Austin’s Public Works Department has won American Public Works Association accreditation, which recognizes public agencies that go beyond national standards. After working for a year to earn the new status, the department joins 100 other agencies in the country. In a statement to the press, Public Works Director Howard Lazarus said, “Our sincerest gratitude goes to our City Manager, Marc Ott, who supported and encouraged us to pursue this accreditation. This is just one reflection of many in our effort to be the best managed City in America. We also give thanks to the true heroes of this award – the public works staff – who work hard every day to help make Austin a great city.” The APWA accreditation plaque will be formally presented on Aug. 20 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.

On Thursday, the city honored Willie Conrad with a Distinguished Service award on the occasion of his retirement from the Austin Water utility. Conrad has served as the division manager for Austin Water’s Wildland Conservation division and secretary of the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Planning Organization Coordinating Committee for the past 16 years. AW Assistant Director Daryl Slusher pointed out that the praise of Conrad ran well past the allotted one-page proclamation, and thanked him for building the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan management program from scratch. “He always kept in mind his charge to protect endangered species to carry out the federal permit,” said Slusher, who read a list of “Whereas” clauses – left off of the official proclamation – that celebrated Conrad’s status as a “folk hero to some, known for his cowboy hat, boots, trademark mustache and ability and strength to say ‘no’ when the situation merited it,” among other qualities. AW Director Greg Meszaros also joined in on praising Conrad, saying, “I was afraid at first, because I had the Marlboro man working for me.” That quickly changed for Meszaros, who said that some of his fondest memories involved Conrad and that he would miss him dearly. For his part, Conrad kept his remarks short, saying that he was humbled by the honor and blessed to have worked in the department that he did.

Comptroller Glenn Hegar released the latest sales tax data Wednesday, showing that Austin’s sales tax for July was $18,670,477, which is an increase of 15.82 percent over July 2014. So far this year, Austin’s sales tax is up 7.8 percent over last year. The state’s portion of sales tax revenues were up 2.7 percent compared to July 2014, according to the report. Cities saw an increase of about 5 percent statewide. Overall the state saw a 7.6 percent increase for the month of July for all local jurisdictions. Westlake was reported to have received an increase of more than 21 percent over last July, receiving $512,451. Round Rock received $6,464,699, an 8.64 percent increase over last July, but is still down 1.87 percent for the year. Sunset Valley is still doing well with a 16.45 percent increase for July for a sales tax check of $573,336 from the comptroller.

The Austin Animal Center announced Wednesday that two volunteer-run programs that support the center have received grants to fund projects to train dogs, improve their quality of life and ultimately make them more adoptable. A $3,000 grant from the Animal Farm Foundation was awarded to Dogs Out Loud, a nonprofit organization that focuses on canine behavior rehabilitation. The money went toward construction at the Animal Center of a “thinking walk,” completed earlier this month, with activity stations for obedience training and enrichment. A $6,000 grant has been awarded to Friends of Austin Animal Center to create a play group enrichment program allowing interaction among shelter dogs in an off-leash setting. According to an announcement from the Animal Services Office, “More than 100 municipal animal shelters throughout the United States have implemented this life-saving program with successful results.” Staff and volunteer training for the program, which begins Aug. 22, will be provided by Dogs Playing for Life founder and Director Aimee Sadler.

Austin Resource Recovery is hosting training sessions to help businesses comply with a series of new recycling and composting requirements – all part of the city’s Universal Recycling Ordinance – that will be rolled out over the next year and a half. Scheduled for implementation on Oct. 1, the first set of requirements oblige commercial properties of at least 25,000 square feet and multifamily properties with at least 10 units to provide recycling for all employees and tenants. The next phase of the ordinance, which goes into effect Oct. 1, 2016, will require certain food service establishments – those that are at least 15,000 square feet – to implement “organics diversion programs,” such as food donation or composting. A third phase of the ordinance will require by 2017 that all Austin properties provide recycling. More information and a schedule of training sessions (all of which are free and provide food) are available here.

The Jimmy Clay Golf Course will open this Saturday, Aug. 15, after closing earlier this year for renovations. Those renovations included replanting and “coring” of the greens, which are now covered with Tifdwarf Bermuda grass. And, in what might be more exciting news for golfers, greens on holes 4, 5, 9 and 18 have been changed to improve playability.

