City Council approved a small change to the city’s subdivision ordinance Thursday, allowing the owners of a small home in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood to add on to their 486-square-foot home. Only Council Member Jimmy Flannigan voted no. More than two years ago, Elizabeth Carey and her partner purchased the home at the corner of South Fifth and West Gibson streets, not knowing that their house and the house next door were considered to be on just one lot because of actions not taken by a previous owner in 1946. Fast-forward to 2020, when they learned that even with a variance from the Board of Adjustment they would not be allowed to add on to their home. When the matter came up at Council in early August, Flannigan and several other Council members who supported passage of the ill-fated new Land Development Code said they would not be able to approve a small change needed for the subdivision ordinance. They argued that they needed to hear from Judge Jan Soifer on whether such a change would violate her order from last spring. Soifer ruled that Council acted illegally when it voted 7-4 to adopt the new code without allowing property owners to protest individual zoning changes. That case is on appeal and Soifer told the city she no longer has jurisdiction over the matter. Bouldin Creek is in Council Member Kathie Tovo’s district and Tovo was one of the four who voted against adopting the new code.

Parks and Recreation Board Member Rich DePalma presented an idea for the parks department to use spare park space, stormwater maintenance structures and freeway underpasses for wheeled sports parks. The concept marries the department’s long-range goal to invest in non-traditional sports such as skateboarding, derby, bocce ball and ultimate Frisbee, while potentially working to meet the needs of the Watershed Protection Department by creating flood management areas. DePalma also wants to complement the city’s expansive trail system with something that speaks to younger generations. During the presentation, DePalma pointed out that Austin, which currently has three skate parks, falls behind other municipalities such as San Antonio and Portland when it comes to alternative recreational facilities. The Tony Hawk Foundation, which provides grants to underserved communities to build inclusive skate parks, gave the Texas/Arkansas/Louisiana/Oklahoma region a C+ for its lack of skate parks. The idea is in its infancy, although DePalma said he has already received support from other department members. DePalma asked PARD Director Kimberly NcNeeley to help him identify any laws that might restrict the creation of these parks and plans to reach out to the Texas Department of Transportation for an agreement on the use of underpasses. He said issues concerning homeless displacement and funds will be worked out in later discussions.

AISD has 219 National Board Certified teachers and the Texas Education Agency has just designated them as “Recognized.” According to the district, the designation “highlights the tremendous skill and dedication” of these teachers, or NBCTs, as they are called. Adding to the good news, TEA also approved AISD’s application to fund 185 NBCTs who are currently serving in teaching positions under the Teacher Incentive Allotment, a program created by the Texas Legislature “to provide a realistic pathway for top teachers to earn six-figure salaries, and to help attract and retain highly effective teachers in high needs areas and at traditionally harder-to-staff schools.” For each of the 185 recognized teachers, the district will receive $3,000-$9,000, an allocation “based on the teacher’s assigned campus using weighted point values for various student and economic census demographics.” As AISD says, “The TEA designation and Teacher Incentive Allotment not only rewards our National Board Certified teachers for being the brightest in their field, but allows the district to expand its commitment to the growth and development of our educators.”

When he saw Item 43 on this week’s City Council agenda, consumer advocate Paul Robbins was concerned that the city might be making a costly mistake. The agreement provides for a 10-year extension of the current franchise agreement between the city and the Pedernales Electric Cooperative. The documentation provided by the Office of Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs seemed to indicate that the city would only receive a 2 percent franchise fee from PEC, when all gas utilities pay a 5 percent fee and PEC collects a 4.5 percent fee from customers. Robbins sent an email to the mayor and Council requesting that the item be postponed. He wrote, “We are a city in need of revenue sources during a time of economic stress, so Austin needs to maximize franchise-fee collections.” Rondella Hawkins, who heads up telecommunications and regulatory affairs, did not disagree. After receiving questions about the agreement, Hawkins wrote a memo “clarifying” that the city would indeed be receiving the 4.5 percent fee, not 2 percent as originally stated. She passed that information on to Robbins, who will no longer be requesting a postponement on the matter. However, Robbins told the Austin Monitor that he still wants to tell Council that telecommunications and regulatory affairs should not be able to bypass boards and commissions as they currently do. He suggested that matters such as the PEC agreement should be reviewed by the city’s Electric Utility Commission.

Like so many other things these days, the projects funded by Travis County’s 2017-2022 bond program have experienced delays. The $301 million bond package was divvied out between 59 different projects that were slated for completion by the end of 2022. Now only 49 of those projects will be completed on schedule. According to Jessy Milner, the program manager for the bond package, the other projects are delayed for varying lengths of time. “The master schedule has adjusted to a total of a 10-day additional increase in average overall project duration,” he told the Commissioners Court. Some of the projects are delayed by six months or more. “Due to Covid, there are just new working environments,” he said, referring to new social distancing mandates on construction sites, project managers working at home and difficulties in temporarily shutting off utilities to move them to a new location. Hurricane Laura making landfall last week did not help the situation. Milner said that many construction crews paused work in Travis County to help with emergency response projects in the state. Morgan Cotton, director of the county’s Public Works Department, said, “Even with the struggle with the pandemic … (staffers) have all stepped up and done a yeoman’s effort at trying to keep this project program running as originally scheduled.” He noted that many of the delays are “totally out of our control.”

