Even though it’s chilly outside now, Austin Water Utility is encouraging Austinites to plan ahead for the long, hot summer. As an extra bit of incentive, the utility is offering rebates for using mulch, compost and core aeration to help retain water (and reduce the need for watering). The city offers the following rebates: compost: 2 cubic yards or 54 cubic feet — $50; mulch: 2 cubic yards or 54 cubic feet — $40; core aeration service for entire front and/or back lawn area (equipment rental is acceptable) — $30. To receive rebates, customers must apply and follow the instructions available on the city’s WaterWise website.

Those interested in the ongoing, now one-sided fight for District 4 might want to check out the Austin Chronicle‘s coverage of Laura Pressley’s weekend fundraiser. Monitor staff was otherwise occupied. However, readers who prefer to stay current on Pressley’s tireless pursuit on their own time may be heartened by a new section on her campaign website, where she details her multiple complaints since the election. That information, which has been divided into 12 sections, can be found here.

Following Monday’s holiday, City Council members will jump back into their tour of city policy during a specially called meeting at 9 a.m. today. That meeting will cover “Watershed Protection, Environment and Endangered Species” and feature these speakers:

Dr. Lauren Ross, Glenrose Engineering;

Hank Smith, Texas Engineering Solutions and past president of Homebuilders Association of Greater Austin;
Will Schneir, president, Big Red Dog Engineering & Consulting;
Valerie Bristol, board president of Travis Audubon Society;
Erin Foster, Education Committee Chair, Travis Austin Recovery Group;
Jaqueline Perez, Onion Creek Neighborhood;
David Venhuizen, P.E.; and
Bill Bunch, Save Our Springs Alliance.

Then, at 2:30 p.m.12:30 p.m., Council will reconvene to take a look at “Parks and Open Space.” That talk will feature the following speakers:

Susan Roth, Parks and Recreation Board;
Colin Wallis, executive director, Austin Parks Foundation;
Melissa Hawthorne, immediate past president, Barton Hills Neighborhood Association;
Lynn Osgood, assistant instructor, UT School of Architecture;
Jeff Francell, the Nature Conservancy;
Sharon Blythe, advocate for cemeteries;
Matt Knifton, Texas Rowing;
Harry Savio, Homebuilders Association; and
Thais Perkins, executive director, TreeFolks.

This post has been updated to reflect the correct time of the “Parks and Open Space” deep dive. It is 12:30 p.m., not 2:30 p.m. as originally listed.

Artists stimulated by the recent discussion about the nature of (public) art in Austin might be interested in today’s Artist Information meeting. The city is in the process of commissioning a permanent exterior public artwork for Eilers Park and Deep Eddy Pool. Art in Public Places staff and project representatives invite local artists to come down and learn about the scope of the project and how to apply. The full Request for Qualifications is available here, and the meeting will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Cultural Arts Division offices at City Hall.

On Valentine’s Day, the Austin Water Utility announced that it has expanded the city’s reclaimed water system. Specifically, the Smith Road Extension was completed, and according to a statement from the department, it has the potential to conserve up to 34.8 million gallons of potable water annually. The new line already has some big customers, like the Austin Animal Shelter and the Whole Foods distribution warehouse, but residents will also be able to connect by contacting the city. To date, according to the utility, the city’s reclaimed water system is 51 miles long and conserved 1.1 billion gallons of drinking water last year.

Today, the Austin Monitor staff will be off contemplating American presidents. We hope that you enjoy our holiday edition as much as the day off, and we will return Tuesday with even more content. City of Austin administrative offices and other municipal facilities will be closed today. According to the city’s website, closures include: Austin public libraries, Watershed Protection, recreation centers, museums, cultural arts centers, Household Hazardous Waste Center, EMS administrative offices and City of Austin Utility Walk-In Payment Centers. However, trash and recycling pickup, Zilker Botanical Gardens, the Austin Nature and Science Center, city-operated golf courses, Barton Springs and Bartholomew and Deep Eddy pools will operate regular hours.

