The city of Austin is seeking public input on an art project to be installed at the University Hills Branch library in East Austin. Art in Public Places, which is a program of the Cultural Arts Division of the city’s Economic Development Department, plans to commission an artist or team of artists to design artwork for the library’s exterior, near the front entrance. Art in Public Places is hosting two upcoming meetings at which the public is invited to help city staff develop goals for the project. Following these meetings, staff anticipates releasing a Request for Qualifications in August. The first meeting will be held this Saturday, July 11, 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. A follow-up meeting will be held July 22, 7-8 p.m. Both meetings will take place at the library, 4721 Loyola Lane.

With a Request for Proposals underway, today the city will hold a meeting for restaurant owners and food vendors interested in being the new food and beverage vendor at the Barton Springs concession in Zilker Park. The meeting is an opportunity for anyone interested in the contract to ask questions about the RFP process and learn about what they will need to do to be included in it. Those interested in attending should meet at 9 a.m. at City Hall. After a short presentation, the meeting will move to Zilker Park to tour the current concession facility.

Former Mayor Lee Leffingwell will be taking off to Seoul, South Korea, next week, where he has been invited to give the keynote address at a conference on the creative economy. While he was on City Council, Leffingwell was a big booster of Austin’s creative economy, including Austin City Limits; the SXSW Music, Interactive and Film festivals; and Formula One. Last May, Council approved creation of a Creative Content Incentive Program within the city’s Economic Development Department. The aim of the program is to increase Austin’s competitive advantage in attracting TV, film and digital media projects to town to create more job opportunities for the local creative workforce. According to information released at the time, such projects are eligible for an incentive of up to .75 percent of wages paid to local workers. Leffingwell was a strong supporter of the incentive program, as well as a number of other job creation initiatives. In a 2012 report, TXP Inc. reported that the creative sector contributes just over $4.3 billion annually to Austin’s economy. Leffingwell said Seoul’s Mayor Park Won-soon invited him to give the speech.

Stephanie McDonald will start her new job today as chief of staff at Central Health after a brief stint as vice president of public policy for the Austin Chamber of Commerce. Prior to that, McDonald served as an aide to former Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole and as executive director of the nonprofit Waller Creek Conservancy. McDonald has worked in various communication campaigns in both the public and private sectors. She will report to Central Health CEO Trish Young Brown.

This Thursday, friends of Gail Chavez will gather at the Ginger Man, 301 Lavaca, from 4:30-6:30 p.m., to celebrate her retirement from the city. Chavez, who served as the first point of contact for many people visiting City Council offices, retired in early June. In addition to directing traffic on the second floor, she was the city’s Proclamation Coordinator, writing approximately 2,000 certificates per year honoring various individuals and groups. Chavez worked for the city for nearly 16 years, serving under every mayor from Kirk Watson to Steve Adler. Many of her friends at City Hall, including employees who participated in Chavez’s lunchtime run/walk program, miss her smiling face and knowledgeable assistance. The city has not yet hired a permanent employee for the job previously held by Chavez, although rumor has it that it is expected to happen at the end of August.

Today, the Austin Monitor will join city of Austin administrative offices and other municipal facilities in observing Independence Day by publishing a lighter edition than usual. At the city, pools will remain open and garbage collection will remain on schedule, but City Council offices, the Small & Minority Business Resources Department’s office and Plan Room, the Entrepreneur Center and Business Solutions Center, the Austin History Center, Watershed Protection and Austin Utility Walk-In Payment Centers, all recreation and senior centers, all museums, all cultural arts centers, all nature centers and all botanical gardens will be closed. Additionally, Austin public libraries will be closed today, July 3, and Saturday, July 4. The Austin Animal Center will be closing early on the Fourth of July. Holiday hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Saturday, July 4, many downtown roads will be closed for the HEB Austin Symphony July 4th Concert & Fireworks. To see a complete list of closures for this event and others, visit the city’s website.

The Austin Independent School District board of trustees decided to follow a suggestion from their chief financial officer at the last regular board meeting on June 22. Nicole Conley, CFO, stated in earlier meetings that changing the start of AISD’s fiscal year from Sept. 1 to July 1 would provide a seeming one-time bump in revenue for FY 2016. The bump would occur because the 2015-16 fiscal year will run on a 10-month calendar, but the 2015-16 budget scheduled for board adoption in August 2015 will still be based on 12 months. AISD’s new fiscal year schedule will begin July 1, 2016. Conley said that changing the district’s fiscal year from Sept. 1 to July 1 will better align the fiscal year with the academic year. Future budgets will be adopted in June and available for campuses when staff and students return to begin the new school year.

