We’ll soon start learning more about the future home of the University of Texas’ basketball programs. That’s because companies interested in building the school’s replacement for the Frank Erwin Center have until March 8 to submit plans under a recently published request for qualifications and proposal for a developer and operator of the new facility. The current arena site is expected to be utilized as part of the growing health care innovation district on the east edge of downtown Austin, with the parking lot located south of Mike A. Myers Stadium believed to be the most likely spot for the new arena. There is also a chance the arena could be located just south of Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, though that would mean replacing at least two other existing structures as well. Development teams selected from the initial qualification round will then have a June 18 deadline to submit a full proposal.

The race for the District 8 City Council seat just got a little less crowded. Shane Sexton, one of four left-of-center candidates vying to unseat Council Member Ellen Troxclair, the only conservative elected official left in city government, announced in a Facebook post on Saturday that he was getting out of the race. In a text message to the Austin Monitor on Sunday, Sexton said that the field of candidates had become overcrowded. “It divides the voters and resources in support of progressive candidates,” while those on the right will be united in support of Troxclair, he said. “I entered the race to better my community and the city and there are other good candidates that can help accomplish that now,” he said, adding that he plans to meet with the other challengers next week and has not yet decided who he will support.

The Austin Police Association is ready to resume contract negotiations, but, in the meantime, there are some City Council members looking for a stopgap measure. According to a post on the City Council Message Board from Council Member Ora Houston’s office, co-signed by Council members Alison Alter, Jimmy Flannigan, Ann Kitchen and Ellen Troxclair, there will be a resolution on the Feb. 15 agenda. The post explains, “At this time, we have developed a set of recommendations to move forward that we feel achieves these goals. It includes guidance on an overall spending limit and details on other fiscal and non-fiscal items. The details we have developed and agreed upon as a group will be delivered to the new City Manager as soon as possible. Because the negotiations may take some time, we believe it is critical that we bring forward a Council resolution to set some items back in place for the short term while an interim agreement is negotiated. With this resolution, we will recognize the direct impact to our officers in the absence of a contract and show our effort to move forward with respect and in good faith. We don’t assume however, that any or all of the items put in place in the short term will necessarily continue in an interim or final agreement, but are important to sustain our officers while the process continues.”

Construction begins today on the intersection of South Congress Avenue and Oltorf Street. The project is funded by money from the 2016 mobility bond as part of the Intersection Safety/Vision Zero program. It is the third intersection to be enhanced as part of that program. According to the news release, “Improvements include construction of center medians on Congress Avenue near the intersection to reduce unsafe left turns; redesign of access driveways and construction of a shared-use path to reduce conflicts between people walking or biking and people driving; installation of new high-visibility crosswalks; and more.” The goal for completion is summer 2018. View the project fact sheet here.

After an extensive planning and public input process, the final draft of the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center Master Plan is here. The plan was presented by CasaBella Architects at the third public meeting on Jan. 20, and it is now available here to view and respond to using a short survey. Feedback from this survey will be used to prepare the final design presentation that will be made to City Council, boards and commissions.

Around City Hall, people have been missing Ken Craig, senior policy advisor to District 5 Council Member Ann Kitchen. Craig suffered serious injury when his truck apparently hit ice on a Slaughter Lane overpass on Jan. 16 and fell 30 feet from the overpass. Mayor Steve Adler and Kitchen both spoke warmly of Craig during Thursday’s City Council meeting. Kitchen noted that he was in an intensive care unit for some time but has now moved to rehabilitation. She did not give out his location, saying that she did not want to encourage visitors because of the current flu epidemic. However, she did encourage Craig’s friends to send cards and warm wishes. Kitchen also said that because Craig had to have transfusions after the wreck, there would be a blood drive at City Hall at some point in the future. Although he was badly injured, Kitchen stressed that he is recovering. His companion did not survive the crash and some observers questioned whether the overpass should have been closed during the rare icy weather.

The Austin-Bergstrom International Airport just released its 2017 passenger numbers: 13.8 million travelers passed through the airport this year. That’s an 11.5 percent increase over 2016, and this is the eighth year in a row of record-breaking passenger traffic for the airport. The news release also notes the addition of 10 new nonstop destinations, for a total of 70, “which included 10 carriers initiating or announcing 29 new routes.” The airport has been undergoing renovations to keep up with this service growth, and improvements include terminal expansion and a new six-story parking garage that should be open in 2018. And, the release notes some quirkier stats as well: 61.5 tons of brisket and 684,199 breakfast tacos served; 18,300 bottles of Shiner Bock and 111,557 T-shirts sold (Keep Austin Weird and ACL shirts led the pack in T-shirt popularity); over 80 artworks exhibited, with $4,000 of artwork purchased by travelers directly from artists; and 1,500 live music performances hosted, for a total of 11,500 live performances since 1999.

