TipSheet: Travis County, 3.20.18

The Travis County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday. In the interest of space, we’ve decided not to post the entire agenda here. The County Clerk’s office hosts a copy at its website.

9. Receive update from the Jail Population Monitoring Group. (Commissioners Daugherty & Gómez)

Monitor’s Take: Earlier this month, activists demonstrated just how closely they’re watching activities in the county’s jail system when they pressured the Commissioners Court to postpone funding for an expanded women’s unit at the Travis County Correctional Complex. No doubt, the spirit of that activism will hang in the air during this update from the Jail Population Monitoring Group, which will outline its proposed plan to keep stakeholders informed of its activities. Among the list of identified stakeholders are various county departments, the Austin-Travis County Sobering Center and the Austin Police Department.

10. Consider and take appropriate action on the sub-recipient agreement with the Travis County Housing Finance Corporation totaling $750,000 for land acquisition related to the McKinney Falls Apartments funded through the Community Development Block Grant available from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). (Commissioners Shea & Gómez)

Monitor’s Take: The latest procedural step in the county’s plan to deliver 312 units of social housing at 6609 McKinney Falls Parkway. Of these units, 296 would be reserved for residents earning between 50 and 60 percent of the median family income. The $750,000 that will be spent to purchase the land is coming entirely from federal grants and the project itself will be managed by the Travis County Housing Finance Corporation.

15. Consider and take appropriate action on proposed modifications to the Travis County Exposition Center Standard License Agreement. (Commissioner Travillion)

Monitor’s Take: The Facilities Management Division is proposing a few tweaks to the license agreement it uses for the Expo Center and, folks, we can objectively say it’s a load of horse puckey. Among the new additions are a $250 charge for manure removal for events featuring less than 100 horses. One equine over that and you’ll have to shovel out $500.

17. Consider and take appropriate action on a license agreement with the City of Austin for their use of 62 parking spaces on the rooftop of the 316 W. 8th Street parking garage. (Commissioner Gómez)

Monitor’s Take: Now that the city has opened the new Central Library on Cesar Chavez Street, its need for 110 parking spaces atop the county’s massive parking garage across from 700 Lavaca St. has fizzled. Instead, the city is now asking for a contract to reserve 62 spaces at the same cost of $150 per space for an 18-month term.

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