When the Austin Monitor reported Tuesday on Council Member Don Zimmerman’s proposal to cut Chapter 380 agreement payments by 50 percent, a city spokesperson said – and we reported – that there were seven such agreements currently in place. However, on Tuesday, an alert reader wanted to know why the Monitor did not list the Chapter 380 agreement between the city and the Domain shopping center. It turns out that the city has eight, not seven, such agreements. The Domain is just an odd duck. The Council approved the agreement in 2003 in a contract that calls for a 25 percent property tax rebate, and a sales tax rebate of 80 percent for the first five years and 50 percent during the sixth year through the 15th year of the agreement. Economic Development Department spokesperson Melissa Alvarado pointed out that the Domain agreement is project-based and involves retail. “We no longer do these” mixed-use, retail projects, she said. The total estimated rebate is $37,545,000, according to information on the city’s website. The city has budgeted $1,684,366 for its payment to the Domain for Fiscal Year 2015 and $1,820,524 for FY 2016. Joe Petronis, Zimmerman’s chief of staff, told the Monitor that the Domain payment was part of his calculation when figuring out how much the city could save by reducing Chapter 380 payments by 50 percent. The other seven companies participating currently in Chapter 380 agreements with the city are: Samsung, Apple, Visa, HID Global, Athenahealth, the Advisory Board Company and Hanger. Apple, Athenahealth and HID Global are not scheduled to receive any Chapter 380 payments this year. In FY 2016, however, HID Global is on track to receive $57,593. Zimmerman said his proposal would save taxpayers $6.8 million in the upcoming fiscal year. So far, Zimmerman’s colleagues have not responded to his proposal, which was posted on the City Council Message Board.

The Real Estate Council of Austin released a second white paper on affordability in Austin yesterday. Like its predecessor, the paper calls for at least 100,000 new units by 2025; however, the new paper takes the tack of diagnosing impediments to building those units. According to a press release from RECA, “In order to achieve the outlined goals, RECA calls for dramatic changes to fix the code and development review process, while also addressing anti-development policies that are given validation and power by entrenched neighborhood associations throughout the city.”

In response to stalled efforts to cut waste, Austin Resource Recovery is partnering with the Innovation Office to gather feedback on why people aren’t recycling more. An independent study recently found that 44 percent of Austin’s trash is recyclable, and the city hopes to understand why. Austin Resource Recovery has developed an online survey and is conducting community meetings to gather insights. “Unlike ‘ideas’ which are suggestions for solving a problem, ‘insights’ reveal the root of the problem,” explained Brandi Clark Burton, policy adviser to Mayor Steve Adler, in a recent post on the City Council Message Board. “This more detailed information will help ARR understand the obstacles which will allow for more and better opportunities for recycling.” The feedback period ends Aug. 24. Between now and then, people are invited to take the survey or send a text to 512-580-7778 with an answer to this question: “How might we put fewer recyclables in the trash?”

After two tied votes, the Austin Independent School District board of trustees will not pursue a November special election to fill District 7’s open seat. AISD officials announced the death of school board member Robert Schneider on July 28. Schneider was one of the longest-serving trustees on the current school board. He was elected to the board in 2002 and dedicated 13 years of service as the District 7 trustee. AISD board members voted twice on Tuesday night: first on whether or not to appoint someone to Schneider’s seat, then on whether or not to have a special election. Both votes were tied. Since the motion to have a special election did not win ahead of Tuesday night’s deadline, it failed. AISD board members will begin the process of appointing a member of the community to fill the seat until the next general election in November 2016.

At Monday’s budget work session, Mayor Steve Adler proposed to streamline how many questions City Council presents to city budget staff just before the budget is adopted. He said the idea was to “make the process a little bit more deliberative and reduce the screaming and running about on the day that we’re trying to adopt the budget.” For now, each Council member will be able to direct individual questions under the Q&A format. However, starting next week, it will take two Council members to submit a question, and the following week it will take three. That assumes that the mayor’s colleagues go along with him on the plan. Most seemed sympathetic to the idea at Monday’s meeting after a lengthy discussion about what it meant. The mayor added, “We’re going to adopt the budget on Sept. 8, but my hope is on Sept. 1 we’ll be pretty close in terms of narrowing the issues to be finally decided on the 8th. And to do that, the staff has asked us that we not have 11 people sending them out to cost out multiple scenarios.”

In July, the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved new floodplain maps that include areas of Boggy Creek, Bull and West Bull Creek, Carson Creek, Cottonmouth Creek, Dry Creek East, Fort Branch, Shoal Creek and Tennehill Branch. Though the city is already using the new maps to regulate development, it won’t officially adopt the new maps until 2016. At that time, they will become effective for flood insurance. The city has more information about the new maps online here. Additionally, Austinites can check whether their home is in a floodplain at ATX Flood Pro.