Mayor Steve Adler announced Thursday morning that he had some good news for District 6 City Council Member Don Zimmerman and people who have to travel on Parmer Lane. He said City Manager Marc Ott and Assistant City Manager Robert Goode found an unallocated $500,000 from the 2010 bond election. They recommended that the city use the money in cooperation with Cedar Park to work on the Parmer Lane project. “I had been contacted by the mayor of Cedar Park asking if I would be willing to join with them” to work on the project, Adler said. Goode told Council that the Transportation Department would be able to move forward with such a project immediately. Zimmerman had protested on Wednesday that District 6 was underfunded in transportation dollars, and he tried to get Council to reallocate money by district. As the Austin Monitor reported on Thursday, Zimmerman requested detailed project descriptions for transportation and public works spending for Fiscal Year 2015-16 by district. The resulting chart showed that District 6 would receive only $84,262 in transportation money, while most districts would receive between $1 million and $3 million. Zimmerman said he was very pleased to get the funds for Parmer Lane, and he added that in addition to Cedar Park, Williamson County and the Texas Department of Transportation might also be able to come up with some funding for the project. Cedar Park Mayor Matt Powell said, “As a neighboring community, we have spoken to the city of Austin and are pleased that they too see the importance of investing in the Parmer Lane corridor. The city of Cedar Park has already made several recent improvements to our section of Parmer Lane and look forward to working with the city of Austin as they study what potential improvements they can make to their section. Together, we can continue to improve quality of life for all Central Texans traveling along and living near this major highway.” He also expressed his appreciation to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization for recognizing the importance of improving Parmer Lane.

The 2015 report on the economic impact of South by Southwest is scheduled for release on Tuesday. The report, by Greyhill Advisors, will be the ninth annual study on the event’s economic impact on the city. In the last few years, the amount of money brought into the Austin economy by the SXSW conference, trade show and festival has grown dramatically. According to an announcement from the city, the event’s economic impact in 2008 was $103 million. In 2014, SXSW more than tripled that amount, bringing in over $315 million. That figure points to tremendous recent annual growth as well, given that the 2013 fest brought the city $218 million. The new report will show whether that steep climb continued in 2015 with new data and findings from this year’s SXSW, held in March.

The Spirit of East Austin forum is fast approaching. Presented jointly by City Council and the Travis County Commissioners Court, the free event – hosted at the Travis County Expo Center on Saturday, Sept. 12 – aims to turn talk about equitable development in East Austin into meaningful change. “Historically, there have been master plans, conversations and requests; however, nothing has ever been done. This time the conversation is about strategic action,” said Council Member Ora Houston in an announcement from the city. The community is invited to share “hopes, needs, struggles, and ideas” in an interactive format with small group discussions. Supervised children’s activities will also be available. The event begins at 9 a.m., with doors open at 8:15 a.m. Participants may RSVP here. The forum will also be broadcast on television (ATXN) and radio (KAZI 88.7 FM) for those who cannot attend, and anyone who wishes to participate in the discussion outside the forum is invited to share input online at SpeakUpAustin.org, by phone at 311, by text message at 512-643-5627 or by e-mail at SpiritEastATX@austintexas.gov.

The Ethics Review Commission has been considering its stance on revising the city’s rules for lobbyists. As part of that effort, it is seeking public input, particularly regarding 21 proposals put forth by City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee. Ultimately, the revisions under consideration would expand the number of people to whom lobbying regulations apply under City Code. The commission is hosting a public meeting to gather input on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. Anyone wishing to comment on the matter may also submit feedback online at SpeakUpAustin.org or by email at bc-Matthew.Lamon@austintexas.gov. The deadline for input is Sept. 25.

During a Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget adoption meeting on Wednesday, City Council considered two major cuts to Austin Energy’s budget but ultimately did not adopt them. One, based on a budget concept menu item put forward by Council Member Ellen Troxclair, involved cutting $2.65 million from Austin Energy’s general marketing budget – including dropping 12 full-time staff positions. Council Member Don Zimmerman made the motion, which died for lack of a second. Troxclair followed up by stating that she did not intend, when she submitted the item, to cut staff positions but to limit spending on Austin Energy branding efforts. Another proposal would have removed $3.8 million from the Austin Energy Capital Budget earmarked for the proposed combined-cycle natural gas plant that is included in the Austin Energy Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan to 2025. The economic viability of the gas plant and renewable alternatives are currently the subject of an independent review that, according to Austin Energy, Navigant Consulting plans to release in October. Council Member Leslie Pool motioned to approve the item because she said she did not feel comfortable allocating the funds for the project before seeing the results of the study. She ultimately withdrew the motion, however, after Austin Energy Chief Financial Officer Mark Dombroski explained that Council would ultimately have to approve any contract that would move forward on constructing the plant.

