Tuesday was a particularly busy day for Austin Water crews operating in South Austin. Residents of Barton Hills who were awake at 4 a.m. may have noticed low or no water pressure. Austin Water spokesperson Erik Luna said via email, “Early this morning, Austin Water responded to a 16 (inch) water main break which occurred near the intersection of Barton Hills Drive and Homedale Drive.  Customers in the affected area will be experiencing interruptions to their water service or fluctuations in water pressure while repairs are underway.” Repair workers were looking for the leak underground on the street adjacent to Barton Hills Elementary School. Since the water was shut off at the school, Austin Water had delivered bottled water and portable toilets, according to one worker. Later in the day, water was restored to the surrounding neighborhood. However, another leak developed along Barton Hills Drive, necessitating more repairs and a second shutoff of water to residents in the area. Austin Water estimated the final repairs would be done Tuesday evening. On its outage website, Austin Water said it had 10 leaks pending repair.

The Lower Colorado River Authority is looking for feedback on a newly proposed aggregate processing plant and quarry near Inks Lake. In addition to accepting comments about the project online or by mail, the water authority will also hold a meeting at the Burnet Community Center where residents are encouraged to comment between 8 and 11 a.m.. According to a press release about the event, “During the meeting, each person wanting to provide feedback will go to one of the stations set up around the community center and will have three minutes to share comments on the quarry application from Asphalt Inc. All comments will be recorded and provided to LCRA staff members to consider in their evaluation of the application and whether it meets the standards of the Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance.” LCRA is limited to determining whether the application meets the requirements of the Highland Lakes Watershed Ordinance and “The come-and-go meeting is strictly for LCRA to collect comments from the public. The meeting will not include a presentation or question and answer session.” Since January, LCRA has received more than 2,000 comments from members of the public. Those comments were submitted online at www.lcra.org/quarrycomments or by mail at LCRA Watershed Management, P.O. Box 220, Mail Stop L106, Austin, TX 78767. Those modes of communication are still available and will remain open through May 13.

This Saturday Travis County Constables are partnering with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to dispose of expired or unwanted medications. On National Take Back Day, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m., residents can drop off medications at a Travis County Constable Precinct anonymously, for free and with no questions asked. Syringes will not be accepted. The drop off locations are:

Tonya Nixon

Constable Pct. 1

4717 Heflin Ln. Ste. 127

Austin, TX 78721

(512) 854-7510

Adan Ballesteros

Constable Pct. 2

10409 Burnet Rd. Ste. 150

Austin, TX 78758

(512) 854-9697

Stacy Suits

Constable Pct. 3

8656 B West Highway 71 Ste. 132

Austin, TX 78735

(512) 854-7245

George Morales

Constable Pct. 4

4011 McKinney Falls Pkwy. Ste. 1100

Austin, TX 78744

(512) 854-9488

Carlos Lopez

Constable Pct. 5

1003 Guadalupe St.

Austin, TX 78701

(512) 854-9100

Anyone unable to take part on Saturday can check out the DEA’s site locator for year-round collection.

The Mueller Foundation, which is the nonprofit entrusted with managing the Mueller Affordable Homes Program, welcomed a new head on March 31. Robin Lafleur, who is the former VP of HomeBase Texas, said she was committed to the nonprofit’s mission of helping families purchase homes. A quarter of all homes for rent or sale in the development are affordable. According to a press release from the foundation, there are nearly 700 affordable homes priced from $165,000 to $300,000 in the community now. “Robin is the ideal fit as our new Executive Director,” said Mueller Foundation board chair Jim Walker in a statement to the press. “She is a seasoned real estate professional who has spent nearly two decades helping hundreds of low-to-moderate-income Austin families purchase affordable homes throughout
Central Texas.”
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This week is Flood Safety Awareness Week in the heart of Flash Flood Alley: Austin, Texas. According to a press release from the city, it’s a time to educate yourself on the potential dangers that inevitable flooding holds. “As of August 2023, there are 5,660 active National Flood Insurance Program policies in the City of Austin, covering $1.47 billion in property. In just the last ten years, 930 claims have been paid, totaling more than $42.3 million in damages,” notes the release, which encourages residents to sign up for alerts at WarnCentralTexas.org, make a plan and consider flood insurance, which is now available at a discount for most Austin polices.  This year’s flood awareness week will culminate at  Flood Safety Fest on Saturday, April 26, from 12:00-3:00 p.m. at L.L. Campbell Elementary School. The event will offer tips, giveaways, and the results of a Flood Safety Video contest.