Austin’s Complete Streets Policy is a winner. A report from Smart Growth America features Austin on the cover of its “Best Complete Streets Policies of 2014” publication. The report also ranked Austin’s policy third in the nation after reviewing more than 70 such policies adopted in 2014.

In a lengthy (sometimes meandering) discussion, City Council approved up to $3.1 million in art (and art-related) contracts for the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Thursday. Council members voted 10-1 to approve the contracts. Council Member Don Zimmerman, who was the only Council member to vote in opposition, attempted to move the contracts to an unspecified Council committee, but found no support. “We received, as of this morning, 54 emails. A lot of passionate emails, and all of them in favor of spending money on the arts. None of those came from District 6,” said Zimmerman, who swung hard at the fact that the contracts would not be going towards local artists. Director of Economic Development Kevin Johns explained that it was not that simple, saying, “we expect that up to 80 percent of the money would be spent on local businesses that actually would assemble, construct, and put the piece of art together.”

Thursday’s lengthy City Council meeting gave plenty of time for City Hall regulars to wonder when the new, more efficient meeting structure would be implemented. The answer is: soon. At about 9:00 p.m., during Thursday’s meeting, Mayor Steve Adler said that he understood there would soon be a calendar for scheduling committee meetings. And, said Adler, within the next week the city will be on track to dividing the Council agendas, and having separate meetings for zoning cases and executive session.

City Council approved committee and intergovernmental committee appointments on consent at the regular meeting Thursday. Committee members are appointed by the mayor and ratified by Council. The appointments were confirmed with little discussion, but environmental consultant Scott Johnson spoke to suggest adding another appointee to the Clean Air Force Coalition. Council Member Don Zimmerman is the appointee to that and two other environmentally focused committees. Four Council members serve on each committee, except for Austin Energy, on whose committee every member serves. The committee structure is a part of this Council’s larger restructure, which included combining and creating committees from the previous Council for a total of 10 Council committees.

Can Council members invite members of the public into an Austin City Council executive session? No they cannot. “That is not possible,” said Acting City Attorney Anne Morgan. “The executive session is to have an attorney-client conversation, and it’s privileged conversation. There are some rules that guide that.” That concise answer was spurred by a request from Council Member Don Zimmerman who was first rebuffed when he asked to have Austin Firefighters Association president Bob Nicks join the executive session. He got a similar response when he asked about the more general, hypothetical possibility of Council bringing “anybody of their own volition, or any experts they have.”

After hearing complaints about the late addition to today’s City Council agenda of his proposal to use private foundation money to hire additional staff, Mayor Steve Adler has decided to slow down. There were certainly rumblings around City Hall about insufficient time and consideration of the item, which authorizes the city manager to enter into an agreement with the Mayor’s Better Austin Foundation Inc. Council Member Don Zimmerman had even suggested that the proposal be sent to the new Council Audit and Finance Committee. The chair of that committee, Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo, told the Monitor, “I would definitely support, and I think there’s a lot of interest out there in the community to have more vetting of this.” However, she said she did not know whether her committee was the appropriate place for that discussion. “I am definitely hearing concerns from constituents that they want to be able to talk about it more,” Tovo said. One of those concerns, she said, is that the mayor would have a much larger staff than any of the 10 district Council members. So it was not surprising Wednesday afternoon to see that the mayor’s chief of staff, John Michael Cortez, had posted an item on the Council bulletin board noting that the mayor had pulled the item for discussion, adding, “And we hope to have a robust discussion and address all questions and concerns. After the discussion, the mayor intends to move to postpone action on the item to our next meeting, so that further discussion may be had.” Adler also sent a letter to his supporters last night, which said in part, “The Mayor’s Better Austin Foundation will vet and disclose all donors. No money will be accepted from lobbyists, individuals or entities with business in front of the council, or any group or individual that has been involved in legal action with the city. The Community Cabinet will be subject to all of the same laws and restrictions that regular high-level city staff must abide by, including filing financial disclosure and conflict of interest forms. It is of the utmost importance that this process is done ethically and with the highest level of transparency possible.”