This week is Flood Safety Awareness Week in the heart of Flash Flood Alley: Austin, Texas. According to a press release from the city, it’s a time to educate yourself on the potential dangers that inevitable flooding holds. “As of August 2023, there are 5,660 active National Flood Insurance Program policies in the City of Austin, covering $1.47 billion in property. In just the last ten years, 930 claims have been paid, totaling more than $42.3 million in damages,” notes the release, which encourages residents to sign up for alerts at WarnCentralTexas.org, make a plan and consider flood insurance, which is now available at a discount for most Austin polices.  This year’s flood awareness week will culminate at  Flood Safety Fest on Saturday, April 26, from 12:00-3:00 p.m. at L.L. Campbell Elementary School. The event will offer tips, giveaways, and the results of a Flood Safety Video contest.

On Saturday, May 3, the Lamar Senior Activity Center will host this year’s 29th Street Spring Art Show: Art On and Off the Wall. The event will showcase art made by artists aged 50 years and up including “paintings, drawings, polymer clay art, fiber arts, jewelry, multi-media pieces, kitchen items, handmade soaps, latch hook rugs, sewing projects, paper crafts, (and) note cards,” according to a press release from the city. The center, which is managed by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, provides seniors with cultural, recreational and educational programming. The art sale, with will be on from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., will highlight the creative expression of its community.

According to a post on the City Council Message Board, there will be no work session on Tuesday. Mayor Kirk Watson’s office reported that, given the fact that there are no scheduled briefings and no items pulled from the Thursday City Council agenda for discussion, the work session will be cancelled.

A new urban trail segment will help students getting to Linder Elementary school, following the City Council-approved $1.3 million purchase of a 5.4-acre parcel. The property, which is bordered by Metcalfe and Burleson roads, will also provide access to Mabel Davis Park and improve a trail along Country Club Creek. A map of the city’s urban trail network can be found here.

The city’s Transportation and Public Works Department has started its seasonal preventive street maintenance, which will be taking place from now through October. As part of that process, the city will be using sealcoat, which prevents potholes. That process takes about 30 minutes per lane and per block. During the process, residents are advised to remove their vehicles from the street for two days. Cars that are not moved will be towed to a nearby street. Once done, the street will contain loose gravel that will settle in time, but while it’s not settled, drivers are advised to avoid hard braking and sharp turns. The city has a web page with more information on streets scheduled for maintenance.

If you needed a nudge to buy supplies for emergency preparedness, there’s a state sales tax holiday coming up for exactly that. Certain items will be tax free starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 26, and ending at midnight on Monday, April 28. Those include things like household batteries, fuel containers and flashlights less than $75; hurricane shutters and emergency ladders less than $300; and portable generators priced less than $3,000. A full list of items that qualify for the tax holiday – and those that do not qualify – is available from the state comptroller’s office. That office makes this note about qualifying purchases: “For purchases made online, note that delivery, shipping, handling and transportation charges are part of the sales price. If the emergency preparation supply being purchased is taxable, the delivery charge is also taxable. Consider these charges when determining whether an item can be purchased tax free during the holiday. For example, if you purchase an emergency ladder online for $299 with a $10 delivery charge, the total sales price is $309. Because the total sales price of the emergency ladder is more than $300, tax is due on the $309 sales price.”

The Planning Commission held elections for its officers on April 8 in a process outgoing Chair Claire Hempel remarked “went much more smoothly” than the previous year’s elections. All four positions ultimately went uncontested, and the resolution appointing the new officers was approved unanimously. Replacing Hempel as chair is outgoing Vice Chair Awais Azhar; replacing Azhar as vice chair is outgoing Parliamentarian Alice Woods; replacing Woods as parliamentarian is Commissioner Casey Haney; and replacing outgoing Secretary Greg Anderson is Commissioner Felicity Maxwell.

