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Whispers
Monday, October 7, 2019 by Tai Moses
Water utility gets loan for infrastructure upgrades
The Texas Water Development Board has awarded Austin Water more than $120 million in low-interest financing in order to make water and wastewater infrastructure system improvements. Approximately $53 million in financing from TWDB’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund will go toward upgrades of the Walnut Creek and South Austin Regional Wastewater Treatment facilities. About $67 million from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund will finance the construction of system improvements to the North Austin Reservoir and Ullrich Pump Station. David Anders, assistant director of financial services for Austin Water, said in a press release, “By tapping into these cost-effective financial assistance programs, we are able to save millions in interest while making much needed upgrades and improvements.”
Friday, October 4, 2019 by Jo Clifton
Alter rejects contract with Piatra Inc.
Council approved awarding a construction contract with Piatra Inc. without discussion during the consent portion of Thursday’s agenda. Council Member Alison Alter was the sole vote against authorizing the contract. Alter chairs the Council Audit and Finance Committee, which heard extensive negative comments about work the company had previously done for low-income homeowners under a contract with the city’s Home Rehabilitation Loan Program. Alter told the Austin Monitor after the vote that her decision was influenced by hearing from “folks who had a bad experience with (Piatra) … I’m not sure why we’re giving this contract to them under the circumstances. But I don’t have enough information to raise a larger stink about it.” Attorney Bill Aleshire, who represented homeowners Suzanne Janel and Janis Walker as they sought repairs to their homes, told the Monitor via email, “If Piatra’s work is supervised by city staff on this new contract as well as they monitored Piatra’s work on Ms. Janel’s and Ms. Walker’s homes, Austin taxpayers are about to get ripped off. What a terrific way to cover up bad performance – pile lots of tax dollars on top of it!” Piatra Inc. is no longer participating in the city program, but as the only bidder seeking to do renovations on the Kramer Building E. Relay project, the company obviously had the inside track. The contract may amount to $564,283.50.
Friday, October 4, 2019 by Tai Moses
Balcones Resources joins forces with Closed Loop
New York-based investment firm Closed Loop Partners has acquired a stake in the Austin-based environmental services company Balcones Resources, which handles commercial and residential recycling in Texas and Arkansas. By joining forces, the two companies aim to significantly expand their recycling infrastructure and related services. Kerry Getter, chairman and CEO of Balcones, said in a press release, “The connections, resources and expansive network that Closed Loop Partners brings to the table will provide unprecedented opportunities for corporate management and shareholder growth. Balcones and Closed Loop Partners are a perfect fit as our values are tightly aligned. We share a commitment to our people first – both staff and clients – as well as the mission of reducing waste and positively affecting our environment. Together, we will be able to enhance employee opportunities, services to our customers and assist in achieving ambitious environmental goals.” Ron Gonen, CEO of Closed Loop Partners, said, “Together, we look forward to scaling recycling and circular economy infrastructure and services in the southwestern and southeastern United States and beyond.”
Friday, October 4, 2019 by Tai Moses
Navarro ECHS celebrates its new name
Another Confederacy-associated school name bites the dust. Navarro Early College High School – formerly Lanier – will celebrate its new name with a parade, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a new sign. Superintendent Paul Cruz, Trustee Ann Teich, Principal Steven Covin and Navarro family members will deliver brief remarks, followed by a celebration with light refreshments. The school is named in honor of U.S. Army Sgt. Juan P. Navarro, a former student who graduated from Lanier in 2007, joined the army and was killed in action in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2012. Attendees are invited to stay for the family resource fair that is part of the Vikings Fest. Saturday, Oct. 5, 10 a.m. parade; 11 a.m. ceremony, Navarro ECHS, 1201 Payton Gin Road.
Friday, October 4, 2019 by Tai Moses
Brush up on the Nov. 5 ballot
Austinites who want to learn more about the state constitutional amendments and city-county propositions on the November ballot can attend a free discussion hosted by Common Ground for Texans. Jessica Foreman from the League of Women Voters will give a rundown of the propositions, state Rep. Vikki Goodwin will cover the amendments, and Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir will talk about the county’s new touch-screen voting system. Find more information on the Facebook event page. Saturday, Oct. 5, 2-4 p.m., Old Quarry Branch Library, 7051 Village Center Drive.
Thursday, October 3, 2019 by Elizabeth Pagano
CoTMF think tank dives deeper
Since the launch of our new Capital of Texas Media Foundation think tank, research director Brian Kelsey has continued to turn out projects exploring the assumptions we all assert on a fairly regular basis. Kelsey has looked at questions like whether 150 people still move to Austin every day, and whether gentrification is contributing to local labor shortages. Yesterday, Kelsey published his newest, a look at aggregates. Those interested in the organization’s ongoing research can subscribe to stay apprised.
