Maybe you’ve heard (or maybe not), the city of Austin has a special called election coming up on Saturday, May 7. There is only a single proposition on the ballot and that is Prop A, which asks: “Shall an initiative ordinance be approved to 1) eliminate enforcement of low-level marijuana offenses; and 2) ban the use of ‘no knock’ warrants by Austin police?” Early voting for the election starts Monday, April 25 and ends May 3. Your last day to request a ballot by mail is Tuesday, April 26. Remember, in order to vote by mail in Texas you have to be out of the country on election day; sick or disabled; 65 or older; or incarcerated but otherwise eligible to vote. (Sorry, we don’t make the rules.) Here’s a list of early voting polling locations in Travis County. Before heading to the polls, brush up on voter identification laws to make sure you have the required ID.

A group of seasoned multimodal advocates have joined up to create a new nonprofit aimed at building “a movement to transform Austin’s streets, bikeways and trails into safe, vibrant and equitable places for people of all ages and abilities to walk, bike, roll and gather.” The group, named Safe Streets Austin, is the result of merging Bike Austin, Walk Austin and Vision Zero ATX into one group that will advocate for safe, multimodal transportation in Austin. The group announced itself earlier this week, saying, “Austin is widely recognized as a dynamic, world-class city. As it grows in size and complexity, the need for a resilient, responsive transportation system has become a necessity. Austin, like most American cities, is largely automobile-centric, creating undue challenges for many community members, especially those that lack economic resources. A robust and safe active transportation system would offer better choices for all Austinites.” Find more information about Safe Streets Austin on its website.

As we all bitterly know, Austin Resource Recovery suspended its large brush and bulk collection back in February because of staffing shortages brought on by Covid. Since then, Austinites have been waiting impatiently for the service to resume, as pieces of shrubbery and tree limbs and old freezers and other embarrassing things pile up behind their houses. ARR is still coping with a shortage of drivers (ARR is hiring drivers!), but thanks to help from a contractor, the agency is resuming bulk/brush collection starting Monday, May 2. Those who missed a collection during the suspension will be first in line to get a pickup. Curbside customers will receive a notification postcard in the mail a couple of weeks before their next collection is scheduled. You may also visit the online calendar of scheduled services or download the Austin Recycles app. If you’ve gotten used to disposing of your own bulky stuff at the Hornsby Bend plant, by all means continue using that method. And of course, if you have unwanted items that don’t seem to fit any other collection criteria, you can always consult ARR’s handy What Do I Do With… tool. Unlike most things these days, it has an answer for everything.

Though not yet in use by the city of Austin, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has released its 2022 Income Limits. The median family income for the Austin-Round Rock MSA is now $110,300, up from $98,900 in 2021. Why is this important? Aside from being another indicator of Austin’s frenzied growth, the city and the county both use MFI to calculate affordability for housing. So, somewhat affordable housing for those earning 80 percent MFI would be built for a family of four with an income of $88,250, which is now considered “low income” by HUD. A family of four at 50 percent MFI, or $55,150, is considered “very low income” for the area. That said, the city and county have yet to adopt the new numbers. That might take a few weeks.

Local artists Rejina Thomas, Ruben Esquivel and Taylor Davis have been selected to create a floating wetland installation on the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail and Lady Bird Lake this spring. The Common Waters installation “will explore themes of community, creativity, environment, and collaboration. It will incorporate artistic components as well as serve an ecological function,” according to a city news release. The installation is part of the trail’s Arts+Culture plan, a partnership with the Parks and Recreation Department, the city’s Art in Public Places program and the Trail Foundation. With the help of environmental artist Stacy Levy, the three artists will collaborate to design and test models for the temporary art installation. The completed piece will be unveiled at the Arts + Culture Celebration on May 14.

Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians attempting to travel northbound on Azie Morton Road will notice that a partial lane closure is in effect while crews perform work in the area near Barton Springs Road. The street is still open to southbound travelers coming from Barton Springs Road onto Azie Morton. According to the Transportation Department’s traffic advisory, the temporary closure “is only in effect during active construction and will occur only on select days during this period.” The work should be completed by April 27, “barring weather delays or other unforeseen circumstances.” Keep your eyes peeled for traffic cones, detour signs and flaggers while in the area.