Although Ted Eubanks’ appointment to the city’s Parks and Recreation Board faced some headwinds, City Council on Thursday did finally appoint a 40-year parks professional who specializes in heritage and nature tourism. That appointment was postponed last month after some Council members had unspecified objections to his service. On Thursday, only Council Member Paige Ellis abstained on the roster of appointments that included Eubanks. Last year, Council Member Mackenzie Kelly withdrew his name for parks board consideration without saying why. According to Rewild Zilker, which has opposed the vision put forth by supporters of the Zilker Park Vision Plan and its nonprofit model, those nonprofits are the likely source of opposition to Eubanks, an expert on historical and nature tourism. Ellis’ district includes Zilker Park. Eubanks has said, “Over the years I have certainly had opinions and concerns at times about how Austin manages its public lands, and that is unacceptable to a handful of organizations.” After the vote on Thursday, Eubanks told the Austin Monitor, “Perhaps the discussion we should be having is given how much money we have spent on the plan, what does it take to fix it? If there are mistakes in it – and there are – why don’t we correct them?” The biggest question facing the city, he said, is “how are we going to sustainably maintain our parks?”

Summer is nigh, and the city is getting ready for swim season with two lifeguard hiring events in the next few weeks. The last two lifeguard recruiting events for this season will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. April 17 and May 1 at 2818 San Gabriel St. After a fairly recent hike, pay now starts at $21.63 per hour. Training and hiring is for anyone from age 15 on, and anyone interested in the position is encouraged to complete the online application before attending the event and must bring their Social Security card and Texas-issued identification. Free pizza will be served.

Austin U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, who served on the Austin City Council from 2015 to 2022, expressed anger after learning that a grant that he had previously helped to secure has been canceled. The $50 million BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was intended to reduce flooding risks for Austin residents.

Casar released the following statement: “To pay for tax cuts for billionaires, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are leaving Americans at risk when disaster strikes. Austinites should not be at risk of uncontrolled raw sewage flooding our communities so that billionaires can buy a bigger yacht.”

Casar helped secure the commitment to reduce flooding risk for Austin residents and critical infrastructure, including at Fallwell Lane, the Austin Water South Austin Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Austin Energy Sand Hill Energy Center. Texas cities were previously disqualified from accessing BRIC funds until Casar and others successfully advocated for changes to FEMA’s scoring criteria, according to a statement from his office.

On April 4, FEMA announced the cancellation of all undistributed BRIC funds, which includes the city of Austin’s award.

Noting that she has worked for the city for 23 years, Mayor Kirk Watson thanked City Clerk Myrna Rios and extended a bouquet to her on Thursday as he announced she would be retiring at the end of the month. Rios was appointed to the position permanently in December 2021. Watson praised Rios for all the innovations she has brought to the clerk’s office. He noted that “Austin, Texas, because of Myrna, is kind of the gold standard in dealing with … petitions.” He said her leadership in the clerk’s office was particularly important during the pandemic “when nobody knew how we were going to get through that.” Her work included creating hybrid City Council meetings. “She is retiring officially at the end of the month. I couldn’t imagine us starting this day without saying a deep thank you to Myrna Rios.” Council appointed Deputy City Clerk Erika Brady as the new city clerk. She has been with the city clerk’s office for nearly 11 years.

Council rarely gives out a “key to the city” these days, but Austin entrepreneur and philanthropist John Paul DeJoria was honored with a key during a proclamation Thursday honoring his commitment to doing good. Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison noted that DeJoria’s Peace, Love & Happiness Foundation had given her struggling flower shop a gift several years ago. She said that his vision and hard work had led to the success that allowed him to create the foundation. DeJoria, who is best known as the co-founder of the Paul Mitchell line of hair products, was at one point homeless, and that experience has guided his philanthropy. He has donated millions to help homeless people as well as to environmental protection and helping animals. As he declared April 10 to be Peace, Love & Happiness Day, Mayor Kirk Watson told DeJoria he had not given anyone a key to the city during this term as mayor, but his exceptional work in helping people won him that key. DeJoria asked Watson where he could find the door to fit the symbolic key, a large replica in a frame. Watson replied that he wanted to see the door too if DeJoria found it.