The City Council Housing and Planning Committee meets for the first time this year today, and it promises to be a big one. In fact, according to Council Member Greg Casar on a City Council Message Board post, “The staff’s backup material on such a big topic would take hours to be presented at the committee meeting (their powerpoint presentation is dozens and dozens of slides). That material is available on the city’s website, for the curious. For the differently curious, the committee will take up the plan to implement the Austin Strategic Housing Blueprint, displacement, use of the affordable housing bond, preservation strategies, and lots more from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. See you there!

Airports can be stressful, they can be hectic, they can be tedious – but they aren’t usually melodious. Until now. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and public radio station KUTX 98.9 FM have teamed up to present the Austin Music Experience, now flooding the airwaves of the Barbara Jordan terminal with music – not just any music, but tunes by local Austin artists. ABIA passengers will be serenaded by a live-streamed playlist hand-selected by KUTX and featuring a wide variety of local music from Texas swing, country and rock to pop and hip-hop. KUTX program director Matt Reilly said, “KUTX is thrilled to partner with our friends at Austin-Bergstrom to spread the gospel of Austin music. Introducing the Austin Music Experience to a global audience will further strengthen this cultural and economic pillar of our city.” If you hear something you like while you’re waiting for your bags and you want to dig deeper, the playlist is on KUTX.

Nominations for the Austin A-List Awards, which celebrate local companies, are open. Yesterday, the Austin Chamber of Commerce announced that nominations for the three categories – startup, mid-size and scaling – will be open now until April 8. “A-List is our opportunity to celebrate Austin’s homegrown companies and leaders that are making noise and innovating in diverse sectors,” said Austin Chamber Senior Vice President Leigh Christie. “This year, we’re proud to introduce several new award categories including ones that celebrate women-led and bootstrapped businesses. A-List is also going to be a year-long celebration beginning today with nominations opening up, highlighted by our event in May, and continuing beyond as we look to feature even more thriving Austin leaders and job creators throughout the year.” To nominate a company (or your own company) and to learn more about the categories, visit austinchamber.com/alist. Finalists and winners will be honored on Thursday, May 23, at ACL Live at the Moody Theater.

The preliminary engineering report for the Red Line Trail has been completed and the city’s Urban Trails Program is eager to share the information with the community. Attend an open house to learn more about the Red Line Trail project, which will connect Braker Lane and the Capital Metro Kramer Red Line Station to the Northern Walnut Creek trail system. Urban Trails staffers will give a short presentation and answer questions about the project, which is funded by the 2016 Mobility Bond. The event is Thursday, Feb. 21, from 6:30-8 p.m., at Whole Foods Market community room, 11920 Domain Drive. Visit the Red Line Trail website to learn more.

Austin residents are invited to attend a public hearing of the city’s Community Development Commission to share their ideas for setting grant funding priorities for affordable housing, job creation and public service needs for low- and moderate-income families, seniors and people with disabilities. Public input will help the commission develop its FY 2019-23 federal funding plan for HUD grants. In its announcement, the city expressed hope that the process will “foster community partnerships, cultivate emerging leadership around affordable housing, and facilitate an ongoing dialogue to brainstorm opportunities.” The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 6:30 p.m., at the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development office in the Street-Jones Building, 1000 E. 11th St., Room 400A. Read more about the five-year funding plan.

Austin school district administrators are hammering out the details of a plan to close some schools and consolidate others. No specific schools have yet been named for closure, though the district will likely target historically under-enrolled schools. By doing so, AISD hopes to close its yawning deficit by as much as $55 million over the next several years. AISD Superintendent Paul Cruz is quick to emphasize that the overarching goal of the school closure plan, which he aims to have approved by the board this month and finalized by summer, is to give students the benefits of renovated facilities. “It’s (about) having 21st-century learning spaces for our kids,” Cruz said. “Making sure they are in fully modernized high-tech environments, because we believe that’ll prepare them for their futures.” Read more here.

