There’s a new report that examines the gap between what Travis County renters earn and what they can afford, and Out of Reach 2017 lives up to its name. The report, which is online here, found that Travis County residents that work full time must earn a wage of $21.65 to afford a two-bedroom apartment (or work 117 hours a week at minimum wage). That puts our area in the high range of housing costs for renters, who make up about 48 percent of county households.

Yesterday, the city began emergency spot repairs of Guadalupe and Lavaca bus lanes between Second and 18th streets. Now, far be it from we modest journalists at the Austin Monitor to spike the ball, but you might remember our coverage on how bus traffic on this section of the road is causing the pavement in the outside of the lanes to fail. In an email, Public Works Department spokesperson Alexandria Bruton told us, “This has been on our radar for a while but your coverage certainly helped raised the profile. We heard a lot from the community, which coupled with the fast deteriorating conditions, made this project a high priority to get done.” We’re absolutely happy to share the credit with the concerned public at large, and our greatest satisfaction is that bus riders, drivers and cyclists will enjoy a less teeth-shattering experience on one of the city’s busiest roadways. As for the project details themselves, according to a city press release, repairs “will involve removing the existing asphalt and subgrade material, and replacing it with a new, more robust pavement structure.” Repairs will also involve lane reductions while the repairs are made – Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. – through the end of June. The Public Works Department continued, “The emergency spot repairs in the downtown area are the first phase of a larger effort to address failing pavement in the bus lanes along the Guadalupe corridor. Additional repair work is planned this summer for Guadalupe from 20th Street to Koenig Lane.” The department promised to release more information once it becomes available.

The Texas Facilities Commission has plans to create a pedestrian-oriented Texas Mall with two new state office buildings, just north of the state Capitol, as part of the Texas Capitol Project Master Plan. It is asking the city to help out in that process by waiving $6.9 million in utility tunnel easement and right-of-way usage fees. In addition, the state is asking the city to vacate and convey to the state some right-of-way at North Congress Avenue and 17th Street. But it’s all moving a little too fast for some members of City Council, including Council Member Ann Kitchen. Council got details on the project at Tuesday’s work session from Rodney Gonzales, director of the Development Services Department. Gonzales noted that the state is asking for an expedited process, including Council approval on Thursday. Kitchen told the Austin Monitor she and perhaps other Council members would be asking for a postponement on Thursday. If the item is postponed, the state can still go forward with its excavations in June but Council would not direct staff to negotiate an interlocal agreement with the facilities commission until August. She said, “I don’t think that two days provides sufficient time for the public to provide us with any feedback they might have. … So normally on projects as large as this we would take more time. We’re being asked to invest well over $6.9 million of the city’s dollars, so I think it’s prudent,” to wait and study the issues. Kitchen said she would be asking for the postponement “whether it was the state or anyone else, I would be asking the same question.”

Staff from the Capital Metropolitan Transit Authority on Tuesday gave the Travis County Commissioners Court an update on Project Connect, the high-capacity transit planning effort aimed at getting residents into, out of and around Central Austin. The agency is wrapping up the first phase of the rebooted process, in which planners identified potential corridors suitable for big new investments, as well as existing services ripe for substantial enhancements. Capital Metro’s Joe Clemens specifically mentioned three projects that he identified as relevant to the county’s interests: the planned Green Line MetroRail service from downtown Austin to Elgin; MetroExpress service from Austin to Hutto; and bus-rapid transit on I-35 that would connect to the southern reaches of the county (left unmentioned were any enhanced services along Guadalupe Street downtown, where the county’s criminal and civil justice complex sits blocks away from the county’s administrative headquarters). While Commissioner Brigid Shea expressed pleasure with the idea of utilizing existing rail to establish commuter service to the eastern parts of the county, Commissioner Gerald Daugherty was blunt in his distaste for what he suggested would be a low-ridership line. “The Green Line, as far as I’m concerned is the stupidest thing we can do,” Daugherty said.

The Travis County Citizens Bond Advisory Committee is ready to take its ranked list of more than a billion dollars’ worth of potential bond projects out for public review. The committee has spent the last four months weighing the $1.1 billion list and has at last ascribed each one a priority ranking on a four-part scale. This evening, county staff and members of the committee will trot out the revised list at the first of six public meetings to be held across the county. Feedback from those events will be collected and weighed in future revisions of the list. The Travis County Commissioners Court will ultimately decide later this summer which, if any, projects will go before the voters this November.

Short of initiating the bond election itself, the Austin Independent School District Board moved closer to setting it in motion by voting to approve the list of items for the bond 8-1 at their June 19th regular meeting, with Trustee Ted Gordon dissenting. The current project total sits at $990 million $952,644,000, and superintendent Dr. Paul Cruz explained that the majority of the package would be funded by the bond itself, contingency funds, and land sales. The administration cautioned the board before their deliberation that going too far over $1 billion would increase the tax rate. Board president Kendall Pace cited a recent poll where the majority of those surveyed said that they would not vote for a bond that increased the tax rate, and fears still linger from the last bond election in 2013 when two propositions of the package failed. Several amendments adding or subtracting projects were proposed at the meeting, but all of them failed except for one from Trustee Ann Teich, which passed 4-1-4. Her amendment proposed to add the Northeast Middle School to the list if that could be done at a cost that would keep the total under $1 billion. However, there was some confusion among some of the trustees as to what the vote was about, and the board later voted to rescind the amendment 7-1-1. Still, Cruz said he would look into it and report back next week. There remains a possibility that more amendments will be added next Monday when the board meets again before they are expected to officially make the order to call for the 2017 bond election.

