Yesterday, GroundFloor Development and Prescott Group announced plans for the mixed-use Saint Elmo, which is set to open in 2018. The $120 million project will be located near Ben White Boulevard and South Congress. It will be the new home to the Saxon Pub as well as 225,000 square feet of creative office space and an indoor-outdoor marketplace. In addition, according to a press release, Saint Elmo is also working with “some of Austin’s most prominent music non-profits,” including the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), and subsidizing office space. “The market and surrounding office spaces will focus on the unique culture of Austin, which includes some of the best food, live music and creative minds in the world,” said Brandon Bolin, president and CEO of GroundFloor Development. “We’re for the makers. We want to build the district around what makes this city so special. The idea for Saint Elmo is to be ‘native, creative and distinctly Austin.’ There is going to be nothing like it in Texas.”

The Austin Symphonic Band has appointed Amanda Turley as its new executive director. Turley is a bassoonist who has performed with the Oberlin in Italy Opera Orchestra and the University of South Carlonia Orchestra and Choir. She is also a music instructor with more than 30 students currently under her tutelage. Previously, Turley served as an arts administrator and fundraiser at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin as well as the Cleveland Orchestra and Bravo! Vail music festival. In an announcement about Turley’s appointment, ASB President Erin Knight said that Turley “has specific expertise in the areas in which we need to grow as an organization. She will be a great asset to the band, and I look forward to working with her this year.”

Yesterday, the ongoing campaign to persuade Austinites not to block the box shifted locations once again. Austin Police Department officers will be manning the intersections up and down Guadalupe Street in the morning, from 7 a.m. until 9 a.m., and afternoon, 4 p.m. until 6:30 p.m., looking for “behaviors that interrupt the flow of traffic.” Such drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists will be ticketed. According to a press release about the box shift, the four intersections along Guadalupe that are now under scrutiny are: MLK Boulevard, 21st Street, 24th Street and Dean Keeton Street. Those motoring around campus should make sure they aren’t violating red lights, blocking intersections, driving in bus lanes, driving recklessly or having what APD calls “unsafe moments.” APD will also be on the lookout for those who aren’t stopping at the proper place or are failing to yield to pedestrians and crosswalks. More information about the “Block the Box” campaign is available online.

The conclusion of the City Council discussion about the short-term rental resolution will take place on Tuesday at a special-called Council meeting. That meeting starts at either 9 or 9:30 a.m. (The city’s website and posted agenda differ on start times.)

Dr. Jose Cabanas, who has served as acting medical director for the Austin/Travis County Office of the Medical Director since August, has resigned. He will be leaving his post in November. According to a memo from City Manager Marc Ott to the mayor and City Council, in early December Cabanas will start work as director of emergency medical services/medical director at Wake County EMS in Raleigh, North Carolina. Cabanas will also serve as adjunct faculty at the University of North Carolina Department of Emergency Medicine at Chapel Hill’s EMS Fellowship Program. The move will be a return for Cabanas, who worked for the Wake County EMS from 2008-2011.

On Sunday, Mayor Steve Adler announced his intention to form an “ad hoc legislative committee” via the City Council Message Board. In his post, Adler asked for feedback on his envisioned scope, which is currently:
“1. Recommend to full council what should be on our legislative agenda; 2. Recommend protocol for how council members testify or interact with other governmental bodies in their official capacity as council members; 3. Recommend a process for timely updating of the legislative agenda; 4. Recommend an ongoing process for making any modifications to our lobby teams.”