Despite 35-degree temps and a persistent drizzle, Mayor Steve Adler came out to Austin’s second annual Far East Fest to celebrate the cultures and cuisines of the city’s Asian inhabitants. In typical Austin fashion, the food festival had lines snaking from booth to booth as people gobbled down warm samples and watched belly dancers and K-pop cover groups. In between the acts, Mayor Adler came onstage to deliver some brief remarks about Austin’s growing Asian population and its influence on the city. He mentioned the importance of promoting cuisine as one of the gateways to culture and the benefits of new experiences for those who might not be so familiar with the cultures represented at the dozens of booths in the parking lot of H Mart. Most importantly, he encouraged the crowd to keep eating, not only because the food was delicious, but because eating is a great way to stay warm.

Yesterday’s City Council meeting kicked off differently than most, with distinguished service awards (and plants) honoring interim assistant city managers Sara Hensley and Joe Pantalion for their service. After a restructuring of the city’s executive team by City Manager Spencer Cronk, both will now return to their previous positions – Hensley as director of the Parks and Recreation Department and Pantalion as director of the Watershed Protection Department. “They both deserve incredible credit and thanks for the seamless leadership they provided,” said Cronk. “They are incredible examples of the professional depth we have here at the city.” Pantalion and Hensley served as interim assistant city managers from April 2017 to the present.

At the end of December, the Lower Colorado River Authority temporarily lowered the level of water in Lake LBJ in order to allow for the repair and maintenance of docks and other structures that were damaged during the severe flooding in October. The lake was lowered about 4 feet. Now, say elected officials in surrounding communities, it’s time to fill the lake back up. The refill was originally set for mid-March, but at the request of the communities, LCRA has shortened the timetable for refilling Lake LBJ. The refill is now scheduled to begin Sunday, Feb. 24, and should be finished by Wednesday, Feb. 27. Water was also released from Lake Marble Falls, lowering that lake about 7 feet. The Marble Falls refill will take place on the original timetable, beginning March 18. For more information on lake and river lowerings, visit LCRA.org.

After a bit more discussion, a sublease at the Recycled Reads store at 5335 Burnet Road was postponed yet again. Council will take up the proposed sublease at its March 7 meeting, a decision that was made after a chorus of pleas for more information on the future of the used bookstore, which could be tied to the proposed lease of the space to Austin Creative Reuse. Many were caught off guard by the idea of winding down operation at a central location of Recycled Reads in favor of book sales that would be dispersed throughout Austin Public Library branches. City Manager Spencer Cronk assured Council members that clarity on the future of Recycled Reads when the sublease returns in March was a “clear takeaway” from the past weeks’ discussions.

Deputy Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo was the bearer of bad news Tuesday at a City Council work session. Council should not expect the budget process this year to be as easy as it was last year, he said. That would be the case even if the state Legislature does not impose the stringent local government revenue restrictions that Gov. Greg Abbott and other GOP leaders have promised. Under the proposal backed by Abbott, local governments would be allowed to collect a maximum of 2.5 percent more in property tax year-over-year, down from the current maximum of 8 percent. Any increase above 2.5 percent would need voter approval. Council members agreed that the community must speak out against the measure, which they said would devastate city services while providing very little tax relief. They also agreed, however, that the city needs to brace for tough times. Council Member Jimmy Flannigan said it would be even more important for Council to make tough decisions about how to allocate dollars, including by disappointing groups or stakeholders that have come to expect funding for certain programs. Council Member Pio Renteria said that the city might have to pull back on incentives for businesses, suggesting that move might force Republican legislative leaders to reconsider their decision. Council Member Greg Casar said the “forced austerity” from the state means the city would be focused on “mitigating hurt” to existing programs, rather than doing more to help those in need.

The Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department is hoping to entice developers to submit proposals for the Rental Housing Development Assistance Program and the Ownership Housing Development Assistance Program in line with the new development assistance calendar. The new calendar aims to streamline the process and help boost the construction of affordable housing in the city. Project applications can be submitted at any time, and will be reviewed quarterly. Both RHDA and OHDA are critical programs for affordable housing in the city: RHDA promotes housing development construction for low-income households while OHDA funds private and nonprofit developers in purchasing, rehabbing or constructing affordable homeownership opportunities for low- to moderate-income homebuyers. James May, NHCD community development manager, said in the announcement, “Our goal is to establish the clearest and most efficient means for processing these applications in a timely manner. We ask that applications be detailed as to all stages of the development process, so the city’s AHFC (Austin Housing Finance Corporation) Board can consider the entirety of the project.”