On Friday, Hays County, in partnership with the Nature Conservancy, is scheduled to purchase 530 acres of the former Boy Scout ranch known as El Rancho Cima. The $13 million acquisition will be partially funded through use of Hays County bond money designated to protect the land and habitat of an area 18 miles west of San Marcos along the Devil’s Backbone. Laura Huffman, regional director of the Nature Conservancy, said in a news release, “In partnering with Hays County to protect this property, we have a rare opportunity to simultaneously safeguard this iconic piece of our state’s history and culture while meeting conservation goals and increasing the possibility of public access to nature in the fast-changing Texas Hill Country.” Huffman said much of the credit for the agreement goes to Hays County Commissioner Lon Shell, who led the effort on the Commissioners Court. Huffman concluded, “Collaborative land conservation deals like this are the only way to protect the nature we have left in a way that benefits both people and the environment.” Shell said, “Hays County appreciates once again collaborating with the Nature Conservancy in Texas to help safeguard our natural lands, which are quickly disappearing in our fast-growing county.” He noted that a previous collaboration with the conservancy resulted in the creation of Jacob’s Well Natural Area.

The Parks and Recreation Department’s Brush Square Master Plan has been recognized by the American Planning Association Texas Chapter with a Planning Achievement Award in Urban Design. According to a city press release, “The master plan envisions Brush Square as a unique park for downtown Austin that is distinct yet complementary to other downtown squares and public spaces. Brush Square is one of three remaining historic public squares from the 1839 Waller Plan for the City of Austin and is located in the southeast area of downtown. It is home to the Susanna Dickinson Museum, O. Henry Museum, the Austin Fire Museum, and historic Central Fire Station #1.” PARD Director Kimberly McNeeley thanked the APA for “recognizing the sense of place that the Brush Square Master Plan will create. This important urban square provides space for residents and visitors to learn about Austin’s unique culture and enjoy healthy recreation opportunities.” The award was presented at the APA’s Annual Planning Conference on Friday, Nov. 8, in Waco.

Many property owners living around Lake LBJ and Inks Lake are still recovering from the October 2018 floods. In order to help these residents repair docks and other structures that were damaged, the Lower Colorado River Authority has scheduled drawdowns of lower Lake LBJ and Inks Lake from Jan. 2-Feb. 28, 2020. According to a press release from LCRA, “Lake LBJ will be lowered four feet, and Inks Lake will be lowered eight feet.” John Hofmann, an LCRA executive vice president, said, “LCRA normally doesn’t lower the same lake two years in a row, but we are making an exception after hearing from local officials and residents about needed repairs and maintenance resulting from the historic flooding last year.” Lowering water levels makes it easier to “remove debris, dredge, and repair and maintain docks, retaining walls and other shoreline property. Lowering the lakes during cold winter months also helps curb the growth of nuisance aquatic vegetation.” Find more information on the drawdowns here.

Think you know as much about Austin as your elected officials do? Now’s your chance to prove it. Join Glasshouse Policy, the Austin Monitor and KUT on Wednesday, Nov. 20, for a chance to test your knowledge of all things Austin against a group of City Council members. In quick trivia rounds hosted by KUT’s Jimmy Maas, you can go head-to-head with Council members. Doors open at 5:30, so be sure to get there on time to sign up your group for a chance to compete in “Family Feud”-style trivia rounds. Note that each group will only be allowed a max of five people. You do not need to have a trivia group to sign up, but having a group may increase your chances of being selected. If trivia isn’t your thing, that’s OK; we will begin screening the Democratic debate starting at 7 p.m. and play a few rounds of debate bingo. For more information and to get your tickets, visit our event page.

Some possible food for thought during the ongoing evolution of the city’s Land Development Code comes via a new study from RentCafe that finds growing demand for apartment housing and rising land values are causing developers to think vertically. The study of three decades’ worth of apartment construction in major metro areas found that mid- and high-rise apartment buildings made up more than one-third of all apartment building projects from 2010-2018. That total – with high-rises representing 7 percent of all projects and mid-rise buildings accounting for 29 percent – reflects a drastic shift from 1990 through 1999 when every apartment project in the area was a low-rise, one of only five areas in the study with no tall apartment buildings constructed. The trend toward taller residential buildings is expected to continue as higher land values force developers to create more units per square foot wherever allowed by zoning regulations. Austin’s numbers roughly mirror the national totals for the markets included in the study, which showed low-rise buildings make up 63 percent of all new apartment projects, and mid- and high-rise buildings coming in at 31 and 7 percent, respectively.

The Splash! Exhibit at the Beverly S. Sheffield Education Center is due for a face-lift and the parks department wants the community’s input. PARD invites community members to come a public meeting to share their ideas for revitalizing the education center, which is part of the Barton Springs Bathhouse. Tens of thousands of locals and out-of-towners alike have been coming to the education center every year since 2000 to learn about the habits and habitat of the endangered Austin blind salamander and the Barton Springs salamander. The first community engagement meeting will be held on Dec. 5, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Barton Springs Bathhouse Rotunda, 2201 William Barton Drive.

The Dove Springs Recreation Center now has a new mini-pitch soccer/futsal court, thanks to the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, local nonprofit Soccer Assist, the U.S. Soccer Foundation, and community donations. The state-of-the-art soccer play space – formerly an unused tennis court – is the “first U.S. Soccer Foundation mini-pitch collaboration in central Austin and part of 1,000 safe places to play mini-pitches that the U.S. Soccer Foundation is installing with partners across the country by 2026,” according to a city press release. The project came out of the parks department’s Community Activated Park Projects program, which enables community members to initiate improvements on public parkland.

