On Saturday, April 14, the Parks and Recreation Department and Public Works Department will present plans for the Nash Hernandez building at Festival Beach and the first phase of the Holly Shores Master Plan. The meeting, which will take place at Metz Recreation Center from 10 a.m. until noon, will have a short presentation, and time to review plans and ask city staff questions.

Starting on June 25, Austin Resource Recovery will be collecting compostable materials from an additional 38,000 houses in Austin. At the moment, 52,000 homes are part of the curbside composting program, which collects food, yard trimmings and soiled paper, converting them into compost. For a wealth of information on composting open houses and resources on how to best use the program, head on over to the city website. By 2020, Austin Resource Recovery hopes to expand the service to all curbside customers.

Downtown Austin Alliance and Movability (formerly Movability Austin) have selected Lisa Kay Pfannenstiel as Movability’s new executive director. From the press release announcing the appointment: “Movability provides mobility options and programs for Central Texas employers and individuals to help reduce traffic congestion. Movability welcomed a record number of members last year. Pfannenstiel will lead the organization as it develops and implements innovative mobility policies and plans.” De Peart, president and chief executive officer of the Downtown Austin Alliance, said that “Lisa Kay Pfannenstiel has the experience and fresh ideas to help Movability expand its innovative efforts, which connects more individuals and employers with better ways to commute and reduce time spent in traffic.” Pfannenstiel was previously the director of special events at St. David’s Episcopal Church.

Given the events of the past few weeks, and the fact that he’s been in the position for more than a year, it makes sense that some on City Council might want to see Interim Police Chief Brian Manley given the position permanently. That was made crystal clear on Wednesday, when City Council Member Delia Garza took the step of forecasting an unusual amendment on today’s agenda Item 47. Her post on the City Council Message Board reads, in part, “Our community has been through what is arguably the biggest public safety crisis we have experienced together as a community. While many watched the news safely from home, but on edge, the men and women of law enforcement ran to the bombs and explosions. I ask, in light of recent events, that we as a council put our full support behind two measures: 1. Approve the appointment of Interim Chief Brian Manley as our permanent Chief (if/when the City Manager seeks this approval) 2. Negotiate and APPROVE a contract with the Austin Police Association as quickly as possible.” The amendment is unusual in that it seeks an approval for something prior to it being sought – City Manager Spencer Cronk has the power to appoint the police chief, though City Council can veto his selection. The amendments would be added to a resolution that concerns police staffing in general.

City Manager Spencer Cronk announced Wednesday that he has selected Stephanie Hayden as director of Austin Public Health. Hayden has served as interim director since April 2017, and prior to that she was the assistant director with responsibility for oversight of “multiple human service units, as well as the management of social services contract development and compliance.” He announced the appointment in a memo to the mayor and City Council and also told people gathered at an open government symposium sponsored by the city on Wednesday. Cronk said the process used to hire him as city manager “was not necessarily the best example of open government in action.” He reiterated his plan to be “open and transparent as I select my senior team.” Cronk explained that the city had conducted an extensive process for choosing Hayden, including three different interview panels. One of the panels was with community leaders, one with directors and assistant directors, and one with the leadership of the department. The city also held a community town hall meeting about the appointment that attracted more than 225 attendees. The other finalist in the process was Dr. Philip Huang, a medical doctor who serves as medical director and assistant director for the department.

Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park in East Austin is getting a revamp. The city began the master planning process in late 2017 and is now looking to the public for input on how best to update the area. The site includes 3,695 acres of parkland as well as the Travis County Expo Center and Lake Walter E. Long. Currently, the parkland includes many acres of preserved habitats, hike and bike trails, picnic and volleyball areas, and more, and the city is considering adding elements such as “enhanced trails, additional water-related recreation, fitness opportunities, camping, special event venues, and educational and cultural exhibits.” The goal is to have the plan to City Council by late 2018. The first open house for the community to brainstorm ideas for the master plan will be on Wednesday, April 4, 6-8 p.m., at Decker Middle School, and will include a presentation by Halff Associates at 6:15 p.m. Citizens are also invited to complete an online survey about the park.

Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo and Mayor Steve Adler are proposing changes to the use of the new Central Library’s parking garage. The city currently offers 30 minutes of free parking for library patrons but community members have requested more. In addition, people who use the library have been concerned because there have been so few empty parking spaces. City Council will consider a resolution today that would increase the free parking to one hour for library patrons, but the library visitor will have to exit within 15 minutes of having their parking ticket validated to get the free hour. Tovo did a survey of area garages and found the library offered a bargain compared to nearby garages. She proposed asking the city manager to analyze the possibility of raising the parking fees and bringing the analysis back to Council no later than May 25. Adler offered an amendment, which Tovo seems inclined to accept, allowing City Manager Spencer Cronk to analyze and adjust the parking fees to offset any lost revenues. The fees are used to offset library maintenance costs. But a big part of the problem may have already been resolved. Library Department Assistant Director Dana McBee told Council during Tuesday’s work session that the library had conducted an experiment starting on March 12. The experiment was to not open the library parking garage to the public until 9:30 a.m. “That has drastically improved access for library customers. We did have people that were utilizing the garage early in the morning, who were parking there for six, seven, eight or nine hours a day. That limited turnover because those people, once they got their space, were there and the spaces did not open up within the day.” The company that operates the garage was able to provide reports, McBee said, which showed that prior to the change about 80 people a day were staying between seven and 10 hours. Since the library instituted the change, the number of people staying between seven and 10 hours is about 17, she said. Council Member Jimmy Flannigan was somewhat skeptical about whether the change would be permanent, since the experiment was conducted during spring break and South by Southwest.

At the March 19 meeting of the Electric Utility Commission, Kerry Overton, the chief customer and compliance officer for Austin Energy, presented the commissioners with an overview of Austin Energy’s proposed amendments to its policy on deposit waivers. Currently, most subscribers to Austin Energy are required to put down a security deposit, which the utility views as a deterrent to prevent “late payments and mitigate the City of Austin’s … financial risk in the case of unpaid utility balances.” However, if these new amendments are approved by City Council on April 12, many more people may be able to waive their initial $200 deposit. Customers who were previously unable to obtain waivers but who may now be eligible include those who enroll in auto pay, those over the age of 65, returning active duty service members, victims of domestic abuse, tenant relocation assistance recipients and the medically indigent. Monica Joyner, the process manager for Austin Energy Quality Management, told the commission that based on the studies done on other utilities who have waived their initial deposits, Austin Energy expects to see a reduction in its debt. She explained that customers who are able to save the initial $200 are much more likely to be able to pay their first month’s bill on time, which helps stabilize the utility’s income. Commission Chair Cary Ferchill applauded the suggestion for additional waivers saying, “That’s as close as it comes to a win-win around here.”

Travis County’s search for a private partner in the latest iteration of its quest to build a new civil courthouse has apparently drawn some fairly robust interest. Senior planner Mark Gilbert told the Commissioners Court on Tuesday that 65 people showed up to a recent industry forum hosted by the county to answer questions about the request for proposal it published on Feb. 23. That document has also been downloaded more than 1,000 times, Gilbert reported, and there’s still time yet for that number to rise. April 1 is the deadline to respond to the county’s solicitation for a partner who can provide the land for a new courthouse as well as build the facility itself. More details can be found here.

Austin B-cycle broke a new record during South by Southwest by shouldering 23,526 trips across Central Austin during the 10-day festival. That was nearly a 50 percent increase compared to last year’s festival (which saw a fair share of rain and, briefly, the appearance of rogue dockless bike-sharing companies) and 10 percent higher than the station-based bike-share outfit’s previous best year in 2015. In addition to benefiting from this year’s generally solid weather, B-cycle also operated a valet station in the Rainey district, which expanded from two to three the number of fully staffed drop-off points where riders didn’t have to worry about full docks. Whether B-cycle can hit those big numbers again next year is far from guaranteed. The Transportation Department is currently preparing a dockless bike-sharing pilot program that could launch later this spring or early summer. ATD has scheduled a community forum focused on the development of that program on the morning of April 4 at the new Central Library. The event will also be streamed live on ATD’s Facebook page.

After a slight delay, it’s finally time for Traffic Jam: Taking It to the Streets. The Transportation Department and Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority host Traffic Jams periodically to hear feedback from the public on all things related to … you guessed it! Transportation. The Jam is going down next Wednesday, March 28, from 4-8 p.m. at the Austin Central Library.

$100,000 reward offered from @Austin_Police , @ATFHou , @FBISanAntonio for information leading to the arrest and conviction of person(s) responsible for the Austin, Texas bombings. Contact: 512-472-TIPS (8477). pic.twitter.com/SV9xNQr4xp

— Austin Texas (@austintexasgov) March 19, 2018