The Austin Code Department is packing for a move. Code inspectors should be unpacked and ready to get back to business protecting the health and safety of the community in their new digs at 5202 E. Ben White Blvd. by June 3. The department doesn’t anticipate any disruptions to business, although there could be a slight delay in processing licenses and registrations. Phone numbers will remain unchanged. If this news has made you realize that you don’t appreciate your code inspectors as much as you should, visit the website and learn more about this vital city service.

Foundation Communities breaks ground on its latest affordable housing complex, Waterloo Terrace, today. The ceremony, which will take place at Bluebonnet Studios at 10:30 a.m., will feature Austin FC’s philanthropic organization, 4ATX, which will present a check, along with speakers Mayor Steve Adler, Foundation Communities Executive Director Walter Moreau and Austin FC and Precourt Sports Ventures CEO Anthony Precourt. When complete, Waterloo Terrace will be Foundation Communities’ 25th affordable housing project, and 27 of the efficiencies at the new complex at 12190 N. MoPac Expressway will be reserved for homeless and low-income veterans.

The Austin City Council is looking for a few good volunteers to serve on the Municipal Civil Service Commission. According to the city’s announcement, the MCS Commission “was created by amendment to the City Charter to recommend the MCS rules to Council and also to serve as ruling body on appeals of disciplinary actions by covered city of Austin employees.” The commission “hears and makes final, binding decision on appeals of city employees resulting from a disciplinary probation, disciplinary suspension, demotion, discharge, or denial of promotion.” The time commitment is about 20 hours a month and hearings typically last a day and are scheduled twice a month. The term of service will run until May 9, 2021. Qualified candidates must be Austin residents and preferably have some experience or knowledge of human resources, labor relations and employment law. Apply online here. Send your resume and cover letter via email to Stephanie.Hall@austintexas.gov. The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. on Friday, May 17.

When shopping for a new home, many people pay close attention to the neighborhood schools in the hopes that their kids will have a shot at a great education. The Austin Independent School District knows this, and that’s why it has invited the Austin Board of Realtors on a special tour of three district schools, so the agents can get the inside scoop and become an “expert resource for clients.” The three schools participating in the ABoR tour are Palm Elementary School, Bailey Middle School and Akins High School.

This story has been edited since publication.

Austin’s Convention Center, Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, Waller Creek, Rainey Historic District, Brush Square and Palm School have all been topics of (sometimes fierce) discussion over the years. Now, according to a City Council Message Board post from Council Member Kathie Tovo, they might be part of a planning process that will solidify them all into the “Palm District,” with a promise of a master planning process to come. Tovo writes, “Over the course of many years, we have had disparate, fragmented planning around these assets, and I believe we have a unique opportunity right now to bring together the various groups who have deep and vested ties in this area along with the many new individuals and businesses that now call this area home. As a city, we have an opportunity before us to create a meaningful, comprehensive, and potentially healing plan that rights some of the wrongs that have resulted in stranded cultural resources, impaired mobility, and divided communities.” Tovo goes on to explain that, over the next few weeks, she and Council Member Pio Renteria will work to solicit feedback on how to create a master plan, with a working draft resolution embedded below.

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Honestly, is there anything better than public transit? We don’t think so. Everyone in the community gets to share this sustainable method of transportation that reduces nasty pollution and traffic congestion, relieves us of the need to find a parking space and takes us nearly anywhere we want to go. You can show your affection for buses, trains and light rail this Thursday, April 25, for Get on Board Day. Use the Transit app to plan a trip. Take a selfie on Capital Metro and share it on social media using the #GetOnBoard hashtag. Tweet your transit love and ask your friends and family to use public transit and to share their photos, too.

Austin Water is slated to begin work on the Nueces Street Wastewater Rehabilitation Project this Saturday, April 27. The project will take place on Nueces Street from Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd to Eighth Street and will take about eight months to complete, so lane closures and detours are a given. Workers plan to do small sections of the street at a time so the lane closures will be staggered. The project “will extend the service life of the wastewater mains and provide a more reliable wastewater service in the area,” says the utility. Minimal digging will be required and water and wastewater service will not be affected. The first leg of the project, from April 27 to the end of May, is depicted on the map below.

