Two weeks after declining to throw its weight behind Austin City Council’s commercial property tax appraisal challenge, the Travis County Commissioners Court signaled Tuesday that the issue is still on its radar. During their regular voting session, the commissioners voted 4-0 to approve a resolution reaffirming the county’s commitment to share any real estate sales price data in its possession with the Travis County Appraisal District. Commissioner Gerald Daugherty did not attend Tuesday’s meeting. “We had previously provided all sales data to TCAD,” said County Judge Sarah Eckhardt. “But it has come to my understanding that that had fallen off in the last 18 months to two years, so the idea was to bring a resolution to again recommit to provide all sales data to TCAD so that they could have the best data that we can provide.” The resolution also calls on the next Texas Legislature to enact a law requiring the disclosure of that date to county appraisal districts statewide. Council voted to challenge TCAD’s commercial appraisals after a staff report concluded that the district had undervalued commercial property values by an average of 47 percent from 2010 to 2012.

Due to procedural errors, the Historic Landmark Commission has recommended the Bluebonnet Hills historic preservation district on three separate occasions. Next Monday, it will consider it a fourth time. Why? Because after reviewing the posting of the third trip to the commission, the Austin Law Department was concerned that posting and the hearing had not been broad enough. At that meeting, commissioners considered the “non-recommendation” of the green-building program, which was initially missing. Since then, the department has determined that the commission should have considered the whole case for a third time, not just that one missing component. So, next Monday, the Historic Landmark Commissioners will do just that. The homecoming event at HLC will not impact the recommendation of the Planning Commission or City Council’s first-reading approval last Thursday.

The Electric Utility Commission recommended Monday that City Council consider the top three consultants that Austin Energy staff evaluated to conduct what commissioners have called a “gap study.” That independent study will help Council determine how to fill an energy generation gap created by ramp-downs of aging energy sources such as the Decker Creek Power Station, outlined in the Austin Energy Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan to 2025. Khalil Shalabi, Austin Energy’s vice president of energy market operations and resource planning, has argued that constructing a 500-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plant will help support some of the plan’s renewable-energy goals, while many environmental advocates have argued in favor of pursuing alternatives that consist entirely of renewable options. The top three firms that Austin Energy staff have identified, in order from highest to lowest rating, are Pace Global, Navigant Consulting and LCG Consulting. During the discussion, Chair Michael Osborne expressed an interest in LCG Consulting, and Commissioner Joep Meijer expressed an interest in Navigant Consulting. The draft agenda item only explicitly recommends Pace Global, and commissioners agreed that when the previous Council adopted the plan in December, it intended for the current Council to select from the top three options. Austin Energy Director of Local Government Relations Jeff Vice said he would forward the commission’s requested language change to the utility’s purchasing office.

While recent floods and rainfall have increased the combined storage of Austin’s reservoir lakes Travis and Buchanan, Austin Water Utility has cautioned residents not to celebrate just yet. Austin Water Utility Managing Engineer Teresa Lutes told the Water and Wastewater Commission on Wednesday that the lakes had received about 600,000 acre-feet in increased storage as a result of “recent rain events.” According to the Lower Colorado River Authority, as of Monday the combined storage of the two lakes was 1,375,594 acre-feet, or about 69 percent of capacity. One acre-foot is equal to about 326,000 gallons. “Although we did receive some inflows and received some additional storage into the reservoirs, the drought is still continuing on,” Lutes said. “We’re still in drought conditions and we’ll continue to monitor this, but again we’re being very cautious.”

Yesterday, Transportation Department Director Robert Spillar announced that, after receiving feedback from employees and City Council staff, “City Hall employees will be provided a reserved parking area and all employees will continue to enjoy free parking at City Hall at this time.” According to a memo sent by Spillar to Council and Mayor Steve Adler, the current configuration will change, and plans now include “a designated area for employees on the P3 level of the garage during business hours. The spaces will be reserved for Austin City Hall employees only; employees visiting from other facilities will not be permitted to park in this area. The Austin Transportation Department estimates that there will be roughly 250 reserved spaces, based on the typical employee usage. This should be plenty of parking for City Hall employees. Additionally, the 32 spaces currently reserved for Austin City Council staff will be maintained on P1. There will be no modification to parking where Austin City Council members and the City Manager’s Office park on the basement level of the garage.” The reversal of the entrance and exit to the garage will move forward as planned.

PSW Real Estate, the Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Association, the Bouldin Creek Condominium Homeowners Association and two property owners have signed an agreement related to a street vacation and are requesting that City Council take action. Back in March, Council postponed action on the vacation of parts of three streets close to South 1st Street in order to allow construction of 10,000 square feet of office space, 30 condominium units and 22 single-family detached houses. According to an agreement signed by the parties on Thursday and distributed to Council by lobbyist Glen Coleman, PSW and developers Leslie Moore and Magdalena Rood will dedicate easements between South 1st and South 2nd streets to create a new drive with public access. Each developer will design her respective projects to take vehicle access from the new drive and close curb cuts on South 1st Street. But South 2nd Street will remain open for public access even though it is being vacated as a city street. The condo association agreed to withdraw its previous opposition to the right-of-way vacation case for South 2nd Street on the condition that the street remain open for public access and be accessible for pedestrians and vehicles going into and out of the property. The neighborhood association stated that it was withdrawing its opposition to the right-of-way case involving South 2nd Street as well as an unnamed street and an associated alley between South 1st and South 2nd. However, it wishes to continue negotiations related to a second right-of-way case involving Christopher Street. The parties are asking Council to take action on the right-of-way case members agree on at Council’s June 18 meeting. Negotiations will continue between PSW, other parties and the Parks and Recreation Department regarding access to existing parkland, according to the agreement.