City Council gave unanimous approval to modifying the design standards for the Castle Hill Historic District on Thursday, which will allow James Schoenbaum, the owner of the property at 614 Blanco St., to build a multifamily property with either 11 or 12 units. The decision was easy for Council because there was no opposition to the change in design standards, but it came after many months of struggle and trips to the Historic Landmark Commission, the Board of Adjustment and the Planning Commission. The key to Thursday’s success was an agreement with Schoenbaum’s neighbor concerning setbacks from her property. Attorney Richard Suttle represented Schoenbaum. “We had full OWANA support,” Suttle said, referring to the Old West Austin Neighborhood Association, along with “52 percent of the people in the district’s support and the next door neighbor who was not in support, because we were 5 feet off her setback instead of 25 feet. We agreed to go to 10 feet with some trees. That gave her a little more breathing room, and (Schoenbaum) still gets to build his project.” A previous owner attempted to destroy the house by setting fire to it “not once, but twice,” Suttle said. According to city records, the property “retains its City of Austin Historic Landmark designation, its distinctive stone wall and four of its five wrought iron gates.” Historic Preservation Officer Steve Sadowsky reported to the Planning Commission that the Historic Landmark Commission had unanimously supported the project, given that it fits into the neighborhood and meets all the criteria of the local historic district. The Planning Commission lacked a quorum vote, however, and could not vote on the project.

On Thursday, City Council voted unanimously to release the Community Engagement Task Force from the Texas Open Meetings Act. It also took a moment to learn about which city bodies are – and aren’t – subject to the Open Meetings Act. Assistant City Attorney John Steiner explained that the state law applies only to governmental bodies – those that can make sovereign decisions – not boards, commissions or task forces that are purely advisory. However, the city has its own ordinance extending the Open Meetings Act to advisory boards and commissions. Steiner explained that even that ordinance does not apply to temporary, mission-driven task forces like the one in question. “The only reason they would be subject to Open Meeting compliance is if in the resolution by which you create the task force you said it will. In the case of … the Community Engagement Task Force, the resolution that created it said it would. It didn’t have to say that, and so, essentially, now the Council is taking it back.”

Next month, the Austin Parks and Recreation Department will hold its first public meeting for the Lamar Beach Master Plan. The Oct. 14 event, which takes place in the Austin High School cafeteria, will begin with an open house at 6:30 p.m. followed by an hourlong interactive presentation at 7 p.m. According to the city’s website, “The project team will lead the interactive presentation and mapping exercise to capture input from participants, including opportunities and challenges of the planning area.” City Council passed a resolution in June 2014 to initiate the master planning process for the area, which consists of about 65 acres of park bounded by Lady Bird Lake to the south, the railroad tracks above the YMCA Town Lake to the north, Austin High School to the west and North Lamar Boulevard to the east.

Today the public is invited to check out a project in which 10 storm drains around the city are being painted in order to promote the importance of protecting Austin’s waterways. The SprATX artist collective will paint each drain with a unique design. According to a press release about the project, “The public is invited to watch an artist paint a storm drain in Zilker Park and participate in any of the ten associated Free Art Friday scavenger hunts. Austin residents will also be able to visit the storm drains in person or see a photographic collection on display at the Splash museum by late September. Residents also are invited to share photographs or clean water inspirations by including #creeklove in social media posts.” The painting will take place by the Zilker Zephyr train station on Friday, Sept. 18, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Construction will soon begin on a new facility at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport that will allow travelers to both board pets and park their cars for the duration of a trip. The time-saving “park and pet hotel” will be the first of its kind in the U.S., according to a press release from Scott Airport Parking. Scott will be teaming up with Taurus Academy, a local pet boarding and training facility, on the venture. Scott’s Park & Zoom will provide covered parking, while Taurus’ Bark & Zoom will feature a menu of pet services including training and grooming. Both will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and patrons who use both will receive discounts. The facility is slated to open in summer 2016.

Maxwell Sykes, a Climate Corps fellow with the Environmental Defense Fund, will present his findings today after conducting a 10-week study on energy conservation in the Austin Independent School District. The event will be hosted by AISD, EDF and Google, which provided a community grant to fund the fellowship. It will take place at Google Fiber Space, 201 Colorado St., from 5 to 7 p.m. The evening will begin with a celebratory reception preceding Sykes’ presentation at 6 p.m.