The LGBTQ Quality of Life Advisory Commission and the city’s Equity Office invite community members to complete a survey designed to help the city better understand the needs of Austin’s LGBTQIA+ communities. All responses are confidential and any quotes left in the comments section will be attributed anonymously. The survey takes about 25 minutes to complete and is available in English and in Spanish. The survey period ends on Friday, May 7.

Opportunities for getting your very own lifesaving, get-things-back-to-normal, Covid-19 vaccination are proliferating. No appointments will be needed this weekend at Circuit of the Americas’ drive-thru clinic, which is operated by the Central Texas Counties Vaccine Collaborative. Those who are 16 and older qualify to get their free first shot of the Pfizer Covid vaccine. (Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds will need consent from a parent or guardian and the parent or guardian must be present and in the vehicle.) Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., 9201 Circuit of the Americas Blvd. Also, Austin Public Health’s walk-in Covid vaccine clinic at the Delco Activity Center, 4601 Pecan Brook Dr., is now open five days a week. Those over 18 may get their Covid vaccine between noon and 8 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday. Appointments are not necessary but if you make an appointment, you may move through the line faster.

Editor’s Note: This event has been canceled due to the possibility of inclement weather. A new date has not yet been announced.

Mendez Middle School at 5106 Village Square Dr. invites the whole community to come enjoy Día de Los Niños, a drive-thru celebration promoting literacy, culture and language. The Austin Public Library Bookmobile will be on-site giving away books and kids can play on a real fire engine, courtesy of the Austin Fire Department. There will be walk-up stations, kid-friendly giveaways, safety and education tools, and pre-K registration for the upcoming school year. Austin Public Health staffers will be on hand to administer the Covid vaccine to anyone who needs the lifesaving shot. The event is courtesy of a partnership with Council Member Vanessa Fuentes and Austin ISD District 2 Trustee Ofelia Maldonado Zapata, along with Parks and Recreation, the Austin Police Department, First Church, Mission Capital and others. Friday, April 30, 5 to 7 p.m.

After nine days of early voting, 103,832 Travis County voters had cast ballots in the May 1 election. More than 26,000 of those voters cast their ballots on the final day of early voting. Overall, 13.67 percent of the county’s registered voters have already voted. The Ben Hur Shrine Center hosted the most voters, with a total of 11,737. More than 8,000 voters cast ballots at the Shops at Arbor Walk in Northwest Austin and the Austin Oaks Church in Southwest Austin. More than 7,000 voters cast ballots at the Eanes ISD administration building, indicating an interest in the district’s two school board races. Only 2,622 voters had cast ballots by mail as of Wednesday, but more could still come in. The majority of city of Austin voters who went to vote early were probably most interested in Proposition B, which would reinstate criminal penalties for camping in most public areas. But propositions A, C and D-H all have their proponents and detractors as well.

In a move that may or may not indicate a Land Development Code rewrite will never happen, the city is proposing to streamline its floodplain regulations. The Development Services Department is proposing to add “Flood Hazard Areas” to Chapter 25-12 of the code. It’s an effort to simplify things by relocating the regulations from four sections of the code to one place – no new requirements are being added and nothing is being removed. Public comment on the change is open until May 3 and may be given here.

Starting May 10, Stephanie Hayden-Howard will be the city’s new assistant city manager for health & environment and culture & lifelong learning. Hayden-Howard, who has worked for the city for 20 years, served most recently as director of Austin Public Health throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. In her new position, she will oversee Parks and Recreation, Austin Resource Recovery, Austin Public Library, Animal Services and Austin Public Health. “I look forward to the challenges and opportunities in this new role to provide solutions that are cross-departmental in nature and involve collaboration with community stakeholders to meet the needs of area residents,” she said in a news release from the city. Austin Public Health Assistant Director Adrienne Sturrup will serve as the interim director while a search for the next APH director gets underway in the coming months.

A record number of Austinites are riding bicycles these days, another silver lining of the pandemic – or should we say green lining, as in environmentally friendly. Since we’re riding our bikes, we might as well learn how to maintain and repair them, and that’s where Austin Resource Recovery comes in, with Bike Repair Basics, an installment from its free online series, Fix-It at Home. Along with basic maintenance tips, you’ll learn to fix a flat tire and do other on-the-road repairs. “Don’t miss out on the fun of biking because of fixable items. This workshop will give you the confidence to overcome minor hurdles and get back on the saddle.” The class is offered in English and in Spanish. Get free tickets on Eventbrite. May 10, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

What has 6,642 solar panels and generates enough energy to power up to 160 homes a year? The new solar array atop the Blue parking garage at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The new array, courtesy of Austin Energy’s Community Solar Program, “will produce 1.8 megawatts of locally generated, renewable energy,” according to a city announcement. Jacqueline Yaft, chief executive officer of AUS, said, “Adding solar panels to the roof of our garage is a great fit for both AUS and our partner, Austin Energy. The panels help us meet our goal of utilizing on-site renewable energy, while also supporting our larger Austin community in minimizing impacts on the environment.” Austin Energy General Manager Jackie Sargent noted that the array “serves as a billboard to AUS passengers that our city is committed to renewable energy.”

Project Connect is kicking off its first round of community engagement this week with three public meetings, on Tuesday, 5:30-7 p.m.; Wednesday, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.; and Thursday, 9-10:30 a.m.The live virtual meetings will focus on station types, amenities and access, and transit planners will share “how bus and rail stations will look and what they might offer.” The meetings will be hosted via Zoom and participants are urged to contribute feedback and ask questions using the Q&A feature. As plans for the Orange and Blue lines and MetroRapid take shape, the project team encourages community members to share their thoughts. To see the planned routes, visit the Project Connect System Map. Public comment will be open through May 21.

City Council has approved a series of budget amendments aimed at shifting city responsibilities away from the Austin Police Department. On Thursday, Council approved a number of amendments that, significantly, created a new Emergency Communications Department that will handle emergency calls, moving 222 full-time positions and more than $16 million out of the police budget. The approved changes also move an alarm unit to the Development Services Department and move APD human resources, public information, facility maintenance and finance to city departments. Council members voted 9-1-1 to approve the budget amendments, with Mackenzie Kelly voting in opposition and Vanessa Fuentes absent for the vote.

An April 23 memo from Parks and Recreation Department Director Kimberly McNeeley explains that the city is still working to repair the 20-odd parks buildings that sustained “significant damage” during Winter Storm Uri. Delays in making repairs have been caused by supply chain issues, understaffing and the implementation of the city’s asbestos and lead control procedures. Damage at Turner-Roberts Recreation Center and the Oswaldo A.B. Cantu Pan-American Recreation Center is extensive enough that programming will be disrupted as repairs are made. According to the memo, the parks department is hoping to recover storm-related costs through the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and Corporate Risk Management. Until then, repair costs are being covered by the General Fund, city bonds and the Capital Rehabilitation Fund.

According to the Development Services Department, review times for site plan corrections and code exemptions are currently taking about 25 to 30 business days – well above the goal of 10-12 days for the process. DSD management is “evaluating the delays to find process and technology solutions,” according to the department. In the meantime, to find out the status of an application, send an email that includes your case or permit number to DSDHelp@austintexas.gov.