Although staff members in the city’s Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department have worried about their budget since President Donald Trump announced his proposal to eliminate numerous federal programs, they were able to breathe a sigh of relief after learning late last week that funding for such stalwarts as the Community Development Block Grant Program would continue through Fiscal Year 2017-18. In a press release issued on Monday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development noted that Austin would receive almost $7.2 million in block grant funding as well as more than $2.5 million for the HOME Investment Partnerships Program. Through the use of these grants, the department is able to provide housing assistance to low-income residents and the homeless, as well as services for special needs populations, including people with HIV/AIDS. These amounts represent roughly the same amount that the city is receiving this year. Those two programs currently pay for the salaries of 33 employees in the department. Federal funding will also continue for services in the Department of Health and Human Services. In his budget announcement, Trump proposed to eliminate more than $4 billion for HUD and $4.8 billion for health and human services. It remains to be seen what kind of budget Congress will adopt in September, which will impact the city’s FY 2018-19 budget.

The city is currently working on plans for transforming the Seaholm Waterfront, made up of the historic intake facility and associated parkland along Lady Bird Lake. Give the Parks and Recreation Department, along with the Austin Parks Foundation and Trail Foundation, your two cents at the first community input meeting on Saturday, June 24. Beginning at 9 a.m., residents can share their thoughts at four different locations: the Seaholm Intake Facility, the Butler Splash Pad, the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge and Vic Mathias Auditorium Shores Deck. There will be snacks on hand at each station. Those who can’t make it during the event (which wraps at 11 a.m.) can give their feedback in an online survey. Find a map of the public input stations here.

Yesterday, the city announced Mabel Davis Pool won’t open this swim season. The Southeast Austin facility was temporarily closed earlier this summer when the Parks and Recreation Department found it was leaking more than 200,000 gallons of water per day. According to a press release, crews found “significant leaks in the pool’s return lines” upon further inspection. As for the rest of the summer: Residents can take advantage of shuttle service from the site to the nearby Garrison Pool. Find a full list of pools and splash pads on the city’s website.

The Main Street of Texas could soon borrow a page from the French, if Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo has her way. The District 9 City Council member is planning on introducing a proposal at Thursday’s meeting that could clear all cars from a lengthy stretch of Congress Avenue, at least for one as-yet-undetermined day next year. The item would direct the city manager to explore the costs of the proposal, which is aimed at paving the way for what would be Bike Austin’s largest-ever Ciclovia, an event focused on spreading the gospel of two-wheeled transportation. However, the scale of this proposed Ciclovia would also allow for a much larger outdoor party in general: Tovo is looking to ban cars from Congress Avenue from 11th Street all the way down to Mary Street, a total distance of about two miles.The proposal is reminiscent of action other cities have taken to occasionally reclaim streets for pedestrians and bicyclists, include the monthly car bans on Paris’ iconic Champs-Elysees. Tovo’s office tells the Austin Monitor that major stakeholders are on board, including the Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association, the South River City Citizens Neighborhood Association, South Congress Merchants Association and the Downtown Austin Alliance. If Council approves the mayor pro tem’s resolution on Thursday, the city manager would bring a full report back on Oct. 1.

Update: Tovo’s office told the Monitor on Monday afternoon that the Mayor Pro Tem has decided to ask the city manager to report back to Council on Sept. 1 in order for Council to have the information well in hand ahead of budget adoption later that month.

In a special Father’s Day post to the City Council Message Board, Council Member Alison Alter alerted her colleagues to a change she is proposing to an item on Thursday’s agenda. Item 43 is a resolution tweaking the review process for the Land Development Code rewrite. Alter would like to clarify that both land use commissions – Zoning and Platting and Planning – will be able to review and make suggestions on the second and third drafts. “It was always the intention for both of our Land Use Commissions to have that responsibility, however the resolution will be clarified to make that explicit,” Alter wrote. “I anticipate that the amendment to the resolution will be to substitute ‘Land Use Commissions’ for ‘Planning Commission’ in the resolution.”

Last week, City Council approved construction contracts that will pave the way for work to be done on some of Austin’s most dangerous intersections. The 2016 Mobility Bond provided $15 million in funds for safety improvements to more than two dozen “high-crash” intersections in the city. The first group of three intersections are Slaughter Lane and Alice Mae Lane, Pleasant Valley Road and Elmont Drive, and South Congress Avenue and Oltorf Street. The Slaughter and Alice Mae intersection is the first on the list. Crews are expected to install a new traffic signal there at the end of the month.