This past November, voters approved a number of bonds, including the closely watched $12 million Proposition B. That money, according to the ballot language, is earmarked for “planning, acquiring, constructing, renovating, improving, and equipping community and cultural facilities, libraries, museums, and cultural and creative arts facilities, and acquiring land and interests in land and property necessary to do so; and the levy of a tax sufficient to pay for the bonds and notes.” According to a post by Mayor Steve Adler, there are several factions working on how, exactly, the money will be spent. Adler wrote, “In addition to any projects being developed by city staff or Council, my understanding is that the Arts and Music Commissions currently have a joint working group that is soliciting input and will be recommending ideas to the City Council this spring. I look forward to the full Council considering all of these options so that we can include this funding in the bond appropriations as a part of the budget process this coming summer.” We do, too.

Several lanes of traffic will be closed at the intersection of Barton Springs Road and South Lamar Boulevard as Austin Water performs wastewater line rehabilitation work. The road will be closed from Friday, Feb. 8, at 8 p.m. through Monday, Feb. 11, at 5 a.m. The westbound lanes of Barton Springs Road will be closed between South Lamar Boulevard and Jessie Street, with a detour available onto South Lamar. Anyone headed for Zilker Park from the east is advised to take a different route.

Austin Public Health researchers are warning the public about the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria called carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE. The number of cases of CRE in Travis County has been increasing since 2015. In 2017, APH investigated 37 cases of CRE, 18 of them in Travis County residents. CRE are considered a class of “superbug,” strains of bacteria that are resistant to most available antibiotics. According to the Centers for Disease Control, CRE are considered an “urgent” public health threat. CRE infections are extremely difficult to treat and are often fatal. People with weakened immune systems who are in hospitals or nursing homes are most at risk of being exposed to CRE; healthy individuals are not in danger. Prevention can minimize the spread of the germs. Public health officials recommend frequent hand-washing and sterilization of medical instruments. The November/December issue of the Travis County Medical Society Journal features a paper by APH scientists on the growing issue of CRE in Travis County.

For the fourth consecutive year, City Council kicked off its first meeting of the year with a “wellness workout,” led by local fitness coach Dionne Ross. A 20-second video showing Council members and city staff exhibiting varying levels of enthusiasm for the Zumba routine generated quite a bit of activity on Twitter, but not nearly as much as the remix of the clip done by the popular Twitter personality @EvilMopacATX, who synced the clip to Maroon 5’s “Sugar.”

It would be a shame if anyone RT this moment via @JackCraver from today’s Austin City Council meeting that I may have done a bit of construction work on… pic.twitter.com/1xbqgAzyEC

— Evil MoPac (@EvilMopacATX) January 31, 2019

Congratulations, Austin! For the second year in a row, the city has been named to the Best Workplaces for Commuters list. The national designation is bestowed on workplaces that meet standards of excellence including offering a variety of transportation options to employees and commuter benefits that have positive impacts on both people and the environment. Austin city employees enjoy free Capital Metro transit passes, free B-cycle memberships, subsidized vanpools, shower facilities for those who bike to work, and flexible work schedules, among other benefits. Said Robert Spillar, director of the Austin Transportation Department, in a release announcing the designation, “In our commitment to sustainable mobility, we aim to double the percentage of city employees taking sustainable commutes and hope to lead by example. In partnership with Movability, our region’s transportation mobility association, the city of Austin has also challenged other employers in Austin to do so as well.” See the entire 2019 list of Best Workplaces for Commuters.

In an attempt to make its services more available to the public, the Office of Police Oversight has begun holding community office hours from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in select Austin neighborhood libraries. The goal, OPO tweeted, “is to provide guidance to the community on how to utilize OPO as a resource and build community partnerships.” Check out OPO in the library on Wednesday, Feb. 13, at the Carver branch; Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the Southeast branch; Wednesday, March 13, at the Pleasant Hill branch; Wednesday, March 27, at the Ruiz branch; and Wednesday, April 10, at the Terrazas branch.

