Starting June 15 and running through July 24, the city of Austin will accept applications for the CityWorks Academy, which offers Austinites a chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at city operations. According to a press release about the program, “The academy provides an opportunity for Austinites to get involved in local government and to learn first-hand about the programs and services the City provides directly from the people who deliver them. Participants will have the chance to learn the ‘A to Z’ of City operations in 12 sessions. Classes will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays and some Wednesdays, Sept. 8 through Dec. 15 at various City facilities. The CityWorks Academy will be led by City of Austin Executive Team members, Department Directors and other City staff who will share information about the City’s operations and discuss key issues facing this community.” Additionally, Mayor Steve Adler and City Council will participate in the sessions. Applications are available at the City Hall third-floor reception area or online here. The program’s enrollment is limited to 35.

The backlog of requests for pedestrian hybrid beacons from the city may soon dwindle. City Council Members Greg Casar and Ora Houston mentioned high demand for the beacons from their districts at a mobility budget meeting Wednesday. Casar expressed some concern about the process of deciding where beacons are installed, but said he ultimately concluded that the criteria were fair. The beacons, as the Austin Monitor wrote in March, are midblock crosswalks activated by pedestrians crossing busy streets. The Federal Highway Administration found that the beacons significantly decrease pedestrian accidents. Each beacon costs $60,000 to install.

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority announced Wednesday that it has closed the connection between CR 276 and US 183, near the highway’s intersection with the 183A Toll Road in Leander. The connection will remain closed for about two months, or until construction is complete on a permanent connection, which CTRMA says will “facilitate smoother and safer turning movements and improve access across the southbound lanes.” In the meantime, drivers may consult a detour map for instructions on how to navigate the temporary route. According to the agency, the construction is part of a larger improvement project at the intersection that’s on track for completion in the fall and includes “pavement widening, drainage improvements, traffic signal adjustments and minor new road construction of CR 276.”

Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt kicked off Tuesday’s regular voting session of the Travis County Commissioners Court with a small change in policy. Prompted by regular visitations from residents who use the meetings’ public communication times as a soapbox to vent about issues that aren’t particularly germane to county business, Eckhardt announced that she would strictly enforce standing rules that require communicants to stay on topic, and she punctuated the warning with the threat of a contempt of court citation. Eckhardt also said that public communications would now be heard at the very beginning of each meeting instead of after proclamations and resolutions. While the comments will still be officially recorded for posterity’s sake, they will no longer be broadcast live on Travis County Television. After Eckhardt announced the changes, she opened up the floor to a series of communicants, none of whom violated the rules.

City Council Member Sheri Gallo indicated during Tuesday’s Council work session that she plans to propose an amended, milder version of a resolution she sponsored on Thursday’s agenda related to the taxable values of homesteads for seniors and people with disabilities. As currently drafted, the resolution would direct the city manager to implement a freeze on the taxable values in question based on the 2015 tax roll as authorized by Texas Tax Code. Such a measure would be irrevocable once implemented and could result in forgone city property tax revenue starting in fiscal year 2016-2017 if property values continue to rise. Suzie Chase, Gallo’s constituent liaison, later confirmed with the Austin Monitor that the redrafted resolution would direct the city manager to “provide a report on her proposal at an upcoming budget work session or Council briefing,” rather than implement the freeze. Both Mayor Steve Adler and Council Member Leslie Pool — a co-sponsor — said they would like to see Council more comprehensively vet the idea before taking action on it. Deputy Chief Financial Officer Ed Van Eenoo said Council has a more flexible timeline for considering such a proposal, as opposed to the strict timeline associated with implementing a homestead property tax exemption, and indicated that there would be time for further discussion.

Travis County commissioners voted on Tuesday to conduct a six-figure study that could help sell the nearly $300 million Civil and Family Courts Complex proposal to voters this November. If approved, two new towers would go up in downtown Austin at Fourth and Guadalupe streets just across from Republic Square Park. One tower would house the courtrooms, while the second would eventually be used for administrative offices. However, there is interest in building the second tower and leasing it to private companies for an extended period to help cover the estimated $292 million cost of the project. On Tuesday, the commissioners decided to adjust the contract with the engineering firm AECOM and ask the company to investigate exactly how much money could be generated by such a deal. County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said she wants the information so that “if we negotiate with a private partner to develop that second block, we negotiate the best possible deal for the taxpayer in offsetting the 20-year costs of the Civil and Family Courts Complex while also preserving our maximum utility in that block for 50 years, 70 years or 100 years.” The $108,000 study will take up to eight weeks to complete.

This Saturday, June 13, City Council Member Sheri Gallo will host a town hall meeting about zoning for District 10. Gallo has invited city staff to make presentations and answer constituent questions about city ordinances and zoning requirements. The meeting will take place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Austin Board of Realtors building on Spicewood Springs Road.