The Moody Foundation has given the Barton Springs Conservancy a $2.1 million donation that will help pay for the rehabilitation of the bathhouse facility at Barton Springs. The donation puts the conservancy past its $8 million goal for the project, though ongoing contributions are being accepted to pay for ecological features and outreach programs. Previous funding for the bathhouse project included city bonds approved by voters in 2012, $3 million from the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax and a total of $3 million in private philanthropic donations. The renovation, which is expected to begin next year, is needed to address ongoing maintenance and accessibility issues while preserving the bathhouse’s historic character. Among the planned improvements: reopening the original men’s and women’s entrances at the central rotunda locations, restoring and improving the women’s dressing area, modernizing restroom facilities and enhancing educational components throughout the space. The conservancy will celebrate the Moody Foundation donation at a VIP event on May 9.

Next month, Austin will host a group of urban planners from the city of Jinan in the Shandong province of China, on a visit to learn about best practices of urban planning policies in U.S. cities. The trip is being arranged by the International City/County Management Association, which has organized delegates’ visits in cities in Texas and California that began in March and run through mid-May. City departments including Austin Water, Public Works, Watershed Protection and Planning and Zoning will show off various projects during the May 1 visit. Among the Planning and Zoning efforts will be a session on the future of the city’s One Texas Center property, which is slated to add a large volume of office space or affordable housing in the future as the city moves forward with the South Central Waterfront Initiative.

The Trail Foundation and Austin Parks and Recreation are holding a public open house to kick off the planning process for the Holly Point project. Neighbors, hikers, community rec groups and all other interested parties are invited to come and help design a vision for the site. The plan is to transition the decommissioned Holly Power Plant into parkland that will enhance existing open space, expand the view and use of the waterfront for fishing or recreation, restore the shoreline wetland habitat, place decking under the heritage oaks, and make other improvements that will benefit the entire community. Coffee and breakfast tacos (while they last) will be served and the event is kid-friendly, with some fun activities planned for the little ones. The Trail Foundation will give a short presentation explaining the process and inviting the community’s vision for the site plan. Saturday, May 18, 9 a.m.-noon, Loraine Camacho Activity Center, 35 Robert T. Martinez Jr. St. Can’t make it? Fill out a short survey online.

Mosquitoes love tires – not to put on their tiny mosquito-mobiles, but because they love to breed in the water that collects inside discarded tires. A single waterlogged tire can produce more than 10,000 mosquitos, all whining and droning and trying to suck your blood and carry nasty diseases. That’s why Austin Public Health is holding a Tire Take Back Day on Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There are two drop-off locations – Austin Resource Recovery at 2514 Business Center Dr. and Great Hills Baptist Church at 10500 Jollyville Rd. – and both will take your tires free of charge. No rims, please, and only tires from passenger cars. While you’re at it, since you’ll be in a Marie Kondo tidying-up kind of mood, bring along all of your expired prescription medications, because April 27 also happens to be National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. APH is combining the two events to help the community safely discard two potentially dangerous items: old tires and surplus prescription drugs.

The professional soccer team that will play in a new stadium built on city property in North Austin has created a philanthropic organization that will fund charitable efforts in the Austin area. 4ATX Foundation was launched with a $1 million grant from the family of Anthony Precourt, chairman and CEO of the Austin FC soccer team that will begin play as a Major League Soccer franchise in 2021. The foundation’s area of focus will include youth health and wellness and efforts that support “the cultural and lifestyle vibrancy of Austin.” Local business and community leaders are currently being sought and screened for membership on the foundation’s board of directors. 4ATX is among the groups that have contributed to Waterloo Terrace, the affordable housing project from Foundation Communities located off Mopac Expressway near St. David’s North Austin Medical Center. That project is scheduled to break ground on April 24.