During Tuesday’s meeting of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, General Manager John Dupnik repeatedly said that staff is going to be slammed in the upcoming months once House Bill 3405 takes effect. HB 3405 will immediately incorporate up to 200 square miles of previously unincorporated land in Hays County under BSEACD regulatory authority. Dupnik said the district will look to hire two additional full-time staff members to help handle the increased workload, which would mean the district may need to look for another office building — possibly farther south, since the district has more territory there, he said. BSEACD board members will hold a special meeting 6 p.m. Tuesday at their office at 1124 Regal Row to begin nailing down implementation rules associated with the bill. Once enacted, staff plans to have regular town hall meetings in July and look into using mobile well registration sites as well as electronic applications to make it easier for residents to apply for temporary permits.

So far, green-powered electrical systems have been installed in 21 Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) ambulances. The systems are the result of a three-year collaboration between ATCEMS and local company Stealth Power. The technology allows EMS crews to turn off ambulance engines while maintaining system power, which reduces energy use and saves money. According to a press release about the new technology, “Stealth smart power management technology saves fuel and money by allowing full operation of the on-board electrical systems including lights, HVAC, refrigerator, communications, laptop and other power needs without having to idle the vehicle’s engine. The system recharges off the vehicle’s alternator when driven and may be plugged in to a dedicated shoreline outlet back at the station with no maintenance required. An emergency jump-start feature reserves 20 percent power to ensure the vehicle always has battery power to start.”

On June 24, the Austin Economic Development Department invites Austinites to meet the candidates for the new cultural arts program manager position and provide input. Three candidates — Cohn Drennan of Dallas, Anna L. Langdell of London and Gary T. Margolis of San Diego — will be interviewed that day. The meeting will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Kodosky Lounge at the Long Center. More information about what a cultural arts program manager does can be found here.

Consumer advocate and utility watchdog Paul Robbins has had some success bringing change to Austin Energy practices. Currently he is particularly concerned with waste in the utility’s Customer Assistance Program, which is designed to help low-income customers. Last year, he began his quest to remove people from the program who were not actually in need of assistance. His research gave the staff of the utility cover last month when they announced they would be screening out higher-income customers from the CAP program. On Thursday, Robbins told Council during citizens communications that about 40 percent of CAP participants used more than the average residential Austin Energy customer in 2014. That average, according to utility figures, was 915 kwh a month. Some CAP participants used double and triple that amount. In addition, he said, 2 percent of program participants used 2,501 kwh or more per month. Austin Energy could save $700,000 if it did not give the 10 percent CAP discount to customers in the top two tiers, people using 1501 kwh or more per month. If the utility stopped the discount for people in the top three tiers, those using more than the average customer, AE could save $1.5 million, he said. That money could then be used to help the truly needy and shore up the program. The CAP program currently has 42,000 participants. Each of them is paying the CAP surcharge, just like the rest of Austin ratepayers, he said.

This weekend the Republic of Texas Motorcycle Rally will roll into town once again. As with every festival, there will be traffic changes. From 5 p.m. Friday, June 12 through 3 a.m. Saturday, June 13, Congress Avenue will be closed for the Republic of Texas Biker Rally parade and events. According to a detailed parade description from the city, “The parade will begin at 7:45 p.m. from the Travis County Exposition Center heading south on Decker to FM 969/East MLK Blvd. They will then turn right on MLK Blvd., left on Webberville Road, left on Springdale Road, right on Oak Springs Drive/Rosewood Avenue, left on Hargrove, right on Pleasant Valley (over the bridge), left on Chestnut, right on 11th Street, left on Congress Avenue. Street closures on Congress Avenue include: Congress Avenue from Cesar Chavez to 11th Street, and the side streets of Congress Avenue will be closed between Brazos and Colorado streets.” In addition, the Austin Police Department has announced safety initiatives for the ROT rally, which are detailed on the city’s website here.

During Wednesday’s budget work session, City Council Member Leslie Pool and Austin Resource Recovery found common ground on grass clippings. While discussing the city’s organics program, Pool asked Resource Recovery Director Bob Gedert if his department had seen a change in the amount of grass clippings being collected since the dawn of the age of xeriscaping. Gedert replied that, regrettably, he had not. “We are still collecting a tremendous amount of grass clippings. We really would like to see a ‘leave it lay’ program, where we aren’t collecting the grass,” he said. “The grass comes with the program, but it an unnecessary collection.” Pool said she hopes she can work with other city departments to get the word out and educate the city on the importance of leaving grass clippings on lawns. She offered to hold a hearing on the topic at the Open Space, Environment and Sustainability Committee after the summer break.