Though the event will still focus on the Economics of Imagine Austin, there has been a change to our June 16 Beers, Brains and Betterment forum. Zilker Neighborhood Resident David King is not able to attend the event, but in his stead Other Zilker Neighborhood Resident (and Board of Adjustment Chair) Jeff Jack will be there. More information about the discussion is available here, where interested attendees can also RSVP.

At Monday’s meeting, two City Council members on the Economic Opportunity Committee had numerous questions about how the state’s Major Events Trust Fund works and how money flows from the Circuit of the Americas to the state as seed money. Council Member Ora Houston also wanted to know whether there was a conflict of interest for attorney Wayne Hollingsworth, who sits on the Circuit Events Local Organizing Committee while his firm, Armbrust & Brown, represents the Circuit of the Americas. Hollingsworth was in the audience and came to the podium to explain that even though there might be an appearance of a conflict of interest, there was no such conflict. The local organizing committee does the work of providing information to the Texas Comptroller, which enables Circuit of the Americas to apply for and receive funding from the trust fund for events such as Formula 1, the X Games and Moto GP. In response to questions from Council Member Leslie Pool, Sylnovia Holt-Rabb, assistant director of the Economic Development Department, explained that the previous Council did not want the city to put any money into the Major Events Trust Fund. As a consequence, the Circuit Events Local Organizing Committee was formed to raise the money that the city would otherwise pay to the state in order to get trust fund money back from the state. Hollingsworth said the committee receives its funds to give to the state from the Circuit of the Americas. He explained that after the Comptroller receives confirmation of the expenditures for putting on the event, the Comptroller pays back to the Circuit of the Americas $6.25 for each dollar that the committee paid into the fund. Holt-Rabb is a member of the committee, representing the city. However, she has no vote, and Houston was not satisfied with Hollingsworth’s explanation, calling the committee a “closed ecosystem.” The discussion was cut short because the committee had other items to discuss. However, the subject will come up again, because the local organizing committee will be coming back to Council to request its authorization to apply for trust fund money for the 2016 X Games. The Austin Business Journal reported yesterday that attendance at this year’s X Games was lower than the previous year, but still better than attendance in prior years when the games were held in Los Angeles.

Dottie Watkins, Capital Metro vice president of bus and paratransit services, updated board members on seven months of bus operations data Monday. At CapMetro’s Operation, Planning and Safety Committee meeting, Watkins said several of CapMetro’s contractors had struggled with maintaining low vehicle accident rates lately, and the transportation authority is reviewing data to see if CapMetro has created more hazardous routes or if the problems lie with the contractors. McDonald Transit, one of CapMetro’s main bus service contractors, had a 4.48 percent high on its vehicle accident rate in March and a low in February of 2.79 percent, according to board documents. The contractor missed CapMetro’s stated goal of an 2.4 percent vehicle accident rate per month for all seven months. The accident rate on CapMetro’s MetroRapid routes, which is run by First Transit, also varied greatly, from a 1.65 to 5.04 percent vehicle accident rate in the past seven months. First Transit met CapMetro’s goal twice, however, which was a 2.45 percent vehicle accident rate per month.

Today, East César Chavez Street neighbors and District 3 City Council Member Pio Renteria will gather to protest a proposed hotel. Developers are seeking a Conditional Use Permit to build a 65-room hotel at 1207 East César Chavez St. Neighbors worry that the hotel, bar and restaurant will harm the neighborhood, according to a press release, which also states that “residents say the project is not only far too large for the proposed site, but will exacerbate already severe congestion on East César Chavez, and increase cut-through traffic and parking on residential streets. They believe the hotel-restaurant-bar will also negatively impact the quality of life for neighborhood kids who attend the child-care center next door, and students at Sanchez Elementary School, around the corner. Neighbors fear the hotel project will create an entertainment corridor connecting nearby Rainey Street bars and restaurants with the more family-oriented East César Chavez Street.” Project opponents will hold a press conference at 5 p.m. at City Hall, just prior to the Planning Commission meeting.

According to the Parks and Recreation Department, Metz and Mabel Davis Pools will open for the summer once repairs on the pools are finished – most likely, sometime within the next two weeks. Last month, the department reversed its decision to close the pools for the season following neighbors’ backlash. In the memo to Mayor Steve Adler and City Council announcing the news, department head Sara Hensley wrote that the causes of the pools’ excessive leaking had been identified and repairs scheduled, but she did not mentioned any opening dates. The Parks Department says that if all repairs go accordingly, Mabel Davis will open Tuesday, June 9. Recent flooding has delayed crews working on Metz, but Wayne Simmons of the city’s Aquatics Division says the pool should open on June 15 – along with seven other pools. The department staggered its schedule of openings this summer to avoid a repeat of last year’s lifeguard shortage.