Over the weekend, reports that a garage for another downtown hotel could damage the natural rock wall at Cheer Up Charlies riled Austinites. Construction at the Hyatt House also triggered problems for the Mohawk next door, whose proprietors were told their dumpsters are now blocking the right of way. According to a Facebook post by Cheer Up Charlies’ co-owner Maggie Lea, those worried about what’s going on with the natural rock wall are encouraged to call 3-1-1 and complain to the city’s Code Department today.

On Friday, Travis County Medical Director Dr. Paul Hinchey announced his resignation. A memo from City Manager Marc Ott announced the resignation as well as Hinchey’s future plans: joining the private sector as president of East Coast operations for Evolution Health. Ott said he will be appointing Dr. Jose Cabanas as acting medical director and “confer with my executive team in the coming week to develop our strategy for filling the position permanently.” The process of filling the position promises to be interesting. Hinchey’s tenure was marked by battles with the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services Employees Association, and the group will certainly play a role in the hiring process moving forward.

Proposed increases to the Waller Creek Tunnel project and the Water Treatment Plant 4 budget passed with no discussion at City Council on Thursday. As the Austin Monitor reported earlier this week, the Waller Creek Tunnel project budget will increase by $5.6 million, though the city hopes not to have to use those funds. The Water Treatment Plant 4 settlement will cost the city about $4.6 million, bringing the total cost of the project to $528.1 million.

City Council passed a resolution Thursday in a 10-1 vote that directs staff to “develop a plan for better enforcement regarding short-term rental properties, particularly those that have repeated complaints” or are noncompliant. The resolution directs staff to bring forward its report and recommendations on or by the Aug. 13 Council meeting. Council Member Greg Casar also proposed an amendment, which Council incorporated, to request that staff propose a resolution at the following Council meeting on Aug. 20 that would initiate most of the code amendments that Code Department staff presented to the Planning and Neighborhoods Committee on June 15. These include adding a penalty for operating a short-term rental without a license, requiring advertisements or promotions for short-term rentals to state that there is a six-person occupancy limit, adding a penalty for operating short-term rentals with an expired license, adding inspection requirements and striking a section of city code that allows unlicensed individuals to advertise a potential short-term rental solely in order to “gauge public interest.” The Planning and Neighborhoods committee will also consider the issue at its Aug. 17 meeting. Council Member Don Zimmerman cast the sole opposing vote.

On Aug. 1, the city of Austin will hold its first Canine Restoration Challenge, which takes untrained dogs and makes them better candidates for adoption. According to a press release about the program, “(t)he Challenge will feature 14 dog trainers chosen to train 14 shelter dogs in a humane and compassionate manner in just 14 days. Those selected will foster and train a dog from July 17-Aug. 1, then show off their dog’s skills for prizes at the Austin Pet Expo at the Palmer Events Center on Aug. 1. … Nine Central Texas shelters are supplying dogs. The animal shelters will choose dogs that are 9 months or older and have been passed over for adoption because of physical characteristics, challenging behaviors and/or lack of previous training.” The deadline for trainers to apply to the program is June 25. More information can be found here.

Next Wednesday, June 24, Neighborhood Housing and Community Development will discuss proposed amendments to the City of Austin Land Development Code relating to the Planned Unit Development Density Bonus Program. In response to a City Council resolution, NHCD has prepared draft recommendations for potential code amendments to the PUD program. Specifically, the amendments relate to requiring on-site affordable housing units. The meeting will take place at 1000 East 11th St. from 11:30 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

Taking full advantage of Public Utility Commission Chair Delia Garza’s maternity leave, Vice Chair Don Zimmerman moved forward with discussing the hazards of fluoride in Austin’s water supply at yesterday’s meeting. Perhaps looking to spare Austinites another long discussion on the topic, Zimmerman also posted a resolution on the City Council Message Board asking the city manager to “cease the addition of artificial fluoride, including hydrofluorosilicic acid, sodium fluoride, sodium fluorosilicate or any other methods of fluoridation, to the City of Austin’s water supply by December 1, 2015.” He will, of course, need co-sponsors in order to post the resolution to the regular Council agenda.