The same day Council approved a resolution instructing city staff to identify a property for a new homeless shelter, it also approved a new contract with Front Steps, the nonprofit agency that operates the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless on Seventh Street. The initial term of the contract is for 18 months and $4.5 million, but it could be extended up to five years for a maximum of $13.5 million. The contract envisions changes to ARCH, including a reduction in bed space, from 190 to 130, and a new requirement that those seeking shelter at the facility enroll in case management. Only about 25-30 percent of those entering the shelter do so now, according to a staff memo. People staying at the shelter will also have more flexibility to come and go as they please, whereas currently they must leave in the morning. The idea is to engage all of those who come to ARCH with services that will hopefully lead to permanent housing, rather than simply providing homeless people with a place to stay for the night.

Starting today, Jan. 31, the third floor of One Texas Center at 505 Barton Springs Road will be undergoing renovations. During the renovation period, which is expected to last four months, the building inspection team that normally occupies the third floor will be temporarily relocated to the city’s Ben White location. Limited building inspection services will be available on the second floor of One Texas Center during this time. Planned improvements to the third floor include a new intake area for residential, commercial, expedited and volume builder building plan reviews.

A diverse lineup of state and national water experts will be speaking at the ninth annual Central Texas Water Conservation Symposium, whose theme this year is “Integrated Water: Keeping Conservation at the Forefront.” The symposium’s goal is to educate water utilities on how to implement successful water conservation programs and keep customers engaged. The event is today, Jan. 31, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Canyon View Event Center, 4800 Spicewood Springs Road. See a complete list of speakers and topics of discussion here.

Austin Independent School District has snagged an honor called the Texas K-12 Consortium of School Networking Council’s Team Award, in recognition of the district’s pioneering use of technology in urban schools. The award, which recognizes “individuals and school districts that demonstrate outstanding vision in the use of information technologies to improve student learning,” was announced by the Texas K-12 CTO Council, the state chapter of the Consortium of School Networking. The technology team at AISD is led by Kevin Schwartz and includes Erin Bown-Anderson, John Kohlmorgan, Les Ready and Lewis Wynn.

At City Council’s first work session of the year, Mayor Steve Adler reminded his colleagues of the lawsuit by the state attorney general against the Planning Commission. The suit accuses the commission of being in violation of the city charter, which states that only one-third of its members can have ties to the real estate or land development industry. Two of the eight members cited in the suit have since left the commission, but two more will have to go for the commission to be in compliance, according to the suit. Council Member Alison Alter insists that her appointee, Patricia Seeger, is retired from real estate and therefore should not be considered an industry insider. Even if the attorney general agrees, that still suggests that Council members will have to negotiate with each other to ensure that more than four of the commissioners do not have real estate ties. Due to a charter amendment approved by voters in November, every commissioner’s term ends in June, at which point they can either be reappointed or replaced. Council will begin considering appointments to the commission in February.

Fifty-eight Austin schools will receive funding to implement 70 sustainability projects involving over 30,000 students, says the city’s Office of Sustainability, which awards its Bright Green Future grants for projects that offer students hands-on lessons in environmental stewardship and have benefits for the community. The winning projects include organic gardens, wildlife habitats, composting systems, rainwater harvesting and reducing light pollution. Five different school districts including AISD, Round Rock ISD, Georgetown ISD, Leander ISD, and Del Valle ISD, as well as some private schools, the Travis County Juvenile Justice Alternative and the Texas School for the Deaf, received BGF grants. Said Chief Sustainability Officer Lucia Athens in a release announcing the grants, “As Austin continues to seek innovative solutions to address climate change and preserve nature in the city, fostering sustainability thinking and practices in the next generation of Austinites is critical. These are the leaders of tomorrow. The large number of creative projects proposed by teachers and parents should give us all hope for a resilient future.” See the entire list of projects here (PDF).