Today, after about a year of renovation, all 18 holes of the Zilker Park Disc Golf Course will open once again. Visitors to the course will be greeted by new baskets, improved tees and trails, better drainage and vegetation, and erosion controls designed to preserve water quality in Eanes Creek. The renovations were a joint project among the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Watershed Protection Department and Waterloo Disc Golf Club.

Citing concerns that the drought may not be over despite recent rain, City Manager Marc Ott announced Wednesday that Austin will remain in Stage 2 watering restrictions, which limit watering to one day per week. The Austin Water Utility has suggested that it is time to consider adopting one-day-per-week watering permanently. That change would be a big one, and changes to the city code and its Drought Contingency Plan would most likely involve a stakeholder process (and City Council approval).

In April, City Council adopted a resolution that asked the Planning and Zoning Department and the Development Services Department to address the findings of the Zucker Report through a response and recommended implementation plan. According to a memo from the two department heads, Greg Guernsey and Rodney Gonzales, respectively, an action plan has been completed but needs reformatting to be more “user friendly.” With all that in mind, they promise the document will be ready to read on July 7.

City Manager Marc Ott announced to the mayor and City Council in a memo on Tuesday that City Attorney Karen Kennard resigned when he informed her that he was reassigning her to the position of government relations officer on a permanent basis. Kennard had the role during the 2015 legislative session on an interim basis. Ott wrote that he believed that “Karen’s skills and experience would be best suited in this government relations role,” praising her work during the session. Kennard, Ott wrote, will be staying at the city for a few months to help with the transition. Ott said he would choose a new interim government relations officer in the next few weeks to coordinate with Kennard during the transition. Anne Morgan, who served as interim city attorney while Kennard was taking care of government relations, will continue in that role, Ott said, as he considers what is best for the City Attorney’s Office. Kennard took over as city attorney in 2011. In his memo, Ott noted that he still has several vacancies on his executive team. He has not filled the position of deputy city manager since the retirement of Mike McDonald last December. (See Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2014.) In addition, Ott has not filled the assistant city manager slot vacated by Anthony Snipes at the end of May. Ott said that Mark Washington will continue as an acting assistant city manager for the time being. In the memo, Ott noted that he and his staff have been extremely busy during the past few months, given “the change to district representation, a new Committee structure requiring a dramatic increase in staff support, etc. I want to ensure that my Executive Team is set up in a way to provide the necessary organizational leadership and to support our success.” He said he would be evaluating the last few months’ operations as well as looking at future needs in order to determine the appropriate executive team structure.

In the wake of massive protests against the public display of the Confederate flag in governmental settings, some Austinites – including members of the Barton Hills Neighborhood Association – want to rename Robert E. Lee Road. The road runs along the east side of Zilker Park, leading into Barton Hills. On Monday night, it appeared that approximately 95 emails on this topic were on the neighborhood listserv. Some people feel strongly that the name should be removed because of its historical and racist connotations. Others think the name should remain because it will cost money and cause confusion to change it, or because they value the history behind the name. District 5 City Council Member Ann Kitchen received a number of emails yesterday both pro and con. One of those shared by a staff member pointed out that “the 1928 City Plan not only dictated segregation through physical infrastructure but predicated discriminatory education practices for the next few decades.” The letter writer is quoting from a document on the University of Texas website. The writer states that African-Americans were barred from using Barton Springs Pool even though it would have been the closest pool for many. The writer asked Kitchen to “take the lead in renaming Robert E. Lee Road,” noting that it is within her district. Another resident, however, wrote on the neighborhood listserv: “It’s the indirect cost that will fall disproportionately on the citizens. It is a very bad idea and I oppose renaming. Quit warring against symbols, folks, and face up to the real problem – it’s in the mirror, yours and mine. It is prejudice based on poorly grasped ideas. We all have it and we all succumb to it. Let the dead rest and get busy healing the living.” According to the city’s website, the process for changing the name of the street “involves a petition (signed by a governmental entity’s representative or at least 50% of all landowners abutting the subject street), approval from the Austin City Council in the form of an ordinance and an application-processing fee.” The fee is $415, but that is waived if a Council member sponsors the name change. The website also says that Council must hold a public hearing on the matter unless 100 percent of the property owners on the street sign the petition seeking the name change.