Photos courtesy of Soccer Assist: An old tennis court is transformed into a soccer/futsal court at Dove Springs Recreation Center.

Council is once again scheduled to discuss a revision of the Land Development Code today. According a post by Mayor Steve Adler on the City Council Message Board, Council will aim to finish its discussion by 1 p.m. in order to give those scheduled to attend a Capital Metro board meeting enough time to scramble across town to make the meeting. According to that same post, Council will hear a staff presentation and ask questions about that presentation for the first hour, then take up “Residential House-Scale Zones (Text and Map); Transition Zones (R4-RM1; Text and Map); Residential Multi-Unit, Mixed Use, Main Street, and other Zones (Text and Map); Affordable Housing (Density Bonuses, etc.); Non-Zoning (Drainage, Water Quality, Transportation, Tree Protection, Parkland, Signs, etc.); and Process (Site Plans, Subdivision, Variances, etc.).” The last 15 minutes are earmarked for the scope and process for first-reading deliberations, scheduled for Dec. 9.

It should come as no surprise to City Council watchers that District 10 Council Member Alison Alter announced this weekend that she would be seeking a second term. Alter, who is not a frequent tweeter, confirmed her announcement via Twitter and sent emails to supporters seeking contributions and directing anyone interested to read all about her on her website. Alter trounced the first representative of District 10, the considerably more conservative Sheri Gallo, in a runoff election three years ago. According to her most recent campaign finance filing, Alter’s campaign still owes her $2,500 from the race against Gallo. Candidates for City Council are now free to collect campaign funds for the November 2020 election. However, many people will be focused on raising money for candidates in the March primary, so it may be somewhat difficult to get the public’s attention for Council races during the next few months. The only other announcements, so far, have been from Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza, who said last week that she would not be running for reelection. She is widely expected to announce her candidacy for Travis County Attorney in the very near future. Following Garza’s announcement, David Chincanchan, chief of staff for Council Member Pio Renteria, told the Austin Monitor that he would be running for the District 2 seat. Chincanchan has designated Laura Hernandez as his campaign treasurer, allowing him to collect donations for that race.

St. David’s Foundation has announced a new class of grant recipients who will share more than $2.9 million in funding for parks facilities throughout the Austin area. The recipients include: Art Spark Texas ($30,000), the Thinkery ($175,533), Austin Independent School District ($130,320), Austin Parks and Recreation Department ($199,122), Bastrop County ($200,000), Elgin Parks and Recreation Department ($199,909), city of Lockhart ($200,000), city of Luling ($200,000), city of Smithville ($100,000), Ecology Action of Texas ($200,000), Forklift Danceworks ($75,000), Georgian Acres Neighborhood Association ($135,076), Go! Austin/Vamos! Austin ($105,000), KaBOOM Inc. ($200,000), Luling Little League ($200,000), Pecan Springs-Springdale Neighborhood Association ($96,000), the Nature Conservancy ($85,700), Town Lake Trail Foundation ($200,000), Travis Audubon Society ($60,000), and Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center ($175,000). The Foundation’s Parks With a Purpose program is intended to provide improvements such as playscapes, trail improvements and other urban and rural attractions for parks facing inequity in their offerings to visitors.

Impact Hub Austin has graduated its most recent class of startups and nonprofit organizations focused around addressing housing affordability and workforce development. At a final showcase held Tuesday, 10 groups offered presentations on the work they’ve completed since enrolling in the accelerator program that was created to take on civic issues facing Austin. The groups are: Austin Justice Coalition (housing equality), Digital Docent (workforce development for young people of color), Diva-Licious Brands (food products for underserved neighborhoods), Equidad ATX (community revitalization), Haven Connect (simplifying housing waitlists), Level (education for prisoners), My Brother’s Keeper Scholars (increasing higher education enrollment for underserved communities), Prowess Project (job training for at-risk women), Survive2Thrive Foundation (temporary housing access), and The Other Ones Foundation (work opportunities for the homeless). To date, groups enrolled in Impact Hub, which is supported by JPMorgan Chase and BuildFax, have helped 875 people find housing and another 470 people gain job training to earn a living wage.

Austin Firefighters Association President Bob Nicks says this is the first time he can ever recall his union starting a negative campaign on a public official. Firefighters launched a campaign Thursday called #NoDAMoore. “And to get involved in an issue like this, not a bread-and-butter issue, is very unusual,” he said. But 78 percent of firefighters voting on the issue voted to take this route, according to firefighters Rikki Stankevitz and Christine Jones. The campaign is an expression of frustration and anger over what firefighters perceive as a lack of commitment from District Attorney Margaret Moore to prosecute sexual crimes like that committed by former firefighter James Baker. Baker pleaded guilty last year and was placed on probation after admitting he had installed a video camera in the women’s locker room at the fire station. Although firefighters say the firefighter who caught Baker had plenty of evidence, Moore says that is simply not the case. In an email, she told the Austin Monitor, “I understand the pain, anger and frustration expressed by the women in the video. However, the video is inaccurate. It includes incorrect information. It does not tell the whole truth.” Moore said her prosecutors “reached a plea agreement that, in our experience, was appropriately harsh. Although the victim claims the defendant was not held accountable, the plea bargain agreement required the defendant to plead to a felony offense in open court, accept the maximum number of years of community supervision (five years), and permanently surrender his credentials to be a firefighter and an EMT instructor, ending his career.” Nicks and fellow firefighters point out that Baker was able to retire with full benefits and keep his other part-time jobs. Stankevitz and Jones said the firefighter who caught Baker filming “was met with anger and witness-shaming. … It was not what we should expect from our DA. … It’s not appropriate and we want to bring it to light.”