No-spin zone

No one can say that City Council’s policies have the city going in circles. The Austin Monitor called Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo’s office on Tuesday to follow up on a plan – originally passed in December 2014 – to operate a vintage-style carousel. That item cleared the consent agenda during the final meeting of the city’s former at-large Council, but it seems to have since fallen off the list of priorities, pushed down by more pressing work on transportation network companies, short-term rentals and crash gates. Tovo’s aide, Shannon Halley, told the Monitor that several locations for the carousel have been proposed, including Brush Square (near where Capital Metro is planning to redo its downtown MetroRail station), Palm Park and another property near the Holiday Inn at I-35 and Lady Bird Lake. Halley said discussions are still ongoing but added that the project has no timeline. In the meantime, fans of going around and around can check out the Ferris wheel at SXSW.