Many hypotheticals were thrown out at the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustee’s workshop to help relieve budget woes, including possible changes to district policy. Chief Financial Officer Nicole Conley asked the board to consider adjusting the allowable amount AISD keeps in its reserve fund from 20 percent to a range of 15 to 20 percent. The figure might hurt AISD’s credit rating in the future, but Conley said she is working with AISD’s rating agency to see if it might reconsider the way it evaluates the district. She hopes the agency will see recaptured funds as something other than a liability. AISD’s reserves are based off its pre-recaptured fund balance, which means a larger portion of funds are placed into AISD’s reserves compared to the actual money the district is able to spend. This bars access to more funds as recapture increases and further undercuts spending in an already tight budget season. Conley also suggested moving the start of AISD’s fiscal year from September to July, starting in FY 2017. The change would be ongoing, but it would allow for a one-time bump in reserve levels and the general fund balance in FY 2017. Conley said this would align better with grant funding and general school funding. The board will consider changing the fiscal year at the July 22 meeting.

Former Mayor Frank Cooksey and his wife, Lynn, are likely to be the recipients of a lifetime swim pass at Barton Springs Pool. Although City Council will vote on honoring them with the passes today, it is likely the city will devise a less complicated way to allow other residents over the age of 80 to swim at Barton Springs for free. The issue came up because Council Member Ora Houston pulled the item from Tuesday’s work session agenda to ask how the decision to give the Cookseys free passes arose. Parks and Recreation Department Assistant Director Kimberly McNeeley explained that there was a committee in 1993 that created a complicated procedure by which people could nominate residents over age 85 to whom Barton Springs was meaningful to receive free passes with Council approval. She said the policy was amended in 2003 to change the age to 80. Houston said she was all in favor of the Cookseys being able to swim for free but did not think the program should be limited to those who have the political connections to secure a nomination. Anyone over 80 who wants to swim at Barton Springs Pool should have a free pass, she said. Several Council members who spoke about the item agreed with her, including Mayor Steve Adler and Council members Sheri Gallo and Leslie Pool. Council Member Don Zimmerman disagreed and wanted the question of free passes referred to a committee, including the proposed passes for the former mayor and his wife. Adler said he would refer the policy, but not the issue of passes for the Cookseys, to the Parks and Open Space Committee. Zimmerman said he would vote against the passes today.

Responding to a suggestion by City Council Member Greg Casar that the Capital Metro quarter-cent funds be distributed by need, not political boundary, Council Member Don Zimmerman reiterated the importance of Council’s, not staff’s, prioritizing projects. He also offered the following on the City Council Message Board: “I favor the Mayor having review and veto power over council member decisions that appear unwise or politically motivated.”

Travis County Commissioners on Tuesday made the Heman Marion Sweatt Courthouse the official historic courthouse of the county. The largely ceremonial vote came almost 10 years to the day after a previous Commissioners Court voted to rename the building after the civil rights icon. However, according to the resolution, it also confers on the building’s legally recognized status “as the ‘courthouse’ that the commissioners of a county are required to provide” under a specific section of Texas state law. The resolution also mandates that tax sales and foreclosure sales continue to take place at the building, even if voters elect this November to build the proposed $292 million Civil & Family Courts Complex a few blocks south on Guadalupe Street.

According to a discussion at Tuesday’s City Council work session, Council may postpone a vote on restructuring the city’s drainage fee until its June 26 June 25 meeting. The item is on Thursday’s agenda, but Council Member Ann Kitchen raised the possibility of delaying the item, pending today’s conversation about it at the Council Public Utilities Committee, on which she sits. “We have no opportunity to bring back any changes in a work session, and I don’t know yet if we’re going to work through everything (at the committee meeting) on Wednesday or not,” she said. “We certainly wouldn’t want to delay this to August, but if we do have another meeting scheduled for Thursday that we could put it on, I’m just wondering if that’s an option.” Watershed Protection Department Deputy Director Joe Pantalion responded to the request. “Certainly there’s a sense of urgency to approve the rate structure so that we can have the parcel information and billing ready to go for (the start of the new fiscal year on) Oct. 1,” he said. “We can work with that (request).” No Council members present at the work session disagreed with the request, and Council Member Ellen Troxclair concurred. “I know that we’re on a tight deadline, but at the same time it’s going to have a huge impact on everyone in Austin,” she said. “So I think that if we need another week to make sure that the changes are well thought through and that we have an opportunity to discuss them at work session, that would be my preference.” Watershed Protection Director Victoria Li originally requested that Council adopt the structure by the beginning of this month. Council tentatively adopted the ordinance on May 21 but sent it back for committee review after hearing criticisms of the proposal from public speakers. State District Judge Amy Clark Meachum ruled in June 2014 that the current drainage charge violates Texas law. The city appealed that ruling and the courts have granted a stay on the appeal. That stay expires on Oct. 22.