This month, AISD is holding its annual Hispanic Heritage Celebration on Monday, Sept. 14 at Sanchez Elementary School at 11:30 a.m. The event, which will highlight Hispanic diversity, is free and open to the public. Superintendent Paul Cruz and Mexican Consul General of Austin Carlos González Gutiérrez will share key messages recognizing the rich Hispanic cultures represented in AISD. There will also be a performance by the Crockett High School mariachi band.

City Council made it through Day 2 of its Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget adoption process on Wednesday after approving several amendments to the working budget that it began shaping on Tuesday. According to Mayor Steve Adler, the General Fund budget at the end of the day was over by about $600,000, and there is still about $2.25 million in unallocated one-time funds remaining, assuming a property tax rate of 45.98 cents per $100 of valuation. Council will reconvene budget adoption on Thursday at 9 a.m. with the goal of completing it by the end of the meeting.

The Austin Independent School District is holding three public forums next week, giving residents a chance to question District 7 candidates Yasmin Wagner and Jonathan Sump, who are running for a seat on the AISD board of trustees. Forums are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. at Bowie High School; Thursday, Sept. 17 at noon at Covington Middle School; and Saturday, Sept. 19 at 11 a.m. at Baranoff Elementary School. Trustees ask that District 7 residents submit their forum questions online by noon Sept. 14. However, residents will still be able to submit questions via notecard before each event. All forums are to be tentatively run by a third party, although trustees have not announced who the third party will be. AISD board members are to fill the District 7 vacancy by Sept. 28.

During a recess in its budget deliberations on Tuesday, City Council went into work session mode to hear from Planning Director Greg Guernsey about Thursday’s zoning cases. Mayor Steve Adler noted that Council members might all be very tired on Thursday, and he anticipated that they would want to put off consideration of contentious zoning cases. Guernsey told Council that there were 22 land-use items that could be considered on consent and two consent postponement items. That would leave eight discussion items that could be postponed either to Sept. 17 or Oct. 1. He pointed out that Council already has a very lengthy agenda on Oct. 1. The items likely to be postponed on Thursday include rezoning of property at 2000 Justin Lane from Single Family 3 to Multifamily Residential with medium density. There is a valid petition against the change. Next in line are two cases called Sunrise Pharmacy on property along Bennett Avenue from Single Family 3 to Neighborhood Commercial. Staff has recommended against the change, but the Planning Commission voted in favor of it. Robinson Investments is seeking a zoning change from Development Reserve and Community Commercial with Conditional Overlay to General Commercial Services. Staff and the Zoning and Platting Commission recommended keeping the Conditional Overlay. Staff is recommending a change to the historic district design standards for property at 614 Blanco St. in the Castle Hill Historic District. There was no recommendation from the Planning Commission because there was not a quorum the night it was considered. Council did not indicate whether it preferred to postpone the items to Sept. 17 or Oct. 1.

Right now, the city is accepting applications for fall installations of WaterWise rainscape and landscape rebates. Homeowners and schools can receive up to $500 for participating in the rainscape program. According to the city, “Rainscapes are landscape features such as berms, terraces, swales, rain gardens, porous pavement and infiltration trenches that direct and retain rainwater on the property. These features can help prevent runoff and reduce the need for additional irrigation, saving customers money. Rainscapes can also help teach students about water conservation and water quality protection. The minimum installation size is 100 sq. ft.” More information about the rainscape rebate is available here. As for the landscape rebate, “Austin Water customers that replace healthy grass with native plant beds and permeable hardscapes may be eligible for up to $1,750 in rebates. Residential properties may receive $35 for every 100 sq.ft. converted from healthy turf grass to native plant beds and permeable hardscapes. Participants must convert at least 500 sq. ft. to be eligible for rebates.” More information about the landscape rebates is available here.

In a 7-1 decision, Austin Independent School District board members decided to use a list of approved questions in District 7’s candidate appointment process instead of a more formalized rubric. AISD District 1 trustee Edmund Gordon was opposed. Two candidates stepped forward to fill AISD’s recently opened District 7 seat by Tuesday’s deadline: Jonathan Sump, a 53-year-old accountant, and Yasmin Wagner, a 45-year-old communication manager who also narrowly lost last November’s election for the position. The District 7 seat’s vacancy arose after Robert Schneider – the longest-serving trustee at the time – passed away in July. Board members decided to submit a maximum of three questions each for discussion at their Sept. 14 meeting. There, they will decide which questions to ask the applicants in the public interview process set for the week of Sept. 21.

People with water wells that have recently been included in the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District have a few days left to obtain temporary permits for their wells and avoid the normal $500 application fee. According to a press release from the district, owners of domestic and livestock non-Edwards wells don’t need a permit, but they do need to register in order to help the district keep track of water resources. However, owners of other types of non-Edwards wells – like those used for businesses, public water supply, irrigation, schools and churches – are required to file applications for a temporary permit by Sept. 19 to continue pumping water. The $500 application fee has been waived during this grace period. Details about registration and permitting can be found here, and an interactive map of the new BSEACD territory can be found here.