Thursday, October 3, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
RideAustin technology goes global
Aiming to promote its unique nonprofit ride-share business model, RideAustin has released its software platform for use under the MIT open-source license. Andy Tryba, RideAustin’s co-founder and CEO, said publishing the rider and driver apps, the server software and a management console could provide a boost to cities and individuals around the world looking to create similar services of their own. Rather than replication, RideAustin expects the release to generate a collaborative effort to innovate the technology and benefit alternative ride-share providers everywhere. All of this, in the company’s own words, is a natural progression of its founding principles of open data and collaboration. The company says its app is also bigger than ride-share alone, and can serve as a foundation for a variety of on-demand services. RideAustin currently claims status as the world’s only nonprofit ride-share organization. Compared to ride-share giant Uber, the nonprofit charges customers less on average and pays drivers between 30 and 50 percent more. In its role as a community asset, RideAustin offers free and discounted services to groups in need of reliable transportation. Its Round Up donation feature has also raised more than $450,000 for over 50 local nonprofits.
Thursday, October 3, 2019 by Jo Clifton
Another zoning case bites the dust
With District 1 City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison on vacation, Council had already planned a number of postponements from today’s meeting. Late Wednesday afternoon, representatives of the J.J. Seabrook Neighborhood Association in East Austin and developer Glenn F. Cooper (the Urban Groundskeeper, Inc.) told the Austin Monitor that they had agreed to ask Council for a postponement on a case involving rezoning the property at 2205 Tillery Street and 3303 Manor Road. Matt Tynan, an attorney and member of the neighborhood association, said his group felt that the Development Services Department had not given neighbors proper notice for the hearing before the Planning Commission or for consideration by Council. Tynan and his neighbors are concerned about the planned commercial services/vertical mixed-use/family residence zoning that would eliminate any requirement for affordable housing and increase impervious cover on the site to 95 percent. Amanda Swor of the Drenner Group said Wednesday night that the developer had already met with neighbors but was willing to do so again before Oct. 17, the date the case is expected to be rescheduled.
Thursday, October 3, 2019 by Tai Moses
County sets voter registration record
Travis County’s army of volunteer deputy registrars have been out in the community working nonstop at getting people registered to vote, and all that hard work and dedication has paid off – the county reached 800,000 voters on Tuesday. That’s the “highest number of registered voters ever in Travis County and means 93.5 percent of all eligible voters registered to vote,” said Bruce Elfant, the county voter registrar and tax assessor-collector, in a press release announcing the milestone. Monday, Oct. 7, is the last day you can register to vote for the Nov. 5 general election, and early voting begins Oct. 21. And of course, the presidential election is next year. “If you are registered to vote, you need to use it, showing local officials that you are committed to exercising your civic duty in every election,” Elfant said. Though the county reached its goal of 800,000, they’re not stopping now: Elfant says the county’s 3,000 volunteer registrars will continue to register eligible voters. You may confirm your voter registration and find info about upcoming elections and polling places at VoteTravis.com.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 by Jack Craver
Eckhardt lauds focus on middle-skill jobs
The Travis County Commissioners Court warmly received a presentation on the progress of a work development program that the city and county partnered to support in 2017. The program, which is run by nonprofit Workforce Solutions, aims to get people in poverty (at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level) into “middle-skill” jobs. The commissioners were delighted to hear Workforce Solutions CEO Tamara Atkinson tout the figures that the Austin Monitor reported last week, even if the 517 people the program claims it has moved out of poverty still leaves a lot of work to get to the goal of 10,000 by 2021. Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said it was important to provide pathways to well-paying jobs that don’t require sitting in a classroom. “There’s sort of a snootiness factor, in going back to school. There’s a significant cohort of our Travis County neighbors for whom going back to school is a bridge too far. But going to American YouthWorks is not. Going to the IBEW and getting into an apprentice program to become an electrician is not. This is a familiar place for them, a sense of belonging and community that makes it possible to get that kind of training without sitting in a classroom that has become a symbol of otherness.”
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 by Tai Moses
City narrows options for Longhorn Dam bridge design
While we were lounging on the couch reading novels and eating ice cream this summer, the Austin Transportation and Public Works departments were hard at work sifting through responses from a community engagement project involving five designs for a new bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Lady Bird Lake, as well as improvements to the existing bridge. Of the five bridge alternatives the project team presented – plus a no-build option – the community was most enthusiastic about Alternative B (see diagram below), a bridge shaped like a wishbone that connects to the shoreline in three spots. The team will present its recommendation to the public at a final open house this fall and a final preliminary engineering report will also recommend one bridge alternative sometime this winter. Sign up for project updates here.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 by Tai Moses
Have questions about La Loma Trail?
La Loma Trail, which is a project of the 2016 Mobility Bond, is located between Airport Boulevard and U.S. Highway 183, and is projected to extend through the East Boggy Creek Greenbelt area. The Austin Public Works Urban Trails Program recently held a meeting to share updates about the trail’s progress with the community. If you missed the meeting, there are several ways to find out what’s happening: You can check out the project update presentation; peruse the public meeting boards; take a survey about trail alternatives (ends Oct. 8); or just go straight to the La Loma Trail website.