On Saturday, May 3, the Lamar Senior Activity Center will host this year’s 29th Street Spring Art Show: Art On and Off the Wall. The event will showcase art made by artists aged 50 years and up including “paintings, drawings, polymer clay art, fiber arts, jewelry, multi-media pieces, kitchen items, handmade soaps, latch hook rugs, sewing projects, paper crafts, (and) note cards,” according to a press release from the city. The center, which is managed by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, provides seniors with cultural, recreational and educational programming. The art sale, with will be on from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., will highlight the creative expression of its community.

According to a post on the City Council Message Board, there will be no work session on Tuesday. Mayor Kirk Watson’s office reported that, given the fact that there are no scheduled briefings and no items pulled from the Thursday City Council agenda for discussion, the work session will be cancelled.

A new urban trail segment will help students getting to Linder Elementary school, following the City Council-approved $1.3 million purchase of a 5.4-acre parcel. The property, which is bordered by Metcalfe and Burleson roads, will also provide access to Mabel Davis Park and improve a trail along Country Club Creek. A map of the city’s urban trail network can be found here.

The city’s Transportation and Public Works Department has started its seasonal preventive street maintenance, which will be taking place from now through October. As part of that process, the city will be using sealcoat, which prevents potholes. That process takes about 30 minutes per lane and per block. During the process, residents are advised to remove their vehicles from the street for two days. Cars that are not moved will be towed to a nearby street. Once done, the street will contain loose gravel that will settle in time, but while it’s not settled, drivers are advised to avoid hard braking and sharp turns. The city has a web page with more information on streets scheduled for maintenance.

If you needed a nudge to buy supplies for emergency preparedness, there’s a state sales tax holiday coming up for exactly that. Certain items will be tax free starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 26, and ending at midnight on Monday, April 28. Those include things like household batteries, fuel containers and flashlights less than $75; hurricane shutters and emergency ladders less than $300; and portable generators priced less than $3,000. A full list of items that qualify for the tax holiday – and those that do not qualify – is available from the state comptroller’s office. That office makes this note about qualifying purchases: “For purchases made online, note that delivery, shipping, handling and transportation charges are part of the sales price. If the emergency preparation supply being purchased is taxable, the delivery charge is also taxable. Consider these charges when determining whether an item can be purchased tax free during the holiday. For example, if you purchase an emergency ladder online for $299 with a $10 delivery charge, the total sales price is $309. Because the total sales price of the emergency ladder is more than $300, tax is due on the $309 sales price.”

The Planning Commission held elections for its officers on April 8 in a process outgoing Chair Claire Hempel remarked “went much more smoothly” than the previous year’s elections. All four positions ultimately went uncontested, and the resolution appointing the new officers was approved unanimously. Replacing Hempel as chair is outgoing Vice Chair Awais Azhar; replacing Azhar as vice chair is outgoing Parliamentarian Alice Woods; replacing Woods as parliamentarian is Commissioner Casey Haney; and replacing outgoing Secretary Greg Anderson is Commissioner Felicity Maxwell.

Although Ted Eubanks’ appointment to the city’s Parks and Recreation Board faced some headwinds, City Council on Thursday did finally appoint a 40-year parks professional who specializes in heritage and nature tourism. That appointment was postponed last month after some Council members had unspecified objections to his service. On Thursday, only Council Member Paige Ellis abstained on the roster of appointments that included Eubanks. Last year, Council Member Mackenzie Kelly withdrew his name for parks board consideration without saying why. According to Rewild Zilker, which has opposed the vision put forth by supporters of the Zilker Park Vision Plan and its nonprofit model, those nonprofits are the likely source of opposition to Eubanks, an expert on historical and nature tourism. Ellis’ district includes Zilker Park. Eubanks has said, “Over the years I have certainly had opinions and concerns at times about how Austin manages its public lands, and that is unacceptable to a handful of organizations.” After the vote on Thursday, Eubanks told the Austin Monitor, “Perhaps the discussion we should be having is given how much money we have spent on the plan, what does it take to fix it? If there are mistakes in it – and there are – why don’t we correct them?” The biggest question facing the city, he said, is “how are we going to sustainably maintain our parks?”