In a vote of 9-2, City Council approved authorizing the Circuit Events Local Organizing Committee to act on the city’s behalf to seek funding from the Texas Events Trust Fund for two events. Under the resolution, the committee will seek funding for the FIA World Rallycross events and for future MotoGP events to be held at the Circuit of the Americas facility. Council Member Leslie Pool and Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo voted no, but Council members Jimmy Flannigan, Ora Houston and Delia Garza strongly defended taking the money. Flannigan pointed out that the money is not local tax money. If it does not come to Austin it will go to another city in Texas for some other event. Pool noted that she has voted against taking the money in the past and will continue to oppose giving state funds “to the wealthy gentlemen” who stand to gain from taxpayer subsidies. Garza said Circuit of the Americas brings in $14 million to her district, District 2, and has been very helpful to the Del Valle Independent School District. Houston said she had only been out to the Circuit of the Americas one time, but she saw many people who live in District 1 who have jobs there. In addition, she said she saw “a number of vendors that were from District 1 who get an opportunity to participate in getting some of the revenue. So I think it’s a worthwhile obligation. In the beginning, I too was against it, but now that I’ve seen the results I think it’s worthwhile and I’ll be voting for it.”

After more than a year and a rather awkward hiring process, Austin officially has a new city manager. City Council voted unanimously to finalize the hiring process Thursday, extending a $325,000 salary to the current city administrator in Minneapolis, Spencer Cronk. His official start date is Feb. 12. Interim City Manager Elaine Hart is now free to return to her position as chief financial officer for the city.

The city of Austin has been investigating August and September’s unusual water bill activity. Yesterday, Austin Energy, which manages the billing for city utilities including water, announced that it will be sending out refunds in the form of bill credits to around 7,400 customers. The city plans to send out a letter to those customers by Feb. 15; customers should expect to receive their letters by Feb. 28. These credits are “not large, averaging approximately $20 and not exceeding $80 in most instances,” according to a statement by the city. In addition, “approximately 700 customers who had significantly higher September use than in previous years and who may qualify for an additional High Bill Administrative Adjustment if their elevated use was unintended or unexplained” will receive a letter by Feb. 28 as well. Jackie Sargent, general manager of Austin Energy, apologized for the confusion and customer inconvenience in the utility’s statement. “We should have found this faster and we should have found it ourselves,” she said. “We should have had better safeguards against unreasonable water meter reads. We apologize to those affected by this anomaly and we hold ourselves accountable for improving our processes so that they do not recur. Customers must have confidence that their utility bills are measured and billed accurately. We are working with Austin Water and have put in place additional protections that will provide more data when there are questions about a water bill.” Sargent also explained that as one of these safeguards, meter-reading technicians have begun photographing all residential water meter readings, which amounts to “well over 200,000 per month. And there is more that we can do and are doing,” she promised. View the full statement here for more information, including the current state of the investigation and the utility’s process for determining bill credit amounts.

The city of Austin has been chosen as one of the Best Workplaces for Commuters in 2018. The program coordinator for the national designation, Julie Bond, praised the city for its commuter benefits, which include free Capital Metro passes and B-cycle memberships, flexible work schedules, subsidized vanpools, lockers and showers for active commuters, and a commuter incentive program. “The City of Austin is on the cutting edge of a national movement,” Bond said in the news release. “They have listened to their employees’ challenges with traffic congestion and their concerns over reducing emissions. By offering a range of commuter options, the City of Austin gives its employees the support they need to get to and from work so they can be at their best. The companies on this list understand the importance and impact commuter options have on their employees and the value they bring to the environment.” Austin Transportation Director Rob Spillar said the city was proud to receive the designation. “In 2017, the City of Austin as an employer set a new goal to reduce commute trips by 30 percent by 2022,” he said. “The City of Austin has also challenged other employers in Austin to follow suit through our region’s transportation mobility association, Movability Austin. Together, we can reduce traffic and reach this goal.”

Though City Hall was briefly bullish on the idea that the special events ordinance would be in place before the Spring Festival Season, the curse continues. Though outreach has been moving along as requested, and everyone has been hard at work, Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo admitted defeat at Tuesday’s work session, where she told her colleagues that the ordinance still needed a little more work. City Council is expected to postpone the ordinance to a May meeting. The ordinance was approved on first reading in October 2013.