The Transportation Department is rolling out a new parking payment feature to make Austin the first city where drivers can pay for parking within Google Maps. When navigating a route using Google Maps on either iOS or Android systems, drivers will be prompted to pay for on-street parking spaces directly from their mobile phone, eliminating the need to use a parking kiosk. For the new feature, Google has partnered with Passport, the company that already provides technology services for the city and helped brand the city’s ParkATX app. “The city of Austin’s parking team has always had a laser focus on delivering a positive customer experience by making parking frictionless,” said Khristian Gutierrez, chief revenue officer at Passport. Assistant City Manager Gina Fiandaca said the feature “improves convenience while also reducing the need to physically touch parking meters or ticketing machines in light of the current global pandemic.” The announcement comes days after Transportation announced its new “pay-by-plate” system, allowing drivers to enter their license plates for parking sessions up to 10 hours across the city, eliminating the need for parking stickers and the problem of narrow time limits at on-street parking spots.

It was nice while it lasted, but customers will again be charged for additional bags of trash placed curbside. The fee waiver, which expires on Monday, Sept. 7, was meant to help during the pandemic when so many people were quarantined at home, generating extra garbage. Austin Resource Recovery Director Ken Snipes said in an announcement, “We hope this effort has provided relief for our customers during these uncertain times.” Customers will be charged $9.60 for each additional bag set out with their trash cart, or they may purchase excess garbage stickers at area grocery stores for $4 each. As always, there is no charge for extra recycling, which can be placed in a cardboard box or other reusable container if there is no more room in the blue cart. ARR asks that curbside customers continue to bag and tie their trash, for the safety of the collections crew.

The Travis County Commissioners Court voted unanimously yesterday to extend the disaster declaration issued Aug. 23 for Hurricane Laura by another week. “We would like to keep it in place out of an abundance of caution,” said Chuck Brotherton, county executive for emergency services. He explained that with this extension, his department will be able to reference the disaster declaration when it reports costs to the state for reimbursement. Eric Carter, chief emergency management coordinator for Travis County, told commissioners that the county worked to successfully house 3,000 evacuees across four counties in the area and that they were able to document most of those people returning home last Friday. He noted the number of evacuees for the storm was triple that experienced during Hurricane Harvey. “It was a significant event by any stretch,” he said.

Having taken over the operation of the Zilker Park train, the Austin Parks Foundation is now looking for a new name. In a press release launching the naming contest, APF explains the history of the train formerly known as the Zilker Zephyr. “The upcoming contest follows a history of community involvement in the mini train that has run through Zilker Park since 1961. The park’s first train, the Zilker Eagle ran for over 30 years. The latest version, the Zilker Zephyr, was named in 1997 following a contest hosted by the city of Austin. In May of 2019, the privately operated Zilker Zephyr went out of commission due to track erosion. Now, in an effort to make immediate and necessary improvements as the master planning process is underway, Austin Parks Foundation is currently working with an engineering firm to do a structural assessment and determine what needs to be done. The new Zilker train, which is scheduled to make its debut next summer, will be in the style of a 1940s passenger train, but for the first time ever, will be electric, shaded and ADA-accessible. Austin Parks Foundation aims to raise over $525,000 to fund this project and to date has raised $55,000.” Those bursting with bright ideas for a new name can submit their entries at austinparks.org/zilker-train. The most popular ideas will be announced on Sept. 30, followed by voting on the final names.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any weirder around here, we’ve got crazy ants. According to Austin Water, new populations of the invasive tawny crazy ant have been found at Emma Long Metropolitan Park and Roy G. Guerrero Park. The utility pleads with visitors to these parks to “be on the lookout for these ants and make sure that you do not bring them along with you on your clothes or other items when you leave. Crazy ants are reddish-brown ants about 1/8-inch long that forage in trails or in a ‘crazy,’ erratic pattern of movement. Crazy ant infestations cause incredible amounts of damage to wildlife and electrical systems, and controlling their spread is critical.” If you would like to learn more about these ants and what makes them so cray cray, check out this UT page that describes efforts to control them.

Those interested in learning more about Austin architecture now have a handy reference at their fingertips. The colorful, easy to use Guide to Austin Architecture – a joint venture of the Austin chapter of American Institute of Architects and its associated foundation – is now online for all to use and includes an inaugural self-guided walking tour of Austin’s downtown. According to the news release, “While the Guide is composed by experts, special care has been taken to make it accessible to architecture enthusiasts and casual explorers alike. The Guide explores not only buildings and their context, but beloved community-made spaces and places of Austin as well. Maps, text, and images allow for self-led walking tours or virtual forays from the comfort of the couch.” In addition, “Upcoming entries and tours will focus on the concept of Austin-ness and the neighborhoods of underrepresented local communities.” Said Ingrid Spencer, executive director of AIA Austin, “We are thrilled to provide a different tool for people to explore Austin in person or virtually in these unusual times.”

The Pedestrian Advisory Council and the Bicycle Advisory Council are looking for a few good volunteers who are “passionate about improving walking, biking and access to transit in Austin.” If that describes you, apply here to join the PAC and here to join the BAC. These volunteer advisory councils meet each month “to advise local agencies on planning, policy, design, funding, education, and enforcement efforts related to walking and biking.” All meetings are virtual, for now. Applications will be accepted through Friday, Sept. 25.