City officials will discuss actions today that will be taken to respond to concerns about issues arising from the heavy use of the Barton Springs Spillway, the area just north of Barton Springs Pool, at a news conference. The Austin Parks and Recreation Department and the Austin Police Department have seen a 40 percent increase in crime-related activities in this metropolitan park area. Activities such as use of alcohol and illegal substances; theft; smoking; and other violations such as dogs off leash, will be addressed. PARD and APD officials plan a news conference at 11:30 a.m. today near the spillway just north of the Barton Springs Pool.

The Environmental Board meets at 6:30 p.m. in Room 325 at One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs Road . . . The Police Monitor Citizen Review Panel meeting is canceled. . .

District 1 candidate Ora Houston filed the documents necessary to get her name on the November 4 ballot Monday at about the same time that Steve Adler filed his paperwork for the mayoral ballot.

The current phase of the CodeNEXT rewrite of the city’s Land Development Code is fast coming to an end, and that phase is already set to cost the city about $500,000 more than originally anticipated. The current contract with Opticos Design, Inc. will end in October 2014, and has had several adjustments to its scope and schedule. Council originally approved up to $2 million for the rewrite process. About $1.25 million of that has already been spent, leaving just $750,000 for Phase II of the project. The second phase will cover drafting new or revised code, reformatting and reorganizing the code, and testing new code through modeling software. A memo responding to a budget query from Council Member Laura Morrison details how Phase I costs accrued, and explains that staff did not anticipate a number of costs that have arisen. Items that pushed the budget a half-million bucks over the line include: public CodeTALKs, additional Envision Tomorrow software modeling, integration of other code amendments currently in process, monthly trips by the lead consultant to talk with stakeholders, and the cost of shifting the timeline for so the new 10-1 City Council can vote on it.

The City of Austin has received praise recently for its work with Geographic Information System applications. The city was recognized with two awards for unique GIS application solution. The first was from the Public Technology Institute for Significant Achievement in GIS for the Infrastructure Management, Mapping, Planning and Coordination Tool. The second award was from the ESRI SAG Awards for special achievement in GIS. For more information, go to the city website.

Travis County Commissioners are scheduled to vote today on the request from Charles Schwab, a San Francisco-based brokerage and banking corporation, for an $8.5 million economic incentive agreement to expand its offices in Austin. If the court approves the motion, the corporation will also get $4.5 million from the state. The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce support the agreement, while local taxpayer organizations like ChangeAustin.org oppose. More citizens might show up to oppose the measure today, since there was only a three-day notice that the item was going on last week’s agenda last week.

Austin Environmental Democrats will gather Wednesday to hear candidates for Mayor and City Council District 9 and make endorsements in those races. The group will meet from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at El Mercado Restaurant on South First Street. Only members who paid their dues by July 6 will be eligible to vote. The group decided to limit proxies to one per member attending in order to prevent the practice of sending one member with numerous proxies for a particular candidate. Council Members Sheryl Cole and Mike Martinez and attorney Steve Adler completed the group’s questionnaire in the mayoral race, as did Council Members Chris Riley and Kathie Tovo in District 9. The group plans further endorsement meetings later in August.

The Austin City Council meets in a work session at 9 a.m. at Town Lake Center, 721 Barton Springs Road in the Boards and Commissions Room at City Hall . . . The Zoning and Platting Commission meets at 6 p.m. in One Texas Center, 505 Barton Springs Road . . . The Travis County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. in Chambers at 700 Lavaca St. . . . The Williamson County Commissioners Court meets at 9:30 a.m. in the Williamson County Courthouse in Georgetown . . . The Hays County Commissioners meet at 9 a.m. in the Hays County Courthouse in San Marcos.

The Austin Police Association political action committee has endorsed several candidates running for Austin City Council in the fall election. Their endorsement is an important sign of strength for each of those gaining their support. In District 1, the APA PAC selected neighborhood leader Ora Houston. In District 2, the group unsurprisingly endorsed Delia Garza, an assistant attorney general who previously served as an Austin firefighter. So far, Garza’s campaign has been more visible than that of her opponent, neighborhood leader Edward Reyes… The police PAC also endorsed District 4 candidate Katrina Daniel, one of three strong contenders, we think, in a district divided by I-35. Daniel will have to beat Greg Casar, Laura Pressley and seven other candidates in this district if all those who have designated treasurers actually file for the office…Robert Thomas was the APA PAC choice for District 10. Thomas, of course, faces Mandy Dealey, Jason Meeker, Sherri Gallo, Margie Burciaga, Tina Cannon, Matt Lamon and Bill Worsham in a race that could easily go into a Dec. 16 runoff… Dealey has the support of the Network of Asian-American Organizations, which praised her longtime involvement with charitable, cultural and civic organizations, including service on six boards and commissions over the years… The police association political arm did not immediately endorse candidates in the other races.

Zachary Ingraham joins seven other of candidates running to represent residents of District 7. Ingraham filed documents indicating that he would serve as his own campaign treasurer Friday.

The Travis Central Appraisal District is asking for an extra $2.9 million budget increase for Fiscal Year 2015 from the county. The Travis County Commissioners Court will discuss, and possibly vote on the increase at Tuesday’s regular session. The district’s board of directors asked that Chief Appraiser Marya Crigler provide recommendations to the court regarding allegations from citizens regarding perceived inequities in the appraisal system and provide a budget to help fund those recommendations. The money would assist district court litigation on appraisal protests from commercial properties. The funds would also go to hiring new appraisal staff to handle the increased volume of protests,  research property sales information for commercial properties, and for purchasing fee appraisals to help calibrate and validate the accuracy of the current appraisal process.

More than $62 million in 2014 Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs loan recommendations were announced Thursday, and there was good news for some local affordable housing projects. The agency made its award recommendations for the competitive 9 percent housing tax credit program, which helps many of the state’s most affordable housing projects. This year, the state recommended that about $4.2 million be allocated to five projects in Region 7, which includes Austin. Three of those projects, including Foundation Communities’ Trails Phase II, South Lamar’s Bluebonnet Studios and the Rutledge Spur Apartments, won recommendations. Also named were Liberty Manor in Williamson County and the Art at Bratton’s Edge project. If completed, the five projects will bring 426 affordable units to the region.