeting, City Council approved a contract of more than $22 million, plus a 10 percent contingency, for a joint venture to rebuild the electrical pump station serving the Ullrich water treatment…

Garza questions penalties in water reuse rules

City Council is poised to adopt two ordinances at today’s meeting establishing regulations for on-site water reuse systems as well as water cooling towers. Council has unanimously supported the ideas behind the Water Forward plan that are aimed at reducing…

Discussions continue about Hancock Golf Course’s insolvency

Parks and Recreation Assistant Director Anthony Segura and Division Manager for Golf Operations Kevin Gomillion gave an update on the community engagement status of the Hancock Golf Course’s revenue troubles at the Dec. 4 special Parks and Recreation Board meeting.…

Environmental Commission approves variances for water treatment plant upgrades

The Environmental Commission on Friday approved a series of environmental variances for improvements to the Albert H. Ullrich water treatment plant near Tom Miller Dam and Red Bud Isle west of downtown Austin. A total of seven variances are needed…

With winter coming, city works on treatment for toxic blue-green algae

The Water Oversight Committee met the last week of October to hear an update on the toxic algae that resulted in the deaths of at least five dogs in Austin last year. Brent Bellinger, a research ecologist with the Watershed…

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