Following a federal court order, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has halted its January 2021 order requiring masks on pubic transportation and at public transportation hubs, though it “continues to recommend that people wear masks in indoor public transportation settings at this time.” In response to the ruling, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport issued a statement saying it “awaits further direction and guidance from the federal government regarding enforcement and will communicate any impacts to passengers and staff accordingly. In accordance with public health advice issued by Austin Public Health, AUS continues to encourage travelers to wear masks. Travelers flying should connect directly with their airline for more information about airline mask policies on aircraft.”

As foretold in the 2014 Aquatic Assessment, Gillis Pool will be closed for this summer swim season. A memo from Parks and Recreation Director Kimberly McNeeley explains that at last estimate in 2018, the cost of replacing the pool was $3.7 million. “Estimates today would likely far exceed the 2018 amount,” she notes. “The department aquatics maintenance team conducted a routine inspection and discovered that the entire operating system must be replaced before the pool can reopen. Without replacement funding currently available, preliminary repair and replacement costs are estimated to exceed $300,000. The timeframe for repair is estimated to take between six and 18 months.” Gillis Pool is located at 2504 Durwood St., near the intersection of West Oltorf and South First streets.

The Project Connect team has been might busy lately, holding public engagement meetings about the designs of sections of the Blue and Orange light rail transit corridors. One upcoming meeting Project Connect watchers might not want to miss concerns the various transit options that will be offered on the Blue Line bridge crossing Lady Bird Lake. Initially, the bridge was going to be limited to pedestrians and light rail, but transit planners are taking a closer look to see if Capital Metro buses should also share the bridge. The virtual meeting will be held Tuesday, April 26, at 5:30 p.m. Register for the Zoom meeting.

Austin Public Health has updated its Covid “key indicators” dashboard to be more in line with the CDC Community Levels and Travis County’s Risk-Based Guidelines. The dashboard now keeps track of Covid hospital admissions per 100,000 people over the last week, the percentage of staffed inpatient beds occupied by Covid patients and the total number of new Covid cases per 100,000 people over the last seven days. “We must always evolve and improve the ways to track the threat of Covid-19 in our community and hospital systems. It’s invaluable in our efforts to prevent a scarcity of ICU beds and ventilators that we’ve dealt with many times before during this pandemic,” Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin-Travis County health authority, said in a press release about the change. “We must remain vigilant to prevent future surges, and this will help achieve that goal.” Currently, the risk level in the region is low, which means masking is optional for those who are up-to-date with vaccines and those who are at risk. More information about the new dashboard and Covid resources can be found here.

A new exhibition will bring dozens of kites to hang in the rafters of Austin Central Library’s atrium, where they will remind visitors of the “connection between water and life in Texas,” according to the library’s announcement. The kites on display were chosen from submissions by over 200 artists for the Sacred Springs Kite Exhibition, the inaugural program of Art4Water, a program of the Wimberley Valley Watershed Association, which collaborated with the library and Terry Zee Lee, a national curator of kite exhibitions. Library Director Roosevelt Weeks noted that Central Library’s location, “where Shoal Creek feeds into Lady Bird Lake and about a mile from Barton Springs,” is the perfect place for such an exhibit. The opening reception is May 6, 7-9 p.m., at Austin Central Library, 6th floor, 710 W. Cesar Chavez St. Several of the featured artists will be on hand to give tours of the exhibition. The kites will hang at the library through November 2022.

Confused about the impact of street impact fees? You are not alone. Large- or small-scale developers may attend one of three city-sponsored webinars (via Zoom) intended to explain the new fee, which will be implemented on June 22. According to a press release from the city, the topics covered will include:

• What is a SIF, and why is the city of Austin collecting the fee?
• What other communities have a SIF program and are collecting fees?
• Website information for small developers
• How will the fee be used?
• Who will have to pay the fee?
• How is the fee calculated, and can I estimate the fee myself?
• When and how will the fee be collected (in what stage of the permit process)?
• What forms of payment will the city accept?

Information about the fees can be found on the city website. Registration information for the webinars, which will be held April 20 and May 19, can also be found online.